Tom firmly clutched the scurrying Jerry in his paw, a highly anthropomorphic smile, a mix of triumph and cunning, spreading across his cat face.
Trapped in his grip, Jerry's small eyes darted around, his face etched with terror.
He struggled desperately, but it was no use.
Just as he thought he was about to face yet another 'end' to his cat-mouth career, his sensitive little ears suddenly caught the sound of hurried, 'murderous' footsteps coming from behind Tom.
Jerry twisted his head with difficulty, his gaze peering over Tom's furry shoulder, to see a tall 'monster' carrying a sizzling giant thunder hammer, its face covered by a cold metal mask (Zane: This is a tactical mask!), charging towards them!
That aura was more terrifying than seeing a hundred cats!
"Ahhhhhh—!!!"
Jerry was scared out of his wits, his survival instinct instantly erupting; a strange burst of strength, emerging from who knew where, caused him to suddenly leap out from between Tom's fingers. He didn't even have time to steady himself after landing, using all four limbs, he shot out like a brown lightning bolt, leaving only a trail of dust.
Tom was still immersed in the joy of catching Jerry when his paw suddenly felt empty. He blinked in confusion and scratched his round head.
Just then, he also felt the spine-chilling pressure from behind him.
He stiffly, little by little, twisted his neck—
"Ahhhhhhhh—!!!"
Tom's shriek was ten times more piercing than Jerry's! All his fur instantly bristled, making him look like a blue fluffy balloon!
He didn't even have time to ponder the 'monster's' origin; his body reacted before his brain—turn, run, sprint!
His speed was so fast that he left a brief afterimage of himself in place before it was covered by the rising dust.
Thus, a scene unfolded on the streets of Mondstadt: a bare-bottomed brown mouse running for its life in front, a blue cat with bristling fur chasing behind, terrified, and behind them, a murderous Blazing Axe Mitachurl attempting to maintain city order (in its own opinion).
As they ran, Tom and Jerry miraculously found themselves running side by side.
In the midst of their frantic escape, the cat and mouse even spared a glance at each other, their eyes filled with exasperation and terror for each other (and their pursuer).
Their eyes met; they were both unfortunate victims being chased.
The next second, they tacitly accelerated at the same time, continuing this sudden 'race against death'.
Along the way, they blindly knocked over a wooden trash can full of empty wine bottles by the roadside.
The clattering of shattering glass and rolling wine bottles instantly filled the street.
Zane, who was close behind, had his attention completely locked on the two fast-moving small targets ahead and didn't notice what was underfoot.
With a 'squelch', he precisely stepped on a shiny, somewhat springy banana peel that had 'accidentally' fallen, whether from Tom or Jerry, during their escape.
"Huh?!"
Zane only managed to let out a short gasp of surprise; his massive body instantly lost balance, and he slid forward like a launched cannonball, feet off the ground, along a highly comical parabolic trajectory—
"Whoosh—Boom!!!"
He crashed directly into the wall of an innocent residential house on the street, embedding himself in a 'big' character shape, leaving only a human-shaped hole and crumbling brick and stone dust.
The mighty thunder hammer flew out of his hand, sticking into a nearby vegetable patch, still crackling with electric arcs.
Tom and Jerry heard the huge commotion behind them, braked simultaneously, and cautiously looked back.
Seeing that the 'monster' was temporarily dealt with, they both raised their paws (small hands), wiped away non-existent cold sweat from their foreheads, and let out long sighs of relief.
However, the danger was not over!
"Found you! Surrender now!"
Jesse rushed out from another alley like a phantom, displaying the speed of a Wind Hilichurl Ranger to its fullest, heading straight for Tom and Jerry.
Jerry's small eyes spun, and he instantly noticed an iron shovel leaning against the wall.
A flash of inspiration struck him, and he dashed over with lightning speed, abruptly flicking the shovel handle upwards!
Jesse was about to grab Tom when his foot suddenly tripped over something. He instinctively looked down—
"Bang!!!"
The iron shovel handle, cleverly propped up by Jerry, struck Jesse's unguarded face with perfect precision and solid force!
The force was so great that it even echoed like a gong.
Jesse's movements instantly froze, his eyes beneath the mask turned into constantly spinning mosquito coils, his body swayed twice, and then with a 'thud', he fell straight to the ground, losing consciousness.
Tom looked at the fallen Jesse, then at Jerry, who was standing beside him with hands on his hips and a triumphant expression, and an expression of admiration (?) appeared on his cat face.
Just then.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
Heavy, rhythmic footsteps approached, like a small earthquake.
Tom and Jerry looked up in terror, only to see Matt, like a moving fortress, approaching with huge strides. In his waist pouch was Elliot, who had just returned to human form but was still dizzy.
"Ahhhhhh!!"
Tom shrieked again, instinctively wanting to turn and run, but found Jerry was gone!
"Ding-ding!"
A familiar sound came from nearby.
Tom turned his head and saw that, at some unknown point, a huge, dark red curtain, like one used backstage in a theater, had appeared by the roadside.
Jerry was peeking out from the edge of the curtain, frantically waving at him.
Tom didn't hesitate for a moment, dashed over, pulled back the curtain, and slipped inside.
When Matt and Elliot arrived, they only saw the empty street and the sudden curtain.
"How did they disappear without a trace?"
Matt asked in confusion, his huge head turning left and right.
Elliot, who had already climbed out of the pouch but was still seeing stars, jumped to the ground, rubbing his temples, and said, "They must be hiding! Let's search, be careful, Zane and Jesse have already been ambushed by them!"
"Mm!"
Matt nodded heavily and began to meticulously search the surroundings like he was sweeping for mines.
However, just as they had their backs to the dark red curtain, Jerry silently slipped out from the bottom of the curtain.
He had a mischievous, imp-like smile on his face and looked back behind the curtain—there, at some unknown point, a ridiculously exaggerated old-fashioned fortress cannon had appeared, its muzzle even bigger than Matt's head!
Tom was standing next to the cannon, holding a long, Burning match!
Jerry took a deep breath and abruptly pulled down the entire curtain!
"Hiss—" (sound of fuse Burning)
Matt and Elliot, who were about to bend down to inspect a wooden box, were drawn by the sudden sound and instinctively looked back—
What greeted their eyes was a pitch-black, bottomless, enormous cannon muzzle, as if it could swallow everything, aimed directly at them.
Behind the cannon was Tom's face with a standard villainous smirk, and Jerry excitedly bouncing next to him.
Matt and Elliot's expressions instantly froze, their pupils dilated to the extreme.
"Ahhhhhhhh—!!!"
Their screams were comparable to a banshee's wail, and they turned to run.
But it was too late.
The match in Tom's hand precisely lit the fuse.
"Bang—!!!!!!!!!!"
A deafening roar, as if it could tear the sky apart!
The cannon muzzle spewed out huge flames and thick black smoke, instantly engulfing Matt and Elliot completely!
The flames and thick smoke slowly dissipated... In their place, only two human-shaped, still smoking, charred outlines remained.
Matt and Elliot maintained their fleeing postures, like two abstract charcoal sculptures.
A gentle breeze blew, and these two 'charcoal sculptures' blinked their only remaining white eyes, then crumbled and collapsed like weathered sandcastles, finally turning into two wisps of burnt-smelling ash, drifting towards the distant sky, as if searching for a respawn point.
——————
In the distance, at the outdoor seating of the Good Hunter restaurant.
Lumine was sipping her afternoon tea, watching the continuous loud bangs, dust, and finally the exaggerated cannon blast coming from the west side of the city. She helplessly put down her teacup and rubbed her temples: "What are they up to again? Didn't they say they were going to deal with two small monsters? This sounds like they're attacking Stormterrors Lair."
Paimon, floating nearby and happily munching on a donut bigger than her face, chuckled indistinctly at the remark: "Oh, don't worry, Lumine! Anyway, where they are, chaos is the norm! As long as it's not the Heavenly Principles knocking on our door, it's probably nothing serious! And look."
She gestured around; other Mondstadt citizens also seemed unfazed by the distant commotion, continuing to eat and drink.
"Everyone's so calm!"
Just then, the Wolf King, dressed in a well-fitting waiter's uniform (temporarily moonlighting), came over with a plate of freshly baked, fragrant Mondstadt Hash Browns. He elegantly placed the plate on the table, his calm mechanical voice completely devoid of emotion: "According to sensor analysis, although the energy fluctuations are intense, the destructive power is concentrated in a small area, and no life signals have disappeared. Preliminary judgment: this is the masters' daily... 'interactive communication'. No need to worry, as long as it does not affect the normal operation of the dining area."
Lumine looked at the Wolf King, then at the carefree Paimon, and finally sighed, picking up a Hash Brown: "Alright... as long as they don't bring trouble here."
And no sooner had she spoken than she heard Tom's characteristic, piercing yet somewhat comical scream from afar, along with the roar of some building collapsing... It seemed that this afternoon in Mondstadt was destined to be anything but peaceful.