2.24

“You all heard it, that cat talked,” Gauzelle called out.

“No it didn’t. Cats don’t talk,” said the scrawny young man.

“Ah there’s no use hiding it. Yes I can talk.” Everyone looked at the cat. It hung across the man’s shoulders and looked at the group. Its voice sounded like helium stretched to the extreme.

“Can all animals talk?” Silas asked.

“We all talk. Just not all can in the language that people understand.”

“Why are you here?” Hunter asked.

“We’re investigating the disappearances of pet owners. We believe they’re linked to the pet shop attacks,” replied the cat.

“What are your names?” Jimena asked.

“Yours first,” said the cat.

“Mite, Balloon Boy, Quagmire and Gauzelle,” said Hunter. He pointed at each teammate as he introduced them.

“I’m Puddles and this is Welt.”

“Welt? What are your powers?” Silas asked.

“Oh, Welt is my real name,” replied Welt.

“Well, then my name is Silas.” Silas stepped forward from the group and looked at the rest. They nodded. “Jimena and Hunter. And we’re pretty sure Gauzelle is actually her name.” Gauzelle nodded and gave a curt wave.

“Why are you investigating the case?” Gauzelle asked.

“We believe its linked to an old enemy of ours,” said Puddles. Hunter realised the cat was wearing a small harness. Atop the harness was a small gun, no bigger than Hunter’s finger.

“Old enemy? You two heroes?” Silas asked.

“Kind of. We stop the nefarious plans of Doctor Flink. He’s up to no good again and we must stop him before its too late.” Puddles leapt off of Welt’s shoulder and started to progress down one of the tunnels.

“So you’re not heroes?” Silas asked. The rest of the group fell in line behind Puddles. Gauzelle however caught up to and walked next to Puddles, this was her case.

“What’s a hero exactly? We’re just trying to stop Doctor Flink. If some recognise us as heroes because of it, then so be it. But most don’t even know Doctor Flink exists or what he even does,” explained Puddles.

“I’ve never heard of him,” said Gauzelle.

“What more can you tell us Puddles? Powers? Technology? The pet shop owner mentioned they moved around a bit weird looking,” said Silas.

“Doctor Flink works in the shadows. His hands are in a lot of circles, dealing with lots of shady things. He enjoys the hurt of others and wants to always rise in power.” Puddles suddenly backflipped, legs splayed out in all directions. She landed on Welt’s leg and crawled up his body. Welt winced a little as the claws raked his skin.

“What’s wrong?” Welt asked.

“Something fell from the ceiling. I only got a glimpse of a shadow.”

“None of us can see in the dark,” said Gauzelle.

“What about that staff Hunter’s mom made for you?” asked Silas.

“She said it could give a blinding flash, nothing about a glow.”

“Ah, right. Give me a sec,” said Welt. He rustled about in his bag and within moments, there was light. He was wearing a light on his head.

Welt approached where Puddles had been and stooped down to have a look. The rest of the group huddled in to try and see. Silas, at the back, inflated himself to get above everyone else.

“Is that?” Silas asked.

“A finger,” Jimena answered.

“Whoa, sick. The movies never make it look this good,” Gauzelle bent down for a closer look. “Why do you think there was a finger on the ceiling?” The group looked up and their question was answered.

A large sticky webbing laced the ceiling. The silk as thick as the strings on a bass guitar. In the middle was a wriggling cocoon. Welt followed it with his flashlight and at the end they could see a face in a small opening, webbing across the mouth. Their fearful eyes noticed the group and they began to violently kick and scream.

“Hey, shhh. We’re gonna get you down from there. Just give us a sec to figure it out.” Hunter held his hands up to show he meant no harm.

“Already on it.” Puddles tapped her paw and a thin red laser shot out from the miniscule cannon on her pouch. It cut through the web with ease. Silas inflated himself and caught the person as they fell.

“What happened to you?” Gauzelle and Puddles asked in unison.

“I bought a pet the other day, and the next thing I knew, I woke up down here in the sewers.” His speech was slow, broken up by panting.

“And there was a giant-ass spider that did this to you, yeah?” Gauzelle asked. She could feel the excitement rising up within her. This whole thing had started to feel like a horror movie.

“I guess so. I woke up in the web. A spider would have to be ginormous to make a web like that.”

“Has Doctor Flink ever used giant spiders before?” Hunter asked.

“No, I don’t think so. This is new to us. Have you ever seen a strange robot walking through the sewers? Or even other people?” Puddles asked the survivor.

“That’s a talking cat?” the man looked at Puddles in shock.

“Yep. Now answer her,” said Jimena.

“Err yeah. I saw more people carried down that way.” He pointed down the darkest tunnel.

“Carried? By what?” Hunter asked.

“Giant animals,” replied the survivor.

“We must hurry. We need to stop Doctor Flink and we need to do it now. Come on!” Puddles leapt from Welt and bound down the tunnel the survivor had pointed toward.

“Should I come with you all?” the survivor asked.

“Can you fight?” Jimena asked.

“No.” The man shook his head.

“Then you should stay. You’ll be dead weight.” Jimena followed after Puddles.

“Seriously? I’ll get lost down here.” The man’s voice cracked with panic. “Nobody even asked if I was all right, my finger just fell off.”

“Are you all right?” Silas asked.

“I’ve lost a fair amount of blood. Can’t any of you do something? You all look like heroes to me.”

“Oh yeah, sorry about that,” Puddles called out. There was a soft patter of feet as Puddles ran back toward where the man was. She engaged her laser and cauterised the man’s finger stump. “There you are. You coming?” Puddles asked, looking at Hunter.

“You better come with us, just stay out of trouble,” said Hunter.

The group walked down the tunnels, guided by Welt’s light and Puddles’ intuition.