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 Two ~
Warts’n’All
(I must
admit that I was still feeling a little worse for wear after the excessive
pawtying, and I’m no spring chicken anymore, and in that moment I decided I was
officially off catnip for the next couple of weeks, at least!)
Pandora emitted a low growl as
the figure strode purposefully across the dew-laden grass towards us, in fact
on a direct trajectory as wispy mist began to seep out of the ground and rise, swirling
just above the pasture. We backed away a few steps, and an owl screeched as it
swooped just above us in the growing white haze.
Parsley nearly jumped out of his fur, and I heard the
distinct sound of his pantherene claws unsheathing. (For those of mew who
aren’t aware of Parsley’s lethal upgrade; many years ago in another adventure,
he was exposed to a substance infused with deadly nanobots which gave him four-inch retractable steel claws, that are sharper than any Samuri Sword on the
planet.)
The metallic sound echoed in the stillness, and I felt the
icy tendrils of fear spread up my hackles and then explode all over my body. I
knew I should have brought weapons, but in my catnip-haze, I was completely
deluded in my thinking that they would have been an unnecessary burden on
tonight’s brief, and what I thought would be a rather benign security sweep.
Pandora whispered, “Basil, whoever that is, has magical
powers.”
Parsley hissed, and I murmured. “Do mew recognise the
magical signature?”
“No!” she replied quietly. “Though it is extremely
powerful.”
“More than yours?” I whispered.
She paused for a moment, then replied softly in her odd,
little foreign accent, “No, my powers are vastly superior.”
“Good to know,” I breathed with much relief.
“Thank fluff for that!” Parsley added. “So what’s the plan?
This mist is getting thicker and closer, whoever that is, is nearly at the
gate, and I can hear the dead cats stumbling across the field.”
Pondering for a moment, I whispered, “First, we need to see
what the closest threat is, and take care of that.”
We edged back along the Main Street towards the old 1850s
schoolhouse until our backs were against the cold and damp metal railings. The
tall figure was at the gate, and it was difficult to see what it was as every
time we looked, things blurred, like an interrupted TV signal.
Pandora’s paws were glowing a silvery blue as she drew
power from the surrounding ether. Parsley was poised for an attack as his
lethal pantherene claws glinted menacingly in the fragmented moonlight.
The only thing I had in my utility vest was a Swiss Army
knife, three disrupter grenades, and a pawful of eyebright fizzers. Fizzers are
great. They emit a blinding white flash of light when activated, and the
disrupter grenades produce an earsplitting squeal which then cycles through
distinct tones to disorient and confuse, while great when implementing either
of these devices mew obviously need goggles and earmuffs, and right then, in
that moment I remembered mine were sitting on my desk in the bunker. “Oh
fluffing fluff me!” I hissed in utter annoyance.
“What’s the matter, Basil?” Parsley asked quietly.
“Dude, I can’t use the fizzers or disrupters, as we don’t
have any purrsonal protection!”
The gate creaked ominously on its rusted hinges as it
opened, and then we heard the rattling click of the metal gate latch locking as
it was closed.
I inhaled a breath through gritted teeth. My body was
tense, ready to launch into action. Parsley had stepped closer to me, and I felt
his tail thrashing and whipping the ground behind us in acute agitation.
Pandora had moved closer too, the three of us ready to fight when the thing
that I least expected, happened.
The figure was now only fifteen feet away; it had stopped,
the cat had stopped and a soft voice said. “Commander Basil, I come in peace.”
Now normally, this would be a great start to a tense and
potentially volatile situation, but the voice in question was in my head, and I
could feel the magic tingling all over me.
“Basil?” Pandora murmured. “Did mew hear that?”
“Yes, but not in the conventional way,” I whispered.
“Me too!” Parsley concurred.
The voice spoke again, soft and gentle like the caress of a
warm breeze of a summer’s eve. “Commander Basil, I come in peace.”
I just couldn’t help myself, and I replied. “I heard mew the
first time!” Then added. “Who are mew? What do mew want? And why is there a
fluffing great big stone circle in the field? Mew have five seconds before
things go south very quickly.”
The voice said succinctly. “My name is Miss Warts, and this
is Mogs.” The large cat stepped forward and sat by her side. The blurriness instantly
dissipated. Obviously, it was some sort of mild concealment spell, and a human-like
woman appeared; her face was pleasant enough, although her eyes, no pupils,
were as golden as the sun. She wore a long black cloak and a pointed hat. The unusual
material shimmered as it caught the moonlight and then seemed to modify itself
and the black became so mat and dense it appeared to disappear, like dark
matter. It was so odd.
I quickly turned my attention to Mogs, the cat. He was larger
than us, very muscular and sat statue still next to his mistress. He was
assessing, watching, learning and the level of menace radiating from his aura
was so intense that, in all honesty, I was quite glad they’d come in peace. His
piercing emerald eyes, sparked with flashes of gold, like his mistress and his spotted
grey fur, was similar to a snow leopard’s markings. It glimmered like liquid silver
in the moonlight before changing and turning the blackest of black, so the only
thing visible were his eyes glowing in the dark.
‘Jumpin’ fluffing juniper berries,’ I thought, ‘this
dude is seriously hardcore, I need to watch him closely!’
Miss Warts spoke again, dragging me out of my brief
reverie. “We are here as there is a great evil loose in the world and we need
your help, and the stone circle was the fastest way to travel to your dimension
from ours, as time is of the utmost essence.”
I didn’t reply for a moment, as I remembered the parchment
letter on my desk which had arrived a couple of weeks ago from the Headmistress
of Mogwarts Academy of Magical Sciences & Alternative Arts.
Pandora glanced at me and gave me the wink to let me know
that Miss Warts or Mogs were not harnessing any elemental power to attack us.
“How do I know mew are, who mew say mew are?” I asked.
“A few weeks ago, I sent you a message asking for The B
Team’s help,” she replied. “And then I sent a formal invitation for you to
travel to Mogwarts via the portal at the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest.”
“We did get a letter,” Parsley said.
I nodded, but I’d never met Miss Warts before, so at this
point I needed more convincing.
Seeing that I was wholly unconvinced, Miss Warts added, “I
understand your trepidation in this moment, but I am who I say I am.”
“Tell me where we first met?” I was trying to catch her
out.
“Commander Basil, we have never met in person until this
moment.”
“True,” I acknowledged. “Tell me how mew learned of me and
my team?”
She paused and sighed, “We have a mutual friend in Catopia,
I think you know him as Bob, the little fluffy pink creature, and when you met
him he was the last remaining Fuzzykin Feline in the universe. You saved his
planet, Catopia and the Rainbow Bridge and Realm.”
Parsley and Pandora stared at me, “The Last Big Jolly Adventure!”
They said in unison.
I nodded, as apart from us and Bob, who actually lives in
another dimension, no one else knew the story.
“How do you know Bob?” I quizzed, still not convinced
entirely that this person wasn’t an imposter.
“Bob told me that I would need to give you something to
prove who I am,” Miss Warts said and reached slowly into her cloak and pulled
out a rainbow velvet pouch. It glided through the air on an invisible wave of
magic and hovered in front of me.
Pandora swept her paw near the pouch, feeling the magic,
and then she said. “It’s safe to open Basil.”
Taking the pouch and opening it, I pulled out a letter, a
pocket photo album, and a small cube. I knew that cube very well.
Opening the letter, Pandora cast a small beam of light so
we could read it. Parsley, however, never took his eyes off the visitors.
The letter was written in Catiform, the most ancient of
feline languages, and luckily Pandora was an expert.
It read,
My dearest Basil and The B Team
I hope this letter finds mew all well.
I know it has been many years since our
adventure, and I am eternally grateful to mew all for saving Catopia and the
Rainbow Realm.
If mew are holding this letter, then Miss Warts
and her soul familiar, Mogs are with mew in your dimension as there is great
evil apaw, which only mew and your team can deal with in the mortal realm, as
mew are the only ones who have the expertise in the purrticular field of
dealing with ancient demonic entities.
I can vouch that Miss Warts is a highly
respected Nisse* from a lineage that spans time and space, and Mogs is
descended from the line of the Great Goddess Bastet in Ancient Egypt.
Please help them stop this evil force from
taking over your world and destroying everything mew know and love.
Mew don’t have much time, and if mew are still
in doubt, I have enclosed a copy of the photo album from our adventure and The
Cube of Averon to prove to mew and your team that this is no trick, and that Miss
Warts and Mogs are my friends.
Eternally yours
Bob
P.S. Good Luck!
P.P.S We must catch up soon!
P.P.P.S. Let’s go on another adventure!
(*Nisse; a type of fairy, although there are
many different species throughout the universe. Miss Warts is an Oracle Nisse
from the Age of Enlightenment).
I opened the glittery rainbow photo album and flicked through the pages,
and every photograph was there from our adventure in The Last Big Jolly. In
that moment, my mind was flooded with technicolour memories and I inhaled
sharply. Letting out a long breath, I said finally. “Welcome to Mewton-Clawson
Miss Warts and Mogs.”
Parsley nudged me and nodded his head towards Fuskerton. “They’re
on the move Basil.”
Pandora hissed and stretched out her paw, sensing through
the ether. “There’s even more now. It’s like they’re being drawn here from
miles around.”
Miss Warts looked confused, so I enlightened her. “Dead
cats are gathering, just over there.” I jabbed my paw in the direction of the
shufflers.
She nodded. “It seems that we arrived just in time, and
we have much to tell.”
“Let’s get to the bunker before things kick off, as we need
to get armed up and make a plan really quick.”
The mist was rolling in really fast, and several strange
denser pockets like plump little clouds floating just above the ground appeared
and began to move in our direction.
“That’s new,” Pandora pointed at the odd fog clouds which
had started to crackle with mini red lightning bolts inside. “We need to hurry.
There’s something not of this world happening. Quick, let’s go!”
We turned and ran down the Main Street, when something
screeched so loud and a fog cloud barrelled into Parsley, knocking him to the
ground.
Parsley cried out, and then everything went cold, not just cold but utterly freezing.
**AND CUT**
Guys, mew know how we roll, so many apologies to cut it right there, but we will say, mew'll never guess what happens next - sorry to be a tease! MOL
If mew would like to read Chapter 3, let us know in the comments, as we've got a feeling this is going to evolve into quite the story. However, if mew want to see where it goes, we'll gladly continue a chapter a week, but that is up to mew.
In the meantime...
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