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Speaker 1: Hello friends, and welcome to sleep Tight Stories. Did you

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Speaker 1: know that we have a fun collection of clothing you

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Speaker 1: can wear. Check out our collection by visiting sleep tightstories

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Speaker 1: dot org and clicking merch Thank you. Last chapter, we

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Speaker 1: saw Tucker and Vinnie argue about saving Susan and then

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Speaker 1: decide that they needed to work together to try and

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Speaker 1: help the cats in Cat City. Julian is ready to

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Speaker 1: open the gate and let the rats in and make

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Speaker 1: himself the new king of Cat City. Finally gets to

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Speaker 1: the shore and sees a large number of rats. They

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Speaker 1: are waiting. She quickly decides she's got to do something.

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Speaker 1: In this chapter, Susan is running away from the rats.

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Speaker 1: Now that she has their attention, She hopes that she

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Speaker 1: can lose them in the maze and then they will

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Speaker 1: not be able to find their way to the city.

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Speaker 1: Susan gets away from the rats and recognizes where she

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Speaker 1: is and then heads to Kai's house to help. Once

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Speaker 1: she is there, she heads for the gate. What wonders

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Speaker 1: is she too late? Cat City? Chapter seventeen and eighteen.

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Speaker 1: Susan listened, hoping beyond hope as she fled the first

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Speaker 1: few feet, hearing nothing behind her and worrying suddenly. She

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Speaker 1: accomplished nothing after all, until she heard them coming, as

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Speaker 1: though all of them were following her, their claws scrambling

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Speaker 1: on the rock. She risked a look over her shoulder

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Speaker 1: and ran harder. Hundreds of eyes were getting closer and closer,

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Speaker 1: their silence turning to shrieks and piercing squeals as they

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Speaker 1: chased her. Susan ducked into a corridor she hadn't used

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Speaker 1: yet and kept running. The rats were fast, but she

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Speaker 1: was bigger. Still, she knew her and would run out

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Speaker 1: very quickly, and adrenaline was the only thing keeping her

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Speaker 1: feet flying. She threw another look over her shoulder and

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Speaker 1: saw the rats were falling back. Susan rounded another corner

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Speaker 1: and kept going. Her plan was simple. If she could

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Speaker 1: run them around the maize long enough and around enough corners,

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Speaker 1: maybe she could get them as lost as her, so

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Speaker 1: they wouldn't be able to get to the city after all.

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Speaker 1: She slowed at one point and turned around. The rats

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Speaker 1: were farther behind than she liked. She waited for them

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Speaker 1: to catch up a bit. What's the matter, she called

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Speaker 1: down the tunnel. Can't keep up. The rats surged after her,

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Speaker 1: and the chase was on again. Susan tired rapidly and

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Speaker 1: decided to put an end to it. She was all

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Speaker 1: turned around as well and could only hope the effort

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Speaker 1: she made would be of some help. She found a corner,

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Speaker 1: slipped around it and waited. The rats surged past her

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Speaker 1: at a dead run, squeaking and hissing, their eyes, not

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Speaker 1: once leaving the corridor ahead of them. Stupid rats, she thought.

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Speaker 1: Susan waited a full minute after the last rat had

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Speaker 1: passed to peek out and check the rats were gone.

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Speaker 1: She heaved a sigh of relief and looked around quickly,

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Speaker 1: deciding the tunnel she was in was the only safe

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Speaker 1: one to take, and started out and almost immediately ran

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Speaker 1: into rats. Fortunately for her, there were only a handful

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Speaker 1: and they didn't see her. She froze crouching against the

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Speaker 1: wall as the rats glittered on ahead of her. She

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Speaker 1: watched them go, trying to decide whether to turn around

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Speaker 1: or keep going after them. The rats were almost out

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Speaker 1: of sight. Taking a huge risk, she stood up and followed.

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Speaker 1: Susan could hear them chattering and squeaking up ahead, but

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Speaker 1: she couldn't make them out. She followed as far back

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Speaker 1: as she dared, not wanting to lose them. It was

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Speaker 1: her guess that these rats either were leader rats, or

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Speaker 1: knew where they were going, or were deserters looking for

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Speaker 1: an exit. Either way, she figured it was her best

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Speaker 1: bed to see where they went. She was so intent

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Speaker 1: on keeping up with them she almost missed a familiar sight.

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Speaker 1: Susan just glanced to her left and realized she was

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Speaker 1: walking past her cell. Her heart lifted. I know where

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Speaker 1: I am, she thought, excited, Susan hung back and waited

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Speaker 1: a moment to be sure the rats were farther ahead

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Speaker 1: before easing opened the door and looking in. Sure enough,

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Speaker 1: it was her familiar prison. Susan resisted, jumping up and

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Speaker 1: down in joy, but only barely. She quickly left the

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Speaker 1: cell and began to run. Within moments, she was at

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Speaker 1: the door to Ky's house. She pushed against it, hoping

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Speaker 1: to force it open, but found it unlocked. She slipped

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Speaker 1: into the library, where she and Tucker confided in the counselor.

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Speaker 1: It was empty, not even any food, laughed, she thought,

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Speaker 1: stomach turning remembering the yummy stuff that had been on

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Speaker 1: the table only a short time before. Susan shook her

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Speaker 1: head and made her way through the house. It was

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Speaker 1: very quiet. She found the front door and looked out.

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Speaker 1: Cats ran everywhere in a seeming panic. She hoped that

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Speaker 1: meant Vinnie raised the alarm after all, but it also

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Speaker 1: meant the front door was out. She hunted some more frantic.

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Speaker 1: Now she needed to get to the gate. Time was

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Speaker 1: running short. As if in response to her thought, the

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Speaker 1: grandfather clock in the front hall began to toll the hour.

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Speaker 1: There has to be another exit, Susan thought, besides into

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Speaker 1: the tunnels. Even as she thought it, she found it.

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Speaker 1: The back door opened onto a quiet alley. Susan looked

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Speaker 1: out both ways before exiting. She went to one end

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Speaker 1: and peeked out. That street led down into the center

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Speaker 1: of the city. Susan could only guess the gate would

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Speaker 1: be on the outside. She ran to the other end

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Speaker 1: and was rewarded. The gate was in plane view and unmistakable,

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Speaker 1: a big, thick silver structure shining softly in the permolite. Susan,

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Speaker 1: throwing caution to the wind, headed for it at a

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Speaker 1: dead run, not caring that the cats she ran past

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Speaker 1: stared at her. She made it to the gate, panting

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Speaker 1: and gasping, her feet aching from tripping on stones and

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Speaker 1: cracks in the street, socks almost completely torn away. She

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Speaker 1: caught her breath as she took in what happened. Two

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Speaker 1: guards lay still on the ground at the gate. Susan

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Speaker 1: ran towards the traitorous captain Julian, but too late. As

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Speaker 1: she neared him, her hands reached out to grab him.

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Speaker 1: He released his spell, and the gate began to open

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Speaker 1: toward him. The rats came flooding in. Tucker arrived just

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Speaker 1: in time to see a column of rats come through

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Speaker 1: the now open gate. He couldn't see past it, but

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Speaker 1: knew Julian had to be on the other side of

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Speaker 1: the large door. Ignoring the rats who tried to take

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Speaker 1: him down, Tucker bounded his way through them, sometimes over

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Speaker 1: their backs, until he reached the inside of the open

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Speaker 1: gate and received a huge surprise. Susan held a spitting

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Speaker 1: and slashing Julian by the scruff of the neck. Bad kitty,

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Speaker 1: she said, as she shook the furious cat. Bad bad kitty.

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Speaker 1: Julian howled at her and managed to get his claws

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Speaker 1: into her wrists. Susan cried out, but shook him again

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Speaker 1: and he let go. Susan Tucker cried. She looked over

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Speaker 1: at him and burst into tears. Tucker, I couldn't stop

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Speaker 1: him in time. He made it to her side. Hold him,

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Speaker 1: Tucker said, I need to get help. We need to

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Speaker 1: close the gate first, Susan insisted. Tucker bounded away, called

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Speaker 1: behind him, saying, I can't I'll be back back. Just

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Speaker 1: make sure you hold him, he finished, just as he

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Speaker 1: made it to the guardhouse. He's not going anywhere. He

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Speaker 1: heard her call after him. Tucker made it to the

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Speaker 1: top of the tower in record time, his heart lifted.

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Speaker 1: The rats were in, but Susan was alive and Vinnie

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Speaker 1: would be at the tunnel by now. With fighters. Tucker

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Speaker 1: couldn't close the gate. His magic wasn't keyed to it,

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Speaker 1: the only duty of gatekeeping he hadn't been allowed. He

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Speaker 1: needed reinforcements. All he could do was to warn the city.

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Speaker 1: Tucker skidded to a halt next to the huge horn

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Speaker 1: standing at the top. To his knowledge, the horn was

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Speaker 1: only ever used once, long ago, before the city moved.

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Speaker 1: Tucker gathered his power and blew the horn. The sound

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Speaker 1: rose from the top of the tower, carrying from one

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Speaker 1: end of Cat's City to the other. Tucker, standing next

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Speaker 1: to it, covered his ears by burying his head in

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Speaker 1: his forearms. It was so loud. He waited for the

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Speaker 1: last note to die before spinning and running back down

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Speaker 1: to Susan. He emerged from the tower to see the

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Speaker 1: rats rozen in place, not from magic, he knew, but

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Speaker 1: from fear. Their column halted from the first note, and

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Speaker 1: Tucker could already hear the howling of approaching cats coming

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Speaker 1: to answer the horn. He bounded up to Susan just

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Speaker 1: as Julian twisted free and attacked, howling in fury and frustration.

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Speaker 1: You think you've stopped us, He landed on her shoulders.

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Speaker 1: You've done nothing. Cat City will be mine. Tucker flew

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Speaker 1: at Julian and landed on him, his weight, sending Susan

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Speaker 1: to her knees. Your fight is with me, Tucker howled.

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Speaker 1: Let her go. Julian pulled free and leaped from Susan's back,

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Speaker 1: landing lightly to face Tucker. Come, he said, in a hiss,

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Speaker 1: Let's see how many lives you have left. Tucker gathered

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Speaker 1: his strength as he heard a distant alarm sound coming

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Speaker 1: from somewhere else in the city. Vinny, knowing the city

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Speaker 1: was alerted at last, Tucker focused on Julian Tucker, Susan said,

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Speaker 1: be careful. He flicked his tail at her and went

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Speaker 1: after the traitor. Susan could only watch as Tucker stalked forward.

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Speaker 1: She just wanted to run and hide, to let the

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Speaker 1: cats deal with the rats now that they were aware.

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Speaker 1: And they were aware, they flooded the gate, attacking the rats,

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Speaker 1: but by now the rats made up their minds to fight,

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Speaker 1: and more were coming. She risked a peak around the

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Speaker 1: edge of the gate and was shocked. There seemed to

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Speaker 1: be no end to them. As far as her eye

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Speaker 1: could see into the dark tunnel past the gate. The

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Speaker 1: rats were coming, and the only things keeping them from

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Speaker 1: all pouring in at once were the narrowness of the

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Speaker 1: tunnel approach and the fact only one half of the

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Speaker 1: gate was open. Susan knew then if she could get

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Speaker 1: the gate closed, they would stand a chance. She pushed

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Speaker 1: against it, but couldn't get it to budge. She put

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Speaker 1: her back against it and shoved as hard as she could,

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Speaker 1: heels digging into the stone, but the gate remained stubbornly open. Magic,

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Speaker 1: she thought, darn, I need magic to close the gate.

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Speaker 1: Susan turned to get Tucker and came face to face

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Speaker 1: with Kai, I don't know how you survived, Kai said,

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Speaker 1: eyes flashing fire again, tail thrashing, But that will not last.

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Speaker 1: Step away from the gate, Susan, He's worried, she thought,

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Speaker 1: Why does he think I'm a threat? I don't even

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Speaker 1: have any magic, or do I? Susan shook her head.

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Speaker 1: Get lost, she said, I'm busy. She pushed again, but

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Speaker 1: still no luck. There has to be away, she thought.

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Speaker 1: Kai slunk closer, belly low, tail twitching. Only human magic

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Speaker 1: can close it, and only a few cats have it.

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Speaker 1: He said, I guess you'd be one. She knew she

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Speaker 1: was right when he flinched and snarled at her. I

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Speaker 1: warn you, girl, he hissed. Step away from the gate now.

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Speaker 1: Susan ignored him, trying to think. Kai leaped at her.

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Speaker 1: She ducked, swatting at him with her hands, knocking him

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Speaker 1: to the ground. She got hold of him, as she

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Speaker 1: had with Julian, pinning him by the scruff of the neck.

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Speaker 1: Unlike Julian, he didn't fight. Instead, Susan felt that thrill,

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Speaker 1: the same one from the statue in the garden, go

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Speaker 1: through her when she touched the cat. Shocked, she almost

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Speaker 1: let him go. Kai froze under her grip. Release me,

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Speaker 1: he said, as if Susan said, use your magic to

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Speaker 1: close the gate and I'll think about it. Kai tensed

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Speaker 1: and started to laugh. Forgive me, he said, I am

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Speaker 1: a fool here. I thought you knew. Release me, Susan,

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Speaker 1: you are in no danger from me. Knew what she asked.

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Speaker 1: Let me go. Kai stopped laughing and lay limp on

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Speaker 1: the ground. Be a good kiddy, she said, releasing him slowly.

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Speaker 1: Kai stood up and shook himself. He looked up at her.

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Speaker 1: So much is lost to your people now, he said.

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Speaker 1: A shame, really, especially considering how close you came to

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Speaker 1: being able to save the city all by yourself. She

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Speaker 1: scowled down at him. What are you talking about? Goodbye, Susan,

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Speaker 1: Kai said, and threw a ball of pink light directly

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Speaker 1: at her. And that's the end of this chapter. But

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Speaker 1: come back next time to see is Susan going to

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Speaker 1: figure it out and be able to close the gate.

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Speaker 1: Good Night, sleep tight,