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A Day as Egad...

or

... The Lure of Bondage

Written by Kiruleus Edited by Sunspots

1...

Slowly - carefully, his fingers worked open the buttons of his shirt. The shy, nervous smile on the blonde otter's bearded face was innocent and pure. He was blushing already, a warm redness threatening at his cheeks. A flash of more violent red exposed itself as the otter pulled his shirt open wide, revealing not only the muscular, stocky build of his bare upper body, but the words written across his chest.

ALL YOURS - drawn in what could only have been hot candle wax, once upon a time. Military dog tags hung in the center of his pecs, separating the Y and the O with their small metallic form. Like a good soldier, the otter kept his arms behind his back, tangled up in the shirt. Camo fatigues kept his erection neatly held in place as he posed, waiting for his audience of one to comment.

"Midnight. Um ... happy ... happy birthday?" The otter hazarded awkwardly. Muscular arms pumped a bit behind him, and he leaned just a little forward, letting his six pack crunch more.

The pandalion at the door wasn't sure how fast he had gotten hard. One moment he was soft, toothbrush sawing back and forth in his mouth as he got ready for bed. The next, his shaft had pushed its way straight through the opening of his blue pajama pants. It wasn't just the toothbrush that made it hard for him to talk. His tufted tail twitched with feline excitement.

Still, he took two steps back into the bathroom, and promptly spit. That cleared up half the issue. The otter sheepishly fussed with his shirt, keeping his head down as he loosed his wrists and tossed the shirt aside. The equally shirtless panleo stole a kiss from the otter much more quickly than either expected. The otter kept his arms down at his sides, like the soldier he was, though he didn't have a choice about it anyway. The panleo was grabbing at them, at the otter's strong biceps, making it easier to kiss the otter right back up against the wall.

The otter was left panting wholeheartedly once the kiss had ended, his blush having deepened into a more scarlet glow. The panleo grinned back at him, predatorily, dangerously. One black hand snuck in and grabbed at the dog tags.

"Yes. I'm very happy," the bear said, nipping at the otter's lip just once. "You're the best present, Lucas."

The otter's throat bobbed for a swallow. His brown eyes glanced at the assortment of objects waiting for them on the bed and on the nightstand - all of which he was going to be wearing, and soon. Such awareness of that doom made his heart race all on its own. Blood pulsed hard and fast through his veins, carrying so much adrenalin with it. His arousal, there, with his lover, made it beat all the worse.

The bear scratched at his soldier's chin, drawing his eyes back to the panleo himself. He tried to reassure him, "You don't have to do this, if you don't want."

Lucas' eyes meekly locked with the bear's. "N-no. I do, Geoff. It's ..." he trailed off and swallowed, and his eyes trailed lower down at the words he'd written upon his own chest. The flash of pain was still there, if he tried to remember it. His shaft throbbed again because of that, inside his fatigues. What the otter wanted, what he was ready and waiting for - it was just hard to express that in words. "I ... uh ..."

The panleo took hold of the otter's arms again, and gently but forcefully guided him to the edge of the bed - closer and closer to Doom.

"I'll make it easy for you, Luc," the bear whispered at his ear, reaching over to where a large ballgag was waiting. The great red sphere threateningly caught the otter's gaze like a hypnotist's watch. "If you want to be my sex slave for the next 24 hours, you just go ahead and put this in, right now."

The soldier gagged himself so fast, Geoff was surprised he didn't choke.

"Good boy," the bear rewarded him with another scratch of his chin, then he none-too-gently shoved the otter flat onto his back. The otter crawled in reverse, into the center of the bed, with the panleo predatorily stalking after him over his body. Leather bondage mitts were waiting, tied to the corners of the headboard, and against all his nerves, against his pounding fearful heart, Lucas made the last choice he could: he shoved one hand into a mitt himself.

He barely had time to secure it before Geoff's own black arms pulled his free hand back and took over capturing it in the other mitt. The panleo sat over the otter, grinning even more broadly at the newly helpless soldier stud under his control. The meek look in the otter's eyes though had gotten worse. If Geoff didn't know any better, he would have thought they were pleading for mercy already. A thick black blindfold fixed that right up.

Willingness and excitement radiated from every inch of the otter's body. The slight tense of muscles, the quick breaths that made a billow of his abs - Lucas had given himself over. Freely. Without reservation. He'd placed himself entirely into Geoff's hands, and given up all manner of control. There wasn't a shred of doubt in Geoff's mind, that the otter trusted him to take care of his body, and his pleasure.

And Trust was a turn-on.

"I promise, Luc," the panleo licked his lips hungrily. "I won't be gentle at all..."

2...

Someone was growling nearby.

"Nnn ..." the panleo grumbled as he turned over in bed, and his cheek rested on a familiar kind of surface: the meaty pillow of someone's chest. Up, down, up, down, the rise and fall of the man's breaths let the bear drift back to sleep like they were ocean waves. But the bass growling only got louder, which prompted Geoff to weakly thump his fist against the rumbling pectoral muscle.

"Qui... et. Trying to..." his mouth yawned wide open, eyes still kept closed shut. "Trying to ... sleep..."

The living pillow refused to be ignored, indignant noises rising in volume until Geoff had no choice but to groggily open his eyes. "H-hey ... I said to ... said to ..."

A vast expanse of crimson fur met his vision, a short coating over an exquisitely muscular, athletic male torso.

"Kenneth?" the groggy bear asked as he tried to blink his eyes. Half shut still, he could only slowly take in the hunk's shape, following a path of cobblestone abs down to where a great spire of meat was standing straight up and throbbing. The sleepy bear gave a muffled rumble of a laugh to himself. "Someone's ... horny..."

Geoff's eyes shut closed again, and his hand lazily stroked up and down the hunk's chiseled eight pack. Then the angry red beast gave a solid thrash side to side, upsetting the almost-sleeping bear again and yelling a somehow muffled "MMMPH!! NNHMMM!!"

"Okay," Geoff growled back, slamming his fist at the abs this time instead. "Okay, Im ... I'm getting ..."

Eyes struggled to pry themselves open further than before. That's when he noticed it.

"Getting up..." the bear drawled. Kenneth's muscular body was struggling against the ropes that held him spread eagled on the bed. Biceps and thighs flexed and clenched hard as he tried over and over to break them - futile attempts, which only served to use up some of his strength and better display that carved physique. The ropes were all wrapped and looped with expert skill, and weren't going to be coming undone anytime soon. Undoubtedly, the crimson wolf was gagged, but Geoff couldn't tell for the thick black hood loosely engulfing the canine head.

The bear gave an even longer yawn.

"Mmm ... what, uh, happened last night..." he whispered, letting his small brown hand explore more of the wolf's body as his own eyes closed back up once more. Indignantly, the wolf protested the touch of Geoff's hand on his shaft, trying to shake him off even as Geoff began to slowly pump the throbbing member.

"Guess you made it to poker night after all, huh? Thought you were busy. Well ... it's okay, Kenneth. I've got you. I'll get you off now. You just," the bear's hand slapped once on the wolf's sack, eliciting a small jerk from the crimson hunk. "Behave..."

The wolf gave some kind of gagged phrase that sounded very much like he was swearing at him. Geoff's brows furrowed. His grip on the wolf's sack became tighter still. Softly, the bear growled out, "Kenneth, I appreciate you pretending to be defiant, but it's too early for that."

The wolf's body tensed up with a series of small gasps as Geoff squeezed his balls by degrees, just enough to turn discomfort into pain without any damage. That was when a finger brushed against something else. A small spark of awareness passed over Geoff's sleeping face.

"Mmm," Geoff murmured as his hand reached further between the wolf's legs, and prized upon what must have been a cockring. It was vibrating, but just barely - enough attention to keep a man horny and in need, but not nearly enough to get him off. "Did I give you that? Can't remember... Jeesh, how much did I drink last night... I know it was my birthday, but ..."

Geoff adjusted a switch on the vibrator, and the wolf's body stiffened up sharply as the buzzing turned all the way to maximum. The crimson torso began to gasp and arch with waves of pleasure, and Geoff was content to keep laying his head atop the wolf's chest. The same roaming hand moved back up, to the tip of the throbbing shaft, and made a point of jacking him off even faster than before.

"That's it, Kenneth," Geoff cooed softly. His cheek rubbed gently at the wolf's chest the more the hooded figure gasped. "That's it. You want to get off? I get it. I'm here for you. You want to get off really bad, don't you?"

"MMMMMM!!! HNNNNG!" the captured hunk had lost any sense of defiance now as Geoff continued to pleasure the beast, and his hooded head was nodding rapidly in response to the questions. The bear's eyes opened further to watch as the muscular torso began to shake and twist the closer he came to orgasm. Sleep itself was subsiding as the wolf's need filled up his focus, his consciousness, and the previously groggy panleo watched with even greater interest as his lean, brown arm pumped the wolf's shaft.

His lean, brown arm.

His lean, brown arm.

Geoff's eyes snapped fully open, fully awake. He let go of the wolf's shaft, to look at his arm properly. What had once been the bear's thick black arm was a dark brown to the elbow, and gave way to a russet orange higher up. Then he kneeled up on the bed and glanced down at himself, and noticed the rest of his body was even more different than that. Orange gave way to white down his front. Everything about him was leaner than he'd ever been. The bear's normally round stomach was just as scrawny as his new limbs, and the trace outline of abdominal muscles was something Geoff had never had before.

"I'm a fox?" Geoff realized most curiously. "I'm ... a fox. That's ... new..."

Another glance around found things even more different than that, as the massive bed, the grandiose room itself - it was all a far cry from his own modest home. He near bounded his way to the windows, to draw curtains open and view the massive forested landscape outside. The sea of green trees stretched on ages into the distance, with not even a cell tower in sight.

Toto, kansas, something something, where's my shoes...

"Uhhhhh just hold that thought, Kenneth," the fox closed the curtains tight, then ran to the other side of the room. He yanked the heavy door open and stuck his head out into a hallway much larger and grander than he expected - like something straight out of a nobleman's castle. He also didn't expect to see a pair of heavily muscled men standing guard in the hall, each of them in just a loincloth and an executioner's hood.

Fearfully alarmed, Geoff closed the door very fast and didn't care if it slammed. He wanted it locked as soon as possible. It didn't occur to Geoff that opening and closing the door would have worried the tied up beast.

"MMMMM!!!!" the crimson wolf near howled on edge. Geoff's unfocused attention was drawn back forcefully by the sight of the flexing, throbbing wolf, whose pre come was dripping like a faucet even then. Desperation was written in every inch of his straining body, a sight that was better at begging than anything the wolf could have said. With a gulp, the fox returned back to the bed and the wolf himself.

"I'll just, uh, finish you first, yeah?" Geoff offered. Again the needy wolf nodded his hooded head, but more intensely after almost being abandoned.

Geoff reached for the wolf's shaft, watching his own brown limb as it clasped the sensitive flesh. His other hand rubbed once across the muscular chest, before it found and took hold of a nipple. Pinching and pulling the fleshy bud was something fun they could both enjoy, and the lupine body was so excited he practically jumped for each twist. It didn't take much more effort at all after that, to jack him right over the edge.

The poor, desperate wolf came like a firehose, firing white seed all the way up to his chest, and landing everywhere in between. His orgasm lasted a long time, and Geoff was just fine squeezing every bit of juice he could get out of him, all over his crimson abs. Only when the wolf was outright twitching from oversensitivity did the not-bear turn off the vibrator. Heaving for breath, the hunk seemed all too pleased to have a moment to rest.

The bear in a fox's body gently rubbed at the wolf's stomach, massaging his come into the fur over his eight pack. "That's it, Kenneth. Relax. Enjoy that. You've been very good, you know? Very good. Now, uh... maybe you know something about this ... maybe you don't," he said while reaching for the wolf's hood. "But I seem to be a fox, and uh ... this is not my house."

The hood pulled free easily.

"I mean, like, are the guys playing a joke, Kenne-you'renotKenneth," the fox said in shock.

The red wolf he knew didn't have horns. That was the first thing he noticed, but the rest of the wolf's face was different, too - the rest of his very angry yet confused face.

The fox swallowed hard.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he said in a rush while he tried to fight the thick leather bit gag out from the wolf's mouth. "I thought you were a friend. I'm sorry."

The wolf worked his sore jaws, eyes still glaring at the fox. The look in those mistrustful orbs seemed to be reserving judgement for now. His voice sounded a little raspy as he finally spoke, "Keep it down. I don't know who the hell Kenneth is, but I know who you're not."

"That's great, because I don't know who I am either," Geoff accidentally let his wit get ahead of him. "I mean, sorry. Uh. You were saying?"

The horned wolf's glare remained. "Egad Nob."

"God bless you."

Geoff didn't realize a roll of the wolf's eyes would be so welcome.

3...

The blond otter was gasping continuously. He had to. He didn't have a choice. His muscular body flexed and writhed every passing moment, limbs still just as securely bound to the bed corners as they were the night before. His heaving chest was near drenched with drool, from the ballgag wedged between his jaws. Blindfolded eyes couldn't see anything as the bear's black fingers toyed with his sack just a bit more.

Relentlessly, they rolled and squeezed at the sensitive orbs. The base of them was wrapped with a tight leather strap, and so was the base of his shaft. It was impossible to tell how long the otter had already been on edge, but just like a faucet, the throbbing member was leaking a steady stream of pre all over itself. Several rough slaps to his balls got the otter whining and squirming properly.

The panleo lay on his side, still quietly collecting his thoughts. It's not every day a man goes to sleep a fox, and wakes an entirely different species, in an entirely different place at that - but Egad Nob was calm regardless. He collected his thoughts like a miser collected money, steadily counting out each one even as he toyed with the otter still.

After all, if it had to happen, waking up to a well-bound hunk like this was certainly a good consolation prize. Having a muscular man under his control had always given him a sense of power and completion. Those enchanting, red, wax-written words scrawled across the muscular figure's chest - ALL YOURS - made that feeling even more enticing. It was like a present.

So Egad had jacked off, in that strange body, as he tried to process things out. The otter was in no position to stop him from stroking and fondling every inch of his stocky frame. Already he'd toyed with the helpless soldier for at least an hour, bringing him to the edge of release several times - and denying him just as often.

Those mewling protests were the best.

"I don't think you understand," Egad started to say in the pandalion's voice. "You're not getting off. Not yet. You're not -" his fingers gently gave a shiver-inducing stroke down the otter's slick shaft "- Ready."

Lucas whimpered intently, but the fox in Geoff's body gave him no heed. Instead, he flicked the otter's twitching shaft several more times - a slight punishment on the sensitive flesh, which he presumed had already seen worse.

For the second or third time that hour, Egad sat up and inspected the hunk in his control. The small scuff marks in his short fur, the sting of bruises underneath - Egad had already noticed those on the otter's form, and presumed the owner of this body had been more than a little rough the night before. Dog tags, still worn despite the tight collar at his neck, had given away the soldier's name, but if they were real or fake, that was something he'd have to put off till later.

A slight blue glow caught his eye. Egad leaned in closer to that collar, having disregarded it before in favor of the dog tags. The otter's aroused body gave off heat like a firepit. The lionbear pushed Lucas's head back to get closer at the collar itself. There he found the source of the glow: small runes, undoubtedly magical, were inscribed in the leather band. Closer inspection on the cockring found similar work down there.

The bear's eyes narrowed as Egad's mind turned with new information.

Sylas.

"Maybe you'll be ready in a couple of hours," Egad threatened the otter in a hushed whisper. The blond soldier shook his head and his gagged mouth babbled out pleas for mercy - but no answer came. Egad crawled back, out of range of the squirming muscular figure, and just watched as Lucas desperately tried to thrust his leaking shaft up at thin air. There would be no release for the helpless lutrine, until Egad decided on it himself.

If the way Egad licked his lips was any indication, Lucas was going to be on edge a long time.

4...

Geoff locked the bathroom door behind him, and took a long cleansing breath to focus himself. The vast, elaborate bathroom - if one could even call it a "room" - looked big enough to take up the whole first floor of his home. The mirror over the pair of marble sinks was the main thing to catch his eye, as for the first time, he could properly glimpse the body he inhabited.

"So ..." Geoff found himself running a hand down his new, lean torso. "Not exactly the most terrible body to find myself in."

Hands clapped together loudly in front of him, to wake himself up.

"Okay mirror self, let's discuss what we've learned. Egad Nob - according to one captive ex-demon wolf, Hatred, that's the alias of one malicious kidnapper extraordinaire, with more money than some third world countries. Not strong. Not magical. Supposedly, brains to spare, but thankfully I've got my own. Hopefully that also means..."

Geoff clenched his right fist tight, and concentrated. He held it there for several seconds. Slowly, carefully, his hand began to open - revealing a few select sparks growing between palm and fingertips. The bit of hand-held lightning grew, bigger and bigger, jumping sparks gathering into a dancing arc before he clenched his fist again to snuff it out. Then he huffed out a breath and shook the fingers out, too.

"That's a yes. My mind, ergo my magic. Not my body, so not a full yes. Weaker. I'll have to be careful. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, Mirror Me. New body. And why? ... Uh. Well, I don't know, but what do I know? Went to bed late last night. Awesome sex was had. God, I love Lucas. Oh, God, Lucas. If I'm here, then Egad is ... ayayayaya focus, Geoff, focus. Lucas is smart. He's a soldier. He can take care of himself."

The fox bumped his fist several times against his head.

"Went to bed. Woke up. No interruptions. That means ... that means no alarms went off. Nobody broke in. Okay, I know I'm a deep sleeper, but I would have woken up for that. Lucas makes sure it's extra loud. Hatred didn't wake up on this end either, and I'm pretty sure he was feeling more alert. Must have been a long range spell source."

"Second part. Choices. I'm a low grade mage, and a counselor. Egad's a self made millionaire. No relations. Or if we have any, I don't know. No connections, aside from the fact we both have a few kinks. So ... it was random? ... Okay, yeah, Mirror Me, random things do happen. Especially when a person is fiddling around with forces beyond their ken, yadda yadda, all that 'you fool!' jazz."

The fox struck quite a strange figure doing outlandish magical gestures at his own reflection. But then Geoff got serious again, pacing as he thought more to himself.

"A haywire spell, mind swapping two random individuals ... Okay, I'd bet on that. And if that's the case, the caster probably didn't take any steps for the spell's longevity. I'll probably go back to normal after a certain amount of time! Which is great! I'm not cut out to be an evil, sadistic genius. Plus, while we're factoring stuff, evil geniuses tend to have enemies."

Geoff glanced back at the bathroom door, and thought of the crimson wolf on the other side. His expression slowly panned from cheerful excitement into a depressed frown once more.

"An evil, sadistic genius, who happens to have lots and lots of slaves..."

The fox's chest took in another long cleansing breath.

"And ... I'm on a time limit. Great. Perfect. Mind swapped in unmapped enemy territory, no reinforcements, and me with an annoying thing called 'The Conscience'."

Geoff lifted his hands to give air quotes as he talked, and Egad's reflection followed it perfectly. Then hands slapped down on the marble edge, and he leaned in closer, inspecting the fox's red eyes, and even pulled at his lips to check the teeth. Finally, Geoff gave a very dismissive shrug and started stretching his arms out.

"Well, if I'm going to die in someone else's body - heck, if I'm going to pretend to be this guy at all, I'd better take a shower. Rich guys usually have cleanliness issues, right, Mirror Me? Right."

So Geoff left the attention of the mirror, and investigated the large curtains covering one side, which he could only assume would be the shower itself. A nearby towel rack cinched that idea, so he opened the curtain up and prepared to get in. Except, what he saw made him freeze in place.

To say the hulking figure was titanic was an understatement. As big as Hatred was to the fox, the naked lion kneeling in front of him was bigger still. Every bulging, rippling inch of his body was packed with such a ludicrous amount of muscle as to be hardly believable. If Geoff didn't know a guy or two like that himself, he might have thought it was an illusion.

But there he was, living, breathing, and thoroughly bound in the same trademark ropework that still encased Hatred in the bedroom. Closer examination found that the bonds holding him back were some kind of high density wire, not rope, and as the massive feline twisted on his knees, the wires dug in deeper at his muscular flesh.

His shaft was throbbing.

So was the lion's. It helped that the feline's sack and shaft were both bound by the cords as well, putting additional strain on the eager meaty organ. It probably stopped him from an orgasm, but it didn't stop the steady drip of pre forming at the head. All that muscle, all that beef, hot and exposed and completely helpless before him - Geoff found himself licking his lips despite his own shock.

"Shit, that's hot," the fox breathed out.

He almost didn't notice the ballgag that kept the lion's mouth stopped up. Almost. But at the same time he did, he also noticed the strange look the great beast was giving him.

Geoff's hands folded awkwardly in front of him.

"Uh. I don't suppose you ... heard all that, did you?" he asked self consciously.

The lion gave a very curt nod.

Geoff gave a heavy gulp, and moved closer into the showers - closer to the great, subdued beast of a man. Curtains were closed behind him, leaving just the two of them in that space.

5...

Egad needed a shower. Waking and toying with the bear's slave had been one thing, but now he just felt dirty - and not in the sexy way. He abandoned the helpless soldier to his plight, and went searching for somewhere to clean up. The bear had to have a bath in this place, assuredly, even if he wasn't as rich as Egad - and to be honest, how many people were?

The once-a-fox opened several doors down the meager hallway, finding a supply closet and a weight room first. Out of curiosity, Egad went inside to give one dumbbell a testing curl. He was only slightly surprised at the ease with which the panleo's thick arm was able to lift it, bicep mounding up for the motion.

"Typical football jock," Egad derided the owner of this body, assure of his own superiority. "Give a bear a few muscles, and he thinks he's a master."

With only a few ropes and his wit, Egad had become a master of hundreds. No jock could claim that achievement. Indeed, he had more than his share of athletes back in his dungeons already - ripped right out of the public eye. He then made a mental note to himself to bring a few out from the depths and give them a proper reminder of why he was the master, and they were just slaves.

Still, Egad felt even dirtier by the moment, like he was lowering himself as he tested the bear's strength. So he dropped the weight, closed the room behind him, and continued his search for the much needed shower. Thankfully it was the next room over, right across from the home gym. He gave his reflection only a quick glance before stripping down and setting the water to a luxurious hot.

6...

"You're really not going to bite me?" Geoff asked for the second or third time. The massive lion was clearly losing his patience, and it was written all over his glaring face. "Hey man, I'm the one taking a risk here, okay?"

If Geoff felt a little like David before Goliath, one could hardly blame him.

The lion grunted again, gnawing on the gag, before he tried to hold his jaws open even wider, at full extension. A strand of drool was quick to escape his maw, and slide down the massive surface of his chest. The fox then moved the final foot of space in front of the giant feline, and began to reach out. Carefully - a care motivated almost entirely by fear - Geoff unstrapped the gag from the lion's mouth.

The lion worked his jaws with a slow, pained movement, as if he hadn't been able to close his mouth properly for quite some time. The intense look in his eyes had only slightly begun to diminish.

"How's that?" Geoff dared to ask, tossing the gag off to the side.

"... Better," the lion growled, and gave his hefty shoulders a heavy shrug of a stretch. Geoff couldn't shake the feeling that the lion still had a desire for vicious vulpine eviscerations, but the great beast only asked, "Who are you?"

Geoff looked down at the fox's body he inhabited. "Apparently, I'm Egad today, but you heard all that already. What about you?"

A single eyebrow rose higher as he replied, "I am Zhal Uniko, Captain of the Guard of Mel'Andrea."

"A captain? Jeesh, this Egad guy gets around," Geoff muttered to himself. "Uh. Okay. And -"

"Release me," the lion ordered - his voice an avalanche, angry and commanding. Gigantic arms gave a tug against the cords, causing muscles to bulge even bigger than Egad's head. Geoff had to swallow his fright, and it went down very hard. "I said, release me! Untie me this instant, or -"

"See, I'd love to do that, but you still have Murder on your face," Geoff tried to explain. "So while I'd love to let you go, Zhal, I'm stuck in this body for the foreseeable future, and uh, I have this thing about living. You know?"

The beast's whole body seemed to resonate with a growl. Rows of flesh-shearing teeth bared themselves even more dangerously. Geoff suddenly felt things would have been much better with him still gagged, but it was a little late for that. The great lion pulled at his ropes again, and Geoff thought for sure that they were going to snap right off that time.

"Ohblon shakes!" the lion bit the phrase, and Geoff gave a frightened start backwards. "You fu-!"

"I didn't mean never, I just mean, gimme a minute, okay!" the fox pleaded in a tone just above a whisper. "I mean, Jesus, do I look like I have any answers? I just woke up, a stranger in a stranger's bed, bondage slaves everywhere! And I'm doing my best to keep calm and think of a way to get you guys out but you are not helping with that Eat Me look, okay? So just, just give me a minute."

Geoff was breathing much faster by the end of the short, frantic rant. His fingers retreated to rub at his rapidly throbbing temples. The lion's final growl subsided into a much smaller grunt, and then he turned his head to the side. Nostrils snorted his breath out in annoyance. The fox looked back at the giant beast, and couldn't help but still feel a sense of arousal at the sight of his muscular, helpless form.

And shame. Lots and lots of shame.

The lion was still aroused, too - but for him, it was against his will, with no relief from the cords on his personal parts. The guilt prying at Geoff's insides quickly compelled the fox to come closer again, but this time it was his turn to get down on his knees.

"Sorry. Here," Geoff said softly. The fox's hands reached down, and tried to take hold of the cords - with no help from the lion, who took it as his cue to start struggling the closer his fingers came. "Hey. Chill it - Calm down, Zhal. Calm down. I'm trying to get these off, okay? That'd make you feel better, right?"

The lion's struggles softened once more, but his chest kept up its quiet growl as his eyes watched him with the same intensity. It was easier for Geoff just to keep his gaze down, on what he was doing. He had to admit, this Egad fellow could tie a complicated knot.

"You've, uh, been on edge for awhile now, haven't you?" Geoff tried to make some simple talk. The lion grunted at him again.

"Weeks," the captain corrected. It was hard to tell if he was saying that in pride, or disdain, but either way - Geoff had to swallow. He looked up from the heavy orbs in the lion's sack, and at the lion's face instead. He'd edged Lucas for a week before, but that had been with the otter's express request and consent.

"Uh. Wow. Um. So ... you're probably really, really horny, right?"

If looks could kill, Geoff had no doubt he'd be dead already.

"I'll just take that as a yes, then. So, uh," Geoff gave a forced cough off to the side. "...Maybe, we can reach a compromise here?"

Geoff's eyes followed slowly down the lines of the man's body - all the shapely, carved out muscles that adorned his figure and made up his incomparable strength. His eyes looked all the way down, to the throbbing member, which was leaking even more now that the restraining cords had been dealt with. Then he raised his gaze slowly, submissively, back to the predatory look on the feline's face.

Unless he was mistaken, the great lion returned his gaze with just a tad more curiosity than aggression. "Talk," the big cat ordered so sharply that it made Geoff gulp again.

"Just - just hear me out, okay? I promise I'm going to get you guys out of here. I promise. As many people as I can," Geoff started nervously. "I just need time to make a plan. Time. We can't let them think anything's up, right? That's our main advantage. Those guys out there? They don't know. I, uh, don't think I can copy Egad's ropework. To tie you back up, if I released you, I mean. So ... I can't just let you two go yet."

The glowering thunderstorm began to gather in the lion's expression once again. His shoulders lifted and the barrel chest inflated, preparing a rebuke.

"And - and I know you don't want to hear that, so here's the compromise. You, uh, need to get off. I, uh, happen to be in a position to get you off. So, if you want ... if it's okay with you... I'll just ... jack you off a bit?"

Dark clouds faded. The knitted brows shifted up, inch by gradual inch. "... You're asking permission?"

"Well, yeah... Having consent before touching someone is just good manners. Even if, well, I mean especially ... when they're all tied up and such. Like you happen to be. You know?"

The lion rolled his eyes. "Fuck, stop talking and jack me off already. But get the gag. I roar."

"Yes,sir,I'llgetrighttothat."

7...

Fresh from the shower, Egad walked back into the bedroom with just a towel around the bear's waist. The squirming otter's pleas went ignored as Egad pulled open drawers and inspected the state of his closet, trying to find something good enough to wear. The only things that might have fit his standards were currently unwashed in the laundry hamper.

"Ugh. Really?" He held up one of the few clean pairs of pants that weren't jeans, contemplating the khakis a moment more before wearing them at last. There was an overabundance of blue in his wardrobe, so finding a nice blue shirt wasn't as hard. At least he wouldn't be embarrassed to be found like this, but something was still missing.

Egad raked his eyes over his reflection in a mirror, examining the pandalion's thick black mane. He felt so ... uncultured.

Quickly, the lionbear searched for something to tie his hair back into a ponytail. That at least was something he could attribute to himself, even in this alien form.

"There now," Egad said to himself. "All I have do is call Mize and have him -"

The doorbell rang.

For a brief second, Egad felt his skin crawl in surprise. It wasn't simply the fact that the sound was foreign, but that a whole host of new questions were flooding into his mind - all the who's and what's he couldn't possibly know or answer about this bear's life, or his friends. Maybe if he didn't answer, they'd just go away.

The doorbell rang again. Then it came a third time, more forcefully. It was rapidly becoming clear that "not answering" wasn't an acceptable response.

There was nothing to it but to bluff. That was his only choice. His feet padded silently beneath him, through the hall and living room, as if the eager noise was an undeniable force pulling him closer still. His hand was drawn just as inexorably towards the handle, where he half froze another second. He willed his face into blankness, and prepared to steel himself for whatever was to appear on the other side. The handle twisted with a squeak.

Light streamed in.

"Many happy returns o' the day, lad!" The brawny badger on the other side greeted him with a grin full of white teeth and an armload of beer bottles. He took a step closer, and the beam of sunlight shifted off the badger's head to give Egad a better view of the crimson red where black should have been.

"Ah hope Ah'm not too soon," he went on, the thick Scottish brogue evident in his words, and fitting his broad frame. An athlete's red ** ** letter jacket was buttoned up his front, and went well with his jeans. "Lucas said ya might wanna sleep in after last night. Ah took a gamble an' decided tae show up early anyway."

The badger raised one of the beer bottles to his lips and took another swig. A few drops slipped down his chin, vanishing into the equally crimson fur of the scruffy beard that lined his jaw. Egad's eyes were compelled to follow it down, and even further across the thick, bare neck - a clear sign of more than a few muscles hiding underneath that jacket.

"Ah got started on this early too, if ya don't mind." The back of a meaty hand wiped at the few stray drops still trickling through his fur. The grin that followed was accompanied by a rising eyebrow.

Egad found his eyes blinking in a bit more surprise than he expected. A package delivery, the local missionaries, maybe a workout buddy - he could have presumed one of those showing up. The gregarious scotsman, that was beyond his guessing. Egad had thought the bear had been a football player, and the jacket on this new figure was adding more evidence to prediction. First things first.

"Returns of the what?" Egad asked as he tried to mute his confusion. He still wasn't sure if he was supposed to be glad or excited to see him - and there was a flash of panic as he wondered if the panleo was supposed to have a scottish accent, too - so he faked a small amount of sleepiness to draw out his words. Egad also knew it was best for him to keep his answers short and concise. The less he let on, the better.

The badger just whistled mischievously.

"Lucas must've done a real number on ya last night. Hell of a way tae celebrate turnin' twenty-eight, not tae say Ah'm complainin'." He leaned forward, neck craning, trying to glance past the bear and into the depths of the house. "Where's the lad anyway? Can't come to the door? A wee bit tied up at the moment, is he?"

The look on his face had zero innocence about it.

He knows.

"I suppose ... you could say that," Egad tried to downplay as he scrambled for other excuses. "He's still in bed right now."

Helpless, writhing, gagged.

"So we shouldn't disturb him - but look at me, being such a terrible host," Egad said, pulling the door open a bit wider and gesturing for the badger to enter. "Please, why don't you come into the kitchen, and we can crack open a few more of those beers. Have you had lunch yet?"

The gregarious badger bounced past the threshold and into the lion's den. "That's what Ah'm here for! Always better havin' lunch with friends. Just let me see what's in the fridge. Ah'm sure Ah can scrounge up a decent lunch fer the birthday bear as well!"

"Yes, please, go right ahead," Egad closed the door behind the badger, and made sure that it was locked tight before following after his latest prey. He had to admit, the view from behind was quite delicious. Those jeans of his hugged very tightly to shapely glutes as he walked - sauntered even? - towards the kitchen.

If he didn't know any better, Egad would have thought the crimson badger was trying to seduce him.

Beer bottles were quickly set down as they stepped into the warmer room, and the guest turned halfway around. "Stuffy, aint it? One sec."

The badger's hands went to his waist, where they began to wrestle the football jacket upwards without even bothering to unzip it. Threadbare and near transparent, the white tank-top was suddenly made visible, the thicker covering pulled off his torso. Egad was forced into a small doubletake as the badger shrugged his meaty shoulders, reaching his solidly built arms high above his head with the jacket moved into hand.

The badger's chest expanded in a deep inhale that stretched at the thin fabric straining to hold those muscles in, so Egad almost missed it when the arms came down and the badger sent the armful of bundled jacket flying his way. "Think fast!"

He did not. Too focused on the unveiling of the muscular form - the shirt couldn't have been considered decent in public, not in the least - the jacket slapped into Egad's body, and he barely caught it before it hit the floor. Then, holding the jacket in front of him, Egad went right back to looking at that badger wearing such a too-tight shirt. He must have worked in construction, or something laborious like that, Egad thought.

Yes, he probably breaks rocks on his biceps for a living.

"That wasn't fast," the badger said. Egad quelled a spike of panic, but the badger's tone hovered between mischievous and forgiving. "Yer actin' a little distracted today, aren't ya?"

"No, of course not," he was too quick to reply.

Already his imagination was turning to what the badger would look like all roped up on his knees, naked and gagged. He could make out the badger's colors through the thin shirt, but his jeans covered up what he looked like down there - giving him plenty of room for make believe and a very earnest desire to have this hunk tied up as well.

"It was a long night, as you said," Egad tried to bluff his way out. _And a long morning. _"With ... Lucas, as you said."

"Aye, that's wot Ah said." The badger swivelled on his heels and romped over to the fridge. His back was exposed to the predator - exposed and vulnerable. Egad had to bite his lip to pace himself. "Seems tae me, though, there's more than that on yer mind."

The badger opened the door and leaned into the cool breeze to investigate. Both arms reached into the fridge's depths, busying themselves as they searched for inspiration. "Yer... not quite yerself today, are ya? Seem a bit more lost in thought than usual. Somethin's up, ain't it?"

His back was to the pandalion as he mused. If it seemed like he was showing off his ass again, clearly that had to be an accident.

Pity the badger turned his head before Egad could move. There was that grin again. All knowing, full of confidence. "Or is it just havin' a red-hot hunk at yer door first thing in the morning?" He straightened up, still half-turned, so his back muscles rippled for the other man to watch as one arm lifted, curled, and a solid bicep mounded up proudly like a cannonball.

Egad twitched.

The badger chuckled to himself. "Ah've still got it."

Suddenly Egad's imagination took another vivid turn, producing a vision of the badger more expressly roped in that flexing position. It was a good thing Egad still had the badger's jacket, so he could hide the rapidly growing erection tenting at the bear's khakis.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Egad kept his voice very level as he sought for any other method by which he could capture this stud, right then and there. The kitchen table was annoyingly devoid of a cloth, and small hand towels just wouldn't do. "I'm fine, really. Are you?"

The badger's glittering brown eyes scanned the pristine kitchen counter, where beer bottles remained waiting.

"No idea about you, lad, but Ah'm still a bit thirsty." So he reached for the open bottle and leaned back against the counter as he tilted up to his mouth - and missed. Barely a sip of it got past his lips. The rest cascaded off his chin and splashed messily onto his own shirt.

"Oops." A russet hand reached up to paw at the spreading wet spot on the fabric. "Ah might be just a tad drunk as well, come tae think of it." He frowned as he pinched at the semi-transparent fabric. "Was gonna get rid o' this thing soon, anyway. Ya don't mind if Ah take it off, will ya? Worst thing tae happen, yer birthday present comin' over an' catchin' a cold."

"Yes, we wouldn't want you captured or anything. By a cold," Egad said under his breath. Then he realized what the badger said and quickly doubled back with a, "... Wait, did you say present?"

The badger didn't seem to hear him. He was preoccupied with finding a safe spot to replace the beer bottle. He turned back, thumbs hooking under the shoulder straps of his tank-top.

Rrrrrrrip.

White cloth parted down the middle with a savage tug of both strong arms. Color flashed, revealing the vibrant red that continued down his collarbone and faded to a duller auburn as it crossed the eight ridges of his stone-carved abdomen. A set of military dog-tags shone between the rounded slabs of his obviously built pectorals. Still the badger's arms continued to strain, pulling the last of the torn shirt clear, then slinging the two tattered halves over his shoulders and around his neck like a scarf.

Like a collar.

"There we go." The badger patted his fur down, rubbing at where the beer had left his chest slightly damp. Eyes were drawn closer to the tags, where the name ** ** Rory MacAlistair was helpfully emblazoned across the metal. "No chance o' yer present gettin' captured by a cold now."

"No, no colds," Egad mumbled. His mind raced, and his words chased after them. "Would you excuse me for a moment? I should check on Lucas quick. Feel free to entertain yourself, Rory. Shouldn't be more than a moment."

He could call Mize later, surely.

Egad fled - gracefully - down the hall and back to the bedroom. The blindfolded otter curled up and tried to "gaze" at the arrival, to no end. The panleo looked at the helpless soldier for another moment, who started to struggle anew, but then Egad began his search.

Rope. Rope. Where would he hide rope?

He checked at the bottom of the bedroom closet first, but the few boxes to be found only had a bunch of college texts inside. He threw several haphazardly over his shoulder as he dug deeper, just in case there was a "secret stash." Maybe he could knock him out with the sheer size of Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, and gag him with Evolution of Morality.

Yeah, right .

Egad abandoned his fruitless closet search, and went after his second best guess: under the bed. A roll-out box pulled easily from underneath, and Egad pried open the latch just as easily to an imaginary victory tune in his head. An assortment of bondage gear was neatly stored inside and waiting for the right master to use them. A second box contained even more. It was a modest enough collection, by Egad's standards, but he figured it could have been used to capture somewhere around half a dozen unwitting victims, easy.

He'd save the variety of cuffs and binders for later, if he needed them - right now, he was in the mood for rope. The pandalion had a few small lengths of it available, and a pair significantly larger than that. He wouldn't need nearly that much, to begin. He grabbed one of the smaller coils, getting it open and ready for the badger, then left the boxes out as he headed back out.

"Mmph!!" the poor otter tried to get Egad's attention before he left. He succeeded in stopping him only just before the door.

Sadly, Lucas couldn't see the wicked smile spreading across the panleo's features.

"No, slave. You're still not ready."

He didn't know an otter's ears could fall flat before then.

Then Egad closed the bedroom door behind him, calming his excited heart before striding imperiously to the kitchen once more. He held the ropes behind his back - out of sight, he hoped, the better to catch the scottish jock off guard. The fox had more than enough experience with this part. He only needed a moment, a split second of vulnerability, to have Rory's back turned as he approached from behind, and it would all be over for the unfortunate mustelid.

But Rory was naked already.

That simple, unexpected fact caught Egad completely off guard, stopping the pandalion's approach at the entrance to the kitchen, to better take in the whole scene before him.

Incorrigible, indecent, Rory lounged across the kitchen table, leaning on one elbow for support and baring his well-built body in all its glory. Dog tags were the only thing left on his torso, but that did nothing to hide the badger's throbbing erection. A studded set of cock and ball rings looked strapped on tight - but not tight enough to prevent a small bead of pre from forming at the tip of Rory's shaft.

There were a few small plates arranged around the badger, hastily fashioned appetizers that still managed to have a chef's flair to them. The promised lunch, they looked good - delicious even - but Egad had eyes only for the main course.

Slowly, the badger was rubbing his shaft, but he stopped as soon as Egad appeared. The pandalion noticed, on second glance, that there was one more article standing between Rory and total nudity: his belt. Rory had taken it off though, and latched it around his neck instead. There was no way to take it as anything but a collar.

"Oops. Ah slipped. Ah've fallen an' now Ah can't get up."

Everything about the badger, every line of his muscular body, every tooth visible in his bare grin, every lazy stroke of his own stomach, made it obvious this was no accident, and they both knew it.

It was Egad who had dropped his guard, and Rory clearly spied the coil of rope he was trying to hide behind himself. Rory made no move to react. "Is that fer me?"

The stroking hand continued to rub at his stomach instead, ruffling up the short fur on his abdomen, blurring the grooves between each section of muscle, then flattening it back down, throwing the toned midsection back into sharp relief. "Ya really shouldn't have. By which Ah mean ... what took ya?"

Alarms were going off in Egad's head. The fox in bear's clothing had his eyes near glued to the immaculate figure in front of him. Plans and countermeasures, designed to capture the unsuspecting and unwilling, were all rendered pointless in the face of the clearly willing shape of that man. He could feel his pants tenting again, and he had no jacket to cover it up this time.

No point in hiding it, the panleo held the rope up in front of him. His hands toyed with stretching out a roughly wrist-sized single loop. "I didn't realize you were so eager for it..."

"Ready, eager..." Rory began to slowly rest himself back on the table, arms bent upwards toward the table corners. Mischief shined all the more clearly from his twinkling eyes. "Waitin'."

The predator moved in.

Rory didn't struggle. Not even for a moment. He just ... let it happen. Hell, the badger was even whispering words of encouragement to him. "That's it, lad. Just like that. Nice an' tight. Tighter. Tighter. Ah'll get loose if ya don't - that's good. Good lad."

The first flex of the badger's arm came only after the ropes had already secured his wrists to the table legs at each corner, tightened just enough so that those rounded biceps could keep their bulging figure. His legs, too, only gave a testing jerk once the ropes had finished binding him spread-eagled, which caused his thick thigh muscles to bulge up under his skin.

The meat between his legs bulged, too, and throbbed all the harder for his captivity.

Egad took a moment to appraise the ropework, and the badger in general, moving from his toes all the way back up to his wrists. Sometimes he did it with his hands, testing fur, flesh and cord, and sometimes he just examined it with his eyes. There was a lust burning in those glassy orbs as the absolute helpless state of the badger aroused the both of them. Muscles flexed on purpose as Rory clearly intended to show off for the birthday bear. The chiseled rack of eight abdominal muscles crunched up, curling in, and the solid throat strained to speak.

"Damned if yer not gettin' better at this. Someone's been practicing their rope skills, haven't they?" The badger almost - definitely - sounded like he was teasing. Egad would have had a sudden flash of concern - about the difference in skill level between himself and the panleo whose body he now inhabited - if that was enough to give him away. But the hunk of crimson fur gave a low rumble of a laugh in his chest, and it made his abs dance across his middle. "Lucas been modelin' for ya? Or Kenneth?"

It was too late anyway. Rory wouldn't be going anywhere, now that Egad had bound him.

Egad thought back to all the times he'd had to use his mastery of the rope to contain and overpower muscle-bound studs two or three times the fox's own size. A lion here, a wolf there - all could be brought down and made powerless with the right force, the right application. The badger before him was no different, even if he was asking for it.

"You could say that," Egad answered coyly. Then he reached out a hand, and gently stroked the bear's black fingers over Rory's chiseled stomach. Lower and lower they went as they rubbed, approaching but not touching his shaft just yet. The twinkle in the badger's eye had yet to cease.

"Yer not sayin much, lad," the prisoner said. "You still ... thinkin'?"

Egad gave a slight frown at him - almost a glare. His hand grasped the badger's shaft, and squeezed hard.

"Yes. I am," Egad said with authority. "And I think it's high time you stop saying anything at all."

A thick blue ballgag was fished out of the bear's pocket, and made a beeline straight for the badger's maw. He tilted his head and clenched his jaws into a rigid grin, dodging the first foray and deflecting the second. The insolent twinkle still shone in his eyes. "'Bout - time," he taunted through still-clenched teeth.

"You're going to regret this course of action," Egad near hissed at him in a whisper. Then his hands set upon the badger's bare sides and began a most vicious assault against him - a tickling attack, all up and down his pits and sides. The badger was far too vulnerable and helpless to escape, much less protect the exposed areas, but that didn't stop him from trying.

It didn't matter to Egad, if it was a challenge. The badger was doomed. He just didn't know it yet. It was only a matter of time before he broke for his new master. They all broke for Egad, eventually.

"Fffffhngghnghng no no nohohoho stop", the badger pleaded as the torment built bit by bit, dancing and jerking all the while the bear's hands kept up their attack. Defiance was dwindling. Jaws remained tightly clenched, but strain was writing itself all over his features. Any moment now. Any moment.

"Yer not pfffff gnnnnnhnnhnn - ahh hahahng mmmmpff!"

8...

Pleasurably hot water cascaded all over their bodies, from multiple showerheads. They lay, one atop the other, Geoff in Egad's body hugging tight to the much larger lion. The massive feline was still tied up and helpless, arms under his back, but he had enough slack in his legs now to thrust upwards against the fox's smaller body. Their shafts rubbed against each other, slickened by the hot shower water itself, and it delivered pleasure to the both of them as the lion tirelessly thrust at him still.

He was a machine. Relentless, powerful, the hunk of man frotted against him with the desperate abandon of an animal on edge for weeks. Hatred had been filled with need, and he'd only been a prisoner for a few days. Geoff had tried to satisfy him with a hand job, once, twice, only to find he was just as hard as ever. The steaming shower water struggled to wash away the lion's seed time and time again, only for the mess to be worsened by his latest orgasm.

Both of them gave in to their lust, to lovemaking more excited than sensual. Geoff held him by the ropes and his thick mane, kissing hard upon his lips. He had no doubt that if the ropes weren't still keeping him bound, the beast would have been clutching him hard enough to bruise something - or hell, even break. The leonine figure could have crushed him with a single flex of his bicep. Their physical abilities just weren't even on the same page.

Geoff had tried to match him at first, to thrust back just as fast, but there was no comparing the two of them - small fox to great cat. The vulpine's brown hands rubbed and explored over the beast's muscular limbs, stroking across their sheer size, squeezing at their hardness. He was a living mountain, carved out of rock, and Geoff felt like he might break against him.

And then Geoff came, for the third time or so. The great beast slammed it out of him, and he unloaded across the lion's abs - and at barely half a minute more, the lion came, too. For him, there was no counting or recalling how many times he had come. The big cat's heavy orbs unleashed another gush of seed, all across his torso, and the thrusting barely slowed.

It was just ... too much.

Geoff pressed on the rock-like surface of the lion's pecs, and slowly got the strength to push off. Panting, the fox struggled out a, "S-stop. Stop. I need, need a break. Need a..."

Geoff rolled over, off of the cat and onto floor. The hot water warmed his back on its way down the drain, but the showerheads rained continuously all the same. A few droplets landed too close to his eyes, so he covered them with the fox's forearm. The gagged lion let loose a growl, as if he was annoyed to have stopped 'so soon.'

"Fuck. What did you have for breakfast? The energizer bunny?" Geoff asked in disbelief. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought the lion gave a laugh at that. Eyes pried themselves open to glance at the massive figure lying beside him, and caught the grin spreading across leonine features. Slowly, the fox started to turn on his side, and reached to undo the gag by its straps. "Fuck. Just ... Fuck. I know that was supposed to be about you, but I feel like I'm the one who should be grateful, Zhal."

The lion slowly worked his aching jaws around, before letting them rest in a confident smile. "Galen."

"Uh. You're welcome? Sorry. I don't speak ... Spanish?" Geoff apologized. The lion gave another small rumble of a laugh and shook his head.

"No. My name," he explained. "It's Galen Dhaelos. I lied to you."

The fox blinked slowly several times. "...Oh. I guess that ... makes sense."

"Egad is clever, and manipulative. He enjoys getting in your head and controlling you," Galen said more seriously. "I wanted to make sure -"

"That I wasn't tricking you, right?" Geoff caught on.

"Right."

The fox nodded his understanding, and gingerly let one hand stroke across the lion's massive chest. "I get that, yeah. It's been a weird morning. And, uh, we are supposed to be getting cleaned up..."

Two of his fingers lifted up a very thick strand of Galen's seed from up the center of his abs. They both looked at it - Geoff more sheepishly, of course. Further down, between his legs, the lion was still impossibly hard.

"Right..." Galen said again, one eyebrow rising in expectation.

"I still can't untie you. So, can I, uh, have permission to clean you up?" ** ** Geoff asked in what he hoped was a respectful tone. "There's some soap over there, and the water's not getting everything out of your fur..."

Galen's expression gave way to another smile. "Egad doesn't ask permission. He orders. ... You'll have to keep that in mind."

"... I'm not Egad," Geoff said simply as he got up on his knees. Then he reached for the bar of soap and began to lather it up in his hands - but he held them up, non-threateningly, still waiting for consent.

The lion winked cheekily. "I can see that. So maybe, just this once..."

"Just this once," Geoff agreed, before he carefully straddled the lion's hips once more. The fox's hands slowly applied themselves to the hard surface of Galen's chiseled abs, and gingerly began scrubbing up and down across them. The showerheads kept their heated rainfall up, slicking the soap and debris away in short order and prompting him to use the soap bar itself in the act.

With more strength, he scrubbed deeper and harder against the lion's torso, until it was more like a massage then simply getting clean. Galen didn't say anything. He laid there, letting it happen, letting his small smirk speak for itself. Then someone twitched. Their shafts rubbed together again, by accident. The lion's hefty balls unleashed a small bit of pre once more.

Both of them looked at Galen's lower body, then at each other.

"... Well," the giant feline's smirk spread wider. "A second time ... couldn't hurt..."

9...

There was a knock at the door. It was clear, precise, and respectful, but there it was.

"Fuck," Geoff muttered as he gave up trying to find a pair of pants he liked and just threw on the first black pants he chanced upon. Urgently he pulled them up and on, and barely had the zipper up before he was ripping through drawers for a match.

Fuck, I knew this was going to happen. I just had to go back for seconds. And thirds. Stupid sexy lion stud with his endurance and his muscles and his -

There was another knock on the solid wood, just a bit more insistent than before.

"I'm coming," Geoff said out loud.

"Gruffer. Get angry. Dominant. No, no, the white shirt," Hatred coached him in the barest whisper from where he was on the bed, still tied spread-eagled. With a muted growl at himself, Geoff threw his blue selection aside and dived back into the massive closet for a white one instead. He scrambled across the bed, straddling Hatred for just a moment before shoving the gag back into the wolf's mouth.

"Sorry. Thanks for everything," Geoff whispered into his ear. He gave the red wolf a final pat on the chest, then jumped off the bed towards the (thankfully) locked door.

"I'm coming!" Geoff vented annoyance in his voice instead, hurriedly buttoning up his shirt before near-ripping the door open at last. The small, bespectacled mouse was frozen in mid attempt at another knock. Geoff screwed his features up into a glare, and imagined he was ten feet taller and roasting the mouse with his gaze. "What is it, Mize?"

The professor - whom the captives had told him about - was taken aback for a brief moment. He blinked several times, then adjusted his goggle-like glasses. "It's almost 1, Foxmoore. You're supposed to be meeting with the board in half an hour, remember?"

Fuck fuckety fuck fuck *fuck * -

"Of course I remember," Geoff stated in an angry tone. "I just don't care. Reschedule it for another day."

"But, sir, you're the one who -"

"Mize, I am having a very good day so far," Geoff interjected, despite the fact it was complete and utter bullshit. "Let's keep it that way, shall we? Reschedule the meeting."

"As you wish, Foxmoore..." the mouse said rather more submissively. He pulled up his computer tablet and began to type rapidly across its screen. It made several electronic beeps as he finished, then Mize offered, "Shall I also send Galen and Hatred back to their cages with the other champions, sir?"

"Of course," Geoff scoffed. "I'm finished with them. For now."

"Of ... course..." Mize repeated with a slight hint of confusion about him. He made a series of more taps against the tablet screen, and Geoff looked back around just in time to see the restrained figure of Hatred flash out of existence. "Now then, sir, will -"

"Did you see that?" Geoff interrupted. Mize blinked a few more times.

"... See what, Foxmoore?"

"When you teleported them," Geoff clarified. Hands scratched inquisitively at the fox's chin as he continued the charade. "Something seemed ... off. Never mind." One hand gave a backhanded flick, swatting at invisible worries. "I'm sure it was a trick of the light."

It was a total lie, and one that the bear-in-fox was heavily banking on. But he had time. He had to leave room, for build up.

"Mize, have you had lunch yet?" Geoff asked then.

The professor cocked his head to one side before simply replying, "I had a sandwi-"

"Eat lunch with me," Geoff ordered flatly. "Here."

"I'll, uh, have something sent up then," said Mize in return, once more cueing things up from the tablet in hand.

"I've had an idea for something grand, Mize. A show. A marvelous show," Geoff explained while he pretended to ignore the professor. "I'll need your help making the arrangements for it this afternoon. What are the Dungeon Keepers doing then?"

"The Keepers, sir?"

"Yes, the Keepers. Do they have a board meeting?" Geoff asked sharply.

"... The Keepers do not have a board, sir. They'll be making their rounds as usual, as well as overseeing the slaves' exercise regimens for the next few hours. But, you know that, sir..."

"Mize?" Geoff gave the mouse a look.

"Yes, Foxmoore?"

"That was a joke, Mize."

"... Ah. Of course, sir..."

10...

Curse that doorbell.

Egad looked up from the blindfolded, thrashing badger on the table. Rory was trying to struggle, anxious and unable to escape from the lionbear's grip as Egad tugged his sack lower and lower still. A mess of pre now stained the crimson fur of his lower abs. Egad's other hand kept him pinned down by the throat, but as the doorbell rang more and more insistently, both of them stopped moving.

Rory tried to lift his head just a few inches, but the fox's grip on his throat kept him down. He tried to give an inquisitive, "Urrff?" but Egad couldn't understand it well through the badger's gag.

"Shut up," the fox whispered, lifting his hand off of the captive's throat and slamming it against his chest instead. He paid no attention to the grunt of pain. His eyes were rapidly searching for a means to hide the badger, just in case, but there was still nothing to be found, same as before.

Heavy fists pounded strong and hard at the door, and were followed by an equally strong, rough male voice. "Geoff!! We know you're in there! You've got five minutes till we let ourselves in!"

A spike of panic ran up Egad's spine like a bolt of lightning, and only through sheer force of will did he mute his fear response and set his mind to the task at hand. Ropes, cuffs, scissors and kitchen knives - he had weapons, but what he wouldn't give for some chloroform. He glanced out the lowered shades of the back window, and noticed with a muffled "Fuck" that the large brown fence would be too high for the panleo's body to jump.

Ignorance. Best to plead ignorance.

Egad pocketed a pair of cuffs and one of the sharper scissors, just in case, but he was taking too long. The gruff, bass voice came out again, "Geoff! We know you've got Rory already, but come on! Ezra's grumpy!"

Lightning struck twice.

Damn it! DAMN IT!

The bell rang a few more times, the noise sounding more and more impatient. His grip on the scissors tightened in his pocket, and he barely had time to close the kitchen door behind him before another door burst open - lock be damned. Egad near flinched from the wrenching noise alone, but it was the massive shape that entered that really set him off.

G-galen??!

The great cat was shadowed by the outside light for only a moment. Taller than the bear, the broad shoulders, the mane of hair - the invader cut a shape just like his favorite captive would. But it only took a few steps inside for the brown beast to bare something Galen never had: sabertooth fangs. They near glinted in front of the massive feline's feral, puppy-eating grin.

Shirtless - and thus exposing the kind of eightpack you could slice carrots against - the sabertooth had a large duffel bag and a soldier's camo jacket over his shoulder. The fatigue pants looked maybe a bit too small, but at least he wasn't fully naked. The invader clearly caught Egad looking him over and he kept walking straight towards him.

"You - you can't -" the panleo stammered in half lust, half fright.

"I promise I'll fix it later," the sabertooth shrugged off with a sparkle of mischief in his eyes, not unlike the badger earlier. One dangerously large hand reached out over his shoulder, and Egad felt the kitchen door press against his back. Trapped, between a rock and a hard place, his hand tried to sneak back into his pocket for the scissors. The sabertooth didn't notice. He was too busy rumbling a noise that was almost like a laugh. "You should be saying something, Geoff."

"G-get out of my house??" Egad said worriedly.

All those times Galen had threatened to kill him, he'd always triumphed. He always won - with intellect, cunning, and a well-laid plan or two. He never expected, could never expect, to die in someone else's body, alone and unnerved.

I should have just called Mize, should have just called and ran but no! I had to mess with that stupid badger! He's probably laughing at me right now! He's in on it! They're all -

The sabertooth rumbled even louder, the laugh shaking out through his opening maw. The hand pulled back from the wall, and toyed with a pair of dog tags hanging from his neck. His voice, clearly teasing, said, "But I spent so long trying to find a soldier costume that would fit! Fuck if no one carries my size."

"... Costume?" Egad replied, looking down at the sabertooth's too-tight pants again - eyes crossing over the hard, chiseled landscape of his torso to get there.

The sabertooth leaned up straight, and lifted his free arm in a massive cannonball of a bicep flex. "Happy birthday, big bear. We all got dressed up for the occasion."

"We??" Egad repeated, his mind racing even as he tilted to look around the living wall of muscle. Others had filed in behind him, each of them dressed up in a "costume" of their own. Body sizes and heights varied, and though none was as muscular as the sabertooth behemoth, their bodies were all well-built in their own right.

There was another soldier, a black-feathered raven. His camo green cap and trousers actually looked like they fit, though he had on a very tight, sweaty grey tank top. His bare arms looked bulging and pumped, like he had just been working out right before. Dog tags glinted on his broad chest, too. He adjusted his cap respectfully as he caught Egad's gaze.

Hanging just behind him was a lean, athletic golden retriever, with the kind of awkward, innocent look about him that he'd come to associate with a puppy that doesn't know why he's been punished. He had on a cowboy's costume, complete with jeans and brown leather chaps. He was missing a shirt though, allowing the dog's lean eight pack to show through the cowboy vest he had on.

"Yeah, we. Though Marco was supposed to be a lifeguard," the sabertooth thumbed back at the raven behind.

The bird's eyes glared at the back of the massive feline's head. "No, you were, Ellwood. I am a soldier. You're the -"

"Excuses, excuses," the sabertooth ignored him. "It's not like he minds. You love a soldier, don't you Geoff?"

Egad's mouth opened and shut in complete silence.

Clearly eager to get inside, a leather couple came in next. The bodybuilder of a white tiger took off his black jacket inside the door, the better to show off his shirtless upper body. A thicker fur coat made it harder to count his six pack, but it was still there. The black stripes down his arms and sides went well with the black of his leather pants. Black cuff straps were already tied on his thick wrists, just waiting to be secured to something, and he had a leash attached to the back of a thick collar.

The brawny muscle-gut of a sheepdog was holding the other end of that leash. While the tiger looked put out, maybe even annoyed, the sheepdog was looking extremely pleased with himself - or at least, as pleased as he could look with so much fur covering his eyes. He too had leather pants on, and a big leather vest that didn't quite meet in the middle. The hat on his head was classic leather dom apparel.

"I can't believe you talked me into this," the tiger groused under his breath. He rubbed his right hand against the opposite arm, as if to protect at least some of his modesty.

The dommy sheepdog gave a quick tug on the leash though, and told him none too gently, "Can it, Ezra. Everyone knows you're getting off on this."

The tiger near jumped as the sheepdog then slapped his arse. His shoulders sunk a little as he looked down and away.

"Oi, if ya wanna switch," a sunny, Australian accent rang out as another person entered the door, "Ai'd be happy to oblaige."

The owner of the accent was a tall black wolf with sharp blue eyes and a fireman's uniform. All too quickly, the wolf was yanking off the heavy duty jacket, baring his powerful but lean upper body with its almost skin-tight layer of black fur. Cobblestone abs were flanked on either side by bright red suspenders, helping to hold up the heavy fireman's pants as well.

He didn't have time to get his pants off. A toy axe bopped him on the shoulder, wielded by the last person to enter. The olive green triceratops was taller than the sheepdog, but he had a similar sort of paunch. Blue jeans and a red, short-sleeved flannel helped to cinch the lumberjack's image. "Down boy," the saur's voice went. "You'll be tied up and helpless soon enough."

"He will?" the panleo's voice near cracked as he said it, and it took Egad a split second to realize he was the one who asked. Eyes were too busy flashing back and forth from one costumed hunk to the next, observing them as they milled about. A few of them were dumping objects out of their pockets - keys, cellphones, wallets, etc. The triceratops carried in another bag behind him, and sabertooth and saur alike began to open up their packages.

"Well..." the saur wavered as he slowly pulled out a deck of cards. "If he loses."

The black wolf flexed his arms in front of him and smiled ear to ear, razor sharp fangs on display. "Ai'll do my best, Dervish."

The white tiger hid his face in his hand. Forcefully. It made a slapping sound on contact.

"What? Ai'm having a subby today. Ya know?" the incorrigible wolf stated without any shame at all.

"Come on, people. We can flaunt and flirt later," the sabertooth said loud enough to get everyone's attention. One eye winked in Egad's direction. "We're here for the birthday boy. Focus is on him."

A dozen lusty, naughty eyes turned on the panleo at once.

I'm doomed.

"Uh... where's ... where's Rory?" the cowboy-dressed retriever perked his voice up from the back.

"Probably being his good-old, sex-toy self," the dommy sheepdog answered.

"Lemme guess," the sabertooth smirked dangerously at the bear. "From the way you're covering the kitchen door, I'm guessing he's ... tied to the table inside?"

He knows.

"Helpless, on edge, basically begging for it?" the sabertooth continued as he stroked his chin.

He knows.

"Like I said. Good-old sex-toy. Ha! Guess we're ordering pizza if the chef is down for the count," the sheepdog griped. At his side, the tiger continued to look awkward. His tail flicked in agitation behind him. So the sheepdog yanked on his leash again, and manhandled the tiger into facing him properly. "Hey. Don't pout, sweetie. You know you're my favorite sex-toy."

The sheepdog kissed him hard, right then and there. The stripey kitty near melted in his embrace, onlookers be damned. The sabertooth's chest rumbled out another laugh again.

"Ah... Twue wuv..." he teased. That at least got the sheepdog to release his tiger pet at last.

Cheeks nearly scarlet, the tiger's tail danced back and forth behind him. "Fuck you, Ellwood."

"Only if you win me, EZ," the sabertooth shot back, flexing a threat at him with one of those cannonball biceps.

"Dogpile on Ellwood?" the stoic raven sought to contribute.

"That's cheating," the sabertooth shot back too fast.

Several of the others agreed with the raven anyway, including a very vengeful looking tiger. "Sure." "Yeah, let's." "He looks good helpless." "Fine by me." "Centerpiece?" "Centerpiece."

"Yes, let's all get the sabertooth," Egad found himself awkwardly wanting to be included.

"You all suck," Ellwood threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine. Whatever. Everybody wants a saber slave. With Rory out of the game, we don't really have enough people for two decks anyway, and too many for one. So whatever."

The sabertooth's hands went to his belt, as if getting ready to strip. Then he stopped and asked Egad outright, "You want the costume on or off, Geoff?"

Egad quickly factored in the panleo's apparent fetish for soldiers. With so many strangers around, observing his every moment, he figured he should be acting as much as the bear as he could, while he could. Egad had to admit, the sabertooth looked good in the pants and dog tags anyway.

"... On," he said at last.

"Fine. Birthday boy," the sabertooth grunted and rolled his eyes, leaving too-tight pants where they were before reaching for a collar instead. Runes seemed to line the leather band, just like the collar the blond otter was wearing in the other room. The sabertooth's massive arms flexed as he collared himself, making sure his hair was free from the band when he pulled it snug.

Then he got down on his knees, in the center of the room, and waited. Arms lifted up in a shrug when Egad didn't come over right away. "Fuck, are you just going to look at me, or are you going to tie me up already?"

"Tie you up," Egad repeated, looking self-consciously back and forth between the kneeling sabertooth hunk and the rest of the costumed strangers around. Everyone was looking expectant. If any of them had a trap in mind, or some kind of vile, Egad-sort of plan, they didn't look like it. All of them were just ... waiting. Watching. They wanted to watch, and the sabertooth clearly knew that.

Who am I ... to let them down?

So Egad grabbed a length of thicker black rope, and closed in. "Tie you up. I'm definitely ... going to tie you up now."

The sabertooth's lips pulled back in another dark, monstrous grin. "Fucking right you will. And you'll like it."

11...

Geoff ate in measured bites, trying to suppress his disgust for whatever strange delicacy he was eating with the mouse.

"So you're sure you can have everything arranged?" he double checked after the latest nasty mouthful.

"Of course, Foxmoore," the professor agreed, eating his share with much more eagerness. "You're right. It should be quite a display... but if I may, perhaps I could make a suggestion?"

"Such as?" The fox toyed with the next bite, pushing it around with his fork.

"Perhaps we shouldn't use all the Keepers? If something were to happen and we needed their assistance -"

"Then that would defeat the purpose of the competition," Geoff said more sharply. "It has to be all of them, at once, or else it has no meaning, Mize. Understand?"

"Yes, Foxmoore." The rodent's gaze dropped to his own plate "I understand..."

"Now that you mention it though..." Geoff pretended to look like he was thinking back, over to the bed. The shape of Hatred's body was still indented in the sheets. "We should inspect the teleporter after all."

"The teleporter is fully operational, sir. All signs point to optimum functionality and efficiency."

"Be that as it may ... it would still be better if we gave it a manual examination, if only for the sake of the competition later on... as a security precaution, just in case. You are the one concerned about being safe. Or were you complaining just to complain?" Geoff finished more threateningly, turning the conversation against the professor on purpose.

"Of course not, Foxmoore. I only - I mean - I want," the mouse stuttered as he gathered his thoughts. He swallowed to steel himself. "We can go inspect the machine as soon as you want -"

"Now," Geoff said so eagerly he caught the professor off guard. The fox quickly got up from his seat, and only stopped to open the door for Mize. "Let's go now."

Any reason to get away from this blargh fest of a lunch...

The professor's whiskers twitched.

12...

"Hey, Geoff," the retriever asked nervously. "Can I go check on Rory?"

Egad wasn't afraid of letting them into the kitchen anymore. Whoever this bear was, he'd surrounded himself with a group of bondage enthusiasts. More than a few had either kissed their partner or rubbed themselves as they watched Egad go to town on the sabertooth, roping his arms, his neck, across his torso and even between his legs. The sabertooth didn't resist him, except to flex against the ropes after they were already on.

"Sure," Egad acquiesced. "Just don't release him. He looks very good, so helpless."

The retriever gave a very small nod. "Yes. Yes, he does."

A few eyes followed the dog as he went inside, leaving the door ajar just enough to see the crimson badger squirming eagerly for the dog's approach. Egad himself turned just in time to see the retriever lean down and kiss him around the gag. Gentle fingers scratched between Rory's ears, and the canine gave a very whispered, "Who's a good boy..."

"Do you think I should gag him?" Egad thought to ask the group, bringing their attention back to the tied up, Galen-sized beast.

"Yes," came a good majority.

"No," growled the solitary sabertooth at the same time. Egad just smiled.

"Sorry. Out voted." The panleo shoved a big blue ball into his mouth, and no amount of thrashing, growling, or straining was going to dislodge the sphere as he strapped it in place. Indeed, Egad noted that the big brown beast was only getting angrier and more defiant, the more helpless they made him. So he had to strap a blindfold on him, if only for the sake of experimenting.

"While this is all grand fun, doesn't anyone else want to play the game?" the older sheepdog finally asked.

"The ... card game," Egad said in muted response.

"Only fair you get to judge," the raven chimed in. "Since it's your birthday."

"Of course," Egad replied. "I'll just ... judge..."

The bear's friends set up around the struggling sabertooth. Pushing him onto his back, the black wolf kept Ellwood down as the raven and triceratops brought in a table from another room. The straps sticking out at certain spots clearly indicated it was for bondage, but it would serve their purposes fine. They left Rory tied helpless to the kitchen table, but took all the chairs from around it into the living room.

Then they all sat down around it, with the sabertooth still underneath. Egad was pleased to note he wasn't the only one who wanted to rub his feet against the oversized feline of a foot rest. Gravelly noises of anger and defiance rose up from beneath them, even as the sheepdog handed Egad the deck.

"Here," the sheepdog said. "Judge deals, of course."

"Of ... course," Egad started shuffling. The deck looked well used, but otherwise in good condition. The panleo still needed to probe them for more information, since he still hadn't even gathered what kind of game this was. "How am I dealing today?"

"Classic faive card hand, raight, mates?" the black wolf asked while stretching out his fingers.

"One redraw," the raven reminded. "Beyond that ... classic Bondage Poker rules, right? Three strikes, you're out?"

_Bondage ... Poker ... _

Egad's mind spun at the possibilities. A hundred wild imaginings filled his vision, but the conversation moved on without him.

"I think I want to see you squirm, old man," the saur said in a threatening sort of way. The sheepdog growled dangerously back at him. The giant reptile shrugged, "Just saying."

"I'd like to ... tie someone to Rory..." the meek retriever mumbled.

"But how can you do that, if I tie you to him yourself?" the raven asked so cold it drew a shiver right out of the blonde dog, and everyone saw it.

"Oi, don't Ai get any love??" the black wolf suddenly asked in mock pain.

"Shut up and wait for us to break you," the sheepdog countered, dark and dominant, though it brought a few small chuckles all around the table.

Egad somehow found himself giving a laugh along with them - which distracted him from his goal for only a moment.

The wheels inside the fox's marvelous mind were already turning, calculating. If winners got to dom those on the losing end - which is the gist of what he was getting from them - well, he'd just have to make sure it was the right winners. That way, he could take down the only ones left untied himself, and deal with the great threats without them suspecting anything.

Counting cards was not beyond such an excellent strategist as himself. With his skills, he could alter things, sway things, to better pit them against each other. Even in such a short time, he'd already started getting a solid read on their personalities, and was forming a plan to capture them all. No, the real issue was timing.

Egad picked the game up fast, since it was so much like any other game of poker. The first few rounds went by quickly, with more flirting and posturing around. Each round's victor chose one of the other players for "Strikes," which were tallied one by one.

_Three strikes, and ... _

The bear's eyes kept glancing at the dinosaur of a lumberjack. The large triceratops concerned Egad the most, with his sheer size and weight. Even in the panleo's body, which was so much larger and stronger than his old fox one, he wanted to be careful. So he manipulated the deck of cards just enough to give a certain someone better hands.

"Ha! I've still got it," the older canine said triumphantly, ignorant of Egad's hand in things.

"Oh, look at the time, I forgot I've got a thing to be getting to," the triceratops rattled off fast, starting to get up out of his seat.

The black wolf next to him grabbed at the back of his belt, keeping him from escaping and chuckling a little as the saur glared at him.

"You're not going anywhere, if you're my toy for the night," the sheepdog growled out. Then he cracked his knuckles menacingly as he stood. "Don't be a sore loser, beefsteak."

"Roman, lemme go or you're going to be twitching for a week when I get through with you," the saur threatened his lupine lover.

The sharp-fanged wolf smiled incorrigibly. "Promises, promises."

"Hey, judge," the sheepdog started. One hand reached into the bag for a set of neck and wrist restraints that were all connected together by chain. "You mind if I do him in your dungeon?"

"Uh, sure thing," Egad replied, waving him off. The sheepdog gave a grin that was all in the mouth.

"Thanks. Now... what was that about seeing me squirm?" the dommy sheepdog circled around the table like a predator. Roman held onto the recalcitrant saur's belt even then, and all through his struggling protests as the sheepdog latched on one restraint after another.

"Just remembah," the wolf inserted with a wink, "Dervish laikes to pretend he doesn't want it."

"Keep talking, jerk," the saur glared at him - which was all he could really do by then. The sheepdog yanked Dervish forward by the back of his shirt, then got a better grip on the front of his collar.

"Biting makes him subby," Roman further offered. Then his expression turned up into complete innocence. "Oi, was that sarcasm, mate? Couldn't tell."

"Grr. Romy, I-" A gag cut off his latest threat. "Hmmmph!"

"And that's enough of that, ya overgrown lug," the sheepdog said. "You're distracting everyone from the rest of the game. Everyone get back to playing and entertaining the birthday boy. I'll try not to make this ass -" A slap to dervish's glutes was rewarded with a noise of defiance. "- bellow too loud."

"Fufffh hoou!"

13...

"How does it look?" Geoff asked from where he stood at the controls. He was idling his time with a small pebble in his hands, while the professor lay on his back, half buried in circuit boards and wires galore. His fingernail scratched at it a bit, before he seemingly gave up and threw it over his shoulder in boredom.

"All the connectors are fine," Mize called back, his voice half muffled by everything around him. "The self-diagnostic tools are at full functionality, and I replaced a few older pieces just in case. If anything was wrong, it'd be on the screen. Does it say anything?"

Geoff looked back at the broad computer screen. Quickly, he clicked out of the archives of captives attuned to the teleporter, and back to the machine's diagnostics.

"Everything looks normal," Geoff stated factually.

For now.

The fox reached into his pocket, and pulled another small rock out of it. His fingers began toying with it just as he had the other one. Then there was a loud clank from inside, from something Mize did. He dropped the pebble, and it fell somewhere into the machine's cracks. The fox seemed not to care at all about that, but rather leaned down to look at the mouse's legs below.

"Are you alright?" Geoff felt himself asking instinctively. Too late, he remembered Egad's lack of empathy, but the words were already out of his mouth.

Don't notice don't notice don't notice -

"Fine," Mize responded curtly from his mechanical confines. "Just, loosened something too much. It's secure now. I'm coming out."

Geoff didn't allow himself the time for a sigh of relief. He quickly sterned himself and tried to put on an authoritative facade again, standing over Mize. Arms crossed and pinned themselves over his chest, so he wouldn't be tempted to offer a helping hand to the mouse. The professor put the metal coverings back on the large device, locked them in place, and then finally pushed himself up to stand.

Both of them stared at each other for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"... Trick of the light, you said?" Mize asked as he brushed his hands off.

"I suppose it must have been," Geoff agreed.

"Now," Geoff clapped his hands together. "We're going to have a very big afternoon and I don't really want to wait to get started."

Mize fidgeted on the spot. "I suppose you don't have to, Foxmoore. ... There's still the matter of the thief who broke in the other night."

"Thief?" Geoff said in surprise.

"Yes, Foxmoore... The kangaroo. You intended to punish him after the board meeting, which you didn't attend. Did you -"

"Yes, I forgot! Are you satisfied?" Geoff vented angrily. "I let things slip one day, and you have to question me at every turn?"

The professor looked as if he'd just been struck. Guilt panged at the Geoff's chest, but he couldn't afford to look sorry. The day required, demanded, that he act like the fox whose skin he wore. Niceness just didn't factor in.

"I, I didn't mean - I, I apologize, Foxmoore," the professor said downcast.

I thought only puppies could make that face...

"Please, let me, let me make it up to you?" Mize continued to speak. "I can handle the preparations by myself, exactly as you asked, Foxmoore. It shouldn't take too long, and while I do that, you can punish the prisoner, like you wanted. Here. I'll teleport him to Chamber C. That room has already been prepared - but if you'd like another one -"

"No," Geoff cut in, who even then was trying his hardest to hide a growing smirk. "That would please me very well."

Away from you and more time with potential allies? Yes, please.

"... Don't fail me, Mize," Geoff thought to threaten after a moment, thinking that was something Egad would say. "I'm very excited for this competition."

"Never, Foxmoore. Never," the professor said adamantly.

Geoff felt it was high time for him to make a dramatic exit, and near stormed his way out of the room and into the hall. He even closed the door a little too harder than he intended, but he supposed that only helped make an impression. Now there was only one problem.

Where the hell is Chamber C?

14...

Closer and closer, the poker game was coming to an end. The retriever made off with the subby leather tiger, who crawled along the floor as the kitchen door closed behind them - both of them ignorant of the hand Egad had in getting them together. Anticipation was still clear in the last two players, though the wolf and raven both tried to bluff through their hands. One way or another, the game was about to end. Egad had given the wolf, Roman, the better hand. His comments so far had shown an eagerness to submit. Roman had to be the -

"Three kings," Marco laid down his hand, black feathers preening in triumph.

Egad's imaginary bubble popped.

The wolf laid his hand face down, then leaned back in his chair. The thick, well-worked limbs lifted and threaded his fingers together behind his head. "Ai guess that's it then..."

Funny - he didn't seem to sound so disappointed.

"Actually, sir?" The raven started. He waited for Egad and Roman both to look at him, before continuing on. "I've had my eye on Ellwood for some time now."

A prod from his booted foot drew out an annoyed grunt from the sabertooth still tied underneath the table. Egad glanced down at him, and rubbed his own feet over the giant sabertooth's torso again. The warm, short-furred body made an excellent foot rest, even when he protested - or was it especially?

"I don't think he's earned that uniform yet," the raven commented. Slowly, the real soldier stood up from his seat to fetch a chain-link choke leash from the bag. "With your permission, since I won the game, I'll be taking him under my command. Whipping him into shape."

"Oi!" the indignant wolf sat up straighter, as if getting ready to protest.

"There's Roman left. You might like to entertain yourself with him. He's a master entertainer, and we all know he's keen to submit today."

Whatever arguments the wolf was about to make ended right there and he closed his mouth. Egad and Roman shared a quick glance.

"But I'm aware of your preferences for soldiers, sir. If you're in the mood, you can find us both in the gym." Then the raven cut a flawless salute, flexing one brawny arm in the process. It took Egad five more seconds of looking at that statuesque bird hunk, before he realized he was waiting for an answer.

"Uh. You're dismissed, soldier," the pandalion waved him off. "I'll be in to capture you later."

Shit shit shit I didn't mean to say that!

"Duly noted, sir," the stoic soldier acknowledged without fear, or surprise, or even mild suspicion. He held the salute a moment longer, before his arm snapped back to his side and he dropped to all fours, advancing on the prisoner beneath the table. "_You. _Come here."

The wolf and the fox quickly stood back from their seats to get a better angle. Egad forced himself to remain quiet and just watch as the raven wrapped the loop of chain around the sabertooth's neck, pulling the metal links tight against the broad throat while the beast snarled and bucked, twisting onto his front. The chain served as a convenient grip for Marco to haul the feline out from underneath and drag him to his feet.

Ellwood glared at his captor as best he could with the blindfold still covering his eyes. Aching jaws shifted around the gag in his mouth, loosing a trickle of drool onto his own chest. The rumble emanating from deep in his core grew louder as his barrel chest swelled to utter a threat.

The raven kept a firm hold on the chain, bunching it tight near the scruff of Ellwood's neck. He met the display with a firm backhand to the snout. "March."

I've got to do that to Galen.

The ongoing sounds of discipline and insubordination faded rapidly as the two soldiers disappeared down the hall.

"So ... mate..." the black wolf leaned his left arm against the table, clearly flexing the bicep for Egad's benefit. "Ai guess that just leaves the two of us."

Egad's heart began to beat a bit faster despite himself, eyes tracing out the hard, toned body of the taller wolf before him. "Yes. Yes, it does."

The wolf's right hand began to toy up and down the red strap of his fireman's pants. Eyes followed it magnetically, and Egad had to force himself to think about his options. Good thing there was so much bondage gear left behind, in those two bags. He had plenty of weapons to choose from - but rope would always be his first love. "So ... We know what happens now, don't we, Roman?"

The black wolf lifted his chin just a bit, to make his smirk more evident.

Good, got his name right.

"Yeah. Ai think Ai made it clear, what kaind of mood Ai'm in... birthday boy." The wolf was moving - stalking - closer around the table. Roman stroked his middle finger slowly up and down the center line of his abs, while his other hand stayed on the table the whole time, sliding along it. "The kaind of mood ... where ya want to be helpless, for a bit. Vulnerable. Teased. Maybe even tortured. That mood. Ya know?"

No, Egad didn't.

"Sure..." the panleo lied as he deliberately reached into the playbag, and started drawing out a loop of rope. "And you're in that kind of mood, right now."

The wolf licked his lips most lewdly. His spine straightened itself, standing up tall and straight - an imposing figure, if those fangs had anything to do with it. Both big hands took hold of the red straps holding the fireman's pants up, and began to pull them slowly off of his broad shoulders. "Completely."

"So, if I was planning to tie you up..." Egad took a chance on admitting. Eyes had a confession of their own, as they looked lower and lower over Roman's bare form. Egad was already imagining all the ways he wanted to rope up the wolf's flawless body.

"Ai'd be asking where, sir?" Heavy pants fell all the way down to his ankles, the moment he let go of the straps. Egad wasn't sure if the tight teal boxer briefs actually counted as clothing, since they did absolutely nothing to hide the wolf's long cock, rock hard and held skin tight to his left leg. "Oops. It slipped, mate."

Things had been slipping a lot around here today.

"That's alright," Egad countered. He carefully began to measure out some of the rope, holding it threateningly out in the wolf's direction. "You don't need clothes for what I'm going to do to you anyway."

"Not even these?" Roman asked as he dug his thumbs into the waistband of his underwear.

"Especially not those."

15...

Geoff spied his salvation.

The muscle-bound stallion of a Keeper was keeping perfectly silent watch over the hallway, motionless, just waiting for someone to give him orders. Covering up his flawless white-furred body with even the loincloth seemed a crime. The fox tried hard not to focus on the stallion's six pack, or the way it slowly rippled with every deep breath, or the hefty bulge of his arms as the stallion's hands gave an unconscious clench.

I'm a fox. I'm light. I'm lighter than I've been since I was a kid. I could ... Pretty sure he can...

Geoff approached with the same forceful determination with which he had left Mize.

"You. On your hands and knees," Geoff ordered. Fingers snapped and pointed at the floor, but the stallion didn't need any further direction. He dropped at once, assuming the position he was ordered to take. Geoff felt a very distinct throb in his pants as his eyes raked down the brawny, chiseled body at his feet.

Fuck, that ass...

The fox took a deep breath, then swung his leg over the horse's bare back. The stallion's greater size meant that it was easy for Geoff to sit there, legs squeezing tight at the beast's sides. His right hand grabbed at the back of the keeper's hood to hang on, while the other rested against the bare flesh of his shoulder. He was unsure of himself for a moment - since it was the first time he'd ever been able to do this. There were some things big-bodied bears just couldn't do, and riding on a man's back was one of them.

Well, here's hoping this works...

"Take me to Chamber C," he ordered again. The stallion cocked his head for just a moment - and in that moment, Geoff was terrified the whole thing was about to blow up in his face. Thankfully, the white horse then began a slow trudge down the hall, carrying Egad upon his back as he padded on all fours.

If riding that stud made him feel powerful, confident and aroused - he would never admit it, least of all to himself.

I just needed the ride, I just needed the ride...

He tried to convince himself of that over and over as the stallion carried him along. The tent in the front of Geoff's pants refused to go down, and there were a few moments where the horse seemed nearly to rub up against him on purpose. The hand on the stallion's shoulder gently rubbed in turn at his strong upper bac, which flexed with each step taken by his hands.

Too soon, horse and master arrived at a pair of heavy wooden doors, conveniently marked with a C on a golden plaque above. A pair of Dungeon Keepers were waiting there, flanking it. They parted the heavy wooden doors as soon as Geoff - reluctantly - dismounted. The chamber's light seemed to bathe them in its glow for just a moment, before it unveiled the scene in front of them.

Geoff had to struggle to keep his face in a grin, as the feeling spreading through his body could only really be called a shock.

Athletically muscular and completely naked, the kangaroo's body was coated in short fur like the horse, which allowed every crevice and ridge of flesh to show perfectly well - except for where a network of ropes had him tightly bound. His wrists were roped behind his head to trap arms in a flex, and he was kneeling on what appeared to be a padded box, keeping him just a foot off the ground. A thick pole went up right behind his back, and the ropes anchored his body to it, so when the kangaroo saw them, he couldn't struggle very much at all.

His torso looked damp in places, from sweat-inducing efforts to escape that had gotten him nowhere at all. A few beads of moisture even ran down the center of his eight pack. The roo's long cock, roped up for good measure, looked fully hard - as hard as if someone had only recently been playing with it. A stream of pre dripped down the length of his shaft, onto the box. Something else was leaking, too: the roo's heaving chest was liberally soaked with drool as it streamed past the ballgag in his mouth.

A second glance noticed he wasn't completely naked after all, as a cowboy's big red bandanna was still on his neck. But it wasn't just an adventurer's fashion statement. Someone clever had decided to use it to help bind his neck tight to the pole. He was clearly having trouble breathing because of that, and perhaps that was helping to keep him compliant.

But none of that shocked Geoff - not the sadistic ropes, not his gorgeous nakedness, not his feeble attempts at struggling even now.

No, what shocked Geoff and set his jaw to clenching behind the false grin... was that he recognized the thief.

Jack.

Geoff had met him before. A self-proclaimed adventurer, pirate and thief, the kangaroo bragged about doing a great number of things which Geoff had always blown off before - the things he stole, the places he broke into, the silly hats he left on important monuments - all of it. Saying he had hard-on for danger and excitement was one thing, but here the roo was, caught trying to break into the fox's fortress.

On second thought, maybe the keepers didn't need to touch him after all.

Geoff gulped silently to himself, Egad's persistent grin plastered on his features then as ever. Then he brought both of the fox's hands up, and cracked his knuckles loudly. "Keepers. Go tie this horse up in another chamber and please him until I call for you. I want to deal with this one alone."

The Keepers didn't respond - at least, not verbally. They were already grabbing at the horse and manhandling him down the hall, though it wasn't like the stallion was protesting either. He went to his doom without any resistance. That was a very good sign, for what Geoff had in mind for later.

And extremely hawt. I hope he enjoys that. That it makes up for the ride. Oh God, I'm terrible.

Geoff had to quell the urge to take a deep calming breath, and instead strode confidently into the chamber, just like Egad would. It was clear to see that there was still fire in the thief. The roo glared at him with extreme defiance written all over his face.

But Geoff couldn't afford to let his guard down, even here. It wasn't like he could just tell Jack about what was going on, the way he had talked to Hatred and Galen in private. Egad's bedroom might not have had cameras, but there were some watching here, just like in the hallways. If the intercom was any indication, someone might be listening, too.

Best to test how much they were listening at that.

"If you're there, Mize ... put on some music," he half ordered the thin air. It took a long moment of awkward silence before the intercom system started blaring an unexpectedly hard rock anthem. A few seconds more, and the fox's toes tapped along the ground. Geoff strafed around the struggling roo with music in his feet. Rough vocals sang out loud,

"Everyone down on the floor - no sudden moves, and lock the door!" "I've got this feeling I'm chasing... I'll never rest until I find it."

"I want something you have! You must, meet my demands!" "Don't move, hand it over! I won't stop, till it's in my hands!"

There were more tools and devices to be had than just the ones already on the roo. Whatever this chamber was, it was ready for marathon bondage torture sessions, just like several of the rooms Geoff had seen already. He knew he had to think, and think fast, if he wanted to help the adventurer and maintain his cover, too, but thankfully the room could help with that.

A table lined with a selection of whips drew his attention. He gave himself some much-needed time by slowly perusing them, one after the other. Hopefully, no one would be the wiser. Hell, maybe they'd even think he was doing it on purpose, to frighten the roo with anticipation. Several testing cracks at the air would help cement that image - loud, shocking threats that made Jack visibly twitch.

Sorry.

An unbidden memory shot into the forefront of his mind when his hand finally settled across a riding crop. As it was, the pandalion had used a crop on many occasions before, but only when it was consensual. Even then, he'd put more than a few masochists to the whip - a wolf, a triceratops, a roo ... Jack happened to be adventurous in more ways than one after all.

Hopefully, the memory of that one time was all the fuel they needed to connect. Geoff decided to capitalize on that.

"Deep in the recess of every man is a thief, a robber, a criminal." "Below the surface of every hero is an envy, a restless _ evil."_

"See, I've been plotting away, in my heart every day, to put this plan into action." "And though I try to resist, I find the thing is this, until I get it there's no satisfaction." The chorus kicked in again, and louder at that. Geoff left the crop behind and methodically circled behind the roo. Jack's face arranged itself in a challenging, rebellious snarl. A growl was muffled somewhere behind the gag, but Geoff couldn't hear it well for the music. If he kept his voice low, Geoff figured maybe their watchers wouldn't be able to hear him either.

First things first: to give Jack a reminder. Geoff gently ran his left index finger up the center of the roo's chest, over the ropes, all the way up his neck, then below his bearded chin. The thief tried to pull away from it, but there wasn't enough slack for that. Geoff's fingers gripped even tighter at the protesting roo's mouth anyway, while his right hand pressed against the roo's stomach and rubbed slowly down his chiseled abdomen. Struggling protests only served to make him rub even harder at them.

"Someone told me once," Geoff whispered at Jack's ear, "There's more than one way to get a buzz."

It was code. Geoff blew a too-cold breath across the sensitive earlobe, and it was like the roo was suddenly frozen from top to bottom. Biceps bulged, fists clenched and back arched. The fox's hand kept rubbing at his stomach, trying to give him a moment to process it, because once upon a time, it had been Jack who told him that.

Pity Geoff wasn't a mind reader.

The roo started struggling again soon enough, and Geoff couldn't tell if Jack remembered that day, let alone got the message. So the fox clenched his fist, and slammed it into Jack's abs - rough, he knew, but Jack could take it. Hell, Jack would enjoy it, and Geoff knew that. The masochistic roo gurgled a small surprise, but he steeled himself quickly enough for the thumping blows that followed.

"I'm going to get a buzz off of you," he continued to whisper, and he hoped very much that the roo would start getting the drift. Lower and lower, Geoff's knuckles ground into the squirming flesh of Jack's hard abs. "No, I don't care if you enjoy it. That's half the fun. Controlling you. Dominating you. Having a big piece of meat under my control? Well let's be honest."

The fox grabbed a big handful of the roo's pecs and squeezed mercilessly at those thick slabs.

"It's addicting."

Jack reflexively tried to bring his arms in, but he couldn't protect himself from being manhandled by the fox. Indeed, he only managed to tense his chest even harder in Geoff's hands. The captive tried to protest past the gag, but not loud enough. So Geoff grabbed at the roo's vulnerable nipples, and twisted them hard and fast, back and forth. The roo didn't lose his erection, not even for a second.

"Rrraaaaahhh, nnaaahhh, AAAARRRRRGHH!" Ropes bit into his flesh hard enough to bruise as Jack threw himself against his bonds and howled. He twisted, shaking his head and bristling with fury. "Fuhhgck ouff! Leh eeh go! Lehmmee go!"

There it was. The begging. That's what Geoff was looking for. A rough slap to the roo's balls and a few more thumps against his abs would do Jack some good, but more importantly, Geoff had a reason to drop another hint.

"You want to go? Too bad. Toys don't give orders. Masters do," Geoff growled it just like he had months ago.

Ding.

The metaphorical lightbulb appeared above Jack's head. The roo's eyes narrowed as he realized something more was up. Still he struggled, futilely trying to get away from the ropes, but Geoff could tell his struggles had subsided - if only a little. Music shifted to another song, in the same dark vein, but Geoff wasn't paying it any attention.

"What did you think?" he stroked the roo's jawline. "You'd break in, steal a few things, then shack up with some lion at a bear?"

He misspoke "bar" on purpose. If Jack didn't get it from that, he'd never get it at all.

"Hhoff?" the gagged hunk tried to say his name. A thrill of victory went up inside the fox, but he tried not to show it. He had to keep going, to keep up to offensive - had to capitalize on that success while he still could. He didn't know how long he could afford to spend there, and he had a lot to share.

"Pay attention," Geoff squeezed painfully tight at Jack's balls again, working another agonized groan from the masochistic adventurer. Then his fingers went up and roughly massaged up and down Jack's stomach while he kept his voice close to the roo's ear.

"Whether we like it or not, you're just a toy _now, and I'm your _master," the fox said it like a threat. "That's the state of things. And things are going to stay that way, until ..."

Geoff had to stop mid sentence. Jack's breaths came out heavy in the silence. He had to word it with extreme care, and that wasn't something he could do by getting so wrapped up in the moment. So Geoff wrapped his hand around the adventurer's cock, as hard as iron and as leaky as ever, and just gave it several tantalizing strokes. The extremely ramped up roo gave a much louder groan that time - of raw, undiluted pleasure.

Recognition dawned bright in the bound man's eyes.

The fox's grin spread wide as it was his turn to get an idea.

"Until we end things with a bang."

Jack gave a noise like a pleading whine, trying to lean in closer to the fox stroking him still. Geoff knew he was getting close, knew he was almost on edge. The captive's body was too excited and antsy for him not to notice Egad's hand was soaked with his pre. A few more strokes was all it would take to push him over.

So the stroking slowed down.

"Mmph?" the gagged roo struggled to speak again.

The fox's hand was brought to a complete stop. It stayed there, just holding his shaft - hot flesh against hot flesh. The music was practically drowned out by the pounding in Jack's veins. The roo tried to thrust through Geoff's grip, but the ropes didn't give him enough slack for that. He could barely get half an inch of friction. It took five seconds more for Jack to realize what was going on, and his ears submissively went flat.

"Hhofff!! Nnnhmm!! Nnnn, pphahhh-" Jack's protests were cut off as Geoff gave a hard squeeze on both his muzzle, and his sack. Squirming and whining quickly replaced the hunk's protests, but Geoff had to threaten him, just in case he didn't get the message.

"Shut up, toy. Masters," he slammed his fist at Jack's chest again.

"Give." He slammed at his upper abs.

"The." He slammed at his lower abs.

"Orders." The fox's hand gave a sharp slap to the roo's balls. That got the hunk whining like the good slave he was supposed to be, though a pang of guilt went right along with that sound, marring the sexual intoxication Geoff was in. A deep breath helped him reclaim some of his judgment, but that didn't fully help. He knew, he had to be rough. Egad was supposed to be punishing the criminal. Geoff couldn't afford to be nice.

"You're not ready," he said as dominantly as he could. "You're still a toy. So be patient with your master, and maybe I'll get you off later."

Geoff left the roo alone and circled like a predator around in front. He grabbed a whip along the way, and let Jack get a good long look at the dangerous bondage toy. The helpless roo began to visibly breathe faster, chest and abdomen pumping despite the tight bandanna squeezing his neck.

"You need to be punished, toy," he cracked the whip at the air. "For your criminal activities."

They both flinched as the whip sliced at the air to the left of the roo.

"You understand that, don't you?" Geoff intoned. Jack swallowed hard, but his eyes didn't break from the fox again - even as he made another whipcrack to the roo's right. The barest hint of a nod could have been mistaken as another flinch on Jack's part. But it was all the consent Geoff needed.

A final hint passed into the forefront of the Geoff's mind.

"Let's see how well you struggle, under pressure."

Snap went the whip.

16...

Hogtied and muzzled, the poor black wolf was writhing on his side - constantly, helplessly. Egad knelt next to him on the floor, and teased a feather along Roman's eight pack, tracing out each individual ab before going even lower still. Tickling the wolf's long, hard shaft made him struggle even more intensely than before. His whole body was pumped and flexing, but Egad's ropework held him just as tightly as when they first started.

• when the wolf first submitted, to being Egad's victim.

And as much fun as it was to make Roman plead and beg and thrash so hopelessly for freedom and relief (Neither of which Egad intended to give him), Egad still had other victims on his mind. The retriever, the old sheepdog, and the raven - he hadn't caught all their names, but they were still free, and claimed slaves of their own for the night. That just wouldn't do.

Egad wanted all the slaves.

Things had fallen almost perfectly into place, just as he planned. Egad was more than halfway home. So at last, the pandalion stopped tickling the helpless hogtied wolf. His hard, toned body was gasping, chiseled stomach muscles billowing in and out as he tried to catch his breath. He made the most muffled noise of gratitude past the gag of his muzzle. Ice-blue eyes twinkled with moisture.

The pandalion grinned while he prepared a few things from the large play bags. "Don't thank me yet, boy toy. You just lay there, and be quiet. Here, let me help with that."

The hood slipped over Roman's head with ease. The muzzle wouldn't have let him make any loud noises anyway. The hood over top, that was overkill, but Egad didn't seem to care.

Power. There was power, in hooding his victims like that - in diminishing all sense and sound to the simple touch of air and carpet against his fur. Egad squeezed Roman's balls one final time, to force him to test the ropes with a more desperate struggle. He was positive the wolf could have come, right then and there, if Egad allowed it - but he didn't. Egad gave Roman's immaculate torso a stroke when he was sure the ropes wouldn't give, and then stood up to leave.

Egad was on the prowl.

He'd already decided on who should be his next victim. The door to the kitchen was right there, where so many groans were coming out soft and muffled as he approached - the work of tight gags, to be sure. Foreknowledge was paramount to a capture such as this, so Egad cracked the door open just a little, peering through the small opening at the scene inside.

The crimson badger was still tied exactly where Egad had left him, but the tiger, Ezra, was tied straddling his hips, arms behind his head. The blindfold was just for good measure. Their shafts had been tightly bound together with cord. Each of their nipples were clamped and connected to the other by cord as well. The retriever was right behind the tiger, fucking him with each roll of his hips.

Cords were pulled to full extension every time the retriever tugged Ezra's chest back, nipple clamps giving a sharp yank to both subs at once. The retriever's right hand was scratching rapidly up and down the tiger's abs, while the left kept firm hold around his chest. He cooed softly at the feline's ear, making it twitch. The dom's eyes were closed in a happy state of bliss as he continued to fuck, to tease and to torment the two willing subs.

He was perfectly unsuspecting as Egad pounced. In a flash, the canine was caught and roped up right against the tiger's body, mouth tied shut before he could exclaim in alarm. The canine had room enough to draw back only a few inches - enough to thrust, but not to pull out. Hands were quickly snagged in a rope of their own, which Egad looped several times around the badger's neck. He could just barely keep touching the tiger, if he was willing to tighten the noose around Rory's neck.

A few final strands wrapped around the base of the retriever's shaft and balls, and then to the badger's thighs. Then Egad looked up, to the fearful blue eyes gazing at him in trepidation. The canine struggled meekly and subdued, with only his eyes really pleading for mercy.

The dog's slim yellow tail was wagging despite himself.

Egad's smile broadened. "You just keep doing what you're doing for now."

A blindfold dealt with those eyes easily.

"I'll deal with you soon."

17...

Two Dungeon Keepers pushed a pair of great wooden doors open wide. The light of so many chandeliers bathed the whole vast hall in an almost unearthly glow. Tables were arranged at even intervals, with ropes, cuffs, blindfolds, gags, and all manner of bondage equipment ready to be grasped.

But the tables weren't the only furniture in the massive room. There were bondage frames, pulleys, slings, crosses, racks, sawhorses, pillories, and some things which Geoff couldn't even name. They'd even managed to get a throne - something he only joked about - positioning it at the front of a stage. Everything was set to his desires and then some, and that showed perfectly well on the fox's grin.

The professor tapped once or twice on his computer pad, and seemed to be expecting him to say something.

"This will do," Geoff said authoritatively, flicking a cuff a short distance across the nearest table.

"I'm so ... glad to hear that, Foxmoore," the professor said in a subdued way.

Geoff strode around a bit more, pretending to inspect things further.

"Mize, what time is it?" Geoff asked, despite having kept keen track of it himself.

"4:43, Foxmoore."

"... Good," Geoff nodded to himself. He kept staring around, but put his palm up in Mize's direction. "Patch me through the intercom."

The mouse looked confused even as he pulled out a smart phone. "To ... where, Foxmoore?"

"Everywhere, Mize. Everywhere in the building."

"But, some of the Keepers will be busy -"

"I don't want to wait, Mize!" Geoff snapped in what he hoped was as much a copy of Egad as his body was now.

The mouse looked even more skeptical still, but cued up the broadcast anyway. "Very well, Foxmoore..."

The fox's hand rather hastily grabbed the phone from him, and Geoff held it up to his mouth, ready to speak.

"This is your master speaking. Dungeon Keepers, I have a special surprise for you. Stop what you are doing, right now. I am waiting for you in Hall B. I expect to see all of you here within the next sixty seconds. Fifty-nine. Fifty-eight. Fifty-seven."

Geoff turned off the phone and tossed it back at the professor, who caught it in surprise. The fox himself walked quickly forward, up onto the stage. He barely had time to get seated, before the thunderstorm of feet filed in. In that lavish chair, he watched the whole proceedings, barely having the time to pick out one hunk of a man from another in that sea of slaves. The Dungeon Keepers approached in almost military formation, and lined themselves up before their master in his throne.

He tried not to realize his mouth was watering, or that his shaft was stirring inside his pants. The hooded, half naked hunks, there just because he told them to be - they were intoxicating to look at.

And Egad lives in control of them, 24/7.

An uncomfortable electric thrill darted down his spine as he thought that. But Mize approached at his left side, and Geoff couldn't afford to let his focus slip now. He had to stay there, in the moment, in character, if he hoped to pull this off. The professor held a megahorn unobtrusively at his side. Geoff hadn't asked for that, but Mize had predicted the need for it ahead of time.

"Thank you," Geoff whispered to the mouse. "Now, Mize, be a good boy and ... I don't know, go to the security room or something. Make sure this is being recorded."

The professor gave him another odd look, for only a moment - and then it disappeared into simple obedience. "As you wish, Foxmoore..."

_Well, that was easy... _

Geoff gave Mize enough time for a head start, watching the collection of Keepers before him for a long moment of anticipation. Eyes tried to make out any familiar shapes - any others like Jack - but happily found none. They were all strangers, for better or worse. Then the moment passed, and Geoff leaned in closer to the megaphone, to allow it to amplify his voice properly.

" You're going to play a game ," Egad's voice echoed through the hall. " I came up with it last night. You're going to enjoy it. There will be one winner, and only one winner. All around you, I'm sure you've noticed the assortment of bondage gear."

A good number of the keepers turned their gaze just enough to glimpse the tables and the open furniture. Awareness started to show on their faces as some of them just barely began to put two and two together. Geoff gave them a few seconds more to let the apprehension sink in. Then he continued.

" At the count of three, all of you ... will attempt to tie up each other, until only one person is free. The winner will receive a special prize from me, personally. Struggle. Wrestle. Edge each other. I'll be watching the whole time. That's all. So ... without further ado ... three ... two ... one."

It was like someone cued a starting gun to go off. Immediately, everyone was a flurry of motion, half of them grabbing at the gear, half foregoing it entirely to pounce and wrestle with whoever was closest. Geoff had to blink his eyes at the great clamor, unable to focus well. The whole great mass of muscular bodies was in constant motion - a writhing snake turned on itself. He wondered if that was what an orgy looked like.

The biggest, most-built keepers manhandled their victims into bondage, into cuffs and ropes, or shoved into a device, using their raw strength to overpower one victim after another. They waded through the masses with abandon, intent on the prize, until enough of the smaller keepers teamed up to bring them down in turn. The unspoken alliances forced such giant hunks into helplessness, one or more gripping each arm till they were trapped, but then they turned on each other again.

The fox's eyes darted back and forth from one scene to another. An oversized rhino pinned and cuffed a sleek panther facedown on a rack, only for a pair of hyenas to ensnare the rhino in ropes and yank him down onto his knees. A brown wolf and a black dragon - titans of strength, both of them - wrestled all over the floor while trying to tighten the ropes each had tangled around the other. Trapped squirming over a sawhorse, a lean greyhound was still trying to defy a puma twice his size.

A dark lion's limbs were caught and bulged in a giant double bicep flex - too late to do anything but strain as a team fought to bind him standing and spread-eagled in a vertical frame. The rippling, athletic form of a croc thrashed in a sling, and his elephant captor added a ballgag from behind - insult to injury, to be sure. Two pairs of keepers lifted a hefty, broad-shouldered bear right off the ground and roped him down on an open table, limbs spreading to make an X, directly in front of Geoff himself .

A sacrifice, to their god?

All of it happened at once, and then again, and again - one fantastic, visual smorgasbord of bondage and masculinity - wracking Geoff with deja vu because he couldn't take it all in. There was such a wealth of keepers, their numbers made it a long game of attrition and constant fighting, and even as the fighters diminished, the captured keepers struggled still.

The bear himself almost looked like he was dancing in his bonds. The rippling of his eight pack was hypnotic, drawing Geoff's eyes down to that flawless specimen as he twisted back and forth. Muscles flexed, clenched, pulled and tugged, and only released so he could catch his breath and try again. One of the other keepers had been kind enough - vindictive enough? - to gag the bear as well, so that Geoff could see the drool frothing past the red rubber ball between his lips.

When Geoff's hands had freed his erection from his pants and started jacking off, he'd never know. It was only as a dark lion went down with a final defiant roar that his attention shifted, and he realized the ferocity with which he was pleasing himself. He was in control. He was the one who had orchestrated this. It was for him the crowd of living sex toys fought. They were submitting, to him, and only him.

That was one of the best aphrodisiacs he'd even experienced.

The fox came hard, and the show was barely half over. Floating on the afterglow, he half wondered if that throne of his was levitating. He dazedly watched the keepers fight down to the last ten, to the last five, to the last three ...

A stocky wolverine and a lean bat teamed up at the end, ropes held between them as they sought to catch a larger griffin in mid flight. The griffin slashed at the bat with a cuff, only to miss, his muscular body less suited to aerial acrobatics. The dextrous bat wrapped all around him, pinning arms and wings to his sides, and he would have come crashing down on the racked panther, if the bat hadn't helped to guide their descent to open floor instead.

The wolverine was on him in a flash. It was the last betrayal, there at the finish line. The brawny mustelid used the other ends of his ropes to ensnare the bat against the larger griffin, one atop the other. A quick loop at the very end went around the griffin's beak, to hold it shut. Both of them protested the unexpected turn of events aloud. A gag for the bat shut him up, too, so he left both of them to squirm on the floor.

The wolverine stood in the center, proud and strong. He was the only one still free, the only one not roped, chained, or locked into something. Geoff had gotten so into the watching the game, that it took him half a minute to realize it was over and he was supposed to crown the victor.

"Well, that's that," Geoff licked his lips.

The fox adjusted his shaft back into his pants, then stood up from the throne. He took a shortcut off the stage, jumping off the edge, onto the table where the bear was secured. Then he stepped - none too gently - on the bear's rigid eightpack.

"Grk," the bear made a noise of pain, but kept any protest to himself.

The fox felt a thrill of delight and power, from doing that. It wasn't the same, since he wasn't as heavy as he used to be, but he'd wanted to step on him the whole time. But first things first: he hopped off that table, too, and made his way among the captured keepers. Some of them were writhing still, but their eyes paid the fox all appropriate homage. Geoff lured the wolverine closer with a finger, so they met midway.

"Congratulations," Geoff said to the prize-winning mustelid. "That was quite impressive."

The well-built wolverine remained impassive, standing straight-backed and submissive like a soldier, and Geoff loved soldiers so. The fox was close enough now to track all the small details of his body, like the smell of his sweat, the dampness of his fur. His chiseled torso was expanding and contracting with the deep breaths of exertion. All the beef that made up his body was pumped, flexed, and Geoff had no doubt if he squeezed his arm now, he'd feel his share of veins in the limb.

Between his legs, the keeper's large loincloth failed to hide the throbbing of his shaft. Once more, Geoff noticed he was throbbing, too. The fox's eyes were racing, up and down, inspecting, invading, taking in all the aspects of the wolverine's attractive body and imagining all the bad things he could do to it in turn - bad things the wolverine would submit to, freely.

The fox smacked the back of his hand against the wolverine's stomach, half to pretend punish him, half to gauge the strength of his abs. Geoff whispered in faked venom, "You should thank me for complimenting you."

"Thank you, master," the wolverine was prompt to reply then. His brawny shoulders went even further back, as if the keeper was trying to stand up straighter still.

"Don't worry, slave," the fox continued. One hand reached for the nearest table of gear, and idled upon a black cloth. "You'll still get your reward. Now ... put this on."

Geoff tossed the blindfold to the keeper. His loyalty to Egad, paramount and complete, left him no choice but to do exactly as he was told. The wolverine lifted the cloth up, great arms flexing as they went, and he blindfolded himself as secure as could be. Then Geoff circled around the wolverine, and let his eyes rake over the flawlessly carved back, and the muscular glutes below.

"Put your hands out for your reward, slave," Geoff ordered him. Again the keeper complied, lifting them palm up for what was to come. The wolverine didn't have enough strength to imagine - only to obey. The fox's hands somewhat tentatively reached to rest upon the wolverine's hips, and began to apply pressure. "Move where I move you."

They didn't have to go far: ten feet, maybe fifteen. He had to turn the wolverine once, but the keeper was perfectly obedient. He didn't resist, didn't even say anything as Geoff's hands squeezed the bulky biceps of his arms, slid down his forearms, and then gently guided his wrists flat against something. But the wolverine couldn't see, through the blindfold, or else he would have realized it was a set of stocks. By the time the wooden beam locked down shut over his wrists, it was too late.

The wolverine remained as impassive as ever.

_That is so hot. _

Geoff had to swallow. He was salivating at all this, so much, and there was just ... too much temptation. His hands near shook as they threaded through the fur over the wolverine's abdomen, and then went down lower. The belt of his loincloth came undone slowly, but easily, and then Geoff just tossed the fabric away. Naked except for the hood, the mustelid's member was free to stand straight out, rock hard and dripping at the tip.

"Are you a good boy?" he whispered at the wolverine's ear. His right hand went down low to tease him, and he pumped at the wolverine's erection for a short bit. Not enough to get him off - just to gauge his interest, while at the same time, his other hand went between the wolverine's ass. With a single finger, he rubbed at the wolverine's vent.

Impassivity broke, just a little. The wolverine's body gave a shiver from bottom to top, just visible in that dense musculature of his. He twitched away from the finger - in surprise - and then leaned back against the almost-probing digit instead.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Geoff whispered again, blowing a little along the ear lobe right after. The stoic wolverine gave another twitch of movement, and he swallowed loud as Geoff's finger continued to rub along the wolverine's tailhole. The beast's bulky body tilted forward more, better opening his ass for the digit to tease and toy with the hot vent.

The soldierly wolverine gave a slight nod.

He wanted it. The blindfolded, hooded, helpless hunk of a wolverine wanted it. That was consent enough for Geoff's lust-addled brain.

His sweaty, panting body breathed even deeper still as Geoff's finger slowly began to press into the opening, digging its way inside. The hand on the wolverine's shaft began to slow down. It stopped jacking him off entirely, and just squeezed at the base. Further in, the digit explored, stretching and opening the hole, testing its limits and gently pushing beyond them. The noise that resonated from the hefty brown body was an unmistakable groan.

"You haven't done this in a while," Geoff rasped under his breath. The fox's jaws gnawed gently along the wolverine's neck, making him pant more. Geoff drew his finger all the way out, then slowly gave the wolverine's shaft another pump. Even more pre was dripping at the tip. "I can tell. But don't worry. I'll be gentle. You'll _love _it."

The fox reached quick over to the nearest table, and found it low on the gear he wanted. Didn't matter - he'd make do. He was too horny to let that stop him.

"Open," he ordered, and yanked a bit-gag into the wolverine's awaiting jaws. A lack of lube might have gotten the better of him, but there was a plethora of gagged hunks around, unable to swallow and forced to drool past the obstructions in their mouths. One particular beefy bulldog was tied bent over a table and salivating profusely, all over his jaws. He slickened it over his own shaft until it shone with moisture, then hastened back to the waiting wolverine.

The slave's broad tail was raised high.

Geoff moved in and wrapped his left arm around the wolverine's neck. His right hand guided his lubed shaft in between the wolverine's glutes, and gently sought to slip inside - to spread meat with meat, and bring pleasure to both. Big breaths caused the brown beast's upper body to expand, and Geoff cooed softly to comfort him as the fox's shaft went in deeper still.

"That's it," Geoff whispered. "You're fine. You can take it."

The wolverine made a gasp that rolled back out as a groan - a sure sign Geoff had hit a certain sensitive spot inside. Still he drove the fox's member in, inch by inch, the crowd of captured keepers damned only to watch.

"Just take your reward..."

18...

That was not Egad.

Professor Mize watched in growing horror as that indisputable fact cemented itself in his mind. The mouse may not have had Egad's facility for manipulation (yet), but he had earned his title the hard way. He was no intellectual slouch. There, in the control room, Mize continued to watch the fox's slow, sensual lovemaking of the wolverine on the center of many screens.

Mize had the last shred of evidence he needed to convince himself. He wasn't sure how. He wasn't sure when. But he knew, whoever that was, no matter how much he looked or acted like Egad, he wasn't. He'd sensed something off about him all day, from the moment he'd answered the door. The thought of a switch had been too fantastical for him to consider before, and so he'd gone along with the fox's desires, just as if he really had been Egad.

And now the Dungeon Keepers had all tied themselves up. But he could fix that. He could use the teleporter to free them, to port them out of their restraints and order -

No! They'll obey him anyway. He looks like Egad. He sounds like Egad. He fooled me, and he's fooled them.

But Mize was not so easily thwarted. The Keepers weren't the only ones he could teleport. He could just cue the system up to teleport Egad himself, as he had before. He'd set it to a cage, where he could interrogate the prisoner properly - all by himself. Egad would be so pleased at the way he handled the whole situation, maybe he'd even get his own slaves.

Error. Unable to lock on.

The message flashed across his screen. Mize's eyes blinked in mounting confusion. "Error? Error?? What does that even mean??? Shit!"

Mize angrily got up from his seat and began pacing back and forth. Far away and oblivious to his consternation, the fox on the screen was slowly rubbing the wolverine's torso, from the top to the bottom, before letting one hand gently wrap around his shaft. Even muted, it was clear to tell the wolverine was groaning at his touch. Frustration fed into Mize as he tried not to look and focused instead on his dwindling options.

Think. Think. Can't call his guards for backup. Even if I teleport them in, they won't believe me. Nothing to protect me from Ratsbane, if I call on him. Ugh. Can't call the police themselves. That's laughable. Need someone. Need someone who ... someone who'll target Egad. Yeah. Yeah, I'll get ...

The professor took out his cellphone and rapidly searched through his list of contacts, then cued up the appropriate one.

"Hello. I have a proposition for you. ... I work for Egad, that's how. But never mind how I got your number... How would you like to capture the body of Egad Nob? Yes, I thought that would get your attention..."

19...

Dervish's bellow was loud and agonized, listeners be damned. Egad didn't even need to open the door to hear it. Carefully, the pandalion peered through the door as he cracked it open, getting a good look to size up the victims waiting inside.

Blindfolded and naked now, the triceratops was on the ground - the ripped shreds of his lumberjack clothes thrown across the room - but his back wasn't flat. He was arched, stomach up high, the trace of abdominal muscle sticking out more proudly through his slight paunch. Hands and feet were the only thing to touch the floor, and they were chained to metal loops secured to the floor.

He might have had enough room to lie down, if not for a leather parachute locked and pulling on his balls. A rope was tied to it, and threaded through another loop from the ceiling, where a bucket swayed on the other end. Egad couldn't tell what was in it from his angle, but it had to be heavy to be stretching the saur's sack up so high. And yet the saur was still raging hard.

That was only the tip of the sheepdog's sadism. The saur's shaft had three cockrings strapped on tight, from glans to base, and the metal rod of a sound was sticking out the tip. His whole body was covered in sweat, forming small puddles on the ground beneath him where it dripped. Every muscle was pumped and bulged in agony through his hide, which was decorated with a number of darker lines.

The mystery of their source was dispelled by the crack of solid leather over his torso and thighs. The dommy sheepdog had one hand on his own shaft, jacking himself off, and the other on a long riding crop. He paced around the captured saur, whipping him from different angles as the sheepdog pleased himself. Even gagged, it was clear the saur was trying to swear at him still. A sharp slap across his nipples forced the triceratops to release another agonized bellow, and he almost dipped too low - the parachute pulling his sack just as threateningly as ever.

"Sorry, can't understand you. Hit harder?" the sheepdog growled menacingly.

"FUUGGH HOOU! FFUUH OUU OH HARRRR!!"

Egad forced himself to remember to breathe. His mind factored a few things rather quickly - timing and victims - to adjust his plan.

And then Egad silently shut the door. Another terrible bellow echoed from the inside, but that wasn't the only noisy room. Growling, wild and feral - a ferocious howl punctuated the rest of the noises that could only be ascribed to a captured animal.

Egad recognized the door to the gym room. The noises were the sabertooth's, assuredly. The only question was what kind of predicament that soldierly raven had forced him into.

Chains had wrapped him up, in abundance. That was the first thing Egad noticed as he took in the sight of the seated sabertooth. Metal links, like the leash used to drag him there, ensnared his body at wrist and ankle, chest and waist. Even his neck and thighs were chained up, so tight that Ellwood could neither stand up from nor let go of the chest fly machine. At least the raven had been kind enough to let the saber's shaft out for some air - it was sticking out the front of those too-tight fatigues.

The raven himself had stripped down a bit, folding his clothes neatly over by the bench press. In a pair of dark green boxers, the soldier was still yanking the chain leash tight every so often with his left hand. His right hand held what was unmistakably a cattle prod, and the tip of it threatened up and down Ellwood's vulnerable body.

"I didn't tell you to stop, soldier," the raven said darkly. The cattle prod sparked as he jabbed it into the giant's hard abs. Again the beast swore vengeance, loud and feral, his whole body trying to force itself free of the chains. For a split second, Egad thought he saw the runed collar glow brighter.

The sabertooth's massive limbs bulged as they strained with purposeful effort, clearly trying to do another chest fly. The amount of weight the raven had set it for was absolutely ridiculous though. Even as he snarled and drooled onto his chest, the sabertooth was lucky to get it to move even an inch.

Marco zapped the cattle prod against his abs and pecs in rapid succession. Ellwood roared murder - and was quickly silenced as the leash was pulled to choking again. "What the hell's wrong with you, soldier? You can't obey orders? Push. That. Weight."

The prod drove quick lightning strikes into Ellwood's shaft, and the sabertooth's great body flexed all at once to endure. Then he went right back to thrashing in defiance, jerking this way and that, frothing at the mouth like a rabid animal. That only earned him more punishment from the prod, all over his arms and legs, too.

"You can come in any time you want, sir," Marco said more loudly. "I can hear you breathing."

Egad caught his lungs mid exhale, and froze.

He should have realized the bulky pandalion body wasn't nearly as stealthy as his fox one. Too late now, the raven was already turning in his direction. The cattle prod zapped at the sabertooth's chest twice more.

Egad steeled himself, before he pushed the door open and strode proudly inside, as if he owned the place - and in retrospect, he did, in this bear's body. He didn't even bother to hide the coil of rope over his shoulder.

"You made an intriquing offer," he said, pretending it to be an offhand observation. He was also pretending not to look more at the massive subdued beast of a man before them, or how the prod accidentally dipped against the moist tip of the sabertooth's leaking shaft.

" FRRRRKH!!" Ellwood roared at him again.

"Yes, sir. We all know quite well, that specific ... interest," Marco acknowledged without judgement. He gently set the prod to rest across the captive's thighs for later. "Not that I'm complaining. I've always enjoyed our sessions before."

So the bear has ... had him. That's ... relevant.

"How good of a soldier are you?" Egad asked with building curiosity.

Marco saluted as sharply as Egad had ever seen. "I do my best, sir."

"Indeed. And if I did want a soldier such as yourself..." the panleo began to slowly pace around the bird, closer to where a bag of toys was still open and waiting. Fingers drew out a small black length of cloth.

"Just give the order, sir," the raven said without fear.

"Blindfold yourself," he chose to order, throwing the cloth at him. The raven caught it deftly with one hand, and began tying it into place immediately.

"Sir, yes, sir," he rattled off with practice, then stood stock straight up again, arms at his sides.

"Uh ... at ease, soldier." Egad had to remember the phrase, to get the raven to relax. The soldier promptly shuffled his feet wider apart and slipped his hands behind his back. The blindfold didn't even seem to bother him. Looking at the stoic raven, it was just submission, pure and clean. Obedience, to authority. "Don't move, soldier."

"Rrrlllhh?" the chained beast growled.

"Quiet, slave. I'll get back to you in a moment," Egad said perhaps a bit more harshly than he should have. It wouldn't do for them to be getting suspicious now - but if Marco noticed anything odd, he didn't say anything.

Like the badger, like the sabertooth, like the wolf - there was no resistance. The raven barely even breathed as Egad began to carefully rope up the soldier at his leisure. It was a more complicated, artistic ropework style, working his way down. When he got to his waist, Egad simply pushed the raven's green boxers down. They fell to the floor, and Marco stepped out of them. Even as Egad roped up his sack and shaft, neither of them commented on the throbbing erection the raven was sporting.

The spreader bar Egad put on his ankles was just for fun.

"Sir, if I may make a request?" the raven asked once the spreader bar was locked on.

"Uh. Permission to speak, granted," Egad tried to not sound like he was teasing as he replied.

"I like being gagged, sir. Remember? There's a red one in the bag, if it pleases you."

"You know ..." Egad reached into the bag again, searching for the object. "I think it might."

The gagging was rough, and fast - and Marco only fought against it once the straps were secure. Beak and tongue sought to force the ball out, but found it holding fast. The grunt that followed could only have been one of satisfaction. It was then that Egad gave Marco's captive body a good roughing up with the pandalion's big hands. The raven's grunts rose only a little louder as Egad began to touch and tease him lower and lower down the soldier's bod. His head lifted high, his chest swelled - the soldier showed no discomfort at all, if he wasn't outright taking pride in being fondled.

The sabertooth rumbled angrily under his breath. Marco's shoulders jerked in an answering snort.

Egad reached for the cattle prod. "Perhaps I should tell you, I'm creating a collection in the living room. Now, what was it you said before?" He lowered the device carefully, flicking the switch on and watching the spark flicker between the two prongs, closer and closer toward the raven's well-sculpted glutes. Black-feathered fists clenched in anticipation as the electric crackle grew louder.

The solid jolt earned him a slight twitch and a soft grunt, and nothing more.

"March."

20...

Geoff tried to seem relaxed. It helped that he still was half high off his experience with the Keepers, which had been far sexier than he'd expected. He nonchalantly whistled his way through the massive dungeon, passing just close enough to each door to touch its keyhole as he passed. He must have cut a very obsessive appearance, but he had more important things to worry about than what the people on the other side of the security cameras - Mize? - thought of him.

The sheer number of cells was absolutely daunting. It was no wonder Egad needed so many dungeon keepers to run the place. Looking over the edge of the nearest railing revealed at least a dozen floors, starting from the top - built down into the mountain itself. He could have taken the elevator and cut to the bottom, but that would defeat his purpose.

The lack of sunlight was unnerving, and he'd only been there a few minutes himself. Small wonder the prisoners looked so broken. Their bodies - almost every one a muscular, well-built figure of a man - could have formed a veritable army. But instead, behind those iron bars, most of their faces were downcast, from who knew how many days, weeks, maybe even months of slavery as Egad's sexual playthings. Only the most defiant were still restrained and helpless in their cells, yet through sheer numbers, he'd crossed twenty or so who still had enough spirit to glower at him.

The watching cameras kept him silent and grinning like the fox himself.

His pace hastened, the lower he went - two floors, three floors, four floors. The time limit, unknown and dwindling, itched at the back of his mind. He had to finish with his task, or at least get halfway. Still he kept pressing his hand over the keyholes. Still he kept walking. A prisoner or two narrowed their eyes at his hasty passage. One angry dog let loose a muffled slew of curses, held in check by a padlocked muzzle.

Geoff's feet clamped their way down the latest staircase, and that was when he saw him.

Elevator doors opened. The weasel that stepped out didn't look like any Dungeon Keeper. He didn't have the height, or the build. He looked rather reminiscent of Egad himself, if Geoff considered it. His clothes cut the fine threads of a stage magician, his top hat lifting higher to reveal a black mask across his eyes. He toyed with a wand in his hands - a danger apparent to Geoff's experiences, and one that he couldn't stop from letting his fox eyes narrow on.

"What are you doing here?" Geoff said in as authoritative a voice as he could muster, once more putting on the identity of Egad Nob.

"Me? Little ol' me?" the weasel said in a distinctly French accent. "I am, how you say, simply seeing if it is true."

Geoff took several steps to the left, closer to the nearest dungeon cell. He put his hand to the lock, and faked a lean against it. One leg lifted up, tapping the tip of his toes to the floor.

"True? How very vague of you," Geoff returned. He took several more steps forward, tapping his way along the next dungeon cell, until he passed another keyhole. "I should remind you, this is my fortress you're in. _I _am its master."

"On zat," the weasel circled away from the roaming fox. "I do not zink we are in agreement."

Geoff did his best to glare at the weasel. The look on the magician's face was unnervingly confident. "There are quite a few dungeon keepers who would disagree."

"No good, sir," the weasel said coyly, rapping his wand several times along the railing. "Sylas Spellbinder is ze name... and I can already tell. Egad, you are not!"

Quick as a gunslinger, the magician aimed his wand like a pistol and ropes fired forth from the tip at the fox. Geoff was ready. A burst of strangely blue wind pushed the fox's body clear from the ropes, just in time, and Geoff dashed headlong down the dungeon block. Magic, hidden for so much of the day, was finally revealed in force. Sylas was surprised for only a moment, since he hadn't expected him to dodge.

But then his surprise was quickly replaced with a laugh. "It is true! Haha!!"

_Shit. Shit. Shit. _

The time of bondage games was over. This was danger, real and paramount. Everything else faded from his mind as Geoff attacked the situation itself with laser focus.

The weasel's fingers twisted and danced, and he gestured with hand and wand at the summoned mass of ropes. The hissing of snakes was unmistakable, even as Geoff glanced back at them, tapping each cell door he could. He saw the coiling mass of ropes slithering along after him, and the arrogant weasel lifted atop their backs like the most poised of surfers.

"Zere is no escape, little fox!" Sylas shouted in glee. "I will have ze body of Egad Nob!"

"Sorry, not sorry, can't stop!" Geoff shouted back over his shoulder, the weasel chasing after his dust. By then, it seemed like they'd gotten the attention of everyone on the cell block, with each captive either craning at their bars to investigate, or doing their best to pretend they weren't.

If he was nervous before, his heart was pounding with genuine fear now. Geoff didn't have time to realize he was running faster than he ever had, propelled by that magic wind in Egad's smaller body. It was a task just to keep from falling over, dashing as much as he was, and he nearly tripped twice anyway as he kept in front of the rope-like wave. Single strands lashed forward at the spellbinder's commands, but still the mystic gust of blue wind kept him a foot away from capture - and only a foot away, every time.

He barely heard another spell - something foreign, couldn't grasp the syllables - before his path was completely walled off by a second wave of ropes ahead. No choice left, the fox grabbed the nearest railing and threw himself right over the ledge. His eyes looked down, his body feeling like it was outright weightless in that split second before gravity remembered it was supposed to pull everything down - even, and especially a small fox half a dozen stories up.

Geoff fell - five feet down, and then he kicked off the empty air itself, to land with a solid splat on the walkway right below the coiling tides. Animated ropes made a very distinct sound as they crashed into each other like waves. A reptilian slave looked up in sharp surprise as the fox scrambled off his hands and knees, slapped at his door and then sped through the rest of the floor.

Ow. Ow. Knees. Ow.

"You are not getting away!" the weasel continued to shout, and Geoff barely glimpsed the magician swinging down on his wand as if it was a trapeze, ropes connected to each end. The fox quickly slapped at the air, sending a blade-like blue wave at the rope itself. Geoff only just saw the ropes sliced, the weasel falling, before he kept running.

Gotta finish gotta finish...

He had just passed a wolf's cell when he noticed a rope snaring around the rail like a grappling hook. It yanked the weasel all the way up. One hand was tight on his hat, a malicious scowl burned across his features. Geoff kept running. More gun-blasts went off, a clearly irked weasel doing his best to fire more and more tethers after the escaping vulpine. "Get back here, fox! I want zat body!!"

Twice the fox had to stop dead in his tracks, or jump over an awaiting line with that little boost of air magic. He didn't have the time, didn't have the energy to keep running like this in that body. Already his heart and lungs were hammering at his chest, but he couldn't slow down. He had to keep him back. He jumped down to another floor. The weasel's footsteps stormed down a staircase on the other side.

Geoff clapped his hands together, and a blue light shone from between his fingers. Hands opened up, and as he turned to face the magician, a series of small rocks flung themselves in curving arcs at the approaching weasel. Sylas barely had to move to dodge them at all, and he laughed. "Pebbles?? You are zinking to use cantrips? I am looking so weak to you??"

"Maybe I like rocks!" Geoff shouted. Yes, it sounded as dumb to him as it sounded to the weasel, but that didn't stop him from magic-launching more of the pebbles in Sylas' direction. A blast from the weasel's wand got too close, and the rope snagged his forearm. "Whoano!!"

Geoff chopped at the rope, blue wind slicing it off and tugging the wriggling mass away before it could get a better grip. But that was time enough.

"Avardo no clothio!!" the magician shouted, and Geoff didn't have to wonder what those words meant. The fox's clothing vanished with unexpected ease. Egad's eyes looked more shocked then they probably ever had as Geoff suddenly clasped his hands in front of his groin.

"HEY!!" the fox shouted and swerved to avoid a new set of ensnaring bonds. "That is NOT an appropriate spell!!"

The weasel's gesturing fingers saw the ropes attempting to bind him anew, and Sylas had a white card in his hands as they surged at his intended victim. "Encardio -"

"Back off!" said the fox in a most desperate manner - and in desperation, Geoff did something he hated to do. He punched hard in the weasel's direction, a guttural roar supporting a magic blast of blue-white fire that launched from his fist. The spiral sphere scorched the floor below and the ceiling above, incinerating ropes in a flash.

"- Mafisicio!" the weasel completed the incantation in a hurried yelp, the white card in his hand emitting a flash of light. The twisting blue fireball vanished, and Sylas was left fanning the white card at the air - its edges smoking just a little. "Hot hot hot hot."

Too close for comfort, the weasel's anger returned just as hot as the fire had been.

"Oh, come on!" the fox protested. Geoff had to jump off the rail a third time, before another shot of rope could catch him. Naked in the fox's lean body made the fall that much colder, and he thrust his hands - and the wind - forward, to land on the next floor properly. That made his body hover entirely, for a split second, just before his feet touched down.

A blinking dalmatian stared at him from the other side of a cell door. His jaw dropped. One finger pointed.

The fox's body breathed heavily and he stood up. An adamant frown glared the dalmatian down as he snapped, "Oh, like you've never seen a naked guy running for his life!"

He slammed his knuckles against the dalmatian's cell door, and found he needed to take a longer breather against the metal. That fireball had taken out way more of him than he thought it would. This body just wasn't trained to be using magic. He let the door hold him up as he panted. A sniffle seemed to feel more liquid than normal, and he tapped his nose just in time to catch a drop of blood. "Aw, crap."

"Is ze little foxy slowing down?" the weasel's voice came too close, and Geoff backstepped several times away from it. Still the spellbinder strode, some twenty feet away and closing, looking just as confident as when they'd first met.

"No," the fox bit out. The blue light shone in his hand again, and he threw the pebbles out wide towards the open air of the dungeon's center. Some arced back, but others didn't arc at all. Sylas kept walking forward, and the pebbles missed him completely this time, clanging against cells in front and behind him.

Sylas stared at a large frightened bear, who jerked back from the small ballistic object. "Not much for words anymore, fox?"

"Sorry," Geoff panted. "Terror - throws my wit - right out the window."

The weasel smirked beneath his mask. "Zis has been fun, but it is time to be done, yes?"

Sylas reached up, and took his hat off with a flourish. Wand in one hand, hat in the other, the magician had both his weapons ready to unleash hell. The straining of Geoff's heart, and his head, was painfully telling him how little he had left in turn.

"Sorry, about this," Geoff huffed once more.

"For ze chase?" the weasel asked. His feet kept taking him inexorably closer to the weary fox.

"No," the fox said. His adam's apple bobbed visibly. "This."

The fox's hand threw down a much smaller blast of blue fire, at the ground in between them. The small explosion threw up smoke and shards, and the magician - close at hand - only just had enough time to turn his hat towards the attack. The air twisted violently into the hat, a cyclon drawing in the smoke - a vacuum.

But the fox was gone again and Sylas ran to the rail just in time to see the not-Egad land in an obviously painful roll on the lowermost floor. The weasel swore something utterly nasty in his French tongue, then prepared to vault over the rail himself.

Geoff's lungs were gasping still, and he felt like he was moving in slow motion as he struggled to get back up from hands and knees. He was pretty sure he'd just gained a whole new assortment of cuts off that landing, but he had to get up. He was almost done. Just a bit more, just a bit...

The magician's hat floated slowly down in front of the panting fox. Geoff's eyes turned around wildly, looking for the weasel himself, only to see the hat begin to rise off the ground. Sylas himself materialized beneath it, feet to mask, twiddling his wand still.

"Zis?" the weasel snarled malevolently. "Zis is over now."

The rifle of a wand pointed at him a final time, and Geoff's lungs were fresh out of steam. Each nostril was bleeding now, and his mouth hung open as he tried to catch his breath. The gunblast went off. The fox didn't have the strength to move - and then the ensnaring ropes ensured he wouldn't be dodging anymore regardless.

The ropes entwined themselves around the fox's limbs, gripping tight at his wrists and legs and all over his body. Viciously the weasel squeezed at thin air, and the ropes mimicked his grip by tightening painfully on his skin. Geoff gasped in pain, and something dropped from his hand. The weasel's darkened eyes narrowed on the object, and his fingertips pried it off the ground. The wand was kept threateningly forward.

"A rock," Sylas reacted as if he'd been insulted as he turned over the item in his hand. "Still you zink you can beat me with pebbles."

Sylas dropped the pebble onto the floor, then reached down and squeezed menacingly hard at the fox's erection. Geoff hissed at the painful clench, and if it was anyone else, he would have been more shocked that it was making him hard. The weasel's obviously enchanted gloves were doing their job well, filling his shaft with pleasure even as the magician aimed to hurt him still.

"You should," Geoff breathed heavy, "Be running. Okay? Just ... Just run now, and I won't follow."

"You are not entertaining me," the magician spat. An extra layer of rope slithered from his wand, going down the fox's body and cinching tight along the base of his shaft and sack. Geoff had to gulp, extremely hard, doing his best to keep his focus even as the awareness of his helplessness took even greater control of his thoughts.

"I know," Geoff shivered. "Just thought I'd ... give you a chance."

Something about the look in the fox's eyes must have given Sylas a heads up, as the weasel once more looked at the pebble on the ground. Quick as a wink, he snatched it off the floor, and eyed it closer still. That was when he saw it: a small rune inscribed in the stone, incredibly simple... and of faintest blue tracing.

Sylas' eyes went wide. Geoff's eyes squeezed shut.

"Fire," the fox shouted as loud as he could.

The rune lit up in a flash, and the rock itself exploded in a small burst of fire and heat. Sylas tried to toss the rock at the last second, but he wasn't quick enough. The explosion went off point blank, with hands trying to defend himself. Gloved hands were fried bare - and his magic wand was near incinerated. But that wasn't the only bomb. A chain of them all went off, dozens, hundreds, small time bombs lodged in the keyholes of as many cell doors as Geoff could manage, just waiting for their creator to say the word.

It sounded like someone was firing a gatling gun, tiny explosions blowing the locks apart from bottom to top, and then further still, sounding even more faintly far beyond the fox's voice and the dungeon itself. Geoff couldn't suppress a grin at that, even though he was bound up on his knees, even though he was rock hard and the magician was still right in front of him.

The clatter of doors followed soon after, with more shouts of glory and victory spreading as dozens of slaves grasped their freedom. They yelled for the broken slaves to follow, to enkindle that long lost spark of hope beaten out of them by Egad and his dungeon keepers. Their heavy footsteps shook the dungeon floors, and what cells he hadn't gotten to, they worked to rip open themselves.

Sylas staggered backwards, burned hands trembling - yet his limbs shook just as much from rage as pain. The spellbinder was minus one hat, blown off by the explosion.

"You ... weren't aiming for me," the weasel realized, thinking back to all those times the flung pebbles had missed him completely.

"I figure," Geoff rasped, his bloody nose dripping all the more profusely for that last burst of magic. "There's over a hundred... battle ready... warriors, up there. And you can probably take some, if you've been ... rationing yourself, better than me. But I'm pretty sure ... you can't... handle all of them."

Sylas' burned hand slapped at the fox's face, injury be damned. Geoff barely felt it anyway for all the pain his head was already in.

"You insolent cretin," the magician spat. Trembling fingers reached toward his chest pocket again, where the white cards were waiting. "I will have ze body of Egad Nob! I will catch zem all, and you will have accomplished nothing!"

Geoff's eyes widened to their fullest. His breath pulled in deep, and froze cold in his lungs.

Sylas raised the card high, ready to smite his foe into its mystic confines.

"Encardio -"

The weasel slashed the card forward.

The fox's lids scrunched shut.

"Mafisici -!"

Geoff sneezed.

On blue, blood-flecked wind, the white card was suddenly blown back from Sylas' weak grip, and against the weasel's own chest.

"- Oh."

The card emitted a flash of light, and that was all it took. Sylas was gone. The white card drifted awkwardly to the floor, and Geoff's eyes followed it down. The incensed, miniaturized shape of the magician was just barely visible on it, burned hands weakly pounding on the inside as if it was a pane of glass.

Deep breaths shook the fox still as he turned to look at the prisoners about.

"What?" Geoff asked in tired annoyance. "Is no one going to say God bless you?"

21...

The professor's eyes were growing larger. Larger. Larger still. They were locked on the screen, even after the series of explosions caught him off guard. The control room was supposed to give him mastery over the entire fortress, but somehow he felt powerless. No, it was even more than that.

Mize was absolutely, positively, without a doubt freaking the fuck out.

Sylas was supposed to have captured the false Egad, not the other way around! And now it seemed like the whole dungeons were being opened up, spilling out a veritable horde of slaves, with no Keepers to protect him!

Fuck, that must be what he's been going for all along!

Mize would easily have preferred to kill himself - rather than let the slaves get him - but even in his heart wrenching, nerve frying state of fear, the professor was scrabbling at his control console. He tried to get barred doors shut, to cage them in, but every time it was too little, too late. Even when he succeeded, the well-built champions Egad loved so much nearly ripped the metal doors right off the wall.

Attempts to gas them and knock them out was met with even more resistance, as those champions of a magical bent used strange powers to overcome. For all the many who didn't, they had to get creative - and still they were winning by numbers. Their hope was giving them a drive and force beyond expectation, and they were starting to spread throughout the rest of the fortress. But at least Mize still had their secret weapon: the teleporter.

Error. Teleporter not responding.

Nonononononono

Mize ran. He ran as fast as his little legs could take him, down the hall, ducking past a pair of escapees, cutting through one of his labs and slamming open the door to the teleporter room itself.

Most of the grand device was warped and burning, dead scrap metal destined for the junk pile. A few other machines had suffered explosive damage as well. The professor's thoughts flashed back to when he and the false Egad had been in this room. He must have set mines there, too, somehow, and they'd gone off with all the rest of them. But the crackle of fire wasn't the only thing Mize saw.

The room was already occupied.

The cracked computer screen still showed well enough for a naked dalmatian to make out what he was doing. Fingers tapped away with remarkable speed, punching in a string of code that Mize didn't have the clarity to follow.

Panic coiled tight around his chest and squeezed.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Mize almost screamed.

"What does it look like? I'm smacking a virus on this thing's databanks. Gotta make sure it can't be -" the dalmatian stopped mid sentence as he turned and saw the professor himself. Raw malice engraved itself across the dalmatian's features. " YOU!!"

Mize fled for his very dear life, and he didn't turn around.

Not even once.

22...

Of the slaves all around, no one responded to Geoff's comment, one way or the other. Half looked at him in fear, half in anger, but all of them had decided they'd rather just run away then go closer to the body of Egad Nob. It was all the same to Geoff, who was carefully using a fire on the tips of his fingers to burn through the ropes still restraining him tight.

As long as no one wants -

"EGAD!!!" a bass voice resonated loudly, catching the fox's attention even as he tried to work his arms free of the ropes.

- payback.

A massive brown shape of a man jumped from the floor just above, landing solidly on both feet. The muscular body, sculpted nearly as big as Galen, thundered forward towards the helpless fox, with anger in his fists and revenge on his face.

You suck, universe.

"Not Egad, not Egad, not Egad!!" Geoff said louder and louder, but the buffalo didn't listen. Without even breaking stride, he lifted him right off the floor by the ropes, and then hit the fox so hard, Geoff was thrown backwards through the air. The fox painfully rolled along the ground several times, and ropes dug even further into his arms - before breaking at last.

He didn't have time to enjoy that small freedom, before his stomach gave an agonized lurch. Whatever hadn't been digested in his stomach already was thrown up from his mouth in angry protest. It was a struggle for him just to get back up, but the violent buffalo didn't intend to give him that time. He charged forward, ready to attack again.

"I'm not Egad!" his haggard voice struggled out, with fresh pain lancing in his chest at the attempt. The buffalo refused to stop - and in a flash of fear, Geoff lashed out. His fire-tipped fingers swept across the air, and a wall of flames streaked between the two of them. That got the big brown beast to back off, shock plastering itself right across his features.

"That's new, right??" Geoff asked, demanded. The breath caught in his chest on the next inhale, and he had to support himself on his hand quick before he could fall again. "That's ... new..."

There was blood at his nose again. He was running below empty, and everything was taking its toll. The meager wall began to flicker as Geoff's head spun and his head started to dip. Eyes had to squint to focus as the buffalo (and his many clones) seemed gearing up to make another charge.

Fuck my conscience fuck it so hard fuck fuck -

A tiger seemed to arrive out of nowhere and hooked his arm around the buffalo's, right before another punch could connect. Geoff and buffalo both were surprised, and even more so as the great tiger shoved him back.

"Knock it off! Weren't you watching?!" the tiger near roared at him.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Geoff noticed a handful of others who still hung at the edge of the cages. They stared with a blank inquisitiveness, broken and unsure of how to step past the open doors of the cages.

The buffalo still looked at the wounded fox with a venomous desire to inflict harm. "It's Egad -"

The tiger shoved him back as he tried to take another step forward. "Do you want to get out of here, or do you want to waste time beating up some wizard that looks like him??"

It looked like 'waste time' was about to be his answer, before one of the onlookers - an athletic, older terrier found the strength to chime in.

"We can ... we can get out?" The terrier's foot strayed at the edge of his door.

Buffalo, tiger and fox all looked at the poor figure. Geoff was too winded and struggling to catch his breath, to give voice to all the emotions that dog brought out in him. The tiger was not so voiceless.

"We're getting out of here! We're all getting out of here!" he half shouted, half ordered. He shoved hard at the buffalo's chest, then pointed at the other slaves. "Get them moving! Get them out!"

The buffalo bared his teeth, snorting in defiance. Fists clenched on thin air with head-crushing force. He looked near ready to make another pass at the fox, but to Geoff's enormous relief, gave it up with a snort. The tiger was planted firmly between them, anyway.

"Fine! I'll get them! ... fucker," the buffalo mumbled the last word. Then he took off, towards the terrier, and hefted him right off the ground. He shouted much kinder words of encouragement to the rest, but Geoff wasn't paying attention to him by that point.

The tiger was stalking closer. His muscular body reminded him in so many ways of Galen himself, but his black hair wasn't as long. The tiger got on one knee, and for a brief second, Geoff was afraid he was about to choke him to death. Large hands moved in - but grabbed at the ropes still bound around the fox's legs.

"Here. We've gotta hurry," he said as he used sharp claws to shred and rip them away. The hefty feline near smirked at him as he helped him up, green eyes sparkling with mischief. "But damn, do you look thrashed."

Geoff rubbed the back of his arm at his face, trying to clean it up with his fur. Legs wobbled beneath him and he had to keep hold of the tiger's hand for support a bit longer. "I, I wasn't expecting, having to fight anyone, like that."

He pointed just once at the card, still resting on the floor. Sylas gestured angrily on it from the inside out. The tiger took that as his cue to run over and snatch the object up. Then he ran just as fast back to Geoff. The fox was still just trying to stand up. Too many things - skin, bones, muscles and head - they all just ached and throbbed, and not in a good way.

"Can you move?" the tiger inquired with a bit more empathy.

"I can't keep up with you, if that's what you mean," Geoff struggled. He didn't want to admit how faint he still felt, or how glad he was to not have to take things from here.

The tiger gave a simple nod. "Can't be helped."

Then, before Geoff could say anything else about it, the tiger had turned and snatched the small fox up onto his back, carrying him piggy-back style with the greatest of ease. The fox's arms instinctively wrapped themselves around the tiger's broad chest and neck.

"Whoa whoa wait a -"

"Just shut up and hold on," the tiger teased. Geoff couldn't see it from his angle behind, but he was almost sure that the tiger was smirking again.

They were off in a flash.

The beefy tiger leapt several stairs in each bound, the small fox a trivial weight for his strength. There was no time for Geoff to think about how impressive that all was, or how turned on it would normally have made him. While Geoff was taking deep breaths and trying to get his energy back, the tiger was making a few shouts of encouragement, trying to get the stragglers to follow.

"Come on, come on, let's move, let's move! Forget the elevator and run!"

Several warriors did like the tiger, hefting up another one of the slaves or two - whether they liked it or not. The stripey feline passed by the angry buffalo from before as they ascended out of the mountain depths. The grey terrier and an unconscious otter had both been hefted up in his arms. The still-muzzled bulldog had an iron grasp on a desperate hyena who was outright begging to go back to his cage.

So the group of them ran. The whole host, moving fast, picking up even more of Egad's victims as they broke open the cages Geoff had missed, ascended higher and higher from the depths of that prison. The warriors near the top had already cleared the way for everyone else. Geoff and the tiger had started at the bottom, but the feline was moving so fast, they must have been at the middle of the pack when they got back to the top.

Only then did Geoff recognize a certain familiar face.

Serious for the first time he had ever seen him, the kangaroo had managed to recover a few of his things from wherever the main champions were stored in the fortress. He had pants on now, and a few of his trademark items. He was shouting directions, gesturing with his arms, "To the roof! All the way, raide is inbound! Run to the roof!"

Geoff allowed himself a smile at last.

"Jack! Jack - Hold up," he told the great tiger, who slowed down as they passed the roo. "Dear God, it's good to see you."

The pirate broke out into a comfortingly familiar grin.

"Naice raide," The lazy, cheery Australian drawl was present in full force, none the worse for the days he'd spent gagged and manhandled, or for the whip marks still on his torso. His eyes looked a little too lustfully at the tiger's large body, then back at the fox. "That is you, Geoff, isn't it? Didn't get yer message at first. But then ya started layin' it on pretty thick..."

"Why were you even here?" Geoff asked incredulously. "I thought you were -"

"Can I remind everyone we're staging a jailbreak?" the tiger interrupted.

Geoff and Jack shared quick, understanding nods, then the fox said, "The Keepers. We have to save the Keepers, too."

"The Keepers are his servants!" came Jack's retort. It was his turn to act surprised, glancing back and forth between the tiger and the fox on his back. "Ai'm sorry, did Ai miss somethin'?"

"They're the ones who do his bidding!" the tiger chimed in. "Where are they anyway? I thought we would have been fighting them already!"

"I know that, but they're victims, too!" Geoff said. "All the Keepers, they were slaves. They are slaves. They've all been brainwashed, they've been here so long. They're not here 'cause I talked them into tying each other up. That's how messed up they are. I'm not saying untie them! I'm just saying, we can't leave them to be victims."

"Yes! Yes, we can! They're still gonna be loyal to Egad," Jack told him with a realistic tone. "Even if they weren't, there's dozens of 'em! Maybe if we could use his teleporter -"

"I already blew that up," Geoff cut in. The roo's hand made a resounding clap as it made contact with Jack's own face. "Don't give me that look! I didn't want to give Mize the chance to use it on anyone after we broke out."

Jack huffed out annoyance on his breath. "Geoff, I'm not sure the ship even has enough room for -"

"Ship? You've got a ship??" the tiger inquired excitedly.

"Ugh." The roo pulled out a small object from his pockets, and clenched it once in his hands. "Bounce Dog to Feather Duster, Bounce Dog to Feather Duster - what's yer ETA?"

A voice crackled from the object, "Jack, I'll kill you. I'll kill you till you die from it."

"Yeah, still need an ETA," the roo continued.

"Five minutes, asshole!" the 'Feather Duster' shouted back angrily.

"Love ya, too, Feather Duster." Jack clicked the radio off, before asking his comrades, "Does that answer your question?"

"So we've got five minutes before it even gets here," Geoff said with increasing hope. "That's five minutes to move them! Sure, there's dozens of them, but there's hundreds of us. If only a fraction of the others help, that could still be enough! And we could get your crew to help, too!"

Jack rubbed both hands hard against his face, trying to will his growing headache away.

"... Let's do it," came unexpectedly from the tiger.

Geoff felt an excited thrill go up his spine immediately.

"What, seriously?" Jack asked in surprise.

"Yes, seriously! Take the card," the reply went, even as the tiger began slowly lowering Geoff down. "Help your friend, and I'll try to help the Keepers."

"I can help, too. I think I'm fine now," the fox said as feet made contact. Legs then wobbled dangerously beneath him as he tried to take a few steps, only for Jack to have to catch him before he could fall. Gripping the spellbinder's small prison cell was near all the strength he could muster.

"Fuh ... Fine. Fine, Ai'll ask the crew," the professional criminal conceded at last. Jack adjusted his grip on the fox, and half helped, half forced him to start walking the way to the building's roof. "But Ai'm gettin' you out first. Geoff, you owe me. Big. We're talkin' pumped Ellwood big."

"... I could do that thing you like," Geoff said.

The roo grumbled quietly.

"That ain't fair, Geoff. That just ain't fair."

"... I know."

23...

Egad pushed Lucas to his knees. A few final loops was all it took to finish the ropework on the squirming otter, completely hogtied and helpless, and just as desperate as he had been all day. Still there was no hope of release. Egad put his foot against the otter's back and nearly kicked him forward, where Lucas landed in a thud on top of the defiant, roped up sheepdog. The older dog was still clad in his leathers, but the ropework kept him nice and immobile.

The otter took to grinding against the sheepdog's body almost at once, humping the older man's leather pants and rubbing his dripping, rock-hard shaft all over them, heedless of the warning growls. The massive green body at their side shifted, and the head lifted and turned, but the triceratops could make out nothing through the thick black cloth bag covering his head.

The rest of the collection squirmed and grunted for attention, each of Egad's captives wondering what was going on - each just as unable to see as the next, with the many hoods and blindfolds around. The chained sabertooth was being especially noisy - so Egad stomped hard on his giant body. Chiseled abs felt nearly like a cobblestone walkway beneath his foot.

"There's no point in protesting," Egad glowered at them, his victory secured. His eyes raked over each of the hunks he'd snared, one by one. Most of them were tired out from the 'games' they'd already played, and Egad had only teased them further beyond. Even the stoic raven had broken, until the mask of soldierly discipline shattered into gasping, writhing need.

A glance at the clock showed it was well after midnight by then. With so many new victims to dominate, it had been too easy to lose track of time. He had to have spent an hour molesting and edging each of them before bringing them to the main room. Some of them had clearly cuddled up closer to each other, maybe even tried to grind or please the victim next to them. It didn't matter. Egad had made sure none of them would be getting off without his permission. They were too helpless.

Egad was in control.

He was the master, and they barely even suspected anything. Even the strongest were forced to submit to his authority, all their muscles made meaningless with just a few ropes and the cunning of his mind. They hadn't stood a chance. Everything had gone exactly as he planned, which brought them exactly where they were now: the whole group, tied up at his feet. He had won.

The pandalion's mouth unexpectedly opened in a long, drawn out yawn. Egad felt compelled to rub at an eye as well, while the other glanced at the living room phone. He could call Mize, have him picked up, along with all these slaves. They'd look so good in his dungeon - perhaps next to each other, or maybe spread far apart. The sabertooth might even deserve a trophy case of his own, right next to Galen's so he could compare the two properly. ** ** Egad wondered if they would put up a proper struggle, once they realized. He wouldn't mind breaking them into submission all over again. One by one, this time letting the others watch -

But Egad was starting to get sleepy. He had to admit, he might have worn himself out, too, messing with all of his new slaves. A few hours of rest couldn't hurt. It wasn't like the toys were going to be getting free any time soon, not with his skill. No, they'd be just as helpless in the morning. The call could wait till then.

Egad nudged the whimpering retriever over a bit, half on top of the badger beside him. He needed room for the pandalion's body to fit in between, right up against the biggest pillow in the room: the sabertooth. Ellwood growled at him as Egad lay his head down on the massive chest.

"Shut up. Sleep tight. I'll most likely edge you," Egad yawned again, "In the morning..."

One hand scratched idly at the sabertooth's abs.

24...

Propellers whirred. They sped the vessel along through the night sky, clouds and starlight watching them from above.

The giant vessel looked like a wooden frigate, centuries-old architecture built on a massive scale. Long, rigid metal poles extended from both sides of the ship, like oars raised and reaching into the wind. Faint white strands of lightning arced from one tip to the next, or raced along their lengths. Instead of masts and sails, the ship was borne aloft by a dirigible's massive balloon, sturdy cables anchored into the wood to hold the two together. From the top deck, the balloon was barely visible through the thick fog trailing around and behind it; observers on the ground far below would see a ship towed by a cloud. Propellers stretched out from several parts of the ship, driving them forward.

The roo stood with one protective arm around Geoff's shoulders, the two kept slightly away from most of those still on deck - including one grizzled old wolfhound with an oversized captain's hat and a silvery feather boa wrapped around his neck. In the chaos of the prison break, some had managed to scrounge up old belongings - or just stolen them outright from the many rooms in Egad's fortress. The pirates themselves had a few blankets to pass out, for those still naked. They didn't have nearly enough of course, but some of the more generous had clothing to give as well.

Jack, for his part, had given Geoff a set of his clothes to wear. The roo's red bandanna had been repurposed as a mask, covering up the lower half of the fox's face - just to avoid any more issues, like with the vengeful buffalo. He kept his head down all the same, and tried to avoid talking too loud. If anyone had suspicions, they didn't voice them. The buffalo himself was nowhere to be seen.

They hadn't saved everyone. They couldn't. Some of them just didn't want to be saved. They wanted vengeance. They wanted to wreck that whole place. Others pegged their luck better in the woods, alone, or didn't want to leave at all - like a good number of Keepers. All they could really say was they saved "enough" - and that would have to do for Geoff's conscience.

There was nothing to it now, but to watch the distant shape of the fortress disappearing far behind them.

Jack gave the fox a gentle squeeze of encouragement, and for the first time in hours, Geoff felt ... relief.

"Jack..." the fox started self-consciously. "Egad and I switched minds. We both like bondage, you know, and ... I ... I liked being in control. I really did. I liked the authority and the power and being master of all those hunks. Am I ... Do you think, Egad and I ... are alike? Do you think we got switched because, on some level, we're the same? That I could have been him? That he could have been me?"

Am I a villain inside?

The kangaroo turned his face towards Geoff, but Geoff felt uncomfortable trying to look back.

"Ai dunno, mate. Ai'm no expert on magic or anything. You'd know more than me," Jack admitted. "Are you two alike? That Ai could comment on, yeah. But here's a better question. When Ai was in the torture room an' all - you used the whip. ... Why?"

"Why did I whip you?" Geoff's brows furrowed. "'Cause - 'cause I had to. I was supposed to be punishing you, and I had to keep up appearances. The cameras -"

"No, not why did ya punish me. Why did ya _whip _me? They kept me waitin' long enough. Ai had a good look at everything in there. There were all sorts of other things lyin' around - things that could've hurt way worse. " The pirate's athletic frame shivered as the memories turned over in his mind. The arm around Geoff's shoulders twitched, nudging their bodies closer together. "Why just a whip?"

The fox's red eyes blinked slowly.

"'Cause ... I knew you'd like that. You liked it before anyway, that other time, and I thought we could fake it in front of the cameras. ... And you're trying to get me to see, that I was trying to please you even then. That I was only doing things I knew you'd consent to, and that I should be focusing on that. I get that, but still..."

"Consent an' trust, mate," the roo said playfully. "That's what separates a bondage game, from abuse. An' fer the record, Ai did consent." Jack slicked his free hand down his whip marked torso. Pleasure-pain worked itself out across his face in an absolutely criminal smirk. "Still feels great. No worries."

Geoff could only nod back. "I'm ... I'm glad..."

"You care, Geoff. Always have." Jack gave his shoulder another firm squeeze. "Whatever you an' Egad have in common - that ain't one of 'em. And sometimes? That's all that ever separates good people, from the not so good."

Clouds rolled slowly past them as the air ship continued to speed through the night sky.

"I should know that," Geoff mumbled. The smallest trace of a smile started tugging at his own lips in turn. "I guess I'm just tired. It's been a long day. Everything always seems worse when you're tired."

"Oi, mate," the kangaroo drew Geoff's thoughts out of himself, and back to the warm body at hand. "If it's been a long day... how much more taime have ya got left anyway, d'ya think? How much longer in that body?"

Geoff glanced at the moon again.

"I don't know," the fox admitted with trepidation. "Can't know. Minutes, hours, days ... it depends on the wizard who did it, and there's no way for me to tell who that was. For all I know, I'll be back before I finish this sentence."

Jack looked straight at him.

His eyes narrowed.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

"What about now?"

Geoff glared at him. "Yes, I'm still here!" he said before trying to shove Jack away.

The roo laughed softly, trying to hold onto the resistant fox even tighter. "Ai was just checking! Best we know, raight? Ai wouldn't wanna wake up helpless and naked next to ya t'morrow."

"Yeah... helpless and naked ..." Geoff trailed off.

The fortress faded further and further out, until it was just a speck over the horizon.

Sleep would be all too welcome tonight.

25...

Someone was growling nearby.

"Nnn ..." Geoff grumbled as he rubbed his cheek against a familiar kind of surface: the meaty pillow of someone's chest. Up, down, up, down, the rise and fall of the man's breaths let the bear drift back to sleep like they were ocean waves. But the bass growling only got worse, which prompted Geoff to weakly thump his fist against one of the rumbling pectoral muscles.

"Qui... et. Trying to..." his mouth started to yawn, and then everything flooded back.

Oh hell no, not again!

Geoff snapped straight up, and looked all around him. He glanced first at his arms - no longer lean and brown. They were his own big, black arms, and the rest of his body was his own as well. Over a half dozen of his friends were there with him, assembled on the living room floor of his own home. All of them, from the giant sabertooth to the brawny sheepdog, were roped up good and tight, and gagged for good measure. It was the sabertooth the pandalion had been sleeping on, but everyone seemed to be laying on or against someone else in that great pile.

It was also the sabertooth who was growling at him to wake up. A quick examination of the big cat's body found nothing damaged, and so Geoff gave him a quick pat to the chest.

"Hold that snarl, I'll be right back," he said as quick as he could. Then the bear awkwardly pushed himself up, to look over the rest of the helpless cuddlers. A certain ottery someone seemed almost to shiver at the sound of Geoff's voice, and the bear's eyes locked hard over his naked form.

"Lucas. Luc!" he semi whispered as he hopped over the still sleeping sheepdog, to get at the blonde otter. Hands rapidly undid the blindfold over his eyes, and the left stayed holding up his head from behind. Eyes blinked up at him with total submission still written across his features.

He's okay. Thank God, he's okay.

Down below, the otter's cock was throbbing with desire, and drew Geoff's gaze down to it. A quicker glance around helped him realize that everyone else seemed in a similar state of anticipation and desperation, even those who were asleep.

The pandalion gulped. The memory of the Competition was still burning clear as daylight.

... Shit, they look hawt like this.

Geoff's right hand stroked down the otter's body, and then clasped more firmly around his lover's shaft. Lucas shuddered again, but didn't flinch away from the touch, wide-open eyes broadcasting nothing but Need you please. That had to be a good sign.

"Shit. Sorry. Yesterday was crazy. I need to talk to you guys, about a lot ... but, uh, how about I get you off first, yeah?"

The otter mewled softly.

26...

The first sound Egad heard was his own groaning. He felt sore, everywhere. His chest ached. His head throbbed. Nerves were on fire, and he didn't even know what to rub first.

Chains clinked as he tried to move his arms.

The fox's eyes - for it was indeed Egad's own body he had awoken to - was spread out on a bed he didn't recognize. The modest room looked more like a ship's quarters, with a map on one wall and drawn shades to one side. Silly hats rested on the many spokes of a coatstand. The faintest rumble of an engine or a propeller could be heard, somewhere out of sight.

Egad took in a deep breath to stay calm as he pulled on the cuffs on his arms. Clinking metal made enough noise to attract attention, and someone's feet padded closer. The thief of a roo strode into view out of the closet, clad just in his boxers and grinning victoriously. He playfully twirled a key ring on one finger.

"G'day, mate. Did ya sleep well, Geoff?"

Oh, fuck.