My Calling

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

MAKAI! Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 10: To confront the past

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!"

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

"Either that, or a truck just backfired." That joke caused her to give Nelius another furry fist upside his head. "Oww! It was a joke."

"Quit clowning around. We need to go lend him a hand."

"All right." He rubbed the bruise on his head. 'Damn. I'm getting the third degree from a cat!' The both of them rushed down the stairs and out of Brad's Keep, heading in the direction of Brad's yell.

"How's the view from above?" While the Elbacky had taken to the streets, Nelius had decided to give his wings some much needed exercise, and took to the skies.

"Not too good. I'm not seeing anything that could tell us about-- what's that?" He noticed some kind of indentation in the street. Slowing down, he dropped down to the street in order to take a closer look. "I don't think cracks like this form naturally."

"What makes you say that?"

"I wonder." Going over to the side of the road, he picked up a fairly heavy stone and dropped it right on the crack. It gave way, revealing an open shaft. "Thought so. I'd say our friend wanted to give Brad a nice trip."

"Still, using a pitfall? That's one of the most cliche tricks anyone can pull."

"Eh, who cares? we know where he disappeared to, so let's go save his furry behind." They dropped down, landing in one fairly familiar area. "Well, ain't this a blast? We're in the Underground City."

"This is it?" Having never seen it for herself, the Elbacky could do little but marvel at the sight of the perfectly preserved structures. "I never thought it would look like this."

"We can come back and gawk at it all you like at a later time. Right now, saving Brad's priority numero uno."

MAKAI!

"Finally, after all these years, I found you, Brad."

Wasting no time, the black Nekomata had an unconscious Brad chained to the stone wall, a strange device planted on his chest.

'With this new mixture I ordered from the Makai Shopping Network, all I have to do is tilt it into his mouth and down his throat, then he'll...'

"DOOD! we got trouble!" A Prinny interrupted her gloating. "Intruders, Dood!"

She turned around, severly pissed at being disrupted. "Don't sweat it. We've got numbers on our side. Now deal with them."

"Aye aye, dood. We'll take care of them." He about faced and headed back.

"Damn Prinnies, always interrupting me in the middle of something." She turned back to her prize. 'Now, once I have him drink this, he will, at last, finally admit...'

"DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD! I DON'T GET PAID ENOUGH FOR THIS!!!" There was the sound of multiple explosions.

"What's going on now?!" She stormed out of the room where she had Brad held. What awaited her was the sight of several charcoaled Prinnies in the hall. "What the hell happened?"

"I beleive, we happened." Nelius and the Elbacky stepped out of the smoke caused by the detonated penguins.

"You.. decimated all of those Prinnies?!" The black-furred Nekomata asked.

"Well, Prinnies aren't exactly the most reliable guards." Nelius retorted, a cocky grin on his face. "Next time, you might want to try investing in Golems or Gargoyles. They work wonders... and don't become living bombs when tossed."

"I don't care who you are, you'll not stand in my way. I've been waiting over 500 years for this moment, and I've come too far to let it be ruined."

"Too bad. Our current job is to ruin your little moment." The Elbacky quipped.

"Well, I've got a surprise for you both. Surprise!" She tossed down some kind of small cylinder, producing a blinding flash.

"Shit! A Flash Grenade!" Both of them had been momentarily blinded, allowing her to escape. Since their eyes had adjusted to darkness, the flash of light was particularly harsh on them both.

"Tata!" As the light died down, they saw that she'd made her escape, having already unchained Brad and disappeared.

"Damn! We lost her." He snarled.

"I think not, Nelius. Look." The Elbacky pointed toward the ground, where several tracks were still imprinted into the dirt that settled onto the floor. "She hasn't won yet. If we hurry, we can still catch up to her."

"Uh, tell me this.. how do tracks run straight into a wall?" He leaned against the wall, inadvertently pressing in a brick, which slid back part of the wall, showing a shortcut. She started to grin. "Not a word." They dashed down the passage. "You know, I get the feeling we're heading downward instead of up." The slope began getting severely steep. "Uhh, I can't stop!"

"Neither can I, and I'm used to this kind of stuff." They both were being forced down the hill at incredible speed. When Nelius hit a wall, she slammed into him, causing part of the wall to revolve.

"WHHOOOAA!!"

MAKAI!

"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 out which is the ignition, I can get out of here. 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 was a bit much."

In the lower half of the ship...

"WHHOOOAA!!"

Nelius and the Elbacky had somehow tumbled through the wall and into the Phantom Cat; more specifically, the Engine Room.

"How in the heck did we end up here?"

"Beats me. Either way, we know where Brad was taken, so let's go save him."

"Right." They ran down the hall, up some stairs, and past some rooms, one of which caught Nelius' eye. "Oooh, Training Room." When the Elbacky realized that he wasn't following and was drawn to the aformentioned room, she backtracked and grabbed him by his hair, dragging him along with her. "Ow, OW OWW! Watch the hair!"

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

"Uh, no. Hair's good. YahAhhAhh!"

MAKAI!

"Ohh, ohhhh... wha happened? Why does my head hurt?" Brad finally came to. Sitting up, and trying to shake the dizziness from his head, he noticed several things. One, he was inside of his ship. Two, the black-furred Nekomata was trying to fiddle with the ship. Three, there was some kind of mixture sitting nearby.

"Good morning, handsome." The Nekomata turned her head to him. "Buckle up, Brad, cause in a few minutes, we're taking our honeymoon!"

"WHAT?! We're not even..." He didn't dare say the next word.

"Oh, we aren't... at least, not at this moment." She turned back to the ship controls. "Now, which button controls the ignition?"

"Like I'll tell."

"Ah, ah, ah." She waved a finger. Turning back to him, she pulled a small remote out from her tail. (I imagine that's why Nekomatas' tails are so bushy. They must use it to carry small items!) "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, Brad was suddenly doused with a crapload 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 cat. I can withstand water." He told her.

"Oh, I'm well aware, but you seem to forget that water does attract this." With another press, a strong electrical currentflowed through his body. Combined with the water, the jaguar was getting the real shock of his life. When the current stopped, Brad was on the floor, erratically twitching from all of the electricity. She sauntered over to him, her hips swaying to and fro. She stooped down, tracing along his jaw with one of her fingers. "Now then, are you going to tell me which button starts this up?"

"Nope... s-still not going to s-s-say."

"Ohhh, that's too bad."

Meanwhile, from around the corner and behind a crate..

"No. How could she do something like that to him?" The Elbacky (Damn, still haven't found a proper name yet) was watching in horror as Brad received the shock.

"She's the type who won't hesitate to use any necessary force in order to have her way." You could tell from Nelius' face that he was severely pissed off. "Damn, I haven't really known about her that long and she already makes me sick."

"If we try something, she'll use him as a shield. How do we stop her?" She heard a small clatter beside her, and saw Nelius loading some kind of Netherworld model gun. "Are you crazy?! You fire that, and..."

"Personally, I absoluely loathe using a firearm, but in this case, we have to match mercilessness with ruthlessness." He finished loading the gun and leveled it at the Nekomata. "Besides, I'm aiming for a bigger target."

Before she could ask, the Elbacky's right ear began to twitch again.

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

"Good." He lined up the small laser sight on his target. "It means less for us to worry about."

While Nelius was loading...

"Well, 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 nothing but eternal bliss."

"What?" Cue a look that said it all. "It makes you eternally happy?!"

"Oh, there's more. When this stuff fully kicks in, the first person of the opposite gender that falls into your sights will be the one that will fill your heart with joy. And since we're all alone on this ship..."

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

"More or less, that's the general idea."

"That has to be the dumbest idea I've ever heard of!"

"You think I care?!" She snapped at him before her voice fell low. "For 500 years, I've been pouring my heart out to you. Why do you refuse to accept me?"

"Well, for one, if you'd taken a more direct approach instead of trying to kidnap, torture, and force me into marriage at every turn, things might've ended up differently."

"Y-you think so?" A look of hope crossed her face. "But, I always thought that was the Netherworld way: get things through force."

"Perhaps, but you may want to step backwards one step." He warned, his eyes focused on her vial.

"For what reason?" She quipped.

The sound of Nelius' gunshot rang out as a bullet went flying, shattering the vial, sending the mixture all over the floor.

"That would be the reason. Sorry." He grinned, watching her drop to her knees and try to scoop some of the liquid up.

"Nooo! I spent over 60 thousand Hell on this! I knew I should've gotten the money-back guarantee!" She wailed, upset over her loss. "Who did this?!"

"I beleive you have me to blame." Nelius stepped out from around the corner, holstering the gun he found inside the crate. "You know, I'm not an expert on building relationships, but honestly, resorting to kidnapping? Not exactly the best way to make a new friend." He walked over to the side of the room, a confident look on his face.

"How would you know?" She screamed at him. "I've been at this for longer than you've even been around! Why in the nine hells would I even bother to listen to you?!"

"Simple." He pressed a button on the wall, opening the doors to both side of the Bridge. Outside were thousands of the native Felynn, and from the looks on their faces, they were less than impressed with what she'd done. "Ever here the expression: To mess with one of us is to mess with all of us? Well, you messed with the Overlord of this Netherworld, the one demon they all look up to. Say hello to a few friends he's made over the years." As he moved to the side, the horde of cats began pouring in. As two of them went over to help Brad up and out of the way, as well as remove the device from him, the rest of them formed a tight circle around the Nekomata. The sounds of furious hissing filled the room as they all eyed her, their fangs and claws beared.

The Elbacky 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.

'He-he's not about to..!' Her eyes widened in horror. 'Has he lost it?'

"I'd say they want a piece of you... literally. Who am I to stop them?" As he brought the gun down, one last statement was heard: "Have at it, ladies."

DING!

MAKAI!

And so ends another chapter.

I realize I still haven't generated a good name for Nelius' Elbacky companion, which really sucks, considering the attention she's about to get in an upcoming chapter, involving her and a long time friend.

I'm still open to receiving character names, but the next chapter should reveal her real name, so it'll take a while to churn out.

Until next chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough