Эндрю Маккей: Star Cat: War Mage

Twelve cats ran up his trouser leg and jabbed their claws into his flesh, tearing bits of him apart. He screamed and fell to his knees in agony.

The two USARIC mercenaries ran back into the helicopter, “Get this bird back in the air. They’re killing him,” shouted one of them to the pilot.

The helicopter blades fired back up.

WHUM-WHUUUM-WHUUUUM…

The Egyptian Mau ran the top of her head against the mercenaries visor, lifted it over his head. His face was a bloodied mess.

She looked into his pupils and licked her lips.

“N-No, p-please,” he screamed as she dove into his face claws-first.

The helicopter’s gear lifted from the ground – taking ten cats with it. Half of them invaded the passenger seat area and tore the two mercenaries apart.

The other half – all ten of them – hopped into the pilot seat and ripped up the pilot’s legs and arms.

Grace ran into the road with her flashlight and watched the helicopter auto-rotate twenty feet in the air.

Large numbers of patrons from the liquor store and surrounding restaurants gathered at the window. Some of them ran out of the building and into the parking lot.

“Get back, get back!” Grace screamed at them, “The chopper’s gonna come down!”

A thrashing of meows and human screams came from the spinning USARIC helicopter.

“Get back!” Grace shouted at the others as Siyam ran up behind her.

WHUDDA-WHUDDA-SLIP-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!

The blades of the back rotors sliced against the Rollneck Kojak sign. Segments of it blasted in all directions, causing an electrical storm. The neon rendition of the bald man burst into flames and crashed against the ground.

The chopper hit the cement. The first rotor’s blades stabbed into the side of the vehicle itself, pushing it onto its side.

WHIINNNEEE… KERRR-RASSSHHHH!

A dozen cats hopped out from the helicopter and landed on the road. They dispersed in all directions, howling and squealing at the night sky.

The patrons from the building ran in all directions, screaming. Some of them held their forearms and Viddy Media ink at the scene in an attempt to record what was happening.

“Are you crazy?” Grace shouted at those brave enough to film what was happening, “Get back.”

The once-tiny white dot overseeing the event from the night sky fanned out like bubble by another inch.

The helicopter tumbled over and around, slamming the remainder of its blades against the floor. One of them caught the mercenary’s legs and severed it from his thigh, “Gaaahh!”

The rest of the cats propelled from the sides of the helicopter and darted across the road, away from danger.

“Get out of there, now,” Grace yelled at them.

SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-BAMMM.

The second rotor slowed to a halt. Its blades crunched against the ground.

The mercenaries inside crashed to the ground, unconscious.

Grace and Siyam dared not move any closer for fear of the vehicle going up in flames.

“Quick, we gotta gather up all the cats and get them out of here.”

Grace peered forward and noticed something shuffling in the tilted cockpit, “Wait, what’s that?”

A paw.

Then a furry arm.

Two flapping ears of an Egyptian Mau.

She clambered over the lip of the door and bolted toward Grace and Siyam, “Meow.”

“Hey, girl,” Grace crouched down and held out her arms, “We’re here to rescue you. How did you do that ?”

The Mau lifted her paw and licked her claw. A shiny, white cuticle – made of titanium.

Grace gasped and tied to process what she’d seen. She turned to the other cats to find that they had the same contraption fitted to their paws.

“Oh, wow. They’re all—”

“—Meeooww,” The Mau ran her claws against the ground,

The helicopter’s final blade hit the cement.

KA-BLAAAA-AAA-AAAMMM!

It exploded with such force that its charcoaled body launched thirty feet into the air and exploded a second time.

A slab of fiery helicopter slammed down on both cars, bursting their windows.

Grace and Siyam didn’t know how to respond. She looked at the Mau in shock.

“Miew.”

“Umm,” Grace cleared her throat, “Let’s get you and your friends out of here. Right now… ”

Jamie Anderson pulled his rucksack over his shoulders. He crossed the main road that separated Chrome Valley’s east and west side.

A swarm of chuckling school children ran past and ignored him.

“Ugh, there’s Lame-y Anderson,” one of the chubby kids cackled at his excited friends, “His cat lost the competition.”

“Yeah,” squealed an excited girl, “A giant loser, just like her ugly owner.”

“Lame-y Anderson, Lame-y Anderson,” all the kids chanted in unison as they ran off around the corner.

“Shut up,” he muttered

He knew in his heart of hearts that it was only a matter of time before he’d become famous. Everyone would know Jelly won. Maybe then they’d like him.

Until then he’d continue to be the loner. On one hand, it suited him. He enjoyed the privacy. On the other, having no friends was a lonely prospect.

No one to talk to.

It wasn’t long before he turned the same corner near the Waddling Gate cemetery. He and his mother buried his late father there nearly six years ago.

He couldn’t bear to look at the black gates, nor the church standing behind it. The very sight alone upset him. Worse, he had to walk past it twice a day to and from school.

Jamie looked at his Viddy Media ink. 8:10 am.

Plenty of time to make the start of school and his first period.

He looked up to see the chubby kid pant and wheeze further up the road, trying to keep up with his friends.

“One day, Raymond,” Jamie stopped walking. He muttered and scowled, quietly, “I’ll kick your fat arse into the moon.”

A screeching of tires came a few feet behind him. He turned around and saw a black van spin onto the road at speed.

“Pfft. Whatever .”

He kept his head down and watched each foot pace in front of the other. It was hard for him to not notice the engine and wheels slowing down behind him. as he walked along the sidewalk.

The van crawled to a steady three miles per hour.

Jamie looked over his shoulder and squinted at the windshield. Its darkened, limousine effect prevented him from seeing the driver. The reflection of the trees from the cemetery were the only thing visible on the surface of the windshield.

He resumed his journey to school.

The van did the same.

Jamie knew the van was following him.

“Ugh, no,” Jamie looked at the cemetery gates and grew anxious. He could jump the railings and run across the grounds to safety.

The van slammed on its brakes, startling the boy.

He stopped dead in his tracks.

The side door slid open and revealed a person in a black balaclava. She grabbed the lip of the door and held her head out, “Jamie Anderson?”

He kept his mouth shut and chose not to interact with the stranger.

“Ugh, don’t mess me around, you little turd,” the person said. A feminine voice, to be sure. Judging by her voice and svelte frame she couldn’t have been very old, “Are you Jamie Anderson?”

“Who’s asking?”

“It’s him,” yelled a masked man from behind the door. Jamie scrunched his face at the woman.

She produced a gun and lay it across her lap, “Jamie?”

“P-Please leave me alone.”

“Jamie Anderson?”

“My mom told me never to speak to strangers.”

The woman wasn’t interested in his excuses. She lifted the gun and traced her finger along the barrel, “I know it’s you, but I need to be sure. What’s your date of birth?”