FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Act XXV: Diabolical Aberration I was pleased to see that Capricorn had waited on me at the sportscar when I emerged. He evidently finished his minor explorations before I had. We regreeted each other, then we got back into the sportscar and headed back toward Las Vegas and the hotel where we had been staying. I was ready to pack up and head to San Francisco, California, and allowed Capricorn to know of my intentions. I was making sure he knew that he could go where ever he liked, or even, return to Rocky Falls, Missouri, if that was his desire. I was surprised when he offered to come along with me. I was surprised but I permitted it. I could only guess that he wasn't quite ready to face Jo just yet.

I told Capricorn that we did have to stay one more night in Las Vegas. I had a promise to honor at the Manhole. Capricorn offered to come along, once again. I was beginning to get the feeling that Capricorn disliked being alone. That evening, Capricorn and I once again walked into the Manhole to have some dinner. We seated ourselves at a table, as the bartender, the werebear, came over and took our orders. He was surprised that my sister Jo wasn't with the two of us this time and I explained why she had to head back. Capricorn and I ordered dinner and drinks, then sat back to watch the show.

The werebear bartender brought our meals to us eventually and we ate quietly, making small talk. I soon finished my meal, though Capricorn was ready to order seconds. I got up from the table, explaining to Capricorn that I had to go see about completing my promise and asked Capricorn to not get drunk; Jo wasn't around to bail him out, this time.

I headed through the curtain in the back and proceeded up to Sterling's office. When I walked in, there was a scene in progress. Sterling was on the floor on his beak and there was an angry werehippopotamus growling and standing over Sterling, preparing to pummel him again.

I did the only thing I could possibly do.

I set off a Chess issue knockout gas grenade.

I never knew how powerful these grenades were. Nor did I know that they weren't meant to be set off indoors. The resulting blast did knock out the werehippo, but the blast blew out the windows, and threw me backwards down both flights of stairs, slamming me into several crates in the basement of the Manhole.

That's the last thing I remembered.

I wasn't sure how long I was unconscious. What I did know was that I awoke to the feeling of being carried by several somethings with hot, sticky, leathery hands. The only sound I could hear was the distant murmur of two voices, both male, from the tones of their vocalization. I also surmised that I was somehow naked. The murmur of the two voices soon ceased, and those carrying me set me down on what felt like a bed, then, I heard them depart.

I slept for a good long while.

When I awoke, I opened my eyes and saw some sort of leathery-skinned morphic creature who had the torso, pouch, arms and tail of a kangaroo; the head, sheath, ballsac, and legs of a muscular hound; and had the short stubby horns and cloven hooves of a goat.

He was standing in front of the only exit from the chamber, and looking directly at me. He folded his arms over his chest when he saw that I was awake, and tilted his head a bit.

"Finally awake, are you? Good. We were starting to think you weren't worth the purchase."

I shook my head and blinked my eyes.

"Uh... where am I?"

He unfolded his arms and approached me, slowly.

"You're in Concordant Hell, at a transfer station between planes. Your body on Earth is evidently in a state of unconsciousness so deep that your psyche was sent here. Some of my servants found you unconscious in the working fields and brought you in. I am Canirugid, Lord of the Realm of Hybrid Satyrs. And who might you be?"

I sat up a little in the bed.

"I am Jansen Tanner. Black King of Chess. I was on vacation in Las Vegas, Nevada, in North America."

I explained the last moments that led up to my awakening here. Canirugid listened, patiently. Then, Canirugid nodded his head and helped me out of bed.

"So. You're the -good- Chess agent we've all been hearing about. Well, looks like you're going to be here for awhile, until someone succeeds in waking up your body from it's unconscious slumber. Come with me. If you help my servants with their work, I'll help you later."

It sounded like a fair deal to me. Wasn't anything I could do until someone awakened my body. I walked with Canirugid to where his servants were waiting. Evidently, I was expected to help carry packages and equipment. A pack mule, in other words.

I sometimes hate it when I am right.

I ended up carrying a bit more than the servants carried. At one point, I had to carry a servant. Don't get me wrong; it's not that he was hurt or exhausted, but he was heavier than he looked, and scent was arousing, as well as being highly distractive. By the end of the extremely longer than usual day, I was finally allowed to rest inside a tent, once again.

I fell asleep instantly.

The next few days seemed to be repeats of each previous day, except that I seemed to be getting stronger with each workout, yet more and more aroused and distracted by the hound-roo-goat servant boy's scent. My physical strength seemed to increase, while my willpower seemed to be sapped and drained away. I didn't know how much more of this I could take.

It was a few days later. I was about totally zombified. It was then that the traveling caravan made the mistake of trying to cross a realm without getting the proper permissions. The entire caravan was attacked by the largest pack of hellhounds imaginable. Lord Canirugid was no match for the houndish forces of these seasoned warriors. I was quickly abandoned with the remains of the smouldering broken caravan. Though I was too weak to flee, and even if I wasn't, a Tanner doesn't flee. Instead, I simply collapsed under the weight of the packs, that seemed to suddenly weigh as much as boulders. As I lay there on the ground, a very large hellhound approached me, padding right up to me, and sniffed me.

"Lord Diablo! This one isn't like our enemies! He's human!"

Another much larger hellhound come over to look at me, and he sniffed me over, as well.

"So he is... My captains, come! Carry this one back to Packholm! Alive, if you can manage it... A human is a greater prize than all the credits and favors in Hell. Pack members! Back to Packholm!"

I was so weakened that I didn't see the route into Packholm and I slept for many days after that.

Meanwhile, back on Earth at the Manhole, the force of the explosion was loud enough to frighten all the customers away and get Capricorn and the bartender up and heading toward the source of the explosion. The bartender was surprised that Capricorn was staying to help. They soon arrived in Sterling's office to find the werehippo unconscious on the floor and Sterling slowly awakening. The heavy iron desk had shielded Sterling from the blast.

Capricorn checked for a pulse on the werehippo, while the bartender helped Sterling over the the bed. Capricorn stood up, after he had finished examining the werehippo.

"He'll live. But he's out cold. How is Sterling?"

Sterling was sitting up now on the bed.

"I am... okay... I must've missed out on whatever happened after the werehippo barged in and punched me. By the great Raven, it looks like a bomb went off in here!"

The bartender went into the bathroom to get the medical supplies.

"It did, boss. It was so loud, that it scared away all the customers, save Capricorn. He actually offered to stay and help. By the way, where is Jansen Tanner? He was supposedly coming up here to talk to you."

All three of them glanced around the wrecked office.

Capricorn hummed, then made a suggestion.

"What if Jansen got to the door, when the explosion went off in his face. Jansen would have been blasted backwards down the stairs. We didn't see him on the ground level, so where could he have landed?"

The bartender replied to this.

"If the blast was as great as I think, then Jansen must've been blown all the down into the basements. Uh oh. I'll go check. Capricorn, you stay with Sterling."

The bartender rushed out of the office and down the stairs. Capricorn came over to Sterling.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Sterling?"

Sterling smiled at Capricorn.

"If you serious about helping me, go into the bathroom. Put on the thick rubber gloves, then return and massage my back and neck muscles."

Capricorn went to do as Sterling asked.

Down in the basement, the bartender came upon Guilmont trying to stop the bleeding from Jansen's head wound. The bartender immediately began helping Guilmont in this task. Soon, they had the bleeding stanched and a head dressing applied. The bartender grinned at Guilmont.

"I think Jansen will be pleased that you came to his aid immediately."

Guilmont nodded his muzzle.

"Jansen made a deal with me. He has to live to make the deal work. He promised me."

The bartender also nodded his head.

"Come on. Let's carefully move him to a bed and try to revive him. Also, we'll need to report this to the local Chess bunker. An icky task but it's important."

Guilmont agreed that it was icky, as he and the bartender carefully moved Jansen's unconscious form to a bedroom. Guilmont stayed with Jansen even after the bartender left to call in this event to the Chess bunker.

Back in Packholm, Lord Diablo was pleased that my health and willpower were recovering. He personally saw to my recovery, which was impressive for a leader to do, and he also made sure that the nutrients I received were good for humans to imbibe. After a few weeks, I was up and around, trying to find things to do. An idle Tanner is a dangerous Tanner.

One afternoon, Lord Diablo came to me where I had been chopping wood.

"Jansen, it's time I escorted you back to Concordance. Once you're there, you'll have the best chance for reawakening on Earth. Of course, your work on Earth is unfinished, but know you this information: this is the closest you've ever come to have being killed since you've joined the Chess organization. It's not really your fault; some of the Chess issue items are more dangerous than they are documented to be. When you get back... make changes. You're a Tanner, after all."

Diablo grinned.

I grinned back. Diablo had a sense of humor, it seemed.

"Yeah, I am a Tanner. Thank you for helping me, Lord Diablo."

Diablo chuckled.

"Who said I was finished helping you? Once you're back on Earth, you may find more Hellhound aid awaiting you. Remember that. Come, we go to Concordance. And while we travel, I'll tell you all about Hellhounds."

The trip back to Concordance was interesting. Diablo did indeed tell me all about Hellhounds. Everything. This was going to make one Hell of a report. Okay, that was a bad pun. But I was being given information on Hellhounds that even Chess didn't know about.

Must be a Tanner thing.

When we arrived in Concordance, Diablo had me step into the 'return' booth, then Diablo and the operator set the controls for the basement of the Manhole in Las Vegas and pressed the firing button. It felt like I was being launched out of the barrel of a shotgun. As I breached the darkness of the sky over Concordance...

Guilmont was applying a damp cloth to my forhead, when my body suddenly quivered. Guilmont turned his muzzle to look directly at my face, as I slowly opened my eyes, and moaned.

Thanks to Diablo, I had made it back to Earth.

Oh, but I was in a LOT of pain. I just lay there and let Guilmont take care of me.

Guilmont smiled!

"HE'S AWAKE! He's awake! You're awake! Oh Jansen! Jansen! You came back! You're back!"

I managed a smiled and muttered a response.

"I had... unfinished business, Guilmont... you're not... in the team... yet... I had... to come back... my head... ow... hurts..."

The bartender and the werejackrabbit came when they heard Guilmont's shouts and the bartender began taking medical readings on me. I also noticed Danath Gaul in the room. He must've made a special trip when he had heard what had happened. Danath gave a smirky grin.

"The Tanner luck holds out once again. My best agent will live. How do you feel?"

I cussed Danath out. It was evident how I felt. Danath just laughed. I then proceeded to tell him what caused this, in detail. Danath wasn't laughing after that; he was taking notes. Danath was starting to leave and I asked him to wait. Danath turned back to me and I gave him my report on Hellhounds, in detail. This interested Danath a lot.

"You met Hellhounds while you were near death? That's amazing! And their lord, Diablo, gave you all the knowledge about Hellhounds that exists... Again you surprise me, Jansen. This is something we were not aware of."

I relaxed and smiled.

"Also, we need to talk about the 'moon-touched' being able to get into Chess, as operatives. Guilmont, here, wants to join Chess. But as you can see, he's a were German Shepherd. I promised him I'd talk to you about this. And now, we're talking about it."

Danath turned to Guilmont.

"You really want to be an operative in Chess? It's not all fun and games, you know. You'll have to start as a Pawn, just like Jansen started. There is classroom training and the eventual in the field opportunities. Are you sure you want in on this?"

Guilmont smiled.

"Jansen turned out to be your best agent. And I can regenerate from injuries. It's a small edge but worth the risk, I'd think... besides... Jesse Vanya also promised me that he'd see about getting me into Chess. And he's dead now. Two Chess agents have made this promise to me, Mr. Danath... can't you let me in? Please?"

Danath hummed. He was indeed thinking about it. Just then, Capricorn walked in with Sterling. Capricorn came to stand near Guilmont and looked Danath in the eye.

"I'd also like to join Chess. With Guilmont. Together. I can help him study and watch out for him to make sure he doesn't accidentally infect anyone during the training."

Guilmont glanced over his shoulder at Capricorn.

"You'd do that for me? Really? Wow... You don't even know me..."

Capricorn smiled at Guilmont.

"What I do know is that you stood guard over Jansen while he was unconscious, stayed with him the whole time. Made sure he wasn't abandoned to his fate. You protected him, just like you'd protect the other Chess agents, were you on their team."

Danath glanced up when Capricorn spoke those last words.

"All right. I know that some of the other operatives will complain about this, but I'll let you both in. But you'll train at Jansen's Xim Complex. It is named after another of Jansen's were friends who fell to a hunter's silver bullet. Once you're fully fledged agents, you'll receive your missions at the complex and you'll give your reports at the complex. I am sure Jansen won't complain about this. He'll be a fine Chess Master himself, some day... and on that day, the two of you will be working for him, not me."

I grinned. Jesse was right. Danath DID intend for me to become a Chess Master. Jesse was pretty damned smart about these things. Now, I just needed to recover from this injury.

Danath turned to Sterling, now.

"Are there any changes you'd like to see in Chess?"

Sterling smiled.

"You're asking me? Well... it is not for me to say. I am not in Chess, nor would I want to be. But if you'll come up to my new office, we can discuss this matter in more private surroundings, agreed?"

Danath nodded his head, and the two of them left the basement bedroom where I was recovering.

There was something eerie about Danath and Sterling working together that just put the icy chill into my body. I knew how each were separately, but together... I shuddered to imagine it. It was a very frightening thought.

The rest of my recovery time took about three weeks or so. During this time, I had several visitors. Among those, Adonis and Quillan Rhoades, Adonis' room mate Ozzy Duguru, my werejackrabbit friend whose name I never did find out, and Krystal Silverly during a rare stopover during one of her PSI cases. Of course, all of the Manhole performers would visit me periodically, too. But my most common visitor turned out to be Falcone Robynson. He would bring me tea and home-cooked meals, and newspapers, and anything else I requested. I had evidently made a huge impression on the young werehawk. Or, Falcone had a lasting crush on me.

The last week of my recovery was spent at the Sanctuary's gymnasium. An idle Tanner is a dangerous Tanner. I had requested a place to workout and get the stiffness out of my bones. Sterling escorted me to the Sanctuary and gave me a room there and showed me the Sanctuary's gym. It was a fully furnished gymnasium and gave me the ample equipment for my workouts.

At the gym, I got many more visitors. A lot of weres of varying types. Some I knew; most I didn't. But all were eager to meet the Chess agent who was a friend to werebeasts. Some of the more buff were-residents helped me workout. They also used the facility to workout, so I was never truly alone during my exercises.

A good many of them were in full support of my becoming the new Chess Master. In fact, they wanted it. And they were always willing to let me know of their support. Evidently, something stank in Chess itself and I was the cleanser with the fast acting ingredients.

Falcone made sure I had all the nicest meals and lots of tea, newspapers, and kept me company when I wasn't working out in the gym. At one point, he did admit that he had a deep crush on me. This kind of scared me, but Falcone assured me that it was just a crush. He told me that it pained him to see me scared of him. During one visit, Falcone cried. Always alone, needing Sterling once a month. Having only weres as friends. Poor kid.

Finally, my recovery ended and I was ever so glad to be given a full bill of health from the Chess bunker doctors. I was ready to leave Las Vegas. I mean, I had not intended to spend a whole month here and I wanted to wrap up my vacation in California with my other friends.

Sterling helped Guilmont, Capricorn and I pack our bags. I promised Sterling that I'd be back, then Guilmont, Capricorn and I piled into my sportscar and we drove off towards California.

---

She whoa'ed!

"You really went to Hell, Jansen? That was a very close call for you. Your sisters would have thrown a huge fit if you had died... but then again, you'd have just ended up in Atlantis."

As she was commenting out loud, someone came in the front door of the house and walked up behind her and leaned around her, kissing her lips with a gentle smile.

"How's it going, love? Find out any government secrets yet?"

She grinned at him and replied.

"Oh hush, Joe. I am reading Jansen Tanner's operative history. He's in some sort of secret organization that investigates the supernatural world, only on a much grander scale."

Joe ShadowWing grinned and petted her chin.

"Nice. I'm going to wash up, then, I'll see about dinner."

Joe headed off into the bathroom, as she turned back to the computer screen. There was a private message, blinking.

---

Naughty, naughty! *winks*

---

She laughed.

"Shush, Jansen. I can kiss and fondle Joe if I want to. He's MY husband, after all."

She finished eating her food and drinking her milk, then she resumed reading the history.

---