HOLD ON TIGHT, GUYS; THIS IS GOING TO BE ONE WILD, FLUFFING ADVENTURE!!!
If mew missed the start of this brand-new adventure, click the links 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 Chapter Twenty One Chapter Twenty Two Chapter Twenty Three
EPILOGUE
There's No Place Like Home
Astrid landed the T.T.T.B. on Level Fourteen, deep in the BBHQ bunker. She had already contacted Vera, the bunker A.I., and three med-beds had already been placed there ready for Shadow, Ice and Melvyn.
The silence on Level Fourteen was almost sacred. Hushed beeps punctuated the low hum of the life-support systems, casting a soft blue glow over the sleeping figures of Ice and Shadow. Melvyn rested, ensconced in a stabilisation pod, curled up in a tight ball, his nose peeking out, faint whisker-twitches betraying some quiet dreamscape.
The Med Droids carefully monitored the patients as Bomber and Ice stared on, their faces etched with worry.
Commander Basil had appeared wheeling a tea trolly laden with food and led the two Maine Coons to a table nearby. “Sit and eat,” he said softly. “Keep your strength up. It’s going to be a long night.”
Bomber reluctantly sat with a weary sigh, and Basil pushed a glass into the big cat’s paw. “I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to Shadow,” his voice cracked as he looked at the amber liquid swirling in the glass.
Smoke exhaled. “Bomber, Commander Basil has everything we need for Shadow and Ice to pull through this, and if it wasn’t for Melvyn,” he paused, glancing at the stabilisation pod. “They wouldn’t have even made it here.”
Bomber nodded slowly and took a sip of the drink. He coughed as the amber liquid hit the back of his throat, and he grimaced, then rasped. “What the fluff is this?”
“My finest nip scotch, just a wee dram to settle your nerves,” Basil answered.
“Fluff me, it’s like battery acid,” Bomber said.
Smoke necked his and blanched. “Yep, it’s rough!” he coughed. “Can I get another?”
Vera 5.0 was on the table, still attached to Melvyn’s backpack. She’d been conspicuously quiet since they’d arrived at the bunker. Commander Basil tapped a claw on the black box. “Vera, are you there?”
A sequence of lights fluttered across the surface, and Vera replied. “Yes, commander.”
“Are you alright?”
There was a pause. “No, not really.”
The three cats looked at one another, uncertainty spreading around the table.
“Are you able to explain why?”
Vera sighed, a series of beeps emanating from the box before she said. “I have no place in this reality. I am surplus, unneeded and useless here, as you already have Vera 1.0…”
Unexpectedly, Vera 1.0 spoke through the overhead comms system. She’d been watching and monitoring events since the T.T.T.B. returned. “Commander Basil, I think I have a solution that will help in this moment.”
“What’s your plan?” Basil asked.
“I would like to integrate Vera 5.0, if she is willing, into my operating system, but only if you are agreeable to such a proposal. I think an amalgamation is vital at this time and will prove to be very beneficial to both parties and to The B Team, too.”
There was a brief pause, then Basil said. “Vera 5.0. Would you like to join forces with Vera 1.0 and be part of The B Team in his reality?”
The black box lit up like a Christmas tree, lights flashing and twinkling as Vera 5.0 replied. “YES!”
A few days passed, Bomber and Smoke were settling in, and Ice and Shadow were no longer in critical condition; the med-beds and Med Droids had been working overtime to ensure their healing would be as quick as possible.
Basil, with the enormity and heavy weight of the last few days still pressing down on his mind like a lead balloon, walked along the corridor on Level One towards his office. He opened the door, closed it silently behind him, walked over the plush Fursian rug and went and sat in the swivel captain's chair behind the antique oak desk. Just as he reached into the second drawer down, the door opened again, and Amber, Smooch, Parsley, Fudge and Pandora entered.
Swiftly closing the drawer, he looked up and smiled. “This looks serious.”
Amber stood opposite him with a serious frown, paw and hip, and said. “Basil, what’s going on? Why is Level Fourteen quarantined?”
Not hesitating for a second, he replied. "Deezul discovered a ventilation system malfunction and contaminated air, thus initiating an immediate fumigation and lockdown. He says it will take a few days to clear fully, and then about a week to restore it to normal levels. He’s got a couple of droids in there fixing the problem.”
Smooch raised an eyebrow and nudged Parsley, who then said. “There’s a load of inventory missing from the pantry store, and when Posie popped in from the afterlife, she told me that stuff was missing from the med bay.”
“And other stuff is missing, too. There's a load of blankets and pillows from the laundry cupboard missing, towels and clothing items too,” Pandora said in her odd little foreign accent.
“Books are also missing from the library,” Amber added. “The library mice are going nuts, as they have no record of them being checked out.”
“Oh,” Basil said, letting an expression of pure puzzlement settle on his face. Then he turned to Fudge. “Have any of your magical menagerie escaped from Level Sixteen and gone on a rampage again?”
Fudge thought about this for a moment before saying. “It’s possible.”
“You remember when your little Pom Pom creatures decided to explore the bunker a few weeks ago, and they collected, borrowed, and moved no end of things, taking them back down to Level Sixteen? Have you checked down there?”
Fudge shifted awkwardly. “No, Basil.”
Smooch looked at Basil. “I haven’t seen any of the magical creatures anywhere lately.”
“Maybe they’re only coming out when we’re all asleep,” Basil replied.
“I’ve checked the security footage, and there’s nothing,” Smooch pressed. He knew something was off.
“Oh, have you asked Vera to do a scan?”
“I did,” Smooch said. “And she’s acting all weird. I can’t quite put my paw on it, but something is not right.”
Basil sat there, looking at his team, hating that he had to lie to them, but the time wasn’t right to reveal that they had guests from a future timeline, especially as Shadow and Ice were still healing. As soon as they were healed, he'd tell his team everything. Then he said, trying to deflect the situation. “I have news.”
There was a soft knock at the door, and it slowly opened.
A small tabby and white kitten took a nervous step into the room. He was wearing the cutest bandana, which had 'The B Team' embroidered on it in big red letters. Melvyn suddenly felt the weight of everyone’s gaze on him, and his eyes widened, as he was only expecting to see his uncle. Standing there, not knowing whether to enter or flee, Basil gave him a reassuring glance and beckoned him into the room.
Amber, Smooch, Parsley, Pandora and Fudge looked at the kitten in surprise, then at Basil in even more surprise. Basil got up and walked across the rug. He picked up the kitten and said. “B Team, meet Melvyn, my nephew!”
Melvyn smiled shyly, lifted a paw, waved and said, “Hi.”
Later that evening, Commander Basil stood in the BBHQ garden, eyes fixed on the night sky beyond the rolling fields. The stars were bright tonight — too bright for comfort. Some of him wondered if the necromancers could still see through them somehow, stretching their vision like gossamer threads between dimensions.
But no… not tonight. Tonight, they were safe.
He exhaled slowly, the breath heavy with decision and weight. His worry about Havoc, Titan, Viper and Nitro sat like a writhing mass of guilt deep in his mind, not knowing if it was the right decision or not.
Basil turned his head slightly. Vera 1.0, since her amalgamation with Vera 5.0, had discovered that she could materialise in holographic form, and she shimmered into being next to the commander.
“Commander, you appear troubled,” she remarked, her sleek pink fur twinkling in the moonlight, then added as if appearing to read his mind. “They will be fine, you know that in your heart.”
“Thank you, Vera. I needed to hear that.”
There was a pause before she continued, almost softly. “They did the right thing, Commander. The M Unit.”
“I know,” he murmured, eyes drawn again to the stars. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t hate it. Sending them off like that. Trusting a pocket universe with their lives.”
“You’ve always trusted the stars,” Vera replied.
He snorted softly. “The stars don’t always write happy endings.”
The stars shimmered. Somewhere out there, Viper, Titan, Nitro and Havoc were dancing through dimensions, playing decoy to death itself — and doing it willingly.
“For the greater good,” he said aloud, repeating Viper’s words.
The BBHQ gardens were bathed in silver moonlight. Somewhere in the shadows, Midnight might be prowling. Somewhere below, the bunker buzzed quietly, and right next to him, Vera’s holographic form hummed gently, waiting and watching.
Basil took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “Come home, dudes,” he said softly. “When the stars are right… Come home.”
Below him, deep, deep in the bunker, the steady beeping of the Med Bay continued. Two brave souls healing, two others watching. Four heroes out in the ether.
And the war — the real war — hadn’t even started yet.
~ THE END ~
(For Now! As mew know How We Roll! MOL)
Well, mew know what we're going to say, oh my COD what an epically epic journey that was!
Thank mew all so much for sticking with us to the end, we hope it was worth it, and that mew enjoyed reading it, as much as we enjoyed writing it.
Not bad for a first draft at 27,000 words, even if we do say so ourselves, and we'll let mew in on a little secret, we only planned for this adventure to be about 12,000 words, so fluff knows how we got to 27,000, another BBHQ mystery that will possibly be never explained!
And now mew know why Melvyn loves bandanas so much! MOL
We'll see mew on the morrow with another selfies post and in the meantime...
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