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Astaroth Ankh: The loot and the hunter Part 2

My apologies for making all of you wait so long for the continuation of my last story, but I didn't have an internet account in a year and a half. On top of that I had written too many stories that end up the same way (the main character saving the day), so I tried a conclusion that would be... well, not as cheerful.

Legal disclaimer : Enjoy this story if you're 18 years old or older; if you're NOT an adult (18+) don't read below this paragraph. Parents are RESPONSIBLE if they're not watching for their son's internet habits, so don't give me any flaming messages. This site has warnings about adult content in its pages everywhere. Warning : Lots of cruelty, foul language, infanticide and violence. The Aspatrian planet and the orange foxes were borrowed with permition from Professor Bob. Details about Amathane, the twin sister of Hakra, the bloody deity were given by Loki Darksong. Thank you to both Bob and Loki. The cult of the horror utopia, the concept of the artificially altered evolution, artifacts and the Shaban bats were created by me, Razil-8.

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Katherine and the reptilian sitter hurried towards Aster as he gracefully landed on the backyard's lawn. The lizards asked to the diminutive bat: "Were you able to locate Stephanie or my boy, little one." The winged cub felt that guilt ran all over his fur when he admitted: "I'm sorry but I couldn't find any of them, even when I was trying to make telepathic contact. I know that I shouldn't get distracted while I was watching Stephanie, knowing that she is suffering like that."

The scaled babysitter frowned when she heard the cub's comment. What the hell did this bat meant when he said that he tried to make telepathic contact? Katherine kissed Aster's forehead and caressed his long ears: "Try to make a bigger effort next time, my child. Whoever finds Stephanie must bring her back immediately. When she gets home I will make a phone call to the rest of the siblings and tell them suspend the search and return here. Then we'll be ready for bed." Aster nodded before flying away: "Yes mom!"

Now it was time for the draconian female to fell a sensation of guilt, but for a different reason: "Miss Dickinson, I guess I owe you an apology. I have been very unkind to Stephanie and I told her, among other things... that I didn't trust her."

Katherine sighed in frustration as she placed a paw on her forehead. She remembered that a lot of people still had a lot of prejudices against 'penitatas', so she decided to listen patiently to what she had to say. Kate said to the reptile: "Very well! You can tell me everything while we go to the kitchen and prepare some lemon tea. Stephanie will better get here on time for dinner if she knows what's good for her. She must remember why she is under our authority, although I can't really blame her for reacting like she did. If that potty-mouth runaway would try to escape, a judicial paddling would be the least of her worries."

Meanwhile, close to a dumpster three blocks away from the Dickinson's house...

Stephanie was crying bitterly while 'Lutin' exclaimed: "Have you lost your mind? Do you want to end up like that burned kit fox? You know that you don't have the strength to fight those psychopaths if they find you. Let the police or Starfleet handle this or you will become the next victim. A year ago Aster had this brilliant idea of hiding in his home-world while the place was engulfed in a civil war. He believed that the stories that his grandmother told him about blood-thirsty fundamentalists were just some fairy tale that she used to entertain him!"

Stephanie yelled back: "I don't care about that! Do I have to wait inside that fucking room and become an emotional wreck, you leg-humping motherfucker? I haven't seen anything like that except once on the Aspartian capital, when the 'Green devils' b-blew away a senator into pieces... years ago. (Sob) I can't take it."

Stephanie started to cry again when she thought that her lover and that assassinated kit would share the same fate. 'Lutin' just didn't know how to respond in this situation, except for hugging and trying to calm her. Stephanie pushed him to the asphalt as she roared: "Keep your dirty paws away from me, you creep!"

Stephanie bit her nails when she saw 'Lutin's hurt expression. She stammered an apology, but 'Lutin' gestured her to stop. 'Lutin' said: "I'm accepting your apology, but mom will have to know this." Stephanie's eyes widened when she heard him: "Please don't tell her!"

'Lutin' replied: "I know that you're sad but you must learn to control your anger and not hurt anyone. I didn't mind your insults but you pushed me, and that concrete sidewalk really hurts."

It was an awkward situation for both of them, until 'Lutin' saw Aster flying above them. 'Lutin' looked at her seriously: "Maybe we can help you find him, but you will have to stay at home."

Stephanie began to sob: "It's not fair. I don't know if I'll be able to handle this entire situation" Aster landed beside her and walked towards his brother.

Aster whispered to his ear: "Your rodent lover has found out why Stephanie's boyfriend was kidnapped. It seems that he found some information that elements in the Aspatrian government would find inconvenient. We better send the vixen home. We'll have to intercept the police's communications so we can patrol over the areas that they didn't cover."

'Lutin' said: "Very well, but just in case she finds out something about her boyfriend, give her your spare video-phone." Once the winged brothers decided on what to do, Aster continued his search while 'Lutin' helped a crying vixen find her way towards the Dickinson's home.

Aster kept flying around the city outskirts, sighing in frustration while he listened to any police communications that could lead to the missing fox's whereabouts, and to whatever fate those outlaws delivered to Stephanie's lover. Aster thought: "Nothing. Six hours had passed since the kit's kidnapping and his remains haven't been found. I do not know how Stephanie or the sitter will react if the worst happens, but I must do my duty for both of them."

Aster decided to check on his siblings, so he gave an oral command to his video-phone: "Open channel, home. Amanda, has Stephanie arrived? Well, keep your eyes open because 'Lutin' is bringing her back. Listen, have you found any recent information about the missing fox? Yeah, I know that Stephanie's gang controlled the slave trade, so I'm not surprised that another gang had replaced them. Where did you find this information?! I didn't know that the Aspatrians in exile had a resistance website on the galactic net? Are you serious? Why are they using those homeless foxes to build a mercenary regiment?! Thanks for the information, Amanda (sigh)."

Aster though: "What I have experienced when I first came to 'Drakkarheim' (Aster's place of origin, the Dragon's kingdom) is a child's play compared to what's happening now. So that's why they're after him? It seems that those corrupt officials are not only getting rid of any political opposition at gun point, but they're using those homeless foxes to get rich by selling them as cannon-fodder. This means that the scale of this operation... Oh, shit! This is insane, even for Aspatria."

Aster frowned: "(This phone keeps ringing every two minutes). Hello, 'Mouse'? Just wait; I can't understand what you're babbling about. Calm yourself and repeat everything you have just said. Huh? And why that policeman didn't have any logical explanation if he said that the photograph that you found on the galactic net doesn't match with the kit fox's appearance."

Aster replied: "Fine, so the policeman said that Stephanie's lover used a forged document to escape from Aspatria and that scaled female believes that he dyed his fur with orange hair dye. Take that photograph from the adults and let Amanda examine it. I know that Stephanie is an expert in forgeries but she'll be late. Stephanie and your boyfriend are on foot."

In that precise moment Aster felt that a tragedy was going to happen again. He didn't felt like this since the day that he had his first encounter with Aspartian criminals inside that gargantuan spaceship. Aster had to cut the communication: "See you later 'Mouse', I'll have to speak to my brother." Aster gave another voice command to his video phone: 'Lutin Shaba, personal communication."

Seconds later a holographic image appeared in front of him. He frowned when only the image of his gray furred brother appeared: "Lutin, where's Stephanie?"

´Lutin' held his groin while he stammered: "I wish I knew."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Aster exclaimed with incredulity.

Lutin's ears turned a deeper shade of red as he stuttered: "Stephanie bit me on the balls and ran away. It's the last time that I accept a blowjob from her. I don't know if she's searching for her boyfriend on her own, or if she's trying to escape from parental custody. That lizard gave the alarm to the police when she knew what happened and they will be after her if she doesn't appear in the next three hours. I felt that someone with bad intentions was watching us. And..."

Aster sighed: "She fooled you with the oldest trick in the book. I bet that she saw the word 'fear' written on your ugly face and got scared. I'm hoping that she's smart enough to stay inside that hardened fortification that we call home."

'Lutin replied: "I can sense the fear in your voice. Do you think... that she would be killed if she doesn't make it home?"

Aster nodded: "Anything could happen in these circumstances, I've heard from that reptilian sitter about unconfirmed rumors about blood-money, and that Stephanie's boyfriend involvement a cub's death. It's very difficult to act upon such rumors since we don't have any real facts to compare with their memories. A telepathic probe is useless if parts of their minds were artificially implanted with false memories without their consent. I hope that Stephanie's escape attempt will blow the kidnapper's cover."

'Lutin mouthed the word 'Fuck' before he said: "Something about that kidnapped fox is not right. Perhaps we should be careful with our 'visitors' since we don't know who they really are. At least we know the true self of our foul-mouthed vixen. I'll fly home and bring you back your body armor."

Aster giggled: "You're walking funny! If you see 'Mouse' tell her to kiss where it hurts to make it better." 'Lutin' made an angry scowl as he walked away

Minutes later, at the Dickinson's house...

Stephanie broke into the Dickinson's house through one of the laundry windows, feeling a sense of Déjà vu. She sighed: "To think that my brother did this every night so we wouldn't starve. If that bat's fear was justified, the best thing that I could do was to ditch him and make everyone believe that I'm still on the streets. I'm glad that the Dickinson foxes built a place like this, but I'll have to tell them about how I was able to breach into their house." The little vixen almost jumped to the ceiling when the video-phone rang. She answered: "Hello? My love! Are you all right? I'm sick worried and the police is searching for you."

<Click> "You don't have to worry, everything is fine. Listen girl, are you interested in going back to Aspatria with me?" Stephanie was surprised that her friend would act as if everything is normal.

"What do you mean that I don't have to worry? Anyone would think that what you just said is some sort of... sick joke?" When Stephanie realized her boyfriend wasn't telling the truth, she shouted at him: "Tell me what's going on, or I'll swear that I'll go to the police and the adults!"

<Click>"I'm trying to liberate you from all that and this is how you pay me, with insults?! Do you really think that I would fear what your mother could do to me, you cold bitch?"

That comment placed the red lights flash in front of Stephanie sight. What was so terrorizing that he would dismiss any punishment that the authorities could give him? Suddenly, the little vixen recalled her nightmare, and the mind numbing terror that she lived as a child. What IF he was somehow involved in something bad, or coerced into cooperating with a gang?

<Click> "I will have to call you later. Right now I have to make sure that I'm not followed..." Aarrrgg!

<BLAM, BLAM, BLAM, BLAM!>

"My love... Hello? What happened to you? Are you alright? Answer me! No, not him! NO!" In that moment Stephanie's emotional resilience collapsed as she screamed her head off.

Half an hour earlier...

Aster was giving everything ounce of energy that his body had in a last attempt to find the missing fox before calling the day off and go home. For some reason that he couldn't explain, he felt drawn to explore this area after sensing a feeling of overwhelming anguish and sadness, but so far he wasn't successful in finding the missing fox. He pondered about the overwhelming feelings of anguish and sadness and he found no explanation or the reason why he kept flying over this place.

This search was exhausting both his body and mind, so the doubted that he would be able to fly home. The starving bat was so glad when he saw an apple tree. Aster flew into the top of the tree and got some apples to satiate his hunger, but the apples not only didn't agree with his stomach, but the fruit betrayed his stomach as he felt a stabbing pain in his belly.

When Aster glided to the ground, he stripped off his pants and started to relieve himself. Suddenly, a couple of shots were heard. A fine place he picked to defecate on the soil, now his spirit would fell shame for all eternity if his half-bare corpse was discovered. His paws trembled as he activated the voice recognition software: "Call 9-1-1, I want to report several gun detonations in the city outskirt, near the abandoned railroad station. I'm requesting the triangulation of this video-phone transmition."

The sly bat didn't what to be shot down in mid-flight, so he activated the armor's nano-paint as the microscopic robots changed the surface's texture and color, so the smooth white armor would look at first glance like a rough, gray, olive green and tan camouflaged uniform. Some of the nano-robots stuck into the bat's fur and changed his fur color from a light brown to a rust-orange tone.

At the distance the small chiropter could see a couple of Aspatrian foxes carrying a rolled up carpet. When they threw the carpet on the hard soil, one of the foxes started to dig a hole while the other fox hurried to the hover-car and brought back what appeared to be a sack of pulverized limestone.

The rug was seeping a scarlet, dark liquid at one of the rug's end, when what looked like an orange object fell from the rug.Aster froze like a statue when realized that what fell was a severed, orange paw. Aster felt like crying hysterically, but he could do nothing but stare. His heart crumbled when he saw the kidnapped kit's corpse roll out of the carpet as it fell into the grave. He failed miserably, all his efforts meant nothing and he couldn't save an innocent kit. With a heavy hearth, the winged cub crawled away, only to find stare directly at the muzzle of a 'Phazer' gun.

"STOP WHATEVER YOU'RE GOING AND REMAIN STILL OR I'LL KILL YOU! YOU'RE UNDER ARREST FOR ASSASINATION! Raise your arms!"

Aster couldn't stop trembling as he turned around. It was a Starfleet soldier aiming at him with a 'Phazer' gun while he looked at the cub with a cold stare. Aster hoped that this paint would help him protect his identity, but instead this paint would get him confused with an Aspatrian criminal and would be arrested on the spot. "You better be careful with what you're doing, filthy cur!"

Aster tried to plaster a smile on his face: "I'm glad that you guys received my phone call". The Starfleet officer's eyes widened in surprise before he yelled: "Do you think that I would believe that lie, delinquent!"

Aster replied: "You are not a Starfleet officer, because if you were, you would have immobilized me until you could corroborate my version of the facts, you... spineless impostor." Aster almost said the word murderer; something told him that this human was the guy who attacked and tried to kidnap Stephanie's lover. That human was very clever, who wouldn't trust a friendly Starfleet cop. The little bat knew from experience that he only had one chance to escape unharmed.

In the blink of an eye the real Starfleet military police surrounded the place and as the adversaries exchanged barrages of energy rays. The acrid smell of charred vegetation and burned flesh wafted the air. The hired assassin looked dismayed when he saw that his two hired foxes were already immobilized by the cops, one of them gravely wounded. The criminal's first reaction was to use this cub as both a hostage and a living shield, when he felt a sharp pain radiating from his left hand. The sensation felt just like he grabbed a live wire. Aster threw a good punch to the human's groin and escaped. The false 'kit fox' ran away toward the bushes at an incredible speed. It almost looked like the 'kit fox' was actually flying, but that was impossible for such races.

Aster smirked: "A small electric shock is all it took to get away from a dangerous situation, thanks to this expensive armor-suit, but this thing is worth every penny. I've experienced inside my mind the terror that Stephanie's lover felt after being chased liked a rabbit and shoot while he was using his phone to call for help. It will be a very long flight home." Aster realized with horror that he felt a burning sensation, as the 'phaser' ray burned the flesh from his unprotected left leg, missing three fingers. Aster then realized that this armor suit didn't protect against weapons of such caliber. Not only everything he did was in vain, but he would die if he didn't act fast. Soon the human kidnapper stared in amazement as he false kit vanished in a bright, blue light.

Minutes later, a spherical ball of blue-white energy appeared on the Dickinson's garden as a diminutive winged figure took a few steps forward before collapsing on the soft lawn. William dropped his cup of coffee when he saw his unfortunate son lying on the grass, so he cleaned up Aster's fur and tucked the chiropter on his bed. Four hours later, Aster woke up wearing only his fur and starving like a stray dog. Someone has folded his dirty clothes and his armor suit was recharging at an electric receptacle. He smiled when he saw a medical droid doing some minor surgery on him and replacing his missing toe bones with coral-made ones. Aster's parasites would regenerate new tissue, but the parasites inside him would need energy or he would collapse.

Aster saw Stephanie crying after he devoured everything he saw on the fridge, but something wasn't normal. She wasn't acting like she was crying from her punishment, but more like an emotional wreck. How does she know what happened to her lover? Did the police tell them?

Aster spoke: "When someone dies or disappears in an unexpected way, a small part of that person dies with them. I know because it has happened to me before. It's not comforting for both of us, but it's fortunate that we know that he's dead, for it would be worse if our minds would be filled with uncertainty and we wouldn't know if he's alive or not. But the pain is the same no matter the circumstances, isn't it" Stephanie looked at him for a few seconds before lowering her head. Aster embraced her: "It would sound stupid to say that I'm sorry, but nothing else comes to my mind." Stephanie hugged him back while her tears soaked his pajamas.

Two days later, the Dickinson family had to go to the hospital to identify the remains of Stephanie's lover, but William and Katherine I didn't know what to do with the tomboy vixen, so they brought her along with the rest of the youngsters. So Aster and Amanda had to babysit Stephanie after the adults gave the usual lecture to the cubs about behaving. When the Dickinson couple went to the yellow-tiled autopsy room, they were greeted by Dr. Phillips, a human doctor.

Kate: "Good morning. We were looking for the kidnapped victim that the police recovered yesterday. We were the hosts of the missing child, and we are here to identify him."

The doctor sighed in relief when the visitors were not relatives of the missing child, although the doctor wasn't an uncaring person, he knew that he wouldn't like to deal with a couple of depressed parents.

The doctor asked: "If there's anyone who is related in some way to this cub?"

William answered: "I don't think there are any living relatives, but the child had a Draconian sitter before he was kidnapped and..."

The doctor ordered the foxes: "You two will give all the details about her to my secretary, because I'll need to know if this female has a post-traumatic disorder, depression or any undiagnosed emotional crisis. I'll give her a personal video-phone call to arrange a visit. Follow me, please."

On a cold, stainless-steel medical table laid a diminutive corpse covered on a white blanket. Katherine covered her eyes with her manicured paws while William closed his eyes as to summon strength so he could face this ordeal. The doctor waited for the two foxes to break up in tears, but strangely both foxes had a puzzled expression on their faces. Kate exclaimed: "But doctor, this corpse belongs to the explosion victim in front of our house. It doesn't resemble the cub that played with our 'penitatas'. The kidnapped fox's pelt matches our daughter's orange color, but this kit's fur is all gray."

The good doctor had the surprise of his life: "But the medical records stated that the DNA of this corpse matches with the identity of the cub that was supposed to visit your house yesterday."

All the adults were really surprised, but the Dickinson foxes were the most affected by this obvious deceit. Mouse came in: "Mom, Daddy! I have something to show you."

Kate was furious: "'Mouse!' Haven't I told you to remain on the lobby?! You just wait until we get home, young lady. You'll be one sorry rodent."

Mouse replied: "But Mom, would you like to see what I have in my data-pad before you spank my butt?"

Katherine frowned as she picked up the data-pad. Kate's neck fur was raised: "IS THIS INFORMATION REAL? William, it seems that 'Mouse' has discovered that this young fox was once a reporter working for a fringe Aspatrian network, trying to discover a big slave contraband operation. (Sigh)That's the reason why he's on this table. I wonder if Stephanie's lover saw something that he shouldn't, and..." William embraced Kate while he said: "Don't think about that my love". Kate hugged William back while she addressed to the rodent: "Mouse, I'll cut your punishment to ten minutes of corner time. Now go back and join your siblings."

William asked: "Doctor, what are those abrasions on the cub's left ankle?

Doctor: "I've never seen anything like this in all my years. This cub has several lacerations in different parts of his body that resemble a physical aggression, but none of these lacerations were fatal. However, this cub has been restrained inside the ignited car on purpose, I fear. Asphyxiation by carbon monoxide was the cause of death." The foxes were dismayed when they heard this.

Moments later, 'Mouse stepped out of the elevator and joined the rest of the group. She exclaimed: "Guys, you not going to believe this, but Stephanie's lover is an impostor. We were supposed to meet with the fire victim."

Aster's jaw hung open: "Why would Stephanie's lover impersonating the fire victim?" 'Lutin' interrupted: "But what could he gain? It was about all that blood-money?"

Stephanie replied: "No it wasn't. In fact, my former boyfriend didn't give any specific details about that money but he mentioned details about a thug that got suspicious about him and tried to bury him six feet under. But there was something weird about his behavior that I couldn't point out... He was not like the fox I first meet; he was behaving more like a self-centered gangster. He was behaving like a complete liar and he didn't care about what would happen to him if he was arrested. "

Amanda was surprised: "What?! But I saw both of you embracing each other in the hallway and I thought that he loved you. He even fooled mom and that lizard female."

Stephanie replied: "I know that! But he even said that he couldn't stay for long... I can't explain it. It's like he was afraid of something and he was trying to protect me! I-I don't know what to think, guys. I don't know what to do!" She started to sob again as she embraced 'Lutin' and Amanda.

'Mouse' tried to calm everyone: "Guys, we don't want to make mom or dad nervous with all this. We still have to know why he had supplanted that fox"

'Lutin' interjected with sarcasm: "We know that the reporter was hunted down for denouncing what was happening with the slave contraband and all that. But we have to consider that in a dictatorship everyone must obey like a mindless drone or face the consequences if you don't agree with the beloved Prime Minister Renacross. Those corrupt foxes control the masses thru terror."

Stephanie deadpanned: "Yesterday's news, but was my ex-lover cooperating with them?"

The rest of the group was surprised to hear this, but the more they thought about it, the more it made sense. All the cubs started to vent their frustration making angry shouts until Amanda told everyone to stay calm or a nurse would tell Kate or William. It wasn't fun to face an angry parent with a bottle of castor oil. The rest of the evening was uneventful as the police interviewed again the Dickinson foxes before the delinquent's interrogation took place. The Starfleet sergeant used a holographic simulation to scare and deceive the foxes into thinking that their partners would be tortured and slowly killed if they didn't confess.

Starfleet sergeant: "We just arrested you and your partner when you two were disposing of a corpse, so you can't deny anything. We know that there was a huge reward for the death of the reporter, but why did you killed your partner?"

The fox replied: "He fell in love with a vulgar street-rat, a former member of a rival gang, and we do not forgive that, but my partner got greedy about some blood-money and he tried to make him confess. We had to kill him because he tried to escape with that slut to Aspatria if he couldn't make a deal with the police."

Aster and the rest of the cubs got ice-cream in reward for their effort in capturing the criminals. The grownups felt that it would be an adequate reward for their effort in capturing the criminals and help in the kidnapped fox's search. Aster was playing with his ice-cream while Stephanie licked the remains from the tall glass. She frowned: "Why aren't you eating your ice-cream? Finish it before it melts or it will start looking like a glob of cum."

Aster sighed: "I'm still thinking about the way he died. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if any of you would die in such fashion. If any of you refused to be rejuvenated or died in a hover-car accident, it would be hard to take, but I would learn to accept it. But the way they tortured him... by cutting his paws."

Stephanie replied: "Don't say that! You're hurting yourself. You have helped the police to bring them to justice and you should be happy to know that they'll suffer for what they have done. Now the people knows about what's happening to those foxes and the citizens will put pressure on the authorities so this problem will be solved"

Aster began to eat faster in an attempt to avoid the conversation: "Perhaps, but I'll speak to 'Lutin so we can improve this place's security."

Stephanie smiled as she replied: "Start with the basement." Soon they were interrupted when Kate told them to shower and get ready for the funeral services. Stephanie bolted to her room to get an image of Amathane for the ceremony: "It would be a shame for all those who died to be blessed by the deity that symbolizes that dictatorship. I will teach you how to pray before the ceremony."

Aster replied before kissing her forehead: "Praying is good both for your soul Stephanie, and the souls of those who died and their families." In that moment 'Mouse' hurried to the bathroom as Aster and Stephanie went after her. "I'm first!" "No, you're not! I'm getting all the hot water!" And so everything returns to normal, but as life goes on so does the changes in life.

The End.