Warmup Scene 8: Kamunt

“…the National Guard is advising all Chicago locals to stay indoors while they try to get the situation under control. If you are in the following neighborhoods shown on screen now, please evacuate immediately,” the short, mouse reporter said into his microphone. He pushed the glasses up on his face again, trying to look as professional as possible. It wasn’t easy acting as both reporter and cameraman at the same time. Adam had spent the past hour and a half following the story of his career. Literally following it. An enormous cat had appeared in the middle of the city seemingly from nowhere. Now he was stumbling through the streets, making an absolute mess of things. No one was sure what to do about him and most people were evacuating in advance of his walking path. That made it easy for Adam’s van driver to follow the cat’s plodding footsteps. All they really needed to avoid was the enormous potholes his paws left.

“Can’t this go any faster?” he asked the iguana at the wheel. The lizard grunted and swerved to avoid a knocked down streetlamp, tossing the mouse into the side door of the van. Guess not. Adam held tight to a safety handle on the roof of the van to steady himself. Once they got a good enough shot he could stop sitting in the back of the van. For now he had to put up with it though. As far as the TV execs had been able to tell, their van was the only one crazy enough to actually follow the cat out of all the major stations. There was a helicopter trying to get a good view from one of their competitors, but the skyscrapers made it much more difficult to follow or get a good shot. This was his one shot to report on a truly important story.

Assuming he didn’t get crushed in the process. No pressure.

With one last turn around a corner the iguana slammed the breaks on the van. It skidded to a stop and threw Adam forward into the back of the seats. “What happened? Why did we stop?” he asked, readjusting his glasses. The iguana pointed out the front windshield at the orange foot blocking the road. It was easily as long as the whole van and cut off all lanes of the road. From the information Adam’s handlers back at the station fed him, he knew the cat was around 100 feet tall. Large and in charge, and definitely dangerous at that height.

“Oh,” the mouse said, climbing forward to sit in the passenger’s seat. He looked far up in the air to see the cat focusing at his reflection in a skyscraper’s windows. The monster still hadn’t noticed them. This was the first time Adam got a proper view of whoever this was though. Aside from his height there didn’t seem to be much remarkable. Orange fur, a tubby frame, swishing cat tail. One thing did confuse him though. He was naked, but seemed to be covering himself up with his hands. Almost like he was… embarrassed? The feline was squinting at his reflection in the building’s windows, his face mere feet away from it. The warm breath from his muzz fogged up the skyscraper; Adam hoped it had been evacuated in time.

Wait. That squinting look. Adam recognized that from his own reflection. It was the sort of look he gave himself in the morning, just before he could put his contacts in or glasses on while he was still navigating the bedroom. Almost like the giant was having trouble seeing.

Was this enormous menace to the city just nearsighted?

“Ugh, I don’t know what the hell happened but I gotta find my glasses somewhere. Clothes too,” the cat boomed. “Getting hungry and I don’t have time for this.” He took a step backward, denting the pavement of the road and shaking city blocks. His tail swished into the side of an office building and his rump accidentally ran into it when he backed up too far. Down it tumbled, knocked aside by the tons of feline behind.

“Sorry. Don’t know what I keep running into,” he said, turning to face toward Adam and the van they were staying in. Golden yellow eyes scanned the road in front, probably looking to make sure he didn’t step on anything. Those eyes stopped when he noticed the van though. Uh oh. Did the cat know what they were? This might be bad. Adam’s fur stood on end for an instant, prey instincts kicking in.

To his surprise, the cat licked his chops. “Huh, don’t know when one of my snacks fell on the floor.”

Snacks? What did that mean? Adam wracked his brain while the iguana threw the van into reverse to avoid being picked up by the feline’s hand. It was at that moment that the mouse realized their van was painted a deep, chocolate brown. And on top was white transmitting equipment. Their car probably looked a whole lot like a chocolate snack cake.

“This will definitely help my hunger,” the titanic orange cat said, his stomach growling.