FSE

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"So, you know Otto and Shakira?" I picked up the menu, but couldn't take my eyes off Seth and Marissa.

He nodded and she said, "We talk to them online quite a lot, and I've met Otto in person. I hadn't seen Shakira before today, unless you count chat and message-board avatars." She chuckled. "They're an odd pair. Quite an age gap, for one thing."

"Well, they're both several decades older than they look." I finally pulled my eyes away from them and noticed a glass of water in front of me. I took a sip before continuing. "Shakira's got a prosthetic body; she was in a car accident before I was born, and the damage was too severe to repair in time to save her life. All they could do was put her brain into a cyber-body."

"Ouch." Seth grimaced. "Sounds risky. I know it's done fairly often nowadays, but back then..."

"Yeah. It was one of the first times it'd ever been done. Still, if they hadn't tried it, she would've died within hours. She had to go through some adjustments, had to learn how to use the new body, and all that. Had to take the first body that was available at the time, then later she was able to transfer into a custom-designed body that looked like her original one, and from then on she's looked like she's in her mid-thirties."

"I'm kind of envious," Marissa chuckled. "I wouldn't mind being able to look young for the rest of my life. Without all the trauma and nearly dying, of course."

"Yeah. I like my body the way it is, but when I get old and start to lose my edge, I just might give the cyber-body thing a shot. Assuming I can afford it by then."

"Is Shakira's body a custom build? The only full-body prostheses I've ever seen were either athletic or skinny with huge boobs. Shakira's body is, um, plus-sized."

"Yeah, that's the way Otto's always liked it." I nodded. "And even if that weren't the case, he and Shakira have always built their own computers and other gadgets, so she probably would've wanted a custom build, anyway. Costs extra, but it gives you all kinds of options."

Marissa giggled. "So you could order yourself an even taller body?"

"Oh, I don't think so." I laughed and shook my head emphatically. "I'd either stay the same size or transfer into a smaller one. Though, now that I think about it, my brain can't shrink, so I couldn't keep the new head proportionate to the body. I could have a human-size body, but my head would have to stay its current size." I sighed. "I don't think the 'chibi' look would suit me."

"Well, as long as you don't get any bigger. As it is now, I'd have to go up on you." Seth's face turned red. "I can't believe I just said that!"

"You're not gonna hear me complaining." I laughed. "You can go up, down, or sideways on me as often as you want."

He tugged on his shirt collar. "I might need a cold shower before the waiter brings our food."

"Okay, let's try to pace ourselves, here." I giggled and looked at the menu again. Oh, chicken a la king. I tapped the icon, adding it to my order.

"So," Marissa said a moment later, "what about Otto? I've asked him several times what his secret is, but he's always evasive."

"Yeah, he doesn't talk about it much." I finished my water and put the glass down. "Actually, y'know what's really interesting about Otto, though?" I grinned. "He can phase through solid objects."

"Oh, come on."

"He can." Seth nodded. "I saw him do it a few times. Passed his hand through a wall, a car, and several other things."

Marissa stared at him and finally arched an eyebrow at me. "You're pulling my chain."

Seth shook his head. "I'm serious. He never explained how he could do it, but it's probably connected with his ability to look fifteen years old for the past twenty-five years."

"I saw him pass his whole body through a wall, once." I grinned at the memory. "He tries not to do that very often because he always comes out the other side naked."

Marissa's expression turned even more incredulous. "And...why does that happen?"

"Well, he can phase through solid objects." I shrugged. "Clothes are solid objects."

"Uh-huh." The corner of her mouth quirked upward. "That I'd like to see."

"I'll ask him to show you the hand thing next time we see him," Seth said.

"Can't wait." Marissa grinned and shook her head, obviously not believing a word of what we'd said. She changed the subject abruptly. "Hey, I noticed you were limping when you walked in."

"Oh, yeah. That." I sighed. "Eh, it's just something that happened a couple days ago. I just got my chaser license, and as my luck would have it, I got the crap knocked out of me on my first gig."

"Ouch. Nothing too serious, I hope."

"Nah, some cuts, bruises and scratches, that's all." And a deep gash from a chunk of an exploding car embedded in my leg. But I kept that to myself so I wouldn't scare either of them off. "I do have some unfinished business related to that, but it can wait. I intend to make the most of my day off." I grinned.

"Well, I hope we can help with that." Seth matched my grin.

"So do I." Hoo, boy. I blushed again and lowered my eyes back to the menu. I brought up the beverage list and went straight to the wine section. I needed something that'd blunt my nervousness a bit, yet leave me clear-headed enough to enjoy the 'dessert' that I hoped would follow dinner. I selected one and smiled at my companions. "So, what have you been up to since high school?"

My bracelet vibrated and the Wilhelm Scream erupted from it. I twitched and came within an inch of knocking my glass off the table.

Seth burst out laughing and Marissa giggled.

I blushed once again. "Sorry. That's a voicemail coming in."

He chuckled. "Mine's the Dean Scream. Found it in an archive a while back, had no idea what it was but thought it sounded funny."

"Hmm. I'll have to check it out, then. If you wouldn't mind sending me a copy?" I grinned.

"Sure." He took his phone--a standard flip-open model--out of a pants pocket and tapped the menu button.

I unlocked my bracelet and it straightened into a thin strip. I held it up, preparing to set it to receive the file--but then a single word on the screen froze me solid.

Theron. The voicemail was from Theron. Jesus...

"Hey," Marissa said, looking concerned. "Are you okay? You suddenly look like--"

"I...I'm sorry, I have to find out what this message is." Hands shaking, I clipped the earpiece on and played the voicemail.

"I hear you're out of the hospital now. Good. It's time we settled this. I'm sending a location in a text message; be there at nine tonight or you can kiss your friend Shadow goodbye."

I gasped. Shadow?

"And just in case you don't believe me," the message went on, "have a listen."

Shadow's voice in the background a second later: "What the fuck is going on? Who are you assholes? Let me go! Let me go_!"_

"Shit," I mumbled, almost dropping the phone.

"What's wrong?" Marissa reached out and touched my hand.

"I...that was...it's..." My voice faltered and I held my breath for a few seconds.

Theron's voice continued. "Be there alone at nine o'clock. If anyone else shows up, first I'll kill your friend, then I'll kill your whole fucking family." The message ended.

"No..." I unfolded the phone into a sheet just as a text message came in, accompanied by a small map of the area. A red blip marked Shadow's location. I memorized it with a glance, folded the sheet and locked it around my wrist, and pressed my hands against the table to stop their shaking. "I'm sorry--I have to go. It's an emergency."

"Is there anything we can do?" Seth said.

"No. It's..." I ran my talons through my hair and tried to pull myself together. "It's related to my first chaser gig. Long story. Someone's just kidnapped one of my friends and wants me there at nine or he'll kill her."

"Jesus," Seth muttered. "Better call the police."

"I can't! I have to be there alone or..." I shook my head and glanced at my watch; I had barely half an hour to get there. Shadow was a year younger than Sledge, and was completely innocent in this. If that motherfucker hurt her just to get to me...

"Here." Seth took a pen from one of his pockets, grabbed a napkin and wrote down a phone number and email address. "Call me if you need to talk. Hell, just call me no matter what. I need to know you're okay."

"Same here." Marissa grabbed his pen and added her number and address to the napkin.

"Thanks." I sighed. "I'm so sorry to do this after we just met--"

"No, don't worry about that. Just go help your friend." She gave me the napkin. I folded it carefully and slipped it into my wallet.

"Thanks for understanding." I stood and my knee-spikes caught on the underside of the table. I extricated myself, trying to hold in a stream of curses, and fumbled in my pocket for my keys. I took a step toward the door, then turned back, picked up the menu and canceled my order. "See you soon, I hope."

"Be careful."

"Good luck," Seth added.

"Thanks." I headed for the door again--and my tail spikes hooked the chair leg and dragged it behind me. I growled, flicked my tail to get loose, and stormed across the room. I charged through the lobby, startling the guy behind the counter, and said, "Sorry--it's an emergency."

Once outside, I sprinted to my van. My leg ached, but I ignored it. I took my vest off, not giving a shit that I wasn't wearing anything under it. I scooped up my gun from under the seat, strapped the holster on and put my vest back on. Then I climbed into the van, started the engine and screeched out of the parking lot.

#

Theron, you fucking coward! First kidnapping my brother, then my friend, and threatening to go after my whole family. Hiding behind them and his goons instead of facing me like a man. Telling me to exchange my life for Shadow's.

Right. Like I'd trust him not to kill her even if I did give myself up. Like I'd walk into a trap unarmed.

I drove to Hunsaker Beach, near the location Theron had sent in the text message. Shadow was being held in an isolated cabin in the woods, where no one else would witness what was about to happen. I got out and walked the rest of the way, arriving a few minutes before the nine o'clock deadline.

I took a few moments to scope the place out. I counted two guards on each side of the two-floor building, plus six others hiding in the trees surrounding it, each dressed in a black suit and carrying an assault rifle. No way to know how many were inside the cabin, but what else could I do?

I approached the front of the cabin, startling the two guys at the bottom of the stairs. They snapped their guns up, then relaxed ever so slightly when they saw me limping slowly toward them with my hands raised. They let me get as far as the stairs.

"Gotta make sure you're unarmed," one of them grunted, keeping his gun on me and nodding at the other, who frisked me. Of course, he found my gun right off the bat. Damn it.

"We've done our homework," the guy grunted again. "We know this barely scratches the surface."

Normally, that would've been the case, especially if I were on a job. But since I'd been on a dinner date, all I'd brought was the gun and a few extra clips. Getting these guys to believe that, though, would've kept me standing there until way past nine. Still, I tried anyway.

"Your buddy found everything I had."

"There's only one way to be sure." He smirked. "Take your clothes off. All of 'em."

Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me. "There are easier ways to get your hands on a naked anthro chick, you know."

"Just shut up and strip." He jabbed his rifle at me and his buddy took aim as well.

Goddamn it. Shadow didn't have time for me to argue with these pricks. I sighed, took my clothes off and glared at them. "Fine. Happy now?"

Both of them looked me over for a long moment. Fucking creepy.

"Well," the talker said, "I'm surprised. Because of all those huge muscles you have, I figured you'd have a dick, too."

His silent buddy snickered.

I clenched my teeth until my jaw muscles twitched. After taking a long, slow breath to calm myself, I said, "You must be disappointed, then."

He glared back at me, but didn't push it any farther. He and his buddy moved aside and I climbed the stairs and opened the front door slowly. I ducked and stepped through, and gave the front room a quick visual sweep.

Theron stood near one end of a couch in the center of the room, a man in an armored mech suit stood at the other end. Shadow lay on the couch, tied up with an IV going into her right arm.

Shadow's a bit different from most chimeras. She's a draconid, with glowing cyan eyes and skin as black as night, but she's slim and only slightly athletic, and wasn't made for combat. She's a bit stronger than a typical human, but apparently not enough to get out of those ropes.

She stared at me and her eyes glowed brighter with mixed relief and increasing fear.

I tried not to let any emotion show. Other than my contempt for Theron, that is. "Well, I'm here. Let her go."

"Not till I'm finished with you." He scowled at me and pointed at the IV. "In case you're thinking about trying something, those are the same drugs that are used for lethal injections. Well, minus the one that puts you to sleep first." He nodded at the guy in the mech suit. "Get on your knees and let Hans finish you off, or your friend gets juiced."

Shadow moaned and tears trickled down her cheeks.

Shit. That mech was police-issue; they were designed for dealing with anthro criminals back when anthros my size were more commonplace. And there I was, unarmed and fucking naked, faced with the choice of going hand-to-hand with one of those things or watching my friend die. Even if I let them kill me, they wouldn't let her live. Theron hadn't survived this long by leaving witnesses running loose.

"Why?" Shadow sobbed. "Why is this happening?"

I got down on my knees and waited for Hans to clank over to me. He smirked and reached for my throat. I wondered what sort of built-in weapon he would use--blades, maybe, or a lethal electric jolt. Or maybe he'd just crush my neck with that big mechanical hand.

When his pincers were inches from my neck, I did the only thing I could--I braced my feet under me, sprang and tried to shove him out of the way, hoping I could reach Shadow and pull the needle out before it could pump its poison into her.

He went straight for my wounded leg, ramming his fist into it like a huge piston, and brought his other arm down between my shoulder blades. Next thing I knew, I was on the floor with the remains of the coffee table smashed under me and my face ground into the carpet.

Something pressed against the back of my head. Something large and metal. The mech's foot. The bastard was gonna crush my skull like a cockroach.

"Take your time, Hans." In the corner of my eye, Theron smirked. "Prolong her suffering as much as you can."

I tried to slide out from under the mech's foot, but couldn't budge. All I could do was growl.

"How slow do you want it, boss? I could gradually increase the pressure until her skull cracks like an egg, but that'd take maybe thirty seconds. Not nearly long enough, don't you think?"

"Hmm, good point. How about you start by tearing her wings off?"

Oh, shit.

"Okay. But first, maybe you should make her watch her friend die." Hans laughed. "Unless you really were planning to let her go?"

Theron grinned. "Brilliant. You may have just gotten yourself a raise."

No!

Theron held up an object in his hand--pretty obviously a remote control. A control for the IV in Shadow's arm. All he had to do was push a button and she would die right in front of me.

Shadow seemed to realize it at the same moment. Her eyes glowed even brighter and she glanced at me, at the remote, and back to me. She shook her head and her breathing became rapid-fire gasps. "B-Boiler...?"

I screamed and swiped at the mech's legs, but couldn't move them even an inch. Its foot pressed harder, grinding my face into the floor. One of its pincers clamped onto my right wing.

I drew in a breath and roared.

Theron's thumb descended on the button.

Shadow stared at the remote and whimpered.

Theron's thumb touched the button and pressed down with sadistic slowness.

I screamed again, flailing, trying to find a handhold somewhere--anywhere--on the mech suit.

Shadow rolled off the couch, knocking the IV cart over, and the line running into her arm pulled taut. Theron jumped back, panicking, and jammed the button down.

I froze. My heart pounded and my breath caught in my throat.

Shadow wriggled and jerked around, crying and screaming, pulling away from the IV line--and it popped out of her arm. An instant later, a thin stream of liquid spurted from the needle.

Shadow stared at it, gasping, for a long moment--then she slumped to the floor and wept.

I let a long breath rush out--but Theron had to open his mouth again.

"I guess we'll have to be a little less civilized about this. Hans?"

Something above me whirred and clanked. I twisted my head up as much as I could, which wasn't much at all, and saw the barrel of a machine gun projecting from the mech's right arm. And it was pointing straight at Shadow.

Jesus...that cannon's ammo was big enough to cut her in half with only two or three well-placed shots.

Hans waited until she looked up at him and saw the gun. She gasped and her eyes widened again, and then she sobbed and tried to scoot away from him.

The mecha's weight shifted as he adjusted his aim. At the same moment, I managed to wedge my talons into something on its back. I yanked on it, pulling Hans off balance, braced my other hand against his leg, and pushed it off my head. He flailed as he tried to regain his balance--and the cannon went off, blasting a large chunk out of the couch.

I lashed out with my good leg, knocking him off his feet, and dived on top of him, grasping his arm, fighting to keep the gun pointed away from both Shadow and myself.

His other arm came up and slammed into the side of my head. For a second all I could see was white. When my vision cleared, I caught a glimpse of Theron yanking the door open and bolting through.

Yeah, you'd better run, you fuckin' pussy! I pushed myself up--then stopped when the mech's metallic footsteps came at me from behind.

"Now I'm really gonna take my time." He picked me up and threw me across the room. I hit the wall, knocking the wind out of me, and then I was sprawled on the floor again.

Cold metal hands gripped me and slammed me into another wall--and another, back and forth and back again. The room spun around me, my head felt like someone had been using it as a gong, and my lungs were still paralyzed.

Darkness closed in on me...

#

I forced my eyes open, pushed myself to my feet, and faced Hans again--turning just in time to see Shadow wrap her wings around herself and roll across the floor toward him. She reached him as he took a step back, and his foot came down on top of her. He frowned and hesitated, turning to see what he'd stepped on, and I launched myself at him.

I plowed into him at full speed, knocking him over, and came down on top of him. Then I picked him up, turned and hurled him through the front door. He tumbled down the stairs, pieces of the splintered door raining down around him, and the two guards jumped back.

"Kill 'em both!" Theron barked at them, and kept on running into the trees.

The two men raised their guns and charged up the stairs. Behind them, Hans picked himself up.

I ran to Shadow, snapped the ropes binding her, and helped her get up. "Find someplace to hide." I turned back to the two humans as they came through the door and pointed their guns at me.

I crouched, keeping most of my weight off my injured leg, and flexed my muscles. "So, which one of you wants to get his ass kicked first?"

They hesitated for maybe a second. Long enough for me to grab the couch and flip it over on them. They opened up on me, but by then the couch was between us. I pushed it forward, shoving it straight into them, and the one on the right staggered out the door.

The other backed into the wall. I took a step back and plowed into him, squashing him between the wall and the couch. The air rushed from his lungs and he dropped his gun. I shoved the couch out the door, grabbed him and swung him in front of me an instant before his buddy started shooting. The bullets drilled into his back. He screamed, convulsed, and hung limp from my hand.

Outside, a spent clip hit the ground.

I kept the dead asshole in front of me and charged out the door, plowing into his partner just as he got a fresh clip into his gun. I crushed him against the rail that ran along the porch--it cracked and splintered, and gravity took it from there.

Fortunately, the goon and the corpse broke my fall.

No time to savor the moment, though. Clanking footsteps on the left, two pairs of boots coming from the right. There were still six other thugs around the house, plus another six in the area surrounding it--and the douchebag in the mech suit.

I grabbed the goon's rifle and rolled over to face the mech. My talon was too big to fit through the trigger guard, but I managed to pull the trigger with my claw. A little awkward, but it still worked. Sort of. I peppered him with bullets, but they merely bounced off his armor.

I rolled again, using the still-living thug as a shield while shifting my aim to the two others as they appeared from around the corner. Before, I'd been trying not to kill anyone unless I couldn't avoid it--but they'd pushed me too far. I wasn't gonna fuck around anymore.

I pumped both of them full of nine-millimeter rounds. At the same time, Hans let loose with his arm-cannon, blasting my shield's chest open. The impact knocked me over. I jumped back up and took a quick look around, still shielding myself with the body, and spotted my clothes, gun and extra clips on the ground a few yards away.

Behind the mech, naturally. I'd have to get past him to get my hands on a weapon that might punch through his armor.

Son of a bitch.

A scream from inside the house distracted both of us. The mech's helmet snapped around to look at the front door, and I did the same, drawing in a deep breath and freezing.

That scream...that was Shadow. At least one of the goons must have gone into the cabin.

Another scream...followed by a stream of profanity.

I threw the body at Hans, bouncing it off the front of his armor, and bolted up the stairs. He swatted the corpse aside and fired. Splinters and chunks of wood showered me as I stormed into the front room. I found Shadow on top of one of Theron's men, pinning him to the floor and punching him repeatedly in the face. Two others were sprawled on the floor, groaning and pushing themselves up slowly.

"Fucking piece of fucking shit!" Shadow screamed, punctuating each word with another blow. "You tried to fucking kill me! Are you fucking insane?" She kept pounding him until he shat himself noisily and passed out, his face now a bloody, mangled mess.

I grinned, relieved that she was okay, then I picked up the two other humans and pushed one toward Shadow.

"Hold him in front of you. They can't shoot you without killing him first." I scooped up their guns and handed one to Shadow. I stood back to back with her and kept my eye on the door, waiting for Hans to appear. "Head for the back door. If any of these assholes so much as points a gun at us, you shoot him. Don't hesitate, because they sure as hell won't. You gonna be able to handle that?"

She stared at her gun. Her hand shook. She clamped her talons around it, locked her arm around her goon's neck, and nodded. "I guess I'll have to, won't I?"

The mech appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Its left foot lifted, came down on the third step--and punched through. Hans pitched forward and flung his arms out to brace them on the upper stairs.

"Go!" I backed into her and she started walking. I kept my back to hers, watching the doorway until we reached the kitchen and the door swung shut, blocking my view of the front room. We kept moving, and all I could do was wait for the inevitable sound of gunfire.