{"sf1_id":573603,"sf2_id":null,"title":"My Wonderful Little Sister: Love's Twilight Is Its Brightest Hour","author":"ArcticWolf451","words":11004,"posted_at":"2013-08-07T23:32:00.000Z","tags":["Death","Fox","Guns","M/F","Military","Plot Development","Red Panda","Semi-incest","Violence (not In Yiff)","Wolf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/573603-my-wonderful-little-sister-love-s-twilight-is-its-brightest-hour","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/573603","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=573603\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n\nDisclaimer: You know the drill the by now...either be 18 or\nolder to read this or get out. ...still here? Well, I admire your persistence.\nOkay, you can stay, but I'm NOT responsible if your mom catches you on here...or\ndad if your mom is dead or something. If both parents are dead then don't sweat\nit....although come to think of it that is god awfully depressing, and you have\nmy pity (something not easily earned in this world). So, read on at your own\nrisk. Just check the tags for what may or may not be in the following\nparagraphs. Also, all characters belong to me Casonova, so don't get any ideas\nabout doing a fanfic without my permish...m'kay? I think we understand each other\nnow, so read on! *cough* Pervert! ;D\nHey! Who threw that?  \nPanama City - 6:08 P.M.\nShortly after coming to, I noticed a couple of\nstrange things. One, my wounds had miraculously healed into nothing but bruises\nor mild scars. It was almost as if I'd never been mowed down in the first\nplace. The second thing was that somehow I was still holding Elsie's sickle\ndespite now being alive. For a moment I wondered if I actually was, but the\nfact that I could barely stand up combined with the number of startled\ncivilians now running away due to a corpse suddenly climbing back from the dead\ntold me that this was indeed the land of the living. Strangely, I couldn't\nactually drop the sickle either. When I released it, it simply flew back into\nwhichever paw was closer as if they were connected by magnets. I figured I\ncould worry about getting through airport security later; right now I needed to\ngrab Katie and rescue her pals before Elsie could do anything to expedite their\ndemise. \n\"Katie, Katie you okay?\" I asked while shaking her\nlimp form. \n\"Ugh, y-yeah, I'm fine,\" she groaned before going\nthrough a similar process I did, including vomiting all over herself. \"Eewww,\npffbleeh! Why does coming back from the dead hurt so much this time?\"\n\"Probably because last time you hadn't broken every\nbone in your body,\" I suggested while helping her to stand up. \"C'mon, we've\ngot to hurry and get to the TV station before anything happens to your\nfriends.\"\n\"What time is it anyway, how do we know we're not\ntoo late?\" Katie asked me as I scavenged a couple of PT-92s off a pair of dead\nrebels and took their extra magazines. \n\"Dunno,\" I answered truthfully while racking the\nslide on one of the pistols before giving it to Katie, \"But we've got to at\nleast try to save them, right?\"\n\"Uhh...no duh. But maybe you should use the guns,\nthose aren't really my forte...and where'd you get that sickle?\"\n\"Can't drop it.\"\n\"What?\" she remarked while cocking her head in\nconfusion.\n\"Look, I can't explain why I can't drop it, all I\nknow is that it helped get us here, so maybe it can help us get to your\nfriends,\" I replied.\nShe nodded and took my left wrist since my paws\neither had a gun or sickle blade in them. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes,\nand pictured myself with one of the captives, only to find myself still\nstanding on the sidewalk like a moron. \n\"Damn it, looks like we're walking,\" I sighed.\n\"You've got to be kidding me,\" Katie huffed at the\nsickle...or me, not really sure. \n\"I guess this thing's only magic...well cool magic,\nwhen we're not in the land of the living,\" I guessed while taking off towards\nthe TV studio.\nFortunately for me, Elsie had let it slip as to just\nwhere the hostages were being held. Mr. Baker had made me study a map of the\nsurrounding area, and the TV studio had caught my eye if only because it had\nthe magic letters \"TV\" in the title. I'm a dude, sue me. \nFrom what I could guess, the hostages were probably\nbeing kept in front of cameras broadcasting live to all the local networks and\nthe internet, thus acting as a deterrent against anyone attempting to intervene\nin the revolution. Naturally, we'd attempt a rescue, and if what Elsie said was\ntrue, that rescue would end with all the hostages face down in a pool of their\nown blood. The rebels would see a rescue force coming from a mile away and\ncould prosecute the hostages in seconds. However, if they saw only a pair of\nbeat up kids coming at them, they'd likely think they could stop us before\nneeding to execute any of their precious human shields. At least that was the\ntheory...\n\nLittle did the two Blackmon\nsiblings know that their story was coming to a close. The next hour of their\nlives would also be one of the most intense, even more so than what they'd been\nthrough together the past few days, weeks, even years. It would require an\nultimate sacrifice for everything to end well, and even then someone would\nstill have to die. Kyle had been mulling over what to do about Elsie as he and\nKatie made their way up the street to the studio, and even as he approached the\nshattered glass doors he still did not know what to do. For now, his instincts\nkicked in and he focused on getting Katie's friends out alive. \nNaturally, the doors were\nguarded by the rebels who had barricaded themselves behind the receptionist's\ndesk in the lobby. The pair of ocelots waiting with AK-74s were quite surprised\nhowever when they were confronted with a couple of young wolves rather than the\npolice. \n\"Eh! Who the fuck are you\ntwo?\" one of the rebels challenged in heavily accented English. \nHaving expected to at least\nmeet one rebel outside the studio, Kyle was slightly caught off guard by the\nsudden appearance of two gun toting thugs standing a mere twenty feet before\nhim. His eyes caught the glint of a rifle barrel as it came over the desk, and\nwithout hesitation he nudged Katie with his shoulder to knock her down while\nbringing up his gun in a lightning quick draw. \nBLAM BLAM BLAM!\nKyle squeezed off three\nshots into the first rebel's chest and shoulders as he strafed to side and slid\nonto his side on the slick tile floor. A salvo of bullets narrowly missed him\nas they passed overhead before ricocheting off the floor and into the ceiling\nlength windows that surrounded the building's many floors. Kyle whipped his\ngun's sights to the second rebel and fired a shot clean through the ocelot's\nthroat. Time seemed to slow down, and for a brief second Kyle saw the bullet\nleave a thin, clear vapor trail through the air before punching a massive hole\nin the rebel's neck and spraying beads of blood and saliva all over the desk in\nfront of him. \nWhoa...what the hell was that? Kyle thought to himself as he stood up and shook\nhis head.\nOffering her his wrist,\nKyle helped Katie back up as she glimpsed at the two dead rebels. She quickly\nturned her eyes away and retched, her mind trying to block out the carnage\nshe'd just witnessed.\n\"Katie, you okay?\" \n\"Y-yeah, I'll be f-fine,\"\nshe choked as she tried to swallow a lump in her throat. \n\"We gotta move, they'll\nhave heard the shots and start getting jumpy,\" he replied as he lead the way to\nthe elevator and hit the button for the top floor. \"We'll start on number ten\nand work our way down.\"\nKatie nodded but said\nnothing as she tried to control her breathing, her mind only now grasping just\nhow real and how deadly her situation had become. \nDING!\nKyle pushed Katie back\nagainst the side wall as the doors opened to a room filled with flattened\ncubicles and nearly a dozen rebels all looking to see who their uninvited\nguests were. \n\"Oh shit!\" \n\"Qué carajo?!\" a rebel jaguar spat as he rushed to shoulder his gun.\nIn an\ninstant the room was filled with a chorus of gunfire; bullets impacting and\nbouncing every which way like a swarm of pissed off hornets. Kyle's ears went\ndeaf, only the dull ring of tinnitus remained as he crouched next to the\nelevator's control panel while the wall behind him was torn to shreds. A few\nbullets bounced and grazed his shoulders and legs, their hot sting taunting him\nas he wondered when that one lucky round would find its way into his heart.\nFangs barred, he leapt forth around the corner and jumped headfirst into the\nstorm of bullets while unloading the rest of his PT-92's magazine. The sickle\nseemed to glow hot in his paw, and once again everything slowed down as he managed\nto lay several well placed shots into three rebels crowded together around a\npalette of ammo boxes. Crimsonspigots of blood erupted from their chests, arms,\nand legs as Kyle's fusillade of gunfire managed to take them down. \nKyle gasped\nas he landed on his gut with several of his empty shell casings beneath him.\nEverything had sped back up, his enemies' bullets no longer hovering mere hair\nbreadths from his face. The remaining rebels looked on dumbfounded, many of\nthem unaware that they had run out of ammo. A coyote with an AK-74u standing in\nthe corner to Kyle's right decided reloading would take too long and charged\nforth, his rifle held overhead ready to swing the butt plate clean into Kyle's\ncranium. Kyle heard the yote's war cry and whipped around to view his attacker\nbefore quickly rolling over once and springing back to his feet. Like the\ncoyote, his gun was empty and thus just a very expensive paperweight. \nKyle\ncringed and held up his arms to block the blow when a single shot rang out, the\nsonic concussion startling everyone as the coyote suddenly stumbled and fell\nwounded on the floor, a clean hole in his upper thigh spewing hot blood onto\nthe carpet. Kyle glanced back at Katie to see her shivering in fear with one\npaw clasped over her mouth, the other shakily holding her pistol. He gave Katie\na curt nod before lunging at the coyote and jabbing the sickle through his back\nto finish him off, making sure to grab the AK-74u as well. Slinging his new\nrifle across his shoulders, Kyle scurried as fast as he could behind a nearby\nsteel desk just as the other rebels finished slapping fresh magazines into their\nweapons. Kyle hadn't managed to grab any mags for the AK, so instead he hastily\nreached for one of his spares for the PT-92 and chambered a round just as a\npair of rebels started to move towards Katie. \nQuickly\nKyle stood up and took aim, the rebels instantly switching targets from Katie\nto him and unloading a torrent of lead once again. Snapping off a quick three\nshots, Kyle managed to down one rebel before nearly catching a face full of hot\ndeath as he hit the deck and rolled behind another desk as his former location\nwas ripped to shreds. Stray rounds shattered the ceiling to floor windows\nbehind him, others tore up the carpet and were left jammed in the floorboards.\nOne enterprising rebel fennec fox tried to flank Kyle as he was pinned down,\nmoving in along the top of the room opposite the elevator. Seconds later he\nrounded the row of desks and had a clear bead on Kyle. \nBLAM\nBLAM BLAM *CLICK*!\n\"Cazzo!\" \nKyle felt\nthe hot kiss of a bullet as it cut through his lower back's flesh, fortunately\nonly grazing him. Whipping to his right he was surprised to see a fox fighting\nto unjam his M-972 SMG. More bullets impacting around him spurred him to react\nfast, his new plan no more insane than his idea of entering a TV studio filled\nwith socialist gunmen. Kyle took off in a crouched sprint for the fennec just\nas he managed to clear the spent casing from his gun. The fox silently gasped\nas he was face to face with a wolf nearly a full head taller than him, his\nfingers desperately hunting the trigger on his weapon. Kyle's suicidal charge\nwas too quick though, and before the fox knew it Kyle had sliced him across the\nface with his sickle, a wound more painful than deadly. Suddenly the fox felt\nan arm wrap around his neck and the sickle blade pressed against his uncut cheek\nas Kyle took him as a human shield and began laying into the rebels with his\npistol. \n\"Ai Dios\nmio!\" the fox cried in terror as he realized his comrades weren't going to hold\ntheir fire on his account. \nAnother\nrebel fell dead as Kyle's bullets plowed a new breathing hole through the man's\nface, followed by yet another whose organ donor card was just rendered invalid.\n\n*Click!*\nKyle's\npistol ran dry of ammo, and without missing a beat he tossed it aside and\npulled the fennec's own gun from his waistband and flicked off the safety\nbefore continuing to mow down the remaining rebels. The few surviving rebels\nquickly rushed down a nearby stairwell, their screams a mix of Spanish and\nEnglish as they shouted for their comrades to arm themselves and start barricading\ndoors. Meanwhile, Kyle dropped his human shield and fired off what happened to\nbe the last round in his gun through the wounded fox's skull before marching\nover to Katie.\n\"Katie! You\nokay, sis?\"\n\"H-how...how'd\nyou do that?\" she shakily asked from her corner of the now disabled elevator,\nits doors jammed thanks to ricocheting bullets having destroyed the control\npanel.\n\"Do what?\nKill all those guys? I did better than that back in the war,\" Kyle shrugged as\nhe helped Katie back to her feet. \"Thanks for getting that one guy though, I\nowe yah big time.\"\n\"Y-you have\nno idea,\" Katie replied before giving him an angry shove. \"God! Why did I agree\nto stay with you all this time? You'd think after all the times we've almost\ndied I'd be smart enough to know when to break it off with you!\"\n\"Oh c'mon\nsis, don't try to blame this mess on me...\"\n\"WE'RE HERE\n'CAUSE YOU GOT A BLOWJOB IN THE DESERT YOU STUPID DICK!\"\n\"Fair\nenough...but you were the one who first kissed me soooooo...\"\n\"Oh don't\neven try to blame this on me,\" Katie growled while waving her PT-92 in her paw,\n\"You're the one who wanted to fuck in the middle of the afternoon and forgot to\nlock the damn door! Thanks to you, we got caught and now our parents think\nwe're perverts!\"\n\"Aren't\nwe?\"\n\"DON'T\nCHANGE THE SUBJECT!\" \n\"I\nwasn't...sis are you feeling alright?\" Kyle fearfully asked looking around for\nsomething to duck behind.\n\"NO! I'm in\nthe middle of this third world trash hole trying to live what has been my dream\njob since I was twelve, and I can't because somehow the guy I'm mated to\ndragged a socialist rebellion into my life and got all my friends kidnapped,\nand now it's up to me and him to go on a suicidal rampage to save them, and I\nFUCKING hate violence. Do you think that's gonna make me feel al-.\"\n\"DIE YOU\nLITTLE BITCHES!\" came the sudden shout of a pair of American rebels, a gray fox\nand a mountain lion, as they rushed into the room, AKs held at the ready.\nWithout\neven blinking Katie suddenly turned and dumped her entire mag into the both of\nthem as Kyle scrambled to pick up the closest gun he could find, only to\nrealize his sister had just ventilated both enemies with deadly thoroughness. \n\"I'M NOT\nDONE TALKING HERE!\" Katie angrily yelled over the deafening ring of tinnitus in\nher ears. \n\"Holy shit!\nKatie...that was awesome!\" \n\"Oh forget\nyou Kyle, I'm still learn...wait, that was...awesome?\"\nKyle nodded\nenthusiastically as he picked up a pair of M-972s and handed one to Katie along\nwith a few spare mags for it. \n\"Hells yeah\nit was! What happened? A minute ago you were cowering in the elevator and now\nyou're suddenly a badass.\"\n\"I'm pissed\nat you, that's what happened,\" Katie sternly said while yanking at the M-972\nKyle passed her. \n\"I can\ntell. You've used more profanity in the last two minutes than you had in your\nentire life up to this moment. Still, the fact that you can actually help me\nfight these guys should speed this whole thing up. What do you say; you ready\nto go rescue your friends?\"\n\"Sure, just\nshow me how to...\"\n\"You push\nthis to eject the mag, and pull this to load it after poppin' in a new one,\"\nKyle said cutting her off as he showed her how to operate her weapon.\nKatie just\nsighed. \"You know me too well, don't you?\"\n\"It's\nbecause I love you, sis,\" Kyle replied with a grin as he lead the way to the\nstairwell and down to the next floor.\n\"I love you too, you stupid\ngoofball,\" Katie relented with a shake of her head as she followed him closely\ndown the stairs. \n\nMeanwhile...\nThings were not going well\nfor Marcus Caldwell. Even with his hostages being shown on live TV the American\nmilitary was showing no signs of backing off. Already reports had come in via\ntext message that U.S. Army helicopters were on their way up from Colombia, and\nthat the U.S. Marines were airlifting an entire expeditionary unit to the\nairport that very minute. Even worse, Noriega had just been captured by the\nPanamanian police paramilitaries assaulting the rebel positions in the city.\nCaldwell wondered how in the world such a thing could happen, how such foul\nluck could befall them like this. \nLittle did he know it was\nnothing but a case of poor timing on Noriega's part. Instead of headlining for\nhis hacienda in the mountains as planned, he had decided to try and rally his\nmen to take a nearby police precinct in order to capture the weapons cache\nthere. The result had been most of Noriega's men getting mowed down followed by\na can of tear gas into the room he was cowering in. \nWith news of Noriega's\ncapture spreading through the rebel lines, many of them chose to give up and retreat,\nwhile others just flat out surrendered. Caldwell was having a hell of a time\nkeeping his men together, as many of them wanted to escape while the police\nwere still busy rooting out the other rebel positions. He knew they were right,\nbut part of him just couldn't accept a second defeat so soon after the last one\nwhen he'd been an officer in the PRA. But as of this moment, Caldwell's mind\nwas focused on only one issue...\n\"God damn it people, what's\nwith all the shooting up there? Are they roping in from a helicopter or\nsomething?\" Caldwell angrily shouted across the studio to his second in\ncommand.\n\"Negative sir, their saying\nit's a pair of kids from the missionary group.\"\n\"Bullshit. A couple of\nscared kids from the states can't possibly take on a whole building of armed\nguards, much less even work Soviet era guns and equipment.\"\n\"Wait,\" Caldwell's\nlieutenant interrupted as he received another call over the radio, \"They're\ncoming downstairs now.\"\nEveryone in the studio\nlooked up at the ceiling towards the ninth floor as the chatter of AK and sub-machinegun\nfire echoed through the steel rafters. Caldwell's guards hastily shouldered\ntheir weapons and took up positions around the door leading into the studio,\nleaving the hostages huddled together on the floor in front of the cameras.\nThey knew it was only a matter of time before whatever was making those sounds\nreached them. \n\"Oh shit...\" Caldwell gasped\nunder his breath as he cowered behind a computer terminal with his sidearm\ndrawn. \nKnock knock!\n\"Huh? Who the hell's\nthere?\" asked an American wolf as he hesitantly lowered his AK at the sound of\nsomeone knocking on the door.\n\"Yo! It's Donovan,\" came a\nmale voice, \"Yeah we capped those two punks, it's all clear.\"\n\"Oh thank fuck,\" the wolf\nsighed as everyone lowered their weapons and smiled in relief amongst\nthemselves. \"You know, you didn't have to come all the way down here to tell us\nthat Don, but I can understand why you'd...THE FUCK?\"\nAs the wolf opened the\ndoor, he was greeted with the sight of a hyena clasping his paws to his head\nwhilst Kyle jabbed the barrel of a PT-92 in his back and marched him into the\nroom, while Katie followed close behind with an AK-74u strapped to her\nshoulder. \n\"Oh my god, they weren't\nkidding when they said it was a pair of kids,\" Caldwell disbelievingly observed\nas the other guards hesitated to point their weapons anywhere but the floor or\nceiling.\nKyle just grinned as he\nkept a tight grip on his prisoner. \"Yes, and most of 'they' are also dead now,\nsave for good ol' Donovan here who just happened to make the smartest decision\nof his life when I told him to drop his weapon.\" \n\"And then you just made the\ndumbest decision of yours by comin' in here with him the only thing between you\nand us,\" Caldwell retorted gruffly. \n\"Dude, I've made way stupider\nchoices than walking into a room full of armed guards,\" Kyle nonchalantly\nreplied. \"Now, here's what's going to happen. First, you're all gonna drop your\nweapons and go sit in the corner. Second, I'm gonna take these spoiled rich\nkids who are trying to do something productive for once in their miserable\nlives with me, and we're all gonna bail. Then lastly, you guys can get outta\ndodge before the cops show up and nail you all for terrorism or something.\"\n\"Ha! You really think\nthat...\"\n\"Oh! And did I mention I'm\nnot human, I'm Death Incarnate and if you don't comply I will personally reap\neach and every one of your souls with this handy little sickle I picked up in\nHell's version of Home Depot?\" Kyle said while holding the sickle above his\nhead for the others to see. \"And if anyone here thinks I'm bluffing, ask\nyourselves, 'If he's lying, then how did he manage to get here?'\"\nCaldwell started to laugh\nwhen suddenly he heard the sounds of his men dropping their weapons and raising\ntheir paws in submission. \n\"What the? What you idiots\ndoing?!?\"\n\"You heard him sir, this\nguy's whack!\" replied an otter looking over his shoulder at Caldwell. \n\"He's a fucking delinquent\nwho got lucky! For fuck's sake, half of you guys are atheists to begin with,\"\nCaldwell groaned while slapping a paw to his forehead. \n\"Yes,\" replied the wolf who\nnow regretted his decision to open the door, \"Which means we don't believe in a\ngod. I'm pretty sure we all believe in Death though. It's a scientifically\nobservable fact.\"\n\"Glad that you all see it\nmy way,\" Kyle grinned as he pushed Donovan away and ushered the now disarmed\nguards into a corner. \"C'mon Caldwell, don't make me punish this gun by having\nto fire another round of this shitty Chinese made ammo your guys loaded it\nwith.\"\n\"Fuck off...whatever your\nname is, you and that little bitch there aren't taking my hostages anywhere,\"\nCaldwell growled before pulling a frag grenade off his belt and yanking the pin\nout. \"There! Now if you shoot me you'll blow us all up!\"\nEveryone froze, their eyes\nlocked on Caldwell as he held the now live grenade in his right paw, his\nfingers holding down the safety bar that kept the fuse from igniting. Once he\nlet go, they'd have about five seconds before it went off and turned anyone\nnear it inside out. \n\"Now, here's what you're\ngoing to do if you don't want me to drop this on your friends here,\" Caldwell\nsaid as he walked over and stood next to the hostages, all of them now\nstruggling against their binds and trying to scream through the duct tape\nplastered over their mouths. \"First, you're going to drop your weapons, then\nyou're going to let Donovan tie you up, and if you're lucky I won't kill you when\nthe police finally show up here.\"\nKyle gritted his teeth\nbefore glancing at Katie. Her eyes met his, and together they knew that this\nwas not going to end well. Katie was certain she was about to watch her friends\ndie, and wondered just how she was going to be able to forgive herself for\nletting it happen. Kyle on the other paw knew that letting those kids die was\nsomething he could not under any circumstances allow to happen. Reluctantly, he\ntook a deep breath and raised both his paws in the air. Then, he turned his\nhead towards Katie and whispered to her.\n\"I love you sis, always.\"\nKyle looked back to Caldwell\nand slowly approached him, his paws still held up with his sickle in one hand\nand his PT-92 in the other. Caldwell merely smirked with satisfaction as he\nwatched Kyle slowly approach with what he assumed was intent on surrendering. \n\"Last chance,\" Kyle offered\nin a hushed voice.\n\"For what?\"\n\"For you to put the pin\nback in that grenade and to go join your men in the corner.\"\nCaldwell just huffed and\nshook his head while motioning for Kyle to drop his weapons. Kyle started to\nlower his paws, when suddenly he raised his pistol and fired three shots past\nCaldwell and into the pane glass windows behind him. Caldwell flinched, his\neyes blinking shut from the concussion of the muzzle blast coming from a mere\ntwenty feet before him. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted with the sight\nof Kyle charging him head on. The next thing everyone knew, Kyle locked\nCaldwell up in a firm tackle and shoved him back against the now weakened\nwindow behind them. The perforated panes couldn't withstand the weight of two\ntwo-hundred pound individuals crashing against them, and in an instant there\nwas the chilling sound of shattering glass, followed by Caldwell's terrified\nscreams as he plummeted to his death a hundred and twenty feet below. \n*thud* .........Ka-BOOM!\n\"NOOOOOOOOOOO!\" Katie\nshrieked in terror as she rushed to the window and looked out below only to\nfind a gray plume of dust and smoke swirling over the bloodstained streets. \n\"Now! Get the bitch!\" came\na muffled shout from behind her. \nWhirling about, Katie saw\nthe remaining rebels trying to rush from their corner to scoop up their\nweapons. Without a moment's hesitation Katie opened fire, her ears nearly deaf\nfrom the sonic pounding each time her AK barked and sank a leaden fang into the\nthroats of the men who'd dared to kidnap her friends. Everyone froze after her\nfirst burst of fire split one wolf's head in two and left a panther's arm\nhanging by a tendon as he bled out on the floor. The five other rebels simply\nstood there, unsure of what to do next. Katie simply stared them down, her paws\nquivering as she stifled her tears and slowly curled her lips back into a\npained scowl. Then, without remorse, she hoisted her AK again and fired a\nsingle shot through a coyote's heart, the exit wound leaving a sizeable\nsplatter of blood on the wall behind him. \nThe other four quickly\nbolted for the door, only for Katie to shoot wild and bring them down with\nshots to their legs and hips. With her AK now empty, Katie tossed it aside and\nretrieved a Swiss made Sig P228 from one rebel's holster and slowly approached\nthe survivors now limping or crawling their way down the hall towards the\nelevator. The first rebel she approached was an otter who'd been struck in his\nthigh. His femoral artery was severed, and nearly a pint of blood had already\nspilled out of him and onto the studio's cheap carpeting. Katie decided not to\nwaste a bullet and simply walked past him to an ocelot clutching at the wall as\nhe tried to hop away on one foot, as a pair of bullets had nearly torn his\nright leg off at the knee. \n\"Por favor...por favor...\" he\nweakly pleaded as Katie approached him.\nBLAM!\nThe gunshot startled the\nother two, a pair of foxes, who had only been grazed and managed to the elevator,\nonly to find that it was no longer working thanks to the careless shooting of\ntheir comrades upstairs. \nBLAM!\nOne fox fell to the floor,\na 9mm slug now buried in a slushy mix of what had once been his lungs and\nheart. The other turned to face Katie, his paws waving above his head as he\nstuttered a plea of surrender, only for his words to slowly taper off into\nsilence as his eyes stared into Katie's and he realized that the wholesome,\ninnocent little girl that resided in her body was now a soulless killing\nmachine. \nBLAM!\nKatie's shot went low and\nstruck the fox in his shin. Falling to his knees, the vulpine rebel resumed his\npleas for mercy, only for Katie to take a slow breath and steady her aim. As\nshe pointed her gun at the fox, her weapon's sights briefly blurred as her eyes\nfocused on the cowering sod before her, his eyes wide in panic as he screamed\nhis supplications for mercy. Katie sighed dejectedly as she began to lower her\nweapon, her heart telling her that killing this man in cold blood was wrong.\nPart of her still wanted to hold back, to stop before she did something she\nregretted. However, in her mind all she could see was Kyle plummeting out the\nwindow in a final act of defiant bravery to protect her and the others. And\nwith that image came the strength of will squeeze the trigger one more time.\nBLAM!\nKatie gasped in surprise as that final gunshot\nrang out, her mind feeling dizzy as if having suddenly awoken from a bad dream.\nLooking about, the gravity of her actions began to sink in, and she fell to her\nknees while staring at the still smoking gun in her paws. All around her lay\nthe foes that she and Kyle had slain together, plus the final squad of\nCaldwell's personal guards that she had nearly wiped out single handedly. And\nyet her victory seemed hollow, worthless, and utterly bitter. Instead of\nstanding side by side to revel in their triumphant assault and rescue, Kyle and\nKatie were now separated once more by the invisible hand of fate. \n\"Katie? Are...are they all\ndead?\" asked a frightened voice behind her.\nLooking over her shoulder,\nKatie saw a terrified fifteen year old golden retriever peeking out from behind\nthe door to the studio. Evidently she'd managed to free herself from her bonds.\n\"Yeah Meagan, they're gone.\nGone,\" Katie mumbled as her ears continued to painfully ring.\nMeagan slowly walked up\nbehind her and rested a paw on Katie's shoulder. \"Are you hurt? They didn't hit\nyou did they?\"\nKatie shook her head as she\nslowly let her pistol slip free of her fingers and clatter upon the floor. She\ndidn't even notice that her fur was matted at the knees from the pool of blood\ncollecting before her. \n\"I...I don't know what to\nsay...thank you?\" Megan stammered as she tried to find the right words to express\nsympathy and gratitude. \nKatie nodded as tears\npooled in her eyes and began to run down her cheeks. \"I'm sorry big brother...I...I\nlove you...\" she whispered to herself before finally succumbing to the grief that\nnow covered her soul. \nMeagan knew nothing else\ncould be said, or should be for that matter. Silently, she helped Katie to her\nfeet and lead her back into the studio where she sat down at a desk to weep\nwhile Meagan set about freeing the remaining hostages. All Katie could do was\nsit and stare into her empty paws as she tried to understand what had just\ntaken place. Outside, the sirens of approaching police cars wailed through the\nurban jungle of Panama City, their shrill cry echoing ever closer with the\npromise of rescue and reprise from the living nightmare they had all been\ntrapped in for the last three hours. However, without Kyle by her side all\nKatie felt was grief, guilt, and anger. She couldn't help but feel betrayed.\nHow could God have let them get this far, only for Kyle to be forced to make\nthe ultimate sacrifice to save them all?\nLittle did she know, Kyle\nhadn't considered his action to be a choice at all. He knew that as long as\nElsie was out there he and Katie could never be safe, and neither could their\nfriends and family. While Katie had finally managed to escape from her\nnightmare, Kyle's had only just begun...\n\n\"W-what the? How the hell\nare we...oh god...\" Caldwell stammered upon standing up only to realize he was\nlooking down at the twisted remains of his corpse. \nShortly after impacting the\nground Kyle had been flung off of Caldwell and rolled to the side in the nick\nof time to avoid being hit by the grenade's detonation, the explosion itself\nspreading Caldwell's shattered cadaver like strawberry jam over the pavement.\nKyle's corpse on the other paw merely had a few broken bones...one of them being\nhis neck. \n\"Welcome to Hell you sonuva\nbitch!\" Kyle snarled, his sickle poised above his head as he crossed back into\nthe land of the dead. \n\"What the shit?! HOW ARE\nYOU STILL ALIVE?\" Caldwell screamed in horror as he saw the wolf who had just\nkilled them both standing before him. \n\"I'm not,\" Kyle grinned wickedly.\n\nBefore Caldwell could\nfurther react, Kyle sliced open his gut and ripped out a grotesque combination\nof Caldwell's intestines and stomach; his ropey entrails dripping blood and\nliquid stool as Kyle coldly watched Caldwell fall to his feet and stared up\ninto oblivion. A few moments later his soul's form dissolved, his essence fully\n\"reaped\" and sent on to the afterlife; as to which afterlife, Kyle had no doubt\nit was the warmer of the two options. \n\"That was for John you\nmotherfucker,\" Kyle spat as he felt a familiar coldness wash over him. Without\neven turning he simply smiled and greeted the shadow he felt creeping up behind\nhim. \n\"Hello Elsie.\"\n\"Why hello Kyle, funny\nseeing you here.\"\n\"I was about to say the\nsame for you,\" he said as he turned to face her.\n\"How'd it feel? Your first\nsoul sent to the great beyond?\"\nKyle paused as he looked\ndown at his still dripping sickle. \"I felt...I feel...nothing.\"\n\"Exactly...now you know how\nI've suffered for the last ten months,\" Elsie coldly remarked. \"You know you\ndidn't have to tackle him. You're a good enough shot you could've put a round\nthrough his head, his reflexes would've clenched his paws and kept the\ngrenade's safety lever attached.\"\n\"You think I didn't know\nthat?\"\nElsie was taken aback for a\nsecond. \"Then why...why did you kill yourself along with him? Was it so you could\nhave the satisfaction of killing him a second time?\"\n\"Hardly, that was just\ngravy,\" Kyle smirked.\n\"Then why?\"\n\"I came here to kill you.\" \n\"Ha!\" Elsie snorted, \"You\nkill me? Pff! You wouldn't do that, you'd never get to see your little sissy\nagain!\" \n\"And you wouldn't ever\ntouch her or her friends again,\" Kyle growled in reply. \nElsie paused for a moment\nas she realized Kyle was serious. \"Hmph, you might think you can kill me, but\nwhen push comes to shove you'll back down. You know there's no way out once you\ntake on this curse. You're a coward. You were a coward in the war and you're\nstill one now, even if you don't realize it yet.\"\n\"And you're about to be dead\nwrong,\" Kyle snarled as he took a step towards her.\n\"Oh! Hold on a moment...this\nis too perfect!\" Elsie interrupted. \"It seems I've got a little side job to\nattend to.\"\n\"Don't think you can run...\"\n\"Oh I'm not, I'm no\nweakling like you. It's just that it appears your step-father finally succumbed\nto that Hellfire virus he was exposed to back in Atlanta,\" Elsie said with smug\nsatisfaction.\n\"W-what? No...that's not how\nit works...\"\n\"Oh yes it is. Most\ninfected don't live long enough for their immune systems to completely shut\ndown, but your dear old dad managed to slug it out for a few months before\nfinally keeling over,\" Elsie taunted. \"And guess what? I'm gonna give you a\nchance to save him.\"\nKyle said nothing as he\nscowled at her with tense interest. \n\"I'm gonna make you relive\nthe same hell you went through before those many months ago,\" Elsie sinisterly\nelaborated. \"You'll find me at the old abandoned ranch where we met the last\ntime we were both alive.\"\nAnd with that, she\ndisappeared in a shroud of a reddish black fog that remained even in her\nabsence, its dark presence mirroring Kyle's own twisted thoughts as pondered\nhis next move. He knew Elsie wouldn't play fair, but in truth Death never did\nno matter who wore its mask. Still, he knew he couldn't let Katie lose her\nfather; the pain of just seeing him sick was almost too much for her to\nbear.  Closing his eyes, he did all he\ncould think to do at the moment; pray. \nGod, if you're up there, I'm gonna need a hand with\nthis. You've bailed my ass out more times than I can remember, but I just need\none last favor before I'm done, then you can let me go on to what fate has had\nin store for me the last four years. \n\nA few minutes later, out in the wastes of Arizona\nIt took but a second for\nKyle's sickle to transport him to the dusty hill overlooking the ranch where he\nand his fellow Marines had fought to try and rescue Elsie from the clutches of\nthe PRA. The ranch was nothing but a nightmare frozen in time; a monument to\nhis ultimate failure in life. And now that he was no longer alive, the world\nseemed all the bleaker. The sky now infinitely red with twinkling black stars,\nnot unlike Hell's own landscape he recalled. Likewise, a black fog rolled along\nthe ground like waves on the ocean. The sable cloud seemed to blow towards the\nranch as if it were drawn to the misery that resided within.\nLooking out, Kyle saw the\nevents from that fateful night play out again in his mind. He saw the rocks\nwhere he and Elsie had fooled around, only end up pushing her away and into the\nhands of the enemy. Kyle looked away, only to gaze upon the fence where Edgar\nhad been shot as he tried to climb over...\n\"Cover me!\" Tariq screamed as bullets bounced all\naround him.\nKyle and Robert were both pinned down as well, the\nPRA gunners showing no mercy as they rained down hundreds of rounds into the\ntruck the two marines hid behind.\n\"Get ready, I'm gonna lay down suppressive fire!\"\nEdgar yelled as he advanced towards his colleagues and began shooting at the\ntrio of PRA riflemen perched atop the large barn. One of them was struck and\nrolled off, dead and limp upon impacting the ground a second later. \nEdgar hastily reloaded, pausing as he reached the\nfence surrounding the ranch to make sure his weapon was good to go, and then\nscurried to climb over the metal links, through the barbed wire and onto the\nother side. He would never feel the lone rifle shot that entered just below his\narmpit and curved up and out to sever his spine through the back of his neck.\nCollapsing dead in the sand, his friends could only grit their teeth and fight\non.\nKyle shook his head to shoo\naway the flood of images in his mind as he pictured Robert's legs getting blown\noff by a Claymore mine placed by the barn, and Tariq dying in a fiery explosion\nwhen he mistakenly took cover near a PRA truck laden with 55 gallon drums of\ndiesel fuel. \n\"Kyle, you look like shit,\"\ncame a familiar voice from behind him. \n\"Tomas? My god, I never\nexpected to see you again,\" Kyle happily sighed as he recognized the angel\nwho'd played a part in saving him and Katie a couple years back.\n\"Nor I,\" Tomas nodded as he\nstepped up next to Kyle and surveyed the ranch before him. \"So, your crazed\nex-squadmate is now the Grim Reaper and is threatening to finish off your\nstep-dad as a way of punishing you for breaking her heart?\"\nKyle nodded wearily. \"That\nabout sums it up. I doubt she'll even let me get close before she kills him.\nTomas...I fucked up big time man. This isn't like the last time where it was just\nfate testing us; I truly hurt this girl. Hell, I'm the reason she's dead in the\nfirst place, along with my whole squad.\"\n\"We've all made mistakes\nKyle. I know that more than anyone, believe me. We've both had to fight our way\nout of Hell itself for the ones we love, and we've both made it once before. I\nknow you can do this again, especially since you'll have me by your side.\"\nKyle smirked. \"Humble as\nalways.\"\n\"You know it, amigo.\"\n\"How're the guys doing? You\nknow, Tariq and the others.\"\n\"Couldn't be better,\" Tomas\nreplied as he placed a paw on Kyle's shoulder. \"They're not angry at you either\nbro, trust me.\"\n\"How can that be? If I\nhadn't broken Elsie's heart they would never have had to attack that ranch to\ntry and rescue her.\"\n\"As I recall, you all were\ngoing to attack it anyway to secure that gold, were you not?\" Tomas sharply inquired.\n\"Well...yeah, but...but...we\nwere doomed from the start weren't we?\" Kyle realized.\n\"Some things in life are\njust unavoidable. Like I said, we all make mistakes. Our problems and\nmisfortunes do not define who we are though; rather, it is how we choose to\ndeal with them that defines our character.\"\nKyle simply stared and\npondered on what Tomas had said. \"So it was either her or me then, huh?\"\n\"Indubitably, I'm afraid,\"\nTomas confirmed with a melancholy smirk. \n\"Well, no sense delaying\nthe inevitable any longer,\" Kyle sighed. \"What's the plan?\"\n\"Just draw her into the\nopen and I'll give you a chance to rescue your dad and get out of there,\" Tomas\nreplied while kneeling to open a long white plastic case at his feet.\n\"Whoa...where'd you get\nthat?\" \n\"Texas,\" Tomas grinned as\nhe pulled out what looked to be a R700 sniper rifle--or something like one--that\nwas covered in strange symbols and runic carvings. \"Trust me; this is one of\nthe few things in the universe that'll make a Reaper bleed.\"\nKyle smirked and wandered\ndown to the ranch to face Elsie. \"Just don't miss and shoot me in the butt is\nall I ask, dude.\"\n\"Hey if I hurt your ass\nit'll be mine that gets chewed out later,\" Tomas called after him before\nfinishing the adjustments on his rifle. \nCautiously, Kyle strolled\nthrough the front gate of the ranch. The whole place reeked of ghosts and\nnightmares, with dust clouds swirling every which way along the ground as the\nwind softly howled from the west. The barn was still charred black from the\ndiesel fires that had raged during the assault, and the farmhouse's windows\nwere all shattered and empty like gouged eye sockets on a skull. \n\"Alright Elsie, where are\nyou?\" Kyle called out as he looked around for any sign of his former sister in\narms. \n\"Over here, sexy,\" came her\nvoice in a taunting coo. \nKyle turned to see Elsie\nstanding in the ruined loft of the barn with John bound and gagged kneeling\nbeside her. To Kyle's horror, Elsie had strung a rope around his neck and tied\nthe other end to the barn's rafters, leaving only two feet of slack to keep\nJohn from strangling. \n\"Let John go Elsie, he\nnever did anything to hurt you,\" Kyle demanded as he readied his sickle in his\nleft paw. \n\"Oh I know that,\" Elsie\nreplied callously, \"You should have seen him, he was so surprised when instead\nof being sent off to heaven he was sent here instead. And while we waited for\nyou to show up I told him everything, about how you cheated on your little\nsister with me and then left me to die in the desert.\"\n\"You know I tried to save\nyour life you lying bitch!\" Kyle retorted angrily, \"You were my best friend for\nthe brief time I knew you, and we both made a mistake that cost us dearly.\nPlease Elsie, don't make me do what I fear most...don't make me kill you.\"\n\"It's too late to\napologize, Kyle, and it's too late to redeem yourself. All that matters to me\nnow is seeing you feel the way I did when you broke my heart that fateful\nnight.\"\n\"And you plan to do that by\nkilling my step-sister's father?\" Kyle asked incredulously. \n\"I know how much you care for\nher. Hell, you're willing to take my place to keep her safe, and while I'm\ntempted to break free of this curse...seeing you in pain just seems so much\nmore,\" she paused a moment to lick her lips before peeling them into a sinister\nsmile, \"...satisfying, wouldn't you agree?\"\n\"You want to hurt me Elsie?\nThen come and get me,\" Kyle answered as he lowered his sickle and spread his\narms open wide, his eyes staring defiantly as he stood vulnerable before her. \nElsie chuckled hoarsely,\nthe demonic furor in her tortured soul coming to light as she pulled up her\nhood to shroud her face in darkness and gripped her scythe in her paws. Kyle\ncontinued to stand below her, waiting as he silently prayed that Tomas wouldn't\nmiss. Elsie crept forward to the edge of the loft, looking down upon her prey\nas she savored the drama of the moment, of the anticipation of finally\nquenching her thirst for revenge. Then, as she prepared to leap forth, she\nkicked John forward and out of the loft, the rope going taunt and leaving him\nto slowly choke as she finally sprang forth, scythe raised high, and prepared\nto finally strike Kyle down. \nOnly she didn't. For the\nbriefest of seconds it felt as if everything had frozen in place, only to\nresume with the world now hanging upside down. Instead of landing a killing\nblow upon Kyle's head, Elsie instead now lay clutching her leg on the ground a\nfew feet to Kyle's right. Suddenly, the crack of a rifle shot boomed through\nthe air, its echo reverberating throughout the ranch, followed by John's body falling\nfree from the rope's clutches and a second rifle shot sounding as he hit the\nground relatively unharmed. It took a second for Kyle to realize that Elsie had\nbeen shot through the legs, and that the rope around John's neck had been shot\napart. The ends of it still glowed orange with flame left by the holy bullet\nthat burned it clean through. \n\"Arghh! You fucking coward,\nhow could I be so stupid?!\" Elsie cried out in anguish as she rolled onto her\nback to look up at Kyle who stood over her with smug satisfaction. \nLeaving her for a moment,\nKyle hurried over to check on John to make sure he was still alive...in a\nspiritual sense at least. Sure enough, John's soul was still unharmed, save for\na slight chafing from the rope. \n\"K-Kyle? What the heck is\ngoin' on...am I dreaming or something?\" John asked in disbelief as Kyle undid the\nvarious ropes retraining him. \n\"If you are, then please\nwake up for both our sakes,\" Kyle replied. \"Don't worry, your time isn't up\nyet, not for a long time.\"\n\"But...who, how are you even\nhere?\"\n\"Call it a twist of fate,\"\nKyle said as he helped John stand up. \"There will more time for reminiscing\nwhen we're both back home and safe from communist insurgents and angry\nex-girlfriends.\"\nJohn chuckled and shook his\nhead. \"You're awfully calm despite our circumstances.\"\nBoth wolves looked over at\nElsie who was busy glaring at them but still unable to stand thanks to the\ngrievous wounds in her legs. \n\"Yeah well...let's just say\nthis isn't my first rodeo,\" Kyle awkwardly explained, \"You probably wouldn't\nhave believed before today anyway considering how insane this all is.\"\nJohn nodded. \"Damn right,\nkiddo. But uh...just how do we get home?\"\n\"I'll take care of that.\nSay hi to mom for me, I'll be along shortly, I just have to take care of some\nfinal business,\" Kyle said as he gently brushed the sickle along John's back\nand revived him.\nBack in Georgia, a pair of\nstartled Army Rangers guarding the quarantine facility would be awestruck to\nsee a wolf that had been pronounced dead ten minutes earlier rise up from his\nbunk and start complaining about the lack of a bathroom. Out of all the\ninfected patients whose bodies rejected the Hellfire vaccine, John would be the\nonly one to survive.  Examinations of his\nblood would reveal no antibodies, no other pathogens or chemicals present that\ncould have removed the virus. For all intents and purposes, the Hellfire virus\nin his blood had just disappeared without a trace. \n\"So much for your revenge,\"\nKyle said as he walked back to Elsie. \"Katie's father is safe and sound yet\nagain, and you're about as threatening as Stephen Hawking.\"\nElsie just growled, but her\nanger suddenly softened into discontent laughter. \"So, still planning on\nkilling me to keep your little sissy safe?\"\n\"You've yet to give me a\nreason to change my mind,\" Kyle admitted as he gripped his sickle and prepared\nto deliver a long overdue coup de grace upon the demon before him. \n\"So you're not only a\ncoward, but you're stubborn as well,\" she sharply uttered. \"Tell me Kyle, are\nyou a particularly patient wolf?\"\n\"Not really,\" he answered\ndryly. \n\"I've waited what seemed to\nbe an eternity for this moment, only to have it ruined by your little friend\nwith the rifle,\" she coldly articulated as she peeled back her hood and stared\nup at Kyle with hate filled eyes. \"And I can wait another eternity if I have\nto.\"\nSuddenly, Elsie lifted her\nown sickle from her belt and slashed it through the air, its blade leaving a\ngash in the sky, the wounded clouds bled swirling dark fog that filled the\nranch and surround area with its cold shroud. \n\"What the...Elsie! What the\nfuck are you doing?!\" Kyle exclaimed as he suddenly felt the ground beneath him\ncrumble and he was launched into free fall.\nAll around him a black\nvortex swirled, the only light coming from the ranch's buildings that fell with\nhim, their embers relit and aflame yet again as they dissolved into nothing as\nlarge chunks of rock and earth crumbled into dust and disappeared as well. Kyle\nwanted to scream but it felt as if his mouth was sown shut, his mind racing as\nhe tried to look for some way to escape, only to suddenly feel a sharp impact\nas he plunged into a murky, pungent river. Flailing his arms about to steady\nhimself, he quickly realized where he was and panicked to swim to the surface.\nHis lungs burned, yet his mouth still remained sealed with some dark magic, and\nhis nose felt equally restrained. Slowly blood creeped into his vision, his\nstrength gave way, and a strange sense of calm washed over him as he fell into\nlulled repose, all the while drifting weightlessly with the tide.\n\nU.S. Embassy, Panama City - 7:35 P.M.\nKatie and the others were\nrescued by a contingent of U.S. Marines from the embassy and Panamanian police\nforces a few minutes after Katie had finished off the remaining guards in the\nbuilding. Once they were sure the studio was clear of hostiles and all the\nhostages were secure, the soldiers and police escorted Katie and her friends\nback to the embassy where they'd wait until a C-17 arrived at the local airport\nto ferry everyone back to Atlanta. For now though, a trio of corpsmen inspected\nthe young missionaries and made sure they okay while also providing them with\nmild comforts from home such as blankets and warm beverages to help calm their\nnerves. \nKatie sat alone on a couch\nin the embassy break room holding an untouched cup of locally grown coffee. She\nwas almost catatonic, her body only moving slightly each time she took a\nbreath. Her mind kept replaying that final scene of Kyle pushing Caldwell out\nthe window to his demise, followed by the gut wrenching explosion. Katie wanted\nto believe that Kyle was still alive, that by some miracle he had managed to\ncheat death once again. But she knew that they had been lucky for so long, and\nluck was like any other resource; it always runs out eventually.\nTaking another deep breath,\nshe finally managed to stand up and took a sip of her now lukewarm coffee. The\nbitter taste was rather pleasant considering the circumstances, and she decided\nto not bother with the cream and sugar as she wandered off to go find Mr. Baker.\nTwo rooms down she found him sitting in an office talking with a Marine panther\nwho had just returned from cleanup duty at the TV station. \n\"Ms. Blackmon, are you\nokay?\" Mr. Baker addressed her as he noticed her standing in the hallway. \nKatie nodded and stepped\ninside. \"I'm sorry to bother you, sir...I just wanted to know if they had\nrecovered my brother's body yet. I don't want to leave without him, dead or\nalive.\"\nBaker and the panther\nexchanged glances and then awkwardly scratched their heads. \"I...well, no, Katie,\nwe haven't.\"\n\"What? Why not? He\nshould've been right on the street next to that other guy...\"\n\"Caldwell, yes. We found\nhis body,\" the marine stated, \"It wasn't pretty, I can tell you that. But...are\nyou sure your brother actually fell out the window with him?\"\n\"Yes, of course I am, I\nwatched it happen along with all my friends who are now traumatized for life\nthanks to you,\" Katie coldly said while turning her gaze to Baker. \n\"I...miss, I have no idea...\"\n\"Kyle told me what you were\nhaving him do here. What, you think he'd lie to his own sister?\" Katie sharply\ninquired. \n\"Then you have my sincerest\napologies Katie, I didn't mean for any of this to happen.\"\n\"Of course not,\" Katie\nreplied before pretending to trip and splash her coffee across Baker's face.\n\"Just as I didn't mean for that to happen.\"\nBaker just gritted his\nteeth and bit his tongue as he tried to think of what to say next.\n\"Miss, the only reason I\nasked was because we didn't find any trace of your brother's body near Caldwell's,\"\nthe panther interjected. \n\"What do you mean no trace,\nhow's that even possible?\" Katie asked in disbelief. \"I mean you found\nCaldwell's no problem right?\"\n\"Yes ma'am, we did. All we\nfound was a handgun lying next to Caldwell, and some stray scraps of clothing.\"\nKatie's mind began to stir.\n\"What kind of clothing...\"\n\"Uh, a black men's polo\nshirt and some tan cargo shorts I believe,\" the marine answered. \"We think they\nwere dropped by looters from a nearby shop since they were riddled with bullet\nholes but didn't have any traces of blood on them.\"\n\"Ah. Well...let me know if\nyou find anything else,\" Katie said as she turned to leave. \nHer thoughts racing like\nthe wind, Katie continued walking down the hall back to the break room as she\ntried to process the realization she had just experienced. There was no doubt\nin her mind they had found Kyle's clothes, and yet there was no physical trace\nof him to be seen. Even the blood on his clothing had disappeared, while hers\nstill bore the stains from her earlier mishap with a car. What did it mean? Had\nKyle just ceased to exist...no, if that was the case she'd no longer remember him\nshe mused. While the truth escaped her for the moment, one thought continued to\nplay over and over within her mind.\nI know you're still out there Kyle...but where?\n...but where...\n...where....\n\nUnknown - ?:??\nKyle came to on a shallow\ncarpeted floor in what appeared to be an empty office building. The lights were\nout, but the desk complete with an all-in-one computer and photos of some random\nguy's family made it pretty obvious he was in some sort of white collar\nenvironment.  Standing up, he braced\nhimself against the wall as he looked for a way to open the shutters covering\nthe window. He couldn't find the traditional pull cords, but after fumbling\nalong the walls for a minute he finally found a switch that raised them up. To\nhis astonishment he was met with a sprawling cityscape, at night no less, with\ntowering skyscrapers lined with neon lighting and bright signs advertising\nfamiliar...and unfamiliar, products like Coca-Cola and something about the Union\nAerospace Corporation. \nThat's when he noticed that\ntwenty floors below him on the street was a hoard of flashing blue and red\nlights. He hadn't noticed them at first since the whole city looked like the\ninside of the nightclub, but as he gazed upon them he realized they were a mix\nof police and fire fighting vehicles. Dark figures rushed about to block off\ntraffic and secure the area, while a helicopter passed by with a spotlight\nshining blinding beams of light into the windows. \n\"What on earth...is the\nbuilding on fire?\" Kyle asked himself as he turned around looked for an exit. \nHe couldn't see any smoke,\nand the lack of alarms was suspect as well. However, he also noticed that the\nbuilding didn't seem to have any power at all, which was equally suspicious. As\nhe wandered into the hallway it suddenly dawned on him that he was no longer\nclothed. Looking down at his feet, Kyle confirmed that he was indeed butt ass\nnaked...in a blacked out office building...with no idea how he got there, and the\npolice were about two minutes from storming the building. \n\"Well played, Elsie...well\nplayed,\" he groaned as he made his way down a darkened corridor where he hoped\nto find a way to the ground floor. \nSuddenly he felt the floor\nslicken beneath his feet, and a warm, sticky liquid squish between his toes.\nReeling in disgust, Kyle knelt down to inspect what he'd just stepped in only\nfor his nose to detect the all too familiar scent of freshly drawn blood. This\nchilling revelation sent shivers up his spine as he quickly looked about for\nthe source of the blood, only to nearly trip over the mangled corpse of some\npoor security guard. \n\"Oh dear god, what have I\ngotten into now...\"\n\"SCRAAAAEEEGGHHHH!\" \nKyle's eyes darted up from\nthe body to see a humanoid shape skulking in the shadows before him. A pair of\neyes glinted back at him through the pitch black of the hallway, only to turn\ninto four, eight, twelve, thirteen white, beady little eyes with a stare as\nsharp as a needle. \nLike a cascading flood the\nmemories came rushing back into Kyle's mind, of his time in Hell, of the\ncreatures he faced there, and how they should ONLY be found there. Was this\nsome unexplored corner of the netherworld he'd yet to explore? A whole city not\nunlike the ones on earth filled with fresh souls for the demons to gorge\nthemselves upon? Or was this just some sick nightmare as he lay in a coma in a\nhospital bed somewhere?\nKyle couldn't make sense of\nanything at that moment until he saw the demon before him form a fireball in\nits claws, the orange glow illuminating a small portion of the hallway. The\nnext thing he knew his chest was on fire as the glowing orb struck him dead\ncenter on the torso. The smell of charred fur and flesh filled his nostrils as Kyle\nscreamed in pain as he patted himself out. The demon screamed again and\ncrouched down to pounce as Kyle finished extinguishing himself. \nWith a thud Kyle landed on\nhis back as the demon leapt into him and knocked him down. Its claws prepared\nto rain blows upon his face, when Kyle's reflexes saved him as he managed to\ngrab the demon's wrist with one paw and strike it across the face with his\nother. No losing his grip, Kyle hoisted himself up and grabbed the demon by the\nthroat as it shrieked in his grasp. Hurling himself against the wall, Kyle\nslammed the creature through a pain glass wall overlooking a conference room, shattering\nit into a hundred pieces and giving himself and the monster plenty of cuts. The\ndemon howled in pain as its black blood leaked from the dozens of cuts that now\ncovered its leathery body. \n\"C'mon you motherfucker,\nYEAH!\" Kyle shouted as he picked up a shard of glass and drove it into the\ndemon's gut.\nKyle grunted in pain as he\nfelt the glass give his paw a nasty gash, but likewise it split the demon open\nas well and left it kneeling before him with its guts pouring out of the open\nwound. The last thing it saw was Kyle's heel land a solid kick to its face,\ncrunching its faceplate and leaving it dead on the floor. Just as Kyle breathed\na sigh of relief, he heard another shriek behind him.  Wheeling about, he saw another demon standing\nat the other end of the hallway in a four way intersection. Quickly he looked\nfor another weapon to fend off this next attacker, when suddenly he was\ndeafened by the sound of small caliber gunfire. In an instant the demon was\ntorn to ribbons and fell dead in the hallway. \n\"Oh thank you Jesus,\" Kyle\nsighed in pained relief as he watched a group of four black clad figures step\naround the corner, weapons at the ready.\nThe tactical flashlights on\ntheir guns blinded him as they kept their weapons trained on Kyle as they\nslowly approached him. Kyle could barely see them as he held up his paws to shield\nhis face from their lights. The group paused before him, looking him over.\n\"Connolly, he look okay to\nyou?\" asked the apparent leader.\n\"Aye, sir.\"\n\"Where the fuck are his\nclothes?\" asked another of the group. \n\"Who cares, he's the first\nclean person we've found in the building,\" said another, a female by the sound\nof it.\n\"Uh, guys, you know I'm\nright here,\" Kyle said as he tried to greet them, \"And can we maybe not point\nthe guns at me?\"\n\"Who are you?\" asked their\nleader.\n\"Kyle Blackmon,\" he\nanswered, suddenly wondering if this was a rescue or a just another enemy\ntrying to kill him.\n\"His name's not on the list\nof employees here,\" the female spoke again as she looked at a wrist mounted computer.\n\"And where the hell are his clothes?\"\n\"Let's find out,\" the\nleader asked. \"And lower your weapons; he's obviously not one of them.\"\nWith the lights no longer\nin his eyes, Kyle was able to see that his rescuers were furs just like\nhimself, only their gear resembled nothing he'd ever encountered before. Their\nuniforms were black, but the insignias and patches sewn onto them were unfamiliar.\nLikewise, their headgear included full face masks that resembled a motorcycle helmet.\nAs for their weapons, they were familiar designs, yet the modifications were\ncertainly advancements he'd yet to encounter in his military career. \n\"Kid, what year is it?\"\n\"I don't...uhh, July...something,\n2016? Or is it seventeen? Sorry, I'm still trying to figure out how I got into\nthis building in the first place.\"\nKyle noticed his response\nseemed to draw the ire of his rescuers. One of them looked to his leader as if\nto ask, can I just shoot this guy already?\n\n\"Mr. Blackmon, do you\nreally think that's what the year is, or are you just being cute?\"\n\"I told you I don't know.\nWhy, how far am I off by? A year, two years?\"\n\"Two hundred would be a\nbetter answer.\"\n\"Two...hundred?\" Kyle gasped\nin disbelief. \"You're...you're not serious...please don't be serious.\"\n\"It's August 7th, 2195, Mr.\nBlackmon,\" the leader coldly replied before turning to one of his subordinates.\n\"Alright, Connolly get him restrained and downstairs, the rest of you finish\nclearing the building.\"\nWith that, one of the\nsoldiers--or were they cops?--approached Kyle and manhandled him onto the floor.\nHe would've resisted had the shock from the revelation he'd just experienced\nnot been so strong. Kyle hardly noticed the one called Connolly placing a pair\nof flexi-cuffs on his wrists and hoist up to march him to the stairwell. Once\nin the lobby he was given a blanket to cover himself with before being led into\na large police van where he was told to sit and wait. Before locking the doors\nbehind him, one of the cops threw him a navy blue prisoner jumpsuit and then\npressed a button on his wrist that caused Kyle's restrains to suddenly pop off.\nSighing to himself, Kyle reluctantly\ndonned his new clothes and wondered how in the world he'd ended up here, and\nmore importantly how he was to escape...\n                                                                                 THE END......of the beginning \n\n"}