No one even saw it. They were too busy hiding and shooting.
Jelly slammed her foot forward, causing an almighty earthquake. She knew the ground would crack apart if she stomped hard enough.
Santiago’s mini-drone produced a blaze of smoke as it fluttered around Jelly’s tail like an inebriated flea.
“ROOOAAARRRR,” she shouted at it as she tried to swipe it.
SWISH — SCHLAP.
Her tail whipped the annoying device into the air. She reached out with her left hand and closed her fist on it.
CRUNCH.
She lifted her head, opened her mouth and dropped the mini-drone down her throat.
GULP.
“Ahhh,” she said and licked her mouth.
The USARIC mercs continued to fire at Jelly as she stormed toward them and kicked the first row away.
“Damn it, fall back. Fall back,” one of them screamed as her eight-foot boot swung towards him.
“Fall ba—”
KERACCKKK.
Jelly kicked the man in the chest, shoving him several feet into the air, destined for a bone-crunching death.
It provided enough of a diversion for PAWZ-1 to bolt forward and kick against its wheel.
CLANG — CLANG — CLANG.
“That’s my girl,” Jelly roared at the forklift.
Mau lifted her head out of the side, “Maaaaahhmmmiiee?”
Jelly lowered her head to see a black “F” had formed on her forehead.
“Hey. Honey.”
“Momm-iieeee.”
“Good girl,” Jelly grunted and rammed her fist into the front of the mega-vehicle, “Now, kill.”
“Mohhhmmiiieee,” Mau screamed at the other cats in PAWZ-1.
The machine lifted both arms and threw them forward, puncturing the side of the mega-vehicle.
“Noooowwww,” Mau squealed and hopped around inside the head of the vehicle, “Now, now, now.”
THRAAAAAAAT-A-TAAAAT-TT.
PAWZ-1 unleashed both rounds of ammo deep inside the mega-vehicle, massacring the driver inside. The inside of the vehicle flashed white over and over again as it rolled to a halt, forcing PAWZ-1 along with it.
SCHWUMP.
“Mommah?” Mau shrieked
Jelly grabbed PAWZ-1 under its arms and lifted it to the firing mercenaries.
“Now, honey.”
“Mommah.”
BRRAAAAAAAYYYZZZZEEEEE.
A lengthy cylinder of bullets whirled out of both its arms, taking out scores of mercenaries in a hail of death.
“Goooood girl,” Jelly growled as she moved the machine left and right. “Kill every single one of them, honeys.”
SPATCH — SPLATCH — SPRAAAATCH.
“Jesus, fall back,” Brayn said. “Damn it, fall back.”
“USARIC,” Jelly screamed in her ungodly voice, “Show us our respect, and BOW DOWN.”
Anyone who hadn’t heard the order walked right into certain death. Those who had heard Brayn ran backwards and lowered their guns.
Those who carried out the order to kneel before her were killed by the cat’s gunfire.
No mercy.
Jelly released the PAWZ-1 unit to the ground. She side-stepped to the mega-vehicle and wrapped the fingers on her left hand around its turret.
GROOAAANNN — TWIST.
The elongated barrel twisted up, forming a handle in her palm.
BLAST — BLAST.
Brayn fired a couple of shots at the gargantuan monster’s face and missed.
GROWL.
“Get back,” Brayn hollered again. “Get back. Get in the Arena. Take cover.”
The PAWZ vehicles pushed forward, scooping up the dead and tossing them into the clusters of mercenaries trying to shoot them.
Jelly yanked her left arm back, scraping the mega-vehicle across the ground by its turret.
GRUNT.
She lifted the heavy machinery up and slammed it down onto five of her enemies, crushing them to death.
GRROOOAAAAANNN.
She ripped the mega-vehicle out of the ground and used it as a bat to mow down the brave mercs shooting at her.
CLANG — CLANG — CLANG.
The bullets exploded across her armor.
One of the mercs froze and looked her in the eyes, “Okay, get back. Get back.”
He spun around and darted over to the arena along with ten of his men.
“Go, go, go—”
WHUMP.
The mercenary darted through the air, having been kicked by Jelly’s giant carbon-based boot.
Feet crushed through the length of his body as his head collided with the wall.
A beam of white light drifted over Jelly’s shoulder, catching her attention.
“Huh?”
She turned around to find the source of the light. An approaching fight jet was about to fly over and deliver another round of bullets.
ROOOOOOOAAARRR.
“Meow,” Mau squealed. “Meoowwmmm.”
“I know, honey,” Jelly grunted.
She lifted the mega-vehicle around her head like a lasso and released it at the jet.
The giant vehicle spun around as it left her hand and screamed into its path.
NEEOOOOOWWWW — KRAAAA-BLAAMM.
A giant ball of God exploded in the night sky, throwing an intense light over the grounds.
“Whoa,” Sierra said. “What the hell was that?”
Roman held her back and pointed at Jelly’s shoulders, “Look, they’re falling back.”
“Better let them fight it out between them, huh?”
“I’m not sure how much help we’d be.”
Jelly looked down to see Sierra and Roman holler at her. She stomped back and lifted her left hand at the mercenaries retreating to the Arena.
“Truck.”
“Huh?”
“TRUCK,” Jelly screamed and turned to smash the hell out of the bad guys. “KILL.”
“Okay, girl. Kill. Right,” Sierra said.
Roman raced over to the truck and waved at Lydia.
“Get out.”
“Why?”
Don’t argue, sweetie. Just get out.”
Sierra waved at Rana, “Sweetie,” she said into her headgear. “Bring the truck over.”
“Okay.”
VROOOOOM.
Lydia climbed down the truck’s steps and jumped into her father’s arms.
“What’s going on? Is Jelly okay?”
“She’s fine. We need the truck.”
He set her to the ground and nodded at Jamie, Leesa, and Remy at the gray van.
“Go and wait with them.”
“Okay.”
Lydia raced over to the gray van and up to Jamie. “Hey, come and see this. It’s amaziant.”
Remy, Leesa, and Jamie shuffled forward and caught the insane war taking place outside The Arena.
“Wow,” Jamie gasped. “She’s wrecking the joint.”
***
Brayn ran through The Arena’s reception area and past the gold statue of Pascal D’Souza in front of a gushing marble fountain.
“Everyone fall back to the auditorium and await rescue.”
Maar ran out of the auditorium in a state of apoplexy and approached Brayn.
“What’s going on out there?”
His eyes turned to the giant tiger in armor and three PAWZ vehicles all growling at him.
“What in the name of—”
“—Sir, get back in the auditorium. I’ve called rescue.”
Maar’s eyes widened at the destroyed, smoke-filled ground. Hundreds of dead mercenaries littered the ground. Death threatened hundreds more while the smoke cleared.
“Damn it.”
“Sir, no.”
Maar marched past the fountain and stood at the shattered door frame. He pointed at Jelly’s face.
“You.”
GRUNT.
“Yeah, you. You ugly, perversion of nature,” he snapped. “You think you got me beat, huh? Think
again, you stinkin’ pussy.”
Maar turned around and bolted through the reception area along with five other mercenaries.
“Brayn?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Don’t go out there. You’re all utterly useless.”
“But, sir—”
“—Christ, get the hell off my base, you useless morons,” Maar spat as he pushed through the auditorium doors. “If you want something done.”
He climbed onto the stage and fixed his gaze on the Kozhikode machine.
“You gotta do it yourself.”
A dozen mercenaries watched the enraged man slip off his tie and ram it to the floor. He pressed his fingers together and cracked his knuckles.
“Let’s see how that thing holds up against five tons of pure death.”
He ran around the back of the thirty-foot towering machine of death and climbed up the ladder.
“Sir,” Brayn said. “You’re not going to—”
“—What? Do your job for you?” Maar snapped as he opened the compartment in the back Kozhikode’s head. “Yeah. I think I am, as a matter of fact.”
WHUMP.
He jumped onto the green plate on the floor and looked through the five-foot-wide screen. The mercenaries moved forward, along with Brayn.
“You’ve never used it before, sir.”
“Shut up,” Maar said as he looked around the interior. “Now. Activate Kozhikode.”
BRRRR-SPRING.
The green plate lit up.
“Kozhikode activated,” announced a female voice. “Please select automatic or user controls.”
“Uh, user, please.”
“User controls activated,” the voice advised. “Thank you for purchasing your Kozhikode unit. In order to calibrate your new purchase for maximum use, please calibrate controls.”
Several lights illuminated the inside of the head compartment Maar stood inside.
He lifted his right arm above his head.
Outside, Kozhikode enacted the same movement.
Brayn and his team moved back to the audience seats for fear of being killed.
Maar crouched down to the plate and rested his hand on it
“Jesus, Maar,” Brayn said. “Be careful—”
CRUNNCCHHH.
Kozhikode crouched and rammed his fist through the stage.
“Okay, I think that’s all calibrated nicely.”
Maar turned to the left on the plate and faced the auditorium door.
“Now, let’s go kill that damn rodent.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Jelly stood perfectly still in the middle of the war zone. She observed her new children escape the PAWZ vehicles and race towards the far end of the grounds.
The remainder ran around, hopping in the air and shrieking at their new master.
Jelly enjoyed the moment. The sound of the meows and howls comforted her amid all the death and carnage that surrounded them.
CLANG — CLANG.
Jelly smashed her mini-gun against the knuckles on her left hand. All but one of her infinity claws had broken apart in the battle.
“Honeys?”
“Meow, meow, meow,” they shrieked. “Mommy, mommy, mommy.”
All of them sported a bizarre “F” on their foreheads as they continued to yelp and holler.
“Honeys,” Jelly screamed through her visor.
They settled down and leaned back on their haunches. The moon reflected off their pyramid-shaped pupils as they looked up at her.
Jelly pointed at the far end of the grounds where the truck was parked. “Friends.”
“Fwwen-nn—” Mau tried at the top of her little lungs.
“Yes. Go. Protect friends.”
Mau licked her mouth and bolted across the ground, traversing the hundreds of casualties of war, and made her way towards the truck.
The scores of other cats raced after her, meowing as they ran.
“Good girls.”
Jelly planted her boot on the ground and lifted her lone infinity claw at the truck.
Roman and the children crouched down and held out their arms at the running cats.
“Hey, girls.”
“Meow, meow,” they squealed as they ran around their new human friends’ legs.
Jamie and Leesa found the event overwhelming.
“Hey, you guys.”
A particularly dirty white cat ran her face across Leesa’s shins.
“Hey Suzie,” she said as she scooped her up, “How are you?”
“Moh-mmiieeee,” Suzie said and ran her paw over her forehead to reveal a dirty, black “F”.
“Huh.”
Leesa turned to Jamie for a reaction. He simply shrugged his shoulders and turned to the back of the truck.
Sierra stared at Jelly and slowly pinched her mouthpiece. “Rana, I think she’s calling you over. Drive the truck over to her Get out and let her do her thing.”
“You got it.”
Rana drove the van forwards and rolled to a stop where Jelly held her broken mini-gun.
GRUNT.
The shadow of Jelly’s helmet folded across the windshield and covered Rana’s face in darkness.
“Oh, jeez,” she winced, hoping the cat wouldn’t tear the vehicle to pieces.
Jelly peered into the back of the roofless truck and held her nose at the crate of explosives.
Sniff-sniff.
“Rana?” Sierra said into her mouthpiece. “You’ll have to get out so she can push the truck.”
“I kn-know, b-but I don’t feel like making any s-sudden movements.”
Jelly stomped her foot to the ground and held her lone, middle infinity claw out at Sierra.
Seriously injured and exhausted, her voice croaked through her visor.
“Det-t-t-onator-r. G-Give m-me—” Jelly growled.
Then, she clapped eyes on the young boy standing beside Sierra.
Jamie Anderson.
GROWL.
Her eyes shimmied through the cracked visor, averting her gaze at the tear rolling down the boy’s cheek.
“Christ almighty,” Sierra huffed in a state of delirium.
Without fully acknowledging her actions, she passed the detonator to Jamie.
He took it in his hands and whimpered.
Jelly motioned him over to her with her infinity claw.
Sierra gripped the boy’s shoulders, “Jamie, go and give it to her,” she whispered.
Jamie burst into tears at the prospect of finally approaching the one being he wished he’d never let go when he was younger.
His left foot moved forward through the plume of drifting smoke, followed by his right.
Rana watched Jamie in the side mirror and held her breath, “Oh, wow.”
Jamie stood before Jelly, who simply stared down at him. The mask shielded all but her eyes as her head tipped down to the twenty-five foot drop to the boy’s face.
He lifted the peace offering in his hands up past his chest and held it out.
GRROOOAAAANNNN.
The mechanism in her armored leg whirred as it bent at the knee.
SLAMMMM.
The miniature earthquake didn’t tear Jamie’s attention away from her.
SLAMMM.
Her right knee pushed the smoke away and crunched to the tarmac.
In his mind, Jamie counted the amount of footsteps he took to reach her.
Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one…
The closer he got, the further he had to lift his head.
“This is amaziant,” Remy said. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”
Leesa covered her mouth and buried her head in Remy’s arms, “I can’t watch.”
Everyone watched the giant armored tiger kneel before her ex-master.
Jamie placed the detonator on the ground next to his foot and wiped the tears from his face.
“Is-is it y-you?”
The helmet tipped forward and back in a nodding motion.
Jamie’s lips quivered as
his voice croaked, “Wh-what d-did they d-do to you, girl?”
The yellow eyes snapped to darkness for a moment, then shone once again.
Jamie tried his luck, and lifted his right hand up to her.
Jelly lowered her visor and appeared to consider the offer, but didn’t move.
“P-Paw, girl. Gimme paw?” Jamie cried. “P-Please?”
Her helmet shifted to the left by a minute degree. A switching noise emitted from the black carbon connecting helmet to her devastated chest armor.
The armor on her left hand folded away as she pressed her enormous, claw-less index finger into his palm.
He wrapped his fingers around the fur and cried harder at the violent wound where her claw might have been.
“I’m s-sorry, girl,” Jamie said through his tears, “I d-didn’t m-mean any of this—”
A sound of snapping carbon above his head prevented him for apologizing. The sides of Jelly’s helmet folded back onto itself, and slid into the side compartment in her chest armor.
Finally, the visor slid away to reveal a bloodied, bleary-eyed tiger face. A giant scar scorched down the side of her face. Her left eye swam in a sea of infected, yellow fluid that slung down her furry cheek.
“Jamie,” she said, softly.
The boy released her hand and fell to his knees and wept into the tarmac, “I’m sorry.”
Jelly showed little in the way of emotion. Her nose wiggled against her will, wanting to get closer to the boy.
The metal on her armor squeaked as her head lowered down to his.
Sniff-sniff.
The action startled Jamie for a moment. He looked up to see her nostrils expand as it took in a lungful of his scent.
Her eyelids slid down and remained shut as she enjoyed the scent. The chest plate on her armor bulged as her lungs inflated through a deathly sound of gurgles wafting out of her nostril.
Jamie didn’t dare say a word.
Jelly opened her eyes on him and opened her mouth to reveal three missing teeth.
Before he could move, her tongue slid down her chin, curled at the end, and drifted across the top of his head.
Lick… lick… lick.
Jamie took a deep breath and felt the warmth from her tongue as the taste of his hair seeped onto her tongue.
The ground rumbled due a bizarre purring coming from her chest.
Lick-lick-lick.
Jamie closed his eyes and tried for a smile as the coarse, mattress-like muscle folded around his head.
Star Cat Forever: A Science Fiction & Fantasy Adventure (The Star Cat Series - Book 6) Page 34