Chronicle 61

Pat and Biscuit were in cages beside each other inside an otherwise empty truck. Through the window behind them, they saw Gully in another truck. He usually was the one to give them direction, so they both were just waiting quietly. Gully's voice would surely reach them and tell them how to get out of these cages.

Hours passed as the animal control workers chased a goose around the park with large nets. Every so often, the chase passed the window Pat and Biscuit watched Gully through. Eventually, the younger brothers realized that Gully wasn't going to be able to help them. He was dealing with his own problems.

-

Gully saw four eyeballs staring back at him through the tiny window of the other truck. Pat and Biscuit. Relief set in seeing that they were okay, and together. The whole situation was backwards. They were taken for something they didn’t mean to happen. Queen Lilly was the one who attacked them. Her death wasn’t their fault, was it?

“Que chinga pato.” Gully heard from one of the nearby cages. The truck was packed with all kinds of animals. He could see why many were taken. They were pouncing at the other animals or growling with teeth fully bored. Without the cages, the truck would have been a bloodbath. Only one of them wasn't acting that way. was just strange. A cat... standing on two feet...? 

It smiled a devious, unsettling smile back at Gully. "Never seen a duck so calm. So observant. I walk the street as a cat wearing clothes and nobody even looks my way. But you notice me." The cat reached a claw around the front of his cage and unlocked it with ease. "These are designed to keep wild animals locked up. See, I'm not wild, so it doesn't work on me. Neither are you, little duck. Here, let me help you." 

The cat stepped close to Gully's cage. Whether it was fear, caution, or instinct, Gully backed away sharply, pressing against the opposite side of the cage, feathers poking through the bars.

"Inteligente tambien!" the cat exclaimed. "Let me help you. I'm el Gatito Malo.” He unlocked Gully's cage and reached for the duckling. "But you can just call me Bad Kitty."

Gully quacked loudly as Bat Kitty grabbed him by the body. The grip wasn't tight and he wasn’t being harmed, but the cat had the energy of death. Gully recognized it right away. He struggled to squirm free just as the animal control man returned, gooseless.

"How did you-" the man started. He was stunned at the sight of Bad Kitty and Gully. He swung his net to catch them. Bad Kitty was smooth. Whilst he dodged left and right, Gully noticed his claw coming in contact with some of the nearby cages.

After a few seconds of the scuffle, all the cages Bad Kitty fiddled with opened. Stepping out were multiple cats that now wore Bad Kitty's malevolence instead of their own faces. Bad Kitty himself transformed, appearing to be some combination of all of them.

"Wait!" the man pleaded before five Bad Kitties mauled him.

Gully was horrified, eager to escape the miscreant's clutches. He turned and snapped his bill shut on the nearest furry finger, expecting a big reaction. Bad Kitty's finger tensed as he quietly turned towards Gully.

"No, pato. You're going to be my pet. Big City has much blood to be spilled." Bad Kitty said. 

Gully's heart was racing as Bad Kitty hopped down from the truck and began walking away. Away from the park. Away from Pat and Biscuit. Gully was helpless. The brothers stared at him through the window. He failed them. He left them behind. Lost and afraid, even more helpless than he. They looked at each other up until the very last moment.

And then, just before they fell out of sight... VWOOSH.

Bad Kitty's eyes lit up at the power he stumbled upon. Gully dragged him by the arm back towards the truck. Pat and Biscuit erased the wall of their cage and the window, flying out at high velocity.

The three ducklings flew through the air until reunited in the very pond they were taken from, forming a line youngest to oldest.

"Gully!" Pat and Biscuit embraced their brother.

"Careful." Gully replied, shielding his brothers from Bad Kitty who was drenched, climbing out of the pond. His colors were back to normal.

"Tranquilo. I have no reason to kill you, patos." He squeezed water off his whiskers and smiled. "Nos vemos."

A slightly battered Bad Kitty left the ducklings alone and the boys looked at each other, wondering what just happened.

The animal control worker came back with a net full of goose only to discover his partner lifeless on the floor. "Hey James! I got the goose. James…James… look, it’s the goose we were chasing. James, get up and look at this. I caught that goose we both wanted to catch. Ahh James. Quit playin’.”