The dust and detritus settled a few moments later. Both Jelly and Jaycee spluttered and gasped for air a few feet away from each other.
The control deck door opened at the far end of the walkway. An Alex-shaped silhouette stepped out amongst the spinning red lights and stood in the door frame, “Jelly?”
“Mah, mah,” she grimaced and clutched her chest, “I’m n-not f-finished—Ngggg.”
Alex stepped forward and allowed the door to slide shut behind him. The skin on his face bleached red from the whizzing alarm bulbs on the wall.
“No, n-no, get b-baaaaaa-aaack,” Jelly groaned and pointed at the door, “My babies. Look after my babies.”
“Are you okay?” Alex tried to step forward, but knew he shouldn’t go anywhere near her.
“Stay away from m-me,” Jelly slammed her right paw to the ground and snarled at him, “D-Do you w-want me to k-kill you?”
Alex held his hands out in defense, “God, no. Of course not.”
“Then let me finish this. L-Look after my babies.”
“What do you mean ‘let me finish this’? What are you talking—”
Jelly closed her eyes and lifted her head, producing a deadly response to his question.
ROOOAAAAARRRR.
Jelly now sounded like a tiger, and scared the ever-lovin’ hell out of the young man.
“Uhhh, okay. Yes, good idea. I’ll go and look after your babies, then.”
Alex turned around and entered the control deck, thankful that the she-beast hadn’t eaten him whole.
Jelly climbed to her knees and licked her mouth. Her tongue tasted the singed fur on her chin. She coughed up another pink mound of blood and spat it to the ground.
“Ngggg, whu, whu,” a pathetic grunt came from the other end of the walkway.
It was Jaycee - utterly battered, and with half his face missing. He’d seen better days.
Jelly walked forward on her knees, struggling to make any meaningful progress.
GROWL.
“Nuh, nuh,” she tried, before closing her eyes and screaming out loud. A prolonged yell of utter agony. Her skull shunted forward, breaking the bone in her nose out and taking her whiskers with it.
Each facial strand elongated as her yell turned into a prolonged howl of murder.
GRUNT, SNIFF.
Her nostrils flared and blew out a gust of air. The vocal chords deep within slumped and thickened. Each tooth wriggled free from her gums and clanged to the floor.
SWISH-FLAP-FLAP.
She moved forward on her elbows and knees. With each thud against the ground, they broke apart and bent backwards. Her spine arched and pushed through the skin on her back.
Jaycee watched her transform before his very eye.
“Juh-Juh—?”
He didn’t have the energy to move. If he did, he might find that parts of his body wouldn’t be accompanying him.
“M-My G-G-God—”
GRROOOWWWWWLLLL…
Two giant fangs pushed through her gums as her tongue lashed out. More teeth pushed through as her skull extended under her cheekbone.
Fur pushed through her delicate skin - white and black in colored stripes across her face. Her eyeballs sunk and enlarged in one swift motion, turning a urine-stained yellow.
Grrrrrrrr.
Jaycee gargled through his nostrils in shock, “Juh, Jell-ie?” He squinted his one active eye and burst into tears, afraid for his life, “J-Juh—”
ROOAAAARRRRR.
“I c-can’t b-believe it,” he whimpered through his tears and stared his fate right in the face.
Its tiger face.
Jelly had transformed once again and paced toward him. Her body took up most of the walkway, blocking anything from escaping or entering.
“Yuh-yuh—you,” she tried with the last of her ability to speak, her voice affecting a deranged and angry demon scowl, “K-Killed my b-baby…”
“Nuh, nuh, Jelly,” Jaycee held out his arm at the tiger face moving through the darkness, “I d-didn’t—”
“—You… killed,” she struggled through her croaking voice, “M-My d-daughter.”
Jelly pressed her front paws into the ground and pushed herself upright. She wobbled around in front of Jaycee and tried to retain her balance - a feat she managed after a few seconds of standing upright.
Jaycee looked up at the gargantuan freak show. Half-woman, half-tiger? Half cat? It was no longer worth assessing any longer in Jaycee’s view. The exo-suit remained mostly intact.
“You-you look good in USARIC’s outfit, you kn-know,” Jaycee tried to joke through his tears.
ROOAAARRR.
Jelly didn’t find his quip amusing in the slightest. If anything, she considered his remark as something of a ball-buster - an invitation to pummel his face into the ground, squat over whatever remained, and take a huge dump on it.
“Y-You—”
“—I d-didn’t kill h-her,” Jaycee’s voice fizzed and slunk into a pathetic electronic rendition of the voice Jelly was used to, “I d-didn’t. I f-found h-her—”
Jelly stomped over to him with a look of murder in her eyes.
“Nuh, nuh, J-Jelly. I d-didn’t kill her,” Jaycee squirmed and guarded the remains of his face with his battered forearm, “P-Please, n-no.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Interstate 608
The van tore across the grounds and smashed through the gate, headed for the freeway.
“I think that’s the last of them,” Sierra unhooked her machine gun from her shoulders and passed it to Grace, “Here, take this. I’m performing a head count.”
“Be quick,” Grace flicked her hair over her shoulders and looked through the windows of both back doors. Her eyes grew with terror, “Oh no.”
“What is it?” Sierra snapped. She pulled out her scanner and flicked the catch on the side. A thin blue light spread out across the interior of the van and beeped.
“They’re onto us.”
“No kidding,” Sierra held the device at the two cages. A blue holographic number floated in the air, counting up from one.
The blue beam flipped through the cages, catching the kittens’ eyes.
Two, three, four, five… the counter total rolled up as quick as the van sped along the road.
“Get out of the way, damn it,” Rana shouted and blared her horn at a row of maddeningly slow cars ahead of her, “Move, move.”
NEEEEEAAAWWWW.
Grace gripped the door frame and shouted at Rana, “We got company.”
Sierra left the counting device to hover in the air and continue its work. She joined Grace at the window and scrunched her face.
The road snaked around like a furious tail, indicating that they’d joined the freeway. The three cars shot into view as the van tilted around them at speed.
In the distance, Sierra saw a flurry of tiny white dots flash their headlamps at them.
“It’s them, it’s them,” she turned to Grace and held out her hand, “Give me my gun.”
Grace pushed the machine gun into Sierra’s hands, “Here.”
“Thanks,” she thumbed the safety catch down and observed the shotgun in Grace’s hands, “You loaded?”
“Fully.”
The torrent of white dots in the distance enlarged into the shape of MagCycles, each containing a driver wearing a helmet.
An electronic voice announced from the first MagCycle, “Driver, pull your vehicle over to the side of the road.”
“Rana?” Sierra yelled.
“What? Are you going to tell me to speed up? Drive quicker?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t bother,” Rana looked at the speedometer; 100 mph and counting. “Should have gotten a better vehicle for this.”
“Jesus Christ.”
Sierra shook her head and looked at the felines in the first cage.
A chorus of meows and hisses came from behind the bars. The cats fought over each other in anger to try and escape. The bars bent out
due to the force and struggled to contain them.
“Stay,” Sierra said just as a Noyin’s voice crept into her headgear.
“Sierra?”
“What is it now?”
Back at base, Noyin angled the live feed from the van’s camera and focused on the speeding MagCycles tearing their way along the magnetic strip on the side of the road.
“I don’t wanna worry you, but the bad guys are about twenty seconds ETA.”
“Just focus on the damn truck,” Sierra spat and knocked Grace on the shoulder, “Let’s take out the trash?”
“Hell yeah.”
Grace cocked her shotgun and placed the sole of her boot on the back door, “Just tell me when.”
Sierra turned around, keeping a stern eye on the angry cats making a terrific fuss in their cages, “Noyin? I have scores of cats in here, and they’re desperate to get out—”
CLANG-CLANG-SHRRREEEEEEEK.
A pale, white bobtail yanked on the bars with her silver claws and scowled at Sierra.
“Hisssss.”
“Jeez,” she stepped back, afraid of the animosity on display, “She’s seriously pissed off.”
“Who’s pissed off?” Noyin asked.
“Forget it,” Sierra made her way to the back of the van, “They’re secure for now. Get the truck ready. Rana, how long till the bridge?”
“Couple of minutes, maybe a bit more,” she said, keeping her eyes fixed on the freeway in front of her.
“Noyin, we’ll be there in two minutes,” Sierra nodded at Grace to boot the door open, “Get Siyam in position.”
“You got it,” he said, and pressed his finger to his ear. “Siyam, man?”
“Yeah?” Siyam palmed the plate on the truck’s dashboard and fired up the engine.
It roared to life and rolled along the grass verge.
“You’re on. Ninety seconds and we reconvene.”
“On it,” Siyam pressed on the gas and drove the truck over the MagStrip and joined the freeway. He peered into the side mirror and saw a pile of random vehicles slow down, “Seems there’s a bit of a jam on I-608.”
“A jam?” Noyin’s voice came through the headgear, “Yeah, the cars aren’t moving very fast. Rana might encounter a bit of a blockade.”
“Damn,” Noyin said, “Okay, leave it with me. Just make sure you’re under I-608 when it happens.”
“Got it.”
The Mack Truck growled as it passed the 30 mph mark and drifted into the middle lane.
Noyin looked at Jamie, Leesa, and Remy, who watched the live feed as if it was some bizarre action movie.
“What’s going to happen?” Jamie asked.
Noyin moved the van camera to the left and zoomed into the MagCycles gaining ground along the magnetic strip at the side of the freeway, “USARIC is after them.”
“They’re going to get caught,” Leesa gasped and clung to Jamie’s shoulder, “You have to do something.”
“What can I do from here?” Noyin gripped his mouthpiece and pulled it to his chin, “This is it guys. You’re about to go dark. You’re on your own from here. Good luck.”
Rana watched the speedometer creep past 110 mph.
“Guys, this is the fastest we can go without tearing this useless piece of junk apart.”
The walls of the van began to shake violently, rocking the two cages back and forth.
Rana slid her binocles down her face. The screen ran a white line around the contour of an eighteen-wheeler joining the freeway in the distance.
“Okay, there’s Siyam.”
“Where?” Sierra turned around and caught Rana pointing at the huge, black truck a few dozen cars ahead on the freeway.
“There.”
“Good.”
Sierra hollered pointed her machine gun at the back door and hollered at Rana, “Okay, do it.”
“Let’s kill us some bad guys.”
SCHWUNG.
The two back doors flung out and smashed against the van. Rana and Sierra aimed their guns at the build-up of cars and the dozen surrounding MagCycles whipping along the magnetic strip.
BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM.
“Oh, shi—” the first USARIC cyclist screamed and swerved to the side of the strip.
BAM-SPROITCH.
Grace’s shotgun blast hit the silver strip, narrowly avoiding the underside of the cycle but pushing it onto the grass island.
“Whoa,” the merc lost control of the cycle and careened over the lip of the strip.
The cycle lost its magnetic connectivity and bounced into the air, flinging the merc several feet into the air.
“Whoa,” Grace cocked her gun again and took aim at the MagStrip.
Another USARIC merc sped forward on his cycle, “Pull the van over. Now.”
WHOOSH-WHIZZ-ZOOOOM.
A dozen more armed USARIC mercs on MagCycles whizzed up the magnetic strip.
“This crate can’t outrun those cycles,” Rana screamed. “Take care of them.”
Grace fired her shells at each of the cycles, “Eat lead, you bastards.”
BEEEEEEEEP.
Several cars skidded to a halt, forcing the cars behind them to crash into the backs of them.
SMASH-CRASH.
The car’s windows exploded as the second row of vehicles flew into the air and collided in mid-air.
KA-BOOOM.
“Oh dear,” Sierra blinked at the calamity occurring behind the wheels of the van, “Rana, step on it.”
“I’m going as fast as I can, you mad woman—”
WHOOOOOSH.
Three MagCycles zipped up to the side of the van and kept up the pace.
“This is the United States and Russian Intergalactic Confederation,” announced the first cycle, “Pull your vehicle over or we will be forced to open fire.”
“What, like this?” Grace lifted her gun to the side and yanked on the trigger.
BLAM-BLAM-SPLATTTCCHHH.
A direct hit - right in the merc’s visor, busting open the back of his head and pushing his body to the floor.
“No, no, no,” Sierra darted forward and yanked her friend back by her jacket sleeve. “Grace, get back.”
The next USARIC merc produced a D-REZ semi-automatic machine gun and opened fire from his MagCycle.
THRAAA-AAA-TATA-TAAAAT.
A string of bullet hits formed across the back door, coughing orange sparks and smoke into the air.
“Jesus,” Grace jumped back, having averted a merciless execution, “Damn it, Sierra.”
“What?”
The road underneath the van’s wheels seemed to zoom even faster as Grace barged Sierra out of her path and stormed to the lip of the van.
BAM-BAM-BAM.
She unleashed a wave of bullets at the MagCycles.
The first bullet caught the front panel of the adjacent cyclist, twisting his vehicle around. The front of the cycle wheezed to a halt, ducked down and pronged away from the strip.
“Gaaaahhh,” the occupant flew over the handlebars and crashed into a nearby verge.
“Nothing like a gun fight to separate the girls from the boys, huh?” Grace swung her gun around to the next USARIC merc, who aimed his D-REZ at her chest.
The cycle visor amplified the merc’s voice, “Driver, this is your final warning. Pull over immediately.”
“I don’t think so,” Grace unleashed a round of bullets in his direction, just as two more MagCycles shot up behind him, “Nighty-night, assholes.”
BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM.
The merc swerved to the right as the magnetic strip popped open behind him.
WHUDDA-WHUDDA-WHUDDA.
The cycle waddled from side to side, but the driver managed to keep the bars steady and take aim at the back of the van with his semi-automatic.
The adjoining USARIC MagCycles whizzed alongside the first on the opposing side of the freeway. Each mercenary aimed their guns at the back of the van.
“God damn it, close the doors,” Sierra yelled. She
bolted forward and yanked the left door shut.
THRAAAA-TAT-A-TAAAT.
The bullets sprayed across the door, shattering it in two.
WHUMP-BOUNCE-CRASH.
It slammed to the road underneath and bounced into the air, taking the first USARIC merc’s head off.
The MagCycle wobbled around, creating a gut-wrenching whine of magnetic turbulence.
BZOOOOOW-BLAMMM.
The cycle sprung into the air due to the lack of connection and crashed into the side verge a few feet away.
Grace emptied her shells to the ground, reached into her belt and slotted a fresh magazine into the housing, “How are the felines holding up?”
Sierra spun around on her feet and watched the counter creep forward.
Fifty, fifty-one, fifty-two…
“Hisss.”
“Miew.”
The cats chewed and clawed at their cages and demanded freedom. The white bobtail scowled at Sierra as soon as she clapped eyes on it.
“I, uh, think they want freed.”
“Tough,” Grace moved forward and kicked the van’s back doors open, “They’ll have to wait till we get back to the arena.”
BLAM-BLAM-BLAM.
Rana fired off a round of shots at the approaching MagCycles.
SHPATT-SHPATT-BOOM.
Two MagCycles wobbled left and right, shaking the occupiers from their seats. The third MagCycle’s front exploded as a bullet struck it dead center.
KER—RAAANNNGGG.
Grace raised her eyebrows as the Cycle exploded and threw the driver into the air, “Whoa. Remind me never to use those stupid MagStrips.”
“Uh, Grace?” Sierra barked from within the van, “We have a problem here.”
“Guys, we are thirty seconds ETA from I-608 underpass,” Rana said from the driver’s seat, “Whatever it is you have planned, get it done right now. And get ready.”
Grace turned around and was about to ask Sierra what was wrong, when she found out for herself.
“Oh, no.”
“Uh-huh,” Sierra said.
The top corner of the first cat cage had been hit by a stray bullet. The metal bars blew out, offering the cats a chance to escape, should they feel brave enough.
And they felt brave enough.
“What do we do?” Sierra asked.
Star Cat: Killer Instinct Page 18