Warning: Strong words, violence, and gore.

Broken Masks

Written by Dapple-ishh

Chapter 2: Opposite Ray

Gekko landed in HQ in a flash of green neon light, followed by Catboy and Owlette. PJ Robot came buzzing as soon as he saw them and happily greeted them. Gekko smiled. "Hey, buddy. What are you up to?"

He spun happily and showed Gekko around. I've been cleaning!

Owlette looked amazed. "Wow, PJ Robot, you outworked yourself this time."

A few beeps echoed around and the PJ Picture Player activated one of its cameras, showing Badgerclaw coming in his rover. PJ Robot flew to the screen and tapped a button, sinking HQ and opening Catboy's Gate. Owlette flew towards Badgerclaw. "Do you know where's Romeo?"

Badgerclaw removed his helmet, revealing his dark Tolopea and white face. He put small devices on his small and round badger ears and looked at her. "Sorry, can you repeat that?"

Gekko walked over to Owlette's side. Riley was deaf, the devices he put on were highly expensive devices made for deaf people, it helped with the hearing in a way none other could. "She asked if you know where Romeo is." Catboy stood beside Owlette.

Badgerclaw shook his head. "No, he realized he was being watched and moved, but I believe he's still around the park. I barely escaped on time."

Catboy nodded. "You took a great risk going there, but it was pretty brave from you, now we know Romeo's up to something with the Opposite Ray." He put a hand on Badgerclaw's shoulder. "Good job." Badgerclaw looked away with a little smile; he never knew how to react to compliments.

PJ Robot came to their side and Gekko asked. "What is it?"

They all walked to the Picture Player and PJ Robot pointed at the screen. Gekko stared. "Romeo."

Catboy signaled to them. "Okay then, let's move out." Before they could head out, Badgerclaw gasped in pain and removed the two small devices from his ears. "Badgerclaw?" Catboy asked.

The other hero didn't look up and Gekko realized he couldn't hear Catboy. Gekko, opening his hand, moved it three times up and down in front of Badgerclaw. Hey.

The other looked up and turned his hands around. "What's up?"

Gekko signed. What's wrong?

Badgerclaw showed Gekko the devices and then signed. "They are broken, I think."

Catboy looked at Gekko. "Maybe he should stay. It's not safe for him to be battling villains, any less Romeo, without being able to listen to them."

Gekko glared. "He's more than capable of, he used to do it before he got the devices."

"He's not saying it because he's not capable of doing so, he's saying it for his safety," Owlette added.

You're saying the same differently. Gekko bitterly thought.

Owlette continued. "And it's not any device we are talking about, it's the Opposite Ray, you know how dangerous it can be. Let's not get risky with this one." She flew over to the Picture Player and choose the Gekko-mobile, then she headed downstairs with Catboy following close behind.

Gekko sighed and nodded; they did have a point on the Opposite Ray matter. He looked at Badgerclaw and signed. Stay, we'll handle this. It's not safe for you to run around without hearing the villains.

Badgerclaw seemed offended but frowned and nodded. Gekko waved goodbye at him, but he didn't even glance. With a small feeling of guilt, he headed to the lower room with the others. Was it the right idea?

Out in the woods, Gekko drove the Gekko-Mobile on silence. He still felt bad for sitting Badgerclaw out. He looked at the reflection of Catboy, who was looking at him. "Are you sure it was a good idea to leave Badgerclaw behind?"

Owlette answered. "It's safer for him until his devices are fixed."

"True, we can't risk him getting zapped by that ray because he couldn't hear Romeo, that device is one of the worst Romeo has made." Catboy agreed.

Gekko still wasn't convinced, he knew that Badgerclaw was perfectly capable of battling a villain without hearing them, his other senses were perfect, it was his hearing that was damaged. Yet again, Owlette and Catboy did have a point with the Opposite Ray being dangerous and Riley risking himself getting zapped.

They all spotted a green light in the forest ahead and Gekko stopped. "That's Romeo, surely." Said Catboy, jumping from the Gekko-Mobile.

Gekko rolled his eyes as he stepped out. Yeah no shit, Sherlock. He followed silently his teammates and into the forest where the light was spotted. Hiding behind bushes, he counted down to 1 with his fingers and they jumped into the clearing. "Stop you… anybody?"

Badgerclaw sat on the floor in front of PJ Robot. While he signed, he said to the little robot. "This means 'I love you'"

He couldn't hear the beeps of happiness PJ Robot did, but he felt his metallic hands clapping together and could imagine what they sounded like. He's been teaching PJ Robot sign language as he waited for the PJ Masks to defeat Romeo.

He sighed. Am I this useless? He tried to take his mind off the PJ Masks not letting him go with them, but he still felt the disappointment and that brought back all the sadness he felt. I'm just deaf, not paralyzed! I can still fight and see and do everything like them except hear!

He punched the ground and everything in the room moved slightly, the lights flickered and the PJ Picture Player malfunctioned. PJ Robot looked at him worriedly and then dashed off to the upper room to check if Owlette's room was affected, a question mark on his screen.

Badgerclaw put a hand under his chins and with the claws of his other hand started to gently rip the piece of paper PJ Robot was using to communicate with him earlier. Why do they have to treat me as if I'm helpless? I could easily rip Catboy's ears off without hearing him coming.

He scoffed and sat there, upset and bored. He waited for PJ Robot to come back, but after a while, nothing happened and Badgerclaw started to get suspicious. What was PJ Robot doing? He stood up and turned around to tap the elevators button.

His hand stopped a few inches from the button. Something was wrong, he could feel it. The Picture Player went off, and everything in the room stood still. He looked around, aware of every little thing that happened; everything seemed to move in slow-motion.

He watched the lights on the room swing slightly to one side to another. There's a breeze, something is making a breeze.

He looked at the glass of water Owlette left last time they were here. The water is moving, then something is moving. He looked at the ground, where his shadow became more darker and smaller. My shadow in decreasing, so there's a light being turned on, and if it is being turned on... He opened his eyes. Then there's someone above me!

He jumped out of the way in time as a green-ray shot on the ground. He looked up to the treehouse and saw Romeo with the Opposite Ray in hand. The dark-haired boy stomped his feet against the wood, and Badgerclaw felt Romeo's anger of missing his target.

Romeo aimed the Opposite Ray at him again and Badgerclaw raced for the tree. Spinning around, Romeo shot the ray and Badgerclaw jumped away, a smile on his face when the ray only hit the treehouse. He mocked Romeo and raced for the Cat-Car. "Will people ever learn that deaf doesn't mean useless?" He said out loud for Romeo to hear.

He could feel the vibrations of Romeo's shots as he tried to shoot him without no success. Badgerclaw hid behind the Cat-Car and tapped the side of his head, where his ear was. He felt the communicator turn on and although he didn't exactly hear anything, he felt the communicator vibe and he spoke up. "Romeo's in here!"

The only thing he felt was a small roaring in his ear and understood that they had gotten his message. He pressed himself against the floor and from the gap under the Cat-Car, he saw Romeo's boots approaching the right side of the car.

He crouched and slid his claws out, then waited for Romeo to appear. When he felt the steps getting stronger, he jumped at the wall then at Romeo, who was confused for several seconds. They both rolled on the ground and when he was clear that Romeo was disoriented, he raced for the elevators and headed for Gekko's room.

When he stepped out, he took a big breath and jumped in the water, swimming swiftly and skillfully under HQ then hiding under the bridge. What am I gonna do?

Catboy and Owlette sat on the back of the Gekko-mobile, Catboy's ears pinned against his head and Owlette's fingers fidgeting, each of their lips clenched together.

Catboy's tail tip moved up and down as he stared at Gekko, who wore a frown on his face and gripped on the steering wheel strongly. He opened his mouth to say something, but Gekko looking at him through the reflection made him only lean backward on his seat, curling his tail around his legs. This shouldn't have happened. He thought guiltily. Badgerclaw should've come with us.

"W-We didn't know Romeo was gonna be on HQ, Gekko, we-" Owlette tried to say.

"That's not what I'm mad about and you know it." Gekko rolled his eyes. "Well, only partly…"

Catboy's ears moved slightly. "We thought it was safer for him because Romeo was using-"

"The Opposite Ray, I know!" Gekko spat. "But that's only your excuse! You thought because he's deaf he's useless!"

Catboy's tail twitched. "That's not-"

"Yes, it is!" Gekko yelled. "You've done it before countless times before, he's not stupid and neither am I! That's exactly what ran through your heads the moment those devices broke."

Owlette and Catboy kept quiet. They knew he wasn't wrong.

Gekko growled. "That doesn't matter now. Our goal is to get to him before Romeo zaps him." Owlette and Catboy nodded and kept quiet until they reached the bridge that led to HQ.

When they stepped out, everything was deadly quiet except for a few crickets here and there. Inside didn't seem to be a commotion at all, in fact, when they opened the door the echo of the rooms only brought quiet to their ears. Gekko stepped inside carefully.

"Be careful," Catboy anxiously warned, but only got back a nod as a response. He hurried up and went after him with Owlette behind him. Each of them inspected their rooms for any sign of Romeo, only to end empty-handed.

Owlette came down from her room and said: "No Romeo upstairs, he must've left."

Catboy tapped his ear and asked, "What about you, Gekko?" When he received no response, both looked at each other and carefully made their way down. "Gekko…?" Catboy called.

Gekko was facing away from them, his hands and knees on the floor. His tail twitched and his breathing became unsteady. Catboy raced after him but Owlette blew him away with her Owl Wind. "What...?"

"Look…" She said, her eyes wide. Catboy looked over at Gekko and then noticed his scales becoming grey with blotches of black and dark green over his back and tail.

"One down, three to go." Romeo appeared behind one of Gekko's couches and aimed the ray at Catboy and Owlette. Catboy missed it for a hair, but Owlette on the other hand…

"Owlette!" Catboy ran to help her, but she raised a hand and stopped him.

"Just… get out of here…" She finally surrendered and collapsed on the floor, her feathers becoming violet.

Catboy leaped over to the door and ran as fast as he could. He crashed against the door and shook himself to get out of the dizziness, doing it on time as Dark Owl flew over him. He used the pad and opened the door, then ran outside as far as he could.

He used his speed to get out but Gekko used a similar speed and got on his way. "Going somewhere?" He jumped on Catboy and pinned him down on the ground, long black claws on his chest. "You didn't let me introduce myself, what a bad kitty you are," He said, then let his long tongue out like a snake.

"Gekko! Snap out of this, this isn't you!" Catboy fought under his grasp.

"Gekko? I don't know any Gekko," The lizard-themed villain smiled evilly. "I only know Neroshade, but if I see Gekko, I'll let him know you're worried about him,"

Catboy hissed and clawed Neroshade's face. The monitor lizard jumped back in rage and Catboy took the opportunity to get away. He sped into the forest but could hear Neroshade already on his tracks. He spun around hastily and ran past Neroshade, confusing the villain and making him angrier.

"Sharp Blast!" He heard him say.

Catboy ran at full speed and jumped behind a rock as long black claws flew in every direction. His chest moved up and down and he hid under the rock like a cat.

In the clearing, Neroshade yelled: "Come on, Pussycat! Where are you?!"

Catboy breathed out. How did this happen?

If only he would've had Badgerclaw in mind, none of this would've happened. He saw a shadow on the grass and guessed that Dark Owl was probably flying overhead. Dang it... this is all my fault...

Federico sat on his bed with his laptop on his lap. The room was only illuminated by the laptop's screen, the moonlight peering through the crystal door's of his balcony. He looked at the clock: 3 AM. He breathed out anxiously then tapped a button on his laptop.

After a few seconds, someone appeared on the other side of the screen. "Hey, Federico…"

Federico smiled. "Hey, Oliver! Watcha doin'?"

Oliver, a boy with tan dappled skin, black hair and olive eyes, waved vaguely through the screen. "Nothing much." Pause. "What about you?"

Federico felt a little taken aback with Oliver's attitude, but he shrugged it off, deciding that it was only Oliver's personality. "Well, I was doing some homework, I just finished." He said, showing two pieces of papers written over.

"Cool," Oliver responded cooly. "How was school?"

"Well, it could've been better." Federico thought he saw Oliver's lip twitch slightly, but ignored it; maybe it was the video quality. "You see, there was this boy that-"

"Isn't it a little bit too late for you to be calling me?" Oliver interrupted.

Federico stopped and felt suddenly anxious. "Well, yes, but I thought it was the time we agreed to talk with each other?"

Oliver looked down then back at the screen. "Well, about that…" Federico sat straight and looked at the screen, waiting for Oliver to keep talking. "I don't think we should keep talking with each other."

Federico couldn't believe his ears. "W-Why not?"

Oliver sighed and frowning he said. "Since you left I've been thinking about you like, a lot, and realized that you're nothing but a toxic person. You aren't worthy, you just hurt people. You've hurt a lot of people at school..."

Federico felt as if his heart was slowly breaking as he heard what his best friend was saying to him. "B-But I never hurt you!" He bared his teeth. "And I had my reasons! You know that!"

"Selfish reasons," Oliver answered coldly. "Everyone at school was right, we should've kept away from you."

Federico looked sad but quickly changed to an angry expression. "So that's what it's about! They put shit on your mind, just like they did with everybody else!"

"No, you've been the shit all this time and I didn't realize! That's what it's about! Goodbye, Federico." Oliver hung up the call and Federico only faced the screen. Angrily, he closed the laptop and laid on the bed, trying so hard not to cry. It's nothing, he's just like everybody else, it's nothing…

He stood up from the bed as he felt it would make him feel worse to just laid down, and stepped out in the balcony. The moon was covered by dark clouds as if she knew that something happened. He sighed curtly and then looked down, finally breaking down and letting tears escape his pink eyes.

He stopped when a loud boom and a flash of violet light not so far away shot into the sky. He wiped away his tears and confused, he watched the light spiral several times in the sky, as if it was lost.

When nothing happened, he doubted walked to the crystal door to get inside, but he couldn't as another loud boom filled the place. He turned around just in time to avoid a huge figure that crashed into the door of his balcony and landed inside his room. The sudden crash freaked out Federico, making him step backward and slip with one of the pieces of glass scattered on the ground.

He fell from the balcony, but reacting quickly, he managed to get a hold of one of the black bars and he hung there. He cried out. "Help me! Please!" But no one seemed to hear him. His feet moved on the air while he tried to reach with the other hand another bar. "Help!"

Someone grabbed his arm strongly and pulled him up into the safety of his balcony; his heart raced crazy. "¿¡Pero qué mierda?!" He looked at the person he had in front of him, probably a boy of his age, and backed away. "Who the fuck are you?"

The clouds that covered the moon moved and shone on the boy; Federico observed him. He was using a one-piece suit covered in matted black -or purple, he couldn't tell- and white fur. He had a spikey hair and two small round ears on his head.

The other was looking at him with eyes that were of a unique color that was somewhere in-between black and purple, just like his suit. Federico narrowed his eyes. I feel like I've seen those eyes before…

The teenager kneeled in front of him with a worried expression. "A-Are you okay?" He tried to reach Federico with his hands, that had long grey claws.

Federico backed away even more. "Don't you fucking dare to touch me!" He warned, grabbing a sharp piece of glass from the floor. "I asked, who the fuck are you?"
"C-Calm down, I'm not gonna hurt you-" The animal-themed boy said.

"You've almost killed me!" Federico snarled.

"I know, and I'm sorry about that, I can't control myself when I'm like that." The other said sitting on the floor, looking nervously around. "The name's Badgerclaw, I'm a member of the PJ Masks."

Federico looked incredulous. "The PJ Masks? Is this some sort of joke?"

"No, no, no! I swear!" He pointed at the sky. "You just saw me crash into your balcony from the sky!"

"Fair point…" Federico cautiously agreed. "Why into my balcony of out all of these?" He said, showing around.

"I'm kinda in a hurry right now, and you're the first person I spotted," Badgerclaw collapsed on the floor and breathed out heavily. "Damn it, that's tiring…"

Federico looked uncertain of what to do. "Why are you in a hurry?"

"My team…" Badgerclaw started. "Two of them had been turned into villains, and one needs my help… I didn't know what to do…" He sighed. "Maybe I'm helpless without these…"

He took from his ears two shiny devices and Federico asked. "What are those?"

Badgerclaw put them back in and said. "I'll guess you just asked what are these,"

"Yeah…?" It took Federico a couple of seconds to realized. "Oh." He pointed at Badgerclaw. "You're deaf…"

"I had to steal these from a nearby store," He confessed guiltily. He looked at Federico pleadingly. "Please, Federico, I need your help."

Federico's eyes opened. "How do you know my name?"

"Didn't you tell me?"

"No."

Both kept in silence, staring at each other in the eyes. Federico narrowed his eyes as he looked at Badgerclaw. Badgerclaw sighed and said: "Please, don't tell anybody," He touched the symbol on his chest and the same flashing light from before consumed Badgerclaw.

When the blinding light went away, Federico uncovered his eyes. They went wide when he looked at the boy he had in front of him. "You're Connor's friend! Um, uh-" He scratched his head. "H-Hailey?"

"Riley," Riley corrected.

"Sorry, I'm bad at names…" Federico apologized.

"No worries," Riley stood up and held a hand to Federico. He looked deeply into the other's eyes. "So, will you help me?"

Federico thought about it for a second. "Will it- Will it be dangerous?"

"I can't promise you that, it will be, but we have a better chance of defeating them if we fight together."

Federico sighed. "Alright, let's do this."

Catboy found himself being chased by Neroshade and Dark Owl through the empty streets of Tarabiscoville. He had a long scar on his side that Dark Owl made with her feathers, that now were shielded with iron edges.

Neroshade finally caught up to him, jumping onto him and both rolling on the ground. Neroshade put his arm around Catboy's neck and made him look up into the sky. "Prepare to join the gang, kitty."

From the sky, Romeo descended skillfully using a set of robotic arms attached to a device on his back. He wore an evil smile on his face as he walked up to Catboy. "Look what the cat dragged in, or well, the lizard,"

"What's the deal, Romeo?" Catboy spat.

"I need new sidekicks, what for?" Romeo scoffed.

Catboy rolled his eyes. "Last time that didn't work out so well now did it?"

"Well since then, unlike you, I improved," Romeo said. He held the Opposite Ray up for Catboy to see. "You see, since last time, I've been working on upgrading this device until it could only turn heroes into villains, but not the other way around," He put the tip of it on Catboy's nose. "So pests like you can't stop me from taking over the world,"

Catboy groaned. "It's been years since you tried to do that! Why now?"

Romeo adjusted the switch on the side of the device. "Something's different this year, I can feel it in my veins,"

Catboy looked at the tip of his tail moving up and down and frowning, he used it to slap Romeo. The tip of the device hit Neroshade and Catboy shot free from his grip. He was about to use his Super Cat Leap to get out of there, but Dark Owl used her Owl Wing Wind and sent him flying back to the ground. Angrily, Neroshade put his hands on his shoulders and bit Catboy on the throat with his fangs.

Catboy's felt that spot burn intensely and he scratched Neroshade's eyes trying to get free. He could feel his blood staining his suit and out of fear, he sank his claws on Neroshade's ribs. Neroshade backed away in pain and Catboy this time used all his strength and speed to flee away.

It didn't take Dark Owl and Neroshade long to catch up with him. Dark Owl spoke up. "Poor little pussycat, he can't even defend himself," She pouted falsely.

Catboy looked at Neroshade and noticed that blood streamed from his sides. "You're gonna pay for this," Neroshade snarled.

He looked around to try and find something he could use to get free, but there was nothing he could find. He closed his eyes as Romeo appeared again. "You never learn, do you?"

Before he could touch the pavement, a small, rounded object like a grenade appeared in-between Catboy and the villains. He instantly knew what it was, and before it could explode, he crouched against the ground as much as he could.

The rounded object exploded and a bunch of long claws shot in every direction, shooting everything that was standing. Dark Owl's wings were stabbed with them and Neroshade had two of them stabbed in the haunches.

When Catboy looked up, he saw Badgerclaw shot up from a dark alley and into Neroshade. He was surprised when someone else, a dark-skinned boy with pink eyes and a hockey mask, followed Badgerclaw with a rope in his hands and tied up Romeo's robotic arms together. Romeo fell onto the street and angrily yelled:

"What are you waiting for? Go get them!"

Neroshade tried to go after Badgerclaw but couldn't due to the pain on his legs. Dark Owl found herself troubled to fly as she tried to catch the other masked boy. Catboy took the opportunity and stood up, using his speed to get him, Badgerclaw and the other boy away from them. "You came at the right moment!" He told them.

"Yeah, no shit," Badgerclaw responded, putting his hand over Catboy's wound.

They arrived at HQ and once inside, Catboy instantly used the Picture Player to lock everything up. Badgerclaw looked unsure. "That's not gonna do much, Romeo somehow infiltrated HQ after you left," He said.

"I don't care, I just... need some time... away from them..." His hands stopped pressing buttons suddenly and he fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Badgerclaw raced after him with the other boy by his side.

"Are you okay?!" He asked.

"I think Neroshade's bite had venom..." The masked boy said.

Catboy looked at him and his vibrant pink eyes. "Federico...?" The masked boy looked surprised and took his masks off. He was about to say something but Catboy cut him off. "I only met one person with those gorgeous eyes, and that's you," He smiled, pain in his eyes.

Federico took the mask off and had a worried expression. "Connor...?" Suddenly strange noises were heard all around and both Badgerclaw and Federico huddled around Catboy, ready to defend their friend if the situation needed it.

A small piece of the ground was moved and a small black screen peaked in carefully with a worried expression. Badgeclaw smiled. "PJ Robot! You're okay!" The little robot started to make noises that Catboy now could barely hear and Badgerclaw said. "You hid when Romeo tried to catch you? No wonder you were taking so long..."

Catboy's vision became blurry and his throat burnt lots. "It hurts..." He wailed.

Federico put his hand on his cheeks then on his head and gasped quietly. "He has a fever!" He looked at Badgerclaw. "He wasn't like this,"

Badgerclaw looked anxious. "The venom must be getting the best of him..." Catboy's vision started to fade out slowly but could make the last words Badgerclaw told him.

"Hold on, Catboy, we've got you..."

Thanks for reading and please, don't forget to review, they mean a lot to me :)!