Black and White Chapter 13

Lucy Katt waited in Blackie’s living room, she was very pissed off and smoking a cigarette in an attempt to calm her down.
It wasn’t working too good.
The bear had been asking around about her, and as a result, now she might have to once again deal with the most insufferable bitch in all of existence.
Bonnie.
She shouldn’t have to deal with her now, not at this moment, it was bad enough she was reduced to slumming it to people like Blackie just make ends meet.
Obviously something had to be done, she couldn’t just try to kill him because she was known not to turn on employers unless they did this to her, and it was pretty clear Blackie wouldn’t give up until he was assured she wouldn’t go crazy and kill everyone.
Unfortunately, she knew what probably would fix the problem, and that was telling him her past, hopefully this would finally get him to stop running around.
But she didn’t have to like it.
“This is bullshit” she grumbled.
Suddenly the door slammed open and a panting Blackie burst in.
She could very easily tell that he was frightened to death that she was going to kill him, and to be fair, he wasn’t just being paranoid, she actually could kill him with the mood she was in.
But it was bad business to be killing clients, so, putting her cigarette out on Blackie’s coffee table, she decided to get this over with.
The cat stood up and began to stride towards the bear a glare focused purely on him.
Blackie looked up and gulped nervously “Uh, hi Lu-”
Lucy drew her fist back and socked him right in the jaw “You idiot!” She yelled “Do you have any Goddamn idea what you were doing?!”
“Look, I just wanted to be sure-”
“Sure that I wasn’t psycho, yeah I can understand precaution, but you should have asked Tank just who you were talking to. Bonnie Naga is a fucking psychopath!”
“actually she said you were one.”
Lucy groaned and shook her head “Ugh, of course she would. Look, let me tell you a few things about her.
“Bonnie Naga used to be a showgirl, she worked at a bar called the Alley Cat Saloon and was essentially like some bitchy queen bee you’d find in your average high school, her body was well craved by the perverted patrons and she knew it, she was basically a star, but this little world of hers really had just one problem.
“There was a cat who worked there, a singer named Mittens La Purr, this was sort of a part time job of hers and she didn’t do it too often, but her voice was so enjoyed by the patrons her popularity in this regard rivaled Bonnie, and trust me, she didn’t like that.
“Now Mittens’ main job was as an employee for Sovereign Pictures, and recently she got appointed as the agent of Bolt, you know, the big name actor?”
Blackie’s eyes widened “Bolt? As in the star of a fuckton of action films, like ‘Three Nights in Helltown’ or ‘Blast Radius’?”
“The same guy” Lucy confirmed “Now then, as it happened, Bolt was a bit of a racist towards cats at that time, and he was looking for a way to annoy his agent after he’d, while incognito, unwittingly attended one of Mittens’ shows, having an interest in doing so after she’d teased him during the routine.
“He’d picked up on the rivalry between the two and realized that a good way to do this would be to start dating Bonnie. And as would be expected, the two came to blows, for some reason the bitch assumed the feline was jealous of her.
“As it happened, Mittens also (at that time) didn’t like Bolt very much, and attempted to get her to take over her job as Bolt’s agent, this way the cat could return to her desk job and Bonnie would have an excuse to be near him.
“However, the dog didn’t like this idea himself, him viewing it as a measure of pride that she quit through being fired, not choosing to. Or at least that’s what he said, what I’m guessing is that his feelings for Mittens had changed to something of a crush, even though he wouldn’t admit it, not even to himself.
“To make a long story short, he chose to attempt courting Mittens through methods of getting her jealous, and ruining the beginning career of a budding actor she used to date. And eventually growing into somebody who wasn’t a total douchebag, he finally succeeded in winning her love.
“Unfortunately for him, Bonnie didn’t take this loss very well at all, see she’d developed genuine feelings for the pooch and was none too pleased at how Mittens had ‘stolen him’ from her.
“She first attempted to get back at her by sleeping with the owner of the bar she sang at to get her kicked out and anyone who sympathized with her, and among other things tried to outright murder her. She failed of course, and her own criminal actions got her to lose her job and pretty much everything.
“Her work as a killer started by accident, she’d been hiding out in a small and dingy apartment building and had barely enough money to pay her rent, and her landlord, who’d been tired of this, chose to just report her to the police, so she killed him in a fit of rage. And when she finally succeeded in murdering somebody…she found she loved it so much it was pretty much arousing to her.
“She’d began frequenting bars to try and find work as a killer, and initially didn’t due to her gender, and more specifically the fact she was originally a bitchy showgirl. But when she finally did start finding work as a low rent hitman, she found that she’d had a knack for the work, and developed skills in this line of work for about four years, and grew a fearsome reputation as one of the most ruthless assassins on the west coast…and arguably one of the best too, she’d never tried to get revenge on Bolt and Mittens for some reason though, my guess is that she was having too much fun being a murdering bitch.
“However, the real reason she was getting so much work was because I was out of America for a few years, and when I returned, I starting picking up more of the…high risk contracts, that she used to get, and she didn’t like that at all.
“Not willing to risk losing everything to a cat again, she tracked me down and tried to murder me, however I was the better fighter and instead turned the tables on her and beat the shit out of her, though even then she’d turned into a pretty good fighter and had some talent, but not enough to actually beat me.
“I encountered her again when I was up in Basin City after a mob boss named Wallenquist hired me to kill Senator Roark, I don’t remember the specifics as to why.
“What happened is that somehow the asshole heard I was coming and hired several assassins to try and protect his ugly ass. And when Bonnie heard about the deal, she wanted in, even though she was initially refused entry.”
“Then how’d she get in?” Blackie shakily asked, having already been pretty creeped out by her story.
“She forced her way in” Lucy nonchalantly replied “By killing two of the killers he’d hired and saying she’d shoot him if she wasn’t allowed in. The fact she also said she’d do it for free also helped.
“As before, I beat the shit out of her, but this time it was harder as she’d taken more training and was stronger than before. Regardless, she still managed to get away.
“A few months later I was contracted for a bodyguard job by the owner of Sovereign Pictures, who happened to be Bolt’s adoptive mother, while he’d retired from acting he still got considerable media attention when he and his cat wife had children…and the attention to interracial relationships pissed off this giant gang of Nazis off more than that rabbit in Virginia who married and had children with a wolf.
“Now these Nazis tried to have him killed by sending their own assassins…until I killed them, then the chose to try and get some ‘independent contractors’, and when Bonnie found out this, she finally decided to try and get revenge, offering to take half her usual rate…until she learned I was involved, then she offered to do it for free. And while I still kicked her ass, it was again, more difficult.
“This process repeated itself about two or three times until about two years ago.
“Bonnie had trained herself into one lethal bitch and decided to stop taking jobs that’d put us on a collision course and just tracked me down to a house I’d taken up residence in with my family, and since Laksana told me about your reaction to that news…”
Blackie picked up on the slight growl in her voice when she said this and nervous chuckled.
“Uh…sorry?”
“You’d better be” she growled “Now for your information, they’re adopted. And since I’ve got that out of the way…
“Bonnie got the drop on me, and we fought again…only this time, she’d improved her skills a lot, she was so powerful, I could barely fight back.”
Lucy went silent for a few seconds as she remembered that dreadful, frightening night “I almost died, and I was almost sure she would have killed me…right up until she started bragging about how she was going to eat my children afterwards.”
Her fists clenched up so hard they almost tore skin “That did it, I forced my second wind and beat the Hell out of her, even more so than I ever have before, I was even sure I might have crippled her and I slashed up her face with my claws.
“I was extremely angry at her, and I decided to just end this now. And to make sure I did it right, I was going to shoot her in the motherfucking head.”
Blackie had already been frightened a lot by this dark tale and his fur had turned pale as Lucy revealed more and more details about her nemesis “B-but she’s still alive.”
“Not for lack of trying. Unfortunately my gun was in another room and I had to go and fetch it, but when I got back, Bonnie had vanished, seems she realized I was finally going to kill her and chickened out. Even with only one leg usable, she still managed to escape…and ever since she’s never bothered me.”
“Have you ever tried to find her?” Blackie shuddered.
“Just once” Lucy explained “After she tried to murder me, I began to hunt around for her, I was damn determined to shoot her, why shouldn’t I be? I had to protect my children.
“What I found out was that she’d contacted Tank and made it very, very clear she was leaving the game for good and did not want anyone to find her, apparently she’d went from hating me, to fearing me like I was the Devil himself.
“Ever since, I’ve never had to put up with her, and I’ve taken care of my girls…now, since you obviously weren’t gone long enough to be missing, I’m guessing this bitch was close enough, so tell me. Where the fuck is she?”
Blackie swallowed nervously, he’d definitely need a new set of pants after this “Uh, she’s in Los Angles.”
Lucy responded in a way Blackie didn’t expect, her eyes had widened highly and her jaw dropped, she wasn’t surprised, she was just incredibly scared.
“Are you serious?!” She yelled as she stood up “Is she seriously there?!”
“Yes” Blackie meekly said, fearing Lucy to do something rash.
The cat hurriedly pulled out a phone and began to walk off into another room “Ohshitohshitohshit!” She hurriedly muttered as she whipped out a cell phone.
“Hey” Blackie interrupted “What’s going on?”
“MY DAUGHTERS ARE IN LOS ANGLES YOU JACKASS!” She roared at him, Blackie’s fur reaching a new shade of white as he realized just what was going on.
“Dear God…sorry, I didn’t realize-”
She sighed a little “Look, it wasn’t your fault, I just…I just need to make sure their alright.”
The bear said no more, and waited as the cat scrambled into the other room so she could warn her daughters about what she found out.
Minutes passed, the bear getting a bit anxious about what was going on in the other room. But soon enough, she returned to the living room, still a bit spooked but mildly relived.
“Well?” He asked “Are they alright?”
“Yes” Lucy answered “They haven’t been attacked and they’re packing up. They’ll be here by tomorrow.”
The bear was relie ed, though he didn’t know these children, he was quite glad to still see they were safe.
“So…I hate to kill the mood here, but-”
“Let me guess, my past, right?”
“Yeah, how’d you even get those kids anyway?”
Lucy sighed “They weren’t exactly kids. Not at first anyway…you know that non-sapient life you use for food around here?”
The town Blackie lived was one of a new kind, known to most as ‘vegetarian’ cities. While most towns practiced the predation of ‘prey species’ (though the rules on how it was supposed to be done are quite clear and are strictly enforced), Blackie’s town instead used some weird non-sapient versions of said prey species for food, mostly fish and seafood.
How these creatures kept showing up was a mystery, though it’s known that two odd space rifts, one beneath the ocean and one in the woods were the source of these, nobody knew where these animals come from or what caused them in the first place, and especially not whether any sapient lifeforms existed behind the rift.
But whatever the case, it was discovered that these rifts allowed them to drag non-sapient lifeforms into the universe, which could be then used as meat as opposed to the crueler (and recently starting to become more and more unfavorable with people) method of just hunting down prey species.
Now there was some opposition to these towns, but that’s a story that would be more fitting in a different kind of story entirely.
For now we’re just finding out about Lucy’s past so let’s return to that.
Blackie nodded “They’re like them?”
“Sort of. They generally looked like and were about the same size, but could talk and act just like your average person. They were a bit like pets, only they viewed me as their mother. It wouldn’t be that far out, I loved them a lot too.
“But about fourteen years ago, something…happened, I still don’t know what, but somehow they mutated into more anthro forms, they pretty much were like a pair of kids after that.
“Now they’re just about old enough to go to college.”
“Wow…you’ve had them long, haven’t you? But what about you?”
“Me?...That’s a long story, you might want to get something to eat.”

~

Blackie currently had a bowl of leftover stir-fry seated on his lap, and waited for Lucy to begin.
He’s known Lucy for several days but he was a bit put off to see her as she was.
Lucy had moved another chair so it was across from Blackie, and despite the fact she’d previously established herself as a cold woman who had zero problems with killing people, she looked…nervous, and a bit worried, granted, the fact that her children were in the same city as an absolute maniac who previously wanted to eat them had something to do with it, but he could also tell her own past had something to do with this.
The cat sat silently for several minutes before taking a breath and beginning.
“When I was a child…I had almost no friends.
“Almost nobody wanted to play with me, the girls because I was more into cars, while they preferred dolls. And the boys…well, I’m pretty sure even you’ve had a dislike of ‘cooties’ when you were a kid, right?”
Blackie shook his head no; he actually never had this problem with girls…as if that wasn’t enough of an indicator that, as an adult, he’d sleep around with pretty much all the women he could.
“…Huh” she said “One in a million I see.
“Now as I was saying, the only person who’d actually hang out with me was a boy named Mike, who I’d grown close to over the years, though I generally was cold and rude to most people, even him.
“My family and later my daughters were really the only people I’d generally show my kinder side.
“I wound up meeting other kids through Mike. Daisy, Paulo and David, though I was rude to them at times, I still liked them a lot.
“I grew particularly close to Mike…I had trouble opening up so I mostly hung around him, but in time, as you might have guessed, my feelings for him…changed.
“I’d fallen in love with him, he didn’t catch onto this for a while though, and as I often was sweet one moment and mean the next, I couldn’t really show this really well.
“And that was before you got into the fact that my friendless background caused me to develop some huge trust and friendship issues. I essentially used him as a living crutch, which turned out very bad for me in the end.
“When I reached high school however, things began to fall apart.
“It happened when I was fifteen, I finally worked up enough nerve to finally outright tell Mike I loved him.
“He already had a girlfriend, but it was in a long distance relationship with a childhood crush of his named Sandy, and I didn’t have much faith the relationship would work out. All that happened was that he grew mean, specifically to me, he stopped speaking to me. Around the time I’d stopped being as incredibly gruff and rude to him as I’d been before…but it didn’t help at all.
“One day in December, I tried to speak with him…but he snapped at me and insulted me, he made me feel like shit, claiming that nobody loved me and I was absolutely worthless. The whole thing made me so sick I threw up.
“I believed it too. We had a videogame system that we used to play when we were younger, but I removed it and threw it in a dumpster, I realized he didn’t want anything to do with me, even after I ended up on having to do a homework project with him.
“A few days after the whole thing I…tried to end my life.”
Blackie felt a massive level of sympathy for the poor girl; he began to see just why she’d turned out so cold.
“I was put into a hospital on suicide watch when my parents found out, and they’d figured out one of my friends was responsible, albeit not which one, but when some of them showed up at my house, my older brother didn’t care at all, he just denied to let any of them in.
“When I was finally discharged, my family decided that it’d be better if I lived elsewhere, so my brother brought me to our uncle in one of the neighboring cities, where I went to another school.”
She stopped to sigh and regain her composure “And that’s where my job as a career criminal began, though I didn’t know it.
“My uncle was a bounty hunter, who had a knack for success, and I’d admired him for years due to how tough he was, my brother was training to enter the same vocation, and I wished to as well, even though he insisted that I study up for a more stable job. He just had my own wellbeing in mind when he suggested it, but I wasn’t about to just settle down or anything, I may have been emotionally damaged but I was still pretty tough even then, I wasn’t about to end up as some boring office drone or a clerk in a Circle Q, so I began taking martial arts classes, and began learning how to track people down. And a few days before my sixteenth birthday, it all fell apart.
“My uncle was attempting to track down this child murderer who’d been terrorizing the area and had a bounty placed on his head by one of the grieving parents, he’d taken my brother with him, but I thought I could find him first, and while they investigated their way, I did it my way…and I succeeded.
“It turned out to be the pervert son of a local CEO, who used his father’s money to save his ass. My relatives also figured it out, but I’d gotten to him first.
“He was in a parking garage with what would have been his latest victim when I showed up and beat the fuck out of his cronies, and then did the same to him.
“Problem was, I didn’t control my rage very well, the fact this maniac had murdered little kids just for a laugh…it pissed me off so much that when I started beating him, I just couldn’t stop hitting him, and I hit him harder and harder.
“My uncle and brother had shown up while I was assaulting the bastard, and they separated me from him, I yowled at my uncle and demanded they let me finish, but they pointed out I already did.
“I was so possessed by my rage, I’d beaten him to death, sure he was garbage and deserved it, but I still killed a man, and I was devastated by the fact I actually did it.
“When news of the death came out, the man’s corrupt father put another bounty on my head, my uncle and brother realized they couldn’t shelter me from him as eventually I’d be found, so they taught me how to escape detection in a few short weeks so I could go on the lam and escape the man’s killers.
“I-I hated to leave them, but I had to, otherwise they’d be hunted for my mistake. The only thing I’d asked of them was to take care of Yashy and Chirpy. But as I went off to try and go on the run…they left my relatives and ran off to run off with me.
“I tried time and again to try and get them to stay home, but in the end, I decided to let them stay so I could keep a better eye on them, but then their mutation happened, and things got hairy, and I finally became a criminal for real.
“I needed to find a way to support them; the tutoring my relatives gave helped me would have supported me, but not three people, living off the land could have helped, but there could have been diseases that I couldn’t have treated with natural remedies, my life was less important, but theirs were.
“We journeyed to a nearby town where I began periodically robbing stores to steal money I needed to support the three of us.”
She sighed again regretfully “That was how it all started for me, it was bad work to get involved in at all, but I was wanted and I had no other way to make money, I never really killed anyone until I actually started work as a mercenary.
“About five months into my robbery spree, I’d became quite adept at the job due to a trial and error process, but it gradually became harder and harder to get money through burglary because police were growing wise to my presence and acting accordingly, making it damned near impossible to perform the job successfully. I had to look for another way to make ends meet, I was half considering trying prostitution until I ran into a local gangster looking for a hitman to kill a drug dealer of his who had stolen a cache of drugs and money from him, noticing this was a job I could handle easily with my bounty hunting background, I took his offer, though he was skeptical at first.
“Finding him was surprisingly easy, and the killing…easier, I’d already killed before and this guy was a scumbag just like the child killer I’d beaten to death, so I wasn’t under much pressure to change my mind on killing.
“I finished the job and got my pay…and I began to work as a hitman after it became apparent that I could get this type of work more often and was beginning to get better at this.
“I wasn’t the feared ‘Snow White’ at first though; I just started out as a gunwoman who was essentially just a trigger for hire. But I began to develop a high success rate, and through the on the job experience I became a more competent killer over time, and the better I got, the more I got paid, and life for the three of us lived quite well.
“I took jobs based on a very specific code, while I was an assassin, I only took jobs where I killed people who had it coming, other criminals, corrupt CEOs and public officials, and the like.
“The problem is that after three years of work, my Snow White handle had attracted enough attention for the US government to place a massive bounty on me, and they pulled out all the stops in trying to capture me.
“I knew I couldn’t fight them and do my job at the same time so I left the states and began to take my show on the international stage. I started out in Mexico, where we stayed for two years before I left.
“I wandered the world for years, my legend growing as the bodycount rose, you know what happened in India seven years ago, back when I was twentythree, and that was when I finally found it was safe to return to America.
“I went back and that’s when my feud with Bonnie happened, I’ve been in a massive amount of fights over the years, fighting supervillains and heroes who tried to stop me from assassinating people.
“But in recent years…” she sighed once more “I’ve realized that in the process of my massive assassination spree, I may have been providing for my girls but in the process they’ve been robbed of their lives, always on the run, they still love me…though they shouldn’t, I’ve killed so, so many people even though they had it coming.
“I should have had a lot of money by now, but most of it’s been spent on trying to ahead of the law however possible, between this and keeping my family fed. I’m quite low on money.
“Which brings me to where I am now. I’ve decided to try and stop the life, all I need now is just one more job…one more big job and I’ll be able to retire for good. I can use new identities to help give my family a chance at a normal life, as opposed to constantly running from the law.
“So I guess that’s the story of my life, I trust this satisfies your curiosity?”
The bear had barely even touched his food during the story…frankly, he was awed and conflicted at the story Lucy told.
He was relieved she’d opened up to him, he really was, but he was at a loss for words. Lucy had lived such a difficult and hard life, no wonder she could resist his advances like this, she hasn’t had a real home for years, and the only time she’d ever been in love, it nearly killed her, she’s been cold to most everyone except her kids because of all the violence she’s experienced and committed…and that was because she just wanted to provide for her family.
Acting the way he had to her earlier now just seemed wrong, she was a strong woman, albeit damaged due to how she’d suffered in the past. She was worthy of being feared…and yet he couldn’t help but feel sorry due to what she’s been through. He vowed that from then on he’d be better behaved around her, she deserved to be treated better than most the women he slept with. And he inwardly decided to try and help her out.
He realized that Lucy was very out of place in their town, she wasn’t very interested in screwing as much as the local women, she’d suffered more than really anyone should have to, even though she didn’t really have any choice in the matter, this was not the kind of place she’d be suited best. And then there was the job…he hired her just to help him in getting laid, but after hearing her story, he realized that this wasn’t something that suited her at all. She needed to get on with her work so she could finally retire and leave this life for good.
And thus, after several minutes of internally debating it, he came up with a solution.
“Lucy…take the money, forget the job, and leave town.”
The cat looked back at Blackie with confusion “What?”
“Look, you’re obviously uncomfortable with the town and all the sex that goes on here.”
“True” the cat agreed.
“And I want to help you after what I heard happened to you, so I want to take the money from the job and just go so you can try to find a job that can get you the retirement money you need.”
The cat was now herself silent for a few minutes before chuckling “Thanks Blackie, I appreciate the offer. But I’ll have to decline.”
“I-I don’t get it.”
“I might have trouble with the fact you and the rest of the town are so keen on fucking until every penis here is wore down to nubs, but it’s not really that big of a problem. I can put up with the town despite the constant sexification…besides; it’s been years since I’ve gotten a job that didn’t involve killing people. I kinda like it.”
Blackie sighed, she had a point, it was her choice to stay “Well alright, but I’ll give you some extra money. You need it more than I do.”
Lucy nodded “Alright, but just answer me this question. Why do you keep cheating on Monica?”
Blackie sighed again, though this time he was sadder “Why do you ask?”
“As near as I can tell, she knows you’ve slept around before, but she still loves you. Does that matter to you?”
“Yes it does…I actually do love Monica very much, I wouldn’t ever think of leaving her. But the women in this town…You know how the women in this town are so incredibly horny, yes?”
“How could I forget?”
“The women are here are so hot and horny, and  they just keep getting my boner rising, it’s kinda like an addiction, no matter what I just can’t turn down sex, I do enjoy it, but I just keep sleeping around because I can’t help myself.”
Blackie was telling the truth, Lucy could realize that Blackie had his own troubles “Hmm, interesting. I take it Monica wouldn’t approve even if she knew about your problem?”
“No. And that’s why I’ve tried to keep her in the dark, the less she has to worry about, the better.”
The cat got up, “Well, I guess I should thank you, if I didn’t know Bonnie was in LA my daughters would still be in a lot of danger…I’ll make sure Monica wins the Ms. Olympia contest.”
Blackie finally began to feel better “Thanks Lucy…so anyways, what do you plan on doing now?”
Lucy stretched “Well, Monica’s not having an appointment wth exercise and I have to wait for my kids to get here…what’s on television?”

/Elsewhere/

Hannah Bearowitz was growling at the wolf currently speaking to her “And just why the Hell should I help you? You’re trying to keep me from my Blackie!”
Sandra Wolf grumbled a very offensive series of explicitives under her breath “For the last Goddamn time! I have never actually slept with him; I actually keep turning him down!”
She pressed her fingers against the bridge of her nose; this was turning into a real pain in the ass “I only came here because I want to make a deal with you. You hate Monica and I do, right? And I want revenge for the food fight a couple days ago…I was going to ask you if you could help me get even with her. But if you’re going to be a bitch about this-”
She turned to leave only to see Hannah somehow managed to get behind her in the space of time it took for her to turn around and got in front of her, her eyes almost looked like they were full of fire. “So you just wanted to fuck that skank up, eh?”
“Uh…yeah” Sandra nervously choked out.
“…My hands are yours.”
Sandra gave a great sigh of relief, she didn’t know how Hannah was pretty much able to teleport with her noticing but it was better for her to be on her side than against her “Alright then, here’s what we do first…”