My Calling: Second Cycle

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

MAKAI! Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 10: Past and Pain... they start with the same letter.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" The scream of the jaguar Overlord reached the ears of the two still in his office.

"Uh oh. Brad's in some serious trouble!" Radara immediately looked in the direction of the scream.

"Hmm, yes, that is most definitely a scream of terror." Nelius was sitting in Brad's chair, leaning back and putting his feet up on Brad's desk. "Wow, this chair's rather comfortable. Dude must have--" THWHACK! While he had been leaning back, that Sabercat from earlier finally nailed him in the side of his head with a yarnball frozen solid by an Ice spell. "Oww! Damnit, it was a joke, lighten up some."

"That wasn't me, but you need to quit clowning around. We better go lend him a hand."

"All right, all right, fine." He rubbed the bruise on his head. 'Geez, I'm getting the third degree from a catnip addict! What next?' While the Elbacky had run down the stairs and taken to the streets, Nelius had decided to give his wings some much needed exercise, and took to the skies, leaping out of the office window. With the city's power back up to full capacity, the few street lamps there were lighting up the area quite well.

"You see anything up there?" She shouted up to him.

"Nothing. It looks like he just disappeared into thin-- hang on a moment, what's this I see?" He noticed some kind of indentation in the street. Slowing down, he dropped down to the street in order to take a closer look. "Perfectly straight cracks like this don't form naturally, even with his efforts to clean this place up."

"What are you up to now?"

"Only one way to figure it out." Going over to the side of the road, he picked up a fairly heavy stone, around the size of someone's head, and dropped it right on the crack. It gave way, revealing an open shaft. "Figured as much. I'd say our friend wanted to give Brad a nice trip. Dunno where it leads, but...."

"Still, using a pitfall? I thought old coyote tricks like that died out years ago."

"Eh, who cares? We know where he disappeared to, so let's get to playing hero." Nelius jumped down first, his companion following suit. They ended up landing atop a tall structure, and from there the duo dropped down into one fairly familiar area. "Well, ain't this a blast? We're back in the Underground City."

"This is it?" Having never seen the area for herself, since the only ways in at the time were through several trillion gallons of water, the Elbacky could do little but marvel at the sight of the perfectly preserved structures. "I never imagined it would look like this. It's amazing." The snapping of Nelius' fingers brought her out of it.

"Yeah, less gawking, more rescuing. After we rescue Captain Fuzzball, we can come back here and marvel at everything some more."

"It's a date, then."

Structure 23

"Five centuries of continued searching, and I finally found you, Brad. You're quite the sneaky one, hiding out from your beloved all the way out here."

Wasting no time, the black Nekomata had an unconscious Brad chained to the stone wall, a strange device planted on his chest. In her hand, she held a container filled to the brim with a strange pink mixture.

'The device and the mixture might've cost me quite a bit, but these are investments well worth the trouble. Once I get the special stuff running through his system and activate the tertiary function of this device, it'll only be a matter of time until he's all...'

"DOOD! We got trouble!" A Prinny interrupted her gloating. From his frantic flailing, he was scared of something. "Intruders, Dood! We've been found out already!"

She whirled around on the spot, severly pissed at being disrupted. "Stop panicking. All of the equipment I gave you guys before we came here was tailor-made to fend off his vassals. As long as you have that equipment, even a freshly recruited, level 1 Prinny could take on entire armies of them and emerge stronger than Baal because of it. Now deal with them."

"Aye aye, dood. We'll take care of them. I just hope this stuff works." He about faced and headed back.

"Damn Prinnies, always interrupting me in the middle of something. Now where was I? Oh yes." She turned back to her prize. 'You're all mine now, Brad. I ought to thank that kid who pointed them in the right direction.'

"DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD! MY PAYCHECK DOESN'T COVER THIS!" There was the sound of multiple explosions. "WE'RE GOING TO THE RED MOON EARLY, DOODS!" One gigantic explosion silenced the rest of them.

"What's going on now?!" She stormed out of the room where she had Brad held. What awaited her was the sight of several hundred charcoaled Prinnies in the structure's hall, and from the looks on their faces, they were scared shitless. "What the hell happened here?"

"I do believe, we happened." Nelius and Radara stepped out of the smoke caused by the detonated penguins. Cue one badass guitar riff.

"You.. decimated all of my Prinnies?!" The black-furred Nekomata hadn't counted on Brad recruiting someone like him. 'Wait! That's the kid the Prinnies told me about! Since when was he working for Brad?'

"I may be a Prinny advocate, but even I know that they aren't exactly the most reliable of hirelings, even with substantial training.. and equipment." Nelius retorted, a cocky grin on his face as he tossed one of the Prinny's machete knives up and down. "Next time you go out hunting, I suggest investing in Golems, Gargoyles or even the occasional Dragon or its ilk. They often work wonders in places like this.... and they don't become living bombs when you play pinball with 'em."

"I don't give two shits who you are, you're not gonna stand in my way. For 500 years I've been preparing for this moment, and I've come too far to let it be ruined by you two." She looked ready to fight if she had to.

"Too bad for you, then. Our current job is to ruin your little moment." Radara retorted. "Now hand Brad over, and we won't have to make a fur coat out of you."

"No can do, but I can give you both this!" Reaching behind her, Nelius reacted, throwing the machete at her. As she dodged out of the way, she tossed some kind of small cylinder right at his face, then covered her ears and eyes as it produced a blinding flash mere inches from his face. "Surprise!"

"Oh Magog-Damn you, bitch!!" Both of them had been momentarily blinded by the flash bang she'd been saving for this occasion, allowing her enough time to escape. Since their eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the underground city, the flash of light was particularly harsh on them both. Oh, and the deafening bang left them disoriented for some time, though Nelius got the worst of it.

"Bye bye!" As the light died down, their eyesight and sense of direction readjusting, they saw that she'd made her escape, having already unchained Brad and disappeared.

"Crap! She got away." He snarled.

"I think not, Nelius. Take a good look over there." The Elbacky pointed toward the ground, where several tracks were still imprinted into the dirt that settled onto the floor. "She hasn't gotten away quite yet. If we hurry up, we can still catch up to her."

"Uh, tell me this.... Radara, right? How exactly does someone who isn't a ghost run straight into a wall?" He leaned against the wall closest to him, inadvertently pressing in a brick, which slid back part of the wall the Nekomata had disappeared through, showing a shortcut. Radara started to grin. "One word and I'll skin you with that knife."

"You wouldn't do that to me, would you?"

"I'm still pretty pissed right now, don't tempt me." They dashed down the passage, and he immediately noticed something odd. "You know, something tells me we're heading downward instead of up." The slope began getting severely steep. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, I can't stop!"

"Neither can I, and I'm used to this kind of stuff!" The steep hill became increasingly slick, making stopping next to impossible. When Nelius slipped up trying to turn around and ended up slamming into a wall, Radara slammed into him, causing part of the wall to revolve, sending them both flying into their next destination.. after being spun around a few dozen times.

"HOLY CRAP!!"

Phantom Cat Mk. 2

"Who'd ever think that Brad would carry such a beautiful ride like this?" The Nekomata sat at the helm of the ship, looking over the controls of the Phantom Cat Mark 2. "Now, if I can just find the ignition and piloting systems, I can make my getaway. Say, dear, which is the ignition?" She turned to look at him, only to remember that he was unconscious. "Oh, right. Maybe the catnip-laced mace to the head was going a little too far." She'd have to wait until he regained consciousness. Good thing nobody else knew they were here....

Or did they?

In the lower half of the ship...

"HOLY CRAP!!"

Nelius and Radara had somehow tumbled through the wall and into the Phantom Cat; more specifically, the Engine Room. Noticibly, the generators were already warmed up, meaning that the ship was just about ready to get going.

"How in the Overlord's name did we end up here?" Nelius was the first one to regain his composure as he looked around. "Oh, uh, mind getting up off of me?"

"Well, I am rather comfortable right here, but we gotta save Brad first off." His Elbacky companion got to her feet, and after helping him up, lead the way toward the bridge.

They ran down the hall, up some stairs, and past some rooms, one of which caught Nelius' eye. When the Elbacky realized that he wasn't following and was instead reading the sign hung on the room's door, she backtracked and grabbed him by his hair, dragging him along with her. "Ow, OW OWW! Watch the hair! I just had it the way I wanted it!"

"Would you rather have me yank you by the ear?" She said it in such a calm, sickeningly sweet tone.

"Uh, on a second thought, hair's a valid choice. OwowowowOWWWW!" A thought crossed his mind as he was being forced along. 'Sides, I don't even think I have any ears..do I?' He put a hand to the side of his head, parting through layer upon layer of hair in order to check...

Bridge

"Ohh, owww... wha 'appened? Why does my head hurt?" Brad finally regained consciousness. Trying to shake the dizziness from his head, he noticed several things. One, he was inside of his ship, tied to some chair at the bridge. 'How'd I end up... oh not again!' Two, the black-furred Nekomata, the newest form of the same girl he'd been trying to avoid for the past few centuries, was trying to fiddle with the ship's controls. Three, there was some kind of mixture sitting near her. He didn't want to know what it was she had in that vial. There was also some weird device strapped to his chest, but that would have to wait.

"You finally woke up. Good morning, handsome." The Nekomata turned her head to him. "Good thing you're already buckled up, Brad, cause in a few minutes, we're taking our honeymoon trip early!"

"WHAT?! We're not even--" He didn't dare try to finish. "I doubt you know this, but I'm already..."

"Oh, we aren't... at least, not at this moment in time anyway." She turned back to the ship controls. "Now, mind telling me which button starts up the ignition?"

"You won't get any information from me." He was trying to get free, but she had apparently learned from her previous attempts. The bindings keeping his hands and feet together were composed of a much stronger material than last time, and done in knots he never untied before. His claws, even being newly sharpened, were inefficient in trying to slice them apart. It actually felt like the material was dulling his claws. He tried stretching the material, but all it did was resist with equal force.

"Ah, ah, ah." She waved a finger. Turning back to him, she pulled a small remote out from her tail. I imagine this is the reason why Nekomatas have such bushy, fox-like tails. They must use it to carry small items! Must be where she got that flash bang from. "You wouldn't want me to press this little switch right here, would you?"

"Ha. As if you'd actually do it."

"OK, you brought this one on yourself." Pressing the switch, the device hummed to life, quickly dousing Brad with several gallons of water, the first of many things some cats, for the most part, can't stand.

"Are you stupid? I'm a jaguar, not a common housecat. Water is basically nothing to me." He told her.

"Oh, I'm well aware of that, but you seem to forget that water does attract this." With another press, a strong electrical current no less than 1.21 Gigawatts in power began flowing through his body. Combined with the water, the jaguar was getting the real shock of his life, though as to wether it was a humorous or torturous shock, you be the judge of it. When the current eventually stopped, Brad was on his back, erratically twitching from all of the electricity, his hair standing up on end, making him look more like a giant ball of fuzz than a Jaguar Overlord. She casually sauntered over to him, as if this were a mere game to her. She stooped down and pulled him back up, tracing along his jaw with one of her fingers. "Now then, are you going to tell me how to start this ship up?"

"S-s-screw... y-y-you." A small line of static electricity danced among the straight strands of fur.

"Tempting, but that offer'll have to wait. I'll have to switch over to option three."

Meanwhile, around the corner and behind a crate..

"Damn her. How could she do something like that to him?" Radara was watching in anger-fueled horror as Brad received the shock of his life.

"Now I see why Brad's so adamant on avoiding her. She won't hesitate to use any necessary force in order to have her way." You could tell from Nelius' face that he was still pretty pissed off. "I've only known about her since the latter half of the previous chapter and I already want to skin her alive. She reminds me way too much of my old boss for my liking."

"If we try anything, she'll hide behind him as a shield. Any ideas on how we're supposed to stop her?" She heard a small clatter beside her, and saw Nelius fixing up and loading some kind of Netherworld model gun found inside the crate. "Are you out of your Magog-forsaken mind?! You try to fire that, and..."

"Personally, I seriously doubt using a gun in a situation like this is the smartest solution, but if we're gonna save Brad's skin, we have to match her surprise for surprise, pull the old left field act." He finished loading the gun and aimed it at the nearby wall, seeing the laser sight working. "Besides, I've got a different target in mind."

Before she could ask what it was he meant, the Elbacky's right ear began to twitch again, almost as if she was receiving a message.

"Nelius, we're about to have some company." She warned. "And from the sounds of it, they're beyond angry."

"Sounds more like an advantage to me." He lined up the small laser sight on his target. "It means one less thing for us to worry about doing."

While Nelius was loading the gun...

"Since you're going to be so stubborn, I guess I have no choice but to resort to my last option." The mystery Nekomata sauntered over to her prized mixture.

"And just what is in that vial?" Brad had to ask, knowing that he had few other options.

"Oh, a little something I happened to stumble across while channelsurfing. With one drop of this liquid, you'll feel true euphoria."

"What?" Cue a look that said it all. "It makes you eternally happy?! Wasn't there some kind of fungus or spore that had that effect, and for free?"

"Oh, there's more to it than that. There happens to be a special ingredient in this baby, courtesy of yours truly. When this stuff fully kicks in, the first person of the opposite gender that falls into your sights will be the one that will occupy your every waking thought. And since we're all alone on this ship... well, I'll leave you to figure it out."

"So, in a nutshell, this thing's some souped up Love Potion?"

"With a special little vitamin, added in courtesy of--." She didn't get a chance to finish her statement.

"That has to be the stupidest plan I've ever heard of!" He roared. "I know you're dense, but this tops it!"

"You think I care?!" She snapped at him before her voice fell low. "For 500 plus years, I've been pouring my heart out to you. Why won't you accept me?"

"Oh, let me see, for one, you always keep trying to kidnap me, two, you usually follow that up with some utterly *new swear word* form of torture, third, you try to force me into marriage at every turn, but to put it in the best way I can--" He took a very deep breath... "--You haven't learned a GODDAMN THING in those last five hundred years!" It was right now that she finally learned that she went too far. "I'm going to tell you this, for the absolute last time, so take down notes: I am NOT interested in you!" That was it, that statement absolutely shattered her spirit. "But, if it's any consolation to you, if you had tried something different ever since those times back then, instead of all this crazy bullcrap, things might've ended up differently between us."

"Y-you honestly mean that?" A look of hope crossed her face. "But, I always thought this was the Netherworld way: whatever you can't acquire through reason, get it through force."

"Perhaps in other places, like the Netherworld Assembly, it's perfectly normal, but you may want to take a step backwards." He warned, his eyes focused on her vial.

"For what reason?" She countered.

The sound of a gunshot rang out as Nelius aimed around the corner and fired. The bullet found its mark, shattering the glass vial and sending the liquid all over the floor.

"That would be the reason. Sorry for your loss." He grinned, watching her drop to her knees and try to scoop some of the liquid up. It, of course, slipped right through her... fingers.

"Nooo! 75,000 Hell down the drain! I knew I should've gotten the money-back guarantee!" She wailed, quite upset over her loss. "Who is responsible for this?!"

"I believe you have me to blame, yet again." Nelius stepped out from around the corner, twirling the gun around his finger twice before holstering it. "I'll admit this, I'm no expert on building relationships, but honestly, going through this much trouble, just to end up falling back on the old Love Potion routine, and then finally learning your efforts were wasted? Sad, I know, but not exactly the smartest way to make a new friend for yourself." He walked over to the side of the room, a confident look on his face.

"How would you know?" She shrieked at him. "I've been at this for longer than you've even been alive! Why would I even bother to listen to you?!"

"It just so happens that well over nine-thousand very good reasons currently exist for you to be taking my advice, but you don't have to take my word alone for it. Behind door number one..." Having pointed to the door on the furthest side of the Bridge, he pressed a button on the wall, opening the door. Outside were thousands of the native Felynn and Sabercats, and from the looks on their faces, they were less than impressed with what she'd done.

"And behind door number two..." He pressed the second button, and the closer door opened this time, revealing even more natives. Now visibly frightened, she made a run for the hallway, but perhaps just to showboat a little, he jumped right over her, landing to the side of the hallway she was headed for.

"And for our next trick, check out Door Number Three!" From within several of the ship's rooms that connected to that particular hallway, the largest horde of cats yet began pouring in. Just from their rank alone, you could tell they were among Brad's best recruits.

'They were already inside the ship this whole time?!' As two of the others went over to unite Brad and get him out of the way, as well as remove the device from him, the rest of them joined up with the others in forming a tight circle around the Nekomata. She ended up backing up, right into the bridge once more. The sounds of furious hissing filled the room as they all eyed her, their fangs and claws beared. The best way to put it is: someone's gonna get hurt.

"Well, you brought this on yourself." Radara told her as she stepped away from the corner, holding up what appeared to be some kind of bell. Nelius stepped over toward her, and pulled out the gun, holding it like a hammer. "You messed with our boss, now you get to mess with his best." The Nekomata's eyes widened in horror as she just realized what they were about to do, her face turning an appropriate shade of blue.

"I'd say they all want a piece of you... literally. But, enough talk, have at her!"

DING!!

End of Chapter 10

Until next chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough