Chapter six – Lost
Imported from SF2 with no description.
A black kitten was running through the city. Her eyes were full of fear and her vision was blurry from the tears. When she finally stopped running and wiped the tears away with her black paw, she found herself in the middle of a very unusual place. Buildings as high as she never thought to see were surrounding her. The sky above her was really blue as she heard from her friends and the warm light was beautiful. Everything there was so bright and clean, no ruins or scrap anywhere! It was so much different from what Kendi knew from the Depth.
The young cat was visiting such place only in her dreams, but now she was there for real. Kendi woke up from her dream very fast as she spotted some of the security guards checking two furs by their IDs and class levels. She did not want the security to catch her, so she quickly disappeared in one of the dark backstreets. It was what she could do best, hide and watch the others from the shadows. Kendi was tired from the run, hungry, and lost in this strange place. She was alone and scared. If only Aki or the other white wolf would be there now with her.
In the meantime, Wuffy still needed to make a hard decision. He knew that he could not held Aki locked inside forever. She would probably go on her own again anyway only to find Kendi, as the life of a friend was just too precious to her. So, to Jenny’s big surprise, Wuffy allowed Kass and Aki to search for the cat, even if it was very dangerous now. Every free security unit was in the streets searching for the creature, and Wolf just let her and Kass go like that? Not to mention, the boy was even wounded! Yet, the few scratches on his wrist seemed not to bother Kass half as much as the danger Kendi could be in right now just because of him. And then, there was no way Kass would let Aki go alone. So, Aki took her clean and dry pink jeans and as she and Kass were ready, they walked out into COHAF to find their friend.
Together they walked down the street leading to the city centre, following the cat’s scent. It was not easy for Aki, because many people walked up and down in this part of the city. This was still the only place in the whole COHAF with at least some energy. After a while of following, the scent vanished completely and Kass with Aki found themselves halfway to the centre. Unfortunately, they needed to vanish too, because two security guards were walking towards them. If the two would try to run, they would only attract attention. With all the security going through the city, it would be a short run, so they needed to stay calm. The guards were coming closer and closer, but then they took the way left and walked away from Kass and Aki. The two let out a sigh as they understood, that finding Kendi will not be so easy. How should they search for the cat when they needed to watch every step of their own? They had no idea what to do and there was no one who would help them this time. Jenny went back to work while Wuffy needed to stay there by Niaa. He also needed to be there if Kendi would come back on her own as well. So now, without a clue, their only option was to follow the direction Kendi’s scent was leading before it vanished and hope that they will find her soon.
On their way, they needed to avoid any contact with the security, what was pretty hard! Aki was often forced to fly up and hide in the shadows, behind the buildings, or in the heights, fair away from anyone’s look. During the search, Kass had enough time to think about everything. He has decided to do all he can to protect Aki, even if it would mean having trouble with his father. Kass did not want to fight against him, but he just could not forgive his father what he has already done to his friends. Suddenly, a security bot woke Kass up from his thoughts. That flying camera seemed to be in a hurry, like it would be chasing something or someone.
It often happened that one side was doing mischief to the other, especially the young ones, so there was always some chasing going on in the city. Kass was used to this, as he and his friends were doing mischief to furs themselves, but as another two security bots passed by him shortly, he understood, that this was something bigger than just a mischief. Kass called Aki back to him and they wanted to follow those bots, but there was no way they could catch up with them just on feet! There was no time to look for other means of transport, so their only option, as usually, was flying. This time, it was a very risky and a very stupid idea to go after the security when they did not even know whom the bots were after. As long as they had no clue where to go, it was still better than nothing. There was no other way to find it out anyway, as long as they did not want to ask the security directly. The two ran to a dark alley behind one of the buildings where no one would see them and Aki bent down in front of Kass. She supported herself with her paws against the wall while Kass sat up on her back. It was the fastest way for them to get in the air and just after few seconds, Aki was rising in the heights along the skyscraper. This was already a routine for the two; they were a great team and even greater friends, no wonder that Wuffy trusted them so much.
Aki flew as high as possible, so they would not be spotted that easy for anyone on the ground. After some flaps of her strong wings, they reached the security bots and saw that the flying things were really chasing someone. From the height, neither Kass nor Aki with her wolf eyes could see who it was. Not even if a human or a furry. The security was still far away from the person, but at this speed they will have the runner in no time! Aki soon realized, that no ordinary human could run that fast for this long, so it could only be a furry. After its chaotic movement through the street, it appeared that the furry did not know the city at all. It really appeared that they have found Kendi, but Kass still was not that sure if it was really her. He just did not want to put Aki in any unnecessary danger. Even if it really would be the black cat; how should they get rid of the security? They saw, that the security was coming closer and closer, so there was no time for a plan. They had to act!
Aki just told Kass to hold tight, because this was going to be a rough ride! The little wolf rose a bit higher and then, with a strong flap of her wings, the two started to descend with extreme speed. Because of the loud noise that the wind was making by this, the two almost did not hear each other, but Kass understood what Aki wanted to do. The only problem was that the security will see them by this. As they were flying closer to the ground, Kass saw that the person really was Kendi, but the street the cat was running through end after a crossing in a dead end. The cat could not see the dead end from down there, because it was hidden behind a corner. Kendi will have no way to escape! Then Kass got the idea how they could use the dead end to their advantage. He asked Aki if she had enough strength left to do that, because they had already passed the tips of the skyscrapers and were still flying straight down very fast! They had only a single try, so this better be working...
Kendi was already tired because she started to slow down while she was going right into the crossing. Aki was almost there too, while she was coming from the right and was flying directly against the dead end. The security almost got the cat. Just a few meters and Kendi will be lost! Then the cat reached the corner and bowed left towards the dead end and for a single moment vanished from the sight of the security bots. The small things took the corner with a full speed as well, thinking that they will catch the little furry there! How wrong the silly little things were! One after another they crashed against the wall of stone and only a few wrecks were left from the machines; but, what happened with Kendi?
The cat was held tight in Kass’ arms, sitting on top of a nearby skyscraper where Aki sat them down. It was Kass’ idea to use the dead end for them and Aki’s skilful flying through the buildings that saved Kendi from the security. In the moment as the black cat took the corner to the stone wall and for a single moment vanished from the sight of the security, Aki flew down there like an arrow. She landed by the cat so Kass could take her in his arms. Then the little wolf jumped with her strong legs and large wings in the air to escape from the incoming security bots. The machines then flew with full speed into the stone wall. It happened so fast that Kendi noticed what just happened only by the way up along the high building. The black cat could see Aki’s reflection on the building’s glass-made surface.
All three were now sitting on the roof. Kendi was trying to escape Kass’ embrace, as it made no difference to her if she was held by the security or by a Darks. She was too exhausted to do anything against Kass, but she still feared him, even now! The black cat wiggled and cried, she did not want to listen to anything Kass said. They needed to calm her down, because if not, all this was for nothing! Kendi was saying things to the boy that were hurting him so much! The t-shirt under his jacked began to soak with her tears. Soon, she had no more strength to continue. Only now she heard the sound of the beating heart in Kass’ chest and felt his hands gently stroking though her black fur. The beating heart took all her attention, but she was still scared and her claws were cut deep inside the boy’s back by the hug. Kendi had no real reason to fear Kass. He told her, that he would never hurt her or any other of his friends no matter what. On this, the sharp pain in the boy’s back started to fade as the cat slowly took out her claws from Kass and lifted her head. All this time, Kendi was hoping, that maybe she could find new friends up here in COHAF. That was why she was helping Kass and Aki in the Depth, but the hope seemed lost when she was caught by the security. Only now she realized that she already found the best friends she ever could! Or better, they found her. Everything seemed to be all right now. The two found the lost black kitten and she was all right, so their only worry was to get home with her as fast as they could, before they would get in any more trouble. Well, you know the drill; as usually, it was too late again...
One of the crushed security bots was still active and has sent a silent alarm to all units in its range together with a recording of what the thing saw as the last. In this case, it was a few seconds long video of Aki’s butt when she was jumping with Kass and Kendi into the air to escape. Our trio on the rooftop of the skyscraper did not know about this of course, so they were taking all the time they needed to rest and were enjoying the view at the city. They knew, that COHAF with its more than two hundred thousand square kilometers was with a far distance the biggest city in existence, but until now, they could not really imagine what that number meant in reality. Only Aki had some idea about the size when she was enjoying the view even from a bigger height. The city seemed to be without an end! Buildings, streets and parks as far as the three could see, and they could see a long way! You would need an eternity to walk from one end of COHAF to another. Just imagine that you would get lost out there like Kendi.
Mentioning to get lost; where were our three young heroes anyway? Yes, in COHAF on top of a skyscraper, but where exactly it was? There were not many people on the streets and there were no lights to be seen as well. This part of the city was still without the energy, so it was not the part they were coming from and that was bad, very bad! It must have taken them longer than they thought to find the lucky black kitten when they flew this far away! Aki was looking around to find at least one point they could orientate themselves after. She tried her best, but she could not even see the ERF building, even if it was one of the highest buildings in COHAF. Now their only choice was to fly back the direction they came from, yet with both, Kass and Kendi, Aki could not fly as high. This way, there was a high chance that someone would spot them, so Kass did not want to fly. It was dangerous enough to walk when neither Aki nor Kendi had an ID collar. Kass was right, but as the security started to tighten around the place, they had no other choice. Aki took the two and flew away from there as fast as she could.
She landed silently few blocks away behind a building so the people outside would not see them. After this, they walked down the street which should hopefully lead them home. As they walked for a while, they saw that there was somehow too much security around. If only one of the guards would suspect them, not even Aki’s flying would rescue them this time! After a long while of hopeless straying through the unknown streets Kass held on and left the girls for a moment alone. He walked towards a black-white furred rat wearing a pink t-shirt. He gently asked him what was happening, because Kass saw that the security was checking the rat pretty long! The rat told him, that as he sure already heard, a dangerous creature escaped from the ERF and the security was sent to find it. He also told him, that they knew the creature was somewhere here and that they had a recording of the creature.
"A recording?" - Kass' pulse suddenly ran high - "So...they know how the creature looks like?"
"No..." - the rat answered - "...they only know, that it's suppose to be a white furry with pink clothes, like me. So, if the wolf there..." - he pointed towards Aki - "...would have pink clothes and no ID, she'd get in the same trouble."
Kass understood, that the rat mistook the shackle, which Aki still had around her neck, for an ID collar, and the pink jeans could not be seen because of the white wings. However, Kass still wondered why the security did not know how the creature looked like exactly, when they caught Aki before. It was very strange. The boy said thanks to the rat for the information and asked him one last question. He wanted to know, if this was the right way to the Veterinary Medical Station. The black-white rat nodded to Kass and told him, that they will be there much faster when they will walk through the nearby park.
"...and at least there won't be as much annoying security in the park." - the rat added, as he walked away and waved a paw in the air to Kass for goodbye.
This was music in Kass’ ears, and somebody say that humans and furs cannot understand each other. Kass walked back to the girls bringing the good news. However, they still needed to be careful, because the security was still close. One careless step and everything could end in a "cat"astrophe. Kendi felt really bad that she brought her friends in this much trouble. The two told her that it was not her fault, that they would help any of their friends, no matter in how much trouble they would get into, or how deep.
Their way through the city continued, but it was still dangerous. Our three young heroes often thought they will get caught any moment, but after one and half an hour, full of fear and worries, they finally reached the park which the rat was talking about. Kass and Aki were used to the huge park, which was next to their school, so this one appeared somehow small to them, but Kendi was astonished! She never saw something so beautiful like this before, as in the Depth was almost no light, so the plants could not grow there too much. It seemed as if the black cat had end up in the Depth as a very young, to not to remember all these things.
The parks were the proud of COHAF and after the energy, they were the second most important and highly protected things in the entire city. Everyone always enjoyed the time spent in the park. For humans and for furs of course, who lived in a city this big, were the parks very important and more than a welcomed places. Kendi felt the same way as she immediately stepped onto the green grass and enjoyed the soft feeling under her paws. All the fear and worries from today’s morning were suddenly gone as they walked through the beautiful and peaceful park. The three had nothing to worry about there. Only a few of the security bots were flying around on their daily routine watching the park, so if the three will not do any mischief there, they should be fine. Of course, there must not have been Kendi with them! She wanted to sharpen her claws on one of the trees there. She had no idea why, it was just something like an instinct. If one of the bots there would see it, they would be chased again. Fortunately, Kass stopped her before she could begin. The boy pointed towards one of the big black stones with desks on them, which were set all around the park. Besides the aesthetic function, they contained useful information. On this one was written a message for all feline visitors of the park that reads, "Sharpening of claws on the threes is strictly forbidden!" This was meant especially for Kendi, who was used to sharpen her claws on stones, concrete panels, steel plates and other hard things. Her claws were very strong and she could do a real harm to the trees, like to Kass’ hand, as the boy painfully found out this morning himself. After this, they continued their way through the park. Any time some security bot came too close, Aki took the two and hide with them in the treetops. Doing this in the park was somehow fun, even if they risked their lives. It was like they would play tag with the security bots.
Some time later, they reached the other end of the park and walked into the streets of COHAF once again. The security became immediately tighter, so Aki, Kass, and Kendi tried to avoid them as best they could, but as one of the guards spotted the pink braces that were around Aki’s neck, everything started again! The guard walked to them from the other side of the street, but he did not seem to have an idea who the three really were. He only wanted to check Aki’s ID, as ordered, and let the young ones go their way. He did not know that the ID collar around Aki’s neck was not an ID at all. However, the three did not want to wait until the security guard will find it out by himself. So, Kass, Aki, and Kendi started to walk away a bit faster, hoping the guard will let them be. Unfortunately, this just attracted more attention and the security started to follow them, wanting to stop the three young ones. They had no other choice; if they did not want to get caught, they must start to run!
Kass led the way holding the girls by their paws, so they would not get separated from each other. They ran along the path, then crossed the road and turned left where they wanted to vanish in a crowd, but it was not working! It was just too much security after them. The three continued to run and took another few corners in hope to shake them down, but as Kass turned left again and was leading them down the street, they ran into another security unit. This was worse than bad! Now they were in real trouble! Kendi was really afraid about what will happen with them now. As the security pointed their stun guns towards them, the answer was clear. They will get caught any moment! Trapped between two security units seemed to be a hopeless situation, so Kendi closed her eyes tight expecting the worst. Aki had no other choice but to reveal herself. With all four paws now on the ground, she growled at the security and revealed her long black fangs as a warning! Aki suddenly swished with her long tail around her in a circle to make space. In that moment as the security was ducking before the tail, the little wolf took Kendi and Kass and flew away with them as fast as she could! Aki managed to escape now, but the security was on her tail and they found what they were searching for, the dangerous creature! With Kass and Kendi, Aki could not fly as fast and she kept herself just few meters above the ground, as flying higher would only made them even slower. Thanks to her skilful flying between the buildings and tight backstreets, the three managed to escape the sight of the security and hide inside one old building close to the city centre.
The whole chasing took about an hour, so Aki was very exhausted. She was just sitting on the floor almost unable to speak through the heavy breathing. The little wolf was shivering with cold as the device absorbed a lot of warmth from her body. Kass gave her his jacket and with Kendi they sat down around Aki to keep her warm. They also tried to rest for a moment while they were in relative safety. At least they thought they were safe. They could hear the security bots flying near the place, so they needed to pay attention to their surrounding and hope that the security will not find them there. They paid attention to the security so much, that they absolutely forgot to do that to each other. One of them was leaving traces behind for the security to follow, and it was already too late when they noticed it! The security was already on their way to the building, where our young heroes were hiding, and they were coming closer and closer with every moment! Kendi was the one who noticed the traces, because Aki was too exhausted to use her sense of smell. Yes, it was the smell that gave away the person who was leading the security to them. It was the smell of blood, human blood, and there was only one human in the group...Kass! He was the one who was leading the security to Aki and so putting the lives of his friends in great danger, even if unwillingly! The wound on his hand from this morning was open again from the whole strain. Kass was so thrilled and so afraid for the girls, that he has not even noticed that he was bleeding again, and so leaving traces in form of droplets of blood on the street that the security could follow. Now, the security was almost by the building! They wanted to fly away again, but Aki was still to exhausted to carry them. All this time, she was chased like a rabid dog... Even if she would manage to escape again, it would not stop! All, she would achieve, would be just bringing her friends into more danger. Kendi almost died, and Kass was not bleeding the first time! This had to stop! Aki did not want to see her friends die just so she could be on the run a day longer! She did not want Kass or Kendi to get hurt again just because of her. She knew, that all what the ERF wanted was her, so there was nothing to decide about...
Suddenly, Aki put her two friends in a deep embrace while her icy blue eyes were filled with tears.
"...please don’t be angry on me, this must be..." - were her last words before she flew outside, luring the security in the other direction, away from those she loved, away from her friends.
As Aki let go of her friends, Kass called after her that she cannot do this, that she cannot give her life up just like that, but it was too late. Only glistening tears, which were slowly falling to the ground, were left after her as an excuse to her friends for her decision. Aki was giving up her life again, just as when she gave Kass her own heart, and again Kass could not stop her. He knew that she was doing it so he could bring Kendi to safety, but it felt so wrong to him to abandon Aki. It was like back then in the Depth, when Kass could not get her away from that energy line; but this time he could do something. He just must, there was no other way for him! Kendi understood him well. She lost her friends in the Depth and she would give everything she had to change that, but she could not do a thing anymore, but instead of her, Kass still could. Kass turned to Kendi to tell her what he needed to do, but the cat’s look explained everything.
"You belong together..." - this was the only thing Kendi said to him.
Kass was very thankful for those words. With tears in his eyes he embraced the black cat. As he let go of Kendi, he gave her last instructions that should help her. Kass knew that they were close to the city centre, so the medical station should be somewhere near. He told Kendi to find it! It was the largest building complex around, so the cat could not miss it. There, Kendi should ask for a vet named Jennifer Rees... Before he left the cat, he tapped Kendi on her paw for luck, then he ran outside the direction his heart was leading him.
Meanwhile, Aki became too exhausted to continue. She flew as fair as she could, now she was slowly sinking to the ground and on the end she remained sitting on the ground in the middle of the street. Within a short while, she was surrounded by the security and waited for what will happen with her next. One of the guards approached her and took out the stun gun again and pointed it towards the creature. Aki sighed; she knew only too well what will follow, because she remembered how Niaa was hit with such a shocker in the secret lab. Surprisingly, even now, a soft smile could be seen on Aki’s mouth, because she knew that her friends were safe. She closed her tired eyes and waited for the shot. In that moment, as the security guard wanted to pull the trigger, a familiar voice called out Aki’s name and a second later, she could hear a loud hit. She opened her icy blue eyes to see what was happening. Aki saw the guard, who wanted to stun her, laying on the street! She then turned her head forward only to see Kass standing in front of her as a shield.
"Kass..." - Aki whispered to the boy - "...why?"
"...because we just belong together..." - came the answer from the young hero - "...and this time, I won't give up on you so easy!" - said Kass and held his hand towards Aki and smiled.
The little wolf always felt a bit warmer inside when she was close to Kass and her heart was always beating a little bit faster. Aki needed nothing more... In the moment, as she put her paw in the boy’s hand and the flaming golden of Kass’ eyes met with Aki’s icy blue, the whole security was done for! Kass wanted to make a gap in the tight row of security to lead Aki out. And for a moment, it really appeared that they will master even such a hard challenge, and that they will escape again! However, this time the Lady Luck was apparently watching someone else than our two young heroes. Thanks to the wolf blood in his veins, Kass was much stronger than any ordinary boy, and the security learned it the hard way. Any time they got too close to Aki, they were risking a punch, but suddenly, Kass’ strong fist was stopped by a hand in a black glove. None of the security could do this; so who could possibly be this strong? Kass was really afraid to look up to the person, which was now holding his hand, and for a good reason. Not that he would be scared, but he just wanted to hope that it was not true. To everyone’s shock, it was true! The man who blocked Kass’ strong attack was someone even more powerful than him! In fact, it was the most powerful human in whole COHAF! It was Kass’ father, Nare Darks!
Everything stopped as he entered the scene. The security, Aki, everybody stood there like frozen.
"What do you think you are doing here...?" - Darks asked as he looked down at Kass - "...but who else would have the courage and the strength to mess up with the ERF security. Seems...you’re a Darks indeed!"
Everybody was now looking at Kass, expecting his answer to his father, especially Aki.
"I’m not like you, father..." - said Kass while he took his hand back and then, he stood between Nare Darks and Aki - "…and I won’t let you hurt her!"
This was enough for Nare Darks and with his strong voice he ordered the security to finally knock out the creature! This time, Kass was ready to protect Aki no matter what, so as the guard wanted to stun her, he knocked out the guard and they both fell down on the ground. While Aki was helping Kass back on his feet, as he could not even support himself on the wounded hand anymore, Nare Darks lifted the weapon from the street and shot at the creature. The round unleashed its electrical charge and Aki screamed out in fear, but it was not her who was hit by the shocker. It was Kass! He saw that his father was picking up the stun gun. While Aki was helping him up, the boy took her into a hug and as they quickly changed positions, he let go of her to protect her. Darks saw what was the boy doing, and even then he pulled the trigger. Now, the boy was slowly sinking to the ground along Aki’s body and his head landed in her lap. Nare Darks slowly loaded another shock round and walked towards the creature, when suddenly someone softly pulled on the bottom of his coat. It was Kass, even after that shock he was still conscious, just barely, but was.
"Please, father...don’t do this..." - the boy begged his father with his last strength to let Aki go, but his words, as well as Aki’s soft sobbing, did not touch Nare Darks one bit.
As Kass lost his consciousness and let go of the coat, Darks pointed the shocker towards the creature. He said her that she should run away when she had the chance, as now it was too late! The little wolf could never abandon Kass after they risked so much for each other. Aki did not understand, how could he had done that to Kass, the boy was still his son!
Nare Darks just gave her a smile and with words - "...and now, you are mine as well..." - he stunned Aki with the gun from that close.
She let out a painful scream and in the next moment everything became silent. The little creature remained laying by the boy, still holding his hand. Darks ordered to bring the two to the ERF, where he will take care of them personally.
The two young heroes got caught and no one seemed to know that. Not even Kendi knew what happened to the two. Well, right now, she had enough trouble herself. The most of the security was still in the streets with Lash. The white lab rat lost the device two times already, so Darks held Lash for incompetent and refused to inform his assistant about everything what happened. In this situation, Kendi needed to use all her skills learned in the Depth, to find the building, to which Kass send her for help. The Veterinary Medical Station was not too far away, but the closer the black cat came to the city centre, the more security she encountered, and the more careful she needed to be.
The annoying security bots flew even through the medical station’s corridors where a young woman hurried to one of her furry patients. The vet was a well-known person, a woman with long light brown hair and glasses. Jenny was called back to the medical station, because the condition of one of her little patients became suddenly very bad. Fortunately, it was not Missy, but the condition of this cub was alarming as well, so Dr. Rees was doing everything possible and maybe even impossible, only to save the young furry. The situation in the medical station was slowly getting critical, because the energy shortage was obvious. Jenny was ready to fight the death itself for the cub’s life, but without the so much needed energy, there was not much she could do. After long exhausting minutes, she decided to stop. Nothing she would do would save the little furry now, and the resources she would spent here were needed elsewhere so much! At least the other cubs were still stable, but for how long? Without the energy, there was just no way to save all the young ones there! Jenny was the main person there, so she knew this well. She was very worried about what will happen if they will run out of energy completely! However, the whole city was not in a better condition. The hostility between the humans and the furs grew bigger with every day, as one side blamed the other for this crisis. Lately it did not stay just by words, anymore. Only the fear from the creature and the mass of security in the streets were holding everything back; but even then, the whole COHAF was in unrest, as if something bad was about to happen...
Meanwhile, a pair of golden eyes slowly awoke in the ERF. Kass opened his eyes and looked around the room he found himself in. He was laying on a sofa in a huge office. He immediately remembered what happened on the street and he also remembered the room he was in right now. These were his father’s personal quarters in the ERF. There were not many, who had access in there. Even Lash could enter the room only with Nare Darks! So, Kass was in his father’s place, but where was Aki?
Wait! How long was he knocked out? Has his father already taken the device from...? Please, no! Kass really hoped that it was not already too late. He was decided to find Aki even if he had to search the whole ERF from the rooftop down! He quickly wanted to stand up, but his head was still hurting him from the shock and his body felt so heavy, that he lost balance and fell down on the floor. Kass was so angry on himself. How could he want to save his friends when he could not even help himself! Upset, he hit his fist in the floor. He did that with such a force, that the tiled floor cracked a bit. On this, the door opened and someone walked inside. Kass did not need to see the person to know who it was. The first thing he asked his father was, where was Aki and what has he done to her? Nare Darks answered, that the extraction of the device is an exacting operation, so it needs its time until everything will be ready. Kass gave out a sigh of relieve as he understood that Aki was all right, for now. As Kass sat back in the sofa, he again tried to persuade his father to let Aki be, that he was putting everyone in great danger, because the energy from the device was destroying everything it touched. Nare Darks just laughed at this and put down his long coat, but for all he put down the black glove from his right hand.
"Dangerous like this, you mean?" - he asked Kass while shoving him his hand.
Kass stayed shocked, but this time without electricity. His father’s whole arm was after repairs! It must have happened by the explosion that caused the black out in whole COHAF when he tried to put the device to work the first time. A large smile appeared on Darks’ mouth as he saw Kass’ scared expression. The boy could not understand it. If his father knew how dangerous the device was, so why he still wanted to take it? Was Nare Darks really not interested in the safety of COHAF one bit? Well, Darks could ask Kass the same. It seemed, that the boy was interested in Aki’s safety far much more than in the safety of the whole city. Kass did not know what to answer. Saying, that it was not that way would be a lie. Maybe Kass was more like his father than he thought to be. Even then, he did not want to let Nare Darks to hurt Aki, but he also did not want to fight against him. He was still his father and the only family he had. He tried to reason with his father as there must have been a way for Kass to solve this. He was not willing to give up on Aki! Nare Darks' patience was over, he never had a too high meaning about his son and wanted to make sure that the boy will not make any trouble. He had enough of Kass' rebellion and grabbed the boy by the collar of his jacket to teach him a lesson. Suddenly, a loud painful scream echoed through the walls of the whole ERF! Kass would recognize the voice anywhere, and the scream itself could mean only one thing! Aki was awakened and everything was ready. This was it; Darks could finally fulfil his dream about the ultimate power. With the device under his control, there would be energy for every human in the world! Everything would go back to its old ways, where animals would be just that, animals! Everything brought back into the hands of mankind, just as it was supposed to be all this time! He was never so close! As the two walked out of the room, Darks led the way to the main lab on the highest floor of the ERF main building. He took Kass with him, because it was too dangerous to let the boy alone, even by the security.
What Darks did not know was, that he and Kass were not the only ones on their way to the main lab. Besides them, there was one more person on the way there, even if the person was still far away from the ERF. The white furry hurried up to the ERF after learning what happened in the city. Yes, a white furry, but who? Aki was trapped inside, so it was not her, so how many other white furred furs could it be? Maybe it was Wuffy who hurried up there to rescue his little girl, what would increase our heroes’ chances to escape unharmed, but it could also be Lash who hurried back to the ERF, what would mean the end.
Until then, it was still a long way and meanwhile, Darks, Kass and two security bots reached the main lab. The two bots were only some kind of insurance in case that Kass would get on some stupid ideas. Then, the large steel door opened and a bright light came out of the room. As they walked in, no one else was inside, because Nare Darks strictly forbade anyone to enter the lab with the creature, so there would not happen things like the last time. Then Kass spotted Aki! She was shackled to the large ring construction again, but this time, instead of vertically, the construction was placed horizontally just half a meter above the floor. Aki was laying on her back in the same position like the first time. Her white wings were bond together high behind her head and all four of her paws were held stretched wide apart by the shackles so she could not move one bit. Only her tail was shackled differently. It was taken through a small hole in the floor right under her and fixed there in position. So now it was absolutely impossible for her to free herself like before. Aki’s clothes have been removed again as well, as they could be set in flames by the immense heat during the extraction. She was completely naked; not even the red hair band, which held her long white hair together, was left on her.
She was just laying there with her eyes closed. A robotic arm could be seen above Aki and a huge needle was sticking out of the little wolf’s chest! Kass was terrified, what was his father doing with her? It was hurting just by looking at this! The robotic arm was literally sucking out all the energy from the device and so from Aki's body through the large needle. Yet, right now, it was looking more like an energy line than a needle! The amount of energy that was floating through it was the pure madness! There was no way how Aki could hold this out for too long. Then Kass saw a line of glittering tears running down from Aki's closed eyes and dripping on the floor under her. He called out her name, but she did not answer him.
"She won't answer you..." - came Darks’ voice - "...with the energy floating out of her body, her life is fading away as well. And soon as the device will be stripped of all its energy, it'll be safe to remove. The only thing is...that until then, the little creature will be de..."
"No, don’t say that!" - Kass interrupted his father.
The boy could not bear it anymore; he had to do something...anything to stop it! Kass threw his white jacket on the two security bots, so those things could not see him for a moment, and then he ran to Aki as fast as he could. He almost made it, when suddenly a painful shock caused him to fall back as he stepped on the floor where the ring construction was connected to the ground.
"Ah, what happened?" - Kass held his head while he got back on his feet.
Nare Darks just laughed at this and said, that he was not a stupid animal like Lash, he thought on everything! The floor, to which the ring construction was connected to, and the construction itself were protected by an electric charge. It was similar to an electric fence, but this one was permanent. It was powered directly from the device in Aki’s body through the needle, so it was impossible to shut it down. The electric charge will only turn off when there will be no more energy that could feed it; but then, it will be already too late for the little furry! Nare Darks was maybe right; maybe they could not win this time. Kass could not reach Aki, and she was just laying there without a single move.
In her mind, Aki found herself in a strange dark place. She was there alone and could not hear or see anything. She could not know about all the effort Kass was giving out just to reach her. Aki was pushed to the limits of her will after what happened on the street. She never wanted Kass to go as far as when he stepped between her and the shot. She did not want him or any of her friends to risk their lives because of her. Seeing her friends how they were getting hurt or even worse just because of her felt so wrong, that Aki started to think that everything was only her fault. She would give up everything she had only if it would finally stop. All, Aki ever wanted, was to be with those she loved. With Kass, her best friend, and for all with Wuffy, the wolf who was always there for her and who gave her much more than she ever hoped to have; a place to call home and a family to love. Thinking on Wuffy filled her icy blue eyes with tears. In this dark place, Aki was talking to herself, as if trying to apologize for giving up…
"You’ve always taught me to be strong, to stand up and continue whenever I’ve fallen on my nose, but now I can’t anymore... I’m hurting everyone I love..." - Aki was sobbing - "I...I won't blame you, if you... ...have you abandoned me?" - came the last words from her mouth as she was reaching her paw in the darkness after something, that was not even there.
Suddenly, something took her paw, and a moment later, she felt that someone put her body into an embrace. The feeling, as Aki’s silky black nose was pressed against a soft warm body was fantastic.
"I have never abandoned you..." - came a soft tired voice from the person, whispering into her ear.
In that moment, everything around her, all the endless darkness turned glowing white and as she opened her eyes, white electric light was shining at her from the ceiling. Aki found herself back in the main lab of the ERF. She must have lost consciousness for a while as the robotic arm stuck the thick needle inside her. Aki then turned her head to see the person that put her into an embrace. Her best friend Kass was kneeling beside her and held her close. The boy was crying as his face was pressed against the soft white fur. As she looked at him, Aki noticed how much Kass went through. She saw the electric charge on the ring construction and on the floor around it, through which the boy must have walked to reach her. She decided to ask the question, which was bothering her so much.
"Why...Why are you helping me...? Even if I didn't want you to...to get hurt again just because of me...Kass, please..." - she whispered.
"Stop talking like that!" - Kass answered her through his heavy breathing - "I would do it again and again, if you would like it or not, because that's what friends are doing...helping each other!"
Even Nare Darks must have admitted, that it surprised him when Kass reached the creature. It was really unbelievable how Kass tried to reach Aki with all his strength, even through the electric charge. One step after another he continued to her. Even as he fell on his knees, he did not stop. He was so close to her! Kass’ muscles quivered from the strain and the electric charge caused cramps in his entire body. It was almost impossible for Kass to move, but as he saw, that Aki was reaching out her paw, with his last strength he reached his hand after her as well. Suddenly, as if a wonder would happen! In the moment as their hands met in a sincere touch, the electric charge let go of Kass and he could stand up and embrace Aki. You would not believe how good it felt to the two in that moment! However, Darks knew, that it was not a wonder that suppressed the electric charge as they touched each other. In fact, it was Aki’s long tail, which was set in the floor, what worked as a lightning conductor. As long as the two will be touching each other, as long it will protect Kass from the painful shock.
Kass wanted to free Aki, but at first he needed to do something with the needle that was stuck in her body. Unfortunately, he could not even touch it because of the immense heat that was coming out of that thing. And it will became even more, because Nare Darks did not want to risk that Kass could free the creature somehow. He wanted to get the device as fast as possible, so he increased the speed of the energy flow even against the warnings that appeared on the screen. It was a warning about overloading the ERF energy network, because if the amount of the energy would be too high, it could not be stopped in time by this speed. No one knew what would happen, as it never happened before, yet Nare Darks was sure, that it will not happen this time either. The energy capacities of the ERF were massive and then, how much energy could the small device have left, anyway? Maybe it was more than he thought to be, because as soon as he increased the speed, the needle started to glow bright blue from the huge loads of energy. Even Kass must have moved away from that thing, because it was just too dangerous! Until now, Aki held the pain back because of Kass, but now it was hurting so much! She was crying from the pain as a lot of her black blood was soaking out around the needle and dripping down on the floor below her.
Kass could not look at her blood-soaked body! When Aki will finally stop to suffer because of what she became? He wanted to help her, but he could not do a thing against such power. He begged his father on his knees to turn it off, but it was too late! A moment later, everything started to shake. Not only the ring construction, but it seemed as if the whole ERF building was shaking! It was getting worse and worse with every moment, but Kass stayed by Aki, holding her tight he said that he will stay with her no matter what will happen to him. The ERF energy capacities started to fill very fast, and at this speed they will be full in no time! Then, the energy in whole ERF complex fell out. It just could not hold out this amount of power, but even then it did not stop! Everything started to break apart and collapse from the strong vibrations! Even the massive ring construction on which Aki was shackled started to fall apart; and then it happened... The thick needle, which was holding stand against the unbelievable power of the device and which seemed to be indestructible, broke apart and the very last bit of energy escaped from the device. The energy illuminated the whole room and everything turned glowing white...
A loud explosion could be heard in whole COHAF. Large pieces of the building flew in all directions and destroyed everything around. Broken glass and wrinkled metal cut through everything in their path causing massive damage. As the dust finally settled down and the ringing in the ears stopped, the full picture of the disaster was revealed. The whole top of the ERF main building where once the main lab was, was simply gone! What happened to everyone, especially to Aki? Was she alive? The same questions ran through the mind of the white furry that was hurrying up to the ERF. The furry was almost by the building when it happened.
"Let just hope I’m not too late!" - said the furry and hurried up through the ERF building, or better through what was left from it.
As the white furry reached the top, it could not believe its eyes! From once so proud and the most advanced lab in whole COHAF were left only ruins and scrap. The furry was walking through the place, searching for any clues that would explain what happened, but for all, searching for someone alive; but who could survive something like that?
After a while of searching, the white furry stumbled upon something! There were the pieces of the ring construction with one of the shackles laying on the ground. Aki! So she must be somewhere near! As the furry looked around the place, something caught its attention. A tail was sticking out from under a big piece of broken wall. One would recognize that long tail anywhere, it was unmistakable! And there she was, Aki. She laid there rolled into a big furball. As the white furry took her out of there, it saw that Aki was holding onto something, or better someone. Her paws and wings were wrapped around Kass person to protect him. Aki held the boy tight in her hug, but were they all right? The furry seemed to be interested in the little wolf far much more than in the human. She had no serious injuries, only a few scratches here and there, but a big piece of the needle was still sticking out of her chest! That thing was still glowing hot, even after all the time, so the furry rather did not touch it to not to burn its paw. The needle seemed not to be doing that much harm to Aki, but the problem was, that she was not waking up. Her body was as cold as ice. Even if the furry tried to wake her up, the only one who awoke was Kass. The boy sat up on the broken floor and held his head, not sure about what just happened. Kass almost has not recognized the place. Everything was destroyed as he looked around. It took him a second or two until he realized what happened in the lab. Then Kass turned to the white furry to say thanks for help, but as he saw who the white furry was, that now held Aki in embrace, he immediately screamed at the person to let her be! He wanted to get the white furry away from the little wolf, but it was of no use. The furry needed only a single hit with its long tail to pin Kass down on his back and ordered the boy to be quiet. The furry wanted Kass to not to interfere, because instead of the stupid human, she could do something for Aki. Yes, she, a female, specifically a well-known white lab rat. Lash! Who else would dare to call Kass a stupid human and had the strength to pin him down so easily! The rat said, that she just wanted to help Aki.
"What, to help them?!" - a strong voice suddenly called out from behind them - "I always knew that you are incompetent and weak, but I'd never imagine that you'd dare to betray me, Lash! But...what else could be expected from a filthy rat!" - the words echoed through the place and a shape of a human appeared behind them in a cloud of smoke.
Lash and Kass froze! That voice, it was him, Nare Darks, but how could it be? Kass survived, because with her last strength Aki shielded him with her own body, but Darks must got the full hit of the explosion; so how was that possible? As he stepped out of the smoke, they saw that he was weakened, but it was definitely him! He was not the most powerful human in whole COHAF without a reason. Yet, it seemed, that it did not impress Lash one bit. Now, with all that happened, Lash did not need to hold back anymore. Now was her time! This was what she was waiting for all the years, what she was sweating blood for...the revenge for her family! Angry for losing her family and now Aki, Lash was not willing to give Darks a chance.
Climbing quickly onto one of the broken walls for a leap attack, the rat wanted to use her agility to add some extra strength to her strike. The hit connected and forced Nare Darks onto one of his knees. The rat was connecting one strike after another, but to underestimate the most powerful man in COHAF could easily prove fatal. Lash found this out very fast, as the first droplets of her blood hit the dirty floor. With their level of strength and skills, the fight was short, but very destructive, because the rest of the ERF main building started to fall apart and collapsed down!
The building collapsed into a huge cloud of dust and rubble. Anyone still nearby was running away in fear for its own life. But what about the lives of those, who were still inside?
A short while later, a pair of golden eyes awoke on the street by the ruins. It was Kass, and for some reason he barely had a scratch. The boy looked around the place, as the first thought that crossed his mind was to find Aki. Fortunately, she was not far away. Her head was nicely resting in his lap. Kass stroke through her white hair and then softly touched her shoulder, hoping that she would wake up, but the little wolf has not even twitched with an ear. Aki was just laying there, with that huge needle sticking out of her body. Her paws felt as cold to Kass as never before, even through her tight white fur!
He did not want to think on the worst, but what else he should think when she was not waking up and just laid there as... Kass eyes filled with tears. The soft droplets of the salty liquid started to drop down onto Aki’s soft white fur, and a great sorrow and grief could be seen in Kass' face after losing someone he loved so much. He never thought that it would really get this far! They went through so much together and she did so much for him! Not only she gave him her own heart on the beginning, but she did much, much more. As Lash found them after the explosion, Aki had her paws and wings still wrapped around Kass to protect him, but about that time she could not be alive anymore. It was as if she would protect him even after she was not with him anymore. How strong must have been the bond between the two young ones... The word "love" was just not strong enough to describe it. And now, one of the two young ones was gone! Poor boy, nothing in the world could hurt him as much as this.
What happened to Nare Darks and Lash? Was Kass really the only survivor? Is this how their adventure was supposed to end? Let us hope it was not...