# The Game We Play

Author: Hedry
Tags: Bear, Bull, Fox, Male, Micro, Mild Violence, Short Story, Shrinking, Story Progression, Story Series, Wolf

#3 of Mark and Chester

A continuation from 'Best Intentions.' Going quickly now that I've started. I don't like to leave things hanging, so I've decided that this should end and be done in maybe one or two sessions. The tone for this one is a bit different than the last, but hopefully still enjoyable. Again, thanks for reading, and if you like, let me know what you thought.

Mark woke to a dull ache in his mouth and a swollen eye.&nbsp; He pushed his tongue around his mouth to assess the damage.&nbsp; _Blood, no loose teeth._&nbsp; He squinted at his surroundings.&nbsp; _Oh, no..._&nbsp;

Sterile room.&nbsp; Metal table, to which his wrists were manacled; uncomfortable chair.&nbsp; Some kind of button at the other end of the table.&nbsp; _For the manacles?_&nbsp; Drain in the middle of the blue tile floor.&nbsp; No mirrors or cameras.&nbsp; A code locked door.&nbsp; At least he was still wearing his pants...&nbsp;

The fox's eyes bugged out for a moment as he felt movement on his penis.&nbsp; _Chester__!_&nbsp; He immediately ducked his head as close to his crotch as the chains would allow.&nbsp; "Hey," he whispered, "if you can, come up for air, please."&nbsp; After a brief struggle that produced a furious erection, Chester's head popped out from Mark's waistband.

&nbsp;"Okay.&nbsp; Look, I'm sorry for the mess of this, but I think you can get us out of this.&nbsp; On the far end of the table I'm stuck to, there's a button.&nbsp; If you can press it, I'm betting it'll pop these cuffs.&nbsp; Or call for help.&nbsp; Or kill us.&nbsp; But considering our options, I think it's pretty reasonable."

&nbsp;The little bull nodded, looking scared but determined.

&nbsp;"I'm going to get you up there.&nbsp; Don't be afraid, just do your best, okay?"&nbsp; Again,Chester nodded.

&nbsp;"Okay, good."&nbsp; The fox leaned toward Chester, as best he could, and opened his mouth.&nbsp; After a moment's hesitation, Mark could feel his tiny hands grip his front teeth for purchase, and he hauled himself up.&nbsp; The fox gripped his arms with his lips, and lifted him towards the table.

&nbsp;At that moment, with a loud _thunk_ of the lock activating, the door opened.

&nbsp;_Fuck my life,_ Mark thought to himself.

&nbsp;

\*\*\*

&nbsp;

Chester hesitated for a moment.&nbsp; _Really?&nbsp;_ He sighed and reached up to grip whatever tooth he could grab, hauling himself up for a moment before Mark's lips trapped both his arms.&nbsp; _I really don't weigh much at all, do I?_&nbsp; A similar manoeuvre that would have left both his arms broken at his full height merely held him in place firmly, as the fox lifted him towards the table.&nbsp; Chester glanced backwards.&nbsp; _Okay, I see it..._

&nbsp;The lock sprang to life, and the door began to open.&nbsp; With a sharp intake of breath, Mark tossed his head backwards, opening his mouth to release Chester, who, with a squeak of terror, descended within.

&nbsp;At first, all Chester could do was lie still in the fetid air, amazed that he was still alive.&nbsp; He held fast to Mark's tongue, terrified that he would slip away into the darkness behind him.&nbsp; It was too humid, too hot, and smelled far too much of death.&nbsp; Teeth, impossibly large to the little bull, held him prisoner in the darkness, but then Mark opened his mouth just a little, allowing Chester much needed relief from the stifling air, but also letting him see and hear much of the proceedings.

&nbsp;"So we figured out quickly that there was some kind of user identification built into the weapon.&nbsp; The handle, maybe?"

&nbsp;From his vantage, he could see that whoever was addressing Mark was holding the shrink ray.&nbsp; He set it on the table in front of the fox, but just out of reach.

&nbsp;"We're not even sure what it does yet, but we'll figure it out, with or without your cooperation.&nbsp; If you want to change departments, I am sure we could come to excellent accommodations.&nbsp; For starters, what does it do?"

&nbsp;Chester heard steps, and saw a glimpse of a suit.&nbsp; "Not talking?&nbsp; Not even name, rank, and serial number?"&nbsp; Laughter.&nbsp; "We've got a working theory that if we cut off your hand, we'll be able to use it on the weapon to activate it.&nbsp; We're going to test that theory out in about five minutes if you don't start talking.&nbsp; From where I'm standing, I think it's a pretty reasonable choice.&nbsp; Lucrative new job in a new department, or you lose a hand and then we see what happens."&nbsp; More footsteps, and then Mark opened his mouth wide.

&nbsp;For just a moment,Chester could see the whole scene.&nbsp; A wolf in a dress shirt, gun holstered under his left arm, his jacked draped across the chair on the other end of the table.&nbsp; The shrink ray, just out of reach of Mark's manacled hands.

&nbsp;Completely exposed but not watched,Chester leapt out of Mark's mouth and dashed towards the shrink ray, rolling beside its grip.

&nbsp;"I don't know, it all seems so sudden," said Mark, finally free to speak.&nbsp; The wolf spun.&nbsp; "I mean... what are you offering?&nbsp; Specifics, please, I'm really not interested in speculation.&nbsp; Paperwork, that's really my thing."

&nbsp;_He's distracting him..._&nbsp; The bull began to crawl, keeping tabs on the wolf's position, using the shrink ray as cover.

&nbsp;"So you _can_ talk.&nbsp; I wondered if we'd beaten the sense out of you.&nbsp; Fine.&nbsp; What's on the table is this: you switch teams, you tell us what this thing can do, you help us reverse engineer it, and you get about twice what you were making."

&nbsp;Mark laughed, and the wolf, annoyed, stepped closer.&nbsp;Chester dashed.&nbsp; "What's so funny?" asked the wolf.&nbsp; "It's not a bad offer."

&nbsp;"I'm going to let you in on something," responded the fox, in a hushed tone, causing the wolf to lean closer.

&nbsp;"What?" asked the wolf quietly.

&nbsp;_Click._

&nbsp;"The fuck?"&nbsp; The wolf reached for his weapon, but not before Chester saw Mark grab the shrink ray.&nbsp; A second later, with a horrifyingly shrill shriek, the wolf disappeared under the lip of the table, and then the room was momentarily silent.

&nbsp;

\*\*\*

&nbsp;

Mark saw Chester bolt.&nbsp; _Good boy!_&nbsp; The fox laughed.&nbsp; The government wolf looked reasonably offended.&nbsp; "What's so funny?&nbsp; It's not a bad offer."

&nbsp;The fox grinned.&nbsp; "I'm going to let you in on something," he said quietly, causing the wolf to lean closer, as expected.&nbsp; He watched, as Chester reached the button, and jumped on top of it with all his might.

&nbsp;"What?" asked the wolf, seemingly genuinely puzzled.&nbsp; The manacles clicked open, the wolf hesitated.&nbsp; "The fuck?"

&nbsp;Mark rushed for the shrink ray, now easily within grasp, and spun it towards the wolf, blasting him before he'd even had a chance to grip his weapon properly.&nbsp; Quickly, the wolf lost height, and as he slipped under the table, he began to scream in terror, a note that got higher and quieter as he diminished, becoming nothing more than an inaudible pip as his clothes covered him and he disappeared.

&nbsp;The fox stepped over the pile of clothes, leaving the gun where it lay, and grabbed Chester.&nbsp; "Kinky and safe.&nbsp; I'll explain everything later.&nbsp; And thank you."&nbsp; Above protestations, he returned the bull to the confines of his boxers and turned his attention to the door.&nbsp; _They'll have heard something by now._

&nbsp;Predictably, the door began to open, and Mark positioned himself behind it.&nbsp; A large brown bear entered.&nbsp; "Did they leave?" he muttered to himself.

&nbsp;"Nope!" Mark responded merrily as the door closed and he shot the bear, cutting his height by half.&nbsp; "I remember you!&nbsp; How's it feel now?"&nbsp; He stepped out from behind the door and hit the surprised bear in the face, knocking him to the floor as he tripped over his own pants.&nbsp; The fox kicked him.&nbsp; "There.&nbsp; I feel better, how about you?"&nbsp; He shot the bear again before he could respond, and he squealed as feet dwindled into inches.&nbsp; The fox picked him out of his pants and held him tightly in one hand.&nbsp; "Now.&nbsp; You are I are going to have a conversation.&nbsp; You're going to tell me everything I want to know, and then I'll decide what to do with you.&nbsp; Deal?"

&nbsp;The bear nodded, too terrified to speak.

&nbsp;"Good.&nbsp; First, how many people are here, besides you and your friend?"

&nbsp;The bear shook his head.&nbsp; "No one.&nbsp; We were just sent to deal with you and come back.&nbsp; This wasn't supposed to happen."&nbsp; He began to cry.

&nbsp;Mark patted the bear on the head with his thumb.&nbsp; "Shh, shh.&nbsp; Okay then.&nbsp; Combo for the lock from this side, please?"

&nbsp;"88420.&nbsp; Please... I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I just - "

&nbsp;Mark interrupted again, stroking the bear on the top of the head with his thumb.&nbsp; "Shh, shh... it's okay.&nbsp; Now, let's go find your friend, shall we?"&nbsp; The fox stepped over towards the pile of clothes and began to lift them apart carefully, scanning for movement before finding the miniscule wolf, barely more than a sliver, crawling inside the white shirt.&nbsp; With one claw, he carefully extracted the terrified canine, and he set him upon the metal table, accompanied by his companion, who, comparatively towered over him.

&nbsp;Mark picked up one of the chairs and manoeuvred it around to face the duo, spinning it backwards to sit leaning towards them.&nbsp; "Now I'm not sure what I'm going to do with you two.&nbsp; Send you back to your department for explanation?&nbsp; I wonder what they'll do to you. &nbsp;Put you under the microscope, maybe?"&nbsp; He produced the gun again, holding it over the bear.&nbsp; "It's not really fair, he's smaller than you are."&nbsp; With a squeeze of the trigger, the bear shrunk again, crying as he got smaller and smaller, until he was no bigger than his companion.&nbsp; "But maybe I just don't care."&nbsp; The gun hovered over both of the agents, and they began to plead inaudibly, a desperate pantomime.&nbsp; Again, Mark squeezed the trigger, and they both diminished.&nbsp; They moved close to each other and hugged.&nbsp; "Ants.&nbsp; You're both ants now."&nbsp; He could not even see their expressions clearly anymore.

&nbsp;Mark stood up and turned around, so they could not see his face.&nbsp; _I am not the bad guy.&nbsp; That was supposed to make me feel better, but now I just feel evil.&nbsp; This was their job, and this is the game we play, but..._

&nbsp;He twisted the dial on the shrink ray, and aimed it at the pair, and they began to grow, bigger and bigger, stopping at two feet tall.

&nbsp;The fox smiled coldly.&nbsp; "Gentlemen, I think I have an idea that we can all get behind."

Source: https://sofurry.com/s/YnLEOaA1
Part of the series Mark and Chester
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