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Chapter Five

"Merrik Returns"

By

Furry Sith Lord

Leggo was pacing as he thought about what would happen when Loui removed the collar Mel wore. Mel’s memories would return and Merrik would be his old self again. The trouble was that Leggo had been enjoying Mel’s company and the thought of losing him was really upsetting Leggo.

Lou had been staying out of the way as he organized the event. He had been toying with the idea of letting his husband have one last night of fun before removing the collar. Originally he had expected resistance when he used the slave collar to turn Merrik into Mel but Mel’s bubbly personality had soon made him like part of the family.

Ben had never met Merrik so he was going to be really surprised when Merrik put on his old face again. It was amazing that Mel’s whole life had been fake but he had made such an impact in their lives.

Lou glanced out of a window and saw Leggo pacing. His heart went out to him and he wished there was a way to ease his anxiety. The more he watched Leggo the more resolve he had that he was going to let them enjoy their last night together.

An old car came speeding up and the faded red color paint of the car told Lou it was Mel. He hastily parked and then jumped out and Leggo hugged his friend and lifted him up and dropped him down. It was the typical wat Leggo greeting his friend.

Leggo looked up and saw Lou watching and Leggo’s expression was of sadness. Lou saw Mel asking something but he could not hear him.

“Leggo? HELLOOOOOO! Planet to Leggo are you with us buddy?” Mel asked and it snapped Leggo back.

“Sorry,”

“What’s wrong?” Mel asked.

“Sorry, Lou has been driving everyone crazy getting ready for the wedding.” Leggo lied… sort of.

“Has anyone told him it’s gonna be a couple opf years before they can tie their paws together?” Mel asked.

“Yeah, constantly! Only he won’t listen to reason.”

“Where are my nephews at, anyway?” Mel asked. Leggo led Mel inside and led him towards the main living room. Two white tigers were sitting on the couch watching television while a white lion was laying on his tummy on the floor. Lyon had his legs bent at the knees so that his feet were sticking up as he folded his chin on his paws.

Mel reached down and began to hastily pet the mohawk that was growing of Lyon’s lion mane. This made Lyon jump up and when he saw that it was Mel he quickly hugged him.

“You’re lucky this episode of The Power Fur Rangers is a repeat. Otherwise he probably would have taken off your arm.” Tyger joked and Lyon gave him a dirty look.

“Well good thing I have my nephews to protect their old uncle… skoot, skoot,” Mel said as he forced his way to sit in between Tyger and Ben. They were holding paws and quickly had to release as Mel sat between them.

“So,” Mel said as he leaned in and spoke to Ben. “You’re my new nephew I hear.”

“Yes,” Brn said weakly as he blushed slightly. Ben had a feeling he knew what was coming because every time he mentioned he was gonna tie his paw to Tyger everyone kept telling them the same thing.

“You guys using protection?” Mel asked and there it was! He had been asked over and over again that he was getting sick of hearing it. Did everyone think they were stupid?

“We’re still virgins in that regard. We know how to mount each other but not sure we want to…. but IF we were to we would definitely use protection.” Ben said as he stammered a bit trying to explain yet feeling really embarrassed that he had to talk about love making.

“Not sure you want to? What do you mean?” Mel asked and Ben blushed even more.

“Look Uncle Mel, we’re really not comfortable talking about our love life with others. We prefer to keep that private.” Tyger interrupted, hoping to spare Ben.

“What’s to be embarrassed about? Your parents mount each other all the time.” Mel said and Leggo cleared his throat as if telling Mel to stop.

“We’ve had the talk,” Leggo started to explain.

“What talk?” Lyon asked as he interrupted.

“THE talk! You know, about how to mount each other!” Tyger shouted at his brother.

“Oh,” Lyon said as he blushed and lowered his ears.

“Trust me they have everything they need to stay safe should, and when, they engage in any sort of behavior…. no pressure.” Leggo said and Tyger saw him lowering his ears.

“Whatever,” Mel said and he reached and began to scratch his privates. Everyone looked away uncomfortably.

Lou was finishing the last minute preparations as a display of food was set out. This was a mock attempt at trying to pick food for his son’s wedding reception. Still it was a clever idea to try this by Leggo that it was turning into an actual event. He might as well kill two birds with one shot.

This was going to be the wedding reception of a lifetime and every species on the planet would fight and kill to get accepted to attend. Company profits would go through the roof and Tyger would be dazzled in front of important clients ensuring that the Antler’s Conglomerate would one day be passed on to very capable paws.

“Your guest has arrived.” The Maid said as she approached him.

“Thank you.” He replied. He had surmised that Mel would be off with Leggo and the boys doing whatever they were up to. Lou looked at his watch and saw it was around the time they watched The Power Fur Rangers on television.

Even though they were getting kinda old for it they still loved it. Especially Lyon because it was his only real escape from the abuse he faced when his father would beat him. Still he was very proud of Lyon because he had come a long way from the poor scared slave he had been.

Lyon had abilities and a personality that was not like Tyger’s but his strength was of a different sort and that made him just as strong if not better in his own way. Lou tended to hate how he was more akin to Tyger and Leggo was more akin to Lyon. He hated that they seemed to play favorites and hoped Lyon realized how much he loved him just like he loved his brother.

Lou adjusted his suit and casually walked down the stairs to greet the others in the living room. When he neared he heard Mel telling a story from work to the cubs.

“So then your dad was like ‘If you don’t like it you can lreave your car here and walk home.’ Oh My Paws I never laughed so hard in my life.” Mel said and Lou heard everyone in the room erupt with laughter. He entered feeling very awkward like he was intruding and he politely cleared his throat to announce his presents.

“I’m glad you decided to come, Mel. Hope you brought your appetite with you.” Lou said softly. Everyone looked at him making himself feel even more self conscious but mostly because the others knew he was going to remove Mel’s collar. They just were not sure when so the air of expectancy filled the place.

“Come, I got everything prepared. I’m sorry you’ll miss the rest of The Power Fur Rangers.” Lou first announced to everyone then he went to Lyon and put his hooves on his son’s shoulders. He leaned in to kiss his head.

“No biggie, it’s a repeat anyways.” Lyon said. Lou led him to the dining room, leading him gently while following behind. Tyger felt a bit of jealousy but Ben wrapped his arms around him.

“I get you all to myself.” Ben whispered and Tyger chuckled slightly. The jealousy instantly vanished and was forgotten. Leggo and Mel had their arms on each other's shoulders as they followed.

Everyone was in awe as they looked at the displays of food set up. The shiniest silver platters displayed the food and the best china had been laid out so that it was like a grand buffet.

Lou took a dish and led the way by sampling the different varieties of food. Lyon quickly followed behind and began to load up his plate. Tyger chuckled again because his father was taking very little bits while his brother was overloading his plate.

“That’s why you’re my favorite.” Mel whispered to Lyon as he filled up his plate. He then turned to Tyger and winked at him knowingly. Leggo was busy filling up his own plate while Ben and Tyger were comparing the variety of foods.

Mel, Leggo, and Lyon had a table to themselves and they sat together greedily eating and having burping contests.

The second table had Ben and Tyger as they were feeding each other and Lou was making small talk as he tasted the variety of samples he took. He tried to hide the fact that he wanted Leggo to sit with him and feed him the way his sons were feeding each other.

He knew that tonight was going to be Leggo’s last night with Mel so he did not want to interrupt that. His thoughts were interrupted by Mel and Lyon using spoons to tap their drinking glasses loudly. Tyger and Ben looked at each other confused as to why they were doing it.

“It’s a wedding tradition. When species clink their glasses like that the… um… grooms are supposed to kiss each other.” Loiu explained. Ben and Tyger watched as Lyon and Mel stared at them. Tyger leaned in and he kissed Ben in front of them.

“Yeah! That’s the stuff!” Mel shouted as Leggo, Mel, and Lyon all cheered. Lou blushed and slid down into his seat. His sentiment was echoed by Ben and Tyger as they copied and blushed.

This went on for the rest of the night with someone clicking their glass then everyone seemed to join in to make the white tigers kiss each other. Lou rose and clicked his glass to get everyone’s attention without realizing what he was doing. He blushed deeply when he heard Tyger growl at him.

“I’m sorry but if I can have everyone’s attention please. I have some questionnaires here if you could fill it out on which foods you liked and which you did not. I’d appreciate it.” Lou said and we went around passing them out with pens to everyone.

“You had custom pens made?” Tyger asked incredulously as he read the side of the pen he was given. “Benyamin and Tyger, Together forever!” the pen had printed on it and the punctuation over the ‘i’ was in the shape of a heart.

Leggo was chewing on his pen as he looked over the questionnaire. Everyone was staring at him and he quickly took it out of his maw.

“Sorry, but on the brightside I already have three of them.” Leggo said. Lou sighed deeply but let the comment go.

BH sat at his desk in the office he chose. He had been directing everything from this office and had several of the pets put up security cameras. This way he was able to monitor everything and it would warm him if he needed to make a hasty escape.

None of the pets would tell about the security cameras because the pet’s slave collars had the order given that they are not allowed to talk. Even though the humans had no idea what security cameras were, he thought it best to keep that hidden from them.

Maxx was happy to resume his role of storyteller because the army had cut off television signals and the televisions were now useless. Power was also running out and they needed to ration what was left. Large campfires were set up in the streets when night arrived to provide heat and light.

The humans were used to living without electricity so the change was easy for them. Electricity was magic to them and they preferred to stay away from it. A couple of humans were saying that magic was from Gawd and he was going to take it away from the animals because they had displeased him.

The good news was that the tunnels he had the pets dig had been completed. There was now a way to send his hunters out to grab items they needed and his own secret escape tunnel was ready in case the army decided to invade.

They had still camped around the city but so far had made no aggressive moves. He had been sure that the humans watched and waited in the same manner. The last thing he wanted was someone being overly zealous and starting a fight he was not ready for.

In the tunnel he had build for himself he had started placing extra food and water as well as a change of clothing to disguise himself. He did not want to be spotted and then captured because they recognized him.

A knock on his door made him turn off the cameras to hide that he was making them work when everyone else was not allowed to use electricity.

“Come.” Bh said loudly and Dabid, the hunter, entered and bowed respectfully.

“Forgive me, Reverend Lord but I was asked to invite you to the nightly gathering.” He spoke in the ape language. BH had learned to speak their language and the common tongue that all species spoke he had declared to be Holy. The Humans only spoke the common tongue when they had to for this reason. Most reverted to the ape language for everyday communications.

“I’ll be there shortly.” BH replied and the human bowed then silently went to join the others. BH made sure to power down all the technology he had been using to help conserve the power.

“So it is decided that the evil ring must be thrown into Mount Dhoomia,” BH heard Maxx telling the story of ‘The Lord and His Ring’ while the humans were spellbound by the tail. No one knew that Maxx was plagiarizing the story, except BH, but they were too interested to care.

Maxx had cast himself as the lead character and told the tale as if he were the one involved. BH smiled as the humans were in awe and always found it cute how simple they were. Even if one of them had seen the movies he doubted they would say anything against The StoryTeller Maxx. He just provided too much amusement to them.

BH approached Rowlf as he held a roasted piece of meat and bit into it heartily.

“Rowlf, I need a word with you.” BH said and the hunter quickly swallowed his food, almost making him choke, then addressed him.

“Yes, Reverend Lord, I live only to serve.” After Rowlf said this BH smiled evilly and the hunter felt good that he had pleased him.

“We’ve been friends for a long time now and this is why I have chosen you to lead up a job I need you to do.” BH said and the eyes of the hunter gleamed with pride.

“Anything you want, Reverend Lord!”

“I need you to lead a team to use the tunnel to go out and collect coal for our Power Plant. We are running dangerously low on power. This mission is stealth so I need you guys to not been seen at all. You may take some of the pets that can lead you to the coal.” BH instructed.

“Is that the black stones that messes up your hands?” Rowlf asked.

“Yes! That is it!” BH replied.

“It will be done, Reverend Lord.” Rowlf said as he bowed himself and BH hesitated a moment then reached out his paw to pet the human hunter. This pleased the human greatly.

“I guess the time has come.” Lou said as they finished eating the food samples. The entire thing had gone on for most of the evening but the cubs were struggling to stay awake. If he waited any longer he was going to have to help Leggo carry them to their rooms. Even though he still thought of them as cubs they were quite large.

Lou awkwardly walked towards Mel and Leggo, who had been slouching jumped and sat upright. Mel looked curiously as Lou reached out his hooves to grab the collar.

“What are you doing?” Mel asked.

“Something I hoped I’d never have to do.” Lou replied and he unclasped the collar. Mel’s eyes went from fear to shock then he began to laugh hysterically.

Everyone sat up as they watched and Ben looked in panic at the change in Mel’s behavior. He reached out and gripped Tyger’s paw for support.

“Oh, Oh this is rich,” Merrik said as he continued laughing. He had stepped away from the group as they watched him indifferently.

“So you pull a sneak attack and collar me then turn me into that insufferable wimp Mel. Then you suddenly decide to give me back my memories? What game are you playing at? Lou!” Merrik shouted then he gave a cold hard stare at the deer. Lou seemed unphased and merely tugged on his tie adjusting it.

“I gave you everything you ever wanted.” Lou replied coolly.

“What?!”

“You wanted to be a part of our family. I made you into Uncle Mel. You wanted to work alongside my husband. I got you a job working with him. We brought you in and made you a part of us. All the times you were invited over and the outing you and Leggo wnt on.” Lou said.

“That wasn’t me! That was a fake you created from me!!” Merrik shouted and he got dangerously close to Lou as he grimaced with his fangs showing. Leggo jumped up and was ready to attack to protect his husband but Lou calmly raised his hoof to stop him.

“All I did was remove your memories. How you thought and behavior was all the creation of your subconscious. I fixed it so that you would no longer be an unhappy stooge of C.I.Z.A.” Lou replied.

“You took everything from me to make me some kind of puppet for you guys to play with!” Merrik shouted.

“No Merrik we did not. I will admit that I had to change you to prevent you from harming my boys. They love you, we all do, as Mel.” Lou replied.

“So why the change all of a sudden? Why give me back my memories if the fake me was so wonderful?”

“Do you know about the humans that have reappeared?” Lou asked.

“Yeah weren’t they a product of those White Citadel freaks?”

“No, it turned out that the Human race was not exterminated during the Great War. A certain soldier took pity on them and let a small tribe of them go into hiding. They have been living apart from civilization for decades. They still exist in a tribalistic lifestyle and believe in some sort of religion of a great alpha leader named Gawd.

Their religion had retarded their growth and they never evolved as we have. They still live in a stone age type mentality and they are being exposed for the first time to modern civilization.

BH, a rare white species wolf from The White Citadel, found them and turned them into an army of sorts. He is a fascist that wants to rebuild The White Citadel by freeing Bear. He’s using the humans as pawns in his game.

We’ve had both the FDI and C.I.Z.A. contact us trying to get me to give both you and Bear up to them. I felt slightly better about freeing you first in hopes that you can help us. I want BH brought down but without the humans being harmed. My hopes are that in time they can learn to adapt and become a part of our society.” Lou explained.

“You know I’ll get my revenge for how I’ve been treated don’t you?” Merrik asked.

“I’m counting on it! But so far C.I.Z.A. abandoned you. They could have saved you quite a while ago yet they didn’t. Now that they actually need you they seem to want you but will discard you the first chance they get.

I too want to use you but to help me exploit them. I don’t ever expect us to be friends but if you do help me then when this is over I’ll let you decide how you want to proceed. Do you want to become Mel again or to remain as Merrik.” Lou said.

“So you expect me to believe that you’ll trust me and in return for my help you’ll do what I want?”

“Essentially, but as I mentioned I don’t believe either of us can actually ‘trust’ each other. I’m just proposing a temporary alliance so that we both get revenge again C.I.Z.A. and The Furries. Once that is accomplished we can focus on each other… unless we learn to somehow forgive each other.” Lou said.

“The one thing I can respect about you is your… somewhat truthfulness. I will admit that I have a better chance against my former employers, and the government, if I team up with you as allies. The problem is as you mentioned that we cannot trust each other.

I have no guarantee that even if I don’t exact revenge on you, that at the last minute you won’t double cross me. We both need something more if we are going to make this work.” Merrik sneered. Lou tugged on his tie as he rubbed his chin with his other hoof. He paced a little as he thought over the problem.

“May I make a suggestion?” Tyger asked and Lou and Merrik both looked at him.

“What is it son?” Lou asked.

“Slave collars. We put one on both of you and make it so that you cannot be underhanded with each other.” Tyger explained.

“No, no, no, no!!” Merrik shouted. “You tried that once and stole my memories. What are you gonna turn me into this time?!”

“I’m not saying just anyone can be the master here. We need to pick someone trusting and truthful and will not use this as means of trickery. I think we all know who would be the best furson to do that.” Tyger said and then everyone turned to look at Ben. Ben was looking at his paws as he sat in a chair then suddenly became aware of everyone looking at him and his face flushed with a look of panic.

“Me?” Ben said and he looked as if he had swallowed a bone whole.

“Excellent idea. I think we can both agree to Ben.” Lou replied.

“He’s the one out of all of you that I can trust.” Merrik said.

“What about me?” Lyon whined and Leggo patted his head.

“It’s because they have a special mission that only you can do.” Leggo whispered and It seemed to cheer Lyon up. Tyger gave him an extra hug before returning to the plan.

“OK boy, I’ll trust you because you seem honest and everything. But I swear by my own name that if you betray either of us…” Merrik snarled.

“No need for threats. You know Ben well enough to know that he is not like that. I feel we can both trust him.” Lou replied.

“Very well.” Merrik said and Tyger ran off to find slave collars for them. When he returned he had two red colored collars in his paws and he handed them to Ben. Ben looked at them like he was holding live venomous snakes ready to bite him.

To Be Continued…