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Sequence 1 Merge 4, Super Predator Trembor, Lion The ferret moved aways from Marlot, fortunately for him. Only one person here was a threat, the amalgam. The lynx cowered in the corner, and the copper furred wolf in Protector uniform had a commander’s insignia, so he didn’t have powers—they wouldn’t let someone with powers give orders. But his presence explained what was going on. “What are you doing?” the wolf demanded. “Kill him?” The ferret looked around, confused. “The wolf!” He yelled in exasperation. The ferret turned to Marlot and raised the scalpel. “Get away from him,” Trembor snarled. “You touch him, and I will break you.” The ferret stepped away as ordered. There was no fear in his motion, no hesitation. He just did what he was told. Interesting. A flawed conditioning from the Protectors? He’d had an uncle in the Protectors. It hadn’t been a pleasant experience for him. He’d joined because the Goldenmanes were born to protect, going back to when they ruled their kingdom. His ancestors had been kings and queens, and his family had always been proud of that heritage. When powers began manifesting, they had taken up the duties of rulers while not burdening themselves with the minutia of ruling. Most of them picked a neighborhood and made sure that balance was maintained. Prey and predators needed to feel safe when they were home. Anywhere a Goldenmane lived became a no predation zone. The Protectors had welcomed his uncle in. They tried to convince anyone with powers to join them, but even before his uncle, most of his family preferred protecting on their own terms, instead of being told how. When his uncle escaped them, what he described ensure no Goldenmane would even work with, let alone for them. Trembor had warned friends of his against it, when he was an enforcer, that they had powers or not. If they were willing to abuse the assets powered people were, he dreaded what they’d do with non-powered ones if required. “I gave you an order!” the wolf yelled. “Stay away from my wolf,” Trembor countered. Directness seemed to be more effective. Which the Protector should know. He dodged the amalgam. He didn’t bother attempting to hit him. He’d already experienced how ineffective that was. All he wanted to do was grab Marlot and run. Once away, his wolf would be able to come up with a plan. The fact he hadn’t seen the grab and knockout had to have been a fluke. Trembor didn’t want to think what it meant if the amalgam could defeat both of them. “Ralf, I swear that if you don’t kill that wolf, I am going to make sure you can’t have sex for a month.” Lots of useful information in there. The ferret was powered. It was the only reason a threat of withholding sex had a chance of working. But the most important was that he had a name now. “Ralf,” he said, dodging and deflecting the amalgam’s blows. “Kill and eat the copper furred wolf. I’ll pay his tax.” He might not know the male was a commander. He could feel the sluggishness to his motion. The amalgam was doing something to him. Taking him out would be a way to regain his power, but he didn’t know if he could manage it. The amalgam had combat training on top of his power, no powers. The ferret threw himself at the Protector in an uncoordinated series of slashing and attempted grabbing. “The wolf!” the Commander snapped. “Kill the wolf!” Trembor smiled, as that didn’t change what the ferret did, although it wasn’t very effective. He scanned for something to throw to get the commander out of commission, before he realized the mistake that could be, but everything was bolted to the floor as if they were scared it would disappear in the night. “You know how to fight,” the amalgam said, “Ralf.” Before he could point out his name wasn’t Ralf, the altercation between the wolf and ferret changed. The ferret’s motions became precise, effective, often cutting the uniform. Not only that, but when the wolf opened his muzzle, Ralf pressed harder, targeted the face, almost as if he wanted to prevent him from him from countermanding his last orders. He lowered his voice in case Ralf took everything said as a potential order. “What are you doing?” he dodged the strike. “Saving Ralf,” the amalgam replied. “Saving myself.” “Then stop. If we work together, we can dispatch the commander.” “I have my orders.” “Stop fighting me,” Trembor ordered. The punch lifted him off the ground, and he let himself fall back, avoiding the clawed slash that followed. He rolled to his feet, ignoring the pain. It was harder than it should be. He hadn’t felt pain this strongly since he came into his powers in his mid teens. But it was clear that what the Protectors had done to the ferret had been corrected by the time they applied it to the amalgam. Or was he, as Marlot liked to point out, adding the numbers incorrectly? Was the condition part of how the ferret was, and not something done to him? If the Protectors had done it, surely they could have corrected it. The ferret and wolf were still fighting. The wolf had blood on his throat, speaking to Ralf’s seriousness in preventing him from speaking. He also had blood on his claws, showing that he hadn’t climbed the ranks by raising his tail. They were now next to one of the table, away from the Marlot. Which was good, as his wolf was stirring. “What are your orders?” “To capture you.” He dodged. “And then?” “Bring you here.” He blocked, and his arm tinkled from the force. Was he getting weaker? “What happens then?” “Ralf makes you like me. The commander replaces me.” Saving himself. “I surrender myself onto you.” The amalgam froze, and Trembor closed his hands, crossing the wrists. The official surrender position would have him do that behind his back, but he wasn’t turning it to this male. He could be adding the numbers wrong, again. If he was, he’d have to count on Marlot being sufficiently awake to save him. Being killed would be preferable to what the Protectors would do to him. Twist his mind to make him a killer instead of a protector. His uncle’s power had been the ability to pass through objects. It made his hunt quick, as he could head directly for his prey, regardless of the turns they took. But he hadn’t been sure how to make use of it to protect a neighborhood. The protectors tested him, pushed him to be able to do more. To turn only part of himself intangible. To bring someone along. And then, they forced him to leave someone within a wall. To reach into a chest and solidify his fist within it. They did everything they could to turn him from a predator and into a killer. The amalgam looked over his shoulder, and Trembor followed his gaze. The copper furred wolf was taking something from table as he shoved the ferret away. Then pointed a gun at him. “No!” The amalgam threw himself between them as the commander pressed the trigger. The gun exploded. Shrapnel hit Trembor, but didn’t draw blood. He was impervious to damage again. Was the amalgam’s constant attention required for the drain to remain? He was next to Marlot, who was shakily pushing to a sitting position. “Stop,” the amalgam ordered. And Trembor interposed himself. If this wasn’t over, he— The ferret was frozen mid-step toward him and Marlot. Why? His opponent was down. He shouldn’t…. Kill the wolf. The commander had overridden the fur coloring with his order, and there was only one other wolf here. He would have continued following it. What might have happened if they’d been outside, among the general population? Would he have killed the closest wolf? “Look at me, Ralf,” the amalgam said, crouched before the ferret. He’d taken the blunt of the explosion, other than the now dead wolf, but he was healing. Strength, the ability to drain his opponent, and regeneration? What else did he have? Or was that what each part contributed? The ferret’s attention was locked on the amalgam. “You don’t have to do this anymore.” That created confusion. “You aren’t doing this anymore. You don’t work for the Protectors. You….” Indecision? Uncertainty? “Are my maker-brother-lover.” “That’s what I thought,” Marlot whispered. “You’re okay?” Trembor looked his wolf over, sniffing him for blood, for the scent of something wrong. “The numbers are still not adding entirely right, but they’re getting there. I’m healing from the knock to the head he gave me.” “What did you work out?” The amalgam lovingly held the ferret’s face in both hands. They both smiled at each other. “There’s three of them in there. It’s the only way the numbers work. And it matches what he looks like. Don’t ask me how it’s possible. We’ve had one of those bodies in the freezer for nearly a month.” Trembor studied the amalgam and realized what his wolf meant. The three sections matched the partial bodies they had. “What does that mean for their taxes? Are they still alive?” he motioned to the amalgam. “Or dead?” “We have bodies. That means dead. But I think it’s clear the Protectors are behind it. I’m not interested in tackling them. The numbers never add up in my favor when I consider it. It’s why I made sure they never noticed me. We are going to have to break our pristine closing record.” The amalgam was stroking the ferret’s hard cock. Trembor hadn’t noticed that he had nothing under the lab coat. The ferret’s hand was in the amalgam’s pants, doing the same. Marlot nuzzled him. “I think they have the right idea.” “We need to work out what—” the nip fuzzed his brain. “Marlot,” he said, panting when his wolf didn’t relinquish. “They could still be—” the hand groped him. “They’re busy,” Marlot whispered, then licked his pavilion, making Trembor shiver. “The numbers are lining up in a way that we have plenty of time to celebrate as well. We can—” The ground shook. “Nothing of mine can do that,” the ferret said, frowning. The ground shook again. “Follow me,” the amalgam ordered, running for the hole in the wall Trembor had made. He and Marlot followed them. Outside, people were so confused by the continuing tremors they barely paid his and the ferret’s nakedness any attention. Thunder, which raised his hackles, sounded, and people pointed up as he noticed the darkness spreading there. Somehow. Impossibly, the sky was shattering and darkness filling the cracks.