Comes with the Territory

Chapter 16 CWT

The creepy super-sized gecko that was growling at me, his oversized muscles rippling underneath his green reptilian skin, flicked his tongue out, almost hitting me on my cat-nose. I shied away from the pink thing, not in the mood to be licked. The gecko hissed at me, his black, beady eyes narrowed at me in hate. Well hold the telephone, bro! What did I do to bring on the disdain and hatred? I mean, I didn’t kill any of his family members, did I? Maybe it was his Fruit Loops that I ate this morning. Yeah, I myself am very protective of my surgery cereals, so that’s my best bet. Mrs. Aners was pacing back and forth to my left, watching us as we circled one another, with glee.

Mica, this is your orientation, she said in my mind, and I nodded my head to her.

Let your Inner Animal take over, and Kendal, you do so as well, she said, and I felt sorry for the giant gecko, I mean Kendal. If I was a lizard and my name was Kendal, I would be angry was well. So I guess I didn’t eat his wonderful breakfast food, huh?

Shut up and fight, Mica, Hellcat chided in my head. I stuck a mental tongue out at her, and she replied by putting pressure on my mind to try to free herself and take control.

Okay, okay, here you go, let’s kick some ass, I told her, closing my eyes and releasing the barrier that keeps our minds separated. She sprung forward, leaving that trail of warmth that she exudes when manifesting herself. After a minute of basking in the feeling of having a body again, Hellcat opened our eyes. I felt the energy of Kendal’s Inner blowing against me, not particularly strong. I could feel the effect of it on Hellcat, but it was hardly noticeable. Just like the beginning of my paws falling asleep, annoying but not inconveniencing.

Good, children! Now, everyone back up and let the fight begin on my count, Mrs. Aners chipped in my mind, and Hellcat flicked our ear at her in acknowledgement, not taking our eyes off out our new opponent.

You may use claws, teeth, and tails, and blood may be drawn. Just don’t kill each other or hurt each other too bad, she said, and I began to worry. Was this school safe?

Maybe not for humans, but Inners are tougher and we heal 3 times faster, Hellcat told me, giving me a nifty nugget of knowledge. Huh, how about that?

One, she called, and Hellcat raised our tail in the air, bettering out balance. Kendal’s Inner just crouched lower, his gapping maw snapping open and closed to try and scare us. Please, the only thing that scares us is fire and balloons. No kidding, balloons scare the daylights out of me, for some reason. And I was pretty sure that Kendal was neither a balloon, nor an open flame, so I wasn’t scared in the slightest.

Two, she said, and I could feel our claws sliding out of our paws. Okay, imagine that you are imagining that you are Wolverine, and you start trying to claw your cat’s scratching post up because the ball that dangles from it has a bell in it that grates on your nerves. Yes, unsheathing your claws feels just like that, minus the pretend sideburns that you give yourself, despite being female.

Three, she cooed, and we glanced over at her, sort of worried for her sanity. But, her short canines were bared at us in excitement, her light brown eyes taking in our fighting positions.

Go! She screamed, and Kendal and Hellcat reacted at the same time. He charged at us, moving lightning fast, but Hellcat hoped up and over his scaly head, landing gracefully on our front paws and whirling around to face him once more. Kendal’s Inner snapped angrily at us, making a hissing sound that made Hellcat’s coat fluff up.

Taking the offense this time, Hellcat shot our paw out in a swipe across his face, but he scrambled back and out of reach before shooting forward at us again. We collided, and Hellcat reared back and sunk our fangs into his thick trunk of an arm. I could feel the resistance his thick skin had, but it was no match for our jaws. Soon, his salty and yucky blood filled our mouth, and Hellcat withdrew, spitting it out. Kendal’s Inner made a hiss of pain, which made me feel bad, but Hellcat was aglow with pride. Of course she is, because she is a twisted kitty cat.