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Moving On Finally letting go of the past I can't believe this is it... the finale. As a special treat, this chapter will include the viewpoints of others besides Ryan and Kathy. ============================================================================== Ryan's Side 10:30 p.m. -Eric's House- "Take care of yourself..." Ryan whispered as he closed the door. Ryan sighed as he walked down the stairs. As he entered the living room he saw everyone sitting down. He noticed how depressing the atmosphere was; his first indication was Olivia frowning. "Ryan" Olivia started. "Are you alright?" "I'm fine" Ryan immediately replied. Olivia looked like she wanted to say something more, but Jade placed his paw on her shoulder and slowly shook his head. Olivia laid back into the couch. "Let's get started..." Ryan said as he took a seat. Eric stood up. "Right. Now before we rush into anything tomorrow we need some Intel." Eric looked to Doug. The others' gaze moved to him as well. "What exactly can you tell us?" Doug stood. "Most of Steven's men are spread out throughout Denver; leaving his headquarters practically defenseless." Eric furrowed his brow. "That seems rather careless of him. I don't need to know exactly what he plans to do, but only a fool would purposely leave his headquarters defenseless." "It's not completely defenseless" Doug replied. "He may not have many men guarding him, but they are his best. They're responsible for... getting rid of problems. "I have a question" Regina raised her hand. "How large is this ‘headquarters' of his?" "Good question" Eric nodded. He turned on a laptop connected to a small projector. "Where's it located exactly?" Doug came up to the laptop and typed away. Soon an aerial view of a large building came onto the screen. "Is that Google Earth?" Ryan asked raising an eyebrow. "Nope" Doug said smirking. "This is a live feed from one the U.S. military's surveillance satellites." "What!?" Jade shouted. "Are you nuts!? What if they trace it back here!?" "Don't worry... I've done this many times." Doug chuckled. "Besides, if anyone catches this signal it'll be traced back to China." Doug chuckled again. "I mean with all the attempted hackings into the Pentagon traced back to China, why would they doubt it?" Eric glared at Doug. "I don't like the fact you've been doing this numerous times. What else exactly have you done for Steven?" "Nothing..." Eric grabbed Doug by the collar. "You're lying." Eric starred at Doug. "Tell me what it is now! I'm not going to allow this to go through if you're withholding information!" Eric glared back at Eric. After a few seconds the stare-down ended with Doug sighing. "Explosives..." All of their eyes went wide. "I was good at putting things together, you know. At first it was just making surveillance equipment, tracking devices, monitoring equipment, because Steven doesn't trust anyone. Over time, though, Steven became more ambitious and came up with more... extensive uses for my talents. I soon found myself building a variety of explosives." "Has he used any of them?" Eric asked. "No; he's stockpiling them... that is, the ones he hasn't sold." Doug chuckled slightly. "You piece of shit!" Eric shouted as he slammed Doug against the wall. "First you've been hacking into U.S. surveillance, and now this!? Did you even feel any remorse building them!? Huh!?" Doug remained silent. "You may have good intentions now, but that doesn't excuse all of the things you've done." Eric released Doug. "Get out of here; Steven might suspect something if you're gone too long." "But Eric!" Jade stood up. "But nothing, Jade! We have a layout of the area, and a general idea of what to expect. I don't want someone I don't know, and certainly don't trust to hear about our strategy." "Fine, I'll leave." Doug glared at Eric as he got up and walked to the front door. "You better be ready tomorrow." Doug said as he closed the door behind him. Eric turned around and was met with all of their eyes staring at him. "Is there a problem!?" Eric asked, irritated. "That was careless of you, Eric." Ryan said. "If you really don't trust him, why let him leave? What's stopping him from telling Steven about us?" "That's why I made sure he left before I went over our plan. Steven won't know what to expect." "But he knows where you live" Derek said. "Steven could just send his men and ambush us here." "Would you guys shut up!" Jade shouted. "There was nothing wrong in letting Doug stay. Eric's just pissed because of something Doug did that has nothing to do with us saving Trace!" Jade looked at Eric. "What makes you think Doug would betray us, huh!?" "I don't, Jade... But it's better to be wrong about someone you don't trust, rather than be betrayed by someone you do." Jade's breathed out his nose as he sat down. Eric sighed. "Now let's begin." Eric turned around to look at screen. "What do any of you notice about this area?" "It's unusually dark" Regina said. "All the buildings are completely dark and there's no traffic lights, no cars..." "Exactly" Eric said. "The area is, no doubt, abandoned." Eric walked to the computer and zoomed out. "It appears everything in a two mile radius is abandoned... all except one thing." Eric zoomed in on the only area which was emanating light. "Looks like a factory" Ryan said. "It's the perfect place to make, sell, and store whatever it is their making." "How are they getting power though?" Olivia asked. "Wouldn't electricity be cut off from the entire area?" "I'm sure Doug has something to do with that..." Eric said glaring at the screen. "Regardless, there's a wide area around the factory; we'll be spotted if we get too close. We'll have a better chance when it's nighttime." Eric approached the screen. "This is the plan. Derek will take position in this building. It's about 300 yards from the front entrance of the factory." Eric looked to Derek. "You'll take out anyone patrolling the area. Got it?" Derek nodded his head. "I got it..." "When it's clear, Derek will give us the signal to move up. We'll park here; 50 yards from the front entrance." Eric turned around. "Ryan, Jade, and Olivia will enter and make their way through the factory. Take out any resistance you encounter. Your priority is to take out Steven and his men before any Furs arrive. The three of you got it?" The three nodded their heads. "I will be guiding you guys over the headsets. Regina will be on standby in case anything goes wrong." "Is it possible to get an interior layout of the building?" Ryan asked. Eric went to the computer and typed. After a minute the printer printed out six documents. Eric handed one to each of them and kept one for himself. "Study it if you want to, but I'll be guiding you tomorrow." Eric turned off the projector. "You should all stay at Ryan's house tonight; I need to get everything ready. Come by tomorrow at 5:00 p.m." The five of them slowly stood up. Ryan stood still as the others walked towards the door. "Hey Jade" Jade turned around in time to catch a key. "I'll be over in a little while." "No problem" Jade said as he walked outside. Ryan turned to Eric. "What do you think?" "Think of what?" Eric asked with his back to Ryan. "Is this going to work?" "Of course it's going to work!" Eric turned around. "If we all follow the plan, we'll get Steven." Ryan slowly shook his head. "But at what cost, Eric? I'm sure you can agree with me that Steven is more resourceful than we thought. Who knows what he has in store." "Don't worry, Ryan. You and the others have been receiving military-standard training and each of you knows how to use what you got. All Steven has are men who probably have only participated in turf wars, if anything at all. We'll be fine." A weak smile formed on Eric's face. Ryan let out a small chuckle and held out his right hand. "Let's do our best tomorrow then." The weak smile on Eric's face grew as he offered his right hand and shook Ryan's hand. "Your grip's getting stronger" Eric said. "Or maybe yours is getting weaker" Ryan chuckled in response. Eric raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" Eric smirked. Eric's grip tightened instantly. Ryan's eyes widened. "Alright alright, I was wrong!" Eric released Ryan's hand. "Just like when I first met you" Ryan said as he shook the pain out of his hand. Eric laughed as Ryan walked towards the door. He stopped when he noticed Ryan staring up the stairs. "I'm sorry about what happened between you two. Is there anything you want me to do for her?" Ryan sighed. "She's free to do whatever she feels like. If she wants to leave, let her. I'm sure when she wakes up she'll want to be as far away from me as possible." Ryan turns towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow." Ryan shut the door behind him. When Ryan entered his house he saw the others scattered in the living room. "Hey Ryan!" Olivia said standing up. Since we don't have to be at Eric's until five in the afternoon; we're going to ease the stress by watching some movies. Want to join?" "Sure" Ryan said as he placed his copy of the building blueprints on the end table. Ryan took a seat at the end of the couch next to Jade. "So what did you guys choose?" "Well, we decided to make it a Disney night" Jade said. "We all picked our favorite animated Disney films. Regina chose Chicken Little, Olivia picked The Lion King, and Derek chose Brother Bear." As Jade kept on talking a big grin formed on his muzzle. In a flash Olivia threw a couch pillow into Jade's face. "And you chose Pinocchio you liar!" Olivia shouted playfully. "I chose Beauty and The Beast. The puppet chose The Great Mouse Detective." Jade rolled his eyes. "Regina chose Cinderella, and Derek chose Aladdin. All that's left is your decision." Ryan thought for a second. "The Fox and The Hound." "Alright!" Olivia said smiling. "I hope you're stocked up on snacks, Ryan, because we're going watch every single one!" Ryan's eyes went wide. "I'm going to make some popcorn!" Olivia said as she walked off to the kitchen. "How can we get out of this?" Jade asked when Olivia was out of earshot. "You all know Olivia won't let any of us fall asleep." "The only way is if Olivia herself falls asleep..." All at once each of them gave out a sigh of disappointment. "We're screwed then." Jade said. "Olivia can stay up for days when she wants to." "How long will five movies be?" Regina asked. "Could be anywhere from seven to eight hours..." Ryan said. All at once they looked at clock. (It's past 11!?) All of them let out a soft groan. "So who's ready to start?" Olivia asked walking in with a large bowl of popcorn and some drinks. Ryan reluctantly got up and put the first movie, Cinderella, in. He turned off the lights and sat back next to Jade. Olivia sat in the middle with the popcorn, allowing all of them to reach. None of them felt tired through Cinderella and The Fox and The Hound, but midway through The Great Mouse Detective, they started to become a little drowsy. Olivia noticed this and decided energize them. She put on the worst British accent possible; it made the others laugh, and soon each of them was joining in. For the rest of the movie they talked to each other in British. Ryan and Olivia were especially into it. Regina was a little embarrassed about it, and Jade and Derek thought it was ridiculous, but joined in nonetheless. They were disappointed when the movie was over. Beauty and The Beast was next. They thought they were going to get sleepy again, but again Olivia did something funnier than pretending to be British; pretending to French. They didn't need to entertain themselves during Aladdin; Genie did that for them. When the movie was finally over they noticed the sky had brightened. They were all relieved yet disappointed that it was over. "I think it's time for bed" Ryan said walking over to a closet. Inside were pillows and blankets. (Glad I always have these in handy.) Ryan tossed each of them a pillow and blanket. "We haven't done this in weeks" Jade said catching his pillow. "Remember the first time?" "Of course!" Olivia smiled. "We were celebrating the first successful community gathering of the HFA. We stayed up for so long Ryan let us stay for the night." "It's unfortunate we couldn't do this every week." Regina said laying her stuff on the ground. "Yeah..." Jade sighed lying down. "Maybe we should think about it after tonight." The five of them smiled as much as their tired selves could. "That could be fun..." Derek said as he closed his eyes. "Yeah..." Ryan said silently as he dosed off with the rest of them. * * * "Ryan" a voice said. Ryan slowly opened his eyes. "Time to get up, huh?" Ryan said as he got up. He looked around and saw bright light entering through the windows, it wasn't the sun however. Everything outside was bright white. Ryan eyes widened with his confusion. He looked around and saw none of his friends lying on the floor, not even the pillows and blankets. "Where is everyone?" "Turn around, Ryan." Ryan's eyes widened when he heard the voice. "That voice..." Ryan said as he slowly turned around. "I can't be..." Ryan said with tears forming in his eyes. Sitting on the couch behind him was Nicky and Sean. "It's been a while" Sean said as he and Nicky stood up. Ryan slowly approached them. He slowly moved his hands to Sean and Nicky's shoulders. When he felt Sean's fur and Nicky's shirt Ryan smiled and brought the three of them together. "It really is you." Tears rolled down Ryan's face. Nicky and Sean hugged Ryan the same way they did so many years ago. Ryan finally let go of the two of them. He wiped his face off with his arm. "How is this possible? Am I dreaming?" "In a manner of speaking, yes." Nicky said. "You could say you're in the area between life and death." "What!?" Ryan exclaimed. "Am I dead!? Am I dying!? Do I get another chance like Scrooge?" Nicky and Sean both laughed at Ryan's ridiculousness. "Why are you two laughing?" "You're fine, Ryan." Sean said. It is Nicky and I who inhabit this area. We have just pulled you from your dream here. "Do I get another chance?" Sean said mimicking Ryan. He and Nicky laughed. Ryan was little embarrassed. "Alright, alright; I'm sure you didn't pull me here just to say ‘hi' otherwise you would have done it sooner." Nicky and Sean's laughter grew quiet. "If we could, we would have done it so long ago." Nicky said with a bit of sorrow in her voice. It's rare for someone to have people bound to their soul like you do." "Bound to my soul?" Ryan asked with confusion. "You made a promise to both of us. Whether you remember it or not does not matter; what matters is that until you fulfill that promise Sean and I will remain with you until you die." "That's kind of depressing." Ryan said. "It's not all bad" Sean said. "It's allowed us to watch you all these years. Neither Nicky nor I would mind to stay with you until you die." "But why didn't either of you do this before?" Ryan looked to Sean. "I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to you." "It's not something we can do freely" Sean said. "He's right" Nicky said. Certain conditions have to be met in order for us to do this. The most important part is that you have to come in contact with someone who also has someone bound to his/her soul." Ryan's eyes widened. "Kathy does, doesn't she?" Nicky nodded. "She mentioned her two brothers were killed. Are they the ones?" Nicky nodded her head again. "The next condition is that you have to be having an internal conflict with yourself concerning the other person who has someone bound to their soul; in this case, Kathy." Ryan looked away. "Ever since what happened last night you've been deeply conflicted." Sean said. "We've been waiting for you to fall asleep, which is the final condition, but you just had to stay up for a movie marathon..." Sean chuckled. "Seriously!" Nicky said grinning. We probably could have visited you the night you met Kathy if you had just fallen asleep." Ryan thought back to that night. "I heard you that night!" "Yes. You were so close to falling asleep that I was able to communicate with you." "Can Sean do that as well?" Nicky and Sean frowned at each other. "Unfortunately, no. I myself didn't even realize I could do it until you answered me. Kathy's brothers, Chris and David, seem to be knowledgeable about some things just as Sean and I are, but there's still many things none of us seem to understand. If I were to take a guess, I would say that we each possess a unique characteristic that allows us do something unique, such as me talking to you without you being asleep. But again I'm only speculating. "Amazing." Ryan said. "That all really sounds cool, but wasn't there a reason you brought me here?" "That's right" Sean said. "So you know now that we've been watching everything you've done since we died." Ryan turned his head away. "Everything? Including what we have planned tonight?" "That's right." "So what? Did you bring me here to talk me out of it? Tell me that I shouldn't risk my life like I'm about to do?" "Not at all" Nicky said. Ryan was taken aback by her answer. "We both told you to follow your heart. If you truly want to do this; we won't stop you." "Then... then why did you bring me here?" "We want to talk about Kathy." Ryan closed his eyes and sighed at her answer. "What's there to talk about? If I hadn't said those things to her she would be putting herself at risk." Ryan sighed again. "I just didn't want think about losing someone close to me again..." Nicky placed her hand on Ryan's shoulder. "Ryan, Sean and I both understand what you're talking about, but did you consider Kathy's feelings?" Ryan closed his eyes again and slowly shook his head. "We've learned a lot about Kathy from her brothers. Kathy's actually been through a lot more than you have. When Kathy lost her brothers she became homeless, she had no friends, and she lived in an area that was dangerous for Furs. "You don't know how distressed Chris and David were watching her live like that for so many years." Nicky smiled. "You were the first person to show her any compassion in years. She immediately felt something for you; she wanted to be with you." "And if hitching a ride on top of a bus while she was wet and cold isn't enough proof, I don't know what is." Sean said smiling. "Your words really affected her last night. We found out from Chris that the only reason she kept on going was to find someone like you. I'm afraid I don't know what she'll do now." Ryan's face filled with sorrow as he sighed. "I need to tell her sorry. She might not forgive me for it, but I just have to tell her." The sound of thunder appeared as the three of them looked at the ceiling to find the room filled with dark clouds." "Looks like we're almost out of time..." Sean said. "What is this?" Ryan asked. "You'll awake soon" Nicky said staring at the clouds. "We can't be sure how much time has gone by in the real world, but you have to talk to Kathy as soon as possible." Rain started pouring down. Nicky and Sean looked at each other and got closer to Ryan. The three resumed the same embrace as before. "Thank you" was all Ryan could say before everything around him went black. * * * Ryan's eyes flew open as he felt something wet dripping onto his face. He looked up and saw Jade soaking wet. "Why are you wet, Jade?" "Took a shower. Regina's in right now, it's yours when she's done." Ryan got up and headed towards the door. "Where are you going?" "I need to talk to Kathy." "She's gone, Ryan." Ryan stared blankly at Jade. "Eric called an hour ago. I asked him how Kathy was doing. He told me she had left a couple of hours ago." Ryan sighed. "What time is it?" "It's quarter after four." "I see..." "Are you alright?" "I'm fine. I'll go get ready." As Ryan walked upstairs he heard the water stop running. (I guess Regina's done.) Within minutes Regina emerged from the bathroom wearing the same clothes from yesterday and a towel around her head. After a ten minute shower Ryan walked into his room with a towel around his waist and closed the door. When Ryan felt water dripping from his hair onto his face he took the towel and started wiping his face and hair. He started to blindly walk around his room until he tripped on something. "What the hell!?" Ryan gasped as he fell onto his mattress. He looked at what he tripped on. (The baseball bat? I had completely forgotten Kathy brought that back for me.) Ryan thought back to when he used the bat on the three men who attacked Kathy. (I didn't even want to keep this bat after that night, but Kathy used it as an excuse to follow me.) A brief smile appeared on Ryan's face. (But then I screwed up.) Ryan sighed as he picked up the bat. A knocking sounded from his door. "Be ready in fifteen minutes, Ryan." "Alright Jade" Ryan answered back as he slapped the bat in his hand. (In some way, you're the one who brought me and Kathy together...) Ryan continued to stare at the bat. A smirk then appeared on his face. * * *

Eric's House (Basement) -15 minutes later- "You want to bring that bat with you!?" Eric asked dumbfounded. Ryan gave a simple nod. "Why?" "I consider it good luck." "I don't deal with luck, Ryan" Eric said with a serious tone. "Oh let him bring it!" Olivia said. "He told us the story on the way here. It's-" "I don't care why he believes it's good luck, Olivia; it serves no purpose in anything other than a hitting a baseball!" "But..." "No buts, Ryan! You are not bringing that along and that's final! Now set it on the table." Ryan reluctantly placed the wooden bat on the display table. His face filled with disappointment and slight anger. He then took his position next the others awaiting Eric. "Now then" Eric said. "I don't expect all of you to raid the place wearing the same clothes you wore yesterday..." Eric looked over Jade, Olivia, Regina, and Derek; each of them expressed some degree of embarrassment. "That's why I had these made for each of you." Eric opened the weapons locker and tossed each of them a backpack. Each of them unzipped their backpack and pulled the contents out. Their eyes widened in surprise as each pulled out a set of black clothing. "Inside is a long-sleeved undershirt, a pair of pants which can hold ammo magazines, and a vest which is padded to provide bullet protection from the front and back. I had each individual customized for each of you." Eric looked at Ryan. "Ryan, your undershirt is short-sleeved for easier movement of the arms." Eric looked at Jade. "Jade, your vest is slightly heavier to provide extra bullet protection." "You expect me to take all of the bullets?" Jade asked raising an eyebrow. "No, but taking into consideration how Steven feels about Furs; he's more likely to go for you before Ryan." Jade sighed. "What about me?" Olivia asked with annoyance. "I'm going in too, aren't I? Am I not important?" "Of course you would get upset at the idea of not getting shot at..." Jade said rolling his eyes. "I just don't see why with two Furs going in that they would rather shoot you!" "Shut up, both of you!" Eric shouted. Jade and Olivia immediately shut their mouths. "Olivia, you have a sleeveless shirt, shorts, and a vest which provides no bullet protection." "Trying to get me killed?" Olivia asked sarcastically. "No; the reduced weight will allow you to run faster and longer. Your vest is special in that on the inside it can conceal all of your knives. I picture you outrunning and surprising your enemies." Olivia nodded her head understandingly. Eric then looked to Regina. "Regina, your pants have larger pockets for your supplies." Eric lastly looked at Derek. "And finally, Derek, your clothes are padded for comfort and warmth seeing how you'll be outside the majority of the time." "You sure prepared all of this really fast" Derek said. "You even got them in our size." Eric was silent for a moment. "...I'm very resourceful, and that's all I'm going to say." Derek gave a quick nod. Ryan laughed in his head. (Eric, I bet you had all of this made when you first met them.) "Quit smirking, Ryan" Eric said, snapping Ryan out of his thinking. "Now go and suit up." The five of them took their bags; the guys went in one room, the girls went in the other. Five minutes later they stood before Eric again. They found that their weapons had been laid out on the table while they had been changing. "Your pants can only carry three magazine clips at a time. So I've loaded this backpack with extra ammunition for all of your pistols and Jade's automatic." Eric tossed Jade the bag to Jade. "Jade will be carrying this in case he, Ryan, or Olivia need extra ammunition." Eric tossed another bag to Derek. "This bag contains your rifle ammo, a pair of night vision goggles, a silencer, and a flare gun." "A flare gun?" Derek asked. "I've spoken to a friend of mine in the Denver Police Department. I instructed him to send the police and paramedics to the sight thirty minutes after the flare appears." "What for?" Jade asked. "To clean everything up and treat the potential wounded. When we're done I'll give Derek the order to shoot the flare. We'll leave and no one will ever suspect that it was us. Questions?" The five remained silent. Eric checked the time on his watch. "It's almost time leave. Everyone, get in my truck. Ryan was the first to head upstairs followed by Eric, Regina, Derek, and Olivia. When they reached the top of the stairs Eric noticed Jade wasn't following. "Jade!" Eric shouted. "Coming!" Jade said as he appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He quickly ran past Eric as he and the others got into Eric's truck. "Put these on" Eric said handing each of them a small headset. "Use these to communicate with each other. The device in the back will allow me to hear all of you, even if you all talk at the same time." When the five of them put on the headset Eric started the truck and drove off. ============================================================================== Derek's Side A little over an hour later they arrived at their destination. "Alright, Derek" Eric said. "Take that building over there." Eric pointed to a nearby office building. "Make sure you use the silencer." "Yes sir" Derek got out of the truck and ran towards the building. When he reached the entrance he found the door was locked. "I don't think anyone's going to mind if I do THIS" Derek finished by knocking the door down. He took the stairs to the roof. Up top he placed the silencer on his rifle and took a good position over the edge of the building. "Alright Eric, I'm set up." "Good" Eric said through his headset. "How many do you see?" Derek turned his night vision goggles on as he looked through the scope. "Appears to be four on the roof and five on the ground." "Alright. Take care of the ones on the roof first. Pick them off when they aren't paying attention." "Got it." Derek watched the four men on the roof; each appeared to be watching each side of the building. Derek aimed for the one who was the furthest away from the other three. The crosshairs lined up on the man's head. Derek took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. A burst of wind sounded as the bullet traveled through the silenced rifle. When Derek exhaled he saw the man lying on the ground. "One down..." Derek sighed. He watched the other three. One was heading in the direction of the body. (Great... Time for a moving target.) Derek carefully kept the crosshairs on the man's head. Derek knew he had to act fast otherwise the man would discover the body. He took a deep breath again a pulled the trigger. He looked through the scope to see the man dead. "Another down..." "You're doing great Derek." Derek looked through the scope to watch the two remaining men. They were walking back and forth side-by-side in opposite directions. (Shit...) "Eric, there's a problem." "What is it?" "The last two guys are practically next to each other. If I shoot one the other will hear the body falling to the ground. Should I try to shoot them both at the same time when they cross paths?" "This isn't a video game, Derek; you'll have to be fast. As soon as they face away from each other kill one, then immediately kill the other." "Yes sir..." Derek looked through his scope again. He watched the two men walking towards each other. He kept the cross hairs on one of them. They were about to pass each other. (Alright, deep breath.) Derek inhaled deeply as the two men passed each other. He fired off one bullet then, while still holding his breath, aimed at the other man who was turning around. Derek pulled the trigger as he gasped out all of his breath. He quickly looked back to see if he got him. "All targets on the roof are down." "Nice work, Derek. The ones on the ground should be more spaced out. Take your time." One-by-one Derek took out the men patrolling near the entrance and the area around it. As soon as he took out the last guy he sighed in relief and set his rifle down. "All targets are down." "Excellent work, Derek. Continue to be on the lookout incase anymore appear." "Will do." Derek sighed. (That was intense...) ============================================================================== Jade's Side Eric and the others got out of his truck after they pulled up closer to the building. "What's that?" Jade asked pointing to a small building ten yards from the truck. "Looks like the factory had its own refueling station" Ryan said as he got out of the truck. "Alright, now it's time for the three of you to head in. I'll be inside the truck giving you directions. Use caution as you proceed." Ryan, Jade, and Olivia nodded their head. "Alright, let's get started." The three of them made their way to the entrance. Ryan slowly opened the door and peeked his head through seeing what appeared to be the main hall. "Looks clear." Ryan entered followed by Jade and Kathy. "It's all clear Eric" Jade said. "Alright proceed down the hallway straight ahead." "Got it." Jade said. He then pressed the mute button on his mike. "Ryan, Olivia, put your mikes on mute." Without asking why they did exactly that. "Something wrong, Jade?" Ryan asked. "No, I just didn't want Eric to hear about this." Jade set his backpack down. He unzipped it and poking out of it was a wooden handle. Ryan's eyes went wide with amazement. "I knew how much this meant to you so when you guys went upstairs I quickly stashed it." Jade tossed the bat to Ryan. "I don't know what to say. Thanks." "Aw!" Olivia said hugging Jade. You really do have a heart!" "You're pushing it, Olivia!" Jade growled. "And he's back to normal now..." Olivia rolled her eyes. Jade pulled out a second backpack out of his and tossed it to Ryan. "You need a proper way to carry it." Ryan smirked as he inserted the bat into the backpack. "I can't believe there was room in your backpack with all of those magazines in there." Olivia said. Jade's ears flattened. "Yeah... that's kind of why I didn't want Eric to hear this... I dumped out some of the magazines, mostly mine." Ryan and Olivia's eyes went wide. "Yep! Eric would most definitely kill you for that!" Olivia smirked. "Yeah, yeah." Jade said. "Now let's get moving before Eric gets suspicious." Jade quickly strapped on his backpack along with Ryan. The three quickly resumed navigating through the building. They slowly checked every room, but after ten minutes found nothing. "This is weird" Ryan said. "You would think that we would have encountered someone by now. Yet so far there hasn't been any resistance." "What do you think, Eric" Jade asked. "I don't like it. According to the map the next room you'll enter is the staff room. Other than the factory floor it's the largest room in the facility." "Maybe they're having a party." Olivia said as they reached the door. Jade rolled his eyes. "She might not be too far off..." Ryan said with his ear to the door. "I hear music." The three of them got their weapons ready. Jade was in front of the door followed by Ryan and Olivia. Jade looked back at the two of them to see if they were ready. Both nodded and Jade kicked open the door and rushed in. "What the hell is this!?" Jade said looking around. "Eric we found the men, but..." Jade looked at all of the men on the ground and slumped over the tables. "It doesn't look like they're going to put up a fight." "Are they dead?" Olivia asked. Ryan placed his fingers on one of the men's neck who was slumped over the table. He then kicked the chair making the person fall to the ground. "Nope, they're out cold." "And you can thank me for that." The three of them turned around to see Doug. "What are you talking about?" Ryan asked. "I got tired of waiting so I drugged all of their drinks. It's about time you guys arrived." "Are you telling me you knocked out every guard in this building?" "Only the ones I could convince to come take a break. There are still some guards left who-" The doors opened and two men walked in. "What the hell!?" one of the men yelled as they both reached for their weapon. Jade quickly turned around and unloaded a few rounds into them. Jade gasped at his first kill. "Like I said..." Doug continued. There are still a few guards left. Most of them are on the roof." "You here that, Eric?" Ryan asked. "Yes. Derek has picked off two more men on the roof since you entered. The last one was six minutes ago." "Do you know where the Furs will be meeting?" Jade asked Doug. "The factory floor. The entrance is electronically locked." "Will Steven be there?" Ryan asked. "He should be. He hasn't allowed me to enter at all." "Take us!" Jade said. "Alright, but I'm going to need something to defend myself in case we run into anymore stragglers." Jade looked at Ryan and Olivia. (I guess...) Jade took out his pistol and a single magazine. "Take this." Doug took the gun and put the magazine in his pocket. "Eric, Doug will be joining us now." There was a pause. "...Alright, proceed to where Steven is." The three followed Doug. He brought them to a pair of large metal doors with a keypad next to them. "This is where all of the Furs will be meeting, and where Steven is most likely to be." The three of them got ready as the keypad turned green and the door unlocked. They all charged in expecting to find Steven and a few of his men, but instead they found something they never expected. "Eric..." Ryan said slowly. "We have a big problem..." Ryan, Jade, and Olivia looked around seeing the entire room filled with Furs strapped down to chairs. Many appeared unconscious, and all those awake were struggling with their mouths gagged and eyes blindfolded. The biggest thing, however, was that strapped to each of them was what appeared to be a small plastic explosive. "This is horrible!" Olivia said. "Horrible? I would say it is fantastic." All of them turned at the voice approaching them. "The world is about to be rid of a few more Furs, but it's not enough; it's never enough!" He started laughing. "But where are my manners? I am Steven if you hadn't already figured that out yet." Name: Steven Species: Human Age: 27 They all pointed their guns at him. "So you're Steven, huh? You've saved us the trouble of finding you." Jade said. "Ah yes, and you must be Jade." Jade's eyes widened. "Oh don't be surprised; I've been watching you and you, Olivia." Olivia's eyes widened as well. "I've been watching Regina, and Derek, and most especially you, Ryan." Ryan's grip tightened on his gun. "What's your point?" Jade asked. "My point?" Steven mockingly pretended he was pondering that question. "Ah!" Steven approached the Furs. "My point is that I have your brother!" Steven tore the blindfold and tape off of the Fur. "Jade!" Trace yelled gasping for air. Steven walked back into the center. "You bastard!" Jade shouted aiming his weapon at Steven. "I'm going to kill you!" Jade's finger slowly tightened on the trigger. *bang* (What...) Jade stared wide eyed. There was suddenly a sharp hot pain coming from the left side of his body. Jade slowly looked down to see blood dripping to the floor. He then looked to his left. There he saw a pistol pressed right up against his waist. He gaze went up to the face of the shooter. (Doug... You...Bastard) Jade dropped his weapon and fell backwards." "Jade!" Ryan, Olivia, and Trace shouted together. "We have a man down, Eric!" Olivia shouted into her mike. "I repeat, we have a man-" Suddenly she heard static from her mike. She and Ryan looked up seeing Steven with some type of device in his hand. "Well isn't that a shame?" Steven said sarcastically into the device. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut your communication. Have a good day." Steven laughed. He then focused his attention on Ryan and Olivia. "What do you say we have a little fun," Steven looked at Doug. "Little brother." He looked back at Ryan and Olivia with wicked grin on his face. ============================================================================== Regina's Side "Derek, can you still hear me?" Eric asked frantically. "I can." "Good. I need you to regroup with us now." Eric took off his headset and tossed it aside. He turned to Regina. "Regina, you and I are going in. Get yourself prepared now." "What about us?" Kathy asked. "Let me come with you! What if Ryan-" "No!" Eric shouted. "The three of you are going to stay here. Derek will be here shortly to keep an eye on you." "Why?" Lauren asked. "We could just leave the same way we came." "You might not have a problem doing that, but I don't think these two will be willing to leave." Eric looked at Kathy and Ken. "What are you talking?" Ken asked. "I don't even know exactly what's going on." "Ryan might have been shot" Kathy said. "What!?" Ken's ears perked up. "There's no way I'm leaving!" "Like I said..." Eric said with irritation. "Derek's going to make sure none of you enter that building." Eric looked up and saw Derek getting closer. "I'm here" Derek said. He raised an eyebrow seeing Kathy, Ken, and Lauren. "Don't allow any of them to enter the factory." Derek nodded. Eric turned to Regina. "They're at the factory floor. Let's go!" Eric and Regina dashed off. Eric and Regina raced through the factory. Eric was leading the way using the same route he directed Ryan, Jade, and Olivia to use. Room by room they hurried to the last known position of the others. Eric stopped when he noticed the large metal doors. "This is it." "Good thing the doors didn't shut, huh?" Regina said. Otherwise we might not have been able to get in." "That's the point..." "Huh?" "Doug could have easily shut the door after they entered, but instead left it open." "Maybe he wasn't thinking about it." "Or maybe it's a trap..." Eric readied his pistol as he slowly walked through the doorway. Regina slowly followed. (Oh my god...) Regina was shocked at the sight of Jade lying on the ground covered in blood. She didn't see any trace of Ryan or Olivia. She quickly ran over to Jade while Eric kept watch. "Jade, can you hear me?" Regina got on her knees. Jade moaned. "Look out!" Trace shouted. Eric and Regina turned towards the voice. They saw Doug standing behind one of the Furs. He had his pistol aimed towards Eric. "Where are Ryan and Olivia!?" Eric shouted as he aimed his gun at Doug. Regina followed. "I don't know where exactly; Steven took them away." Doug grinned. "But it's a shame what happened to Jade. His brother here had to watch it all happen." Trace struggled in his seat. "I swear, Doug, once I'm loose I'm going to kill you!" "You are in no position to be making threats!" Doug slammed the top of Trace's head with the pistol. Trace went into a daze as blood stained the fur on his head." Doug walked away from Trace and the other Furs into the open. He saw Eric and Regina ready to fire. "I wouldn't shoot if I were you." "Really, why's that?" Regina asked sarcastically. Doug reached into his pocket and pulled out a switch. "I'm sure you've noticed what's strapped to everyone in this room, right? This switch will detonate every bomb in this room." "You'd blow this place up!?" Regina said lowering her gun. "Don't be stupid!" Doug chuckled. "I designed those bombs. The blast radius is only three feet, but I'm sure neither of you want to have the deaths of all of these Furs on your conscience." "Why are you and Steven doing all of this?" Regina asked frantically. Doug huffed. "If you're talking about Steven wanting all of the Furs dead, that was his idea. Personally I'm against it; there's so much profit in using Furs, but Steven doesn't care about the money." "So you want to keep the Furs alive just use them, huh?" Eric said. "So why would you kill the Furs here?" "I'd rather not, but there will always be new Furs to recruit. I'm just using the ones here as insurance. Once Steven is dead, I'll take over and run it how I want." "...Then why... why didn't you let... Jade kill him?" Trace said stuttering." "That's why you shot Jade!?" Regina gasped. "You want Steven dead, yet you protected him?" "Sounds like you can't make up your mind" Eric added. "I'm not protecting him; I'm just killing two birds with one stone. If I had allowed Jade to kill Steven I wouldn't have been able to deal with all six of you." Doug smirked. "That's why I'm letting Steven's men take care of the others. Once all of you are dead I'll kill Steven. But enough talk; it's time for you two to die!" "Regina! Move!" Eric shouted as Doug aimed the pistol at them. The two quickly took cover behind the old machinery. Doug kept firing at the both of them. "You can't hide forever" Doug taunted them. "Jade will bleed to death if you don't hurry." "What are we going to do?" Regina asked. "Just wait a few seconds... three... four..." Eric counted for every bullet Doug fired. "seven!" Eric jumped out with his gun aimed at Doug while Regina stayed hidden. "You're empty now." Eric said with a smirk. "That pistol holds eight rounds; you've fired seven shots at us and one when you shot Jade. Now put down the switch!" Doug started laughing. "I know about guns, you idiot. I have another magazine Jade gave me." "I can unload my entire clip into you before you even grab. Now drop the switch!" "I don't think so..." Doug stopped laughing and glared at Eric. *Bang* Eric's eyes went wide as he felt the muscles in his left shoulder being torn apart. The sudden pain caused him to drop his gun as he spun to his left. The gun skidded towards Jade as Doug quickly reloaded the gun. Eric was kneeling on the ground clutching his left shoulder. "Guess my aim's off... I was aiming at your heart" Doug started laughing again." (Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!) Regina was frantic. (What am I going to do?) She heard footsteps approaching. "I knew about the clip size. That's why I took a bullet from the spare magazine and put it into that one in hopes of tricking you. I'm surprised it actually worked though." Doug quickly glanced around. "Now where's your friend?" Regina gasped. (I'm screwed! I'm not like the others; I can't do this on my own!") "Hey! You better come out now or else I'll finish him off" "Don't do it, Regina!" Eric shouted. "He's going to kill me anyways." "Shut up!" Doug said as he fired a shot into left thigh. "I can make you suffer until then. Now she better come out otherwise I'll fire another shot into you." Regina heard the moans of both Jade and Eric. (Make it stop!) Tears formed in her eyes as she was unable to take it anymore. Regina rushed out and immediately aimed her gun at Doug. Doug was surprised at her reaction to his words. "So you have guts after all." Doug slowly walked back smiling." "I want it to stop..." Regina said. "What?" "The pain! I want it to stop! I can't stand hearing people in pain!" Regina was frantic. Her hands were shaking." "Is that so? Well what are you going to do abo-" *Bang Bang Bang* Regina kept pulling the trigger until nothing else came out. Three bullets had hit Doug in the chest." "You bitch!" Doug shouted as he coughed up blood. "You don't like to hear people suffer, huh? Well how about hearing every Fur in here die!?" Regina's eyes went wide as Doug activated the switch. She closed her eyes to prevent seeing it happen. When Regina didn't hear any explosion she opened her eyes to see Doug staring at the switch as if he had seen a ghost. "Why won't you work!?" Doug continued to press the switch over and over again. "Fuck you, Steven!" Doug threw away the switch. Doug continued to cough up more blood as he tried to keep himself standing. He pointed his gun at Regina. "I can at least kill you!" *Bang* Regina gasped. She looked to her left to see Jade lying on his side with Eric's pistol in his hand. She looked back at Doug and saw him just staring at her. He fell face first to the ground. "Gotcha, you bastard..." Jade muttered as he dropped the gun. "Jade!" Regina rushed over to Jade and knelt beside him. She quickly took out some bandages to slow down the bleeding. "Are you alright, Eric?" Regina asked while she bandaged up Jade. "I'm fine. How's Jade?" "Not good; he's lost a lot of blood. These bandages will slow it down, but..." Tears poured down Regina's cheeks. Eric cursed to himself. "Steven you bastard..." Doug said silently. "I'll have the last laugh though..." Doug grinned as he closed his eyes. ============================================================================== Olivia's Side "What do you say we have a little fun little brother." Steven smiled as he approached Ryan and Olivia. The two glared at Steven, both of them aiming their gun at him. "Drop your weapons" Doug said as he pointed his pistol at them. The two of them quickly glanced over to Doug and slowly lowered their guns and dropped them to the ground. Steven casually walked up to them and picked up the two pistols. "It won't be any fun if you two have these" Steven said smiling. "After all, Ryan, an old friend of yours wants to see you real badly." Ryan raised an eyebrow in confusion. On the opposite end of the factory floor another set of doors opened. Ryan and Olivia kept their eyes on Steven. "Ah and here he is. He tells me you two go way back." Steven looked towards the approaching figure. "Isn't that right." "That's right!" Ryan's eyes went wide. He then chuckled. "Is that you Christian?" Name: Christian Species: Human Age: 18 "In the flesh." Christian walked next to Steven. "I see you finally decided to lose some weight." Ryan smirked. "Laugh it up while you can Ryan." Christian walked over to Jade and picked up his automatic. "Because once I'm done with you, you won't be laughing anymore." Christian aimed the P90 at Ryan. "Enough, Christian" Steven said with annoyance. "There'll be plenty of time for that later." Christian huffed as he lowered the gun. He noticed the backpack Jade was wearing and took it off. "What do we have here?" He unzipped the backpack and saw all of the extra ammunition. "Jackpot. Looks like there's about..." Christian started counting. "Don't strain yourself, Christian." Ryan said. Olivia let out a small chuckle. "What the fuck are you laughing at?" Christian looked at Olivia. He aimed the gun at her. "Can I at least kill her?" Steven rolled his eyes. "I don't see why no-" "Steven, this is Jill" The device Steven was holding cut him off. "What is it?" Steven asked. "Two of them are entering the building right now. Do you want us to take them down?" "One of them must be Eric" Doug said. "I'd like to kill him personally." "Let them be" Steven said into the device. "You and Leon can have fun with the remaining one." "One? We're counting four." Everyone except Christian had a confused look on their face. "No matter" Steven said. "Take all of them out." "Yes, Steven." "I think we should get going" Steven said. "You staying behind, Doug?" "Yes." "This bag is filled with ammo" Christian said to Doug. "You want any?" "Nope" Doug took a magazine out of his pocket. "This is all I'll need." "Suit yourself" Christian said strapped on the backpack. "Looks like Ryan has an ammo backpack as well. Want me to take it, Steven?" "No need. He doesn't have a gun anyways. Ryan and Olivia quickly glanced to where Ryan had his second pistol concealed. A small smirk appeared on Olivia's face. (I wonder who'll kill him first; Ryan or myself?) Olivia quickly glanced down at her vest holding all of her knives. "You two should get out of here" Doug said. "They'll be here any minute." "Right" Steven said he reached into his pocket. He tossed something to Doug. "Here's the switch just in case." Doug caught it and placed it in his pocket. "Now follow me" Steven said to Ryan and Olivia. With Christian holding the P90 behind them, they followed. They exited through the same door Christian entered through. The hallway they walked down was different from the ones they had previously passed through. This one was one straight passage while the others had many corners and doors. When they reached the end there was a stairway on one side and a large set of doors on the other. Steven opened the doors. "Get in." Ryan slowly approached the doors. "No, not you; her." "Huh?" Olivia said as she was shoved in by Christian. She quickly recovered and noticed that she was in one of the warehouses. There were many wooden boxes scattered and stacked everywhere. She turned around and saw Christian entering. "You're going to play hide and seek." Steven said. "Christian here is going to give you ten seconds to run before he starts to shoot at you. (So it's a game, huh?) "You know I wanted to get even with Ryan..." Christian glared back at Steven. "Oh just have some fun with her first. Feel free to take your time and when you're done you can join me later. I promise I won't rough him up too much. The doors started to close. "Well in that case... I hope you don't get bored; it's been a while since I've gotten to kill someone." Christian smirked as the doors closed shut behind him. "Steven said to give you ten seconds, but I'm only giving you three!" Olivia smirked as she quickly turned around. (Ryan can take care of Steven and Eric can take care of Doug, so I guess I should have some fun playing this game.) Olivia dashed through the crates as Christian started shooting. Olivia looked around at all of the boxes that surrounded her. (I know that Steven produces narcotics and explosives...) Olivia heard Christian reloading. She quickly pocked her head out. "I know you're and idiot, but even you wouldn't be stupid enough to fire at boxes filled with explosives. So I'm guessing they're filled with drugs, huh?" "Nope! These boxes are empty!" Christian aimed the gun at Olivia. (Oh shit...) Olivia quickly ran. She looked back and saw the box being ripped the shreds. (I'll run out of boxes if he keeps doing that...) "You Furs are so stupid! Steven has the right idea of killing all you." Christian loaded another magazine. "What good are Furs anyway? It was because of a Fur that I got expelled. Ryan had to be all high and mighty and save the fucking creature from getting beaten up by me!" (This gives me an idea.) Olivia smiled. "You must be talking about Ken, huh? Yeah, he can be a handful a sometimes, but he just got a girlfriend." "I don't care about what stupid Fur decided to date him." "He's not dating a Fur. He's dating Lauren..." Olivia smirked when Christian stopped firing. "What!? That bitch! How dare she date the same Fur who caused me to get expelled." "Oh yeah, she had been wanting to date Ken ever since she first met him. You should have heard all the things she used to describe you. She was so happy you got expelled." "Shut up you filthy animal!" Christian started firing randomly through the crates. "You really do get angry easily. Ryan's told us so many stories about you. Is it true you were put on the baseball team out of pity?" "Shut up!" Christian started going through the magazines faster. Olivia saw many of the boxes around her crumbling. (I guess I should end it soon... Ryan was right about him not being very bright...) Olivia's eyes went wide in realization. She looked up towards and the ceiling and smiled. (I guess the fun's not over yet.) Olivia reached into her vest and pulled out a couple of her knives. "What? Too scared to talk now? You're pathetic." Christian went for another magazine. "No, you are the pathetic one. This has gotten too boring, so why don't I make it a little more exciting..." As Christian loaded in the new magazine the lights above him started shattering on-by-one. Olivia used her knives to destroy every single light in the entire warehouse. "What the hell are you doing!?" "Are you really that stupid? I'm destroying the lights to make it so you can't see!" "But you won't be able to see either!" Olivia started laughing. "There really is no hope for you." Olivia destroyed the last light leaving the entire warehouse completely dark. The only light was that of the moon shining through the windows high on the walls. "If you knew anything about felines you would know that we can see very well in the dark." "Oh shit..." Christian started to breathe heavily. Olivia jumped on top of one of the crates. She saw Christian was nervously looking in every direction. "Are you afraid of the dark?" Olivia chuckled. She quickly moved as Christian started shooting in the direction of her voice. She raced to the other side of the warehouse. She saw Christian reaching into the backpack and struggling to reload. "Having trouble there?" "Shut up!" Christian shot at Olivia's voice again. (This is too easy...) Olivia saw Christian reaching into the backpack again. A grin appeared on her face. She slowly made her way over to the backpack. She silently took one of the magazines and tossed it at the crates. Christian reflexively shot at the source of the noise. The noise of the gun allowed Olivia to take the backpack without him realizing. She did leave one magazine on the floor next to him. (I don't want this to be completely unfair.) She giggled. When the clip was empty Christian reached down for the backpack. "What the hell!?" Christian started to panic as he couldn't find the backpack. He found the one magazine left by Olivia and quickly loaded it. "Fuck you!" Christian moved backwards into the moonlight, his back pressed up against one of the crates. Olivia was dashing past Christian. When she was directly ahead of him she said "Having fun?" Christian immediately started shooting straight ahead of him. The sound of an empty gun soon sounded. Christian gasped. "Looks like it's my turn..." Christian looked straight ahead as he saw two knives shining through the moonlight heading straight at him. The two knives landed under his arms. Many more followed pinning down his legs and waist. Soon Christian found himself pinned to the wooden crate behind him. As Christian struggled to get loose Olivia stepped into the moonlight, revealing herself. "Looks like I win" Olivia smiled. "Whatever" Christian huffed. "Just kill me already. I'd rather be dead than live with the shame of being bested by a Fur." "If you say so..." Olivia's face went serious as she reached into her vest. Christian closed his eyes. "Not!" Olivia's smile returned. Christian's eyes went wide in confusion. "I'm all at out of knives! So I guess this will have to do instead..." She kicks Christian in the stomach. He lets out a gasp as he falls into unconsciousness. "Glad that's over" Olivia sighed. "I guess I should go help Ryan..." The whole warehouse suddenly was illuminated in a bright white light as Olivia picked up one of her knives. Olivia looked up at the windows. "The flare? Does that mean we're done? Olivia quickly ran towards the exit. (Eric said he would have Derek shoot it only when Steven was dead. I guess Ryan's faster than me.) Olivia made her way back towards where Jade was shot. ============================================================================== Derek's Side Unknown building "Well Leon, it likes we have four things to play with." "I say we just finish them off quickly." Name: Jill Species: Human Age: 24 Name: Leon Species: Human Age: 26 "Oh come on, love. When's the last time we got to do this together?" Leon sighed as he continued to watch Derek, Kathy, Ken, and Lauren through his scope. "Could we at least take out their sniper?" "No!" Jill chuckled as she lied down next to Leon. "If we take him out it'll be too boring." Jill gave Leon a peck on the cheek. She then looked through her own scope. "Three Furs and one human... Which one should we start with?" "Second one from the right." "Alright, you get the right leg, I get the left. We'll go on three." * * *

Ground Level "You've got to let me go, Derek!" Kathy pleaded. "Eric told me to make sure you three stay here." "But Ryan could be-" "Look, Kathy, I'm worried about Ryan and the others just like Eric and Regina, but there's no point in putting yourself at risk. Eric will handle this." "What if that's not good enough, huh?" Ken said. "I think it should be our decision whether we go in or not. I mean, what's stopping the three of us from going in, huh? What are you going to do to stop us?" Derek stared at Ken as he reached for his pistol. "You won't make it far with a bullet in your leg..." The three of them were taken aback. "You're kidding, right?" Lauren said. "You can't be serious..." Derek sighed. "Lauren... I just killed about a dozen people tonight... Don't think I'm not serious. Now just relax and-" *Bang* *Bang* Two shots echoed in the air. Derek, Kathy, and Lauren watched as Ken fell to the ground screaming in pain. Lauren screamed in horror as Ken's legs started to soak with blood. (Shit!) Derek quickly looked around. (It's too far to run to the factory... We'll have to hide out in the refueling station...) Derek quickly picked up Ken and tossed him over his shoulder. "Hide in that building!" Derek directed Kathy and Lauren to the building. The three ran as shoots continued to be fired. Derek bashed down the door with his spare arm allowing them to enter. The inside resembled an empty convenience store. (No cover in here...) Derek looked to his left and saw the restrooms. They quickly entered the women's bathroom. Kathy turned on the lights. (This place must get power from the factory.) Derek gently set Ken down against the wall. Lauren quickly kneeled next to Ken. "Oh my god, Ken, are you alright." Ken chuckled as his body shook from the pain. "I'm fine, but my legs are killing me." Derek ripped his sleeves off and gave them to Lauren. "Wrap his wounds with those." Lauren nodded her head. "What are we going to do?" Kathy asked anxiously. "Are we safe here?" Derek carefully listened to the noise outside. Shots continued to fire. (I don't think the bullets will be able to penetrate the bathroom walls-) Another shot rang out; the bullet passed through the wall and shattered the mirror. Kathy and Lauren let out a surprised scream. "Stay down!" Kathy quickly sat down. (Damn it... are they just blind firing?) "We're safe for the moment." "Isn't there a back exit or something?" Lauren asked as she finished covering up Ken's legs. "We could-" "Run?" Derek said. "It wouldn't do us any good; this building is in the middle of a wide open area. They'll see us no matter which way we go." "So we just wait here!?" Kathy asked. (Wait?) Derek's eyes widened. (If I don't do something fast, Eric and the others will walk into a trap when they come out!) "I'll be right back." Derek opened the door and crept along the wall. (I need to figure out where they are first...) Derek closed his eyes when he reached the corner of the wall. (They're up high... about 200 yards away... in that direction...) Derek opened his eyes as he quickly glanced around the corner. He looked towards the building he determined the shooters were. He quickly got down when another shot rang out and chipped the wall next to him. (They must be using night vision... how am I going to get a shot at them now?) Derek bit his lip trying to come up with a solution. (Wait... if they're using night vision then...) Derek quickly glanced back at his backpack. (I hope Eric doesn't get pissed...) Derek made his way back into the bathroom. "What were you doing?" Kathy asked. "Figuring a way out of here." "And..." "The ones shooting at us are in the white apartment building across the clearing. I'm going to create a distraction for you and Lauren to escape." "What about Ken?" Lauren asked. "Ken isn't able to stand up right now. I'll stay here with him until the police arrive." "If the police are coming then at least let me stay too!" Lauren said. "No. They're blind firing on us right now. Eventually they might hit one of us. It's better if there are fewer targets to aim for." "But..." "It's alright, Lauren" Ken said putting on a smile. "I'll be fine! You should listen to Derek; he does seem to know what he's doing..." "Are you sure?" Lauren asked. Ken gave her a quick nod. "Alright..." Lauren kneeled down close to Ken and kissed him. "I'll see you soon..." Lauren stood up as she and Kathy followed Derek out of the bathroom. Derek, Lauren, and Kathy slowly moved along the wall. At the edge Derek set down his backpack and reached into it. He pulled out the flare gun Eric had instructed him to use only at his command. (It's going to be a long thirty minutes...) He turned around to Kathy and Lauren. "When I fire this I want the two of you to run, got it?" The two nodded their heads. (Here goes nothing...) Derek quickly turned the corner, aimed, and fired the flare. * * *

Apartment Building "What's this?" Jill asked as she and Leon watched Derek appear around the corner. They both noticed the gun in his hand pointing at them. She chuckled. "Is he really going to try to shoot us with a pistol?" Just then an extremely bright light came shooting at them. The two immediately closed their eyes to stop the burning. "That bastard!" Jill shouted as she tossed away her night vision goggles. She put her hands over her eyes. "We underestimated him..." Leon said. "We should have killed him when we had the chance!" Leon tossed his goggles away. The two lied on the ground, waiting for their eyesight to return. "He knew night vision goggles are more sensitive to light and took advantage of it..." "When I can see again I am going to kill him!" "Oh, now you want to be serious..." Leon asked sarcastically. He was met with a scowl from Jill as both of their visions started coming back to them. "Shut it!" Jill grabbed her rifle and her equipment. She stood and headed for the stairs, Leon quickly followed suit. The two climbed the stairs to the roof of the building. Jill threw her bag to the ground and opened it up. She pulled out another set of goggles. "It's time to go thermal." Leon took out his pair and put them on. The two positioned themselves over the edge of the roof; Jill was crouching while Leon was standing. They both looked down on the building and saw two heat signatures. "Two of them are missing..." Leon said. "They're dead! We must have hit two of them." Jill said with impatience. "No... Even if they were dead their bodies would still show heat..." "Who cares!? All I know is that the big one is the one I'm after. You can take care of the other one." Leon quickly glanced around the open area and saw no other heat signature. "The other two must have fled then..." He aimed his rifle at Ken's heat source." "On three..." Jill said as she targeted Derek who was crouching behind the wall. "One... Two... Thr-" "Leave them alone!" The two quickly turned around and saw Lauren throwing one of their equipment packs at them. The pack hit Leon in the chest causing him to stumble backwards over the edge of the roof. "Leon!" Jill shouted as Leon screamed to the ground. She turned around to see Lauren tossing the other pack at her. Jill dodged it as it went over the roof. "You bitch!" Jill shouted as she aimed her rifle at Lauren without looking through the scope. "There's no way I'm going to miss this shot!" Lauren couldn't move herself. She watched with wide eyes as Jill steadied the rifle and reached for the trigger. Lauren quickly closed her eyes. She was expecting to feel immense pain or nothing at all, but instead she felt something warm and wet fly onto her face. She quickly opened her eyes in time to see Jill drop her rifle as she fell to her side. Lauren saw blood coming out of her forehead. She rubbed her hand over her face to find it covered with Jill's blood. Lauren gasped. She slowly looked over the edge. "Thank you Derek." * * *

Outside fueling station Derek looked through his scope at the roof of the building. "Lauren..." he muttered with irritation as she looked over the edge. He sighed with relief that she was at least safe and that the snipers had been taken care of. Derek went back inside to Ken. "Lauren sure is lucky..." "Because she has a guy like me?" Ken smiled. "No. She almost died." The smile on Ken's face quickly faded away. "What!?" "She went all the way to the where the shooters were and knocked one off the building. It was because of the screaming that I looked outside and saw something being thrown off the roof of the building. When I looked up I saw the other sniper and shot her in the head. She must have been aiming at Lauren." A small smile appeared on Ken's face as he chuckled. "I guess I'm the one who's lucky to have her." "I'm sure you're both lucky to have each other. Now let's get you out of here..." Derek tossed Ken over his shoulder. Ken felt embarrassed having to be carried like this. When Derek walked outside with Ken he saw Lauren approaching. "That was completely reckless, Lauren..." Derek glared at Lauren. She said nothing as she turned her head away. "...But I am also thankful to you." A smile formed on Lauren's face. "You brought you car here right?" "Yes." "Go get it. You're going to take Ken to the hospital." Lauren quickly nodded and went to retrieve it. "Trying to get rid of us, huh?" Ken asked. "Yep." A minute later Lauren drove up in her car. Derek sat Ken in the passenger seat. And closed the door. "By the way, Lauren, where did Kathy go?" "...To the factory." Derek closed his eyes and sighed. (I should have seen this coming...) "Alright, you two get out of here. I'm going to go help the others now." "Be safe" Lauren said as she drove off. Derek quickly ran to the factory. (We only have 23 minutes to get out of her now...) ============================================================================== Kathy's Side The flare soared through the sky signaling Kathy and Lauren to start running. The two made it around the corner before they both split off. "Where are you going?" Kathy asked as she stopped running. "That's the same direction as where the shooters are!" "I know..." Lauren said as she stopped. "But you're heading to the factory now aren't you?" Kathy remained silent before she slowly nodded her head. Lauren smiled. "Then you should understand why I'm doing this." Kathy smiled back. "I do. Just be careful, alright." "You too, Kathy." The two started to run again. Kathy quickly closed the doors behind her when she entered. (This place is huge...) Kathy looked around for a possible route. On the wall she noticed a fire evacuation map. (I'm here...) Kathy looked at the different rooms on the map. She recalled Eric had told Regina that Ryan and the others were at the factory floor. She found it on the map and quickly memorized the route. After three minutes of navigating through the hallways Kathy reached a large set of metal doors. She poked her head around the corner and saw all of the Furs tied up along with Eric and Jade lying on the ground. (Where's Ryan?) She entered the room. Eric quickly noticed her. "What the hell? I told you to stay outside!" "We were being shot at!" "What!? Where's Derek?" "He's dealing with it. He bought us some time." "And how did he do that?" Just then Olivia came walking through the other side of the hallway. She stopped when she noticed Kathy. "What are you doing here, Kathy?" She then noticed Eric on the ground. "Are you alright, Eric?" "I'm fine." "But wait..." Olivia said slowly. "Didn't you give Derek the order to shoot the flare?" "I haven't given him the order; I can't even contact him. Why? Has it been shot?" Eric saw both Kathy and Olivia nodding their heads. "How long ago?" "Five minutes." Eric sighed. "So we have twenty five minutes to get out of here. Regina, keep trying to stop Jade's bleeding. Olivia, start cutting the Furs free." "But what about Ryan?" Olivia asked. "He's still with Steven." Kathy's ears perked up. "Does Steven know about Ryan's concealed pistol?" Olivia shook her head. "Then he'll be fine. Free everyone here first." "I'm going to help Ryan!" Kathy said. The others looked at her. "No!" Eric shouted. "You are to stay here and let us handle this. There's no telling what else Steven has planned. Olivia will go after Ryan once she's done untying everyone." "That's not fast enough!" Kathy shouted with extreme irritation. "I don't care what you say! I am going after Ryan." Eric's eyes widened a bit. "Just... let her go..." Jade breathed slowly. Kathy looked to Jade. "She probably has a lot to say to Ryan considering she's here." Jade smiled. "Jade..." Kathy said. "It's too bad I won't get to see what happens with you and Ryan..." "What are you talking about, Jade!?" Olivia yelled. "You'll be able to watch with the rest of us!" Tears began rolling down Olivia's face when Jade slowly shook his head. "I know I don't have that much time left. Please could you... free my brother." Olivia looked towards where Regina was pointing and saw a Fur with some blood on his head and tears slowly falling down his face. Olivia took her only knife and cut Trace loose. Trace slowly walked over to Jade. "Jade..." Trace went to his knees besides Jade. "I'm so sorry..." Jade smiled. "I've never seen you cry; not even when mom and dad died..." "I just wanted to be the stronger one, Jade. When mom and dad died I kept all of my emotions inside because I wanted to feel stronger than you. And now... the person I tried to hide my emotions from; the only family I have left is dying." "I'm glad you shared that with me..." "Please don't die, Jade! I promise I'll get an honest job. I promise I'll go back to school. I promise... I promise I'll make you proud..." Jade closed his eyes. "You don't have to do all of that for me, Trace. Do it for yourself." Trace began to cry harder. "Olivia..." "Yes, Jade." Olivia wiped the tears out of her eyes. "The way you were always cheerful annoyed me greatly, but... it's also the same reason I was glad to be around you. Don't ever change." "I won't..." Olivia started crying again. "Regina... you always showed compassion towards us, even if some of us never returned it. I'm sorry for that." "You don't have to be sorry, Jade..." Regina covered her eyes. Regina heard someone approaching. She opened her eyes. "Derek..." "Derek?" Jade asked. "I guess you handled things outside then, huh?" Jade chuckled. "I did..." Derek looked away. "You never lose your cool, do you? Next to you I felt like Olivia." Jade let out a small chuckle. "In ways you kind of reminded me of Trace..." "Jade..." Derek said silently. "Eric... You may have been tough on us all, but I could tell you really did care for all of us. I know I may not have been the most cooperative, but I thank you for everything." Eric remained silent as he closed his eyes. "There's so much I wanted to tell Ryan... I guess I'm going to have to wait a little while..." Jade's breathing began to slow down. "Jade, please don't!" Trace shouted. "Take care... everyone..." Jade's head slowly turned to its side. Tears formed in Kathy's eyes. "Ryan's down that hallway" Kathy looked over Olivia pointing at the hallway she came from. She kept on wiping the tears from her eyes. "At the end there's a stairway, Ryan went up there. Now please hurry." Kathy nodded and ran off. (I can't let the same thing happen to Ryan!) Kathy ran down the long hallway until she eventually came to the stairway Olivia had told her about. She ran up the stairs and found herself in another hallway with one single door at the end. Kathy slowly came closer to the door when she noticed something on the ground. (That looks like the same kind of back pack Derek was wearing. Kathy unzipped the back pack. (This is-) *Bang* Kathy's attention quickly went to the door as she heard the gunshot. ============================================================================== Ryan's Side Ryan watched the doors close sealing Olivia in with Christian. (You don't stand a chance, Christian.) Steven pressed the pistol against Ryan's head. "Start walking up the stairs." Ryan slowly followed Steven's order. Ryan slowly walked up the stairs with Steven closely behind. There was a single door at the top of the stairs. "Keep going." Ryan approached the door. "Take off your back pack and set it down; I'm sure Christian will need the extra ammo... he usually wastes a lot of it..." Ryan slowly took his back pack off. (Steven thinks there's ammo in here, huh?) Ryan slowly set the bag on the ground to prevent the bat from making any noise. "That's good, now open the door." Ryan grabbed the door knob and turned it. Inside the entire room was filled with computers and giant monitors. Each monitor displayed a different city in the U.S. (On standby?) It was on every single monitor. "What does all of this mean?" "Oh I'm glad you asked." Steven shut the door behind him. "You see, over the years I've been able to recruit so many people who would like nothing more than to see the Furs die. Eventually I was able to send my men to other cities to recruit others just like us, and from there we kept expanding. I now have men in every city you see in this room. They know the locations of the major areas where Furs live and are awaiting my order to attack. You see that laptop?" Steven pointed to a single laptop located in the center of the room. Ryan turned to it. "Just a press of a button and it will begin." "Why are you telling me all of this?" Ryan asked. Why haven't you already killed me?" "In due time, but first I want to talk to you." "You think I want to listen?" Ryan asked sarcastically. "Oh I think you do." Steven looked at the gun in his hand. "Oh, but you must feel uneasy with me aiming this at you, huh? Tell you what, I'll get rid of it." Steven took the magazine out of the gun and threw it to one side of the room and the pistol to other side. Ryan's eyes widened slightly. (Is this guy an idiot? No... He's planned everything up to this point... what is he planning?) "So what do you want to talk about?" Steven smirked. "Your sister." Ryan's eyes widened completely. "How do you know Nicky?" "Oh I never met her before." Steven closed his eyes. "It was about three years ago that I first heard about her." (Three years ago...) Ryan came to a realization. (Three years ago Nicky and Sean were murdered...) Ryan glared at Steven. "Ah! You must know where this is going already. You see three years ago I got a call from a member of my organization who happened to go to the same school as your sister. He was attending a dance party at the school and called me when he saw your sister and some Fur kissing. I immediately sent four of my men to take care of her and her Fur lover." Ryan was gritting his teeth. He felt so tempted to reach for his gun and shoot the bastard right there, but for some reason he knew there was more to hear. "But the funny thing is that the same guy who called me about it was furious at what I had done." "And why's that?" "Well apparently he had a thing for your sister and wanted just the Fur dead. I laughed and told him that the bitch deserved to die for what she did. He threatened to go to the police, so I killed him." "That's the reason you killed her!? Because she kissed a Fur?" Steven smirked. "Of course not! It was because of her club that I killed her." (The HFA?) "I had known about your sister's club for months before that night. I thought of it as nothing more than a stupid high school club at first, but as time went by I had begun to hear rumors that it was going to expand. This posed a big threat to my plans back then; if the Furs and even some of the humans of my organization learned of her club then they might have left. I had to get rid of her before that happened. When I heard about the kiss it gave me the perfect opportunity to kill her." Steven started laughing. "And it worked! The media made it seem like it was only because of the kiss they were killed, no one suspected it was because of her upcoming expansion!" Ryan's fists tightened. (Nicky and Sean are dead because this bastard felt threatened by the good they were doing!?) Ryan started to reach for his concealed pistol, but stopped when Steven started again. "Afterwards I thought her club would dissolve, but I was surprised when someone took up the position; her own brother. I decided to keep a close eye on you and the club. I determined that it would take a long time before you would bring it to the same level your sister had made it to be so I left you alone..." "Until now..." Ryan finished. "But why now? I made the HFA a community event many months ago. Why didn't you do anything back then?" "Now that was Doug's idea. He told me all about how you seem to have created a chain of command in your club and so if I just killed you someone would just take your place immediately. Doug insisted on taking time to come up with a plan to kill you and your four friends at the same time... and that's when we discovered one of our own workers is the brother of one of your friends." "Trace and Jade..." "Exactly! Doug came up with a plan to lure the five of you out here and..." Steven raised his palm to Ryan. "Here you are! Although... I didn't expect you guys to be so... forceful. But no matter, my men are taking care of your friends." "They're no match for my friends." "And even if that's true; I don't care! Whether my men kill your friends or vice versa doesn't concern me. I could have done this a long time ago if it weren't for Doug's persistence. I don't care about efficiency! I don't care about money! I don't even care about living! All I care about is getting rid of as many of those damned God-forsaken creatures!" (I've heard enough!) Ryan reached into his vest for his concealed pistol and pointed it at Steven. "It's time to do what I came here to do..." "So you did have another weapon on you! Very clever, but I'd think twice before you shoot that thing." Steven reached into his pocket. "Why the hell should I!? You threw away your gun and there's no way you can activate that laptop before I kill you!" "You sure about that?" Steven waved a switch he pulled out of his pocket in front of that." "Isn't that..." "The switch I gave to Doug? No. This is the real switch that not only will kill every Fur in this building, but also send the signal to my men across the nation to start with the Fur killing! What I gave Doug was a fake. Nothing will happen if he activates it." Steven chuckled. "He's as good as dead if they find out it's a fake." "Why give him a fake?" Ryan kept the pistol aimed Steven. "Because he serves no purpose to me anymore." "That's it!? You'd kill him just because he doesn't benefit you anymore!? He's your brother!" "He's disposable just like the rest of those who serve under me. I don't consider him a brother; I consider him a pawn to be sacrificed. Now drop the gun or I will activate the switch!" Ryan stared at Steven. "You're just going to kill them anyways..." "Yes... but do you really want to be the reason for it?" Steven smirked. Ryan sighed and dropped the gun to the ground. "Kick it to me." Ryan stayed still. He glanced back and forth between Steven and the gun. Ryan moved his right leg back and kicked the gun straight towards Steven's face. Steven caught the gun with his spare hand, but couldn't react in time when he saw Ryan charging straight at him. Ryan went for Steven's right arm which held the switch. In a flash Ryan knocked the switch out of Steven's hand. "You bastard!" Steven connected a punch to Ryan's face send him back. Steven started to raise the pistol at Ryan, but Ryan did a roundhouse kick into Steven's face sending the pistol backwards. "You're going to pay for everything you've done!" Ryan continued with the assault. Steven's face filled with rage as he began to fight back. The two exchanged punches at each other. "You're nothing more than a child!" Steven said he started to land more punches on Ryan. "You can't change how people feel! What makes you think you can make a difference where you're sister failed!?" "Because..." Ryan caught one of Steven's punches. "Because I promised her and Sean I would make a difference!" Ryan brought Steven forward and threw him over his shoulder into one of the monitors." Steven coughed on the ground. He got on his hands and knees and quickly noticed something on the ground. Ryan slowly walked over to Steven to do some more thrashing. "Stay back!" Steven shouted as he pointed the gun at Ryan. Ryan stopped dead in his tracks. Steven slowly got to his feet and went to pick up the switch while keeping the gun pointed at Ryan. "You just had to try to be a hero, huh? Well let me reward you for your efforts!" Steven pressed the button on the switch. All at once the laptop and every monitor in the room cut to black. "What?" Steven looked around confusedly. An image of Doug suddenly appeared on every monitor. "Hello Steven. If you're watching this then it means I failed to kill you tonight." "What the hell is this!?" Steven yelled. "You're probably wondering what's going on, right? Well, I never agreed to what you wanted to do. When I found out you were ready to commence with the operation I knew I had to stall you. I tried to convince you to wait until we had gotten rid of the HFA chain of command... and it worked perfectly. As I was coming up with the plan I secretly sent anonymous messages to the FBI and police departments across the country. I told them all about your plan, and how I would help them locate all your men. No doubt you used the switch to activate the laptop, but it won't be your men who'll be receiving the message. I reprogrammed the laptop to send the locations of all your men to the FBI. No doubt they are receiving it right now and informing police departments across the nation." "You bastard!" Steven threw the switch at one of the monitors, destroying both of them. "By the way..." Doug started again. "The range on that switch is twenty feet. The only way you could be watching this is if you're upstairs in the control room which means the Furs downstairs are out of your reach. It's over Steven. You lose. Now go to hell!" *Bang* Steven destroyed the laptop making all of the monitors turn black. He started to laugh again. "Years of planning ruined by my own brother!" Steven pointed the weapon at Ryan. "I'm not going to leave here without at least killing you!" The door behind Steven slowly opened. Steven kept his eyes on Ryan. Ryan watched to see who it was. (Kathy!?) Ryan's eyes went wide. Kathy walked in holding his bat. Her eyes widened at the sight of Ryan ruffed up face. Steven chuckled. "From your surprised reaction I can tell it's Christian." Steven continued to stare at Ryan. "You're just in time, Christian! How about we kill this bastard!" Kathy's eyes filled with rage as she slowly crept closer with the bat. Ryan smirked. "Before you shoot, Steven. Do you remember David?" "David? Of course I do! I killed him years ago along with his brother." "Do you remember his sister, Kathy?" "How couldn't I? Doug stopped me from killing her... How do you know her?" Kathy tapped Steven's shoulder with the bat. Steven slowly turned his head until he came face to face with Kathy. "Miss me?" Steven's eyes widened as Kathy swung the bat right into the side of his head. He flew to the ground. A pool of blood formed around his head. Kathy dropped the bat and feel to her knees crying. Ryan approached Kathy and got on his knees in front of her. He opened his arms and Kathy quickly fell into them. Ryan held Kathy close as she cried into his chest. "Thank you, Kathy..." Kathy raised her head. Ryan wiped the tears from her eyes. She smiled then leaned in and kissed Ryan. Ryan was a little surprised, but just accepted it. They stayed together for a minute before Ryan broke the kiss with a warm smile. "Let's get out of here." Kathy smiled back and slowly nodded her head. ============================================================================== Unknown Side "Looks like everything worked out in the end." Chris said watching the two. "Yeah, I'm glad Steven's finally dead." David said happily. "...But doesn't that mean..." "Her promise has been fulfilled..." "Does this mean you two will be leaving?" Nicky asked with disappointment. "Yes" Chris responded. "It won't be the same without the two of you." Sean said. "Yeah..." Nicky added in. "We're going to miss having someone to talk to." A bright light appeared in front of them. "Looks like you won't be lonely now..." Chris said as the light faded. There stood a black and white wolf with white wings. "What's your name?" "Jade." "What the hell!?" David shouted. "Why does he have wings?" Jade looked behind him and his eyes widened with fascination." "I'm not sure..." Chris looked confused. "Perhaps it has something to do with his special ability." "I'm not sure what you're talking about, but I am loving this!" Jade said with excitement as he continued to move his wings, not noticing Chris and David slowly starting to fade. "Give him some time..." Chris said. Nicky and Sean chuckled. "We'll be saying goodbye to Kathy soon. It was great meeting both of you..." Chris completely faded away. "Yeah..." David said. "I'm glad Kathy met your brother..." Nicky and Sean smiled as David faded away completely. ============================================================================== Kathy's Side Kathy opened her eyes and found herself in her old apartment again. "I'm here again..." She looked around and saw Chris and David sitting down on the furniture. Kathy turned away from Chris. "I'm sorry for what I said to you earlier, Chris..." "It's alright, Kathy. I'm just glad to see you're alright." Kathy smiled. "I'm sorry I'm not my usual self, a lot has happened tonight. Ryan's taking Jade's death really hard... So what did the two of you want to say?" Chris and David were silent for a moment. "We're here to say goodbye, Kathy." David answered. "Goodbye? What do you mean?" "Let me refresh your memory" Chris said as he placed his hand on Kathy's head. Kathy's eyes widened as she remembered everything Chris told her the last time this happened. "I see..." Kathy's face filled with sorrow. "I killed Steven, and now you're passing on, right?" Chris and David gave her a single nod. "I was selfish by making you stay, Chris. I'm not going to do it again. Even if it means..." Kathy started to cry at the thought of never being able to see her brothers again. "Kathy..." Chris said silently. He approached her and tilted her head up to see her face. "We'll both miss you too, but you need to move on with your life now. Your past shouldn't stop you from doing that... including me and David..." "I just wish it could have lasted a little longer..." a soft smile appeared on Kathy's face as she stopped crying. "Yeah..." David said approaching the two of them. "But you know... Chris and I will still always be watching you. You should remember that." Kathy nodded as Chris and David gave her one final hug just like when she was younger. "I love you both so much." When the three separated Kathy saw both of them fading. "We love you too, Kathy." Chris said. "Take care of yourself and Ryan." David said smiling. Kathy smiled as she watched the two of them completely fade away. The room around her slowly began to fade as Kathy closed her eyes. * * *

Craig Hospital -5:00 a.m.- Kathy's eyes slowly opened up to see the waiting room. Everywhere she looked she saw all of Ryan's friends sitting, most of them asleep. Ken and Eric were both being treated for the injuries. She then realized her head was lying on Ryan's shoulder. She smiled as she looked at Ryan's sleeping face despite it being covered with bandages. "In other news..." Kathy looked up at the television hanging on the hall. "Late last night the Denver police raided a factory which was supposedly abandoned many years ago. While our reporters were not able to enter the factory; the police released a statement detailing that the events that occurred inside were the result of a gang turf war and that men from both side were found dead. Minutes prior to the police arriving hundreds of Furs were spotted fleeing the area. The police report that the Furs had nothing to do with the incident and that they were fleeing from the gun fire. Nothing more was released on the subject..." Kathy smiled. She gently eased herself back onto Ryan and fell back asleep. Ken and Eric were eventually both released from the hospital. Ken would be in a wheel chair for a few weeks and Lauren was more than happy to assist him. Eric had to start using crutches. When all of them finally left the hospital Kathy went home with Ryan. ============================================================================== Ryan's side One week later Ryan was sitting on his bed looking through all of his photos of him and Jade. He recalled the day each photo was taken. Most of them were taken during the Saturday events, but there were a few of just Ryan and Jade. He chuckled at one that had Ken in it. He looked at the annoyed face Jade had when Ken decided to jump into the picture. Others were those taken after the baseball games. Win or lose, in each picture both him and Ryan smiled for the camera. "You doing alright?" Kathy asked as she walked into his room. "Yeah... Jade was the first friend I ever made after I became in charge of the HFA... I just wish I could have had the chance to say goodbye to him..." Ryan sighed as he set the pictures down. Kathy sat down next to Ryan and hugged him. Ryan smiled and wrapped his arm around her. The two stayed like that until they heard the doorbell ring. The two slowly separated as Ryan got up to answer the door. Ryan opened the door without checking who it was. "Trace?" "Hey... um... Ryan was it?" Ryan nodded his head. "I've been doing some thinking lately, and... would you please allow me to take Jade's spot in the HFA?" Ryan was slightly taken aback. "Look I know I can't ever replace what Jade was to you and the HFA, but..." "Are you sure you're up to it?" Ryan chuckled. "I mean Jade was really serious about what he did..." "I am." "Then welcome to the HFA." Ryan held out his right hand. Trace took it with his right paw and shook Ryan's hand. "I hope you don't mind... but I brought along some people who are interested in joining as well." Trace let out a sharp whistle. Immediately dozens of Furs appeared around the corners. "All of them are thankful to you and everyone else for saving them that night. The word is spreading fast in Denver about the HFA." Ryan chuckled. "Then I guess it's time for us to turn the HFA from a community event to a city event, huh? The two smiled as the Furs started to cheer. * * *

Ten years later "It started nine years ago when the HFA became recognized by the city of Denver. A year later the entire state of Colorado abolished the segregation of Furs in all of its cities. The influence of the HFA slowly spread across the U.S. over the course of eight years. One by one each state followed Colorado's lead. In recent months the HFA has announced its interest to establish a liaison in Washington. With the entire United States now free of segregation towards the Fur population, there is little doubt that their request won't be accepted." Ryan turned off the television. Kathy lied asleep next to him on the bed. He slowly got out of bed and looked out the window. (I can't believe I'm in Washington D.C.) Ryan looked at the Washington Monument in the distance. (It took over fifteen years... but your dream finally came true, Nicky..." Ryan smiled as he continued to gaze at the city's skyline. Eventually his eyes became heavy and he went back to bed. * * * Ryan awoke in his old house in Colorado. "It's been a long time..." Ryan smiled as he turned around and saw Nicky and Sean." "It really has..." Nicky said as she and Sean slowly stood up. "You've grown up so much..." "Maybe you should call me big brother now." Ryan chuckled. Nicky and Sean laughed. "You'll always be my little brother; age won't ever change that. Ryan smiled. "So what's the occasion of your visit?" Nicky and Sean looked at each other than back at Ryan. "We're passing on, Ryan." Sean said. "We've come to say goodbye." "Passing on?" "Do you remember years ago when I told you that we're bound to your soul because you made a promise to us?" "Of course... so you're saying..." "You have fulfilled your promise to us" Sean finished. "With nothing keeping us bound to your soul, we're passing on." Ryan sighed. "That's too bad. I liked the idea of knowing both of you were always looking over my shoulder..." a small frown appeared on Ryan's face. "We'll still be watching over you Ryan... just further away" Nicky giggled to lighten the mood. Ryan chuckled until he saw the two of them start to fade. Ryan opened his arms. "How about one final time?" Nicky and Sean smiled and approached Ryan. The three embraced in a three way hug for a few seconds before Nicky and Sean slowly stepped away. Just then Ryan realized something. "Did you ever figure out what your special ability is, Sean?" "Yep. You'll find out soon enough." Sean grabbed hold of Kathy's hand. "Goodbye, Ryan" Nicky said. "We love you!" "I love you too..." Ryan said as they both completely faded away. Ryan closed his eyes smiling as everything around him faded. "Where do you think you're going!?" Ryan's eyes flew open as everything shattered around him leaving nothing but white around him. Ryan looked around him seeing no one. "I'm up here!" Ryan looked up. "Jade!?" Ryan watched as Jade slowly descended towards him. "That's right." "How's this even possible?" "Part of it's because of Sean; the rest is because of me. You see I can visit anyone's dreams, but afterwards that person wouldn't remember a thing about it. The only person who ever remembers the dreams is Trace; I guess because I'm bound to him." "So what's Sean got to do with it?" "Well how do you think I'm here? Sean has the ability to break the barrier that separates the dream world from this world. He broke your barrier as he passed on allowing me to enter." Jade sighed. "It's a shame he only just discovered it as well otherwise I could have visited you long ago." "Well, better late than never." Ryan smiled. "I guess." Jade chuckled as he folded his wings. "You got wings, huh? I guess that dream of yours came true." Jade chuckled. "I guess..." "So how does it feel?" "It feels amazing!" Jade jumped off the ground. "Whenever I fly I feel at peace. Every day I can fly wherever I want in the world and come back to Trace in an instance." Jade snapped his fingers and instantly appeared standing in front of Ryan. Ryan laughed. "At peace? Are you sure you're really Jade?" "Very funny. Ten years later and you still joke around... just like old times..." The two were silent. Jade sighed. "The night I died I was disappointed that I couldn't stay alive long enough for you to hear what I had to say to you." "This is your chance, Jade." "I know..." Jade snapped his fingers and the world around them changed. The two found themselves in a very familiar place. "Do you remember when we first met?" "How can't I?" Ryan watched his old self walk through the door. "Your friends weren't too happy to see me..." The two continued to watch as Ryan took down the Fur who charged at him. "That day I became jealous of you." "Jealous of me?" Ryan chuckled. "You were so dedicated to making the making life better for Furs, something I had wanted as well, but wasn't able to even achieve at my own school. That jealousy turned into admiration when you offered me the title of second in command." "And we became friends soon after." Jade smiled as he snapped his fingers. "Because of you I met so many interesting people and made many different friends..." Jade continued to snap his fingers showing Olivia, Regina, Derek, Eric, and Ken." "I knew you didn't hate him." Ryan smiled as he looked at Jade. "Yeah, yeah... I guess I just vented my anger towards Trace onto him..." Jade snapped his fingers again. The baseball field appeared. "It's been so long..." Ryan looked at the field with nostalgia. "Yeah... this is where I experienced the best moments of my life..." Jade snapped his fingers and the stands became filled with people. I had so much fun competing with you; it never was about winning or losing. Hell, I know that you beat me more times than I can count." Jade chuckled. Ryan chuckled as well. "I never did keep count." Jade smiled at Ryan as he snapped his fingers again. "And finally... Trace. If I had never met you Trace would surely be dead now... I don't hate you or Trace for me dying." Jade snapped his fingers and everything went back to white. "Because of you I was able to experience things I never thought I would experience. The thing I wanted to tell you the night I died is that I'm glad I met you; I'm glad you were my friend and I was yours too." Jade held out his right paw. "Thank you." Ryan took it with his right hand and the two slowly shook. When they released Jade started to fade. "I guess my time's up..." Jade sighed. "It's too bad I won't be able to do this again..." "It's alright, Jade. I'm glad I got to chance to say goodbye." "Likewise." Jade spread his wings and jumped into the air. I wish the best for both you and Kathy." Ryan waved goodbye to Jade as he slowly vanished. "Thank you, Jade." Ryan closed his eyes. ============================================================================== Kathy's Side Denver, Colorado -One week later- "Where are you taking us?" Kathy asked Ryan as he drove. "It's a surprise" Ryan smiled. "A surprise, huh? You know I can't stand surprises!" Kathy pecked Ryan on the cheek. "You're going to love this one..." "If you say so..." The car soon came to a stop. "Isn't this..." Kathy's eyes widened as she stepped out of the car. "This is Utah park..." Kathy looked around seeing the familiar lake and baseball field. (It's been years...) "C'mon" Ryan playfully said grabbing her paw and leading her to the baseball field. Inside there were many recognizable figures. (Olivia, Regina, Derek, Ken, Lauren, Eric, and Trace are all here?) "Oh my god!" Olivia shouted seeing the two of them enter the field. "It's been so long! How have you two been?" "Very good, Olivia." Kathy answered. "It's been so long since the two of you have been in Denver" Regina said. "Really!" Ken said approaching Ryan. "When you left the HFA got so boring." Olivia and Regina glared at Ken. "We tried to run as best as we could!" Olivia said. "Don't worry Ken" Ryan said. "Were moving back to Denver, and we're here to stay." "That's fantastic!" Olivia said. (We can finally stop moving place to place?) Kathy sighed with relief. (I'm so glad.) "But there's one thing that needs to change..." Ryan said grabbing everyone's attention. Ryan turned to Kathy. "Kathy... For ten years you've followed me wherever without question. For ten years you stood by side. For ten years you showed me love and compassion. And in those ten years I have enjoyed every single day because I was with. But ten years..." Ryan reached into his back pocket and got on one knee. "...Doesn't compare to forever." Kathy gasped. "Kathy... will you marry me?" Ryan opened a small box revealing a diamond ring. Everyone remained silent as tears began to form in Kathy's eyes. At first Kathy couldn't speak and just nodded her head before she was able to get anything out. "Yes!" Everyone started cheering as Ryan placed ring on Kathy's finger. Kathy embraced him in a kiss when he stood up. They held each other close as they tuned out everything around them. (I'm so glad I met you...) The End ============================================================================== So it's finally over... This last chapter was really long- 70 pages (It amazes me that I can write 70 page story but struggle to write a 10 page report) If you have any final questions concerning the series please ask. I hope all of you enjoyed reading this chapter and the entire series.