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The world was off center in her eyes. As the fires burned around her and the smell of smoldering fur and hair filled her nose, the wolfess reached for her gun on the ground beside her. The heavy caliber revolver was the only weapon she had left.

Angelica felt the heat around her, seeming to fuel her energy as she took a deep breath and turned to the strongest source of the flames. Extending her hand, she pulled them into herself. Each step she took forward pulled the fire deeper into her core. The open wounds around her body closed as she felt the warm blood slide back into the cuts and holes. She felt the embedded glass and metal fragments and wooden shards slip free of her body and drop to the ground around her as she stepped from the smoke and the fires extinguished.

Sled stared quietly at her as she holstered her gun and looked at him quietly. He could only swallow softly as the woman shrugged off the charred remains of what had been a fairly nice sundress. Now naked, she took the time to brush some soot from her pristine white fur and shake it loose from the feathers of her wings. Then she walked past the stallion and handed him the remains of her belt and holster, muttering at him to hold this for her as she formed a blade of pure flame in her hand.

She walked toward what Sled described as a monster. A beast he couldn't quite look at properly. It had something about it, some aura that was too powerful for a mortal mind. It didn't look right. Spider legs all over the place, fur and spines and eyes all over it. If he didn't know better he would have called it a biblical angel. But he knew those were less hostile as this thing seemed only intent on killing him and his wife for some reason until Angelica just appeared. She had taken that initial blast for them and it threw her half a black away. Sled pulled Prisma against him and backed up. “Let her handle it…" he said as the stallion pulled his panda behind cover and watched from around the corner.

Angelica was usually one to reach out and try to give these creatures an out, some means of leaving without getting killed. But this time she was different. She said nothing as she levitated up. The thing watched her with its many eyes as she came level with it and held the blade out before her, tip toward the thing. Sled heard her voice then, as if she were screaming all around and yet whispering in his ear softly.

“Abhorrent…" she said as the creature just burst into flame and exploded. Its body was burning to ash before even a drop of its blood could touch the ground. The woman lowered to the ground as she wrapped herself in her wings and flames. Forming new clothing as she landed softly on her large digitigrade feet. She turned to the pair behind the wall and walked close slowly. She gently took the burnt holster from his trembling hands as she looked at them both.

Prisma slowly stammered out, “what…are you?" Angelica didn't know how she had meant it to be, but the tone indicated loathing and… disdain. “I'm something that can't be explained in your language. Your people do not have words for what I am. That, however, was what you would call a wraith. In this case, dozens of them together to form a single entity. This happens when one feeds on the others and takes on their powers and traits. You should be safe now. I apologize for not getting here sooner. The gate system isn't as effective as we would like." She said as she held out a hand and sighed softly.

Prisma slapped that hand away, “Back off you Freak!" she snapped. The wolfess recoiled a bit, before stepping back. “As you wish…." she said softly and turned to walk away. Prisma was scared now, aware she had just offended what basically amounted to a god. “I.. I didn…" the words were drowned out as a tear in space itself opened and the wolfess stepped through. Sled blinked, uncertain of what had really just happened.

Turning to Prisma he held her close and whispered, “Are you ok?" he said softly. She leaned into him and sobbed a bit. “No. I'm not. This … magical bullshit is too much." she said. He understood what she meant. Even he knew it was too much at times. It rarely ever came at him specifically. Most of the threats he dealt with were in the ring, or sometimes thugs outside the ring. But when stuff like this happened… He was just glad Angelica had shown up when she did. He was also aware that she was likely offended by their reactions. It's not that they didn't appreciate the help but sometimes it was just too much.

Sled took Prisma back to their truck and then home. He settled her in bed and joined her after he managed to get his own hands to stop shaking. That thing had been disgusting. Ghosts and ghouls were one thing. But to know that such things existed out there between the realms was too much for a mortal to really deal with.

The next month was quiet, thankfully. There was nothing supernatural. There was barely even a mortal disturbance. Sled came home one evening and found Prisma in the kitchen making dinner. SHe was humming to herself as he came in, smiling. He slid his arms around her from behind as he spoke, “Mmm Something smells delicious. And Dinner smells good too." His lips danced around her soft ear playfully as he nibbled at her.

“You sir, are terrible," she whispered as she turned to hug him back and kiss him. She was happy things were calm again. As she stroked his sides and leaned up, he leaned down to kiss her. The kiss only broke after the little alarm on the counter began to ring loudly and they both chuckled. She pulled the rolls from the oven and set them out to cool as she watched the stallion move to check the mail. There were a few bills and a couple notices for sales at stores. But nothing more. The stallion nodded and set the mail aside as he looked back to his wife.

“So what are you cooking over there?" he asked. “Chicken Masala. Found an easy recipe and decided to give it a shot. It smells good at least," she said in reply. As she stirred the skillet, he watched her with a smile. A knock drew his attention. Opening the door he saw a clean cut doberman in a suit. The doberman looked at a folder in his hand and spoke softly, asking Sled to confirm his name. Sled did so, the doberman held out the folder then asked the stallion to sign a piece of paper.

That handled, he bid the stallion farewell and walked away to a small car waiting at the curb. Sled opened the folder and it was just paperwork about a deposit box at the local bank. He figured he could check it out later, and set the folder on the table. Prisma eyed it, and spoke softly, “How bad is it?" she asked.

“It's not. Just that apparently someone left me a deposit box. That was the lawyer leaving me the information to access it. I can take a look tomorrow. You want to come with me?" he asked. Prisma was curious now, and nodded. “Yea I would like to see what it is." She said as she pulled the skillet from the stove and began setting up plates.

The next morning, the pair arrived at the bank. It was a fairly upscale one and Sled began to get a feeling in the pit of his stomach that this was not good. He didn't know many that would use a bank like this. Armed guards at every corner, everyone was in suits and business attire. He felt out of place. These were people that made thousands an hour, let alone a year.

The stallion found his way to the deposit box desk and looked to his wife beside him. She seemed to have the same feeling on her face he was feeling inside. This was starting to make her worry as well. The raccoon at the desk asked them for ID and then the papers for the box they wanted to examine. Sled produced the folder and after a moment the racoon read it over and let out a low sigh that looked sad. He stood and moved to walk into the vault. After a few minutes he returned with a box about a foot wide and long and a few inches deep.

He unlocked it, opened it and turned the box to Sled and Prisma as he whispered for them to take their time. The box contained just basic sketches. Some of them, others of places in their city. The stallion was confused about why this would require so much secrecy and protection as such a bank vault and deposit box. But he got a bit further into the sketches and found a small notebook inside. He began to recognize the writing in the book after a few seconds as Angelica's. It was just notes about good places to get greasy food in the city, which hotels had nice beds, where to get good deals on ammo and weapons. Even the contacts for some god mechanics that owed her favors. Nothing else to indicate this was meant for him.

The racoon returned with a small wooden box and a set of keys for the lock. “This should suffice to carry your new items home sir and madame," he said softly. Sled was getting a knot in his guts as he spoke, “Where is Angelica?" he asked the raccoon. There was silence around them for a bit before the raccoon's eyes lit up red and he spoke softly, “I don't know. None of us do. We lost contact with her and her entire world some time ago. We follow our orders and do what we can to protect her friends in her stead. But it's likely you know what happened to her at this point."

Leaving the box with Sled and Prisma, the male then stepped away as his eyes stopped glowing and things around them seemed to return to normal. Prisma was afraid, looking at the raccoon as if he were the devil himself. “We need to go," she whispered. Sled nodded and put the things in the box. Locking it as he stepped back and pulled Prisma gently against his side as they went. It wasn't long before they got back to the truck and he started the engine. As he drove he began to look around closely. He noticed a few eyes watching them go. But not with cruelty or anger. Just watching. Beings he had never noticed before suddenly seemed to be paying attention to him and his wife. Arriving home, he noticed that one of the old foxes he had usually seen on her porch waving to everyone was just sitting in silence and watching him and Prisma.

Inside, he moved to the bedroom and opened the closet. Reaching inside he pulled out a small black box and opened it. Coming to the living room he set it down and pulled out a small device. It was a comms unit of Thymion design. Flipping up the screen he turned it on. He was expecting to see Maxie or Olivia or even Angelica answer the call. But after a full three minutes the device flashed a message it had never shown before. 'Unable to establish connection. Host device location lost"

Sled stared in horror, at the message that would only appear if there was no way to get to the planet anymore. Prisma looked at it, pondering if her words had something to do with it. But, certainly Angelica would have something to say wouldn't she? She surely would have told the panda off first, wouldn't she?

The pair stared at the screen a bit longer before Prisma sighed and moved to the kitchen. She began dinner quietly as Sled closed the device and left it sitting on the coffee table. The pair were quiet for a while, until dinner was ready and Prisma brought Sled a plate. “Should we call someone? Is there anything we can do?" she asked.

“I don't know, I honestly don't know what to do," he said softly as he looked at her. Accepting the plate, he turned on the TV and watched the news as he ate with her. The news was more of the same. Global wars, food shortages in the third world, a new tax being proposed. Then he saw the notice that a body was found. An unidentified white wolfess was found in an alley dumpster. She was cut open and bled to death. Her face was smashed in but she had some identifying marks on her abdomen. If anyone thought it might be someone they knew, or had any information about a possible murder in that area, they were encouraged to call the police non-emergency number for a statement.

Sled was stunned before Prisma handed him the house phone and told him to call the number. He waited only seconds before it picked up. He was quiet for a moment as the detective on the other side spoke and asked him to please make sure he spoke clearly and slowly. Sled swallowed and spoke slowly. “I might know the wolfess that was found murdered. A friend of mine has been quiet for some time and we can't get in touch with her," he said.

The detective sighed and then spoke, “Please come to the following address to give your statement and look at the photographs to identify the markings on the body." After giving Sled the address the detective hung up. Sled finished his meal and then stood. He watched Prisma stand as well as both got their coats to go back out. Heading into the local police station, they were greeted at the front desk. Sled told him his name and provided his ID. The desk officer nodded and called to the back. It wasn't long before the detective called them to come back. He was a stout looking St. Bernard.

“I am Detective Stranner. I understand you think you might know our victim. Can you describe the woman you know? I don't want to show you photos and cause you pain if it's not her," he said.

Sled sighed and spoke softly, “She is about 6ft tall. Portly, pretty big belly. She has large breasts. Kind of really thick white fur. Like… Lives in the south pole kind of white fur. Long, thick tail. 15ft wing span. Belly has a mark of a crescent moon and a pentagram. Glows blue in the dark." he said.

The detective sighed in what seemed relief. “You don't have to worry about this one. She has no wings. No marks where they might have been removed either. No markings on her body that match such a design either. And certainly not that chubby either."

Sled sighed in actual relief, “Thank heavens," he said. Prisma seemed relieved as well. And they were glad to be headed back home. As they went, the pair were paying more attention to the road than the people around them. The panda driving this time, was glad that there was no sign that the woman was dead. “Maybe I just pissed her off. Maybe she just went back to her home planet and turned off the communicator?" she suggested.

“I doubt it. She never turns that thing off. It is like her cell phone. She can't go anywhere without it," Sled replied. Once they were home, the device on the coffee table was beeping. Sled rushed to it with Prisma, opening it to find Maxie on the other end. “Hey there uncle Sled! Hi ms. Prisma!" he said happily.

Sled sat down, almost shaking, “what happened? Are you all alright?" he asked. Maxie looked puzzled, “Yea we are. Just some solar activity messing up the portals and comms. It's nothing too serious. Just couldn't reach out for a couple days." he looked between them and then back toward someone else before they came into view. It was Olivia, his older sister. “Hey you two. How are you doing?" she asked.

“I think we are better now. We were kind of worried that you were all dead or something. We haven't heard from you in a while and then some lawyer showed up handing us the paperwork to a lock box in a bank like it was some inheritance." Sled said.

Maxie looked even more confused as Olivia shrugged, “Nothing of our doing. Mom hasn't been around much so we can't ask her. Shes currently… Looks like shes five galaxies over at the moment. Bit far to hop the comms from you to her right now. Anything you wanna leave a message about?" the hybrid woman said.

“Er.. no. We were just worried. If it's nothing then it's alright," Sled said softly. They said their goodbyes and closed the device. Sled looked at the device a bit before putting it back in the box quietly. “I guess we just give her space then," he said.

Prisma sighed and shrugged, not sure what else to do. She had never really liked Angelica. She wasn't sure why because the woman had never tried to hurt her or Sled. But she always felt some way about her that just made the panda feel… dislike for the wolfess. Moving to put her coat away, she watched Sled do the same. Joining him on the sofa, they cuddled quietly as they resumed watching television.

There was a rerun of an older comedy that they both liked and soon they were chuckling at the antics on screen. Sled figured Angel would come back around on her own. Prisma was wondering if that was even possible. How does one deal with an offended god? She was surprised Angelica didn't just smite her right there. But time would tell what would happen between them all.

A few dimensions over, Angelica sat in her mech looking over the fields below her. Nothing but corpses and vast fields of undead shambling about seemed to be the planet's inhabitants. “Armak, Kimin, is this it?" she asked. “Yes. That's the planet we came from. The dead walk and the living are all gone. We need to cleanse it before it becomes an issue," the husky hybrid on the comms screen said.

“Understood," Angelica said softly as she brought the beam cannon to bear on the planet below. It was nowhere near powerful enough to do the damage needed. But it would mark the spot the fled would fire the main guns at, which would glass the planet and sterilize the surface of the plague. It would not, however, go very deep so a second shot would be needed to do that and glass the crust fully to ensure that it was all dead. After that the planet could be reseeded with life once it cooled again.

Taking aim, she was about to pull the trigger when her comms lit up. She opened them, surprised to see Maxie. “Hey mom, Earth 3397 thinks you are dead. The one you grew up on?" he said. Angelica was quiet a bit before speaking, “I can look into it later. There are things there that need to be handled more delicately than most places. The inhabitants there aren't very happy when we are around so I need to keep my trips there sparing and very short." She looked at her son and then closed the comms without further explanation. Now that she was ready she took aim again and pulled the trigger.

Her mech's bean cannon fired, blowing a large hold in the clouds and marking the spot for the ship to aim its main guns. Seconds later the mech shook softly as a beam of particle energy flew past her and struck the spot, sending a massive wave of fire across the planet. Destroying the undead, the massive cities that were left in ruin, and the corpses that didn't turn.

Angelica turned her mech away and flew back to the hanger now, as the ship was powering up for that second shot. She landed in the bay for her mech and began powering down. Once the engines spooled down, she opened the cockpit and floated down to the deck softly. Walking to the technicians that were coming her way, she spoke, “The left actuator is stuck again. I can feel it dragging through the stick. Can we get her pulled down and pitted for some tests? I don't know why that system keeps getting stuck. Didn't we replace that actuator four times now?" she said.

The lead tech looked at his pad and nodded, “We did. We can run some sims on the machine and see what's going on. But I think it's probably more to do with your style of combat ma'am. You favor the right side more and so the left side gets left in position for a longer time. It doesn't get as much use. Perhaps we need to alter the system to allow for a more free floating actuator that only engages when you need it, but otherwise stays in a neutral position." he said as he pulled a wing forward to motion at the mech's left leg.

Angelica turned to look, nodding softly, “Good idea. Once we get back home we can try that out. Maybe we can use that method on smaller mechs with a similar problem too," she suggested as she walked off.

Returning to her cabin, she sighed softly and turned off the lights. Flopping down on her bed, she looked at the dark ceiling and just lay there in the dark. She saw her comms on the bedside screen blink and she plugged her holo-bracelet into it before answering the call. It was Maxie again. Answering the call, she looked at her son. “Yes baby?" she said. “Mom… What's going on? You NEVER ignore anything with that planet."

She stared at him for a bit before saying softly, “It's a personal matter. And you need to leave it alone please." Her tone told him enough to not poke that particular bear anymore. Nodding, he sighed, “Alright. I'm going to head back to my apartment. See you when you get back. Love you mom."

As the line cut, Angelica took a shaky breath and then closed her eyes and lay back down. She reached a wing out to flick the button and lock her door. The window shutters closed and the lights remained off. She tried to sleep, even with the emotions she kept bottled up gnawing at the back of her head like some rabid animal intent on killing her.