“The Black Destroyer” or also “The Slaughter Beast of Terror”—Mugis have been given more sinister nicknames than these. Even in the vacuum of space, they can survive for long periods, and their intelligence is greater than that of human beings. From the outside, a Mugi looks a lot like a housecat from Earth, but is over two meters in length. The Mugi’s jet-black body is amazingly flexible and nimble. His limbs are as thick as logs, and equipped with long, sharp nails that can tear through a three-centimeter steel plate like it was a piece of paper. Moreover, from each shoulder sprouts a long feeler with a suction-cup-like tip. The Mugi’s tentacle-like appendages have more dexterity than human hands. Also, the Mugi’s ears are actually tightly meshed whiskers. When vibrating this hair, a Mugi can take complete control of electricity and electromagnetic energy.
The details of how Mugi came to us is quite an interesting story (but we’ll save that tale for another time). Once a day Mugi needs to take one very expensive kalium capsule, but it never crosses our minds. Mugi can’t really be called a pet. He’s more of a special partner.
Mugi was in our room on the sixty-second floor of headquarters. When I told Mugi the department chief had called us, and asked us to meet him, he immediately crawled under the sofa. That’s our Mugi! He knows what it means when the chief calls. By turning on the transmitter in my ring, I broadcast an emergency signal. Sensing the signal Mugi broke through the wall and smashed through the floors to run to us here on the fifteenth floor.
Once the three shadows saw Mugi, they became very agitated. Something that can move as fast as they could had arrived. The shadows turned away from us and focused their attention on the Mugi.
From three sides the shadows surrounded Mugi and circled around as they closed in. It was a black whirlwind.
Mugi growled. It was an angry sound as he lost control. The meshed whiskers where his ears should be began to vibrate and his feelers darted about. His long tail grew thicker and the muscles over his shoulders peaked.
Mugi jumped.
At the same time the shadows closed their circle.
The feelers caught the two shadows behind him and to his right. The shadow to his left was met with Mugi’s front claws. He swung his feelers like a whip, pitching the shadows. With a snap, two intruders were tossed away. In order to chase after the flying Mugi, they moved off of the crumbled floor.
The shadow held in Mugi’s claws stalled him. Mugi pressed his long claws right through it, and pulled the shape to him. As sparks fell he spun the shadow around like he was batting at a dragonfly. He pulled out his claws.
The shadow fell to the ground and stopped moving.
Mugi landed. The other shadows escaped. Once again, it was a phantom in black.
But this time we could see. We could see very clearly. The shadows were human. The proportions were those of a human being. This was very strange—yes, his body was covered with a helmet and armor like a warrior from the Middle Ages. Around his lower back we could see where Mugi’s claws had cut through the shadow. To the naked eye the armor looked very heavy, but it didn’t seem to be made of metal. It looked as if it was made from some special soft material. I wasn’t sure how the armor functioned, but those moves, that speed… it must have been some variety of powered suit. But a powered suit shouldn’t be that smart—
—as I was considering the situation, the shadow rolled over. I then realized it was Mugi who was also trying to examine what lay before us. He looked up to us for help.
Yuri and I were in the corner of the room, near the door to the hallway. We didn’t want to get between the shadows and Mugi when they were fighting. It wasn’t clear whether the chief was alive or not, but since he was protected under the mountain of rubble, we weren’t too concerned (a little cold, huh? Ha ha!).
Mugi jumped again. We readied our weapons.
Forming a long thin triangle, the shadows converged, and came at full speed. Mugi couldn’t overtake them.
One by one we fired our weapons. And again. And again. We kept firing. Blast after blast after blast. We had no other choice.
Forming a spiral pattern the shadows dodged the laser beams and heat rays. No hits. Dammit, they were just too damn fast.
We persevered until the last possible moment.
The shadows pressed near.
At the last moment we threw ourselves out of the way. Even though we hadn’t planned anything in advance, Yuri’s and my timing and movements were exactly the same. The results of our intense training. As we moved I sensed a tremendous power fly by a paper-thin distance away from my side.
There was an enormous explosion.
The roar shook the air, and the upward shock seemed to lift the headquarters off its foundation. The boom was deafening, and my ears were ringing. The blast pressed us hard onto the floor. I couldn’t breathe. My body felt a massive wave of heat.
In a frenzy, I turned over and lifted my head. The door and most of the walls had been blown away. There was a giant hole in their place, and I could now see the hallway clearly. Looking closely, the wall across the hallway was also heavily damaged.
Mugi was not between Yuri and me. With a violent rage he had bounded out of the room after the shadows.
Yuri and I looked at each other.
We have to follow them!
We stood up and dashed to the hallway.