Andrew Mackay - Infinity Claws

“No, no!” Jamie threw his hands into the air and looked at Gunnar. “You’re hurting them. Please, stop it.”

“They’re not hurt, kid,” Gunnar giggled. “It’s just a bit of a nudge to get them to engage. If they can’t handle the action on Earth, how are they going to cope in space if they meet aliens?”

“Aliens?” Jamie asked himself.

Remy punched the air, furious on Bisoubisou’s behalf. “Go on, smash her. Kick that orange lump of fur.”

Bisoubisou swiped her claw and caught Jelly on the shoulder. The metal hanging over her claws dug into Jelly’s fur, causing her to screech out loud.

The exhilaration coming from the audience was palpable. Ordinarily they’d be cheering, but the violent action taking place caused them to choke. The combat was far more furious – and dangerous – than expected.

“My God!” an audience member stood up and screamed. “This is horrible. Make them stop.”

“No, no,” Jamie whispered under his breath, looking at Jelly. “Don’t stop. Defend yourself, girl.”

Swish-swipe .

“Twenty seconds remaining,” announced the female voice.

Jelly gave it her best shot. She lifted her hind legs and kicked Bisoubisou in the stomach, pushing her back. “Grrrrr.”

Jelly looked at her hind paws and deliberately pressed them against the railings, knowing she’d receive a nasty nip of a shock.

A jolt of electricty blasted through her body.

“Whoa, that’s gotta hurt!” Gunnar laughed into the microphone. He looked at the screen. “Jelly’s on eight points. Bisoubisou is on seven.”

Jelly’s hind paws hit the railing. She screamed in pain and saw the bolt of electric blue run up her legs. She pushed forward and revolved around in the air, ready to knock ten shades of hell out of her opponent.

Unfortunately for her, Bisoubisou was ready. Like Jelly, she utilized the anger-induced electric shock with her glove. She pushed back, purposely zapping herself.

Bisoubisou and Jelly stormed head-to-head through the air, ready to obliterate each other.

“This is it!” Gunnar yelled into the microphone. “Ten seconds left.”

Jelly meowed at the top of her lungs, raising her infinity claws above her head and ready to smack the hell out of her rival.

Bisoubisou did the same, revealing her sharp, white fangs.

“Six… five… four…” announced the female voice.

Everything seemed to crash into slow motion for Jamie and Remy. They briefly caught each other’s eyes as they turned to their pets.

Jelly threw the first punch and grabbed Bisoubisou’s face in her claws. She yanked her opponent around as their bodies tumbled over and over together.

Bisoubisou’s face tore open as one of Jelly’s infinity claws pulled away. It proved to be just the pain that Bisoubisou needed to develop an incandescent rage.

She reached up and socked Jelly in her stomach, sending her tumbling against the metal railing.

“Woooooooh!” the audience finally exhaled.

Electric sparks blistered out from behind Jelly as her shoulder blades hit the railings. “Mwaahhh.”

“…two… one… and, game over.”

Bzzz . The combat cage collapsed out and folded over itself, sinking into the floor.

Bisousbiou and Jelly were no longer the subject of zero gravity. They shot down to the floor and landed on their paws.

The mega-screen played some of the highlights of both rounds as the totals calculated.

Gunnar and the crowd cheered the two cats as their respective handlers lifted them out of the cage.

Lindsey ran her hand over Jelly’s head and examined her face. “Hey, Jelly. How are you?”

She gnashed her mouth at the woman and tried to claw her face. Clumps of fur had burned away. She was injured and extremely upset.

Remy watched Bisoubisou in his handler’s arms. “Give me her.”

“No,” the handler said, holding the cat in the air for the audience to see. “We need to do this.”

“Give me my cat back,” Remy stomped his foot on the ground. “You hurt her.”

“Okay, everybody,” Gunnar stepped forward and pressed his index finger to his lips. “The results are in. The points have been tallied up. It seems we have a winner.”

The crowd fell silent, as did Jamie and Remy. Everyone turned to the mega screen for the payoff.

“And here are the results…” announced the female voice. “In second place…”

Jamie turned to his mother and bit his lip. She looked at the big screen.

“…Jelly Anderson, from the United Kingdom. With a total of fifty-two points.”

“Huh?” Jamie asked himself, confused. “So if Jelly came in second, then that means—”

“—Yes,” Remy jumped in the air with extreme excitement. “Yes. We won.”

“What?” Jamie stomped his foot to the floor. “That’s not right, Jelly won that!”

Gunnar took Bisoubisou from the handler and held her up. “Attention, people. The winner of USARIC’s Star Cat Project… from the Russian Federation, I give you… Bisoubisou Gagarin!”

The crowd cheered politely but were undoubtedly disappointed.

A thousand lights shone on Bisoubisou and Remy as the celebrations took place.

Deflated and exhausted, Jamie slumped to his knees and accepted the noise of failure into his head. After a few seconds, the adulation for his opponent dampened in his ears and left a permanent scar on his brain.

The crowd escaped from the gantry and flooded the stage, all vying to be the first to pet and congratulate the winner.

Emily jumped onto the stage and made a beeline for Jamie. “Oh, poppet. Come here.”

She scooped him up in her arms and hugged him. He went limp and buried his crying face on her shoulder. “It’s not fair, they tried to hurt them.”

“I know, poppet,” she whispered, “If I had known, I would never have let her take part.”

“I want Jelly,” he sobbed, looking up at Jelly in Lindsey’s arms.

“Not yet, Jamie,” Lindsey said, “We need to make sure she’s okay, and we’ll get her back to you.”

Jamie looked at the crowds surrounding the winner. Remy looked very happy with himself as Dreenagh pushed her wrist into his face and asked him some questions.

His parents looked even happier, proud of their son and his cat.

Of course, Bisoubisou was the center of attention.

A tear rolled down Jamie’s cheek. A rousing experience of failure, and one he’d likely never forget till the day he died.

“I want to go home,” Jamie cried into his mother’s comforting arms, “I don’t like it here—”

“Meoowwwwwww.”

Jamie was interrupted by Bisoubisou lashing out at the crowd from out of nowhere.

Everyone turned to the cat and gasped.

Bisoubisou threw her paws out and chewed at the infinity claw on her right paw, whining and growling.

“Oh, god,” her handler looked at her paw and turned to Gunnar. “She’s bleeding. We need to get her to medical, right now.”

Confused, the crowd stepped back. The cameras on Bisoubisou pointed at her, showing her turmoil and sheer agony on the mega-screen.

“Everybody get back. Now.” Gunnar waved the crowd away. The place fell silent.

Bisoubisou wailed in horror as her fangs dug into the metal, trying to wrench the godforsaken device away from her claws.

Her handler darted off toward the back of the stage, leaving a worried crowd wondering what had happened. Spots of blood lined the stage floor as she carried the injured cat away.

Jamie saw the frantic handler kicked through the stage door, screaming for help…

The handler barged through another door leading to a backstage medical room.

“Where’s Wool? We need her, fast.”