Part 23: The Feline King

_{content warning: violence, animal injury}



Alright, let's get this resolved. Interestingly, there's only one other Bad ending for Spottie, so let's go ahead and get that taken care of...



[BGM: The Darkness]


My spit flew into his eyes and temporarily blinded him.
I thought I had the upper hand, but Lieutenant Kang swiftly held up his right hand in my direction based on nothing but his hearing.
He fired multiple shots in less than a second.

No matter how good I was, I couldn't dodge the barrage of bullets.
I... lost...



[BGM: Cat and Mouse]


I slammed my tail on the pipe: “Bang”.
It was my battle cry!

To his credit, Blackie was indeed an experienced alpha.
He only hesitated for an instant, and then swung the dried salted fish and hit my face with it.

This enormous piece of dried salted fish represented unquestionable authority.
Whoever had the dried salted fish was the leader of the cats.
Furthermore, whoever was attacked by the dried salted fish, which right now meant me, would be considered the public enemy of the entire cat clan.

A dozen cats sprung at me, biting my ears, clawing my paws, stepping on my back...
Humans had a saying, “two fists were no match for four hands”, and I was facing fourty claws.
Ouch, ouch, ouchie...



...and in the process, it looks like we got an E ending for Chang- an attempt was made, at least, even if he basically still got gunned down.



Next, let's try and get a better rated ending for Chang- and also see what happens when we switch the gun and the salted fish. (Cloacamazing and Bifauxnen's guesses for Spottie result in this ending; Additionally, Bifauxnen's guess for Chang results in this ending.)

[BGM: The Darkness]


I took a shot, and flung my “tail” out from my sleeve.
The spear head cut through the air with a shimmer, aimed at Lieutenant Kang's right hand.
But it stopped right before the Lieutenant.

Lieutenant Kang's left hand clenched into a fist, and he slowly lowered it.
He was holding my “tail” firmly in his hand, despite having been cut by the spear tip.
Blood was dripping down from his wrist.
Behind his fist, his eyes were staring at me with nothing but contempt.

No one had been able to stop my “tail” with their bare hands before.
At this point I had no choice but to drop my weapon.
But Lieutenant Kang had finally seen his chance.

He sprinted at me, still holding my “tail” in his left hand and a dried salted fish in his right hand. He raised the fish high up in the air and slapped it down on my face as if it was a hammer.
After a loud and crisp “slap”, I fell to the ground with a fish-shaped mark on my face, and my consciousness began to drift away...
I... lost...



[BGM: Cat and Mouse]


Blackie was surprised by my spit. He then aimed a gun at me and pulled the trigger.
Wait, why did he have a gun?!
“BANG!”
An enormous sound echoed across the lot. A few windows in the nearby neighborhood lit up.

All of the cats were scared shitless. They were all paralyzed where they stood.
And the lot was suddenly filled with the filthy smell of urine.



I left the lot and felt my own ears, realizing that one of them had a hole in it.
I thought to myself, perhaps I should go and get a gun, too?



And there you have it. Blackie, somehow, both had a gun and was able to fire it. How? Who knows! That's the power of gods at work.



Anyway, obviously we don't want our boy to have a bullet hole in his ear, so we'd better try and set it up so things go better. Let's try something else.



A gun?!
Although I had no idea where Blackie even got a gun from, I didn't believe that he had the guts to pull the trigger.

I kept staring at Blackie, trying to scare him off.
He was staring right back at me.

…
…...
…......

The sun had come out.
All of the spectating cats had fallen asleep a long time ago.
But Blackie was still staring at me. His eyes were wide open, and he had tired, black bags around them.

How could I tell that he had black bags around his eyes? ...I just could. Shut up.

Finally, I gave up.
I couldn't hold it in any longer. I needed to pee.
This was a big country. I was sure that I could always find another big, empty pipe. An emptier, bigger and better pipe, no less.

Meow!



Well, that went better, but Spottie still gave in first, so it's only an A. (Funnily enough, there's a second A ending that's basically the same standoff and result if the only thing on Spottie's side is him holding the fish.) Also, this combination gives Chang his B ending, but it's literally just a combination of his E and C endings with literally nothing new added, so there's no point in reshowing it.



Anyway, before we go any higher, we skipped over Chang's D ending, so let's see that next!

[BGM: The Darkness]


Before I could even make a move, Lieutenant Kang seemed to have read my mind and moved two steps back.
In a split second I had been placed at a disadvantage.
With the distance between us, and my body still in its current position...
His firearm absolutely gave him the upper hand.

Just as I thought, Lieutenant Kang raised the gun in his right hand.
He pulled the trigger and the bullet flew out of the barrel with a puff of smoke.
But I was not that easy to kill.
At this distance I still had a chance to dodge the bullet!

0.03 of a second.
I had only 0.03 of a second.
I flung my “tail” towards the bullet's trajectory, while also using the force to fall back.
I should have a chance to dodge the bullet this way.
And if I were lucky, I could even hit the bullet and change its trajectory.

In the end, I did manage to dodge the shot.
But the ribbon of my “tail” was ripped in half by the bullet.

I caught the smile on Lieutenant Kang's face. Then I realized... he had done it on purpose.
He had been able to see through my plan, predict the trajectory of the “tail”, and then hit the ribbon accurately.
How frightening.



I had no chance at all now that I had lost my weapon.
After the second gunshot I sunk into an infinite darkness, filled with nothing but regret.
There was nothing I could have done, I was no match for him.

[BGM: Cat and Mouse]


A+ for effort, I guess? This just confirms that using his tail is not going to be helpful as long as “Kang” has the gun, at least.



There's still an A ending for Chang before we get to the S endings. (Cloacamazing's guess for Chang results in this ending.)

[BGM: The Darkness]


A dried salted fish flew out of his right hand, charging towards me like a flash of light.
Wait? A salted fish?

I quickly moved aside and dodged it.
Well, now that you have missed your chance...
It is my turn...

Hmm?

I suddenly realized that my right hand was tangled up.
I looked back, and saw that something had pinned the ribbon of my “tail” to the wall: it was the dried salted fish that I had just dodged.
He had done it on purpose.
Well, to be able to pin my ribbon with just a dried salted fish? What amazing power and accuracy he had!

I hesitated for a split second; I had exposed myself.
Before I could turn back again a shadow had fallen over me.
Then I felt a heavy punch.

I... lost...

[BGM: Cat and Mouse]


Alright, alright, let's get to the S endings.



We need to keep the gun out of Kang's hands since it makes him much more lethal, but we also need something to break up the stalemate- in this case, Spottie taking action afterward. Similarly, we need to do something on Chang's side to throw off Kang's aim- in this case, spitting in his face will distract him enough to do the job. (Regallion's guess was right on the money for both S endings!)

[BGM: What You Saying]


I slammed my tail on the pipe: “Bang”.
It was my battle cry!

Blackie was in shock. This was probably the first time any cat had ever challenged him.
He nervously pulled the trigger.
Wait, why did he have a gun?!
“BANG!”
An enormous sound echoed across the lot. A few windows in the nearby neighborhood lit up.

The cats scattered as fast as they could, including Blackie.
Only I was still sitting on top of the pipe in the empty lot.
And my urine was dripping down from the pipe...

In any case... this was my territory now.



[BGM: Evolving Mood]


My spit flew into his eyes and temporarily blinded him.
I thought I had the upper hand, but Lieutenant Kang swiftly took a swing at me with his right hand based on nothing but his hearing.
He wasn't an easy opponent, that was for sure.

A dried salted fish flew out of his right hand, charging towards me like a flash of light.
Wait. A salted fish?

I quickly moved aside and dodged it.
Thank goodness it was just a dried salted fish...
Well, now that you have missed your chance...
It is my turn!



I stomped on the ground and sprinted forward.
I tightened my back muscles and rotated my shoulder, then swung my arm with my shoulder, and finally punched him with my fist.

Attack #3 ------ Thunder Bolt Punch!

I hit Lieutenant Kang straight in his chest. He flew backward and slammed into a pillar.
Finally. I could tell that he would be dreaming about Buddha for a while.

I wiped the sweat off my face and let out a long breath.
I had avoided hitting the lieutenant's critical spots with the punch earlier, so I knew he should be okay.

But what kind of person was he?
I never realized that I would witness not one, but two masters in the Busan Police Precinct today: the custodian from the armory, and Lieutenant Kang.
How interesting! I supposed it wouldn't be too bad to stay in Unit 4, then.
I would love to spar with the Lieutenant in the future!