Cat N' Mau5

Chapter 13: Confrontation

I pulled Mau5 further towards me. We were nearly there; I could see the shop door. With Mau5's bad leg, it had made the trip a long and treacherous one, but although he was leaning his full weight heavily into me, it felt like I simply had a bag slung over one shoulder. The ecstasy of nearly escaping this dreaded place had given me an extra burst of adrenaline.

"Gerard... I think I see it," Mau5 said weakly.

"Yes, that's it up ahead!" I encouraged, unable to hide the enthusiasm from my voice. Not that I needed to anyway, Mau5 was just as excited as I was.

"I can't wait for a drink; my throat is so sore." I completely agreed with him; we had finished the last of our drinks a couple of hours ago.

"Not long, my friend." I hoisted him up and began to walk briskly, trying to reach the door quicker. Mau5 tried to help me as best as he could by holding his own weight, but he couldn't find the strength.

"Can we pause for a moment please?" He puffed. I nodded, placing him down gently.

"Just a short rest; we can relax for as long as we need to in the shop." He let out a groan and peeled back the material covering it. He peered at the wound closely.

"I think it's infected." As if things couldn't get worse, we heard a low, loud growl. "What's that?" Mau5 said, fear wavering his voice.

"I... don't know..." I leant my head forward, straining my ears. "I don't hear it anymore, I'm sure it was just the metal above us," I reassured.

"Okay... we should get going then." I could tell by the look in his eyes that he wasn't convinced. I don't blame him; I wasn't convinced either. I lifted him to his feet and slung a supporting arm under his. We only made it several steps before a light blue glow illuminated the entire place. There was a yowl from the right, and I whipped around, standing between Mau5 and whatever it was.

"Stay behind me," I whispered. The light got brighter and I raised my arm above my face. Something was approaching slowly. It yowled again, and I stepped back as the light dimmed slightly, revealing a robot the size of a house cat. It shook, sending each plate on its sleek body through what looked like a Mexican wave. The blue light shone between each plate, giving the air an eerie feel to it. The creature titled its head, and its mesmerising blue eyes drew me to do the same. It seemed harmless, simply a lost creature caught up in the accident. Slowly and deliberately, so as not to startle it, I reached for Mau5 and began to pull him up. "It's okay," I told him, "just a robot cat."

In the split moment I took my eyes off that cat, the entire situation changed. What once seemed to be a curious kitty suddenly yowled in rage and sprang at me, sharp claws outstretched. I didn't mean to, but I dropped Mau5, who landed with a whelp. Acting on instinct, I turned my back to it, covering my face with my hands. I let out a yell as it sank its claws into my back. "RUN MAU5!" I screamed, "GET TO THE SHOP!" Mau5 made no hesitation, and shuffled back quickly, pulling himself up and shooting off at amazing speed, despite his bad leg. I followed his example, backing up quickly and crushing the beast into the wall of shrapnel behind me. Claws were released, accompanied by a helpless miaow, and the cat skittered off into the darkness somewhere, taking the blue light with it.

I stood there a while longer, looking after it to make sure it wouldn't return. When I was sure to be safe, I high-tailed it over to shop. With no obstacles and no dead weights, I made it there pretty fast. Mau5 himself had only just slammed the door shut as I pulled up outside the place.

"MAU5!" I banged on the door heavily with my fists. "It's Gee, let me in!" I stood back as the click of the lock sounded and the door swung open. I rushed in, pushing the door closed and leaning heavily against it.

"Gee, are you okay?" He fretted, sitting on the ground a few feet in front of me. "I'm sorry I left you back there..." My face softened as I saw how guilty he felt.

"It's fine, it's not like you could do anything with your bad leg." He nodded silently. "Really, it's fine. I'm fine. How's your leg?"

"It's all right, I suppose." He looked down, blowing gently on it. "But what about your back?" As soon as he said that the pain kicked in, and moved away from the door, which had begun to cause my back searing pain. "Turn around, let me see it," he ordered me, and I obeyed. I felt him lift my shirt carefully. Already it had begun to stick to my back, which felt like it was on fire. I heard Mau5 suck in a sharp breath from behind me, and began to fear the worse.

"How is it back there?"

"By the looks of it, that... whatever it was... punctured your skin. It must've had long claws, because it penetrated pretty deep. You hold still while I clean your back, okay?" I heard him shuffle away, probably looking for something to wipe away the blood. I suddenly felt very lucky; when his leg was injured, we had very little resources, and he didn't even know who I was. He returned soon after with a stack of napkins.

"You found something?" I turned my head back to face him.

"Yeah, some napkins. This will probably hurt, but it was the softest thing I could find. Hold still." This time it was my turn to draw a sharp breath, as Mau5 gently dabbed the napkin on my back.

"What was that?" I asked, making small talk as he worked. Now that I was the one injured, it was his turn to have the answers.

"I don't know, I didn't get a good look at it from behind you," he chuckled lightly, but his efforts to lighten the mood didn't really work.

"It was like a robot cat... shiny metal plates, pointed ears and a long tail," I described. "And its eyes. They glowed a really bright blue colour."

"I heard about those... Meowington Corp. manufactured them, I think. For families, because they outlived biological cats. Or something like that, anyway."

"Mau5... how did you know that?" He paused. He had remembered something. If his memory was coming back, that was good. Very good.

"I... don't know," he said, dazed.

"Keep trying to remember things!" I said giddily. "I'll suggests something, and you see if it brings anything up."

"Good idea... start with something basic."

"Hmm... what does Super Mart make you think of?" I suggested.

Mau5 was silent a moment, thinking. "Is it a grocery store?" he asked, seeming unsure of himself.

"Yes!" I yipped, a bit too loud. Mau5 laughed.

"Okay, try something a little more challenging." He began dabbing again.

I thought hard, thinking of something that would trigger some personal memories for him. Then it occurred to me. He had a successful career; surely he had made the long hard journey to get there. "Professional Griefers."

I heard the soft sound of the bloodied napkins dropping, and then the ringing in my ears of absolute silence. Mau5 began mumbling something, and I turned to face him. He was staring at his hands, soaked in my blood, with a traumatised expression on his face. "R...red..." he muttered.