Cat Core 3, Chapter 1.

Chapter 1.

“So, how long you think we’ve been gone, Doug?” Florence asked, the pair pausing in the kitchen on the first floor. Bloodstains covered the floor and walls, evidence of the battle that had occurred there. It had been crazy. First, the adventurer’s guild sent them guys in to find out why everyone was dying. When they were leaving the evil adventuring party had attacked, then the adventurer’s guild kill team had shown up to destroy her core, and finally, Berikoz had made an appearance and blown everyone away. She’d give that Berikoz what for once she found him, but first, she had to get out of the ruins of her old home.

“I think we were returned not too long after, given the state of things,” Doug offered.

“Let’s head out of here and get back to the surface,” Florence said, leading them out.

“Hold up, I think I hear something ahead,” Doug said sniffing and prowling forward. They were inside the laundry room and now that they had stopped, Florence could hear something as well. Kind of like metal rattling around like that time she had dropped a spoon in the garbage disposal while it was still running.

“It’s coming from the gnome’s place. I suppose we should see what it is,” Florence said.

“Grinding metal sounds, and you want to investigate? Fine, it’s probably some iron golem that the lich left behind to kill us, so by all means, let’s make it easy for him. After all, we wouldn’t want to inconvenience the poor undead creature, would we?” Doug whined.

“Quit your bellyaching, if there is something there, just use your big boy claws and slash it. If that’s not enough, I’ll give it a good whack with my cane. I declare, you get turned into a tiger, but you still have the heart of a kitten,” Florence told him. From Doug’s pout, she could tell he was angry, but he did start to move, picking his way carefully through the detritus of their former home as he silently stalked whatever was making that racket. The noise got louder as they neared the former home of the gnomes.

“Well, that’s unexpected, you don’t suppose he’s still alive in there?” Doug asked as they charged into the gnome home, claws and cane ready for a fight.

Instead of a fight, they were treated to the ruined battle parakeet mech suit that Fizz had piloted. The mech was rocking back and forth with occasional sparks popping out of the severed wiring. Florence couldn’t remember what the mech was called, it was either Andy, Skyler, or Sir Pecks A Lot. Whatever its name was, each time the metal parakeet twitched, the wings scraped over the stone floor, creating the horrible noise they had heard. Muttering could be heard from inside the mech, but Florence couldn’t recognize the language.

“Hey Fizz, you in there?” Florence shouted, tapping the mech with her cane. The mech began twitching more violently and the muffled muttering from inside the contraption increased in volume.

“Bah, I can’t hear him. See if you can help him out of there, Doug,” Florence said.

“You’re the one with opposable thumbs, but fine, I’ll see what I can do,” Doug replied. Her previously tiny kitty looked at his paw, extending the now very dangerous-looking claws that he had. Carefully, Doug began to tear at the mech, hooking his claw into damaged pieces that seemed to be wedged together. His giant kitty claws were more than able to tear their way through the armored chassis of the mech. Florence was proud of how far her little Douggie had come.

“Ahhh! Don’t eat me!” Fizz shouted as the mech’s cockpit finally snapped open, spilling the diminutive gnome onto the floor.

“Quit yer squawking, Fizz, that’s just Doug. He ain’t going to eat you,” Florence chastised.

“Wait, that’s Doug? What happened to the tiny kitten? Who are you, is that Florence?” Fizz said, sitting up and looking about as confused as a gnome could look.

“It’s me, Florence, and yes, this is Doug. How long you been in there? Maybe your head got banged up inside that stupid bird mech,” Florence said.

“No, I think I’m okay except for a few bumps and bruises. I wasn’t expecting to see you, well, in the flesh, so to speak. What happened after they blasted my mech?” Fizz asked.

“Oh, not a whole lot, we beat them folks that attacked us, but then the adventurer’s guild showed up and attacked. We were trying to work things out with them when the lich popped in, breaking my pretty core gem. Well, after that, it was a bunch of spells, explosions, and whatnot before Doug and I died,” Florence said, trying to remember if she had left out anything important.

“Uh, you don’t look dead. Of course, I’m not an expert on dungeon cores, but you kind of look more alive than before, since you’re in a body and not a glowing core gem anymore,” Fizz mumbled out, the stupid, confused look on his face was still pasted there. Some people were just a little slow, like Helga Samson over at the senior center. It didn’t matter what show they were watching on the TV, she’d always pester you with questions about what was going on, despite having just watched it. Well, Florence figured old Fizz might be like Helga since she had explained the situation to him perfectly, but he was still asking questions.

“What Florence is trying to convey, very poorly I might add, is that we’ve gone through quite the trial recently. We’ve both been changed and now are on a tight schedule we have to keep if we want to continue living. To be precise, we must eliminate the lich, Berikoz, who is the primary cause of all this destruction,” Doug said. He was starting up with that sarcastic nonsense again, which Florence thought he was beginning to grow out of. She had obviously given him more credit than the overgrown kitten deserved.

“So, what happened to my gnomies? I can still feel them around, but it’s odd like they’re hidden somewhere just out of sight,” Fizz said, standing up on his wobbly legs. He closed his eyes and wandered around the room a bit, mumbling the names of all his gnome friends. Just when Florence thought she was going to have to have the gnome committed somewhere for a mental health observation, he opened his eyes and pointed at her, a look of horror replacing the previous confusion on his face.

“They’re in there, you consumed them, my poor family, how could you!” Fizz shouted, tears rolling down his face.

“Hold on there, buster, I didn’t consume nobody, especially not some gnomes,” Florence replied.

“I can assure you that Florence has done nothing untoward. Are you sure that you can truly sense them, and this isn’t a result of some cranial trauma? If Florence had consumed them, they would be gone, and you wouldn’t feel their presence. If someone dies inside a dungeon…er…I mean a home with a core, they’re gone for good, their mana is broken down and absorbed by the core with no trace left behind,” Doug offered.

“Hmm, that is true, but I can sense them inside her somehow. What did you do to them if you didn’t consume them?” Fizz asked.

“How should I know, I was dead, remember, and then I argued with the manager guy, well, not really argued since that guy, Michael was his name, seemed like a decent feller. Anyhow, he brought us back like we are now, but I’m not exactly human, I’m still kind of a core thingy and will have to change back into my home before too long. Maybe the rest of the gnomes are there, still waiting inside the home? When I change over, we can look for them. I don’t know why exactly, but somehow, I’m getting the impression that’s what happened,” Florence said.

It was confusing for her, but even in this walking-around form, she could kind of tell what was going on inside the home, and she got a distinct impression that gnomes were alive and well inside there. Now, they better not be back to their old tricks, and if she felt any explosions inside her home, them gnomes were going to get a piece of her mind. Fizz seemed to think things over a bit, staring at her again as if he was trying to see the gnomes inside, before shrugging his shoulders and replying.

“That sounds like as good a plan as any. When do you change back into your home, and do we just wait here for that to happen?” Fizz asked.

“I should change in about a week or so from what I understand, and we’re not wasting time here, we got to get moving if we want to track down that Lich guy. You’re welcome to join us, but it might be a bit dangerous out there,” Florence said. The gnome didn’t annoy her too much, and Fizz might prove useful on their quest.

“I’ll join your party; we’ll be like adventurers on a quest to defeat the Lich. Say, give me a minute, I’ll need to gather up a few important things if it’s going to be dangerous,” Fizz said. His concerns seemed to be forgotten as he began tinkering with all the debris and parts strewn about the former gnome home.

In just a few minutes, the gnome had hacked apart the parakeet mech, gathered up the best bits, and stuffed them into an oversized backpack he had dug up among the junk. It looked like the pack was bigger than Fizz, but he seemed to carry it without too much trouble, probably a magic backpack of holding or whatnot. Florence would want one, but being what she was, she felt she could store things inside her home and recall them at will. Realizing that, she tried to call up the gnomes that were rattling around inside her somewhere, but the slippery little jerks didn’t let her catch them.

“I believe I have what I need for the journey, where to, Florence?” Fizz asked.

“We need to start by tracking down the other cores that are under Berikoz’s influence. I can try and sense them, but there’s interference here since this used to be my old home and all. Let’s get outside and see what I can find up there,” Florence said. The trio began to make their way from the home, the entrance not far off from the former location of the gnome home.

“It is sad to see our former home in such a state,” Doug mourned as they passed through the living room and headed toward the front door.

“It’s not just the clutter that’s disturbing, what’s that smell?” Florence complained as they exited the front door.

“I believe it does smell a bit ripe in here,” Doug replied. The smell hit Florence even harder once they stepped off the front porch. After not having the ability to smell during her time as a core, she had no idea what could make that much stink. Well, she had no idea until she spotted the shambling figures walking toward them across the lawn.

“Look out, it’s a bunch of them zombie folks that’s been making all the stink!” Florence shouted, gripping her cane tightly as what looked like dead adventurers continued to shamble slowly toward them.

“I have something for this, hang on,” Fizz said, shucking his backpack and digging through all the junk he had crammed inside, hastily slapping parts together.

“Doug, you get out there and take care of them, zombies shouldn’t be much of a problem for a big kitty like you,” Florence said. If they got closer, she felt that she could handle a simple zombie or two; her older-looking body wasn’t nearly as feeble as it looked. Core enhanced strength and durability were sure nice things to have. The problem for Florence was the mess. She did not want to get any of that stinky zombie gunk on her clothing, who knew where she would be able to find something that was as practical and fashionable as her current outfit. It also had some sort of armor protection, which you wouldn’t think it would have.

“I’m on it, but you do have abilities, remember,” Doug said, dutifully reminding her that she had more than a cane to defend herself with. She knew that already, and just wanted to let Doug think he was contributing. She tried to concentrate on using one of her abilities. She didn’t want to waste the Instant Dungeon since that could only be used once a day, but she could summon a cat using Summon Defender, or enhance Doug with Empower Beast. Yep, summoning a cat it was, you could never have too many kitties helping you, no siree.

Using magic wasn’t too difficult for Florence, the abilities her new form possessed worked similar to the ones that she had access to inside her home. There were five of the zombies, all wore decaying bits of armor and clothing, The zombies moved slowly, their stumbling gait meant it would take them a bit of time to reach Florence, allowing her to finish her summons. Doug charged forward, faster than she figured he could move, meaning it was likely a new ability he was using. The claws from her companion lashed out, the big paw swatting the head off of the closest zombie, a decaying human dragging an oversized club behind him.

Florence’s spell finished and a glowing ball of light appeared in front of the zombies. With a final flash, the light disappeared, and standing there, looking as cute as he possibly could look, was Buddy, the stripped Commando kitty. Despite being just summoned, Buddy didn’t seem disoriented and pounced on the nearest zombie, claws slashing away. It seemed that both Doug and her summoned kitty were reluctant to bite their opponents, and Florence wouldn’t want to either if she were a cat, them zombies probably tasted as horrible as they smelled.

Old Buddy sure tried hard, but he wasn’t fighting quite as good as she remembered. Oh yeah, that was it, the kitties would be summoned at her level, which currently sat at a whopping one. It was a ripoff if you asked her, but it was part of the deal to come back to life, so she didn’t have any say in the matter. Still, even at level one, her kitty was getting the best of the monster. Well, it would be getting the best of that zombie if another one hadn’t stepped up and started pounding on poor Buddy. The cat hissed at the new opponent, distracted enough that the zombie it had been attacking got ahold of him.

“Oh no you don’t, let’s get you pumped up my precious little kitty,” Florence said, drawing on her mana to cast Empower Beast. As soon as the spell hit, Buddy bulked up a bit and was now showing as level two. The additional power didn’t seem to help him much, and the two zombies kept tearing and pounding on the poor little guy. Realizing Buddy wasn’t cutting it, she cast another summons, hoping to overwhelm the zombies in a flood of feline ferocity. Fluffy, the beautiful Persian Brawler kitty appeared next, and when Florence hit him with an Empower Beast spell, he became a bit more formidable than the poor commando Buddy.

Doug hadn’t been idle this whole time and had finished off a second zombie, leaving three remaining. The two that had finished off Buddy now ganged up on Fluffy. Florence tried to summon another kitty, but as soon as she started to draw on her mana, pain lanced into her head. It was worse than that time Rebecca Ivans invited her over after she had painted her living room. She thought Florence would be impressed with the new beige paint, but the smell go to her and made Florence sick for a week.

“This should even the odds,” Fizz said, brandishing what looked kind of like a gun with a long barrel. Instead of shooting it, Fizz started cranking frantically on a handle mounted on the side of the contraption. Sparks began to arc over the surface of the weapon, and though she could see it was zapping old Fizz, he kept on a cranking. Just when Florence thought that Fizz was going to drop from exhaustion, the weapon fired off a bolt of blue-tinged electricity that hit the zombie that was getting a little too close to Florence for her liking.

Crackling energy coursed through the zombie, stopping it in its tracks. All of a sudden, the dead creep burst open in a wave of stinky goop that splattered over the front of Florence’s favorite outfit. There was no way her knit shawl was ever going to get clean again. Doug and Fluffy finished the remaining pair of zombies, with Fluffy disappearing, the time for his summons up, after the last monster was down.

“Fizz, look what you did to my outfit, I’m going to tan your hide, you little creep,” Florence said brandishing her cane for emphasis. Instead of apologizing and slapping together a makeshift washing machine from the junk in his bag, the hooligan of a gnome just lay there on the ground, small sparks of electricity causing him to twitch and stuff, so disrespectful.