by Tom Jones
Bocchino had another question on his mind after Jim spoke of the subject briefly, “Why were those special ISG guys with you that night?” Jim replied, “Oh, you mean Alpha-Omega? Omega wanted them to personally provide security for those two green-tier anthros. Those two anthros were some of the best that Omega had supposedly trained. They were pretty high up, even for green-tier. In fact, Omega was considering making a new tier that those anthros would be a part of. You guys did a pretty good job of taking them.” Bocchino sighed, “Right… I can’t believe you Omega shits call that motherfucking torture training.” Jim shrugged, “I suppose it’s another one of my issues with working for the Foundation. You know, there’s a reason why I quit them to join you guys and your cause. I’m not a fan of the Foundation. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much of a choice beyond continuing my work. The pay was very decent, yes, but I don’t think it was really worth seeing all the shit I’ve had to witness.”
Bocchino redirected the conversation again, “So are we going to take down Facility Eleven next or not?” Jim replied, “That would probably be our best bet. If we find those two anthros when we arrive at our destination, then we would be able to use them to help us somehow. They probably know more about the interior of Facility Eleven than I do.” Bocchino looked at the weapons that were in the helicopter, “Are we going to arm them?” Jim looked at the weapons as well, “I suppose we’d have to do whatever it takes. However, given what you guys told me happened back in the Congo, it sounds to me as if Omega is executing the anthros to prevent us from taking them. Especially with what happened at Facility Five, Omega wants to make sure that the fewest anthros get freedom by any means necessary.” Bocchino looked towards the ground and cursed yet again, “Fucking shit…” The cat then looked back up at the human, “Sounds like we’ll have to make sure we don’t waste any time then.”
Jim crossed his arms as he propped his back up against the helicopter’s fuselage, “Yeah, then we’ll have another problem: What are we going to do with the anthros that we get out of Facility Eleven? Most of them aren’t even going to believe us, let alone join our cause.” Bocchino remembered an eerily similar situation when Arcades tried to share the evidence regarding the Foundation with CDI before the raid happened, “I know what you mean.” Jim looked to the sky that was getting darker, “Yeah. We’ll have to figure something out sooner than later. For now, let’s just park this helicopter somewhere else when we’re done refueling and spend the night. How about that?” Bocchino looked to the sky as well, and then he looked down at the hose fueling Arcades’ HH-60, “Yeah. Sounds like a plan to me.”
Arcades and Jason both recognized the encampment that the mercenaries were taking them to, for it was the first place that they had investigated when they arrived at the Congo. The fox looked up at the sky, and he could see that it would be getting dark soon. Arcades asked Spectre a question, taking a risk that he would get harmed for doing so, “Are we going to stay the night in there?” Spectre looked back at the fox before looking away from him. The cat decided to ignore Arcades’ question. The fox debated asking the question again, but he felt that he would not be given given a response that was without physical harm. Arcades continued walking with Jason as the group continued towards the encampment. The fox hoped that he would not be forced to walk overnight, but he did not want to risk harm over voicing his concerns.
After arriving at the encampment, Koh-Koh placed his arm in front of the fox’s chest to make him stop walking, “That’s far enough, fox.” Arcades stood in silence with Jason as Spectre entered the encampment first. The fox looked around his surroundings, though he knew that he would not be able to escape his own restraints without the keyring Spectre currently held. He waited for the cat to return back outside and tell them what to do next. After standing in wait for about five minutes, Spectre emerged from the door which she initially entered, “You two: get in here, now.” Arcades immediately felt himself forced to move forwards since Kitchi was already pushing both captive anthros to motivate them to start walking. Jason, initially unaware that he was being pushed, staggered yet again, for he still had not entirely figured out the proper way to walk while shackled. Arcades did not stagger, but he could not help himself but feel sorry for the wolf. He knew that Jason did not have to get himself into this mess in the first place.
With both of the captives now inside the encampment, Arcades watched as Spectre opened another door within the small building. The door led to a completely featureless room that had no windows or furniture. The female cat spoke, “In here you two. This is where you’re going to spend the night.” When Arcades and Jason neared the room, Kitchi shoved both of the anthros suddenly, and this caused Arcades to fall on his knees in the room while Jason staggered his way into the wall. Kitchi chuckled, “Heh… Enjoy your stay in there.” When the cat finished his comment, Kohei moved over to close the door and lock the anthros inside. Arcades looked up at Jason as the wolf tried to regain his balance yet again. Arcades checked on Jason since their captors had left them alone, “Are you feeling alright, Jason?” The wolf turned around to face Arcades before he leaned his bare back up against the wall while still standing. Jason frowned and looked downwards, “Kurt, I’m sorry.” Arcades was mildly confused, “Hm? What is there for you to be sorry about?” The fox shifted around in order to get as comfortable as he could get while still kneeling. He wanted to move his tail out of the way, but he could not grab it with his hands chained to his waist. Jason sniffled a bit before replying, “Kurt… I know I told you that I wouldn’t ---” The wolf could not finish what he was trying to say. Arcades was still not entirely sure what Jason was talking about, but he did not want to assume that he knew what Jason was trying to say. The fox decided to let the wolf know that he could wait for him to finish speaking, “Hey, take your time. Out with it real slow. I’m not going to rush you. We’ve got plenty of time in here.” Silence filled the room again, but Arcades was still willing to wait, for he wanted Jason to feel as comfortable as he could ever feel locked up while naked in a small room. The fox watched as the wolf tried to touch his face, but the waist chain also prevented him from doing such.
After a longer period of silence, Jason began to speak again, but what Jason ended up saying wasn’t the most coherent speech ever, “I-I know that I’ve…” Arcades silently waited for Jason to continue, and he was still clearly giving the wolf his attention. The wolf swallowed his saliva and tried once again, “I’ve failed you, Kurt.” Arcades was still not sure what Jason was talking about, “Hm? Jason, I don’t quite know what you’re talking about.” The fox watched as Jason’s face still depicted a distressed expression, but he did not know what the wolf was referring to. Jason closed his eyes and held them shut before he started speaking, “Kurt… I-I didn’t mean to… G-get all…” The wolf choked up again, and Arcades waited for Jason to calm himself down.
The wolf turned away from the fox since he didn’t want to face Arcades with his guilt. The fox decided to break the silence again, “Jason, take it easy now.” Arcades heard Jason sniffle again before the wolf spoke once more, “I-I know that I shouldn’t have…” The fox stayed silent as he waited for Jason to continue yet again. Arcades heard a couple more sniffles followed by even a few sobs before he heard more words, “I’m sorry Kurt. I’m sorry Kurt…” Arcades was not sure where Jason was going, “Sorry for what? I really don’t know what the issue is.” The fox watched as Jason sat his head in the corner of the wall, and he also watched as the wolf’s legs began to shake a bit. After listening to the weeping wolf for about another minute, Arcades asked, “Jason, are you sure you’re -- ” The fox was interrupted by the wolf, who finally said with a shaky voice, “I-I still lusted after you!” Arcades raised an eyebrow for a moment, for he wasn’t quite sure what Jason was referring to. However, the memory immediately came back to the fox, for he remembered that Jason was indeed stimulated when they both were initially taken captive. “Jason, I want you to look at me,” Arcades said as c
almly as he could given the current circumstances. The wolf did not want to face the fox, and Jason only continued to weep. Arcades spoke again, “Please, Jason. I promise you that I’m not mad.” The wolf almost turned to face Arcades, but he hesitated before he could do so. The fox spoke furthermore, “Jason. You’re standing, and I’m kneeling. You can face me. I’m not above you in any sense of the imagination. Please face me.” Jason finally began to slowly turn towards his left until he was facing the fox. Arcades could immediately notice the tears in the wolf’s eyes which he had accumulated while he was not facing the fox. Arcades began to speak, “Jason. I’m not mad. I can promise you that. I need you to stay with me.”
Arcades waited to see if the wolf had anything else to say, but it looked like Jason did not want to say anything else. The fox spoke again, “I know that you’re genuine and that you want to repent of that. What you need to realize is that nobody is going to be able to shut that down overnight. It’s barely been a week since that happened in the first place. Of course, I don’t expect you to be one hundred percent different in that time frame.” Arcades took a pause before continuing, “I mean, there’s one thing to get back up and try harder, and it’s another thing to just give up as soon as something comes up. Sanctification is a process and not a simple switch. I need you to take that into consideration. I’m not telling you that you have a free pass to do whatever you want; I’m telling you that all is not completely lost if you mess up occasionally. The important thing is that you don’t stay in that state of backsliding. Backsliding isn’t great, and it gets harder to get out of once you fall into it. Hmm…. I guess you could think of it like spiritual quicksand so to speak.” Jason only looked downwards in guilt. Arcades could tell that the wolf was feeling guilty, “Jason, the Lord is willing to forgive you as many times as it takes. As long as you don’t abuse that or fall away from the Lord, then you’ll be fine. I’ll do whatever you need me to do to help you get over this.”
Kitchi finished placing his gear in a pile in one corner of the main room. The cat looked over to the door that led to the room Arcades and Jason were both locked in, “Damn, I thought that fucking fox would be screaming right about now.” Spectre looked down at Kitchi, who stood up from his squatting position, “The wolf is definitely going to break. We all saw how excited he got earlier. That bitch was literally oozing with excitement. It’s only a matter of time until something happens.” Kohei stepped forwards, “You don’t suppose that we could speed things up a bit?” Spectre shrugged, “I mean, we don’t have to instigate this. That fox is going to get fucked one way or another. If he doesn’t get fucked now, then it’s just going to happen when we sell him. You know how foxes are, right? He’ll definitely accept it when it gets to that point, and he’ll get used to it pretty quickly.” Koh-Koh then remembered something, “Wait, shit. Did we even feed them?” Spectre chuckled, “Heh, I don’t think so.” Kitchi had an idea, “You know, since they’re both chained up like that, the only way they can eat is if they feed it to one another. That wolf will definitely fuck the shit out of the fox when that happens.” Spectre smiled, “I like that way of thinking. Great idea.” Koh-Koh then spoke, “How about I leave one MRE in there or something? It wouldn’t be long at all until the wolf goes off on him.” Spectre nodded, “Yeah, you can go and do that. You know, we probably should’ve made the fox wear more restraints. That way he wouldn’t have a chance at all to resist the wolf.” Kohei still shrugged, “He can't do much chained up the way he is. What would you even add to him?” Spectre considered several options, “Well for one, we probably should’ve gagged him or something. Then, he wouldn’t even have a chance at pleading with the wolf. Then again, that takes out some of the fun of listening to a fucking fox plead for mercy.” Kitchi chuckled, “Hah! Those pieces of shit don’t deserve any better.” Spectre agreed, “That’s for damn sure. How much would you like to bet that the piece of shit probably would enjoy getting fucked by that wolf?”
The cats in the room all vocalized their collective agreement. “Yeah? It’s what foxes do anyways,” Kohei said in agreement. Spectre then voiced another idea, “He probably would enjoy that anyways. I wish we had one of those cock cages for him. You know what I’m talking about? Then, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy it at all. It would also add insult to injury for that fucking fox. He would feel fucking humiliated! You know that’s what they deserve.” Kitchi smiled, “You come up with some pretty fucking crazy shit, Spectre.” Spectre smiled back, “I’d like for this fox to be as broken and humiliated as possible. I wish we had more foxes we could do this with.” Koh-Koh shrugged, “They’re not too common around these parts.” Spectre shrugged, “Perhaps. How about you get that MRE ready for them. Then all we have to do is just wait for him to get fucked.”
“Come on Bobby, don’t be late now!” Dillon said as he ran forwards. Bocchino was slightly slower than the young fox, but he ran faster to keep up with his friend. The young fox took a right at a sidewalk, and he looked back to see how far the young cat was behind. Bocchino shouted as he tried to speed himself up, “Hey! Slow down, I can’t keep up with you!” After several more meters, Dillon finally began to slow down so that the young cat could catch up to him. Dillion chuckled, “Hah, I left you in the dust.” Bocchino was exhausted by the brief sprint, and the cold winter air made it hard for the young cat to catch his breath. Dillon looked to Bocchino, “Hey Bobby, are you going to ever meet me in the future?” Bocchino knew that the young fox was moving away soon, “I really hope so. We’ve known each other for like 3 years now?” Dillon nodded, “Yup! I’m leaving for Ohio today. My dad is going to pick me up in like an hour.”
Bocchino then remembered what he brought to show the young fox, “Hey, remember how I told you that my dad was in the Army?” Dillon nodded, “Yeah, you told me how he was in that one operation. Whatever it was called.” Bocchino reminded the young fox of the mission, “Operation Urgent Fury. He was in the Army in the 80s and 90s.” The young cat removed a shiny watch from his winter coat, “Check this out. This was the watch that he had when he was in Grenada!” Dillion smiled upon seeing the watch since he saw value in the shininess of the watch, “Cool. Lemme see it!” Bocchino was hesitant at first, “This watch is very important to my dad. Don’t break it!” Dillion looked at the young cat, “What? You still don’t trust me? Is it because I’m a fox?” Bocchino shook his head, “No, no, no. I just don’t want the watch to get broken.” Dillion looked around before saying, “How would it get broken? There’s nobody around here to smash it.” Bocchino looked around as well, and he was indeed alone with the young fox. Bocchino considered letting Dillon have the watch for another moment, “Alright. Here, I’ll let you see it.” Bocchino held out his hand, and he waited for Dillon to grab the watch. However, Dillon snatched the watch out of the young cat’s hand, and he shoved Bocchino to the ground. Bocchino fell to the ground, and he quickly worked to scramble to his feet to retrieve the watch. The young fox pushed Bocchino as he was trying to stand back up, and the young cat fell to the ground once more. Dillon chuckled, “Hah! You actually trusted a fox. Idiot.” Bocchino watched as Dillon quickly turned around to sprint away with his new ill-gotten gains. Bocchino was too slow to pursue the young fox, so he resorted to yelling at him, “Fuck you Dillon! You fucking piece of shit! You fucking foxes really are all just thieves!” Dillon continued to run away, and the young fox did not respond to the cat. Bocchino continued to yell, “I’d kill every last one of you shits!”
The environment soon began to fade into black. Bocchino now found that he was no longer a young cat. The adult cat got to his feet, and he looked around in the black void. The cat then looked down at what he was wearing, and he was now wearing a ranger green tactical combat uniform without any accompanying equipment. Bocchino began to walk forwards, but he seemed to forget about what had just happened mere moments ago. Bocchino realized that the preceding event had actually occurred in reality many years ago, but he disregarded the matter. The cat continu
ed forwards, and he could faintly see something in the distance. Bocchino continued to move forwards, and the image that he was focusing on was becoming closer. Now with a clear view of the image, Bocchino could see Arcades standing on a single platform. The platform was raised several feet off the ground, and Bocchino noticed that Arcades was wearing a noose around his neck. The noose continued upwards, but the cat could not see anything that it was attached to. There were small steps that led up to the platform, and there was also a trapdoor that Arcades was standing on. Surrounding the platform were many ISG and CDI operatives wearing their respective equipment and carrying their respective weaponry. Each operative appeared to be a human wearing a balaclava and a combat helmet. All of the humans were yelling at the fox with one of Bocchino’s quotes, “I’d kill every last one of you shits!” Bocchino realized that all of the humans were speaking with his voice. The cat took a closer look at Arcades. The fox was wearing his UF PRO Striker XT Multicam combat uniform. Though Arcades was not restrained at all, he did not seem to be resisting his impending execution.
Bocchino felt his right pocket, and he felt something inside of it. The cat reached inside his pocket, and he removed a Vektor SP1 handgun. The cat inspected the handgun, but he did not bother to check and see if the weapon was loaded. Bocchino aimed his weapon at one of the CDI members surrounding the platform, and he took a shot. Nothing appeared to exit the handgun, but the weapon cycled as if it was firing. Not even an empty casing was ejected from the SP1. All of the CDI and ISG operatives immediately turned around, and they all raised their weapons at the cat. Suddenly, the platform appeared to suddenly scoot backwards away from where it was currently positioned, and several of the masked operatives scooted backwards with the platform without even moving their bodies.
