{"sf1_id":702356,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Sellouts or Survivors","author":"assilsasta","words":6919,"posted_at":"2014-05-08T11:19:00.000Z","tags":["Band","Bat","Canine","Cat","Concert","Crossbreed clean","Dog","Feline","Female","Fennec","Flash_forward","Fox","Fox sheep hybrid","Giraffe","Hermaphrodite","Hybrid","Jacob sheep","Lemur","Lion","Male","Revenge","Rock","Rock Band","Sheep","Theatrics","Twins","anger","corgi","fennec fox","pyrotechnics"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/702356-sellouts-or-survivors","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/702356","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=702356\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\nOmen\nBreaker\nSellouts or Survivors\nby\nAssilsasta\n \n¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸September\n21, 2013¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸\n¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸Putting\non a Show¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸\n \nThe Chymara\nPreparatory Academy football stands were packed with students who came just for\nthe free concert and a few out of towners that paid the ten dollar admission to\nsee the once underground band perform live for the first time in a planned\nvenue.\n \nAs the crowd\nmoved and rustled, conversations becoming too loud to truly be understood even\nwhen standing next to the person, the field lights flashed off plunging the\naudience into an almost total darkness. The crowd fell into absolute silence,\nand a strange chorus of voices echoed through the ear, speaking words in some\nstrange language.\n \n\"Dia duit, Aille Marmar, agus buíochas a\nghabháil leat as fáilte a chur romhainn. Anocht is mian linn a draíocht ar tú\nlenár amhráin, Ach nach bhfuil do fáilte a deonaíodh dúinn go pléisiúir. Anocht\nna Máthar, Maiden, agus cailleach a thabhairt dúinn ár n-dlite. Agus anois a\nthabhairt dúinn é ar ais chugat Trí Fill.\"\n \nA spotlight\nlit up a small area of the stage, From the distance they could see the\nunmistakable black armored white cat on the stage as her voice echoed over the\nspeakers. \"Hello Marblecliff, our new home. And thank you for your warm\nwelcome. From the time we set paw on your streets, walked the halls of your\nschools with you, we have seen just what we have expected from you all. Your\nworld is cruel and judgmental. You make snap generalization about what you see,\nwithout the time to know the truth.\" While she talked the standard fog\ngenerators covered the high stage with a thick layer of mist. \"We came here as\nyour equals, your peers, and we were greeted as the outcasts we have always\nbeen. You bump into us in the hall, you slap the books from our paws, you\nwhisper lies about us to one another. But, we do not blame you for this, it is\nthe way of your world, of you silver spoon fed fools.\"  The crowd remained silent as the feline made\nher speech without a hint of anger or animosity in her melodic voice. \"We bring\nyou this concert as a peace offering to the masses. We return from the shadows\nwe entered for those that have begged for our sound. Those sounds of the mystic\ntwins, Dubh and Ban.\" As she spoke a light flashed on over the canine pair\nmirrored black and white costumes of feathers and leather. Each held a shiny\nbattle axe shaped guitar, one obviously a bass with the other an eight string,\nevident in the distance only by the sound of the soft Celtic style music they\nwere playing. \"Rainstar, our Lady of the ivory keys.\" The sound of a keyboard\njoined as the light fell on a corgi girl dressing in leather and lace outfit.\n\"And dealing out beat on the wyvern skins, the Dragon Nadraka!\" With the\nintroduction a black light brought the neon and fluorescent steaks and patterns\nof the drummer's fur to life against the black of its fur, as it tapped the\nsticks together four times before they were dropped on two opposing drums and a\nblast of fire sprang forth from the drummer's muzzle into the air. \"I am\nJabyses, and we are Omen Breaker, and invite you to our world of Ethundova.\"\n \nThe screeching\nguitars and loud thrash music started with a strange melody of the dog girl\ntwins singing in whatever language they had spoken earlier. A small crowd of\nout of towners rushed out of the stands onto the field and formed a pit as they\nslammed their bodies into each other not in time with the music. Pyrotechnics\nand sparklers light up around the stage as the twins danced as bounced with the\nmusic, Jabyses' voice screeching the incomprehensible words to whatever song\nthey were playing. Soon an intricate guitar and bass duo started as the lead\nsinger and keyboard player moved to center stage and lifted a pair of poles\nwith a Mystic Schools uniform and the drummer stood placing one paw on top of\nthe kick drum. Several audience members screamed as a ball of fire  burst forth from it's muzzle once more,\nigniting the obviously accelerant socked uniform in a  blaze of blue flame. It then jumped over the\ndrums and tumbled to the front of the stage, where it proceeded to blast a\npillar of flame over the moshing crowd causing many of them to run and scream\nas others rushed in waving small flammable objects in hopes of getting\nscorched.\n \nThe twin swung\naxe guitars over their heads as they caught the flaming uniform and pinning it\nhard into the wooden stage floor. The group turned their backs to the audience\nas Jabyses said into the headset mic, \"We're done, FUCK YOU ALL!\"  then turned and led the group off the stage\nhaving played only part of one song.\n \n\"What the Hell\nwas that?\" Megan asked, looking at her giraffe companion and drummer.\n \nVivy snorted,\n\"And I thought I had a temper. Man, what a fucking joke! It was a free show,\nand I still feel like I was ripped off!\"\n \n\"They have a\nlot of talent, though,\" the bat said. \"It's too bad they mask it with cheesy\ntheatrics and effects. If I ever sell out like that, break up the band, ok?\"\n \nThe taller\ngirl replied, \"No problem there! I'm pretty sure I recognize the corgi girl\nfrom work, though. And I know it isn't her, but their singer looks a lot like\n-\"\n \n\"Don't fucking\nsay it,\" Megan groaned. \"I don't want to talk about her.\"\n \n¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸Back\nStage¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸\n \n\"What the hell\nwas that?\" The Lion roared at the band as the left the heated stage into the\ncold September air. \"Where the hell do you think you're going? You have to do\nmore than one part of a song. Get your ass back on that stage.\"\n \nJabyses turned\non her heals a look of anger in her eyes, she started to walk forward only a\nmoment before Nadraka pushed her out of the way. The fennec/Jacob sheep hybrid\nwalked up to the larger, older male as shi said, \"You wanted us to put on a\nshow, here, for these people. That's what we did, and listen to the cheering.\nThey loved it, all hundred and twenty seconds of it.\" shi ripped the flame\nbreath apparatus from hir neck and jaw as shi started to wipe the flame\nsuppressant jell from hir muzzle. \"This is not us, this is not the Omen\nBreaker. You want screeching thrash with no reason, or soul? You got the wrong\nband.\"\n \nJabyses put\nher paw on the fennec's shoulder as a tall lemur boy walked between the group\nof five. \"Here's the deal from now on, Mr. Marks. You want us to play? Next\ntime work with us; don't tell us where to go and what to do. We have a style,\nand that is what got us here. You don't know shit about what we do. And to\nforce us to do a free show for people that have done nothing but push us around\nand treat us like crap... It's not happening again. Fuck your contract; we'll go\nback to the streets.\" He turned and put his arm over Jabyses's shoulder as he\nsaid, \"Come on, we have a real gig to hit at a warehouse down town, where our\nreal fans are.\"\n \nEric Marks\nwatched as the tightly knit group of young musicians walked away from a\ncontract venue in favor of a dirty warehouse with no budget, what they had been\nplaying for the past two years and nearly starving to death. The sound of the\ncheering crowd grew restless as the time passed without the band. He yelled to\nthe group, \"Wait, What do you want? What do you need to get back on that\nstage?\"\n \nThe lemur\nturned to him again and said, \"They're not getting back on the stage, but you\ncan tell them we'll be at Hellion for the rest of the night. Anyone that really\nwants to hear us will know how to get there.\"\n \n¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸June 10,\n2013¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸\n¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸Dead\nin the Water¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸\n \nThe poorly\npainted ture bus sat quietly in the department store parking lot. inside a\nsmall group of teens gathered around the table with a laptop open. A corgi girl\nsat at the keyboard as they looked through and read comments in their forums.\nShe stopped and pointed at the screen. \"Here's one. They're even offering to pay.\"\n \n\"Flagstaff?\nHow far is that?\" The black furred fennec fox hybrid asked as she pulled a\nbrush through hir still wet hair.\n \n\"Yea, we're\ngoing to need something before then,\" the white feline said as she walked\ntoward the driver's compartment. \"Tell them we are in San Diego and will need\nan advance on that if they want us to show. And let them know we get a cut of\nthe door if they put our name on the leaf.\"\n \n\"Sure thing\nJaby,\" the corgi girl said as she tapped away at the keys.\n \nJabyses\nstepped into the driver's area, the engine cover was off and a young lemur sat\nin the engine space with a toolbox to his side. She knelt down next to him and\nasked, \"How does it look?\"\n \n\"We need a new\nrotor and distributor cap. We're dead in the water,\" he said as he held up the\nlarge black plastic object. \"That and we're almost out of food again. I swear\nNadraka's pregnant, shi eats like a horse.\"\n \nJabyses patted\nhim on the head as she replied, \"If shi is shi's been pregnant for two years\nnow. Come on back and rest a bit, Rod, we might have an advance on the way to\nget the parts and eats.\"\n \n\"And reindeer\nshit brownies,\" he said as he got to his footpaws. \"How many times have we\nactually ever gotten anything before they collected the door?\"\n \nAs the two\nrejoined the others a stream of profanities flowed from the corgi's muzzle as\nshe slapped the laptop shut. Jabyses dropped into the seat next to the black\ndyed fox and said, \"I take it that means no on the advance.\"\n \n\"Fuck no,\" she\nsaid as she slumped back in the booth seat. \"Only decent gig and we have no\nfuckin' way to get there.\"\n \n\"We're out of\nfood, out of gas and broken down in San Diego,\" A young white and brown dog\ngirl said as she looked at her twin sister with polar opposite color pattern.\n\"Only two options left.\"\n \nJabyses looked\naround at her five band members, \"We're going with option one until it fails.\nUnhook the car Nadraka, we'll hit up the clubs and see if we can get a one\nnighter to get us back on the road. Everyone else get some sleep, we might need\nit.\"\n \n¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸Option\nOne¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸\n \nJabyses, a\ncommon white feline with orange coloration around each paw, looked over at her\nbest friend as the pair drove through the city looking for a club they\nmight  get a gig at for the night. Their\nchances were slim at best, but they needed to try. \"Hay, Vic?\" she called over\nto the fennec/jacob sheep hybrid, a name she only used when the two were alone,\nthe last remnant of the life the hermaphrodite left behind.\n \nNadrakatoria\nlooked at back at her and blinked, one of the few times hir deep amber eyes\nwere not concealed by hir florescent colored contacts, \"Yea?\" shi questioned as\nshe slumped down in the seat  in a vain\nattempt to avoid the daylight. hir blue-black dyed fur hot and unbearable in\nthe direct sun when it was filtered through the car windows.\n \n\"Do you think\nwe should try to go home again?\" Jabyses asked as she pulled into another club\nparking lot. \"I mean, we're starving out here barely making it one gig to the\nnext.\"\n \n\"You really\nwant to try again?\" the fox asked as she hunkered even lower in the seat.\n\"Remember what happened last time? The twins' parents were going to have them\narrested. And my Mom left again, with no forwarding address. I guess dad found\nher again. You, Rod, and Tessa are the only ones with anything to go back to.\"\n \nJabyses sighed\nas she cut the power to the engine. \"Truth is I really don't have anything\nthere either. Last time I called home they said they were moving. Dad got a\npromotion that moved him to Columbus, Ohio. And Tessa can only move back in is\nshe has a steady job, or going the College. That's what she was told when we\nleft.\"\n \n\"Then why even\nbother?\" Nadrakatoria asked as shi reached for the door, \"We have nothing to go\nback to. We've missed two years of school. It's not like we can just walk back\ninto the classes and friends we left there. Besides, we do okay most of the\ntime. Rod keeps the bus running. We get gigs that give decent cuts. Hell we are\nrequested enough that we can pick and chose what we take.\"\n \nJabyses looked\nover at her friend as they walked to the back door of the club , \"That's not\nthe problem and you know it. We can get a gig anywhere we want; it's getting\nthere that's the issue. And that dream of getting discovered, let's get real,\nwhat label frequents raves looking for new talent?\"\n \n\"The kind that\nwant's good talent, the fennec replied with a smile, her oversized canine teeth\npoking well past  the bottom of her chin.\n \nTheir\nconversation was cut short as the door opened in response to her knock. \"What\ndo you want?\" the deep voice of the large brown bear asked.\n \nJabyses spoke\nup first, confident and forward. \"We are members of the band Omen Breaker, and\nwe would like to run a show at your club tonight.\"\n \n\"Look, girls,\nI don't know how long you've been doing this, but there is no point in paying\nfor an act on a Sunday night. Half the time I even close up early. So I can't\npay you  for a show when I'm not even\ngoing to make the money to cover being open.\"\n \n\"We'll work\nfor part of the cover. If you don't make anything we don't get paid.\" Victoria\nsaid just as confidently as her friend. \"We'll bring the crowd; you just have\nto provide the stage.\"\n \n\"I don't...\" the\nBear was interrupted by another voice from farther in the club. \"Let them play,\nIf they are only playing for part of the cove, all we can do is make out if\nthey really do bring them in.\" The bear looked down at the two as he finished,\n\"Well you heard the man. Be back here by five to set up.\"\n \n\"Thank you\nsir,\" Jabyses said as the pair turned nearly giddy at the chance to play. She flipped\nopen the pre-paid cell and dialed the number for the one they kept in the bus.\nA moment later she said, Flood the forums, we are play tonight for a cut of the\ndoor. Location coming in a text.\"\n \n¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸Burned¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸\n \nThe night progressed\nas the feline leader of the group thought it would. Even with their toned down\ntheatrics and lack of pyrotechnics, their rave crowd showed is droves as soon\nas the word was out on their forums. It had only been two years since they had\nstarted their journey into stardom, and how they had gathered such a following\nin such a short time  still amazed them.\nAs the crowd became restless and shouted, chanting over the screeching thrash\nmusic that filled the small club. Jabyses looked to the twins then the corgi,\neach returning a nod, as they readied for the event that would end their night,\nin both triumph and possibly defeat.\n \nThe music\nstopped and was replaced by a beat as ad the \ntwins patted the strings of their axe guirats. \"Chanadh muid go dtí an\nt-ardú dragan. Tabhair dúinn do tine dorcha. Dóigh dúinn do fhearg geal. Dóigh\ndúinn an oíche dorcha. \" The two dog girls chanted into their mics as the crowd\nfell silent. The stage lights dimmed to the point only the spotlight was on the\nwhite feline lead singer as she walked to center stage.\n \n\"You want\nNadraka to dance?\" She looked across the audience as a cheer rose with the continued\nchanting of beat from the twins. \"You know well what will happen in a place\nlike this if we set the dragon free.\" Lighters and cell phones lit up across\nthe dance floor and seating area. \"Very well, but remember what burns our\npassion and souls can devour your flesh and burn your world to the ground.\"\nWith her final word the spotlight flick off and the beat and chanting stopped,\nreplaced by bagpipes and a slow paced traditional sounding Celtic melody.\n \nAs the music\nplayed  several small glow sticks,\nbracelet, and rings came to life on center stage. The slow movements kept in\ntime with the music as the tempo slowly rose to a  Dance club rush speed. The lights turned to\nstreaks in the dark club as a black light fell on the stage. The fluorescent\nyellow and hot pink streaks and patches of the fox hybrid burst to life,\nglowing against hir black fur. Hir horns that she inherited from her father\nshow in the flaming pink of the fluorescent enamel painted over them. The crowd\ncheered as the streaks of light spun and flipped through the air, soon joined\nby the thrashing sound of the band. Mot tuned and timed to the fox's movements\nas they continued to play in the dark, lit only by her frantic acrobatic\ndisplay.\n \nSoon the band\nas a whole chanted the archaic gaelic summoning, \"Chanadh muid go dtí an t-ardú\ndragan. Tabhair dúinn do tine dorcha. Dóigh dúinn do fhearg geal. Dóigh dúinn\nan oíche dorcha.\" Which brought with it burst of flame from the mouth of the\ndancing vixen. The burst steadily growing longer as the song and dance\nprogressed. With the climax of the song \nthe fox perched high in the air, held up as if by magic or wings on the\ndark stage as a pillar of fire burst forth from her  muzzles setting of the sprinkler systems and\nfire alarms.\n \nThe house\nlights came on, showing the lemur that held the fox in the air as she stood on\nhis raised paws. The band continued to play, their equipment covered with black\nponchos and tarps. The fox hybrid dropped from the lemur's paws as she flipped\nto the stage and swiftly moved back to hir drums as the band continued their\nshow even in the spraying downpour of the fire suppression system. Small\nsplashes of water bounced of the drums as shi picked up the beat of the latest song.  \n \nThe group\ncontinued to play as the bouncers rushed and pushed their audience out of the\nbuilding and the club manager pushed his way to the stage. The bear shouted at\nthe group as he approached, his words lost in the music, but the anger in his\neyes evident. The band finally stopped playing as the firefighters came in and\ncut off the suppression system.\n \n\"GET THE FUCK\nOUT OF MY CLUB!,\" the bear yelled as they started to unhook their get and tear\ndown the drums.\n \n\"We'll be out\nof your hair as soon as we get our cut of the door,\" Jabyses said as she looked\nat the club manager.\n \n\"You're not\ngetting a dime. Your cut is going to have to go to  the cleanup and repair of all the damage you\ncaused,\" the bear swung his arms in the air as he spoke, \"What the fuck were\nyou thinking using pyrotechnics in a closed club?\"\n \n\"Your fire\nsuppression system was more than enough,\" Victoria said as dismantled the\ndrums. \"And I was far enough away from your precious booze soaked dance floor\nnot to set it off.  This fuckin' place if\na fire hazard without me.\"\n \n\"Just get the\nfuck out of my club!\" The bear said as he pointed to the door.\n \nAfter checking\nthe place was clear one of the firefighter walked up to the bear, \"Sir, it\nlooks like you sprinklers got everything.\"\n \n\"GOT\nEVERYTHING? There was nothing to get!,\" he yelled at the bear, \"These little\nshits set of the system with their fucking show.\"\n \nThe  younger dog winked at Jabyses as he said,\n\"Well Sir, you should notify the local fire departments when you are planning\non a show that has pyrotechnics, that way we are ready for any issues that\nmight arise.\"\n \n\"Call a head?\nIt was a last minute show. They didn't tell me they used...\"\n \nThe bear\nlooked at the older bear sternly, \"You telling me that you scheduled a show without\nknowing what it was, in an establishment that serves alcohol? I might need to\nalert the Police about this.\"\n \nThe bear\nglanced out the open door at the crowded filled with young furs, some still\nholding bottles in their paws as the Police cars arrived on the scene \"Fuck!\"\n \nThe twins\nwrapped their arms around the bear from both sides as they said in unison,\n\"Give us our cut and we can take care of the boys in blue.\"\n \n\"Fine,\nwhatever,\" he said as he pulled a roll of cash out of pocket and put it in one\nof the paws. \"Just never come back here again.\"\n \nTessa, the\ncorgi, ran to the door and shouted, \"First four to get our gear to the bus get\na free ride to the next party.\" As the door was rushed by a small crowd of\nteens she pointed at a few, \"You, you, you and you,\" she said as she picked out\nfour of the larger more physically fit of the group. \"Now the rest of you beat\nit before I let Nadraka out.\" She then looked at the four she had picked, \"Come\nwith me, you're taking our gear, the twins and myself back to our bus. You\nthink you can handle that?\" Tessa being the oldest had filled a mother and\nenforcer role among the group, using Vicatoria as a threat more often than not.\nShe swiftly turned to the stage with the sight of the officers heading for the\ndoor, \"Jaby, Nady, time to make a show of it for the boys in blue.\"\n \nThe fox and\ncat looked at one another with a smile as Nadrakatoria pulled on her jacket to\nward of the chilled ocean air. Jabyses walked to the door to clear the way for\nher friend as she got a running start before she moved into a succession of\nflips, spins, and other acrobatics, causing the gathered crowd to clear a path\nfarther into the open air.  As her fried\ndistracted the crowd and the cops, Jabyses ran to the small faded blue rusty VW\nBug.\n \nThe crowd\ngathered around the the fennec hybrid just as she expected them to only moments\nbefore the backed off at her shout, \"I am Nadraka the Dragon, and I am free!\"\nher words were followed by a long blast of fire into the air. She then\nproceeded to perform another flaming aerial acrobatics display as she forced\nthe crowd to move out of her way with flailing arms and legs, coupled with\nbusts of flame as she made her way to the car. She tumbled herself up to the\ncurved roof, now with the officer's full attention. She looked down, being sure\nto make eye contact with at least one as she said, \"catch me if you can.\" She\nsmiled as she crouched toward the front of the curved roof and the wheels\nstarted to squeal.\n \n¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸Nadraka\nthe Dragon¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸\n \nEric and his\nlawyer sat in the observation room and the officer tried to calm the fennec and\nJacob sheep hybrid down. he watched as the rave rockstar's persona displayed in\nfull form as the young hermaphrodite sat chained to a chair bolted to the\nfloor. They had striped the hermaphrodite to near nudity as they removed every\narticle they thought might be a danger to them or herself. All that remained on\nthe fennec was a flimsy tanktop and a pair of boy shorts. He glanced over the\narrest report as she listened to hir maintain the show name, Nadraka the\nDragon, as they tried to question her. Shi lunged at them to the length of the\nchains each time anyone approached her, barking and growling like a feral\nanimal.\n \nAs the car came to\na stop the young hybrid \"Car Surfing\" rolled off the top of the vehicle on onto\nthe ground. It seemed uninjured as it took a feral stance on all fours and\nbegan to \"Breath Fire\" at fellow officers. Officer White used pepper spray only\nto have the canister ignite with one of the perpetrators flame blasts. Officer\nBacker and Stern proceeded to used other non-lethal methods, to include a stun\nround from a shotgun. The perpetrator was finally subdued with the use of a\ntranquilizer.\n \nHe looked at\nhis lawyer with a smile as he said, \"They had to put hir down like a feral dog\nto bring hir in.\"\n \n\"Her? She has\na bigger package than I do,\" the weasel said as he watched the commotion with\nhis client.\n \n\"H-I-R not\nH-E-R, read their fucking site when I tell you to something,\" the lion said as\nhe dropped the report on the table. \"Shi is and has embraced being the third\ngender. I dare you to walk in there and call hir either a young lady or young\nman; shi might rip your face off.\"\n \n\"Why are we\nhere again?\"\n \n\"Because they\nare good,\" Eric took a seat in a nearby chair as he spoke. \"They had a club\ncrowded on a Sunday Night with only three hours' notice to their fans. People\nwant to see this group, they have both talent and they put on a show. And I\nthink we have a chance to sign them before anyone else can.\"\n \n\"That still\ndoesn't tell me why we are here,\" the weasel said as he took a seat next to\nhim. \"They are a grunge band, and rave junkies from what you said. Not the type\nto sign recording contracts.\"\n \n\"They are\nCeltic Thrash, a rather unique sound if you ask me. It's a bit harder than most\nof the Celtic folk rock I've heard. And I want them in my portfolio.\" He looked\nat his Lawyer as she continued. \"And that lead singer, Jabyses said the dragon\nis the one I have to convince. Everyone else should follow them.\"\n \n\"And how are\nyou planning on convincing a wild animal to sign a binding contract?\"\n \n\"By offering\nhir the two things shi craves more than anything,\" He said with a little smile\nas shi jerked the chains to their limit with another lung at an officer. \"hir\nFreedom, and her show.\"\n \n¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸Sold\nout¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸\n \n \nTessa leaned\nout of the bus as she looked at the tall lanky lemur that leaned against it\nwith as nearly finished cigarette in his muzzle. \"Any sign of them yet?\"\n \n\"Not yet,\"\nRodrick replied as he flicked the butt across the parking lot at a small can\nthat sat nearby. \"They should've been back hours ago. I'm sure they were\npinched. And you Know Nady, shi is not going down without a fight.\"\n \n\"I'm starting\nto get worried too,\" the older corgi said as she stepped out of the buss. She\nleaned against the bus next to Rodrick as he pulled out another cigarette. She\nsnatched it out of his muzzles as he started to light it. \"You're on rations\nuntil we get to the next show. We don't have the cash to support that habit if\nyou're going to smoke 'em till those two get back.\"\n \nAs the corgi\nscolded the lemur they both felt the bus shift as a loud thud came from the\nwall of the sleeper section. \"Sounds like the twins are having a little fun\nwith their new toy. I just hope he figures out what's going on before he tries\nanything with Eby.\"\n \n\"Don't worry\nabout that. He brought his girl and they split the two up,\" Tessa said as she\ntook a drag off the cigarette she snatched from him. \"Did you get the\ndistributor or whatever fixed?\"\n \n\"Yeah,\" he\nreplied as she handed him the smoldering cig. \"The posers over there took me to\nan all-night auto parts store on the way back.\" He tilted his head toward as\nsmall car with a pair of hyenas sitting on the hood. \"They can't come to the\nnext show, but they wanted to get autographs from Jaby and Nady.\"\n \nTessa\nsnickered as she looked at the pair. \"They're in for a surprise if they are\nthinking what I think they are.\"\n \nRodrick looked\nout over the vacant parking lot as he watched two cop cars pull off the street.\nHe hammered his fist against the buss a few times as he said, \"I don't think\nthey will be in for anything tonight.\" As he put the cigarette in his paw out\nhe heard the sound of the hyena's car start up and pull away.\n \nThe two squad\ncars pulled up close to the tour bus, followed by a black suburban. Two large\nbulldog officers stepped out of one of the squad cars and opened the back\ndoor.  Victoria's pink paws touched the\nground as she stepped out of the car. The Hermaphrodite fennec hybrid stood,\ndressed in only a thin white tank top undershirt and loose fitting boxers. Hir\narms and legs were shackled. One of the officers stepped in front of her with\nthe key as she calmly said, \"Get these off of my.\" The look on the fennec's\nface told Rodrick that approaching her right then was a bad idea. As soon as\nthe cuffs were removed the shi pushed her way past the larger bulldogs and\nheaded straight for the buss, not making eye contact with hir two band members.\n \nRodrick looked\nat Tessa as they saw Jabyses get out of the suburban followed by an older Lion.\n\"What do you think is going one? The guy looks like FBI or some shit.\"\n \nAs the feline\nled the big cat to the bus she said, \"This is Eric Marks. He is with 'The Dream Mind Records'.\"\n \nJust as\nRodrick was about to speak yelling came from the bus. \"Get the FUCK out of my\nbus,\" Victoria screamed as shi shoved the two cocker spaniels out into the lot\nwith a pile of clothing in their arms. \"Dubh, Ban, Get your fucking clothes on\nand get your asses out here.\"          \n \n  Shocked into silence by the anger in their\ndrummer's voice the small band gathered at the entrance to the bus. The twins\nwore matching slick robes while Victoria stepped out with a small selection of\nclothing, spandex and tight fitting as opposed to her normal loose fitting rave\nattire. shi tossed a small box to the lemur as shi said, \"I'm already done,\nCome get me when you gay are.\"\nAs the fennec\nhybrid ran off at a full sprint Rodrick and the other looked to Jabyses as she\nasked, \"What the fuck is going on?\"\n \nAs the lion\nopened his mouth to talk, the twins spoke in unison, creating the most vocally\nelegant, yet threatening line he had ever hears, \"Bí ciúin roimh sracadh muid\namach do chuid súl.\"\n                                                         \n   \n\"Enough,\"\nJabyses said as she raised her paws to the group. \"This is Eric Marks. He is a\nband manager and agent for The Dream Mind Records.\"\n \n\"Deam Mind?\"\nthe group questioned in unison.\n \n\"Here's the\ndeal,\" the feline started again. \"He offered us a contract, but before you get\nall excited there are a few stipulations.\"\n \nRodrick pulled\nout another cigarette as he asked, \"What stipulations? I don't like the sound\nof this already.\"\n \n\"First,\" The\nlion spoke up, \"You will need to spend the next two months in a recording\nstudio. A proper recording studio to put together the beginning of your first\nofficial album. To do that, you will need to miss your next show, and every\nshow you think you can do between now and then.\"\n \n\"No shows mean\nno money,\" Tessa spouted out as she pulled the cigarette out of Rodrick's\nmuzzle. \"How are we supposed to eat, or even get to your studio?\"\n \n\"The contract\nwill take that into account. We will be advancing you the estimated earnings\nfrom the shows you will be missing during the recording sessions.\" Eric\nstraightened his tie as he continued, \"From that point on you will get a\nregular royalties pay out based on CD and Download sails each month. I will\nalso set up live performances and concerts from which you will also get\npayments based on the ticket sales.\"\n\"And of course\nyou will get your cut,\" Tessa said with a near scowl on her muzzle.\n \n\"I will only\nget a meager ten percent.\"\n \n\"That's not\nit,\" Rodrick said in a low even voice, \"That's too easy and it doesn't explain\nwhy Jaby and Nady were brought back with police. So let's have the real deal\nMr. Marks\"\n \n\"Due to your\nages, and some extenuating circumstances surrounding you last show and Ms.\nStone, you will need to be enrolled in a reputable school during the length of\nthe recording contract, or until you have graduated or turned eighteen.\"\n \n\"What does\nthat have to do with what happened tonight?\" Ebony, the twin dog girl with the\ndarker fur asked.\n \nJabyses sighed\nas she said, \"In order to get Nadraka off the hook for everything we did,\nincluding assault on an office, Shi had to agree to the contract, or paying the\nlabel back in full within the next month without leaving town.\"\n \n\"Wait, so\nyou're telling us it's a contract with this jackass and now shows for two\nmonths,\" Tessa started with a slightly upset tone in her voice, \"or we spend\nthe next month here in this shit hole looking for work only to starve to death\nas we pay back whatever the fuck it cost to get Nadraka out?\"\n \n \"That's the jist of it,\" Jabyses said, \"I\ndon't know how, but he already got Nadraka to agree, but only if we do. This is\nan all or nothing deal. She would rather go to jail for six months than do\nanything without all of us. I mean, let's get real here. Shi's nothing without\nus but we're nothing without her. If she's out of the picture for that long,\nwe're all going home anyway, just to survive.\" She looked around the group as\nshe continued, \"We started this as a group. We gave up and walked away from\neverything. Rod and Tessa are the only ones left with anything to go back to.\nEby, Ivy, your parents tried to have you arrested when we went back to visit.\nMine have moved to Columbus Ohio. If things fall apart now, we might never see\neach other again. And Nadraka was willing to give up the thing Shi has been\nfighting to keep, the raves, the picking our own shows, doing anything we\nwanted to. shi is going to give that up to keep us together. Do you have any\nidea how hard that really is for hir?\"\n \n¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸Running¸¸?·¯·?¸¸?·¯·?¸¸\n \nNadrakatoria\nlooked at the small device in her paw as shi thought through the free run rough\nthat hir and Rodrick had scouted the day before. She snapped and shook several\nglow bands to light her up in the predawn hours. Hey were in the business\ndistrict so shi was hoping to keep to the rooftops as much as she could. The\nroute went through and over several offices building and ended with a show\nstopper that she and Rod had planned to video if shi did the run. But he wasn't\nhere, not this time. There was no one to catch hir at the end.\n \nshi looked up\nthe narrow gap between the buildings as shi spotted the  open point in the fire escape several yards\nup the side. The security firms had all but blocked access to the latter and\nplatform systems from the ground, leaving them open only as the third floor and\nabove.  shi secured and started the\nwaterproof sport camera on her belt and started a short run before bouncing\nbetween the walls. The neon glow of hir bands. shi swiftly lost hir self in the\nrunning, tumbles, and jumps as hir mind played though the image of the course\nand obstacles that would come up.\n \nshi lost, this\nfight was over. She knew there was no way the group would go for such a strict\ncontract. They would be giving up everything they had, freedom, the choice of\nvenues, maybe even the type of music they played. All shi could think about was\nlosing them. The only friends shi had that accepted her the way she was. They\nlet her flow with her mood, never questioned her swings between gender\nidentities. They life they had chosen was hard on them all, but it brought them\ncloser together, and now it was at an end.\n \nShi began to\ngrowl as the impacts hit harder and the flips and jumps went farther. Each\npassing step shi forced hirself to go faster. As if the speed would turn the\nworld back to the way it was only twenty-four hours ago. shi closed her eyes as\nshe cartwheeled through the air from one building to the next, hir mind\ndrifting from the course before her to the thought of them, her band, her\nfamily, gathered around the small laptop as the picked out their next show. shi\nopened her eyes as the fact that the grand finish was before her, paws hitting\nthe roof top and rolling back into a full sprint run. The edge of the building\ndrew closer, faster than she could imagine. Only a few steps to the glorious\nrush as she would dive off the edge. But hir partner, hir wing man, hir base\nand catcher would not be there this time. Shi closed her eyes as shi flipped\noff the edge and tumbled through the air. It was better to just let it end now,\nthan to deal with losing it all slowly.\n \nShi felt the\nthin yet powerful arms wrap around her and she cushioned her fall. Shi felt the\nhard impact knock the breath out of both of them as hir landed softer than\nanticipated. Shi opened her eyes to meet the emerald green that looked back at\nhir. He smiled at hir as he said, \"I didn't have time to set up the camera, but\nI don't want to see you do that again either.\"\n \n\"What the fuck\nwere you thinking?\" Jabyses nearly screamed as the group gathered around the\nfennec sheep hybrid. \"There's no way you knew Rod would be there, but you\njumped anyway. What the hell Nadraka, What would we do if you actually got hurt\nor some shit?\"\n \n\"Doesn't\nreally matter does it?\" the fennec said as he got up off the lemur. \"It's all\njust about over anyway?\"\n \n\"What are you\ntalking about?\"\n \n\"Come one, By\nthe end of the week we will be so broke, performing without pay to cover my ass\nthat we'll all have to go home, or die on the street.\"Nadraka said as she\nbrushed hirself off and tapped the stop button on the camera.\n \nIn unison as\nthey so often did, the twins said, \"We still get the money form the shows we\nwere going to do, and they are just going to fly us to the studio and get the\nbus fixed up while we are there.\"\n \n\"Wait,\"\nVictoria looked around the group, \"What are you saying? You guys would never go\nfor anything like that.\"\n \n\"We would for\nour dragon,\" Tessa said as she tossed and arm over Victoria's shoulder. \"But if\nyou go and break yourself by trying to dive off a building without your catcher\nin place, we'll be set back while we wait for you to get out of the hospital.\"\n \nJabyses smiled\nas she said, \"No one is going anywhere without our dragon. We need you Nadraka.\nAnd we need to get to the airport.\"\n \n \n \n \n"}