"What?" I blurt.

Rain appears just as shocked as me that the Superior-Earth Army has captured the North Tunnel, but she ignores Ice. After asking Commander a question that I wasn't able to hear, she shouts instructions to the Army.

        "Listen very carefully because I will only say this once! Commander says that there are thirty of you; that will be enough to divide yourselves among the three remaining tunnels. We'll worry about the North Tunnel later. The twenty of you over here will come with me and Forest to the South Tunnel. Since the South and West Tunnels are connected, Forest will stay to fight at the South Tunnel with ten of you while I'll lead the other half through the South Tunnel to the West Tunnel. Everyone else, you will be staying to fight for the East Tunnel with Commander. Let's do this!"

        Luckily, the Army listens to Rain without needing her to repeat a single word. Twenty cats obediently stay next to Rain and me while Commander and the other ten cats charge at the Superiors invading the East Tunnel. Without another word, Rain leads us away from the battle towards another one.

As we walk at a fast pace, when we are at a fair distance away from the East Tunnel, Rain loudly meows, "Is everyone okay with running? We need to get there as fast as we can."

"Yes, ma'am!" the mud-covered cats cheer in unison as they speed up to a running pace.

I try not to look spooked by the way they answered at the same time and how they are running in straight rows and columns. These cats are behaved and disciplined; I wonder how strict Commander is toward them.

        Silence settles as Rain and I trot through the never-ending fields of grass in front of everyone else. Soon enough though, we faintly hear the sound of battle cries as we see fighting cats in the distance. As soon as we witness this, our relaxed run intensifies to a thundering bolt to the South Tunnel.

Once we get there, everything is a blur. The Army cats separate in half: ten stay with me, and the other ten follow Rain, racing through the battlefield. They have to push through the wall of rebels defending the South Tunnel, but they eventually gain entry into the hole in the ground.

"Wait," I hiss to the remaining Army cats. Before I release them out into the battlefield, I have to see what's going on. When I'm sure that no one is looking in our direction, I lower my body into the grass and gesture with my tail for the Army cats to do the same. Then, once we're hidden from the others, I observe the field. Just like in the East Tunnel, the Superior-Earth army outnumbers the rebels. However, I can easily tell that many of them came straight out of Earth cat camps by their uncoordinated fighting.

        There is already a visible problem with the rebels: they are defending themselves too much. All they're doing is attempting to keep the Superior-Earth army from getting to the tunnel with absolutely no drive to chase them out. In comparison to the rebels, the Superior forces look more determined and aggressive. If this continues, we are bound to lose. My claws unsheathe and grind themselves into the ground beneath me. It's time to fix this.

        In a low voice, I twist my head around to speak to the Army cats. "We need to somehow drive the enemies out so that they don't get to the South Tunnel. The rebels are already forming a wall around it with their bodies, but we need more than that. We need to attack more than defend."

        To my relief, nobody objects to my statement. Everyone around me murmurs in agreement.

        My gaze returns to the battle ahead of us. "The reason why we're hiding is because we need to scare them and make them less confident. So, here's what we need to do. On a count to three, we reveal ourselves and charge into the battlefield, making as much noise as possible. Fluff out your fur, too, so you'll look bigger than you actually are. Does everyone understand what we're going to do?"

More murmurs of agreement. Whether this last-minute plan of mine is good or bad, it needs to happen quickly. We're running out of time.

"Alright." My eyes narrow as I crouch deeper into the grass. "One . . . Two . . . Three!"

My last word is a wild, high-pitched screech to the indigo sky. Without a single pause, we burst out of the darkness and into the chaos. Several felines, including the rebels, scramble backwards with shocked expressions when the Army cats and I yowl a thunderous, ear-piercing battlecry.

I didn't quite expect this, but the moment I enter the battlefield screaming, my body transforms. This time, emotions run through me so much that I don't even feel the sharp pain that usually comes along with turning into a human. Before I know it, I'm practically a beast among everyone else.

The Superior-Earth army swiftly reacts to us. Two cats approach, stalking towards me. Suddenly, one of them claws up my leg, while the other zips behind me and leaps on my back. I manage to grab the first one with both of my hands and toss the spiky thing away. However, the other one is frantically scratching my upper back and neck, creating explosions of increasing pain. I attempt to grab the cat off my neck, but it's no use; the attacker is out of reach. The one I threw returns, this time to my other leg.

Just as I begin to crumple to the ground in helplessness, the weight removes itself from my neck. It allows me to remove the other cat and throw it again, this time more harshly. I spin around and see North in his human form, stomping on the feline that was on my neck.

        When the fallen cat is motionless, he kicks it away with a swing of his leg. "One of the most important rules about fighting as a human: never let a cat get on your back. 'Cause once that pest climbs there, good luck getting it off by yourself."

        Trying to catch my breath from the fight, I stare up at North. His blond hair is a mess, and his face is covered in dirt. He's annoying, but maybe it'll be a good idea to keep him by my side.

        "Are we a battle pair?" I ask.

        "What?" North's face wrinkles in confusion, but then shortly later, he seems to understand. He rolls his eyes. "Do I have to agree?"

        "Well, it only makes sense! We're both humans. And by the way, you're supposed to be training me, right?"

        North bites his lip. Finally, he gives in and sighs. "Fine, let's go."

        As we observe everyone around us, I have a feeling that the rebels are doing better than before. The Superior side looks distracted by the Army cats that have just arrived, since they have stopped pushing as much toward the tunnel. As a result, the rebels are able to fight back more.

North approaches a cat who looks to be from the Superior-Earth army and stomps on its tail. At the same time, a Superior with giant, white wings flies at my face. Before it hits me, I punch just below the cat's chest with my fist, making it spiral out of balance and plummet toward the ground. Before it hits the ground, it recovers and shoots up back to the air. Back-to-back, North and I battle the invaders.

I finally manage to fight off the flying cat when it flees into the sky. Just when I'm about to find more cats to fight, I hear North grunt from behind me. I turn around and see North bent over, holding his stomach as he gets attacked by . . . another human?

"No!" I shout, bursting in front of North before the human does another move on him.

The girl glares at me with angry brown eyes and thrusts a fist at my shoulder. The impact makes me bend at the waist myself. Then, before I recover, she kicks me in the stomach, which causes me to collapse to the ground backwards.

        North catches me from behind by grabbing me behind the shoulders and puts me back on my feet. As I blink away the dizziness from my eyes, he speeds next to my side and connects his knee to our opponent's groin.

"Die, loser!" North screams as he slaps her face.

        "Traitors!" the girl shouts back, shrinking away from North. "Both of you deserve to die for leaving the Superiors for the rebels!"

        She steps forward and directs a punch towards North's face. However, North anticipates the move and narrowly dodges it by shifting his head to the side.

       "You deserve to die for staying with the Superiors," North shoots back. "Avoiding regular Gardinian cats like they're diseased and using regular Earth cats to fight against their will . . . What a great plan."

        While the girl is distracted by North's response, I stalk up to the girl and kick her in the side. North punches her across the face, clutches her by the throat, and proceeds to lift her with both of his hands in a choking grip. The opponent desperately tries to kick him, but he cleverly holds her out away from his body with his long arms. Her face is a rainbow of colors: it turns from pink to red to blue.

        However, an ear-piercing yowl interrupts us. To my surprise, North releases the girl from his grip with a grimace. She falls to her knees, gasping for breath.

        "Why did you-" I start.

        "Your comrades are retreating," North says to the girl in a mocking tone. "Better go join them before they leave you behind."

        Without another look at us, she stands and limps after the Superior-Earth army as they flee from us with their tails between their legs.

        "There they go," North mutters. He chuckles with satisfaction as he watches our enemies run off into the distance.

        My gaze moves down to the rebel cats. Despite their injuries, many of them raise their heads and yowl to the sky above. Their victory cries fill the air and my heart as well.

        We've won the battle for the South Tunnel.