Chapter 52

Unforeseen Complications

The private jet touched down at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at three p.m., taxiing to a stop on the tarmac near a waiting limo. Out of the jet stepped Charles Nathanial Emerson the Third. He was then followed by three burly, gray timber wolves. They quickly entered the limo and headed toward Seattle.

"So, what's the plan Chuck?" one of the Wolves asked their skunk companion.

"Dougie, what have I told_you...my _name_is _ Charles _, not_Chuck. Now then--this waste-of-fur has _assaulted_my Jenny. So we are here to teach him the error of his ways and what_happens_when you _impose_yourself on your Betters."

"He_IMPOSED himself_upon her?" one wolf growled.

"Yes William, he did--and shall pay the price. Esmeralda requested the bull fighters trophy be extracted from the miscreant." Charles said ominously.

"Uh, what's 'dat?" The third wolf asked.

"Why, both ears and a tail...now do you understand, Chuckie?"

"Eminently..." He flashed a toothy grin. "_I_get to _RIP_his _tail_off!" Chuckie said slamming his fist into his paw.

"Well I get his ears!" Dougie declared. The click of a switchblade punctuated his point.

"Wadda bout me?" William whined.

"_You_get to hold him down and _pound_the _stuffing_out of him, William." Charles smiled.

"We all gonna pound him." Dougie grinned.

"Much as I _like_the idea, we _can't_kill this one, so _watch_yourselves this time." Charles admonished the wolves. "We find him, pound him, collect our trophies and head home."

"What about the girl? Don't we grab her too?" Dougie asked somewhat confused.

"Nope, That's the mission of the retrieval team. My poor Jenny's had her virtue imposed upon, she needs medical attention. And they will assure she gets it before she is delivered to her mother tomorrow morning...our_job is to get the _raccoon!"

"Unit one to strike team. I am in position, setting up surveillance. Current time is fifteen hundred hours, we are a go for extraction at twenty one hundred hours, perimeter clear...Unit one, out."

Charles and his associates arrived at Open Season precisely at eight p.m. The well-dressed skunk entered and surveyed the crowd with barely controlled disgust. Not seeing his intended target, he was forced to approach one of the waitresses, a tan mouse Fem.

"Hello Shir, What can I Ghet for chu tonight?" she answered in accented English

"Information." Charles kept his voice neutral, smiling somewhat.

"Hokay,What chu wanna Know?" She smiled saucily at the skunk.

"Does a Rick Coona work here? I don't see him about." The mouse nodded.

"Ho Si! He works heer, but it ees his night hoff, you like me to geeve heem a message?"

"No, I'll catch him another time."

"Hokay!" And she was off in a flounce of skirt and tail. _ 'Dirty little wetback.' _Charles thought. As he was preparing to leave, he noticed a large grizzly _looking_at him. Time to get out of this den of iniquity, he thought as he headed for the door--he _almost_made it before being intercepted by the big bruin. "Is dare a problem here pal?" the bear asked in a mid-western drawl, possibly Chicago, Charles thought--trying to place the accent. "No-no, just looking for a--a friend. But he's not here. So I'm off." Charles said, not making eye contact with the bouncer.

"Oh_really_, an' who would 'dat be?" The bear asked.

"No one special" Charles hedged, silently thinking _ 'Crap!' _Bruno took a step closer to the evasive skunk.

"You touch me and I'll call a Cop!"

Bruno growled. "I touch you, and you'll call an ambulance. _You're_trouble." He said, crossing his arms as the skunk made a dash for the door.

"Was he in there?" William asked hopefully.

"No, it's his Goddamn day off! Looks like we make a house call, boys."

I was putting the finishing touches on dinner. Kel sat at the table, her nose buried in a book of herbal remedies. Gwen was in the den--all in all, it had been a pretty good day. Outside, a black limo pulls to a stop.

"Strike team. Perimeter notsecure. Four male furs exiting black limo. Three wolves and a skunk, could be trouble,"

"Unit One, Be advised. Strike team in position..."

"Roger that...three bogies approaching package location, no weapons visible..."

The sound of the doorbell brought Kel's nose out of her Book. "I'll get it." I said drying my paws on a dish towel. Perhaps Mike and Cassy decided to drop by. Opening the door, I was confronted by a wall of wolves. "Get him!" someone said and they pounced, knocking me back into the living room floor.

"Strike team condition RED! Do not have a clear shot, package in danger! Go! Go! Go!"

_"GWEN!"_Kel screamed as the three snarling wolves piled on top of me. She was coming around the table just as a well-dressed skunk walked in, looking around and seemingly oblivious to the wolves pounding on me. Seeing him advance on her, Kel screamed again. Three dark shapes dropped into the back yard, heading for the patio. They almost made it before the ground itself reached up with massive grasping hands, pulling them into the earth and leaving no trace of their passing.

Gwen dashed out of the den at Kel's scream. The scene that greeted her was a surreal tableau; three large wolves were piled on Rick, pounding the stuffing out of him. A well-dressed skunk was advancing on Kel, while something was going on in the back yard. Power flared from her paws as she struck the pile of wolves with a bright blue Levine bolt, striking the topmost attacker, searing a hole in his ribcage and bouncing him off the far wall.

At the same time, the male skunk reached for her; she struck his chest with her paw. "SLEEP!" she commanded, and the skunk collapsed boneless to the floor. Kel had one of the wolves in a head lock, her paws flared briefly and the wolf keeled sideways as thick ropes of iridescent blue energy flowed into Kel's outstretched paws from his prone form, her face frozen in a snarl of righteous indignation. At my cry of pain, the third wolf stood, a bloody knife in one paw, a severed raccoons ear in his other. Before Gwen could react, Kel closed the distance with the attacker, slammed her open palmed fist into his chest and screamed "DIE!" as her paw phased into the wolfs chest. His eyes widened with terror as his life force was sucked from his body. Both knife and trophy fell from his trembling grasp as Kel's fingers closed around his hammering heart. He tried to cry out, but only a strangled whimper escaped his lips. Kel, an unholy glee on her face, closed her fist. The wolf was blasted through the open door, to lay smoldering on the front porch, a fist-size hole in his chest. Kel stood, once more wreathed in blue green fire and in one smooth motion she retrieved Ricks severed ear, and with a single gentle touch removed all pain from the bleeding raccoon curled at her feet. Kneeling, she calmly reattached his ear, as Gwen rushed to his side as Kel then turning to his other injuries.

A motion at the door drew her attention seeing a black clad fur standing in the doorway aiming an odd device emitting a high frequency whine in her direction. "No!" Gwen held up her paw as if to hold him at bay. As the energy weapon fired, its sphere seemed to rebound as if striking an invisible wall of resistance and rebounded on the assailant who dropped to the floor.

Sirens could just be heard off in the distance. Seeing that Rick was in good hands, Gwen wanted some answers before the police arrived. She turned to the sleeping Skunk and gave him the once over; his wallet confirmed her suspicion. Charles Nathanial Emerson, the Third. Her rage was now building by the moment.

"Who the hell is that?" I asked somewhat groggily of the sleeping skunk on my living room floor as I surveyed the carnage.

"That S.O.B is Charles Nathanial Emerson, the Third..." Gwen kicked him hard in the ribs. _That_roused the sleeping skunk. Grabbing his lapels, she growled at him.

"What the _hell_is going on here, _Chuck?_Answer quick, before the police arrive, or you will end up like your Goons." He looked around at the bodies of the wolves strewn about the room; Chuckie lay crumpled against the far wall of the living room, a nasty black hole in the side of his ribcage; William lay on his back with an eyes-wide a look of shock frozen on his face; and Dougie lay out on the front porch a smoldering hole in his chest. A black-clad special ops fur was sprawled in the doorway.

"...Dougie? Chuckie? William?" Charles blinked.

"TALK!" Gwen snarled "You can't h_ave_me, so you thought you'd _kill_me, is that it?" She slapped him hard across the muzzle. He cringed, babbling in terror. I took the opportunity to examine the fur in black tactical gear. The badger was alive, but out cold--holding what appeared to be some kind of sonic rifle; the parabolic emitter in the business end it looked designed to incapacitate, not necessarily kill, I remember reading about the R&D on them a few years back, hefting it, _Nice_I thought, not so with the other toys he was festooned with.

"WHAT?" Gwen shouted, towering over the cringing Skunk on the floor.

"We were here to teach _that raccoon_a lesson, what happens to furs who put their paws on their betters." he cried.

"That raccoon_happens to be my _husband!" Gwen snarled, raising her paw as if to slap him again. Charles shook his head violently "NO! He-he assaulted_you, _carried_you off and, and _imposed_himself on you! _Polluting_your pure bloodline! I _had_to do something, your mother p_romised_you to me! We _must_remain _pure, pure-bloods _must_remain so, it is your _duty_to your heritage to do so."

" I've heard about _enough_of this _purist_crap." I said, hauling him to his feet.

"Give me one_good reason not to kill you where you stand, _Chuck!" I snarled. He just looked down his muzzle at me, sneering.

"B_ecause_, I'm better_than _you."

"WRONG ANSWER!"_Gwen shouted in his ear then decked him with a left hook, cold cocking him. He crumpled to the floor where I dropped him. "Cops will be here in three minutes tops, what do we _do_with all of _this?" I asked, looking around.

"I'd_like_to pitch them between the worlds, but that's not...practical." Gwen said ruefully.

"...Do nothing." Kel spoke calmly, surveying the carnage dispassionately. "We have a black clad para-military assailant, and..." She paused as if listening to something, "Three more that ran afoul of the sentry in the back yard..."

"The retrieval team." Gwen said flatly looking down at the unconscious badger. "There is one more..." The radio crackled. "Strike team report. Is the package secure?"

I keyed his mic. "Affirmative, package secure. Need assistance, we've got wounded."

"Affirmative. Prepare package for transport to extraction point. We have locals on approach vector."

"Okay, lets drag this guy over to the dining area, and open the door like he came in through the back. Gwen honey, lay down over there by the hall so he can see you. Kel, in the kitchen--watch my back. If I crouch by the fridge I've got a clear shot at the door." I said, charging the sonic rifle and taking my position. Less than a minute later, a dark shape entered the doorway "Alpha--" I cut him off with a single blast and he fell like a marionette with its strings cut, "I am So_keeping this!_" I crowed, placing the sonic rifle in the pantry checking on the fallen fur, another badger. "He's out like a light."

"Okay, what about _Mr. Wonderful_here, leave him for the cops?" I asked.

"No, he's m_ine!_If we turn him over to the cops he'll be out in twenty minutes and run home crying to mama." Gwen waved her paws uttering a string of Arcane syllables and a gray 'slit' appeared in the air. "Toss him in." I did as my ladylove asked and the skunk disappeared.

"What the hell? _Gwen,_I thought you weren't going to dump him between the worlds?" Kel asked.

"I didn't. I created a pocket of normal space to hold him. It's like a bag of holding used to keep things safe." She looked up as a patrol car approached, and listened a moment. "Now, let's greet Officers Procyon and Canis, shall we?" Gwen grinned as we watched them exit their car.

"Evening folks. Hey Rick, nice to see you again. What seems to be the disturbance?" Jo-Ann Procyon asked as we led the officers to the house.

"Well I was attacked by three wolves when I opened the door..."

"What the hell_happened to _them?" she asked, seeing the carnage in the living room.

"Can't rightly say, they were on top of me--the next thing I know, these two black clads come blazing in--it was over before I knew it." I shrugged.

"Are you okay, Rick?" she asked, seeing the blood in my fur and on the floor.

"Yeah, one of 'em nicked my ear. I think it was that one on the porch. What I don't understand is _who_these para-military types are?"

"This one's still alive, check the other guy, but watch yourself, these guys are armed to the teeth." Jack Canis said, cuffing the badger by the front door.

"Yup, he's still breathing--got a badger here, see what you mean, Jack. Flash-bangs, smoke, what look like some sort of blaster pistol, night vision, body armor. Daamn. _Who_are these guys, a hit team?" She mused, cuffing the badger and stripping him of his arsenal.

"All I know was when I opened the door, I was jumped by a wall of wolves." I chuckled, seeing the bloody switchblade and stain on the carpet.

"You sure you don't need an ambulance Rick?" Jack asked, giving me a critical look.

"Nah, I'm fine. He just cut me, I think he wanted my ears..." I shook my head.

"Well we got three wolves here, all nice and c_orpsafied,_this one's not got a mark on him?" Jo said to her partner.

"Heart attack maybe?" Jack offered scratching his head. Jo gave her partner a sidelong glance a sly grin on hir muzzle.

"Kinda irrelevant now. Maybe he was a follower of the mantra 'Live hard, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse?'_C'mon Jack, don't look at me in that tone of voice...at least _I_didn't shoot him. I can honestly say ' he was like that when we got here..' __._This time." she added, grinning wickedly. "Just think of how much _paperwork_this saves us!"

A groan from one of the special ops furs drew everyone's attention. Gwen was the first to him. She rolled him over onto his back, looking intently into his face as the disoriented badger focused on the 'package' he was hired to retrieve.

"Good Morning."Gwen said almost musically smiling sweetly. He struggled a moment, upon realizing he'd been captured.

"...Aw, hell." he grumbled. Gwen nodded

"Now, I want some answers...let's start with your name, shall we?" Glancing about seeing the two uniformed officers, he laid his head back. "Adam, Ma'am."

"Okay, Adam. So you were hired to _kill_me, am I right?" her voice pleasant.

"No Ma'am; we were only hired to extract you and take you back..." Adam paused as the look in Gwen's eyes... changed.

"Back...where, Adam?" Her voice took on a slight edge.

"Uh, um back to our employer, Ma'am." he said evasively.

"_And_that would be?" He could feel the tension in the room increasing.

"Mrs. Esmeralda Harcourt-Smyth...your--"

"MOTHER!" Gwen growled deep in her throat. Adam nodded.

Jack tapped his partner on the shoulder. "Don't you think we should read him his rights?"

The raccoon femme shook her head. "Naah, she's doin' fine. I figure she's got the right to ask what they were up to. I know _I_would want to know if someone busted into _my_house in military gear...assuming of course, they s_urvived_that long..."

Gwen grabbed Adam by his equipment straps. "Alright, you mercenary S.O.B. _TALK!_I want answers, or I swear I'll--"

"No, I'm dead if I go with them." Adam indicated the two uniformed officers. "Unit One will take me out before they get me to their car. Your mother hired us to extract you, and deliver you to her so you could take your rightful place, and marry into a proper family...and get the medical help you need to restore your purity."

With an inarticulate snarl, Gwen savaged the badger. The two officers managed to pull her off of him. His body armor kept most of her fury at bay.

"What? What is it? GWEN!" Officer Procyon had to get the raging skunk to focus on anything_but the badger. "_Talk_to me _Gwen, what _IS_it?"

Gwen gave a snort of disgust, glaring at the raccoon femme standing in front of her.

"I'm_PREGNANT!_Apparently, my _mother_hired these goons to kidnap me so she could _cure_me of this little _problem."_Gwen's voice was like ice.

"Son of a--" Jo-Ann delivered a savage kick to the prone badger. Her partner rolled his eyes letting out a heavy sigh.

"_What?"_Jo-Ann looked at her partner. "I _tripped!"_she said in all sincerity. She winked, a smirk on her muzzle before turning her attention back to Gwen...

"Congratulations, hon! So, what shall we do with these two?"

"You ain't gonna do _nothing_with me." The badger by the door said as he ran from the house. In one smooth motion officer Procyon drew her sidearm, took aim and fired one round. The badger's right knee exploded. He went down howling as the spent cartridge clacked on the hardwood flooring of the dining room, filling the area with the smell of smokeless powder.

"Daamn." Kel whistled. "You're good. But why wound him on the leg?"

"Body armor...I wanna ask him a few...questions." Jo said, eyes narrowing.

Jack returned momentarily, removing a black capsule on a chain from around Adam's neck. "Shit." the badger growled.

"Suicide cap, the badger must have gotten to his after you popped him"

"Officer Procyon," Kel started. "We know your father, he's our family physician."

"Whadda ya know, small world, eh!" she nodded.

"Yeah...it was kinda funny...he thought Gwen and I were...lesbians." Kel grinned.

"Ah...yeah. At'd be my fault...I suppose. Pop's still can't quite accept the fact that I'm out of the closet." Jo-Ann smiled somewhat ruefully. Kel's eyes widened a bit.

"_Really?_You're a--" the vixen asked, a slightly jaw dropped look to her muzzle. The raccoon femme nodded. "Yup." Kel smiled at her.

"Coolness!"

"So, Jo. Whadda we do with this one?" The wolf nodded over at the badger.

"You ain't gonna do nothing with me, unit one will take me out before you get me to your car..." Jack keyed his mic.

"Dispatch, Patrol 20. We have a possible sniper situation at this location..." The wolf glared at the badger.

"Roger Patrol 20...Air 2 is en-route. What is your situation."

"Looks like a foiled kidnapping, be advised these are Para-military, using non-standard weaponry..."

"Roger, Patrol 20. Do you need an ambulance?" Jack looked over at me and I waved him off.

"Not at this time, dispatch."

"Roger that Patrol 20...Air 2 is on fast approach, Backup rolling."

The low thudding of an approaching helicopter broke the tranquility of the evening.

"Air 2 to Patrol 20..."

"Air 2, be advised possible sniper in the area, Non-standard weaponry..."

"Roger Patrol 20...wait a minute, I think we've-" The sound of high energy weapons discharge split the air.

"This is Air 2! We're taking fire...we're hit! We're hit!" the shrill scream of warning alarms could be heard in the background. "Returning fire!" The staccato crack of automatic machine gun fire a sharp counterpoint to the oppressive thudding of the rotor blades.

"Patrol 20, I think we got him."

"I'm on it!" Jo-Ann dashed out the front door "Air 2, this is patrol 20, Where is the shooter!" Her partner growled,

"Damn it, Jo..."

"Patrol 20, he's lit up." the circling chopper reported.

"Roger that Air 2, thanks..." A few moments later the crack of pistol shots rang out.

"Air 2, threat neutralized...all clear!" Jo-Ann could be heard in her partner's radio. Jack sighed heavily, shaking his head.

"Roger that Patrol 20, good shooting."

A few minutes later, a grinning Jo-Ann Procyon reappeared in the doorway--an odd looking sniper rifle over one shoulder, and dropping the black clad body--a weasel--onto the porch.

"I tell ya Jack, this thing looks a _hell_of a lot _bigger_looking at it from the other end." She chuckled, hefting the rifle. " Her partner growled with frustration

"Damn it Jo, one of these days those John Wayne_tactics of yours are going to get you _killed, you know that, right?"

"Balls to the wall, Jack...only way to live." She gave him a feral grin. "Good thing I checked, he still had some fight left in him..."

"I can _see_why you're in line for promotion." Gwen smiled at the raccoon femme.

"Yeah, they--"

"Patrol 20. Air 2 is clear." "Roger that Air 2, thanks for the assist, head back to the barn, you're smoking a bit there..." she grinned.

"Roger that Patrol 20. Air 2 out." The thudding of the rotor blades could be heard fading into the distance. "--anyway. They want to bump me up to detective..." she said with a sour look on her face.

"You're a hell of a beat cop, Jo--but even _you_have to admit, you can be a bit of a loose cannon at times," her partner admonished. She shrugged

"You say that like it's a bad_thing, _Jack..." He smirked.

"The brass probably figure that there would be _less_paperwork with you being a detective...besides, with _your_tenacity, the _perps_wouldn't stand a chance."

"Yeah. But where's the fun in that?" she grinned wickedly.

The sound of slamming doors drew everyone's attention as an otter in a white lab coat, followed by two stretcher-bearing cougars, walked up to the door. "Evening Jo, Jack. What do you have for me tonight?" He paused at the weasel, "This the shooter?" When she nodded, he replied, "Good shooting there." The otter, Dr. Harry Scutter, coroner, took out his clipboard and began looking around at the carnage.

"Well, we got five for you tonight, _all_nice and corpseafied. Although _I_only got _that_one, well and that one too, by default." Jo-Ann said, indicating the badger with the chain in his mouth.

"Oh my. _This_guy would be in a world of hurt, if he'd lived...you dam near blew his leg off, m'dear..." He then turned his attention to the first of the wolves. "Hummm, _never_seen burn marks like _this_before; the closest thing would be industrial accidents and lightning strikes."

"They were packing energy weapons, Doc. Blaster pistols." Jack held one up.

"Interesting...that_would_be consistent with what I an seeing here..." the coroner replied. "Well now, what's with this fellow here...doesn't appear to be a mark on him!"

"Heart attack ya think?" Jack offered. The Otter nodded.

"Possible, the look on his face would be consistent with massive heart failure. But we'll know more later...oh, whose blood is this?" indicating the puddle on the carpet.

"That would be mine. One of 'em cut me during the struggle; I think he was going for my ears." The doctor eyed me critically.

"So I see, there_is_ quitea lot of blood here; you sure you don't need an ambulance?"

"Nah, I'm good. Looks worse than it is, you know how profusely head wounds bleed. A small nick can look like you ruptured an artery..." The otter nodded, turning his attention to the third of the wolves. "So, what do you suppose happened here?" he asked, poking at the one inch hole burned into the side of the wolf's ribcage with a metal probe. "Ouch, nasty... 'course plasma burns always are, although this is the first time I've ever seen plasma weapons in use...this is f_ascinating_.."

"Well doc, as I've told these nice officers, I was attacked by these three when I opened the door..." I shrugged. The coroner turned to his assistants. "Well, let's tag and bag em, we can do a more thorough exam when we get them back to the morgue." Then he looked at the lone surviving Extraction team member and asked, "So, my good fur, Do You have anything you'd like to add?"

"We were hired to do a job. It's totally FUBARed. They were good men." The otter sighed then went to assist the cats with the removal of the bodies. There was an almost inaudible clicking as the cuffs slipped from his wrists.

"Mrs. Coona?" The badger called from where he sat leaning against the wall. Gwen moved to stand before him. "Ma'am...for what it's worth, it's nothing personal; it's just business. We were contracted to do a job--can you understand this?" Gwen saw no malice in the badger, just the cool dispassion of the professional. She nodded.

"I can understand your position, you had a job to do...it just wasn't in the cards." Gwen smiled sadly.

"Thank you for being understanding. Like I said, I have a job to do..." Quick as a wink he was on his feet pinning Gwen's paw behind her back, his other on her throat, using her as a living shield. The officers drew on him.

"Hu-uh, I don't think_so, _cop-ette. You are a pretty good shot; I'll give you that. But do you wanna risk hitting the little lady here?" Jo-Ann shot him a murderous glare.

"Didn't think so...now. Like I said, I got a job to do, and an extraction point to get to. So you get the hell out of my way, or--" His voice broke off, eyes widening in shock.

"You_should have quit while you were ahead, _Adam..." Gwen growled to him as his paw slipped limply from her throat. She spun to face him her paw and eyes flaring with power.

"That's the _problem_with energy weapons, you never know when they may _backfire_on you." She whispered as her fingers slipped under his ribcage and lightning coursed through his chest cavity. Unnoticed, a puck-sized flash grenade vanished from the dining table, to materialize beneath the badger's body armor. Gwen looped her thumb through the ring, pulling it free as she dropped to one knee, catapulting the badger into the middle of the living room floor.

"Grenade!" Gwen called just before it went off under his body armor with a muted 'f_woom.'_

"_Sonofabitch!_Gwen, you okay?" Jo-Ann asked as she helped the skunkette to her feet.

"IDIOT!" she growled. "I'm _fine_Jo-Ann, he just _really_pissed me _OFF!_Can I borrow your gun and shoot him full of holes?" Gwen grinned murderously, causing the raccoon cop to take half a step back.

"Whoa, and they call ME_a loose cannon..." She could _almost_swear she saw Gwen's eyes, _Glowing.

"GET_that badger's stinking Ching-wah TSAO duh liou mahng's _ * _Caracas outta _MY HOUSE!" Gwen roared, stalking over and then spitting in the corpse. Then she delivered three vicious kicks to the dead badgers crotch. There was an audible crunch, causing all the males in the room to flinch with a whispered groan.

Gwen shook herself out of her rage regaining her composure. "There,that_felt better." she smiled at the stunned Furs. "Now, who would like some _tea?" she said pleasantly.

After our guests had left, I turned to my beloved. "So, what do you want to do with Mr. Blue-Blood?" Gwen snapped her fingers. "Damn, I almost forgot about Mr. Wonderful!" She walked into the middle of the living room, waved her paws, barked out a command and Charles Nathanial Emerson the Third tumbled out, to sprawl on the floor in a cloud of his own Musk. His eyes were wide with terror.

"Would probably have been better if you had stayed knocked out, _Chuck."_Gwen said flatly

Focusing on Gwen, he let out a strangled cry and backpedaled to the corner of the room, looking like a trapped animal.

"Daamn, you reek, _Chuck."_Kel commented, waving her paw in front of her muzzle.

He looked franticly between the three of us. "_You_are in a _world_of trouble, _Chuck._There is _blood_on your paws, _Chuck._Five furs are dead because of you, _Chuck._Well--eight, but the last three have yet to be found. Of course, you know that makes you a serial killer, _Chuck."_Gwen advised, barely-controlled rage in her voice.

"_What? No!_I _didn't!_I..." he stammered, his terror filled mind racing.

"Who were the wolves, Chuck?" Kel asked.

"_Dougie? Chuckie? William?_Where _are_they? What--" he stammered, not sure where his friends were.

"Your friends?" I asked the smelly skunk. "They're DEAD! Cooling on slabs at the City Morgue, and you killed_them. _Chuck--d_on't you remember, you had them attack me, one of them even cut my _ear_off...they _were_following your orders, weren't they, _Chuck?"

"Now what are you going to say? How can you explain it, _Chuck._You brought them here to _DIE!_Yet _you_escaped unscathed?" Gwen asked, venom dripping from her words.

"B--but the retrieval team?" He looked around in a vain hope of rescue.

"All dead, Chuck...c_ops took out two, Gwen here..._heh, and the three others never made it past the security system." Kel gloated. "So, what do we _do_with him? Turn him over to the cops--make him...disappear? Or send him home to face the consequences of his actions?" the vixen ticked off the options.

"The Coroner will probably notify next-of-kin..." I mused. "...And since he brought them here, will have a LOT of explaining to do...remember _Chuck,_if you try and implicate us, you may not live long enough to regret it. Then again, where you would end up, there would _be_no one to hear your screams. Think of where you just came from to be a preview. There are creatures out there who would revel in slowly stripping the flesh from you're bones, and keep you alive throughout." The look in my eyes told the terrified skunk that I was deadly serious.

"Now then, to make sure you behave yourself, I'm going to send along someone to keep an eye on you..." I removed a small red sphere of iridescent glass about the size of a billiard ball from the mantle, and then after intoning an Incantation I tossed it into the fireplace, where it shattered blazing brightly with elemental energy. From its midst stepped a small creature approximately eight inches tall and bipedal. Its eyes glowed like embers, and its skin was rough and scaly. Seeing me standing by the fireplace, it bowed low then looked expectantly awaiting its orders.

I nodded to the Fire imp. "Know this, creature of fire, I have summoned you here to watch this creature." I pointed at Charles, who shrank back as the imp regarded him. "It is your duty to watch and make sure he does not betray us." The small creature chuckled evilly; rubbing its clawed hands together.

"Know you this: You may not_kill him _unless_he betrays us; you _may, however..._remind_him from time to time of your presence. This one is crafty--you must be ever vigilant for he may try and pass notes to others in an attempt to betray us--you _do_know what to do, I trust?" I asked the Fire Imp. It nodded, snapping its fingers as a miniature fireball blossomed--capable of consuming anything...flammable. It bowed once more, then turned its attention to the cringing skunk and leaped at him. Charles cried out as the imp _looked_at him, chuckling.

'You only one to see me...I be with you..._forever!_You betray the master, I _burn_you. Roast you _slow.."_It's grating voice promised ominously.

"W-w-what does it mean?" Charles pleaded, looking at me. I gave the Skunk my most feral smile "You'd be _amazed..._what you can _live_through, Chuck." The Imp just rubbed it's clawed hands together nodding at the terrified Skunk and chuckling.

"Time for you to leave, Chuck. You did fly in, didn't you?" he nodded mutely. "Then I suggest you...freshen up. Before I take you back to the airport."

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*_ Ching-wah TSAO duh liou mahng's _

Frog-Humping Son of a Bitch's