Hostage

William arrived at the entrance to the maths block and gently pulled the door open. Stepping inside, he carefully closed the door behind him, minimising the noise he was making. He began to move steadily down the corridor. It was strange seeing the school without any teachers or kids, somehow there was a spooky vibe in the air. The lights were not on and the limited light streaming through the classroom doors, left the corridor bathed in darkness. This was good news for William, who was able to blend into the darkness, except for the two green dots on his helmet.

"C.A.T, are you able to turn off the green lights on the helmet?" he asked in a whisper.

"Doing it now," came the reply.

Glancing to the right, William could see, or rather not see, that the lights had gone in the reflection of a door window.

"Where is the burglar?" William asked.

"Listening into police broadcasts now."

The radio in William's helmet buzzed into life. He could hear exactly what the police were talking about.

"Have you got a clear shot?" one officer asked.

"He keeps moving, I don't want to hit the hostage," another replied.

"Hostage," William said aloud. "I didn't know this was a hostage situation. How bad is this burglary?"

"Analysing new information," C.A.T said.

A short moment later came a reply.

"Initial reports from police did not include the hostage information. It is not publicly known."

"Where are they in the school."

"Analysing... Analysis of the police frequencies suggest they are in the in the science laboratories, upstairs."

"Thanks C.A.T," William said.

"No problem."

As this was his school, William knew the layout like the back of his hand. From the maths block, it was a short walk down a couple of corridors to the science department. He pushed the double doors, that led into the science block, open and walked through. Being careful to make no sound, he ensured that the doors did not slam shut. Just to his left, were the stairs leading up to the first floor. To test his new found abilities, William thought he would try leaping like a cat. Crouching down, he pushed off hard and jumped high in the air. Boy did he jump high in the air.

William landed softly on the railing at the top of the landing. He wanted to let out a vey loud exclamation, but knew he shouldn't. Stepping down, he continued along the upstairs corridor and came into a square clearing, with a classroom located in each corner of the square. Above him, a skylight let in the dwindling daylight, causing a slightly red and yellow tinge to spread over everything.

The door to one of the classrooms was open and William could hear voices coming through the doorway. He crept over and crouched down in a position where he could see in, but was hidden enough that he himself couldn't be seen.

"They aren't going to give up until you go," a female voice was saying. "You'll have to give yourself up soon."

"I have told you before, shut up," a male voice said. "Why can't you just shut up. They will have to let me go free."

"Why? This is a school. We don't have anything here that is worth anything of significant value. What do you really want?"

William recognised the female voice. It was his chemistry teacher, Mrs Pandeer. She was one of his favourite teachers. He needed to save her and stop this thief from hurting her.

"You really don't know the value this school really has. You will not stop us from getting what we have come for."

There was a metallic click. Now William was no expert, but he was pretty sure he knew exactly what that sound was. A gun. He couldn't wait any longer. He hoped that his new cat like acrobatic skills would allow him to dodge any flying bullets.

Crawling into the classroom, he positioned himself behind one of the work benches and waited. Counting slowly, William timed his breaths to his heartbeat and then did something that was probably very stupid for a teenage boy to do. Leaping into the air, he grew his claws from the tips of his fingers and came crashing down on the man, knocking the gun from his hand and under another bench.

The man screamed in agony, as one of William's claws raked through his skin. After the moment of shock, the man began to fight back, pushing William off of him and slamming his body into the table next to them.

"Who are you?" he growled, the pain clearly angering him.

"I am Billy the Cat and I am here to stop you."

The man let out a hoarse laugh.

"Ha, a child thinking they can stop me. I grant you that you have taken me by surprise, but you are still a child and one I have no issue dealing with."

He brought up his fist and began to throw a punch in the direction of William's jaw. However, before a connection could be made, William managed to roll out of the way and jump back to his feet. In a split second, he had whipped the rope off from around his waist and with the flick of his wrist, it wrapped around the man, the claw at the end locking the rope into place. The man's arms were pinned to his sides and he couldn't move.

"Who's laughing now?" William said.

"Let me go. You have no idea what you have stumbled into," the man growled.

"I don't think I am going to let you go," replied William. "C.A.T, please alert the police that we have apprehended the intruder."

"They already know," C.A.T replied. "The sniper saw everything. They are on their way up now."

"Oh, really. Wow, ok."

"What is it?" Mrs Pandeer said. "Who is C.A.T?"

"The police are on their way up," William replied. "You are going down."

The last comment was directed to the intruder, who now had a face of pure anger.

"When I get out, I am coming straight after you. You won't see me coming until it is too late."

The doors in the corridor flew open and the sound of several heavy boots running, came to their ears.

"Put your hands up!" shouted one of the armed officers that was now positioned outside of the classroom door.

"Um, that may be a problem for him," William said, gesturing to the rope around the man's body.

"You too," the officer said.

William raised his arms. The armed officers entered the room and surround the three of them.

"Who are you?" the officer asked William.

"I'm Billy the Cat, at your service."

"You are both under arrest."

"Wait, what?!" William said. "I just caught this guy for you. I'm not the bad guy here."

"How do we know that?" the officer said. "We come into a hostage situation and see what is clearly a teenager who has dressed themselves in a fancy motorcycle helmet and a unitard. We have many questions that need to be answered."

"Well sorry, I'm not ready to answer them," William said.

As if she could read his mind, C.A.T spoke to William through his ear.

"Calculating escape route."

A visual display suddenly came up on William's visor. It began to display the angle William would need to jump out of the window and down to the ground, without killing himself. It took a split second to make the decision. Moving with lightning speed, William grabbed the end of his rope and gave it a flick, so it came off the man and back around his waist. Then, he ran for the window, being sure to follow C.A.T's display and leaped through the glass, spraying it everywhere. It was as though he was travelling in slow motion.

William summersaulted through the air and landed softly on the floor. Bullets began to whizz past his head and one managed to hit his leg. He gasped in pain, but looking down at the suit he could see that there was no hole. The bullet had not gone through, but he was sure that a large bruise would be forming there.

Jumping up, he made a dash for it, weaving in and out of more bullets. Heading back around the side of the school to the maths block, gave him a rest from the bullets. The police weren't positioned there, so could not get to him. Grabbing his things from behind the outbuilding, William dashed off before any officer could catch up to him.

Nearby, there was an electrical substation. William jumped up over the fence and collapsed down to the ground, leaning against the wall chuckling to himself.

"What is so funny?" C.A.T questioned.

"That was such fun," William said. "I can't believe I managed to get him and then escape from the police. I want to do this more; I like being a superhero."

"You humans are such funny creatures. I do not see why putting yourself in danger would bring such joy."

"Oh C.A.T, I just need the distraction right now. This is allowing me to work out my frustrations."

"I don't get frustrations, I'm just an AI program. By the way, you have an incoming call from Kathleen."

"Answer it please."

"William, where are you?" she asked. "Have you heard about what is happening at school?"

"I'm on my way home," he said. "What's happened?"

"They say there has been a hostage situation in the science block. There are pictures appearing on Twitter of a figure dressed like the guy you saw in the house earlier. You are right, we have a superhero in the village."

"I'm coming home, you can show me the pictures then."

With that, William ended the call.

"Twitter, I'm on Twitter wearing spandex. If anyone finds out, I will have the mickey taken out of me."

"Again, you humans are so funny about what you wear. As an AI, I have no need to worry about what I look like. Please explain why you would be ridiculed."

"If anyone finds out, I would be ridiculed because this is not what people commonly wear. Most people wear normal clothes, that don't show off every lump and bump of their body. I am also known for my complete dislike of sport. The kids at school think I am a lanky and weak person. Once it was thought we would dress in clothes like that, but I think people have rubbished that idea. Tights were once part of a rich man's wardrobe, but soon females began to wear them. Then in very recent times, tight clothing has become part of sports clothing."

"So are you embarrassed about wearing your combat suit?"

"I am a little, but wearing the helmet gives me that anonymity. I am someone else and with these new abilities, however many I have, I can be two different people. A shy, nervous teenager and a crime fighting hero."

"Well I will be here to help you with your crime fighting activities, however I won't be much good for your other life, that, you will have to navigate by yourself."

"I suppose. Thanks C.A.T."

With that, William took off the helmet and turned it off. He pulled out his clothes from the backpack and replaced them with the helmet. A couple of minutes later, he had jumped back over the wall and was on his way home, dressed as a civilian.

There came the noise of sirens from behind him and a police car came drove past and came to a stop just a few meters ahead. A police officer got out of the car and made his way towards William. He recognised the officer. It was PC Kyle Lometo, the older brother of one of William's school friends.

"Hi Will," PC Lometo said. "How are you doing? I am so sorry to hear about what happened the other day."

"Hey, thanks. I am still coming to terms with it. What can I do for you?"

"You haven't by any chance seen this person?"

PC Lometo pulled out picture and showed it to him. William's heart skipped a beat. It was him, as Billy the Cat.

"Not since he saved me this morning," he replied. "What has he done now?"

"Sorry, I can't comment on the details of the operation. We just need to find him."

"I can't be of help there then."

"Ok. Well, have a good evening then and stay safe."

PC Lometo walked back to his car and drove off. That left William to walk back in peace and with his thoughts. Now he had to go and meet Billy the Cat's biggest fan, Kathleen and try to not give anything away. This was going to be interesting.

Next - Off the Scent

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