Chapter 16: Owlowiscious vs. Clint
"Ooh, this is going to be fun!" cried Winston, shaking with excitement. "I expect no less than a showstopping performance from all four of you."
"Then ah promise ah won't disappoint," Winona said menacingly, glaring at Winston.
"Nor will I," said Owlowiscious.
"N... nor will I?" squeaked Opal, trembling.
"I'm sure you won't," said Winston. "But before we begin, I need you to follow me."
Winston lead the four pets to an empty cage just beyond the front door. "In here, please," he said, opening the door.
Tank eyed Winston suspiciously. "And what is that?"
"Um, this would be what we call a cage, Albert Manestein," Winston said with a roll of his eyes. "My cage, specifically. And for the duration of this gauntlet match, it will be yours."
"Why?" asked Tank, maintaining his air of suspicion.
"Well, we don't want any interference. You may notice that all of my enforcers are retreating to their cages, as well." He pointed across the room, demonstrating that the two guard dogs and the hawk that had ambushed them earlier were already locking themselves back in.
"Each of you will be let out for your respective matches, but other than that, you are to remain inside this cage at all times. Understood?"
Tank nodded. "Understood," he said, climbing into the cage. "I assure you, we won't need any help."
"We'll see about that," Winston replied with a smirk as he escorted the other three pets into the cage, picked a key out from his pocket and locked the door behind them. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go choose a fighter for the first match."
And with that, he walked over to the center of the room, leaving our four heroes to contemplate their fate.
"Gimme your best shot," Winona growled at Winston as he walked away.
Owlowiscious gave her a timid tap on the shoulder. "Winona? Are you okay?"
Winona turned back towards Owlowiscious, giving him an ominous, toothy smile. "Ah'm more than okay, Owlowiscious," she snarled. "Ah'm ready."
Owlowiscious hurriedly backed himself away into a corner of the cage. "W-well, don't let me bother you, then."
"Tank, what have you done?!" Opal whispered, her legs shaking like jelly. "They're going to murder me!"
Tank draped one of his forelegs around Opal and pulled her in closer. "Opal, listen to me. You're one of the toughest girls I've ever met in my life, and I'm over a hundred years old. You'll be fine. Just believe in yourself."
Opal's trembling faded and her lips curled up into a faint smile. "Really? You mean it?"
"Absolutely," said Tank, returning Opal's smile with one of his own.
The warmth and affection of Tank's smile sent a shiver down Opal's spine and caused her heart to flutter. He DID mean it, she thought as an insuppressible grin broke out across her face. She swiveled away from Tank, shielding her face with her paw.
"Opal, are you okay?" Tank asked, giving her a bemused look.
"M-maybe?" she squealed.
Just as he was about to respond, Tank was interrupted with a resounding, "LET THE GAMES BEGIN!" coming from the center of the room. All four pets turned outward to see Winston standing triumphantly atop the Pet Paradise counter, next to the cash register.
"Tonight, we will be having four consecutive one-on-one matches," Winston announced. "Each pet will be allowed to use anything within their means to subdue the opponent. The match ends when one pet either passes out or gives up. If our guests win all four of their matches, our regularly scheduled fights will end permanently. Now, without further ado, let us introduce our first fighters of the night!"
Winston hopped off the counter and jogged into the aisle on the rightmost side of the store. The word "BIRDS" was emblazoned on a sign hanging just above the aisle.
"Representing Pet Paradise..." he called, the ominous creak of a metal door emanating from the aisle. "The Flaming Torpedo... CLINT!"
The auburn hawk who had subdued Tank moments ago swooped out from the aisle, belting out a warlike caw. With impeccable grace, he perched himself on the ground, just a couple feet away from Winston's cage.
Winston dashed out of the aisle after Clint and leaped back up onto the counter. "And his opponent," he announced, "shall be... OWLOWISCIOUS!"
Owlowiscious's heart skipped a beat at the sound of his name. Me first?
Winston hopped off the counter, marched up towards the cage, plucked out his key and undid the lock. "You may step out."
Owlowiscious's shivered as he shuffled past the other three pets and squeezed himself through the bars to meet his combatant. His heart skipped another beat when he heard the ka-chink of Winston locking the door behind him.
Calm yourself, Owlowiscious, he thought. You can DO this! You HAVE this! You... you HAVE to have this!
He marched up to Clint and puffed out his chest, refusing to show any fear. This was easier said than done, considering the fact that Clint absolutely towered over him.
Clint looked down towards his short, pudgy opponent and gently held out one of his wings. "May the best bird win," he said in a gravelly baritone voice.
Owlowiscious craned his neck up until his eyes met Clint's. "May the best bird win," he repeated, taking Clint by the wing and giving it a shake.
While the two combatants sized each other up, Winston scurried over towards the counter and perched himself on the top. "Round One... FIGHT!"
Owlowiscious immediately took a swipe at Clint with his wing. Clint blocked it with minimal effort.
"Please tell me that wasn't your best," he said with a contemptuous frown. He gave Owlowiscious a vicious smack with his free wing, sending the owl careening into one of the cages with an ear-splitting clatter. Owlowiscious clutched the back of his head in pain, his ears still ringing from the clatter. But before he could pick himself up off the floor, Clint descended upon him and gave him a flurry of sharp, stinging pecks. Owlowiscious flailed about, unable to deflect the vicious assault.
Clint then wrapped both of his wings around Owlowiscious's body, swung him around and flung him towards the other side of the room. With a panicked flutter of his wings, Owlowiscious was able to halt his momentum just before he hit the wall.
But our hero was scarcely able to catch his breath before he saw Clint barreling towards him like an avian cannonball. With his heart going into overdrive, Owlowiscious swooped under Clint just as he was about to make impact. An instant later, Clint hit the wall headfirst with a massive thump.
"Sonofa..." grumbled Clint, rubbing his head and trying to reorient himself. Before he could recover, Owlowiscious flew back into his face and buffeted him with pecks. Unfortunately, the pecks barely seemed to faze Clint, who took the barrage with relative ease.
Just as Owlowiscious reared his head back for another peck, Clint countered by slashing at Owlowiscious's belly with his talon. As Owlowiscious recoiled from the slash, Clint followed it up with a vicious headbutt that sent the owl plummeting to the ground.
Right, then, thought Owlowiscious. Less fighty, more dodgy.
And that's precisely what he did. When he saw Clint charging for him again, he scooted himself out of the way, letting his opponent hit the floor. Clint looked up and took an angry swipe at Owlowiscious with his wing, which was also dodged. Clint snarled and lunged himself at Owlowiscious, who leapfrogged over him.
Clint swung himself around and gave Owlowiscious another charge, but the owl disrupted his attack with a well-timed peck to the eye.
"GAH! You little..." grunted Clint as his opponent took off in the other direction. "Stop mucking around and fight me!"
Owlowiscious retreated into the first aisle, perched himself on the ground and stopped to catch his breath. What am I going to do? I can't keep running from him forever, can I?... I suppose I can keep my distance long enough, then maybe I can eventually tire him ou-
"Trying to hide, are we?"
Owlowiscious gasped and turned himself around, only to find Clint's towering form looming over him. Clint grabbed him and shoved him backfirst into one of the cages, using one of his wings to pin the owl down.
"It's the end of the line, Owl," said Clint, giving Owlowiscious some harsh slaps across the face with his free wing. "What were you thinking, trying to hide from a bird of prey?"
Owlowiscious's heart sank as he endured slap after slap from the enraged hawk. I've lost, he thought. I suppose it was a foregone conclusion, wasn't it? I could only run for so long, and I certainly can't hide.
Then it hit him. Or CAN I?
Renewed with a new sense of vigor, Owlowiscious blocked Clint's slap and gave him another peck to the eyes.
"NOT AGAIN!" roared Clint, recoiling in pain and releasing his opponent from his grasp.
With no time to waste, Owlowiscious soared out of the aisles, past the counter and over towards the Pet Paradise entrance. Let's see... it has to be around here somewhere... a-ha!
Owlowiscious spied a tiny switch on the left side of the doorframe. He hovered over and flipped it, shutting off the lights and immediately shrouding the entire store in darkness.
Owlowiscious took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the darkness before taking off back towards the aisles. There, right where he left him, was Clint, scurrying around blindly. "W-where'd you go?! What's going on?! Who turned out the- GAH!"
Owlowiscious swooped in, slashed Clint in the back with his talon, and swooped out of sight before Clint could react.
"Get back here!" Clint snarled, swinging blindly at the air in front of him. His head darted around, looking for any possible sign of his elusive foe. "...so, THAT'S the way you want to play, is it?"
Clint took off and started gliding from aisle to aisle, scanning the area around him for any sign of movement. Much to his annoyance, the owl continually stayed out of his sight.
"I know you're in here somewhere!" he cried. "You can't hide in the darkness for- OW!"
Owlowiscious flew out from the shadows for another slash, this time across Clint's belly. Once again, Clint took a wild swing at him and missed.
"This isn't funny, owl!" Clint shouted. "When I get my wings on- YEOW!"
As soon as those words left his beak, Clint felt the owl's talon tear through his right wing. Before he knew what hit him, Owlowiscious followed this up with another slash across his left, and then retreated back into the shadows.
Clint lowered himself to the ground, nursing his injured wings. "You... little... coward," he muttered as he stumbled out of the aisles, the pain beginning to take its toll on his body. "Gotta... get... the switch..."
Clint hobbled through the store, swearing that he would beat Owlowiscious into an unrecognizable pulp once he managed to get the lights back on. Stupid owl, he thought. I bet HE'S the one who hit the lights.
With an anguished grunt, Clint pushed himself off from the floor and took flight, pain searing through his wings with every flap. As soon as he got high enough to reach the switch, he flicked it back on.
"Got it!" he exclaimed. "Say your prayers, ow-"
Before he could finish his thought, Owlowiscious soared out of the aisles and rammed into Clint at full force. Without missing a beat, he followed this up by grabbing Clint out of the air and slamming him into the ground backfirst, resulting in a thunderous boom that shook Pet Paradise to its core.
Upon landing, Owlowiscious took a step back, looking down at the battered, broken hawk before him; his wings a ruffled mess, his eyes adorned with bruises, his body covered from head to toe with slash marks.
"Not... done... yet..." Clint groaned, attempting to pick himself up off the floor. This attempt was met with failure, as Clint only managed to take one step before falling onto his face and passing out.
"I'm afraid you are, Clint," Winston announced. "Owlowiscious is the winner!"
***
"All right, Gummy," said Angel, hopping off the sofa towards the door of the apartment. "Let's blow this joint."
Gummy just tilted his head at Angel and shrugged.
"Why? Well, first of all, there's no way I'm spending the rest of the night in this stinkhole. With all due respect to the pizza boy, he could really use some housekeeping tips. And second of all, I'm pretty sure the plan was to get back home before our owners notice we're gone. Come on, let's get out of here."
Gummy jumped off the sofa and started waddling out of the living room and into the hall leading to Deep Dish's bedroom.
"Um, hey, Gummy? Door's over here."
Gummy ignored him and continued to advance towards the bedroom. Once he got there, he reached down into his gullet, pulled out a sharpie and started scrawling something out on the bedroom door.
"Okay, Gummy, I'll bite," said Angel, hopping over to join his companion. "What the hay do you think you're doing?"
Gummy, much to Angel's annoyance, paid him no heed and kept on scribbling.
"You gonna give me an answer anytime soon?" grumbled Angel. "Or are you just gonna keep vandalizing this guy's- oh."
Gummy capped the pen and took a step back to show Angel what he had done. On the door was a crude, barely recognizable drawing of an alligator and a rabbit standing next to an apartment building. An arrow pointing away from the building was drawn over the animals' heads.
A hint of a smirk could be seen on Gummy's face. "That's real nice of ya, Gums," he said. "Can I add something, though?"
Gummy nodded and handed Angel the pen. Just under Gummy's drawing, Angel drew a picture of a pizza, followed by a smiley face and a thumbs up.
"Y'think they'll understand that?" asked Angel. Gummy gave him a nod.
"All right, then. Let's hit the road."
Angel and Gummy strolled together out the hall, through the living room and out the front door (which Deep Dish had left open, as he was wont to do). Just before they closed the door behind them, Angel took one last look at the apartment and bade it goodbye.
"Nice knowing ya, pizza guy," he said warmly. With that, he and Gummy pushed the door shut and headed towards the elevators.
Little did Angel know that their adventure was far from over...