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

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     Chapter Eighteen     Chapter Nineteen

 

Chapter Twenty

The Final Showdown

I must say that this had been one of the most bizarre nights of my life, and right now, in this moment, I was looking forward to finishing it once and for all. After all, it was Purrsday evening and Strictly Come Pouncing was on at 11.30pm and that is one show I hate to miss! And if I’m honest, I really enjoy the Purrsday evening ritual of a nice cup of catnip cocoa and getting ready to watch.

          Smooch popped up behind me. Shadow was helping Fudge, who was limping quite badly. He couldn’t seem to put any weight on his back paw, and Smoke, followed by Parsley, was bringing up the rear as they’d retraced their steps through the next-door garden.

Bomber tapped me on the shoulder and pointed down the drive. “She’s coming back this way,” he whispered.

I nodded and then looked at my team and the M-Unit. “Weapons ready dudes. It looks like we’re going to have a showdown on Main Street!”

Miss Warts and Mogs had struggled to their feet, and Pandora wobbled as she used the wall to steady herself as she stood up.

I suddenly noticed Melvyn crouching next to Fudge and a soft green light flowed from his paw, bathing Fudge’s injury.

“Wow, that’s warm!” Fudge murmured, as the green glow intensified.

“Don’t worry Uncle Fudge, mew’ll be better in a minute,” Melvyn replied. “I’m really good at this.”

I smiled to myself and felt so proud of my young nephew. He was such a pawesome little dude.

The M-Unit stood behind Smooch, Parsley, and Humphrey, who were kneeling down, their weapons pointed straight at the mouth of the driveway. I slid next to Humphrey and said quietly. “Ready dude?”

He nodded, replying. “We’ve got to finish this tonight Basil, Crimsona Ubel has to go and meet her maker.”

“I know,” I answered. “And we’re going to blast her with everything we’ve got.”

We could hear her footsteps crunching on the gravel, as the red fog swirled with as much malevolence as fog could.

The air went ominously still, and the fog started to feel warm.

Fudge appeared at my side.

“How’s the paw?” I asked.

“Like fluffing brand new, Melvyn is a total star,” he replied.

The approaching footsteps went silent. The red mist had reduced visibility to only a few paw widths, and we all held our breath as we waited for the Red Evil to make her move.

The heat surged, and my fur prickled with the strange phenomenon. My hackles rose, and I growled, a deep rumbling filling my entire body.

“Oh Basil, where art thou?” Crimsona Ubel chanted. Her voice seemed to float on the air, coming from all directions at once.

Taking a quick glance around, I replied in the same singsong tone. “Waiting to put a bullet through your forehead!”

She cackled. It was guttural and harsh and made me bristle. “Oh Basil, Basil, Basil,” she said. “You only wish you could stop me.”

Miss Warts, Mogs, Pandora and Melvyn had joined paws, obviously Miss Warts had a hand, and she held Mog’s paw tightly, and then Meow-Da materialised out of nowhere and took Miss Warts’ other hand. The five of them stood behind the M-Unit, while Posie, Amber, and Snowie took the line behind them.

I wasn’t sure at first what was happening because I wanted Melvyn and Pandora as far away from this evil lunatic as possible. Then it hit me, not literally, just figuratively, that the five of them together, with their combined powers, could probably raise entire cities to the ground.

Murmuring into my comms unit, I said. “Everybody flank Melvyn and Pandora.”

Crimsona Ubel took that moment to release a barrage of red fire straight at us. The heat was scorching. But an invisible barrier stopped it a few feet in front of us, and the flames shot off skywards.

The Red evil snarled and tried again. Her power increased, but the invisible barrier held and her assault did nothing. The red mist had been evaporated by the heat, and Crimsona Ubel was in full view, standing in the centre of Main Street.

I didn’t hesitate. “Open fire!”

Bullets hurtled towards Crimsona, the sound was deafening, and the smell of gunpowder and burnt cordite filled the air.

I reloaded and opened fire again. The M-Unit’s blasters were whining as the lethal rays hit the Red Evil. She had more holes in her than a colander, and staggering to the side, she fell to her knees before collapsing on the damp asphalt.

It was then that I noticed a trickle of red light being leached from her, and it swirled through the night straight towards the magical five standing behind me.

With a sudden glance over my shoulder, I noticed a twinkling crystal bottle on the ground in front of Pandora, and the red ether puthered inside it.

Crimsona tried to push herself to her knees but fell to the ground again and screamed as her powers were unceremoniously removed. The bullet holes were repairing slowly, but not fast enough for her to heal and attack us again.

Everyone had noticed the red ether and had stopped firing as they watched the Red Evil begin to shrivel and wither.

I walked through the now rapidly departing mist and crouched next to the power-mad hag. Her face was etched with pain and hatred. I said, “Are mew ready to meet your maker?”

She croaked. “Go to hell!”

“Oh no, that place is not for me, but I know they have a special place reserved just for mew.”

She gurgled, and her body contorted as the last drop of magical essence, the essence she robbed from innocents, departed from her dying form.

“Just so mew know,” I added. “All those mew killed are waiting just beyond the veil, ready to show mew the same treatment mew showed them.”

She squeaked. “I hate you, Basil!”

“Happy travels!” I smiled at her, stepping back a few paces as I watched her body shrivell faster and faster until it burst like a dandelion head on a windy day.

Meow-Da appeared at my side, his paw outstretched, holding another crystal bottle, although this one was black. The dust formerly known as Crimsona Ubel spiralled up and down into the bottle, and when every last speck was inside, Meow-Da pushed the crystal stopper in place, sealing it shut.

The entire atmosphere had changed in a matter of seconds; the dread, despair and heaviness of the last couple of hours was gone. Everyone whooped and hollered, bumped paws and let out signs of relief.

Pandora was holding the other sealed bottle in her paw, the red essence shimmering peacefully as it rested inside the crystal. She passed it to Meow-Da.

“Keep these, I will,” he said. “Safe place, I have.”

The strange mist had almost vanished, and the streetlight popped on above us.

“Now there’s a sign if ever I saw one!” Smooch grinned. “Who’s hungry?”

I picked up Melvyn and carried him towards the bunker. Just as I was clambering over the broken gates, I heard a fighter jet above. And then I remembered C.J. “Snowie!” I called. “Let C.J. know that the threat has been eliminated.”

“Already done it, Basil,” she replied as she scooted up to Melvyn and me and patted the kitten on the head. The F.I.B. has still got the entire area cordoned off and is now incoming, ready to assess the damage and clean up.”

Melvyn purred boisterously as we trooped over the lawn, avoiding the silver puddle with had solidified. Just as we were about to clamber over the decimated summerhouse, I heard a familiar noise and spun around to see the Time Travelling Telephone Box appear in its usual place in the courtyard.

“Oh, fluff me!” I gasped, and we ran for cover into the bunker.

Scrambling through the debris on the first-floor corridor, I reached the Control Room, tapped the door code into the keypad and ran inside. Placing Melvyn gently on the circular central desk, I looked at the camera feed from the courtyard.

Amber was tapping on the keyboard at her console. She’d adjusted the volume, and we heard.

“Seven… Six… Five… Four…” Astrid was still counting down from when the TTTB vanished in the Thirteenth Parallel.

“Is the blast door closed?” I asked as the Control Room filled up.

“Yes, it’s closed,” Parsley replied. “We’re all snug as a bug in a rug.”

Fudge and Smooch raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

“Three… Two… One!”

Mew could have heard a pin drop as we all waited for the explosion. Mouths hung open, breaths were held, and the seconds ticked by.

“Well, that doesn’t make sense,” Snowie said.

“Mew’re telling me!” I replied.

Humphrey tapped on the keyboard at his console. “Vera, are mew online?”

The lights flickered and more time passed as we waited for the bunker A.I. to answer us in her usual manner.

Posie stepped forward and held out a tiny cube. “I think this is all that is left of Vera,” she said sadly. “Just before mew appeared on the drive, she was about to transform again, but Crimsona hit her with magic before the transformation was complete.”

I gazed at the floor and shook my head. My team also seemed sombre. I let out an enormous sigh and glanced around the room at everyone.

“We may have stopped a great evil tonight, and Vera played a pivotal role.” I glanced at the monitor which was replaying her dragon form incinerating the T-Rexs and Red Wing Raptors. “Vera has been part of our lives for several years…”

Astrid’s voice sounded. “Commander Basil, can you hear me?”

“Snowie, can mew patch me through, please?”

Snowie tapped on her keyboard. “Done.”

“Yes, Astrid, I can hear mew,” I answered. I thought mew were going to blow us up.”

There was a brief pause. “Um, about that…” Astrid began.  

And then the Control Room doors swooshed open and a strange cat walked in.

Weapons were pointed straight at the intruder faster than mew could say, ‘I’ll have a catnip surprise, shaken, not stirred!’

It wasn’t a big cat; its silky beige fur was tipped with white, and its eyes were vivid purple, which had a soft luminescence. Holding its paws up in the general stance of, don’t shoot I come in peace, it said. “Commander Basil,” the voice sounded very familiar. “I am Vera 2.0.”

“Jumpin’ juniper berries!” I exclaimed as gasps echoed around the Control Room.

“Sadly, my predecessor, Vera 1.0, was rendered obsolete when the magical blast struck her mid-transformation,” Vera 2.0 said. “However, she knew fully that such an event may occur, and set a backup programme in place, aka moi, Vera 2.0 to succeed her if such an incident came to pass.”

We all stared at the cat. Well, Vera 2.0.

“Commander Basil,” Astrid said rather sheepishly. “Vera 2.0 purged me of the computer virus that Melvyn unwittingly infected me with and stopped the detonation just in time.”

“How do we know this isn’t a trap?” I asked, my gun still pointed at the newcomer. “How can mew prove to me that mew are who mew say mew are?”

The beige cat blinked, her eyes glowing a vibrant lilac colour. “Commander Basil,” she said. “I would like to return to the mainframe if you will allow it.”

Smooch nudged me. “I have an idea.”

I glanced at him and nodded.

“Vera, do mew remember Humphrey’s ATV?”

The cat smiled. “The one you took when he’d first gone to the Rainbow Realm, and then proceeded to drive it into the tree at the bottom of the field because you didn’t know it had been supercharged, that ATV?” She paused and added. “The one you buried in the field next to the oak tree?”

“Only Vera could have known that!” Smooch affirmed.

“That’s true,” Humphrey agreed. “Because Smooch tried to cover it all up.”

I laughed. Oh, the things that happen at BBHQ.

“There was also the time when Fudge and Parsley took a tank out and drove it into a quarry,” Vera 2.0 added. “The navigation system went on the fritz, and they bailed out just as the tank plummeted over the edge.”

“That’s also true,” Fudge and Parsley said in unison. “We did that!”

“And one thing I do know is that Commander Basil will do anything to keep his team safe.” She said.

I looked at Vera 2.0, took a breath as I lowered my gun and said. “If mew want to go into the mainframe, no one is stopping mew.”

The cat winked, and, as if by magic, her body shimmered and spiralled up into a mini-tornado of nano-particles, which flew around the Control Room several times before plummeting into the circular console where Melvyn was sitting.

Humphrey stood next to me. “I will run a full diagnostic protocol on Vera 2.0 and Astrid to make sure they’re both who they say they are, and there aren't any future surprises.”

Nodding, I turned to Amber. “Well, I think we’ve missed this week’s episode of Strictly Come Pouncing.”

“It’s a good job I recorded it then!” she laughed.

Smooch, Fudge and Parsley were headed out of The Control Room with the M-Unit.

“Where are mew guys going?” I asked.

“To get a bacon sandwich!”

“Make me one too!”

**THE END**

WOW! What an epically epic adventure, we can't believe it's over!

We do hope mew enjoyed all the thrills, spills and magical mayhem over the last twenty chapters, we can barely catch our breath, and are really looking forward to a bacon sandwich! MOL

But... if mew'd like to read the epilogue, let us know in the comments, and we'll finish the story properly, as we know mew guys will want to know what happens to the M-Unit, and especially Smoke.

Also, what about Meow-Da, Miss Warts and Mogs?

So if mew'd like us to write that, mew know what to do! MOL

Thank mew so furry much for joining us on this wild adventure, we couldn't have done it without mew, seriously, mew guys made this story happen! THANK MEW.

If mew missed yesterday’s really fun Easter Crafting with Cats post, don’t forget to check it out. We’ll be back tomorrow with some more Midweek News.

In the meantime...

Wing Commander Basil & The B Team 

Click Here to go to The Epilogue ~ Link Coming Later

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