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Chapter Eleven

"Dangerous Choices"

By

Furry Sith Lord

A Few Weeks Earlier...

Jon stood at a coffee machine making himself a drink and felt uncomfortable in the suit he was wearing. He normally dressed in business casual but this interview was important because he was looking to transfer to a higher paying job than what he was currently working.

For the last three years since he graduated he was employed as an elementary school teacher. The new position was in high school and a greater challenge because students that age were tougher to deal with but the increase in pay could help him pay off his student loans faster. He was called here for an interview and although he had been on time they were still making him wait. It had been over half an hour past the time they told him to be here and he was starting to wonder if this was a test or not.

Jon put the cup down as he heard his name called and he went over to a middle aged red panda, looked at him and smiled and led him into a private office.

"Sorry for the wait but the last interview took longer than expected." he replied as they sat across from each other at the desk.

"Is the position still available?" Jon questioned wondering if he should give up.

"Well I cannot say for certain but even if it were filled, there is no guarantee the one chosen will accept the position. We are trying to find the best candidates to see who will accept it." he replied and Jon nodded his head but something told him that although he said that they had chosen the new teacher and now they were just being nice to the remaining candidates. He was fine because he still had his job but he was really looking forward to trying something more challenging.

"How long have you been a teacher?" he asked.

"Three years. I teach 4th grade students."

"Any areas of speciality?"

"I'm really good with history."

"Ah, so what is your favorite period?"

"I think the Great Animal War was the single most important stepping stone to lead the way into the enlightening area. Specifically, if the hairless apes had not tricked themselves into believing in their alpha Gawd, they could have vastly brought all of us under their submission. They had their own intuitive learning that had not yet developed into other animals.

However this tribalistic idea of a single alpha that can do everything and the tribe or pack just needs to sit back and wait for the alpha to do everything. This retarded their evolution and thus gave the other species the chance to dominate because we moved forward while they sat still." Jon lectured his opinion.

"Interesting, but how can that be applied to us today?" the red panda asked. He made several notes on the file he read.

"The best way for animal species to not go extinct is that we must continue to advance for the betterment of all of us. Because if we become too proud or lazy then we will become as extinct as they are." Jon replied.

"So we shouldn't follow in their footsteps."

"Exactly." Jon replied happily and the red panda continued making notes without looking at him. Jon tried to read him but couldn't tell whether he agreed or disagreed.

"Could species go extinct today?" he finally asked.

"Yes, depending on the situation."

"Could you give me some examples?" he asked and Jon thought for a moment before replying.

Jon took off his tie as he walked to his car. He felt the entire interview had been a disaster and could not wait to get home and change into something more comfortable. His attention changed to a large doberman that leaned against his car. The doberman had black fur but around his neck and mouth the color looked rusty. He wore a tank top and around his paws was the same rusty color. His light blue and white swim trunks drew the eye with the colors standing out against his normal dark fur.

"Hi," Jon said politely as he neared his car and hit the remote to unlock it. The car beeped a couple of times but the other dog just stared at him. "Would you please get off my car? I'm leaving and I'd hate for you to get hurt when I drive off." Jon replied, trying to hide his annoyance.

"Is your name Jon?" the doberman asked as he held out his paw to stop Jon from walking closer to his car. Jon looked at the paw and stopped but was even more annoyed now.

"Yes," he replied but he no longer tried to hide his annoyance. The last thing he wanted was to get into a fight, but this doberman was testing his patients.

"We're going to this address, get in." The doberman ordered him and handed him a business card. Jon read the card as the doberman walked towards the other side of the car.

"Open the passenger side." The doberman again ordered him but Jon ignored him as he reread the card again.

Central Intelligence Zoo Agent (CIZA)

White Fur division.

Agent Chopper

Jon obeyed finally and unlocked his car then they both entered it.

"What is all this about?" Jon asked nervously. The CIZA is a secret organization of spies that carry out secret missions on behalf of the government. They mostly try to stop cults and rebellions from organizing by any means necessary. Their agents had the power to work outside the laws to conclude their missions.

"I'm gonna ask you a few questions and I want you to answer very truthfully. If I hear you lie or find out you lied to me I can promise you'll spend the rest of your life behind bars. I may even whip out that you ever existed." he barked.

"What did I do?" Jon said as panic set in but the doberman turned and glared at him.

"I'm the one asking the questions, got it?"

"Yes, sir."

"You were a student at Bearly Academy?" he asked.

"Yes,"

"That's a top ranked private school, how did you manage that?"

"I was able to get a scholarship because of my grades and performance." Jon replied.

"I see. Did you know a wolf named Leggo that went there also?" Jon started to panic and was glad he wasn't driving yet. He had not thought about Leggo in years and how had this agent found that out? Was he in danger or dead?

"He was... he was my best friend." Jon stammered trying to calm the fear rising ujp in him.

"Have you spoken to him recently?" the doberman asked.

"I can't recall the last time we spoke. It was probably when we graduated but I was moving on to college and he had... found a boyfriend." Jon tried hard to remember but having not thought about it in years he couldn't remember everything. The doberman pulled up his tank top and a photo was tucked into the waistband of the swim trunks. He pulled it out and handed a picture of a red deer to Jon. The deer seemed very familiar, like he had seen him before, but had no real idea who he was.

"This is Lou, he's currently the CEO of Antler's Conglomerate and the Husband of your friend Leggo." He was handed a second picture and the deer and Leggo were dressed in white tuxedos and both held the same knife as they cut a piece of wedding cake. The cake had a little wolf and deer statuette on top of it. When Jon looked closely, they had their paw and hoof tied together.

"Married? Really?? I never would have thought he would do that. He was never the marrying type, or the dating type and when I heard he was dating a deer from our school I thought it was a joke our friend William was spreading. He and Leggo were kinda friends but both very competitive and Will teased him a lot. Leggo tried to never let it bother him but a few times they came to blows. Will would laugh it off after. What is the saying? Frenemies??? That's what they were, frenemies."

"If your friend's life was in danger, would you try and help him?" the doberman asked ruefully.

"Of course, why?"

"I'm sure that you are aware of the story about certain animals being born with white fur and how they will cause mass extinction." he asked.

"Yeah, that's a cub's book if I recall."

"It developed a cult following and my department was set up because species like that upset the balance. If a rabbit or a bird is born white nobody cares because that's normal. If a squirrel or a lion is born white then that becomes a huge problem because that's not normal. That's where we come in, it's our job to round up and eliminate those threats."

"But what has any of this to do with me?" Jon asked.

"My department received a tip from a certain lion that he had sold his son to slavers, which normally isn't anything to concern ourselves with. Until he told us that his cub was born with white fur. We tracked down the slaver and he told us he sold the lion and a white tiger to that deer and his husband."

"Are you serious? Leggo has those... those things with him?"

"Yes and we need a way to get at them before they hurt anyone or cause fighting to break out. We hacked into their phones and everything because we wanted to see what we could learn. We had hoped they might be cubophiles because we could use it as an excuse to go in and kill the cubs once we had our paws on them.

Truth was we found nothing. Turns out they like to tie each other up before they mount each other. kinky but not illegal." the doberman said.

"You seem disappointed."

"It makes things harder because we need another way to sneak in and get the cubs. We don't want the deer to go public so we need to keep things quiet."

"Wait, I thought cubophilia was legal with slaves." Jon asked.

"It's a disgusting habit and we can pretend the cubs weren't slaves at the time giving us just cause. Even if the truth came out we can spin it that there was no way to be certain then blame the murder on them." the doberman remarked.

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"We intercepted a conversation where they discussed calling you to tutor the slaves. Should they do this, we want you to work on our behalf so we can eliminate the cubs."

"I'll admit I find the thought of them... unsettling, but why should I kill two innocent cubs. I'm just a school teacher, not a murderer." Jon countered.

"You have very little choice. If you help us we can cancel all your student loans and can get you transferred to the school or university of your choice to work at. However, should you actually refuse then all I need to do is make one phone call and our people fill your computer up with pictures of adults violating young cubs then we pay some of your former students to tell the press that you like to touch their naked bodies. I'll personally arrest you as a cubophile and your life will forever be ruined. You can scream your innocence but no one will believe you." The doberman threatened. Jon started his car and drove the agent back to his office. That evening he received a call from Leggo asking to meet with him.

Jon met with the doberman the night after meeting the cubs for the first time. This had been one of several meetings he was ordered to go to. With the summer break just starting, it was easy for him to attend but he had come to detest the doberman more and more. He felt scorn as he told him that he had been given the title of 'Uncle' and the doberman howled with laughter.

"Can we stay focussed?" Jon scowled and the doberman continued laughing.

"Oh my sides hurt.... calling you uncle." he started laughing again

"Don't you have a date or something?" Jon retorted and it took a few more minutes for the doberman to stop laughing despite being winded.

"Sorry, sorry, but the irony is too funny that you are trying to kill those cubs yet they call you their uncle as if you are part of their family. Just wait until you kill the little brats, how will everyone think of you then?" The doberman mocked and the comment felt like a knife twisting in Jon's stomach.

"Yeah, funny I guess." Jon replied and thought back to the promise Lou had made him. His one solace was that the cubs would be avenged and he would pay for his crime. If he was lucky then he tells Lou everything that may spark something to end the C.I.Z.A. and the killing of innocent rare white fur species.

"I have a plan and I'm not sure if it will work or not." The doberman said and he opened the door to the back seat of the car and pulled out a plate of wrapped brownies. Jon saw them and his eyes nearly bulged out because of how deadly they were.

"Yes, I see you know what these are. I've tried to do some research on whether chocolate is toxic to lions and tigers. The small domesticated species is most definitely toxic to them but the larger breeds like lions and tigers... I have found no clear evidence that it is."

"So you want me to poison them?" Jon asked incredulously.

"If it works, then yes and it will solve all our problems. Either way you could blame it on ignorance and say you didn't know."

"Leggo is not strupid, he'll know! It will definitely be suspicious that a dog brings in what is poisonous to him in order to feed the cubs."

"Bah, just pretend you had no idea. Like I said, I have no idea if it'll work, so think of it as an experiment for science." The doberman sneered as he entered his car and as Jon sadly looked at the poison food the bog drove off with his date.

Jon looked at his watch and was beginning to wonder why the cubs had not shown up yet. The door swung open and hit the wall making a loud clatter. Jon jumped and forced a smile as Leggo stood there glaring at him.

Leggo was shirtless and his fur pointed out in every direction and Jon knew he was outraged because he had seen him like this before and he usually got into a fight when he looked like this. The rest of him was covered by a well pressed pair of black pants and polished shiny black boots.

"Hey buddy, where are the cubs? they're late." Jon said weakly, hoping to calm his friend slightly.

"Don't give me that! HOW COULD YOU!!!!!!!!!" Leggo screamed and Jon slowly backed up.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about the brownies! You dare offer poison to our..." Leggo started then couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. Jon swore silently to himself and had hoped the cubs wouldn't mention that. He should have made them swear to keep it a secret but he knew he wanted to fail. Once Leggo fired him he would be free from the doberman and could finally tell his friend the truth. Of course he'd be in the hospital, but at least when he failed the doberman might give up on him.

"What do you mean? Poison??" Jon asked playing dumb. Leggo grabbed him by his throat and slammed him against the wall.

"You know how dangerous chocolate is, you also know that neither one of us can eat it!" he screamed and slammed Jon against the wall again.

"Wait, wait, wait! I thought I heard that felines like them can eat it! I just wanted to offer a treat to encourage them to try harder in their studies! I've used it before and it was a great success." Jon lied. The wolf grabbed him by his throat and began to painfully squeeze.

"Liar! You must know only a few species can eat chocolate and not die from it. You're a school teacher and you expect me to believe you offer that poison to students?" Leggo raged and slammed him against the wall and released him and Jon crumbled onto the floor holding his neck and coughing trying to catch his breath.

"I swear I had no idea it was poison to them. I tried looking it up and it said large felines like them can eat it," Which was half true because when he looked it up he did find a few sites that said lions and tigers could each chocolate, but he also found a number of sites that also said it was poisonous to felines as it was to canines.

"I may not be a teacher or smart like you and Lou are, but I do remember school teaching us how deadly that... poison is. How many animals do they think went extinct after the Great Animal War because food was scarce and many tried eating cocoa beans only to die because of it?" Leggo said as he was breathing heavily but he seemed to be calming down a little. Jon remained crumpled at his feet and while the wolf was distracted he reached into his pocket and took out the vial of stuff that makes the eyes tear up. He hid the bottle behind his back as he opened the vial and sprinkled a little bit onto his paws then resealed it.

He used one hand to return the vial to his pocket while he rubbed his eyes with the paw that was befouled by the solution. In seconds his eyes began to water and he cried hoping to convince his friend of his innocence.

"You're right, I'm a terrible uncle and a terrible teacher. I never wanted to hurt them, I thought... I was doing the right thing. I understand if you want to fire me and end our friendship." Jon cried and added a little bit of whaling the way he'd seen his student do when trying to get out of being punished.

The wolf's expression was unreadable as he looked at his sobbing friend curled up at his paws. Jon's heart beat rapidly as he waited for the wolf to respond but the silence made him afraid because the wolf was perfectly hiding his thoughts. The only glimmer of hope was that the wolf had calmed slightly so he no longer feared him from biting out his throat in rage.

"Do you hate me?" Leggo asked softly after a considerable amount of time.

"What? No! I could never,"

"Then why are you trying to hurt me?" Leggo asked and the stone that had been twisting in his stomach had suddenly become a knife. It's chiseled edge cut and tore in the most painful way possible. He knew the knife was metaphorical but it still hurt nonetheless.

"I..." he couldn't finish because for once the tears were becoming real. He was wishing that Leggo would tear his throat out and stop him from hurting his best friend more than he already had.

His conscience suddenly stepped in and reminded him with all the play acting he had been doing, why should anyone believe him now? Why should he believe himself? He had been nothing but dishonest and disloyal to his friend that was more like a brother to him. He knew it was easy to lie and be dishonest because his friend cared more about two slaves instead of him. He hated them for it and even if they were normal colored, he still hated them as much as he did now.

"The truth?! Because you love them more than me." Jon screamed and the wolf looked startled.

"What?"

"You heard me!" Jon yeled wiping his eyes and standing up. "Right after we graduated, you tossed me aside like a hairball you coughed up. I wondered what happened and how you were. I sent postcards hoping to hear back, but nothing.

Then you get those... slaves and suddenly you need me to be your friend again. You need me to teach them because that's all I am to you. I'm not your brother like I once was, I'm merely a toy to teach the cubs you love so much and once I'm done I'll be thrown away like before." Jon shouted but his voice just squeaked and lacked the power the wolf's had. The tears made it difficult to see clearly but he thought the wolf was looking down for some reason.

"I mean I heard you were supposedly dating a male deer from our class, but I laughed thinking it was a joke because my best friend would have told me. Then you get your paw and hoof tied but no one tells me! I never even got an invitation! I don't care who you picked as your best fur, sure it would have been nice if it were me, but I should have at least been invited.

Did you even care about me at all when we were friends? Or was I just a joke? Oooh everyone look, the big bad wolf that has a little pet dog following him around." Jon said then turned his back on Leggo. He couldn't believe he had said that but now that the truth was said, he did feel a little better.

"You're right," Leggo replied finally after a long pause. He had been trying to think of the right words to say but he couldn't think of anything. "I'm sorry but I fell in love and when you went to that fancy collage I thought you'd be among smarter species, better species, and why would you want to be around an old foolish wolf? Why pull you down from the elite class to be with a big dumb puppy. Why did I beg and plead with Lou to buy a slave cub? Because I wanted someone to need me and I needed them to be young because all the grown ups are smarter than I am and I am a joke to them.

I don't even know why Lou keeps me around because he's way smarter than I'll ever be. I keep expecting him to one day reveal that he had been stringing me along because I'm too stupid to realize that he's never needed me. I was just a toy and now he no longer needs me. That's what I live with every single day. I fear that tomorrow everything will be gone and I'm just a dumb puppy sitting on the side of the road waiting for someone to come get me but no one ever will." Leggo said.

"Guess there is a lot about each other that neither one of us realized." Jon said.

To Be Continued...