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Welton wished he had a toothpick, a cigarette, anything nearby that he could suck on. Walking around in circles and fidgeting with his paws or clawing against the bench he sat on wasn't doing him any good. He walked over to the fountain and tossed a penny inside for no reason other than to calm himself. That didn't help. Welton told himself not to check the time on his phone, not to remind himself that he left Cindy three voice messages and she still hadn't called him back. The ursine scratched his head and leaned against a tree, breathing heavily and looking around the park. Then he silently said "fuck it," took out his phone, and called Cindy again. It went straight to her voicemail.

"Hey, this is Cindy Wellers! I'm not available right now, but leave your name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Kay, bye!"

Welton sighed. "Hey, Cind. It's Welton again...for the fourth time. I'm still fine, I'm all right. I don't know where you are, probably stuck in traffic. Just get the fuck down here; we don't have time for this shit. ...All right, well...um, I guess I'll see you later."

Welton didn't hang up. He let his message trail on in silence, hoping Cindy would pick up the phone right when he was leaving the voice message. The bear blinked and lowered his ears. She's not gonna pick up, he thought in his mind.

"Okay...bye," he said softly.

Welton wanted to slam his phone on the ground after he hung up. But he knew if that happened, he'd have no way of picking up Cindy's call when she responded to his message. So he stomped over to a trash bin and snarled as he kicked it over with a footpaw, releasing all the filthy garbage onto the ground. Welton snorted a few times before he bit down on his knuckles. She's fine, he kept telling himself. She's gonna be okay. She'll be here soon. The grizzly bear heard a car driving down the road in the distance. He could see headlights, but the driver didn't stop. He or she kept moving down the road, and the bear found himself alone again. Besides the lamp posts set around in the park, the whole area seemed dark. Welton shivered as he felt a cold wind blow across his face and through the trees, causing the leaves to flutter and the branches to shake. The fountain was still spewing out water from the top and splashing all around its designated area. Welton heard his stomach grumble again. He felt sick, nervous, so stressed out that he thought he was going to vomit all over the ground.

Welton sat down on the wooden bench and took a few deep breaths. He rubbed his belly and told himself to calm down. The last thing he needed was to get sick now right when they were so close to exposing this conspiracy. But the bear's ears were still low, and Welton still needed to sublimate his anxiety by doing something menial. He was almost tempted to jog around the park, but putting that much activity on his stomach would only make his abdominal pain worse. The bear looked behind his shoulder, looked up at the starry sky, then stared at the fountain. He stood up and leaned against a tree, arms folded. He tapped his left footpaw on the ground, grumbling and panting. The bear looked at his phone again. Only three minutes had passed.

"FUCK!"

Welton kicked at the fallen trash bin again and huffed as he sat down on the bench. He couldn't take this stress anymore. He felt like his stomach was about to explode. Even now he could feel the bitter taste of bile in the back of his throat. The grizzly bear took a few deep breaths and wrapped his arms around his gut. Then he felt something heavy shifting through his bowels and shut his eyes as his stomach churned again. Welton removed his arms and looked down at his stomach. He suddenly realized that the waste inside of him wasn't going to come out of his mouth at all. It was heading for his anus. The bear quickly stood up, one paw on his stomach as he started to quickly walk through the park looking for the public restrooms. He disappeared from the fountain and the park bench only a few minutes later, and the park was seemingly deserted. No one saw the gray bull shark as he walked towards the bench with various weapons in his pockets, nor did anyone see the chubby brown rat and the African wild dog who were also armed with deadly weapons.

"Is the tracker still working?" asked Reilcuf.

The African wild dog nodded. "He's heading to the bathrooms," said Fenkar.

Reilcuf laughed, causing the gills on his neck to move. "Good. Stay out here and watch the perimeter."

Gengy spat on the ground a few times as he responded. "Is that a wise call, Reilcuf? We can always help--"

"No. I'm gonna do this myself. I'll let you know if I need help."

Gengy shrugged. "You're the boss."

Reilcuf took out his silenced handgun and headed straight for the lavatory, while his minions stayed outside and began to check the perimeter for other possible hostiles.

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Welton took several deep breaths as he sat on the toilet, his stomach feeling much better after the explosion that just erupted from his behind. He wiped some of the sweat off his forehead, hoping that Cindy had arrived while he was busy voiding his bowels. The ursine was still worried, but at least now he didn't have to worry about puking all over himself, or soiling his pants for that matter. The bear grabbed several sheets of toilet paper and wiped his behind. Just as he was about to flush, he heard the bathroom door creak slowly. Welton froze. He flared his nostrils and immediately went on alert. Perhaps his sixth sense was kicking in. Perhaps he was being paranoid. But when the bear caught the faint scent of a shark in the air, the fur on the back of his neck stood up. Whoever stepped inside sniffed the air once before groaning with disgust. Welton slid off the toilet and pulled his boxers and jeans back up. Then he moved backwards, stepped onto the toilet seat, and crouched down. The person who stepped inside took a few steps, his boots clomping on the floor. Then there was a pause.

Welton looked at the floor and could see a shadow. Someone was standing right in front of the stall. A few seconds later, the shadow disappeared. Welton thought about sneaking out, but the person outside continued to walk around the bathroom, growling to himself. There was another long pause. And then Welton nearly yelped when he heard the person fire a gun. The sound was muffled and sounded more like tiny objects slapping against large slabs of wound. But even with the low sound, Welton recognized the foreboding noise anywhere. The bear's legs started to shake. He had nowhere to go. Whoever was outside took a few steps, stopped, and then a few more muffled sounds filled Welton's ears. The bear started shaking more. He looked around the stall; he had to fight back somehow. More muffled noises. More wood being shattered. There were only four stalls in the bathroom. Welton looked down and saw the shadow again. Having no other option, Welton got off the toilet, ducked as low as possible, shut his eyes, and covered his ears. And then, almost by magic, four bullet holes appeared on the stall door, causing fragments of shredded wood to fly around the stall and hit Welton along his face.

Welton kept his eyes shut, his entire body shaking as a few splinters got into his fur and face. Then the ursine heard two clicks, followed by the person outside muttering "shit." The bear opened his eyes. Something clattered to the floor. The person outside was reloading his gun. He had to go now; sooner or later, the person would be smart enough to start kicking every door down. So the bear took a few quick breaths, reached up, and unlocked the door. The second he saw Reilcuf, he roared viciously and tackled the shark, shoving his entire body all the way over towards the sinks. Reilcuf shouted as his head jerked backwards and smashed against the mirror, shattering it. Reilcuf dropped his gun. He didn't have time to pick it back up before Welton raised his arms and started to punch the shark against his face over and over again, his blows echoing within the quiet bathroom. After his face became bloody and bruised, Reilcuf blocked one punch and swiftly hit Welton in his throat. The bear coughed and backed away, just in time for Reilcuf to trip him and get on top of his body.

Now the shark was punching Welton, smashing his powerful fists into the bear's eyes and nose, bruising the burly creature's face. Welton reached over and tried to grab the shark's gun, but Reilcuf quickly shoved it away and took out his serrated knife. He snarled as he tried to stab Welton, moving his hands down slowly as the blade gradually approached Welton's throat. The brown grizzly bear panted, holding Reilcuf's arms back as the blade kept getting closer. Suddenly, Welton jerked his head and neck to the left and let go of Reilcuf. The blade hit the floor and merely nicked Welton's neck. Welton held Reilcuf's hand and bit down on his wrist, causing him to shout and drop his knife. Then he picked up the weapon and lashed upwards, slicing at Reilcuf's chest. The shark shouted and stood up, grasping his now bleeding midriff as Welton immediately got off the floor. He charged for the shark, panting and swiping the blade at him while Reilcuf veered his body backwards to dodge the attacks. He grabbed Welton's arm as he tried to stab him in the face and used the bear's body against him, slamming him into the wall.

Reilcuf snatched the knife from Welton's paws just as the bear turned around. Before Reilcuf could attack, the ursine swiped his claws at the shark's face, leaving nasty scars along the beast's right eye. He charged for the shark again, pressing his body against a closed stall door as he opened his mouth wide. Reilcuf grabbed the bear's jaw and muzzle, grunting as he held the bear's head back so Welton wouldn't tear his throat out. Dropping his knife, Reilcuf held the bear with both hands and shouted as he threw him into the stall he was just using. Welton landed on the floor, panting as he saw the shark quickly pick his knife back up. The shark charged into the stall just as Welton kicked him in the kneecap, tripping him. Reilcuf yelped; Welton rolled out the way, allowing the shark to fall and bust his jaw against the porcelain. Reilcuf groaned as he lost his knife. The fall rattled his teeth, and his tongue was starting to bleed. Welton growled as he grabbed the shark's head and lifted it high enough so that it was in front of the edge of the toilet seat. Welton bashed the creature's head against the toilet seat four times, almost knocking out the shark in the process. Then he shouted as he shoved Reilcuf's head into the toilet bowl Welton was using only a few minutes ago.

And never flushed. Welton gritted his teeth as he heard Reilcuf shouting and sputtering, his face deep within the water Welton soiled with his excrement. Welton stopped using his paws to hold down Reilcuf and instead lifted his right footpaw. He pressed it down on the back of the shark's head, forcing it even further into the water. The bear watched as Reilcuf thrashed his arms around, desperately trying to flush the toilet so he could breathe. But Welton swatted the shark's arms away, determined to drown the shark in the most ignominious way possible. After a while, Reilcuf's shouts quieted down. He stopped jerking his limbs and head around, and the brown toilet water was no longer splashing out the porcelain. Welton was just about to remove his footpaw when he suddenly gagged and felt himself being dragged backwards. Gengy had heard the commotion and snuck behind the bear, wrapping his trusty fiber wire around the ursine's throat. The rat hissed and grinned as he pulled as hard as he could, tightening the wire and cutting off the bear's air supply. But Welton wasn't going to give up that easily. He jerked his left elbow backwards, slamming it into Gengy's nose. He did it again, and again, causing the rodent's muzzle to bleed.

The fourth time he did it, Gengy shouted as a tooth was chipped and his nose broke. He let go of the wire long enough for Welton to turn around and grab Gengy by his throat. Hauling him off his footpaws, the bear tightened his grip, squeezing so hard he was digging his claws into the rat's neck. Gengy let out pitiful squeaking noises as he tried to pry the ursine's arms away, but it was pointless. Welton was nearly foaming at the mouth, snarling and snorting as he squeezed harder and harder. Gengy released a high-pitched whine before there was an unsettling cracking sound. The rat stopped moving. His arms slowly fell down, and his head lowered by itself. Welton tossed the rat's cadaver onto the floor, panting as he immediately headed for the door and stormed outside. The bear only made it a few feet from the public restrooms before a shot rang out and the bear went down. Welton screamed, falling forward as the bullet tore a hole through his left leg. Panting and whimpering, Welton dragged his body forward and hid behind a tree, sitting down and pressing his back against the bark. The bear howled in pain as he saw the blood already soaking through his blue jeans.

"FUCK! GOD-FUCKING-DAMMIT!" the bear howled.

Welton hissed as he looked down at his leg, hoping that the bullet didn't hit the bone. He whimpered and looked around the side of the tree, only to shout when another bullet whizzed by his head, luckily hitting the tree instead of his muzzle. The bear sat still and waited. He couldn't move--not with his leg injured like this. So the ursine breathed heavily and forced himself to stand, wincing and swearing as he tried to balance himself on his left leg. Welton waited for a minute before he heard footsteps rushing through the grass and moving right towards him. The bear held out his left arm, hoping he'd time it just right. The canine who shot at Welton shouted as he was clotheslined by the bear and knocked flat on his back. He was just starting to sit up when Welton threw his body on top of him and snarled. The ursine didn't take any chances; he dug his thumbs into the dog's eyes without a single ounce of hesitation. Welton heard a faint crunch as blood oozed out of the dog's eye sockets, causing the canine to whine and yelp wildly. He was blinded instantly, unable to do anything but pray that someone nearby would hear his piercing yelps. Welton shouted and shoved his thick, furry thumbs so far into the sockets that he was scrambling the canine's brains.

He stopped moving and making noises shortly after that. Welton panted as he removed his bloody thumbs. The bear snatched up the dog's black handgun and started to hobble in the opposite direction when he heard faint footsteps in the distance. Welton tried to run, but everytime he stepped down on his left footpaw, a sharp pain would soar up his leg, which made him stop entirely. Welton constantly looked behind his back, thinking one of the mercenaries had found him and was about to put a bullet in his skull. The bear continued to hobble through the park until he felt he gained enough distance. Once he did, the panting bear took out his cell phone and dialed Cindy's number. Unsurprisingly, all he got was her voicemail.

"Cindy, where the fuck are you?!" Welton stopped as he took a deep breath. "I need your help! They found me! I-I don't know what the fuck happened; I don't know how they got here! Just get the fu--"

Welton stopped talking. He slowly moved his cell phone away from his ear and looked at the small device. The bear's eyes grew wide. He swore to himself, appalled by his careless behavior. Welton slammed his phone onto the ground, watching as it shattered and the screen broke. Then he stomped on it a few times with his right footpaw and cursed again, limping his way from the busted device before the mercenaries located him.

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Fenkar and a few other mercenaries heard the gunfire coming from around the bathrooms and rushed over to go assist Reilcuf. But when they reached the bathrooms, all they found was a German Shepherd with his eyes gouged out and Gengy lying on the bathroom floor, his neck broken.

"Reilcuf? Reil..."

The African wild dog glanced into the stall Welton was using and saw the shark slumped near the toilet, unconscious. Fenkar rushed inside and grabbed the bull shark, grunting as he dragged him out of the stall and into the middle of the floor. One of the mercenaries, a wily jaguar, groaned with disgust when he noticed the brown water smeared all over Reilcuf's face.

"The fuck happened to him? He tried bobbing for apples in there?"

Fenkar ignored him and looked down at the unconscious shark. He crouched down beside the shark and lowered his head so he could see if the shark was breathing. Then he checked his pulse and noticed it was still beating.

"Just give the guy CPR and be done with it," the jaguar suggested.

"And crush his ribs?" Fenkar shook his head. "He's still got a pulse; I'll just give him mouth to mouth."

None of the other mercenaries said anything. The last thing they wanted to do was put their lips against Reilcuf's nasty mouth, so they watched as Fenkar reluctantly pinched the shark's nose shut and took a few deep breaths. Then the African wild dog closed his eyes, leaned down, and pressed his maw against the shark's lips. He tried not to groan as he blew a huge breath into the shark's mouth, hoping to revive him sooner than later. He didn't wake up after the first breath, so the canine tried again after giving Reilcuf a brief moment to try to breathe on his own. Suddenly, the shark's eyes opened, and Reilcuf began to splutter. Fenkar shouted and swore as Reilcuf regurgitated some of the waste in his mouth, which splattered all over the dog's face. Reilcuf didn't even have time to sit up before he started to vomit all over himself, the brown-colored bile splashing all over his clothes and the floor. Everyone in the bathroom groaned in disgust and backed away as Reilcuf started to cough and belch, still tasting the bear's feces in his mouth. He groaned and sluggishly got to his feet, moments before he leaned over and started to vomit all over the floor again. The shark finished puking a few seconds later and retched several times, the brown filth still hanging off his face, mouth, and clothes. He panted and wiped his mouth clean before looking at the mercenaries around him.

"Hehehe, never knew you was into that kinda stuff boss! D'you make out with the bear before he stuffed your face in the toilet? Tryin' to make a sequel to Two Girls, One Cup eh?"

Reilcuf stared at the smirking jaguar and blinked. "Fenkar, hand me your gun."

The African wild dog did as he was told. The second Reilcuf acquired Fenkar's handgun, he pointed it at the jaguar's head and promptly blew his brains out. Some of the mercenaries flinched as the shark snarled and pointed the gun at all of them next.

"Go on. Say something. Open your mouth," he snarled, irritated.

No one said anything. They could almost feel the enmity coming off the shark's body and knew that the slightest spark could send him into an unstoppable rage.

"Nothing more to say? Good!"

Reilcuf shoved Fenkar's handgun against his chest before he walked over and retrieved his own weapons from the floor.

"I appreciate you all letting our target escape, by the way," Reilcuf mumbled.

"Escape? We can here to save your ass! If it hadn't been for Gengy--"

Reilcuf cut off the skinny lizard. "Gengy's dead. He's not gonna be of much help to us anymore, now is he?"

"But we--"

"SHUT UP! Just get out there and track him down! The last thing we need are the cops picking him up before we can reach him!"

Fenkar scratched the back of his head. "Well, uh, that-that's the problem, boss. We aren't tracking him anymore. He must've ditched his cell phone."

"I'm sure he left some kind of trail for us to follow. All we need to do is find it."

"Then I suggest we stop standing here and start looking," said Reegar.

Reilcuf nodded. "See? That's thinking. Now move your asses!"

The mercenaries knew what they needed to do. Everyone turned around and quickly rushed outside, hoping they could find the bear before he found his way into police custody. As the mercenaries exited the bathroom, Reilcuf belched and retched again. He couldn't keep his bile down, and the shark vomited profusely all over the floor again.

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No cop cars. No sirens. Nothing. It seemed like the world had abandoned Welton altogether, leaving him alone on the barren road. He had escaped the park and was wincing as he stood beside a series of payphones near a stoplight. The grizzly bear panted as he took off his tank-top and started to tear it into long strips.

"Shit, is this right? ...Fuck it; I gotta stop this bleeding somehow."

The bear lifted his left leg and winced again. Then he carefully wrapped a long strand of his tank-top along the bullet wound, making sure he tied it tightly and put pressure on the wound. Welton shouted after he tied the knot and put his leg down. Regardless of whether or not he stopped the bleeding, he knew his leg would get infected if it wasn't treated in time. Welton looked at the payphones, so tempted to call the cops or an ambulance right now so they could end this once and for all. But even if he called them, there was no guarantee that some of them weren't in on the conspiracy as well. For all he knew, the mercenaries chasing after him had turned the district's entire department or convinced them to work for them. To top that off, Welton had no idea how many mercenaries were hunting him, or what kind of firepower they had. The last thing he needed was to put several other officers' lives in danger and end up getting killed anyway. There was only one person Welton could call, and she wasn't picking up her phone.

Welton stared at one of the payphones before he dug into his right pocket and took out a few quarters. He placed them inside the machine, dialed Cindy's number again, and picked up the phone. Welton heard it ring a few times, but the only answer he received was another recording.

"Hey, this is Cindy Wellers! I'm not available right now, but leave your name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Kay, bye!"

Welton hung up the phone and lowered his paw. They got to her, he thought. She's dead. He wasn't making any guesses now. As much as he hated admitting it, he couldn't deny that this was the reason why she wasn't picking up his calls. So the bear just stared at the phone in silence, listening to the wind blowing softly against his fur. Two teardrops ran down each of his cheeks before the bear even had the chance to stop himself. He whimpered quietly as his vision blurred, and another tear fell down his face. Welton sniffled and wiped one of his eyes as he picked up the phone again and put more change inside. The bear dialed her number again, still whimpering as tears ran down his face.

"Hey, this is Cindy Wellers! I'm not available right now, but leave your name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Kay, bye!"

Welton slammed the phone into the cradle hook and sobbed, his face twisting up as he started sniffling uncontrollably. The grizzly bear shook his head and let out a painful moan, like he just felt a small part of himself die. Welton lowered his head and ears, breathing heavily and telling himself that everything was fine, that Cindy was just busy elsewhere and didn't want to be bothered. So Welton put more change in the phone. He dialed her number a third time.

"Hey, this is Cind--"

"FUCK! MOTHERFUCKING GODDAMN FUCKING, FUCKING, FUCK! FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!"

He couldn't take it anymore. He started smashing the phone against the payphone box with every swear word he screamed out loud. The black phone started to shatter into pieces, all of which flew back at Welton or fell onto the ground. The ursine kept screaming and smashing the phone as more hot tears burst out of his eyes. He yanked the phone's cord right off the box and smashed the entire thing on the ground, still screaming and sobbing at the top of his lungs. Welton was tempted to break the entire payphone box when he noticed what was left of the phone lying on the ground. He stopped swearing and felt his knees give out. He couldn't stand anymore, couldn't even breathe properly. The bear fell to his knees and wailed at the top of his lungs, unable to cope with it any longer. The tears seemed endless now; the pain wouldn't stop. Everytime Welton told himself to pull it together, all he'd think about was how Cindy rubbed his ears the other day, how she hugged him when he broke down crying in the middle of the street, how she always called him Teddy bear just to irritate him.

The bear lowered his head and pounded a fist against the ground, still blubbering as mucus ran out his nose. He didn't know what to do anymore. He couldn't think clearly. Welton sniffled loudly as he slowly leaned over and sat against the phones, breathing heavily. He started to wipe his eyes, sniffling again as he started to recover. Welton had finally finished cleaning his face off when he shut his eyes and started crying again. The ursine grabbed his head, whimpering and sobbing as his entire body shook. No matter how many times Cindy and Welton argued, no matter how grave their relationship would sometimes get, Welton always knew that there was a possibility to fix everything, to repair his partnership with Cindy. But she was dead now, and there wasn't a single thing Welton could do about it. So Welton just sat by the phones and wept, losing all hope in fighting back against the mercenaries. Part of him didn't see the point anymore. He had no evidence. No one would believe him. Even if someone did, whoever found out would probably end up dead too. Welton lowered his paws and sat very still, waiting for the mercenaries to come by and end it all.

That's what he wanted to do. That was the easy way out. And yet, the bear knew that he couldn't just sit there and let the enemy win. Welton wiped his face off again and sniffled. He sluggishly stood up from the ground, breathing heavily and whimpering quietly as he limped towards another payphone. He dug into his pockets and put more change inside so he could dial another phone number. As much as he wanted to call Cindy again, he knew what he'd hear. So he called the only other person Welton knew that could be of help to him.

"Detective Laften."

Welton didn't say anything at first. He blinked and exhaled, rubbing his forehead.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Eddie," said the bear weakly.

"It's Detective. I don't...where's Cindy? She's usually the one who calls me."

"She's dead."

"You're shittin' me. If she was dead, I'm pretty sure we would've heard about it by now."

"She went to Silpond Hills. She didn't come back."

"That doesn't mean she's dead, Welton. She probably took a detour or got stuck in traf--"

"She's dead," Welton nearly growled.

Detective Laften paused. "I'll send someone over there to go check it out, okay? We can't spare much manpower right now. She...she's probably fine."

"You have a notepad with you?"

"I--what? What the hell does that matter? You just said Cindy might be dead."

"Cindy vouched for you. I need to tell you something...only you. I don't trust anyone else."

Welton heard the man sigh over the phone shortly before he heard a few papers rustling. "All right, I got some paper. What is it?"

"EC-27. That was the chemical stolen from Krazzer Labs. Mercenaries are involved, and they want to use this chemical to turn human beings into anthros."

Welton could hear the man scribbling the details down quickly on his notepad. "This--this makes no sense. How do you even know all this? Where's the proof for it?"

"I don't have it."

The detective huffed. "Are you drinking again? You call me in the middle of the night, tell me Cindy's dead, and then tell me that some chemical was stolen so it can turn humans into fucking anthros?! How do I know that any of this nonsense is true?"

"Because I'm gonna be dead before morning."

Detective Laften paused. "Wh...Welton, what's happening? Where are you?"

"Doesn't matter. If you come here, you'll die too. Just...just look into this, please. You have enough information to go on. I don't care if you believe me or not; I told you something that could rip this city apart if someone doesn't put a stop to it. If you think what I'm saying is bullshit, then fine."

"Just tell me where you are, Welton. If you're in trouble--"

"It's too late for me."

There was another pause. Welton thought about saying goodbye or apologizing for how crass he was to the man in the past. But when the bear felt his paws shaking, he figured it would be best if he ended the call now.

"Welton, hold--"

The bear hung up the phone. He was wrong. He couldn't give up. He couldn't let everything he and Cindy worked towards uncovering get swept under the rug. The police needed to know. The whole world did. Welton rubbed his nose before he dug into his pocket and pulled out the handgun he stole from the dog he killed. There was no point in running--not with a bullet hole in his leg. Welton looked around the street and saw a large building still under construction. All the equipment and vehicles in front of it were abandoned, and the whole skyscraper was deserted. Welton lifted his right footpaw and lashed at it with one of his claws, causing it to bleed. Then he planted his footpaw on the ground and started to limp towards the building. He didn't have much of a plan, but then again, he didn't need one. People were trying to kill him. He had a gun and his teeth and claws to defend himself. That was all he needed. So once the bear walked inside the building, he looked left and right at the half-painted walls, the metal support beams, and the dust and paint cans spread around the floor. He walked up a set of wooden stairs, listening to the wood crack with each step he took.

Welton kept moving up the stairs until he arrived on the third floor, panting and groaning as the pain in his left leg increased. He looked around the floor, noticing the various tables, columns, plastered walls and other forms of cover he could hide behind. The bear ignored them at first, walking over to one of the window panes and looking out onto the street. A few anthros were coming towards the building, most likely the mercenaries following his bloody paw prints. Welton sighed heavily as he walked over to a table and tipped it over. He pressed his right footpaw behind the cover, spreading it around so he could leave a fairly noticeable trail of blood. Then he snatched a dirty cloth with dried up paint on it and wrapped it around his right footpaw, wincing. Welton walked over to a metal column large enough to conceal his huge frame and waited. He took slow, deep breaths, letting the rage build up very slowly. Gomez, Cindy, all those employees from Krazzer Labs, the wereskunk and his family, all the people massacred on the camping trail--it needed to stop. They had to pay for everything they had done, no matter what happened to Welton.

He heard the footsteps, quiet at first, but louder as time progressed. Welton flared his nostrils and smelled a lizard and cheetah, but he couldn't make out Reilcuf's scent. The bear didn't wait though; he needed to attack as soon as possible. The cheetah and lizard were sniffing the air too, trying to hone in on Welton's location. The two mercenaries followed the bear's bloody paw print and reached the table. Moving swiftly, the lizard jumped around to the other side of the table, ready to unload his submachine gun. But to his surprise, he didn't find Welton. The lizard huffed and shook his head.

"I told you, he set these tracks on purpose!" the cheetah complained.

"No, he's here. His scent's even stronger now; he's gotta be close by."

"We can't search this whole bui--"

The cheetah's words were cut off when Welton put a bullet in the back of his head. The lizard reacted quickly, but Welton already had his gun pointed at him. He shot the lizard in the chest, making him shout as he fell backwards. Welton's heart raced as he limped towards the lizard as fast as possible, ready to take his automatic weapon. But when Welton reached the lizard, he was shocked to see that the beast was still alive and well due to his body armor. Welton leaped to his side as the lizard fired off a few rounds, narrowly missing Welton's legs. The lizard groaned as he got to his feet, knowing a few ribs had been broken after being shot. Welton shot the lizard in his legs, causing him to shout and fall down again only inches away from Welton's body. Welton planted the barrel of his gun against the lizard's scalp and pulled the trigger, turning away when a torrent of blood sprayed all over his body. Panting, Welton grabbed the lizard's submachine gun and stood up, just in time to see three more mercs rushing towards him. He fired at them erratically, hoping a stray bullet would catch at least one of them in the face.

A fox went down, but the bullets hit him in his body armor. Welton shouted as he leaped forward, hearing an incessant amount of deafening gunfire around the floor. The bear crawled over to a large slab of plaster and hid behind it, catching his breath and waiting for the enemy to come towards him.

"He's over there!"

"Shoot the walls!"

Welton swore out loud and threw himself forward as more bullets flew his way. They tore through the wall with no trouble at all, leaving dozens of bullets holes that ruined the wall in mere seconds. The bear shouted, feeling one of the bullets graze his left ear, tearing off a small part of it. He rolled over to his right and ran behind another metal column, where he found another mercenary roaming the floor. Welton pointed his submachine gun at him and fired, the bullets spewing out and hitting the wolf in his legs and chest. He fell down and dropped his gun, wounded but still alive. Welton panted as he limped towards the canine, not bothering to keep the creature alive. He was just about to gun down the canine when another shot rang out, nearly hitting him in the face. He saw a bull charging towards him with a handgun out and fired, luckily hitting the bull in the hand. The bovine dropped his gun and sprinted towards Welton, taking out a knife as though the gunshot wound hadn't fazed him at all. Welton didn't have time to hit the bull again before he slammed into him and pressed his body against a glass pane.

The glass cracked loudly, causing Welton to pant. He held up his paws as he tried to shove the bull away, but the bovine had a tight grip around his throat. The bull raised his knife, snorting in Welton's face as he tried to slash the bear's eye. Welton head-butted the bull and knocked him away, but the beast quickly recovered and kicked Welton into the window pane again. It cracked some more, the entire glass structure ready to give. The bull threw his knife at Welton, who ducked seconds before it found its way into his face. The grizzly bear picked up a nearby two-by-four and swatted it at the bear's hand just as he picked up Welton's fallen gun. Then he smashed the lumber against the bull's skull, almost knocking him out. The bull groaned and grasped his head, giving Welton just enough time to grab him. The bear roared as he tossed the bull against the window pane. It gave, shattering into hundreds of pieces and shredding the bull's face and fur. The bovine screamed as he found himself falling to the ground, his body landing with a sickening thud in the middle of the road.

Welton quickly picked up the handgun and submachine gun from the floor, just moments before he was shot. The bear shouted, his body falling backwards and breaking the planks that poorly patched up a hole in the floor. Welton fell onto the floor below him, the broken wood, plaster and dust clattering all around him. Welton panted and groaned, sluggishly rolling over to retrieve his handgun again. Then the bear shouted and fired at a mercenary's face, unaware that he just fell on top of a coyote and nearly knocked him out. Welton winced and panted as he stood up, having been shot just beneath his left shoulder. But the adrenaline was still going strong, so the bear disregarded his bullet wound and picked up the coyote's gray and black submachine gun. Limping forward, Welton looked up at the ceiling and heard various footsteps on the floor above him.

"Where the fuck is he?! I thought you said you got him!"

"I did! He fell through the floor!"

Welton's ears twitched. He heard a few more footsteps up above and saw a small amount of dust and plaster fall from a certain portion of the ceiling. Welton pointed his gun up and fired off a few shots. The fox standing on the floor above him screeched as he was shot in the groin, his testicles and penis torn to shreds. The vulpine writhed around on the floor for a few seconds before Welton fired off more shots, the bullets hitting the fox in the scrotum and body several times. He kept shooting at the ceiling, listening to the anthros above shout and scream as they ran for cover or were grazed by the bullets. One of the mercenaries wised up and started to shoot at the floor, growling in an attempt to hit Welton as well. The bear stopped firing and limped forward again, not even bothering to look back at the hailstorm of bullets slowly coming his way. Welton saw another mercenary up ahead, peering across the corner of the wall he was hiding behind. The bear emptied the clip in his submachine gun, shooting directly at the cover the mercenary was using. His body slumped over and his gun clattered to the floor.

The bear was just about to reach the dead mercenary when Reilcuf finally revealed his ugly mug. Welton's eyes grew wide as the shark raised his handgun and fired at him. The bear threw himself to the right, firing his gun at the shark simultaneously and hitting him in the shoulder. Reilcuf dropped his gun and took cover behind a column. Welton panted as he kept firing at the shark, unloading the rest of the ammo in his submachine gun until he heard it click several times over. Welton tossed the empty gun aside in frustration and grunted as he stood back up, limping his way to the shark. When Reilcuf looked around the corner of column, he immediately held up his hands and blocked his face as the bear swiped his claws at him. The shark shouted as the bear lacerated his arm, causing it to bleed. Welton took out his handgun and started to aim for Reilcuf when the shark punched him in the face and started to grab the gun. Both beasts grunted and panted, tussling with each other as they tried to keep their hold on the handgun. Welton jerked his arm to the side when he heard someone fall down in the distance.

One of the wounded mercenaries from the floor above fell through the hole so he could aid Reilcuf and the others. But when he finally saw them, Welton had jerked his handgun in his direction and squeezed the trigger a few times. The mercenary fell to the floor after getting shot in the face twice. After that, Reilcuf and Welton continuously struggled to gain possession of the weapon, snarling at each other and trying to seek out the other's weakness. Welton shoved himself against the shark, causing them both to slam up against a metal support beam. He smashed the shark's hand against the hard metal, hoping he'd loosen his grip on the gun. He didn't. Two shots rang out and Reilcuf began to squeeze. The grizzly bear shouted as Reilcuf applied an intense amount of pressure on the bear's wrist. The shark grinned widely as he taunted his target.

"I killed your little bitch friend," he remarked.

Welton stopped struggling and stared at the scaly creature with wide eyes. Reilcuf laughed.

"'Twas a pleasure watching the life bein' sucked out of her. The way she looked up at me as I smothered her with my bare hands..."

Reilcuf inhaled sharply and exhaled, still grinning. "You should've seen it."

Welton didn't know what came over him, but after hearing the shark's words, all the pain and suffering he had just went through strangely went away. He roared in the shark's face as he wrapped both paws around his throat. Welton started to slam the shark's head against the metal support beam until Reilcuf reached forward and jammed a thumb into the bear's left eye. Welton shouted and let go just long enough for Reilcuf to crouch down and get the gun he dropped. Welton grabbed the shark again, twirling him around towards the staircase door. Reilcuf held onto the bear, and both anthros wound up tumbling through the door, breaking it down and entering the staircase. One of the mercenaries walking up the stairs shouted as the shark and bear fell on top of him. The three creatures rolled down the stairs, and during the tumble, the handgun went off, and the mercenary squealed as his neck was snapped by Welton's falling body. Reilcuf grunted and slowly took out his knife as he began to stand. Welton coughed and sat up, the wounds he received now becoming more apparent. Still, he managed to muster enough strength to leap forward and latch onto Reilcuf's back.

"I'll fucking kill you! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!!" the bear snarled.

Reilcuf screamed as the bear tore at his face and neck with his claws. Any deeper and he would've ruptured the gills entirely. The shark moved around the stairs erratically, not watching his step. He tripped and tumbled down more stairs, taking Welton along with him. Only this time, the bear was on top. Welton growled as he punched the shark too many times to count, bruising the shark's face so badly he nearly broke Reilcuf's left eye socket and knocked out one of his teeth. The shark held up his hands to defend his face, but it did no good, as the bear ruthlessly shoved them away and started to reach for Reilcuf's head. He started to smash it against the staircase, hoping his skull would shatter and his brain would turn into mush. Then Reilcuf reached up and pressed a thumb against the bullet wound in Welton's left breast. Welton shouted and stopped fighting Reilcuf long enough for him to grab him and haul him over his body and down more stairs. Reilcuf groaned and sluggishly started to run towards the bear, kicking him in the muzzle as he stood back up. The shark threw a few punches before he took his knife and plunged it deep into the bear's midriff. Welton groaned again as the blade went into his stomach. He felt blood building up inside his mouth as the shark grinned at him and started to twist the blade. Welton spat blood in Reilcuf's eyes, making the shark shout and back away. Then he grabbed the shark's chin with one paw and used the other to punch him in the windpipe twice. Reilcuf wheezed and dropped his knife.

Which Welton caught, and immediately stabbed the shark with. Reilcuf hollered after the blade pierced his scales and dug into his flesh. Welton stabbed him a second time, this time in the stomach. He stabbed him a third time, the blade finding its way in-between the shark's ribcage. As the shark was busy screaming, Welton was twisting the knife, hoping to put the anthro in as much pain as possible. Reilcuf, desperate, grabbed the bear and hurled himself backwards. Both creatures broke the weak metal railing and fell for a few seconds, their bodies landing at the bottom of the staircase. Welton wasn't moving. Reilcuf was having trouble breathing, his gills moving faster than normal. The shark coughed up some blood before he looked down at his vest and could see it was stained with crimson, along with vomit and fecal matter from earlier. He groaned as he tried to stand, only to fall back over again. That's when Welton finally stirred. The grizzly bear grunted a few times before he got to his knees. The shark leaned against the wall, catching his breath as he watched Welton stand up. Reilcuf frowned when he noticed that Welton was also carrying the handgun they were fighting over a few minutes ago. Welton stood to the best of his ability, painfully raising his right arm and pointing the handgun at Reilcuf. He squeezed the trigger.

The gun clicked. Welton blinked and squeezed it two more times. It was out of ammo. He let the gun fall to the floor, and instead brandished the knife he just stabbed the shark with. Reilcuf gasped. Welton started to limp towards him, growling and swearing to himself.

"WAIT! Wait! Hold on--jus...just hold on. Look at me, okay?"

"Fuck you," the wounded bear grumbled.

"NO! ...You hear that? Li-listen!"

Welton blinked. His ears wiggled as he heard a delightful sound in the distance. Sirens. Police. Paramedics. They were all coming. Someone must've heard the commotion and called the cops. Maybe Detective Laften traced the bear's phone call. Maybe a late-night jogger found Gengy's body in the bathrooms. Welton didn't care. Help was finally coming. Reilcuf laughed nervously as he stared at the bear.

"See? The police are coming! I...I've lost. You killed all my men. I give up! S-so...so arrest me."

"I'm not a cop...I'm a private investigator. Legally...I can't arrest you."

"Legally, you can't kill me either."

"Self-defense."

Welton took a few steps closer.

"Hold on! ...What will the cops say when they get here? You're the only survivor. There's bodies everywhere. They-they'll pin all this on you. You'll be thrown in jail for the rest of your life."

Reilcuf looked down at Welton's body. When the gun went off as they were tumbling down the stairs, it hit Welton in the stomach. The injury on his left leg was starting to bleed again. His body was completely bruised and scratched up, and he had bits of glass and wood stuck in his fur and flesh. To top that all off, part of his left ear was missing. Welton could barely stand, let alone hold the knife.

"Look at yourself...you're all fucked up, Welton. Just...just lie down. Wait for the paramedics to get here. If you keep this up, you'll die."

"I'm fine," he snarled.

"You can barely even walk! Why continue this needless fight? I'm surrendering! Don't...don't you wanna take me in?"

Welton stepped closer to Reilcuf.

"ALL RIGHT!" the shark said, whimpering and holding up his hands. "I-I-I can help you!"

"...Bullshit."

"I can! You think this all ends with me? I-I know people, Welton. I know names, places, identities, enough information to uncover this whole conspiracy. I can help you and the cops apprehend everyone connected to this! ...I'm just a soldier. You have no fucking idea how big this is!"

"I don't care," said the bear bluntly.

"What about your bitch friend, huh?"

"Cindy. Her name...was Cindy," Welton snarled.

"Yes, whatever. What would she say now? Huh? What would she think if she saw you here, about to kill another person in cold blood? How would she feel if she saw you pissing away your only opportunity to stop this chaos from happening? ...You think about that before you make your decision."

Welton blinked as he stared at the shark. "You say you...you're a soldier?"

"Mercenary, but yeah. I was just followin' orders, that's all. I'm sure you know what that's like. You were in the military. You had to have been; no ordinary person would've been able to kill all the mercenaries you killed tonight without some kind of training."

Welton nodded. "Yes...I was. I know what it's like to follow orders. ...But no one ever ordered me to slaughter innocent people."

Welton huffed as he tightened his grip. "I know exactly what Cindy would say. She...she wouldn't want this. She cared too much about other people...she'd want me to spare you. She'd want me to haul your ass into a prison cell and watch as you spilled your guts and...and revealed everything you know. She'd know that if I killed you, I'd only make things worse, not better."

Reilcuf nodded. "That's right...killing me would be a mistake. So drop--"

"You wanna know what she'd also say?"

Reilcuf blinked and shrugged. "What?"

"That you're a lying piece of shit!"

Reilcuf frowned and watched as Welton started to grit his teeth, his voice cracking as a couple tears ran down his face.

"She'd say you're a fuckin' sadist, a cruel, twisted, evil bastard who only cares about causing as much chaos and pain as possible! She'd call you a fuckin' coward, a spineless snake who can't even die with some form of dignity--you have to bargain and weasel your way to freedom! She'd say you're a monster...a gutless creature who should've died the second your mother gave birth to you! But Cindy can't say any of this to you. You wanna know why?"

"Welton--"

"BECAUSE YOU FUCKING KILLED HER!" the bear wailed.

Reilcuf couldn't do anything now. Any hopes of trying to convince Welton to spare him were gone.

"You...you don't deserve to live. Beasts like you don't deserve to live!"

Welton shouted as he charged for the shark, limping towards him with the knife still in paw. The shark stared at Welton with wide eyes, the blade only a few inches from his chest. Then Reilcuf sidled to the right and dodged the attack. He grabbed the back of Welton's head and smashed his muzzle into the wall so hard that he broke his nose. The bear was stunned, but only for a moment. As Welton turned to face Reilcuf, the shark pulled out a second knife he had concealed in his back pocket. Welton didn't even have time to raise his knife before the shark slashed his throat open. Welton gurgled and coughed, dropping his knife as blood began to gush out of the laceration. Reilcuf slowly grinned widely as he watched the bear walk backwards, stumbling and pressing his back against the wall. He gurgled again as the red fluids ran down his brown chest and stomach. Welton sat down on the floor hard, his body weak, unable to go on. Reilcuf snickered as he walked over to the bear, crouching down so he could look him in the eyes.

"I told you you'd die. I told you that you were all fucked up. But you didn't listen, did you?"

Reilcuf couldn't see any more fight left in the bear. He had a blank stare in his eyes, like he was hoping the shark would save him somehow, or that he had accepted what was happening.

"Did you really think I'd just give up like that? Did you really think I'd just give myself up to you, let myself get arrested? Hehe, but nice try though. At least you realized I was bullshitting you the whole time. Such a shame that I'm a lot faster than you...shame I had to kill you too. You almost fuckin' had me earlier. I mean, that's..."

Reilcuf shook his head and sighed. "You and I would've been perfect partners, working together, showing all those humans what worms they are. Oh well...least I get the pleasure of watching you bleed out."

Reilcuf didn't say anything more. He remained crouched, grinning as his icy blue eyes stared into Welton's yellow ones. Welton started to feel tired. He tried to move his paws, but his body had shut down on him. All he could do was move his head slowly and blink. The shark wagged his thick tail, growling and flaring his nostrils as he smelled the bear's blood getting all over his abdomen and pouring out of his mouth and throat. Reilcuf was enjoying himself to the fullest when someone burst into the building panting.

"Th-the cops are coming, Reilcuf! We gotta go!"

"In a minute, Fenkar."

The African wild dog walked over to the shark and could see that Welton was fatally wounded. "He's already dead, Reilcuf! If we stay here, they're gonna catch us!"

"I said in a fucking minute."

Welton wasn't paying attention to the shark or the canine. His vision was fading. All his strength was gone. The pain, miraculously, had gone away too. He saw no point in trying anymore. The bear slowly closed his eyes, sighing quietly as a little more blood came out his throat.

At least...at least I can finally see them...again...

Welton's head tilted downwards, and the bear stopped breathing. Reilcuf let out a satisfying growl and stopped wagging his tail as he stood up. There was no more he needed to do here. It was time for him and the others to leave.

"Reilcuf! Now!" Fenkar pleaded.

The shark nodded. He grunted as he limped away from the building, with Fenkar helping him walk as he tried to tolerate the wounds Welton inflicted upon him.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The police arrived several minutes later. Everyone stormed the building, looking for any survivors who could explain what went on before the shootout. But Fenkar, Reilcuf, and Reegar were nowhere to be found. The only mercenaries the police found were all dead, their bodies found in the park and around the construction site. And the only other person who would've been able to explain everything was sitting on the floor of the half-built skyscraper with his throat slit open.

None of them realized it was Welton Travyn.