Chapter 182 - Let's Give Them A Reunion

"What's happening here? Why are you guys hiding? Are you sure we can trust you?" Venedette said while squatting in front of the two guys that they immediately tied up together the moment they pulled them inside the Janitor's room.

It had been a few minutes since the two female guards finished doing their scouting and Lei finally gave them permission to open the lights and talk to the two male guards here.

"That cat won every girl in this facility and they've been hunting us since this evening. We barely even got away from the holding cells-"

"Where is this holding cell? Is the commander there?" Venedette suddenly said, cutting the first guard's words which took him back a little.

"Oh, uhh… I don't know," the first guard said while looking at his comrade for help.

"I think he's there, yep. He's there alongside the Petunia that we picked up," the second guard said while laughing awkwardly.

"Petunia that you picked up?" Venedette asked and looked at Lei and Fily with a hunch of what they were talking about, "What do you mean by that?" 

"This evening, right before sunset.. We actually found a cat that resembled the picture that you sent us."

"We didn't expect to find her near the headquarters so we were surprised when we saw her talking, but then when we got here, we saw that they have already found the real Petunia and everybody was on her side."

"So they said they will put us in jail until you arrive."

"But why are you also hiding like us?" the second guard said and looked at his comrade with much confusion.

"Well about that…" Venedette trailed off and looked at Fily for permission to tell them their story.

Fily nodded and Venedette proceeded to tell the story. 

"That Petunia is actually a fake and the real one was put to jail, so as we're told."

"What?!" the two guards said in unison.

"The real Petuna  is in the holding cells and we must get to her immediately-"

"Shouldn't the collar be our priority first?" Lei said.

"No, Von and Gem's on it already," Venedette said.

"But didn't you say you know where the commander is at?" Lei asked the two guys who looked at each other again with uncertainty.

[Gilbert: If we tell them we don't know where the commander is at, they might kill us!]

[Kayne: But we know where the real Petunia is and that should be enough, right? They might kill us more if we lied to them!]

"Uhh yes-"

"No," the second guard named Kayne said, immediately cutting off his comrade's words.

"We're actually not sure about the commander since there were a lot of people there and the commander might not even be one of them, but we're sure about where the real Petunia is and we can even bring you there!" Kayne followed up right away.

"How are you so sure about that?" Fily asked with a menacing tone.

"B-Because we were the last ones to be brought in the holding cells. I bet every cell is full right now and most of them are also trying to escape like us," Gilbert said with a little bit of fear in his voice because of Fily's acting which made Fily laugh.

"Relax I was just acting!" Fily said and busted out in laughter which earned her a death glare from Lei.

"This is not the time to laugh, Fily."

"Of course I know that! Who do you think you are to assume that I don't know that?!" 

"If you knew about it then why did you still do it?"

"Because I can't help myself! The atmosphere's so heavy and I needed to lift it up!"

"Well then, that's not the way to do it. Come on you two, show us the way," Lei said and pulled the two guards up who were still tied together and out of the door by himself.

"Lei's being too serious, I was just joking!" Fily complained and followed after them silently.

"We can't blame him, this is a serious matter after all. The police headquarters in this checkpoint is under hostage by that fake Petunia wannabe cat and we should deal with this situation fast before the clock strikes twelve," Venedette said.

"Ah yes, the expiration of our visa," Fily said and walked faster to catch up to angry Lei and the two guards on the front telling them the direction of where the real Petunia is being held in.

***

"Where is it?!" the female guard who volunteered to torture the commander shouted while Petunia was watching the two of them.

"I already told you! I don't know!" the commander said and spitted out the blood in his mouth.

"This will never end until you tell us the truth, commander."

"I'm telling you the truth! I don't know where it is!"

"You had it with you when you left your office! Are you saying it just suddenly disappeared like air when we went to grab it after you!?"

"No! I already told you! Somebody tripped me and I lost the collar to that person! I'm telling the truth!"

"Liar! There was no one else there except for us so if ever any one of us was that person who tripped you, the collar should already be in Petunia's hands! Or neck!"

"I'm telling the truth! Why won't you believe me!"

"Because you're just really unbelievable," the female guard said and started punching the commander once again.

"Ah I can't wait for this any longer," the fake Petunia said and turned around to her assistant.

"Where are they now?" 

"The two kids we caught at the front door earlier suddenly disappeared and the three of them are still inside the building somewhere, ma'am."

"She probably used her magic to do that, how about the other Petunia?" the fake Petunia said and hopped on her assistant's arms.

"She's still in the holding cell, ma'am."

"Take me there," the fake Petunia said and paused for a little bit.

"Actually, take me to the commander's office first, I'm sure it's just there somewhere," the fake Petunia said, changing her mind at the last minute with the sudden hunch that she got in her guts.

"But our people have already searched that area several times, ma'am."

"Then send out a search team for the collar!"

"Roger that, Petunia, ma'am."

"My name's not Petunia, tch." the fake Petunia whispered to herself with a matching eye roll.

"Why weren't they convinced that I was the real Petunia anyway? I even shapeshifted just to look exactly like her but why are they still so stubborn? And why are they still so hard to find?!" the fake Petunia thought to herself and shouted the last sentence which almost made her assistant trip.

"Continue," Petunia said to the guard who was conscious and sorry for her tripping.

"I want you to tell all my people to look for my friends and gather them in one place. If they're still inside the building, that means they're probably looking for something. Probably that fake Petunia. Bring her also to the garage. Let's give them a little reunion before I take her place," the fake Petunia thought menacingly and even smirked at that last sentence.

***

"I just want to go back. What are we even doing here anyway?" Petunia said to Miss Nabi who just came back after roaming around the place and looking for help.

"I guess the rumors were right, after all, this cat is just a cat and that ruthless witch is the real Petunia after all."

"Who knew she could be so ruthless and powerful?"

"I know right?" 

The guards inside the holding cell beside Petunia's gossip about her shamelessly.

"Where did they even find this fake and meowing Petunia? They should've just let her out in the cold."

"But she was able to talk earlier."

"And yet she couldn't understand us now,"

"Psst Petunia!"

"See, she's not responding."

"This is hard, there's a lot of guards guarding this place so we can't escape. But thank goodness your team is already here. I heard they're currently hiding away from that fake Petunia's hands. But how did they know that you're not fake and that one's the fake one?"

"I don't know. Who are you talking about?" Petunia said cluelessly as her memories were getting worse every second.

"Oh no. You can't recognize your friends anymore? How about me? Do you still recognize me?" Miss Nabi asked while flying shakily in front of Petunia.

"Miss Nabi the butterfly," Petunia meowed with a smile and celebrated when she saw Miss Nabi'd relieved face.

"Okay, that's enough for now. I'll just explain to them what happened to you, and the fact that they didn't mistake that fake Petunia as you might probably mean that they know about your sickness."

"Who?" Petunia asked again, which worried Miss Nabi.

"Your friends, they're coming here to help us," Miss Nabi said and smiled to comfort Petunia a little bit.

"My friends… My friends," Petunia said as if wondering who those people were.