Chronicle 58

Eloise came into the bakery to pick up her weekly order. She told Bianca that she suspected everyone at the support group was only coming back for the pastries. Butters could tell Bianca was flattered by the comment. That order was one of the few things keeping the bakery open. Bianca was spending more time hero-ing than building the business. As Eloise walked out, Butters watched his friend deflate, anticipating very light patronage until the next week’s bulk order. He noticed another thing as he reluctantly rose from his kitty bed.

A shimmering thread was dangling from the purse Eloise was struggling to keep on her shoulder as she carried three boxes of baked goods. Butters followed far behind, knowing if Eloise recognized him, he’d never see why the yarn was leading him to her. What kind of mischief was this grandmother getting into?

Butters snuck into the trunk of Eloise’s beat up vintage sedan and hid behind the first box she placed before loading the others. Her phone rang.

“I’ll be there in a few.” her voice was not as sweet as in the bakery. “I got it.”

After a few turns, she parked and got out. Butters squeezed between the back seats to get out of the car as well, leaving the back door cracked so no sound was made. He entered a run-down building. Like many on this side of Big City, it was abandoned. An old recreation center, used only for support groups and nefarious activities.

Butters found the meeting room, where at least twenty people were standing around, chatting. Nobody noticed him moving along the wall as he made his way to a small room behind a stage in the back they didn’t seem to be using.

“Let’s begin.” Eloise stated, slamming down the boxes on the food and beverage table. She walked to the front of the room as everyone took their seats. The ethereal yarn wrapped around her in a spiral towards the ceiling. Butters watched as the woman he’d seen every week for years tore off the skin covering her face. There wasn’t another face underneath. She was just a skull with eyes and facial muscles exposed. He heaved as if a hair ball was about to launch from his stomach. People turned to see what the sound was, but not everyone.

“Big City will soon realize what it means to feel pain.” Eloise announced, gaining light applause. “What has been taken from us will be retrieved, or taken from them.” More applause. “Tonight, we strike at the brain of Big City.” A projector began to display a map of Big City on the wall where Butters was. Eloise raised an eyebrow muscle when she noticed him. “The Cloud Corridor will crumble.”

The crowd cheered. “Faceless One! Faceless One!”

Support group? No. This was a bad guy meetup. Butters inspected some of the attendees closer up. Many were low-level criminals he’d dealt with before. As Eloise approached, he considered going big kitty. She didn’t know he was anything more than a cat, however. Could she harm an innocent cat? He was ready to see. He put on his cutest kitty eyes as she departed all the wrong-doers feasting on pastries.

“Butters, what’s got you all the way out here? You follow your friend Eloise?” she asked. Her face was back on, not perfectly; she was still adjusting it. Her sweet voice was back.

“Meow.” Butters said, rubbing against her leg.

“Come on, honey, let’s get you back home.”

Eloise scooped up Butters and plopped him in her passenger seat. A familiar half-seal crook named ConSeal handed her something through her window with one of its flippers. It was a small, transparent square. She quickly swung her arm over to Butters and tapped him on the head with it.

“Meow!”

“Just can’t have you going big on me.” Eloise said, her voice flat.

Butters tried to go big kitty, but his body would expand to fill a transparent cube around his original size and then retract. He tried a few times before expending too much energy to go again. How did she know?

“I’m taking you to the Cloud Corridor, Butters. You’re officially an accomplice.”

 

At the bridge to the exclusive island, Eloise rolled up to a guard station. Everyone in her group was in line behind her. She tossed the Butters box to the back seat and slipped on her face.

“Hello. We’re all here for the performance tonight.”

“What performance?” the guard asked.

“We were commissioned by Charles Masters to put on a show tonight.”

“Let me check with Mr Masters’ assistant.” he closed the door to the station.

“Welp. Hoped that would work.” Eloise laughed in Butters’ direction. “Sir!” She shouted to stop the guard from placing the call. He stepped out and she removed her face. “SHOW ME YOUR TRUE FACE.”

A horrific scream came from outside the car as the guard’s facial skin melted away. Butters hurled at the sight. The man collapsed on the floor and Eloise entered the station to open the massive gate to the Cloud Corridor.

“ENTER!” she commanded all the cars behind her.

 

At the Lofts, the first building of the Corridor, Eloise and her crew parked to unload their explosives. Butters saw ethereal yarn connected to each of the bombs they were placing at the base of the building. It was time to stop this plan. To conserve energy, he went big kitty only in his paws, growing them to the size of the cube. Once they were fully expanded, he extended his claws. They pierced through the container and he tore it apart before retracting them and shrinking back down.

Where to begin? Eliose’s door was open. He slipped through and followed the nearest astral yarn. It led him to ConSeal. Time for some revenge.

“ARF!” the wrongdoer arfed as Butters went Big Kitty, served up a big fist and launched him into the ocean from whence he came.
His hands wrapped tightly around the bomb ConSeal left lying on the ground and squished it. POP. Tickled.

The yarn that brought him to it faded and he followed the next strand. Another low-life disposed. Another. Another. Ten more.

Finally, Eloise. Faceless One. The last of the crew to be thwarted.

“Ahh. I forgot ConSeal’s cubes get weaker over time. I should have grabbed two!” she laughed. “You wouldn’t hurt poor Eloise, would you Butters?”

“Meow.” his deep voice replied. One step forward. Ready to pounce.

“Not Bianca’s best customer.” she smiled as Butters’ eyebrows furled. “Maybe her only customer… A struggling baker in Big City. She’d lose it all. Where would she go?”

Butters took a moment. Bianca’s strong. She’ll be fine.

“Meow.”

Big kitty legs propelled Butters into the air and onto Eloise. She pulled his coat, tried to look in his eyes and speak to do what she did to the guard. Not happening. He dropped the fattest kitty elbow on her nasty face and slid her body away from the final explosive. As it exploded in his paws, the vibration of it continued up into his body and he purred steadily, tongue out.

Before returning to little kitty, Butters lifted Eloise off the pavement and spun around, releasing her at maximum speed. She flew off into the sunset, skipping on the water a few times before plopping in. Astral yarn rose into the sky from her path.

“Where’ve you been?” Bianca asked Butters.

“Meow.” he answered.

“Not sure why I asked.”

Bianca stood at the window all day the next three Fridays with hope in her eyes, but Eloise never showed. At the end of the third Friday, she flipped the open sign to closed, frowning. Butters hopped up on the counter. He’d cheer her up. He always could. She walked by with her eyes down. She pet his head for only a second and closed up shop quietly.

He had to save the bakery.