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 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.
In the meantime...
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