Cheshire realized it was a mistake two minutes into the ride. “So, where’s the candy?” she asked as she hugged Mister Mittens closer.

The cat didn’t seem to mind her handling him anymore, not ever since she had become a kitty-predator too. He just let himself be squished to her tummy, legs splayed out and face set in a kitty pout that was aimed at the boy sitting across from her.

There were two people in the van, a tall blonde girl at the front who was driving, and the boy who had offered her some candy to get in. His face split in a big grin. “What candy?” he asked.

Cheshire blinked, ears twitching forward to listen to him properly. “What’d ya mean, what candy?” she asked. “Ya told me that if I got in the van, you’d gimme some.”

“Yeah, but did I say I’d give it to you right away?” he asked.

She considered that for a moment. He hadn’t said that, but it was kind of said-without-being-said. “That’s shit. You told me you’d gimme the candy, so deliver, asshole.”

“Câlisse, you’ve got a mouth on you, huh?” he asked.

“Yeah, everyone has a mouth, dumbass.” She smiled to show off her fangs. “See, I’ve got a predator mouth.”

“Uh,” the boy said. He leaned back in his chair to talk to the girl driving. “Tats, how do you handle children?”

She snorted. “The hell would I know? Just keep her calm, idiot.”

“Idiot?” he repeated. “I’m sorry, is this shit-on-Regent day?”

“It will be if you don’t give me your candy,” Cheshire said. She was growing real tired of the two and their stupid candy-less white van. Plus it stank of dogs. Looking around and pushing herself up to see what was behind her seat, she couldn’t find any candy. Just boxes with rope and a bunch of handcuffs and stuff.

“Alright, so how about I give you candy when we get to the loft?” Regent asked, gesturing with both hands as if presenting her with a deal.

“That’s stupid. You didn’t say we had to go anywhere to get the candy,” she pointed out. Now she was getting real irritated. Plus the seat was squishing her tail under her butt and it was really uncomfortable.

“Hey Tats,” Regent asked.

“What?” The driver snapped.

“Do we have any candy at the loft?”

Cheshire couldn’t believe her predator ears. “Are you fuckin’ serious?” she asked. “You know, I’m startin’ to think this is some sort of scam.”

“What made you think that?” Regent asked.

“Cause you two are real suspicious,” she said. Mister Mittens started to wiggle in her hands, so she let him go. He moved over to the next seat over and flopped down for a cat nap.

“Are we really?” Regent asked. “Hey Tats, am I suspicious?”

“Regent, I swear to god,” the girl said.

“You know, if this is one of those kidnapping things, I’m going to blow you,” Cheshire said. She could feel the comforting weight of her dart gun pressed up against her leg.

The van swerved as the girl in the front’s head snapped around. “What?!” she asked.

“She said-” Regent began.

“I heard what she said! She... oh, for the love of god, she’s got a blow dart.” The driver snapped back around and swerved back into their lane.

“That’s right,” Cheshire confirmed. She wiggled around to try and get it out of her pocket, but it was stuck because of her belt. Grumbling, she made it phase out of her pants and presented it to Regent. “See. I’m armed and dangerous as hell.”

Regent snorted and reached to the side of his chair. He pulled out a big black gun. “So am I,” he said.

She shrugged. “That’s just a gun,” she said. “I ain’t impressed,” she lied. It looked a whole lot cooler than her blow gun, but Big Sis had gotten the blow gun for her, so it was better.

Regent blinked a few times, then turned to the driver again. “Tats, she said my gun wasn’t impressive. I’m feeling emasculated.”

“What’s that word mean?” Cheshire asked over the low grumbles of the girl in front.

“It means you’re making me feel girly,” Regent answered.

She frowned. There wasn’t anything wrong about feeling girly. “Hey, Tits, is that what that really means?” she asked the driver.

The girl’s hands went white around the wheel and she hunched forwards when Regent started to laugh. “Yeah, Tits, explain what the word means!”

“It means,” Tits said through gritted teeth. “That he doesn’t feel good in his own skin. Something I’m sure will only get worse when I start beating the shit out of him.”

Cheshire nodded slow-like. She understood now. Reaching out, she patted Regent on the knee. “It’s okay, Mister Regent. I didn’t feel good in my own skin too for a bit. But then Remedy, that’s my sister who’s a bio tinker thing, she made me more of a predator, and now I’m all better!”

“I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel about this,” Regent said.

“Concerned,” Tits suggested.

Cheshire shrugged. “Right, well you two don’t got any candy, so I’m gonna fuck off, alright?”

“Uh, no?” Regent said.

“Don’t try to stop me,” she said, raising her blow gun. “Or I’ll blow you for real.” Threat delivered, she pushed off the floor at the same time as she phased herself. The van moved on under her and left her floating to the ground. Then, the moment she touched down, she phased back and jumped to the side.

A car honked at her, but she ignored it as she watched the van suddenly moving faster. Huffing, she looked around and tried to figure out how to get home.

Then she froze before snapping around to look at where the van was speeding down halfway across the block.

“Oh shit,” she said. “I forgot Mister Mittens.”