CHAPTER SEVENTEEN ~ HALLOWEEN STORY TIME **CLAWS OF TERROR** A BRAND NEW BASIL AND THE B TEAM ADVENTURE FOR 2024

Claws of Terror is an action-packed and immersive adventure that takes mew on a journey through a world of danger and excitement. The story draws mew in with vivid and detailed descriptions of the intense battles and spine-tingling encounters, making mew feel as though mew are right there with The B Team, fighting for survival.

HANG ON TIGHT GUYS, THIS IS GOING TO BE ONE WILD NIGHT!!!

If mew missed the start of this brand-new adventure click the link below:

Chapter One   Chapter Two   Chapter Three    Chapter Four    Chapter Five

Chapter Six    Chapter Seven    Chapter Eight     Chapter Nine     Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven     Chapter Twelve     Chapter Thirteen     Chapter Fourteen     Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

 

Chapter Seventeen

Well, I Never Saw That One Coming!

Mew know being marooned on an unidentified planet in the Thirteenth Parallel is, in all honesty, not my idea of fun, on any level. The only saving grace, is that we’re were armed to the teeth and maybe this Meow-Da dude might point us in the right direction for a way home.

          Mog’s lucid green eyes were as big as dinner plates as he stared in utter horror at the altar.

Miss Warts froze in terror as she watched the swirling red vortex grow larger and larger, as a violent wind whipped up and blasted everything everywhere.

Pandora nudged Posie. “Posie, that doesn’t look good!” she said in her odd, little foreign accent.

Posie whirled around. “Mew’re right there. We need to go.”

Grabbing Mogs by the paw, Pandora headed towards the door, as Posie tugged on Miss Warts’ robe, snapping her out of the stunned reverie.

Lightning crackled within the vortex and several electric red bolts shot outwards, blasting everything inside the church. The smell of burning brimstone filled the air as the beautiful wooden pews exploded, and the exquisite stained glass windows shattered inwards, causing shards of glass to hurtle through the air, like a spray of deadly rainbow daggers.

Pandora reacted instantly, and a magical bubble surrounded them, encasing them inside a protective force field, just as the lethal shards and wooden fragments bombarded them.

“Holy Mother of Fluff!” Posie hissed, as the bubble wobbled with the onslaught. “Let’s get out of here.”

Just as Pandora lifted the latch on the door, a figure tumbled out of the vortex and rolled down the aisle, screaming and wailing until it came to an ungainly stop about twenty feet away from the door.

The heap of twisted limbs among a billowing robe was still screaming as the vortex started shrinking until, with an earsplitting pop, it vanished.

Fighting its way out of its entanglement, the figure stood up. It took huge lungfuls of air as it leaned against what was left of the nearest stone column.

Pandora muttered, “Invisio expleminito!” And the magical bubble rippled.

“What did mew just do?” Mogs whispered.

“I made us invisible!” Pandora murmured, not taking her eyes off the gasping, and now choking intruder.

The church door had swung wide open, and the four of them began to silently back out of the desecrated church.

They had just reached the path outside the porch when the figure screamed again. Glancing around the edge of the stonework, they saw flames billowing up from the bottom of the figure’s robe as it ran towards the door, shrieking as it stumbled and tripped several times all the way down the slippery church path through the lichgate and out onto the narrow country lane.

“Wow!” Mogs breathed. “That was unexpected.”

“Mew’re not kidding,” Posie agreed.

“UH OH!” Pandora gasped. “And it’s about to get a whole lot worse.”

Miss Warts pointed through the swirling mist as a huge barrage of flames lit up the sky with an eery orange glow.

Funghorn Furkle was streaking down the tree-lined lane, howling in terror as he crashed into the newcomer, and they both tumbled into a burning heap as Vera emerged from the fog, breathing the fire of all hell and damnation.

The naked Funghorn Furkle pushed the flaming-robed figure away, landing in a dirty puddle at the side of the lane as he squealed like a pig in a slaughterhouse.

>^.^<

The terrifying howling sounded off in the distance, and in that moment, I saw the stone circle we’d originally landed in was gone.

“Basil, where’s the stone circle?” Snowie asked worriedly.

I scanned the area, and the cold dread of icy fingers crawled up my spine in a rather disconcerting manner. “Parsley, can mew quickly scan the area?”

Pulling the pocket scanner from his tactical vest, Parsley did a full rotation, then looked at the screen and said. “Basil, there’s no energy signature at all. It’s a complete blank.”

“Are we stuck here?” Amber asked, her eyes wide with terror as another howl sounded.

I pondered the possibilities and realised I had only one option: trust the ancient Sphynx cat.

“Snowie, Amber, I don’t know the answer to either of your questions. The only thing I do know is that we should go with Meow-Da if we want to survive,” I answered.

Darkness enveloped the planet in an instant. Meow-Da beckoned us to hurry as he headed into a rocky ravine. The high, craggy sides vanished into the night, making it impossible to determine their height. The air chilled dramatically the further we went, and I heard Amber complaining that she needed an extra fur coat.

The M-Unit were at my six with weapons ready, while Fudge and Parsley were on my three, and Smooch and Humphrey were on my nine. I checked the clip in my Uzi for the umpteenth time as the blooding curdling howls increased, getting closer and closer.

Meow-Da pointed with his cabbage stalk walking stick towards a cave at the foot of a particularly rugged cliff face. “Safe in there, we will be,” he said, his voice sounding like a gravelly landslide.

“Basil, are mew sure about this?” Smooch asked, weapon up and scanning the darkness above.

Another howl sounded, and it was close, closer than I liked, as I replied. “Smooch, get your furry backside in there, and then we’ll worry about it, ok dude?”

He shrugged and ducked under the low rock lintel. And just after we trooped inside, a large metal door on rattling chains clanked downward and sealed the exit shut.

We were in total darkness for a split second, and then torches placed around the cave walls burst into flame, illuminating the space with a warm amber glow.

Unexpectedly, a fire pit at the cave’s centre burst into life, and the flames licked high into the air. We crowded around as the warmth leached through the damp space and took the chill away.

I swiftly scanned the cave for threats, but there was nothing untoward that I could see. The ground felt sandy beneath my paws, and a strange purple luminescent moss covered some of the of walls and rocks.

I saw Melvyn scrambling over some larger boulders, trying to get to a small pool, the water trickling down from a hole much higher up the rock face.

“Melvyn, don’t drink that. We don’t know if it’s safe!” I shouted.

Meow-Da put a wrinkled paw on my shoulder and said. “Safe it is. Drink mew can.”

I nodded and said. “Just small sips, ok?”

Melvyn nodded back and tasted it. “Uncle Basil, it’s delicious!” he squeaked joyfully and lapped at the water.

Bomber climbed up next to him and began filling his water bottle, and his team promptly joined him.

Humphrey peered around and nudged me. “Dude, mew know we’re trapped, right?”

I nodded and looked down at Meow-Da, and was just about to speak when something hit the metal door with such force that it rattled and shook.

“What the fluff was that?” Fudge asked, pointing his AA12 at the door. And before I could blink, everyone had weapons pointed at the door.

“Meow-Da, I think mew have some explaining to do.”

“Sit mew will,” he replied calmly, indicating towards the smaller boulders surrounding the fire pit.

Amber was rummaging through her basket. She lifted out her Uzi, placing it precisely on the ground, followed by several spare clips, the books and then right at the bottom of the bag she pulled out some snacks.

BBHQ’s very own version of a protein bar called The Epically Epic B.T. Bar.

“Amber!” Smooch grinned. “Who’s my favourite feline ever?”

“Hungry Smooch?” Amber chuckled.

“Do mew even need to ask?” he laughed as she threw him a bar.

“And don’t panic, there’s enough for everyone,” she said, passing the foil-wrapped delicacies around.

There was another crashing thud at the door, and then a repeated battering began; screeching howls and hungry, desperate growls filled the air. The scratching and scrabbling intensified as whatever was out there wanted in.

Unopened B.T. bars hit the floor as weapons were raised, and we watched with trepidation as the metal door quivered, creaked, and quaked.

Meow-Da waved a gnarled paw, instantly diminishing the noise to a minimum. It was like he’d turned the volume down.

“Worry not. Snagrazor beasts cannot enter,” Meow-Da reassured us as he sat hunched on the rock nearest the fire pit.

We sat on the warm rocks and let the glow of the fire soothe our frazzled nerves; then, picking up our snacks and brushing the sand off the wrappers, we ate in silence.

“Waiting long time for mew, I have,” he said finally. “Help mew return home, I will.”

There was a collective sigh of relief from around the fire pit, and the flames danced in response.

“Have the tools, mew do,” he continued.

I wanted to ask questions, but I knew that this was not the time, and I needed Meow-Da to say what he needed to say.

“Come with mew, I will,” he added. “Help mew with other problem, I will.”

We all looked at him with confusion.

“Crimsona Ubel, the red evil,” he croaked and coughed loudly. The name obviously meant more to him than we knew. “Finish her, mew must. In your paws Commander Basil, the fate of everything rests. But help, I will.”

I nodded, not wanting him to stop talking.

“Return tomorrow,” Meow-Da said, closing his eyes, and in the next second, he was snoring like a family of warthogs.

My team and The M-Unit looked at me. Humphrey said quietly. “Seems like that sorceress is well known around the dimensions.”

“That’s rather worrying,” Snowie added.

Amber nodded. “Does that mean she’s a serial realm wrecker?”

Smoke looked at the iPaw tablet Humphrey had given him in the boardroom and said. “My data crystal shows other dimensions she tried to decimate. She’s tried the same thing in several universes.”

“How come mew didn’t mention this before?” Fudge asked, his head tilted to the side as he assessed Smoke.

Smoke, realising that he was under intense pressure, took a breath and said rather sheepishly. “Before I joined The M-Unit, I worked in data collection and retrieval in my timeline. I was, for want of a better title, a spy. And I was privy to a mission brief about the entity known as Crimsona Ubel.”

Bomber, Shadow and Ice stared wide-eyed at Smoke. “Mew never told us that,” Bomber growled, his paw slowly reaching for his blaster.

Smoke put his paws up, trying to placate the situation.

I knew in that moment a trust had been broken, and I gave my team the look, the one that meant, stand down and say nothing. I saw Amber pull Melvyn closer and wrap a protective paw around him while he continued to chomp noisily on his B.T. bar.

Smoke was clearly distressed, and I could see things were going to escalate quickly between the Maine Coons, which was the last thing I wanted.

Standing and stepping between the cats, I said as calmly as possible. “This is neither the time nor the place. Whoever Smoke was before he joined your unit, Bomber, that version of him is long gone.” I took a breath and watched the cats. “Smoke has been a loyal memfur of your team. He’s never done anything to jeopardise any of your previous missions, right?”

Bomber looked at me, eyes narrowed as he thought about my question. He shook his head. “Nope, never.”

“He’s done everything he can, and dude, in 2033, he was nearly fluffing toast trying to save Melvyn. If he was a dud, I can tell mew this. Pandora would have known the minute she set eyes on him. Mew see she has this amazing affinity to know what someone’s true motives are, whether they are loyal and the likelihood of betrayal.”

Shadow looked at Smoke and said. “We’re mew going to sell us out?”

“Fluff no!” Smoke choked the words out. “Mew are my brothers, my family. The only family I’ve got.”

“We’re mew asked to spy on us when mew first joined our unit?” Ice demanded, his face tensed, fangs bared.

Smoke wailed. “I didn’t tell mew because I knew mew’d never trust me if mew’d known I’d worked for the Feline Fanatacists!”

“I can’t believe mew worked for those evil, muther fluffers,” Shadow growled. “Do mew know how many innocents they tortured and condemned to death because of fluffers like mew?”

Smoke hung his head in shame. “I didn’t have a choice. They took my baby sister and told me that if I didn’t help them, they’d kill her.”

There was a collective hiss around the fire pit.

“What would mew have done?” he pleaded.

“Stop!” I said as Bomber stood up suddenly.

“I would have got my sister away and ran,” he snarled, leering at Smoke.

“They had her in the tower,” Smoke blurted. “Mew know that anyone in the tower never leaves.”

The three Maine Coons looked ready to explode.

Smoke put his head in his paws. “They killed her anyway when I refused to do a job. It’s my fault she died, and I have to live with that every single day.”

“What was the job mew refused?” Bomber snarled.

Smoke cleared his throat, looked directly at his commanding officer and said. “They wanted me to infiltrate and gather intel about your commander-in-chief, Tank.” he paused momentarily. “They wanted any information that would enable them to depose him legitimately and take over The M-Unit programme forever.”

Ice was ready to strike, but Humphrey stood before the huge cat and said. “I understand your anger. I understand your desire to lash out however, Smoke paid the ultimate price for protecting your unit and The M-Unit programme. His sister was murdered because of his loyalty to mew. Now, if that doesn’t speak volumes, then mew guys really need to go and take a long hard look in the mirror.”

The brawny cats sat down, knowing Humphrey was right, and they looked down in shame at the floor.

“My little sister was called Ophelia, and she was the cutest, kindest cat mew could ever wish to meet. She had a smile for everyone and an inner light that just glowed.” he choked back the tears. “I never thought they’d kill her. I thought I could just fluff them along with bogus intel, but I didn’t know someone else had recently recruited into The M-Unit programme to watch me.”

The three Maine Coons looked at him with curiosity.

“Remember Gunner?” Smokes’ face changed, and a look of utter hatred filled his eyes. “Well, Gunner was the low-life muther fluffer who ratted me out to the head of the Feline Fanatacists, and he delighted in showing me the video of my sister being executed.”

The M-Unit looked stunned, like everything they knew just crumbled apart.

Silence filled the space, and Snowie went to sit by Smoke; she put a paw on his cheek and said very softly. “I’ve met your little sister in the Rainbow Realm. And she really is all of those things mew said.”

**AND CUT**

Guys, mew know how we roll, so many apologies to cut it right there, but we will say, fluff me, and fluffing fluff, it’s just so bonkers!!! MOL 

OH MY COD! Who’d Have Thought Smoke was hiding such a terrible secret?

Can we trust Meow-DA? Or are we in for a surprise fluffing?

and

How does Snowie know Ophelia, and will Smoke get to see her again?

If you would like to read Chapter 18, let us know in the comments, as OH MY CAT, this is getting wilder each week. In fact, the P.A. has decided to stay in bed until this saga ends, as it’s all just too much! MOL

  Remember, this story is for mew, and mew decide if it continues.

Don’t forget to check out yesterday’s Smooch Around The Wurld post if mew missed it, and we’ll be back tomorrow with some more Midweek News.

In the meantime...

Wing Commander Basil & The B Team 

Click Here to go to Chapter 18 

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