#6 Mochi on the Street
Mochi, the beloved calico cat, had just taken the opportunity to leave the Lucky Cat Café when someone left the front door open a little too long. The outside world was noisier than the home he was so accustomed to, but he so rarely got out he didn't care. The fluffy cat stuck to the sidewalk for a while and was hugging the buildings to avoid being trampled by all the people. He did enjoy the attention he got from a few kids who saw and petted him.
After walking a couple of blocks, he saw some rats go down an alley and caused his hunting instincts to kick in. Mochi lunged to swipe at them before they ran under a dumpster. He then saw another one move between some trash on the ground, so he pounced to catch them and making the debris fly up. The calico looked at his paws to find he had caught nothing, so he decided to resume his exploration, if a little bit disappointed.
He kept walking as he looked into shop windows like a pet store, where he found himself face to face with Beagle puppies barking at him. With a hiss and growl, Mochi ducked back down and continued on his way. As he journeyed further away from his home, the fluffy cat peered into an antique shop, where several grandfather clocks were ticking away and hypnotized him with their rhythmic swaying. He stood there for a minute until the clocks struck 4pm, and the sound of them chiming scared Mochi away.
When he was a little bit further away, he smelled something appetizing and followed his nose to the source. Once he rounded the corner and weaved through some people, Mochi could see it was a Benito's food stand. The smell of fish and seasoned rice made the orange, black and white cat lick his lips. There was a line of about 14 people waiting to order, but Mochi walked to where people who already got their food were eating. He went up to this mother-daughter pair that were each enjoying a signature Benito meal. "Mreow," he begged while giving his cutest face and big eyes. The two of them turned and looked down before going "aww." The little girl, who looked to be about 9 years old, reached onto her plate to grab some fish that had fallen out while she ate.
"Here you go," she offered with her hand extended to Mochi. He took the piece of fish and after a few chews, went to lick the young girl's palm. "It tickles!" she giggled as the calico continued. The mother decided to give him a piece of her meal too, where Mochi accepted and licked the woman's hand as well. He got a couple of pets from the two ladies before he decided to head out again.
It was starting to get late as Mochi licked himself clean while sitting on a trash can. He was so focused on his task that he failed to see Fred, Baymax and Mini-Max were nearby. When the small robot went to lunge at him, the fluffy cat managed to sense him in time and jump out of the way onto an awning, then a street lamp; he was definitely having a fun time out and didn't want to stop yet. Although Mochi heard the others' calls to jump down to them, he decided to go a different direction (namely onto a moving bus). As the vehicle moved, he felt pleasure at the wind blowing through his fur and tickling his whiskers. The speed was just right to keep him from falling off and he got to see more of the city from up high. Since it was after sundown, so many things were lit up to become part of San Fransokyo's night life.
After 15 minutes on board, Mochi decided he wanted an even better view. When the bus was beginning to turn back to begin its route again, the calamitous cat spotted a moving truck heading for Torii Gate Bridge and made an expert jump to get on top of it. The truck drove a little bit faster than the bus had, but the ridges along its frame helped Mochi stay on; the evening traffic helped to slow the truck down too as well as increase the amount of noise he heard due to more honks and loud whooshing sounds from the bigger semis driving by. When the truck made it about halfway across the bridge, it slowed down enough for Mochi to jump off again, except this time onto the cables of the large structure. Being a cat, the water portion of the view made him nervous, but his mainly carefree attitude allowed him to enjoy the rest. He could see the twinkling city and floating turbines painted like fish; also, the rippling waves of the bay made the lights from the city's reflection move like swarming fireflies in the darkness.
As the calico groomed himself, he suddenly heard something like a jet, so he turned to see Baymax all armored up with Fred and Mini-Max. He knew it was them, but so rarely did he get to see them like this that he let out a curious "Mreow." Mochi was also thinking this would mean his fun time was over; however, instead of going for him, Baymax and the other two flew over him onto the bridge traffic where the sound of howling and cars swerving could be heard. The fluffy cat turned to find a monster with yellow glowing eyes, razor sharp claws and covered in fur going for some people. He saw the three heroes start to fight the beast, although the smallest got tossed over the side of the bridge rather quickly; the next thing he knew, Fred was going flying and Mochi followed him with his gaze as the mighty Mini-Max saved him from plummeting into the water below.
With all the excitement, he turned back towards the creature and the people cowering. Suddenly, Mochi could see they weren't just any people, but were Hiro, Go Go and the guy that went out with his beloved owner once. He could see his favorite robot fighting the beast, only to wind up getting hit with his own rocket fist and getting knocked down; clearly, it was time for the calico to do something.
Using all his strength, Mochi jumped as far as he could onto the hairy monster. He scratched everywhere he could, unleashing a fury of swipes not typically found in a housecat. After getting in some painful moves, the heroic cat managed to claw off a purplish-blue patch on the creature's neck. He then jumped off to avoid being hit with razor sharp claws and wanting to seek comfort from his inflatable friend. From a safe distance, Mochi could see the monster change in size, growing smaller and less hairy as he turned back into the human known as Ned Ludd. The fluffy cat then jumped onto Baymax's shoulder as it seemed the excitement was over and he was finally ready to call it a day.
While Hiro and Go Go went to take Ned back to the woods, Baymax, Mini-Max and Fred flew back with Mochi to the Lucky Cat Café (or at least a couple of blocks away so they could change out of their suits). The ride was faster than he would have liked, but the calico was safely stored inside Fred's costume so he didn't have to worry about holding on; however, the comic book fan wound up getting smacked with the fluffy cat's tail as a result of this arrangement.
They had landed just in time because after Skymax came to take their suits away, Baymax and Mini-Max's chests started to light up as their low battery warning came on. "Uh oh," came Fred's voice as he took Mochi out of Baymax's arm for obvious reasons.
The inflatable robot then started to get tipsy as he exclaimed, "Hey! That's my hairy baby!"
Mini-Max joined in with, "Thievery is not 9/10 of the law!" The small robot proceeded to fall over as he tried to make a heroic stance.
Fred groaned while Mochi just meowed as he wasn't really bothered by the current predicament. "I know, but you want to see this fluffy guy get home, right?" he asked while he propped Mini-Max back up with one hand. The two robots shared a look between each other before glumly replying "Yes."
"Good. Now, Mini-Max. Stay on top of Baymax. Pretend you're climbing a mountain and looking around while you're at the tippy-top," Fred urged as he set his best friend on the other robot's head. "Now Baymax, we're taking Mochi home and I'll lead. Do you want to play follow the leader?" the comic book fan said to the large bot like he was a small child.
Baymax wobbled slightly and slurred, "I…uh…okay." Fred, still holding Mochi, led Baymax and Mini-Max out of the alley and going "Here Baymax. Follow the kitty!" The calico even stretched a paw to playfully swipe as the robot walked behind them. Although Baymax would veer to the right or left, Fred made sure they were staying close by.
"How are you guys moving so fast?" Baymax asked confused, to which Mini-Max answered, "They probably learned some tricks from Go Go."
For what felt like an hour (but was really only ~5 minutes), the three heroes and a cat walked back to the Lucky Cat Café, where the last customer of the night was just leaving. After they came through the front door, Mochi jumped out of Fred's arms and into those of Honey Lemon's. The chemist proceeded to gently pet him and make him purr with happiness while he listened to the banter between Baymax and Mini-Max.
The fluffy cat was back home where he belonged and sure, he technically wasn't supposed to be out, but considering the amount of fun he had and how he ended up saving the day, he felt it was all worth it. Mochi now couldn't wait for when he'd be able to go out exploring again. (Although he did hope there wouldn't be any monsters next time).
NOTES
Low battery Baymax's and Mini-Max's exchange will always be hilarious. XD I also love how adorable Mochi is and him jumping onto the bus seemed to prove he wanted to do his own thing (the little trouble maker). At least it had a happy ending with him stopping Ned and saving the others; I was definitely laughing when Megan brought up them being saved by a cat in "Hiro the Villain." In addition, since Mochi didn't seem to like Krei in "Aunt Cass Goes Out," he wouldn't even have bothered to learn/use his name compared to the other characters. ;)
The next story will have two familiar former felons visiting the Lucky Cat Café, where one is especially worried about being kicked out. ;)