Battle of Bright Dawn City Chapter 2

Almost a week had gone by before Rakita, or anyone for that matter, knew what had happened to her. It was during a routine training session that anyone had noticed.

Rakita hastily dodged the liger's blades. A skunk donning the armor of a dragon raced across the field, a sword arced back. The tabby caught the sword, the weapon mere inches away from her face. She lifted him upward and kicked him into the air. Then she jumped after him, only moving a few inches off the ground.

"What?" Rakita screamed. One more attempt, she could only jump a few inches into the air. The liger stops his counterattack, watching his girlfriend jump endlessly a few inches above ground. The skunk eventually returned to the ground, standing beside his friend.

"Max, what the hell is she doing?" the skunk asked. Max shrugs his shoulders.

"Maybe she's trying to do jumping jacks?"

"Wouldn't her arms have to connect at some point?" the skunk reminds. Once again, Max shrugs his shoulder. He really wanted to know what his girlfriend was doing as much as the skunk did. While watching this, a small boy with blonde hair and blue eyes walked in, staring at the jumping cat.

"Mr. Liger, what is Miss Kitty doing?" the boy asked.

"Don't know, Kite. I just don't know." Max answered.

Having heard enough of their chatting she shouted, "I'm trying to jump into the air, assholes!"

The three males sweat-drops. Technically, she was jumping in the air. She just wasn't jumping very high. Perhaps as high as the average individual could jump. She eventually stops then pout while she sat down with her back towards them. Her friends laughed. The girl was adorable whenever she acted like this.

Max sat next to her, kissing her cheek, "Rakita everything's okay. So you can't jump high anymore. A lot of people that can't jump really high," he stood up and walked a few paces away from her. Max extended his arms, "Blast me. I know you really want to so go ahead."

Grinning, Rakita stood up and thrust her paws forward, only to find nothing had happened. Again and again, she repeated the process only to wind up disappointed every time. Now her friends showed concern.

"What's going Miss Kitty? Why aren't you hitting Mr. Liger?" the boy asked. Rakita stared at her paws, lost for words. First, she lost her jumping abilities and now she can't shoot energy blasts from her paw tips.

"Maybe she's out of power, Kite?" the skunk proposed.

"Out of power?!" Rakita screeched. She had her powers for about three years, no one had told she had to recharge. The skunk thought on it for a bit before arriving at a conclusion to his thesis.

"Maybe you've gotta recharge your batteries ever so often." The skunk explained. The human child and liger took a few steps away from their friend. Even without powers, the ground seemed to quake as she stomps towards him. Grabbing him by his neck, she threw him high into the sky. Max and the human child looked in the air with the intention hoping to see their friend.

Max giggled, "Gee Kitten, powerless or not, you've got one hell of an arm."

Rakita smiles, moving a few paces as James fell, face-first, into the ground. Bending over she asks him, "Got any more stupid suggestions?"

"One more suggestion. That robot you fought last week." James offered. Rakita stops her next move, thinking about it for a moment. Her thought went back to that machine, Corugon. The machine ran through her and her friends with ease. Just thinking of how powerful that thing was made her shudder. Yet, even after beating her, it let her live. The mere thought that she was only alive because it chose not to kill her caused her to worry.

"He could've…" she repeats in her head. With that thought, she walks away from her friends. The three males frowned while they watched their powerless leader leave them. They wished there was something they could do. However, the liger and skunk growled when they heard laughter.

Walking into the area, Gary and Mary laughed. Rakita's fallen head risen, the tabby snarling at the two. Even still, they smiled at their powerless sidekick, "What wrong little kitty? Lost your powers did you? It was bad enough you're you, now you've got no powers? You must be a total loser."

"If I wouldn't go to jail, I'd," Rakita started, Max's voice interrupting her.

"Kitten, don't! They're not worth it." Max said, glaring at the two rabbits. With a flash of his fangs, the rabbits ran off. Happy with her boyfriend's actions, she scurried over to give him a kiss.

"Thank you sweetie," Rakita whispered, returning to her brooding self. The pity they had for their leader returned as she walked off.

Eventually, she returned to an empty home. Well presumably empty.

"Rakita, you're home!" Raymond snatched the tabby into a bone-crushing hug. Ever since she lost to Corugon, her stepfather always welcomed her this way. She didn't know why but, it made her feel better about what had just happened. Perhaps Raymond already knew about her losing her powers and was doing this to help her cope?

"Not very likely. Raymond isn't dumb, but he's definitely not that bright." Rakita thought. Another paw ran across her head, Rakita's mother, Rosalyn smiling at her daughter. Rosalyn held the letter from a week ago in her paws.

"I think it's time we talk about this," Rosalyn suggested, eyes focused on the letter. Rakita nods at her mother's words. The three sit around the dining table, the letter at the center, "I think you should go. It's about time you and father spend some time together, get to each other better."

Eyebrows rose from Rakita and Raymond. Both remember Rosalyn saying that Rakita and Charles could never be in the same place without her. The two shuddered as they remember the last time Rosalyn wasn't around and Charles showed up.

An image of Rakita, a twisted grin on her face with her power crackling and sparkling around her popped in their heads. Raymond and Rakita shake that image out of their heads. Rosalyn, knowing what they were thinking, stared at the letter, "I know it's strange, but hear me out. I've reread that letter over fifty times. I've looked for every possible way for him to try and deceive us and turned up with nothing. I honestly believe that Charles really wants to have you with him, in Bright Dawn City."

"And you should definitely go." Raymond added. Rakita's ears fell stiff. Were they trying to get rid of her? Her stepfather continued with, "We've noticed you've lost your powers last week. We didn't say anything 'cause we thought you knew. However, Max just gave us a call and we decided now would be a good time to say that."

The two frowned at the cat's disturbed face. Here she was, powerless and useless and now they were trying to get rid of her?

"Maybe those two ass rats are right… I am a loser." Rakita thought. A few pats from her mother removes that doubt, "You guys aren't trying to get rid of me because you don't want me?"

Rosalyn and Raymond looked appalled at her question, both saying, "NO!"

The canine looked at his stepdaughter sympathetically, holding her tightly. He nuzzled his head against hers, scratching her behind her left ear. The tabby instinctively purrs and leans in closer to him, "Rakita, we love you and would never ever send you away."

"But this is for the better. Remember your goal in life: to be seen and loved by the world. Delta really isn't going to help you accomplish that so we thought it'd be best if you went to Bright Dawn. Maybe there others will appreciate you more than people here." Rosalyn explained. Rakita nods. A change of scenery would be nice. Yet the younger cat still couldn't shake that feeling. The feeling that they were trying as careful as possible to get rid of her. That they were being careful enough that she wouldn't be hurt, but still be willing to leave.

Regardless of the answer she'd get, she had to ask, "This is my decision, right?"

Smiling both answers, "Yes."

"We aren't going to make you go anywhere you don't want to." Raymond added.

"So what do you want to do? We'll support whatever decision you make." Rosalyn smiles. Rakita, wondering what to do, stares at the letter. Somehow, she felt like the letter held an answer in of itself. Her goal was important but so were her friends. She didn't want them to think she was just leaving them. Especially after all the turmoil they had been through.

"But if they're really my friends, they'd want what's best for me… right?" she thought, her eyes never leaving the letter. She didn't want to leave yet, maybe she should. Sometimes, people just need to start over. Be free from the shackles of their previous self. Looking at her mother and stepfather, she smiles. Her choice was obvious.

Everyone deserves a chance to start over.