Jelly’s paws lifted slowly from the ground as weightlessness set in. Scared, she revolved in the air, trying to hold on to something to stop her from levitating.
She nearly hit the railing, but remembered the electric shock that would occur if she did. Her claws retracted and, instead, pushed forward, tossing her around in mid-air.
Bisousbisou went wild with fear. She tried to catch her tail as it drifted in front of her eyes.
“No, girl,” Remy screamed, “Get upright and get ready to fight.”
Bisoubisou squealed in terror, wondering just what the heck was going on.
An audience member turned to his friend, munching on a bucket of popcorn. “Cats doing Jitsaku?”
“Yeah, really,” his friend snorted.
“That’s a bit stupid, isn’t it?”
“Nah, they’re dressing it up as Jitsaku,” another man sitting near them interrupted, “They’re probably gonna just scrap like they usually do.”
“Welcome to Combat,” announced the female voice, “One strike equals one point. There is only one round. There will only be one winner… who will become USARIC’s Star Cat?”
The music crashed to a halt.
Jelly and Bisoubisou floated in the air, ready to attack each other. It wasn’t because they had to fight, but because they felt the desire to kill.
And they caught that desire from being holed up in an electrified cage. Everyone knew it. Only the Anderson and Gagarin family seemed to care.
Jamie knew that the setting was designed to provoke the animals. It was the first time in his life that he took exception to something that didn’t directly involve him. Sure, he’d been hurt before – and experienced injury – but this particular event felt incredibly unethical. He didn’t even know what unethical meant, but he was sure that a decent example of it stood before him.
“Here we go, guys,” Gunnar said, “Let’s Combat!”
A buzzer sounded off. The central section of the cage shot down, allowing the two cats to go at each other.
Bisoubisou wasted no time.
She threw her gloved paw forward, hurtling the rest of her body through the air.
Bisoubisou took a swipe at Jelly’s face and narrowly missed. She tumbled back-first against the electrified railing and felt a wave of electricity shudder down her spine.
“Meeooooww,” Jelly floated back. Her hind legs hit the floor, providing her with an opportunity to push herself toward her rival.
Jelly threw her claws forward and latched onto the spinning Bisoubisou. The two tussled in mid-air, gnawing and gnashing away at each other.
Jelly sank her fangs into Bisoubisou’s neck and tore out a clump of fur. A final smack to the head put the Russian Blue out of action for a few moments.
Zaapp-pp.
Bisousbisou’s head caught in the railing, jolted by a split-second’s worth of electricity. “Raooowwaar!”
Jelly realized what she had done. She ducked her head and turned herself upside down as Bisoubisou kicked away from the cage.
The lightning bolt rumbled through Bisoubisou’s hind legs, causing her fur to stand on end as she rocketed toward Jelly.
“No, no!” Jamie threw his hands into the air and looked at Gunnar. “You’re hurting them. Please, stop it.”
“They’re not hurt, kid,” Gunnar giggled. “It’s just a bit of a nudge to get them to engage. If they can’t handle the action on Earth, how are they going to cope in space if they meet aliens?”
“Aliens?” Jamie asked himself.
Remy punched the air, furious on Bisoubisou’s behalf. “Go on, smash her. Kick that orange lump of fur.”
Bisoubisou swiped her claw and caught Jelly on the shoulder. The metal hanging over her claws dug into Jelly’s fur, causing her to screech out loud.
The exhilaration coming from the audience was palpable. Ordinarily they’d be cheering, but the violent action taking place caused them to choke. The combat was far more furious – and dangerous – than expected.
“My God!” an audience member stood up and screamed. “This is horrible. Make them stop.”
“No, no,” Jamie whispered under his breath, looking at Jelly. “Don’t stop. Defend yourself, girl.”
Swish-swipe.
“Twenty seconds remaining,” announced the female voice.
Jelly gave it her best shot. She lifted her hind legs and kicked Bisoubisou in the stomach, pushing her back. “Grrrrr.”
Jelly looked at her hind paws and deliberately pressed them against the railings, knowing she’d receive a nasty nip of a shock.
A jolt of electricty blasted through her body.
“Whoa, that’s gotta hurt!” Gunnar laughed into the microphone. He looked at the screen. “Jelly’s on eight points. Bisoubisou is on seven.”
Jelly’s hind paws hit the railing. She screamed in pain and saw the bolt of electric blue run up her legs. She pushed forward and revolved around in the air, ready to knock ten shades of hell out of her opponent.
Unfortunately for her, Bisoubisou was ready. Like Jelly, she utilized the anger-induced electric shock with her glove. She pushed back, purposely zapping herself.
Bisoubisou and Jelly stormed head-to-head through the air, ready to obliterate each other.
“This is it!” Gunnar yelled into the microphone. “Ten seconds left.”
Jelly meowed at the top of her lungs, raising her infinity claws above her head and ready to smack the hell out of her rival.
Bisoubisou did the same, revealing her sharp, white fangs.
“Six… five… four…” announced the female voice.
Everything seemed to crash into slow motion for Jamie and Remy. They briefly caught each other’s eyes as they turned to their pets.
Jelly threw the first punch and grabbed Bisoubisou’s face in her claws. She yanked her opponent around as their bodies tumbled over and over together.
Bisoubisou’s face tore open as one of Jelly’s infinity claws pulled away. It proved to be just the pain that Bisoubisou needed to develop an incandescent rage.
She reached up and socked Jelly in her stomach, sending her tumbling against the metal railing.
“Woooooooh!” the audience finally exhaled.
Electric sparks blistered out from behind Jelly as her shoulder blades hit the railings. “Mwaahhh.”
“…two… one… and, game over.”
Bzzz. The combat cage collapsed out and folded over itself, sinking into the floor.
Bisousbiou and Jelly were no longer the subject of zero gravity. They shot down to the floor and landed on their paws.
The mega-screen played some of the highlights of both rounds as the totals calculated.
Gunnar and the crowd cheered the two cats as their respective handlers lifted them out of the cage.
Lindsey ran her hand over Jelly’s head and examined her face. “Hey, Jelly. How are you?”
She gnashed her mouth at the woman and tried to claw her face. Clumps of fur had burned away. She was injured and extremely upset.
Remy watched Bisoubisou in his handler’s arms. “Give me her.”
“No,” the handler said, holding the cat in the air for the audience to see. “We need to do this.”
“Give me my cat back,” Remy stomped his foot on the ground. “You hurt her.”
“Okay, everybody,” Gunnar stepped forward and pressed his index finger to his lips. “The results are in. The points have been tallied up. It seems we have a winner.”
The crowd fell silent, as did Jamie and Remy. Everyone turned to the mega screen for the payoff.
“And here are the results…” announced the female voice. “In second place…”
Jamie turned to his mother and bit his lip. She looked at the big screen.
“…Jelly Anderson, from the United Kingdom. With a total of fifty-two points.”