Star Cat: Killer Instinct
Page 20
One by one they got closer and closer to the busted outer hatch.
The Shanta’s fleshy midsection pushed forward and tried to stop the wolves from approaching it.
“SCREEEEEE—”
The first row of wolves bolted closer and lifted their paws, ready to tear and chew the Shanta apart.
As Mastazita stormed after them, everything seemed to slow down to a crashing halt.
At the very last second, he knew something was wrong. He waved his right arm in a desperate attempt to call the wolves back.
ROOOOAAAAARRRR.
The Shanta’s limbs weakened. It slumped down the sides of the walls and crumpled to the ground.
Pitch darkness.
The howling from the wolves deafened Mastazita. He couldn’t see anything with his eyes, but the sounds from all directions painted a picture in his brain.
A row of ghostly-white outline of paws and bodies etched across the darkness in his mind.
The contours of rocks fizzed to life as he took his last step. White lines exploded and formed the shape of his arm as he pulled it away from his face.
Schwoooooooo—
The sound of a prolong sucking occurred in his left ear, forming the shape of a door close to where the shapes of the wolves were headed.
“Nuuuuh—”
KERRAA-BAAAAAAAAMMMMM.
Mastazita lifted his paws in front of his face. The gravity shift around his head was intense. His body weight shifted from his forehead, through to his shoulders, then abdomen, and finally his feet.
The contours spread apart like grains of sand and vanished into the darkness amid the howls of anguish from the wolves.
A wave of incredible heat flew up Mastazita’s body, and then—
SCHLAAAAAAMMM.
The rocks on the ground punched him in the chest and face.
He’d landed on the ground, after being pushed into the air. The roar from the burning hammered into his ears, represented by a pulsing white light in the darkness of his vision.
Mastazita shook his head and pushed himself to his hind legs. He couldn’t see it, but the airlock had exploded. A furnace of burning stone, rock, and parts of the ship roared fifty feet away from him.
A distinct scent of burning flesh and fur drifted around the ground.
Sniff, sniff…
Mastazita knew that death surrounded him. His fallen children roasted away in the blaze.
Scores of obliterated wolves lined the ground, slumped over the rocks. He assessed the ground with his hind paw and felt a squishy, smoldering body beneath his claws.
“Ugghhh,” Mastazita growled among the remaining whines and whelps from those wolves who hadn’t been killed in the blast.
Five of them raced up and pawed at Mastazita’s injured leg.
Grrrrrrr…
He marched towards Opera Charlie and slammed his paws together, ready to tear the vessel apart…
Primary Airlock
Opera Charlie - Level One
Jaycee held his broken jaw in place with his battered hand. The connectors in his face sparked up a storm, forcing his head up and down.
He’d certainly seen better days.
Sitting against the wall, he tried to keep upright. His right leg spasmed on the ground, disabled from the rest of his internal endoskeleton.
Most of his internal wiring sprouted from several busted sections on his torso, legs, and arms.
“M-My b-battery,” Jaycee slammed the back of his head against the wall. His right eye tilted up to the ceiling and tried to focus on Jelly, who towered over him.
His jaw swiveled left and right, producing a small, electronic voice, “B-B-Baaaa-aaa-aaterry level, crih-crih-critical.”
Jelly watched him shift his head around and splutter.
Blink-blink.
The mechanics in his eyelids closed, and reopened on Jelly. No longer a woman or cat, she’d turned into a tiger.
“Juh-juh…”
“Shut up,” she growled from the pit of her stomach.
“Muh-muh,” Jaycee tried, “I’mma m-mess—”
“—I said shut up.”
Any utterance she offered was underscored by an inner growl of sheer murder. Jelly raised her right leg and showed him the sole of her boot.
“You murdered my child.”
“Nuuuh,” Jaycee’s head twisted to face the boot, “P-Please do not—”
SCHLLAAAAAAMMM.
The boot careened towards his face and crushed it against the wall.
His cheekbone shattered and sparked as it crunched against his metallic skeleton.
“Bwuurrggghhh,” Jaycee groaned as the boot released his face from the wall. The metal cheek plate on the right side of his head clanged to the floor.
Jelly took a deep breath and tried her best not to emote. She just needed to finish Jaycee off and she’d be at peace.
“Nuh-nuh,” Jaycee’s jaw yawned and closed up, hanging from the side of his face, “N-No m-m-m-more—”
Jelly winced and tried to shake away her murderous instincts, but it was no use. She grabbed Jaycee’s exo-suit shoulders and lifted him up the wall in a fit of apoplectic rage.
WHUMP.
She slammed him to the wall and lifted him up, so his face lined with her own.
Jelly roared right into his eyes and leaned back, ready to deliver a fatal blow.
“Nuh-nuh-nuh,” Jaycee tried, the power draining from his eyes.
Jelly rammed her forehead into Jaycee’s nose. The trajectory of her head butt pummeled the back of his head into the wall, cracking the rock solid surface.
SCHLAAAAAAAM-CRACK-KK.
The synthetic skin on Jaycee’s face busted away from the metallic facade covering his endoskull.
Grrrrr.
Jelly kept him pinned against the wall and licked her lips. The back of Jaycee’s busted head remained daggered into the wall. She pulled him forward a few inches. As his head slumped, the wires and bolts in the back of his head roped out from the wall and fell to the floor.
“Juh-juh—” he tried a final time.
“—Ngggggg,” Jelly struggled to speak. Her attempts to communicate came out as a series of grunts and growls, “I-I,” she whelped in anger, “K-Kill. Y-You k-kill—”
She gave up any attempt to explain her merciless actions and eyed Jaycee’s neck. If she sunk her fangs in, they’d take his head off and - hopefully - extract his battery, which would serve as a dessert.
GROOOOOOOWWWWLL.
She revealed her sharp tiger teeth.
***
Alex peered through the control deck door window and saw Jelly attacking the helpless, battered Jaycee.
“Jesus Christ,” he shouted. “She’s going to kill him.”
Furie and White ran out from under the flight deck and lifted their heads. They caught sight of Manny shuffling in the air and decided to attack her.
“Get those damn kittens away from me,” Manny tightened her book covers and darted up to the ceiling, “They’re a nuisance.”
“Manny,” Alex said. “This isn’t funny. Something has seriously got into Jelly. She’s—”
He turned around to see the holographic book hovering away from the two kittens. They leapt into the air and swiped at her.
“What are you doing?” Alex asked.
“They’re trying to attack me.”
“You’re a holograph, you idiot. They can’t even touch you.”
“Meow,” Furie jumped onto the second flight deck chair and poised to launch at the book floating several feet above her.
“Furie. No,” Alex shouted at the kitten. “Bad cat.”
“Hissssss.”
Furie climbed down and trundled over to the control deck door.
White followed behind her.
Manny’s book covers shuddered. Satisfied that the kittens had lost interest in her, she floated down to Alex’s head height, “There’s been an explosion outside. The airlock has suffered severe damage.”
“I don’t think we can trust that stupid cat. I knew it all along, she’s nothing but a liability,” Manny offered.
“No, no,” Alex muttered as he watched on. “He must have done something. Anderson would never attack one of her crew or friends unless they did something real bad.”
“How can you be so sure, Hughes?” Manny folded her covers together in a huff and grew suspicious, “Are you an authority of Miss Anderson, all of a sudden?”
Alex swallowed and turned to Manny with a look of disdain. Deep down inside, he knew that Charlie’s autopilot had no idea who he really was.
“Well?” Manny asked.
“Don’t ask me that question.”
“I’m beginning to think you’re not a genuine member of USARIC, Hughes. Helping Beta escape from Oxade and Nutrene. All this emotional connection with Jelly Anderson. Don’t think I didn’t see the minutiae in your face muscles when you took it upon yourself to discharge Tripp via the console chair.”
“Shut up.”
“Who are you, Alex Hughes?”
He placed his palm in front of the panel on the wall and threatened to open the door, “I’m the one you should have queried harder, Manny.”
“And those people you connected with via the IMS? Who were they?”
Alex ignored the question and pressed the panel on the wall, “I need to go and pull them apart before they kill each other.”
“All this, and you’re now telling me you’d rather risk infection than give me a simple, straight answer to my question?”
Manny noticed a bead of sweat form across Alex’s brow. She wasn’t about to relent and let him off lightly.
“If it turns out you’re a traitor, Hughes, I shall have to revoke your license for this vessel. And report back to USARIC, forthwith.”
Alex thought about his response. He could tell her the truth, but Jaycee needed rescuing. Perhaps he could stop her from smashing him to pieces, at least.
The truth could wait.
“M-Manny?” Alex tried.
“I see your heart rate is climbing,” Manny said.
She spotted a single bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.
“Your body temperature is climbing, Alex. Are you feeling anxious? Like you’re about to faint?”
“Manny?”
“Yes, Alex Hughes?”
“Do me a favor and switch yourself off, you useless piece of crap.”
Alex palmed the panel and opened the door, forgetting that the kittens had been scratching at it.
BOLT.
“Meow,” Furie led the charge and barreled down the walkway towards her mother, “Meeeeoooowwww.”
White ran up beside her sister and shrieked.
Alex stormed after them and hollered down the walkway, “Jelly. Stop.”
Jelly lifted her head back and opened her mouth, showing Jaycee her fangs.
“Jelly, no. Don’t do it—”
“—Hughes?” Manny’s voice flew down the walkway from the opened control deck door, “Get back, now.”
“No,” Alex ran backwards and flipped Manny the bird, “Close the door, keep the kittens safe—”
“—No, no, it’s not that. There’s something trying to get on board.”
“Huh?” Alex spun around and continued running up the walkway.
The two kittens shot out in front of his legs and careened towards their mother.
Jelly’s mouth drooled with saliva as she prepared to take a bite out of Jaycee.
“Jelly, no,” Alex screamed again. “Don’t kill him—”
Jelly faced the walkway to discover Alex and her two daughters storming towards her, “Huh?”
She released her infinity claws and let go of Jaycee’s suit.
“What are you d-doing?” she grunted. “My babies.”
Alex waved his arms in haste, “Jelly, get away from the airlock, there’s—”
KERRR-RAAACCCCCKK…
Alex skidded on his heels as he watched the walls around the airlock burst into the walkway, “Oh, shi—”
KEERRASSSSSSHHHHHHH.
A giant, furry foot crunched through the walls and stepped into the walkway outside what was once a full-functioning airlock.
A whirlwind of pained howls swept inside as it made its way into the ship.
“Meow,” Furie extended her claws and skidded along the ground.
“Honey,” Jelly scooped Furie up in her arms, “Come to mommy.”
White continued to run and zoomed right past them, “Miew.”
SCHTOMP-SCHTOMP-SCHTAMMMM.
Alex’s chest heaved in and out. He couldn’t believe what he saw.
A ten foot wolf with huge paws crashed into the walkway. The top half of his body chewed through the ceiling and pulverized the walls.
“Muhhhh—shta—zeee—taaaaaaah,” it roared and thumped its front paws to the ground.
“Meow,” White couldn’t stop running. She slammed her paws into the ground to prevent herself from racing into the creature’s vicinity.
“Oh no. No, no no,” Jelly wailed as she watched her White zoom into Mastazita’s path.
BOP.
“Miew,” White slid onto her side and knocked Mastazita’s hind paw.
“My b-baby”, Jelly huffed.
Jaycee’s body toppled and hit the ground. Half-alive, half-disconnected, his limbs slapped around in a confusion of instructions.
“Grrrrrrr,” Mastazita felt the tiny ball of white fluff make a fuss at his feet.
“Miew,” White squealed as Mastazita’s shadow formed over her cute face.
“No, no, no,” Jelly widened her eyes, “Baby girl, run.”
White looked at her mother. Furie stretched her paws out from within Jelly’s arms and tried to reach for her sister.
It was no use.
GRUNT-SHIFF.
Mastazita crouched down and opened out his paw for White.
“Oh, God. No,” Alex backed up and felt around his belt, but remembered he had no firearms, “No, White. Don’t go near it. Run.”
Jelly clutched Furie against her chest and yelled at White, once again, “Honey, run. Run.”
White tilted her head up at Mastazita, scared out of her mind.
“Miew.”
“Heh,” he grunted, offering White onto his upturned palm. She didn’t want to climb on, which angered the beast to no end.
“Grrrrrrrr.”
“No, d-don’t,” Jelly screamed. “Hey, you. Leave my baby alone.”
Mastazita looked up at Jelly and let out a bizarre bark-cum-howl at her. The strength of the scream pushed the fur back against her face.
GUG-GUG-GUGGHUUG.
A horrid snore flew out from his throat as he lifted his paw above White’s head.
“Noooo—”
SWIPE.
Mastazita scooped White into his paw and lifted her up to his furry chest.
“Miew.”
His relatively huge nostrils lowered over her head and rumbled like two, ugly ventilation shafts.
“Heh,” he grunted and sniffed. A familiar stench that ground inside the pit of his stomach.
The stench of a killer - an unmistakable reminder of what someone or something had done to one of his own outside the ship.
Jelly had no choice but to watch the monster hold her daughter at arm’s length in his paw.
ROOOWAAAAAARRR.
The claws on his left paw wrapped around White’s body as he held her in front of his face.
Jelly’s eyes grew, “Grrrrrr.” Her heart raced a mile-a-minute, quickening her breathing.
Slowly, his right paw moved over White’s head.
“No, no,” Jelly whined. “Let go of her.”
Alex took a few steps back and held his breath, “Dear God, no.”
GRUNT.
White squealed
and struggled to set herself free. The claw cages around her body were impossible to move. She kicked her legs and squealed at her mother.
Jelly screamed at the top of her lungs, “Let go of my daughter—”
White’s head twisted around one-hundred-and-eighty degrees.
CRICK-CLUTCH.
Her neck snapped, killing her instantly.
Mastazita lifted Jelly’s murdered daughter up in his left paw for all to see.
Jelly fell to her knees and felt her soul melt across the ground. Her back arched down, “Noo.”
WHUMP.
White’s body slapped to the floor, several feet in front of her mother, and right next to Mastazita’s hind leg.
GROOOWWWWWWLLL.
Alex froze on the spot, sure that one of the giants in front of him would turn around and attack.
“Oh, Jeeeeeeesus Christ, no.”
He stepped back to the opened control deck door and chose not to utter a single word.
Mastazita grunted and took a step back, crunching the ground as he moved.
Jelly released Furie from her clutches inadvertently. The kitten lifted her head and stared at the ugly behemoth.
She didn’t meow or express any anger, only sorrow and pity.
Alex cleared his throat and called out at Furie, “Hey, girl. Come here. Now.”
“Miew,” Furie tore her eyes away from Mastazita and stormed up the walkway.
“Get in, quick. You’re safe with me—”
GROOOOOOWWWWWWWL.
Mastazita took a final step back. His foot crashed through the remains of the airlock.
SCHLUMP.
He dug his hind paw into the muddied ground and decided enough was enough. Just as he was about to turn around and walk away, Jelly lifted her head.
Her chest ballooned in and out. She clenched her infinity claws as tight as she could and wailed from the pit of her stomach.
Tears flew from her eyes as she shook her head, trying to shake the anger away from the deepest, darkest recesses of her very being.
“AAAAARRRGGGGHHHH.”
She stood to her feet and held her arms out by her sides. Her infinity claws expanded in all directions. She took a deep intake of air and roared at Mastazita, the killer of her baby.
“I’M GOING TO TEAR YOUR HEART OUT, YOU SON OF A BITCH!”
Mastazita snorted and punched his paws together, “Heh.”