What a Cat-tastrophe!

The fun begins

Ten hours later, they were nowhere near done with the device or the chemicals. How did Flug make it look so easy? Blackhat tried to follow the listed directions but he was too impatient and stubborn to do it right.  He tried to mix the chemicals, rushed it, and ended up blowing it up ten times. Flug's fur had black spots from where fire licked him.

The two of them decided to take a break from the chemicals and work on the device itself but Blackhat proved to be useless when it came to machinery. He would get frustrated with how slow the process was or get angry when he had to melt parts together and mess it up by going over the wrong parts and melting the wrong pieces or getting angry and using his laser eye to melt what he did create into metal goo.

By the end of it, Blackhat was covered in chemicals, metal pieces, and soot. He was exhausted. He hadn't felt this exhausted in a very long time. Blackhat sat back in a chair in front of his newest failed attempt with his head tilted back and his eye closed. As he sat there one question kept playing in his mind: how did Flug do it?

How did Flug do this all day long, be exhausted, then do the same thing the next day and somehow keep doing it for years? Blackhat was tired and didn't want to attempt making the device anymore. And Flug was there too, somewhat,  helping Blackhat make it! Flug had to do this by himself all the time. This was ridiculous and embarrassing for Blackhat. He was just glad that it was only Flug who saw him this tired.

As he sat there, reclined on a stiff chair and his eye closed, he heard light, insistent, tapping. He peeked through his eyelid to look at the table to see Flug staring at his failed attempt invention with dilated pupils and his left paw raised slightly in the air. Flug carefully tapped the device with his paw and then, ever so carefully, nudged the device a few centimeters closer to the edge. He looked at his paw then back at the device and nudged it again.

Blackhat stared at the device as Flug carefully moved it closer and closer to the edge till it was about to fall off the table. Flug kept his paw on it and then looked at Blackhat, making eye contact. Blackhat stared back, confused but also intrigued, as Flug flicked his sleek tail and finally pushed the device over. All while keeping eye contact.

Blackhat watched as the device fell and made a hard, metallic, clunk when it met impact. The sound echoed through the silent room. Blackhat stared at the device and then looked back at Flug who was also watching the device intently, his tail swishing side to side, and for a moment Blackhat only stared at Flug.

Was Flug mocking him? Blackhat knew that his failed attempt was garbage at this point and he was frustrated with himself too, but no one mocks Blackhat and lives.

"Getting bold, Flug?" Blackhat said annoyed; squinting his visible eye in clear irritation.

Flug's ear flicked at the sound of Blackhat's voice and looked at Blackhat. His pupils shrank almost immediately when he saw Blackhat's expression and he looked around himself; curling in on himself.

Flug stared at Blackhat with his ears back and a terrified look on his paper bag face. Satisfied with the reaction Blackhat sighed and sat up. Stretching his back and lifting his arms to stretch them as well as he stood up. He looked at Flug and said, "We will continue this tomorrow." And with that, Blackhat gathered his coat and left the lab.

Blackhat walked through the halls with a slumped poster; too tired to teleport. He didn't use his bedroom often but he looked forward to his huge, luxurious bed. As he walked he took note of the halls that were a little trashed. The paintings were either crooked or on the floor. He knew Dementia was responsible for this. And he was proven right as he heard the lizard-psycho's giggles and muffled crashes coming from another room. He would need to punish her later for trashing his mansion.