In the distance, the hordes of squealing Shanta scurried even faster in an attempt to fight off the pull.
The disc spun faster... and faster.
Bonnie slipped and fell on her behind. The pull of the external force sent her sliding toward the sand, “Help me!”
“Bonnie!” Tripp grabbed hold of a charcoaled plant and aimed his K-SPARK at the horizon, “Grab hold of something—”
SWOOOOSH!
Pink Symphony’s spinning grew exponentially as Bonnie unsuccessfully tried to grab at the ground. Her fingertips jumped off each tile as it whizzed under her front.
Jaycee placed himself behind the turret to prevent himself from flying out with her, “Bonnie, grab the wall!”
She rolled over to her back and bent her knees. The broken wall screamed towards her. She held out her hand and grabbed it, swinging out above the sand.
“God damn it,” Bonnie opened fire on the approaching Shanta, “Die you vicious scumbags. Die!”
BLAM-BLAM-BLAM!
The thousand-strong Shanta clambered towards Botanix. A giant creature extended all twelve of its limbs and cartwheeled ahead of them.
“Jeeeeeeeeeesus…” Jaycee thumped the mounted K-SPARK turret. It fired off a round at the enormous rolling beast, “Get some of this, you ugly—”
BLAM-BLAM-SCHPLATT!
The barreling Shanta exploded as the bullets tore through its central section. The pink gore splattered to the sand as its body tumbled back into the crowd of beasts.
“Open fire!” Tripp shouted and blasted at the horde, “Keep holding on.”
Bonnie’s grip on the wall loosened, “Agh. Tripp, Tripp, my hand… I can’t hang on…”
“Don’t let go,” Tripp fired another round of bullets at the creatures. The bullets whizzed past Bonnie and tore into three Shanta, severing their limbs.
They crashed against the floor and swished into the horizon.
“Nggggg,” Bonnie grunted and continued firing at the creatures. Her fingertips traced against the wall and threatened to release.
The relentless spinning of the disc wouldn’t cease.
Jelly looked at Bonnie and released her grip on the plant tray.
Tripp screamed over the incessant growling of the sun headed in their direction, “Jelly, what are you doing?”
“Need to save Bonnie.”
She launched herself toward the broken wall and held out her paws.
SCHTANG-SCHTANG!
Her infinity claws spread out into a star shape as she rocketed over to the helpless Bonnie.
“Jelly, no,” she screamed as Jelly’s face darted toward her, “Grab hold of something.”
“I’m coming,” Jelly turned over as she flew and fired off a fully automatic clip at the Shanta.
BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-SPRATCH-CRATCH!
The bullets chewed through an oncoming creature, busting its mid-section open. The pink goo coughed into the air, twisted toward the horizon and blasted toward the stars at the edge of Pink Symphony.
Its carcass tumbled across the sand like a dead bowling ball, knocking the nearest set of beasts onto the ground.
“Bonnie, I’m coming,” Jelly squealed and swiped at the woman’s shoulder with her right paw, “Grab my hand.”
THUMP!
Bonnie’s hand slammed into Jelly’s right palm. They squeezed together as Bonnie lost her grip on the wall.
Jelly caught the side of the wall with her left claw - but the propulsive force was too severe. It banged away and sent Jelly and Bonnie tumbling out of Botanix and crashing across the sand.
“Jelly! Bonnie!” Wool cried out after them from behind the plants. She fired a shot at the creatures.
GRROOOWWWWLL!
The sun grew larger and larger, throwing a Godly light into Botanix. It blinded Tripp, Jaycee, Tor, and Wool.
“The sun,” Tor pointed at the sky, “We’re going to die!”
“Kill everything,” Tripp shouted over the commotion, “Keep firing!”
Botanix reverberations punched Tripp around and slammed his back against the wall, “Gaaah,” he screamed and fired a round at a dozen Shanta creatures infiltrating the broken wall.
Bonnie slid across the sand on her back through the stampeding Shanta.
SWIPE-STAB-SCHTOMP!
Dozens of Shanta limbs daggered into the floor either side of her as she scraped the sand on her trajectory, “Agghhh, help meeee.”
A few feet behind her, Jelly spread her claws out to prevent herself from the same fate.
Bonnie tumbled forward, unable to fight Pink Symphony’s spin-pull towards the edge of its mass.
“Bonnie,” Jelly whelped.
She hopped onto the back of a trailing Shanta and dug her paws into its flesh. Her claws tore out of the Shanta’s skin as she launched over to Bonnie.
Pink Symphony’s disc tilted diagonally as it spun around. It angled itself like a radar toward the approaching sun.
SHWOOOOOSH!
Bonnie’s waist slammed against another creature, pushing her around on her descent towards the edge of Pink Symphony.
Jelly tumbled around and spun to her feet, “You’re not going anywhere.”
The sand kicked up around Bonnie’s as she zipped along the sand. The edge of the disc shot towards her feet.
“Oh God…” Bonnie rolled to her side and looked down the length of her body. Any second now, she’d fall off the edge.
SCHWIPP!
Bonnie’s ass hit the edge, catapulting her entire body around. She held out her hands and grabbed the edge of the rock-like surface. Her legs slammed against the edge, “Ugghhh,” she screamed and made the mistake of looking down - an infinite drop of intergalactic proportions threatened to take her life.
Jelly slid up to the edge and pressed the butt of her paws to the ground. She stared at Bonnie and whined, “I’m not strong enough to pull you up,”
“P-Please, Jelly,” Bonnie squealed and tried to hulk her body up to safety, “D-Don’t let me fall.”
Pink Symphony’s spinning slowed down, forcing Bonnie’s front to slap against the cliff edge.
A wave of terror blasted across Bonnie’s pupils. Frightened beyond belief, she was convinced she’d fall to her death.
Jelly looked down at Bonnie’s fingers and licked her lips, “Miew.”
She opened her paw and held it a few inches to the side of Bonnie’s hand.
“Wh-what are you doing?” Bonnie turned over her shoulder to see the bottomless pit of stars, “P-Please, help me up.”
Jelly viewed Bonnie’s five fingers as the enemy. She tried to fight against her instincts - to little avail.
Her paw tapped Bonnie’s hand, trying to release her fingers, “Miew…”
“What are you doing?” Bonnie screamed. “Don’t, please…”
“Meow,” Jelly swiped Bonnie’s index and middle finger, releasing her grip, “I need to.”
“Jesus, Jelly. Please, no—”
“—Miew,” she took another swipe and tried to knock Bonnie’s fingers off the edge.
“Nuh-nuh,” Bonnie focused on Jelly’s claw sliding under her thumb, “Oh, God. Please—”
“—Miew,” Jelly licked her lips and lifted her infinity claw, eying Bonnie dead in the eyes the whole time, “I’m s-sorry…”
“You’ll k-kill me,” Bonnie’s voice croaked as she spoke. She knew she was dead, “Do you want me to d-die?”
Jelly looked up at the scorching sun and widened her mouth. The light reflected off her fangs and into Bonnie’s face.
She saw her feet dangling across the stars and then back to Jelly. In a desperate bid to save her own life, she grabbed hold of Jelly’s jeans.
No mercy was shown from the cat as Bonnie’s fingers slipped helplessly along the denim.
“I d-don’t want to d-die…”
Jelly scrunched her face, unable to resist her instinct. She scraped the sand with the side of her paw and pushed Bonnie’s two remaining fingers from her jeans
.
“Meow.”
Bonnie fell away from the edge.
Her face turned to a picture of hell. She clutched the torn fabric in her hands and plummeted from the edge of Pink Symphony and into the infinite blanket of space and time.
“Sorry,” Jelly licked her face, satisfied that she’d knocked the things from the edge.
Bonnie’s death yell funneled from her mouth as her body plummeted away, getting smaller and smaller… until she disappeared altogether.
Jelly flicked her ears and watched a tiny, new star form against the black canvas of space like a single drop of spilled, white paint.
Pink Symphony’s entire land mass lit up as the sun got closer.
Millions of grains of white sand cascaded to the ground. Jelly turned to face Opera Beta, one hundred feet in the distance.
The Shanta stopped in their tracks and turned to face the girl standing at the edge of Pink Symphony.
“Miew.”
“SCREEEEEE!”
They charged at Jelly in unison. Their new distraction would buy her crew members in Opera Beta some time.
Jelly scraped the ends of her infinity claws through the sand and flapped her tail, ready for war, “Let’s take out the trash. Come and get some…”
She ran her claws through the sand and prepared to attack, “Die, you ugly scumbags!”
ROOWWAAARRRR!
Two dozen Shanta barreled toward her as she bolted across the sand in their direction.
“Meeee-owwww,” Jelly looked above the first two creatures and saw the towering blackened tree stomp its way out of the ocean behind the ship.
BOLT!
Jelly ran into the Shanta. The first one flung its talon out and stabbed it to the ground. Jelly swiveled around and landed to her front paws, narrowly missing its stabbing motion.
“Screeeee,” it wailed as her claws tore through its two front limbs, sending it onto its behind.
SWISH-SWIPE!
Jelly darted through the limbs of the others. In the furor they swung their arms out and hit one another in a desperate bid to stop her from reaching the ship.
She planted her hind legs on the ground and lifted herself off her heels.
A vicious swipe to another Shanta’s slit. The claws tore out its lip, forcing it to gargle and choke. She hit the ground and sliced at its standing limbs, sending its vast body crashing to the ground.
“Yuck,” Jelly flung the goo from her claws and raced toward the ship.
Jaycee’s K-SPARK turret oscillated back and forth, firing at the Shanta. The crew had done a good job of keeping them out of Botanix - but still they came.
“There’s another,” Tripp pointed at the ceiling and shot a crawling creature in its center. The carcass extended its talons and dropped onto a bunch of beasts, below.
SCREEE-SCHLAMM-SCHPLATT!
“Where did they go?” Jaycee asked over the firing bullets.
“I dunno,” Tor took aim at a particularly aggressive creature. Standing a clear ten feet tall, it held out all twelve limbs and formed a spider web at the hole in the wall.
It’s slit opened up to reveal a disgusting, black tongue.
SCHWIPP-LASH!
“Ugh, that’s one ugly beast,” Tor aimed his D-REZ at its mid-section, “Eat this.”
THRAA-AA-TAT-A-TAT!
Tor emptied his clip at the creature’s mouth. The slit exploded in a hail of pink gloop and pinged the limbs away from its center section. The mass of ungodly monster shunted down the sides of the walls and gasped its last.
Jelly ran between its legs and jumped inside Botanix.
“Jelly,” Tripp shouted, relieved that she was still alive, “Get in, quick. Against the back wall.”
“What do we do now?” Wool asked, taking potshots at the creatures with her Rez-9.
“The sun is coming,” Jelly said. “It’s going to kill us all.”
Jaycee knocked the side of the turret and swung his secondary K-SPARK from his shoulders, “I’m out. Turret is down.”
Tripp grew impatient and snapped his fingers, “Keep firing.”
A rectangle of holographic light formed in the middle of Botanix, creating the outline of a book - Manuel.
“Did someone ask for me?”
“What? No,” Tripp emptied his magazine and palmed a fresh one into his Rez-9, “We’re out of ammo. This is my last magazine.”
“In that case, do you mind if I step out of the line of fire and let you perish alone?”
“That would be very helpful, Manuel. Thank you.”
The book flapped over to the door to Botanix as the others kept shooting at the Shanta.
Jelly raced after Manuel, suddenly fascinated by his contours. She jumped in the air and tried to catch him, “Miew.”
“Miss Anderson?” Manuel pressed his pages against the wall by the door, “What are you doing?”
“I want to touch you.”
“In the middle of a gunfight?”
“Yes,” she spread her claws out and swiped at him, “Meow.”
“Uh, Tripp?” Manuel tried to avoid making eye contact with Wool, who looked at him suspiciously.
“Not now, Manuel,” Tripp yelled, “Later.”
“The cosmic event taking place in the sky isn’t technically a sun,” Manuel said. “It does not contain the gaseous properties of what we consider to be a heavenly body.”
Jaycee stomped over to Manuel and raised his eyebrows, “What is it?”
“Some kind of portal is my best guess. If we seal off Botanix and get you into the hyper-sleep pods I’d say you all have a twenty percent chance of surviving whatever is about to happen.”
“Twenty?” Tripp took his eyes off the Shanta for a second longer than he should have.
“Screeeee!”
Tripp pointed his gun at the noise whilst looking at Manuel, “I’ll take those odds.”
BLAM-SCHPLAT!
He yanked the trigger and throated the creature with his nozzle, blasting its innards across the dead plants.
“Quick,” Manuel scanned the panel on the wall and opened the door, “Get to the hyper-sleep chamber. Follow me.”
Wool, Jelly, Jaycee, and Tripp took one, final look at the sky. It wasn’t pink, anymore. Instead, a huge gulf of white lamped the entire horizon.
SCHTAAAMMMM!
The black root of the tree stomped down, crushing all the Shanta in front of Botanix.
GROOWWLLL…
“Oh dear,” Wool said. “Let’s do what Manuel said. Run, run.”
Jelly ran through the opened door. Tripp and Wool followed after her, leaving Jaycee to open his thigh compartment and grab five dumb bombs. He pulled each pin from them and clutched them in his hand, “Come get some.”
He bent his elbow out from his chest and threw them among the plants.
“Screeeeeee!” The Shanta squealed in unison, thumping their talons to the tiled ground.
“Adios, amigos,” Jaycee kicked the door shut, sealing them inside.
“Jaycee, quick. Let’s go!” Wool yelled over her shoulder as she raced down the walkway with the others.
“Yeah, just gimme a minute,” he turned to the wall panel and lifted his right boot, “Just sealing the bastards in.”
He smashed the panel with all his might and disabled the door mechanism. The Shanta slapped their limbs against the window in a wild, screeching frenzy.
Jaycee rubbed his gloved hands together and held up his middle finger to the window, “Time to go sleepy-byes…”
He turned around and stormed up the walkway.
KA-BOOOOM!
The walkway shuddered as the other side of the window splattered with dark, pink gore. The bombs eviscerated everything that turned oxygen into carbon dioxide within the room.
“I know the feeling, my friends,” Jaycee finished as he turned the corner, “Rest in pieces, Botanix.”
The Hyper-Sleep Chamber
Space Opera Beta
Manuel shuffled into the
room and bent out his pages, “Hyper-sleep. Engage. Pods one through five, please.”
The glass on the first five of the nine available pods slid open.
Tripp entered the chamber with the others in hot pursuit.
“Five?” Tripp asked. “There’s six of us.”
“I only count five, Tripp?” Manuel offered. “You, Jaycee, Wool, Tor, and Jelly. I strongly advise you disrobe, now, and enter the pods as quickly as you can.”
Tripp looked around the pod and watched Jelly hop into the room, “Jelly, where did Bonnie go?”
She arched her back and stood on her two hind feet. Tripp’s eyes grew with wonder. She matched his height.
“She fell off the edge of the universe.”
“What?” Wool slipped off her inner-suit top and folded it in her arms, “What do you mean?”
Jelly looked down at her jeans. She’d grown into them so much that they’d torn.
“She turned into a star.”
“What are you talking about?” Tripp said.
“She’s dead.”
The crew knew it already, but Jelly’s innocent delivery of those last two words sucker punched them in their collective gut.
“I knew it,” Jaycee removed his exo-suit. His muscled body glinted in the fluorescent light, catching everyone’s attention.
Tor looked away and bit his lip. He flung his inner-suit into the slider on the wall, feeling extremely inferior - both mentally and physically, “I can’t do this anymore. Whatever that sun thing is out there, I hope it kills us,” he climbed into a pod and exhaled. It felt comfortable inside.
“I hope it kills you,” Jaycee yelled as he climbed into the pod next to his, “Just know I’m right next to you if you try something crappy.”
Tor crossed himself and muttered a silent prayer, “Please, let me sleep while it happens.”
Jaycee thumped the side of the man’s pod, “Shut up, princess. Praying won’t get you anywhere.”
Tor cleared his throat and swallowed back his pink saliva. He noticed a bleeding scratch on the top of his arm from the melee in Botanix, “Oh God, make it stop,” he winced.
Manuel hovered over Tor and Jaycee’s pod, “Gentlemen, please. Do try to exercise a little decorum?”
Star Cat: War Mage Page 8
