So You're a Catboy Superhero (And You're the Wonder Girl of Dreams)

so you're a catboy superhero

PROLOGUE

"You know mutant, you owe me. I saved your life, without me you'd be dead."

Warm brown eyes stare into the narrow and dark, angry slits of an elderly Chinese woman. He knows there is a decision to make, but can't focus on making it. There's a small, but insistent pain in his abdomen whenever he takes a deep breath. The pillows that support his back are stiff and uncomfortable, but they help him sit up and feel less defenseless. He doesn't think soft pillows would make him comfortable here, anyways.

"I didn't do it out of kindness, you know" the old lady drawls on, "I did it because now you are in debt."

Her voice is sharp and the way she keeps staring is chilling, but he doesn't bother to dignify anything that comes out of her mouth with a response.

"Once you leave, never come back. Never come into contact with my Granddaughter again. There's no place for a person like you in our family, in our lives."

The ladies words are something he's sure she's written in stone, somewhere. He doesn't care, though. He knows that that's neither her or his decision to make; instead he presses his lips together and motions his hands towards the door as if to dismiss her.

ONE

Technically, they meet in the spring. Le Griffe sees her first, weaving through throngs of people in a Frogtown market. Crouched low atop the rickety roof of an agriculture building, it was easy for him to spot what she was doing. A runaway in the setting sunlight, he watches the girl inconspicuously dodge in and out between the crowd. His eyes flicker over the massive population, trying to find a clue as to who would be chasing a girl through the flea market so avidly and for what reason it could possibly be. As a guardian of East City, Le Griffe couldn't let this go by without a course of action. He scouted the crowd from above for anything else out of the ordinary and spotted a tall man, lean and dressed head to toe in black, amongst the people. The tall man looked alert, head angled high as if on watch for something or someone.

For someone doing something that's probably illegal, the dude sure is obvious about it.

"Something has to be done though, I better get on it." Le Griffe says to himself, scanning the layout for the girl once more.

He notes that she moves quickly, stopping in populated areas or stands to keep herself hidden. Keeping track of her would be hard to do on the ground, as her black hair hardly stood out in the sea of chaotic business. It would have to be done though, if he wished to get into contact with the girl. With a sigh Le Griffe slowly backs away from the roof ledge, clawed gloves making a retreat from the old and rusted metal slightly less easy. Lowering himself over the ladder railing, he scales the rest of the way down the building into the back alley. Hopefully nobody saw him; the mask settled across the bridge of his nose reminding him that even if anyone did, it would be relatively okay. The sun was setting quickly, its fiery hues fading out to a dull darkness. Making way to catch up to her before she was gone, he let the market people whisper and stare if they wished and dodged the ones who looked like they were approaching.

I don't want to make a scene in the market, that's just unnecessary and totally... uncouth. Guess she'll be the bait and lead the tall creeper guy right to her, where I'll be waiting.

Movement catches his attention out of the crowd that begins to form. Le Griffe sees someone with black hair and a faded blue coat make haste to disappear. It's the girl, and out of the corner of his wide eyes he knows the tall man has seen him, because he too slowly fades out of the crowd.

That was relatively easy.

With a two-clawed salute to the crowd Le Griffe follows after the mysterious duo, his animalistic form casting a monstrous shadow against the building walls.