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Counter Earth Chronicles - Dual Realities

Chapter 62: Certain Of Nothing

December 24th, YOE 25

11:13 AM Open Space (KLIS Spaceship)

The female KLIS frowned at the image of her former protege on the holographic viewscreen. He smirked back to taunt her. Mum frowned even more which caused Lum to smirk even more.

“Uh, Mum I solved that fourth dimensional puzzle you gave me." Cinder said walking into the grey alien's lab. “Does this mean I can go home? I haven't done my homework yet and I have a test tomorrow."

The little aardvark watched the female and male extraterrestrial's back and forth. It appeared that they were having some type of HUGE argument- telepathically.

“Is everything alright?" Cinder asked as the female KLIS ended the communication.

“I abhor his methods; they are too grandiose and ostentatious!" Mum Telegraphed floating by the little aardvark as she left her lab.

“Gee, what was that about?" The boy genius pondered.

11:33 AM Free Counter Earth's Moon (Mysterious Lab, Undisclosed Location)

The poor she panda had lost all sense of time since she, Milo and Yoana were captured by the KLIS. She spent what she thought was a few days in that orange circular examination room. The merged form of Yoana and Milo watched helplessly as the greys did who knows what to her.

And then she was taken to this red and grey room where this eyeball stared through her inner being for the better half of a week. She was rendered passive and docile while it mapped her cellular structure, her genetic code down to her atoms.

Panda Lee pleaded for help. The eyeball said there would be no help, it was only she and it in that room. When it had finished documenting her insides she was placed in what looked like a small conical volcano which arose from the floor of the room. It enveloped her right up to her chest, most likely studying her externally. The eyeball had encouraged her to relieve herself if she needed to; it wanted to analyze her liquid and solid waste in an effort to study the efficiency of her circulatory and digestive systems. The she panda could do nothing but comply.

There she remained for another week. Occasionally something was jammed into her cub tunnel and vibrated as reward for her compliance. Of course the eyeball observing her reaction when she orgasmed.

But now the adolescent she panda found herself freed; the conical device had descended into the floor and the eyeball that stared through her soul recessed into the wall of the red and black room. It was dimly lit and she was alone.

Panda Lee tried blindly tried to navigate where she was. She placed her paws on the wall trying to find an entrance, an exit. But the wall was sinuous, curvy. It would end and another would arise from there and she would follow it blindly.

Eventually she realized that she was in a maze trying to find her way out. Turn, wrong turn. Trial and error led the she panda to the maze's center.

It was there while feeling her way around, the wall gave way to a frame… perhaps a door? Underneath was not an exit but a hooded individual… its face obscured with the exception of eight red eyes. Three long talons extended from its paws and foot-paws.

“I am for you beast child." It said as it attacked Panda Lee.

*slice* *slice* *slice* *slice*

The she panda felt intense pain around her midsection. She looked at her stomach to see her entrails falling out. That thing had sliced her like a cantaloupe.

“Why are you doing this?!" She blood-coughed.

“Because you are here." It replied raising it's claws for another strike, possibly the killer blow.

_11:53 AM Free Counter Earth (Deer-feeder's office, Oasis) _

“Will come in." Deer-feeder said, greeting his second in command. “How is Spirted Spirt holding up?"

“As well as can be expected." The blond haired man in the green pants, brown boots, a brown shirt and frilled collar with the nicely trimmed beard said entering Riz's office. “I heard you made contact with THEM."

“You mean Lum? Yes." The bald headed man with the nicely trimmed beard asked.

“What was his reaction sir?"

“The usual Will. Just the *stare* but you didn't come to my office just to hear that, did you?"

“No. The empire has a new problem on their hands." The nicely dressed man said smirking.

“Oh?" Riz asked.

“Protests." Mr. Masters replied, still smirking.

“I thought the mind control device prevented the humans from doing anything the beasties deemed unruly?"

“It is not the humans that are protesting sir, it is the beastials, they are demanding that something be done about the extraterrestrial incursions; they are scared sir."

“How interesting!" The bald headed man with the nicely trimmed beard said smiling. “To be a fly on the high mucky mucky muck's wall right now."

12:20 PM Free Counter Earth's Moon (Undisclosed Lab, Undisclosed Location)

“Is the pressure alright ma'am?" The male sun bear asked.

“It is simply wonderful." The nude female ursine replied as a set of paws kneaded her shoulders. “I am enjoying the company as well."

Commander Ursa's masseuse was tall and thin with an orange colored marking on his chest resembling a bib. It matched his orange colored snout and his beady eyes.

“Why thank you ma'am we aim to please." He replied as he moved his magic paws down the length of her back to the upper part of her rump. Then downward. He grabbed two pawfuls of asscheek and continued to rub and knead there, before moving on to the lady bear's tail.

“Divine!! Simply divine!!" The she beast moaned as he finished.

“If you could roll over ma'am. It is time to work on your front."

Commander Ursa complied.

“Oh my! Excuse me, that was rather unprofessional."

“Do you like what you see?" The brown bear teased as she felt the male bear's eyes analyze her anatomy.

“Yes." The he beast said as both his paws reached for her breasts.

He spent an awfully long time there before moving on to her stomach where he rubbed and kneaded there and then stopped.

Commander Ursa then watched as the sun bear removed the only article of clothing he was wearing- his towel and climbed up on the table with his client. He gently stretched her sex rubbing all sides of her cub tunnel before aligning the opening with his penis and then entering.

“Did I order the full body massage?"

“You did ma'am please enjoy." The sun bear said to the brown bear as he started thrusting. “UMF, UMF, UMF, UMF!"

*UNGFF!!!*

12:50 PM Free Counter Earth's Moon (Orange Room, Undisclosed Location)

“What are we going to do? What are we going to do?" Milo asked shaking.

“You are panicking? This is the thanks I get for letting you stretch your legs?" The female goo creature chided.

“Thank you Yoana for setting me free if only for a little while." The less rotund wolverine boy replied.

“Yes and?" She countered.

“But it is only a matter of time before the KLIS find your weakness- then de-power you and…."

“It gets bad for the both of us. I get it." Yoana replied.

“We have to get out of here!" Milo shouted.

“You are assuming that I know what here is." The female free person said making sure no one could peer into the glass dome where she and Milo were talking.

“Can you envelop one of the KLIS- I mean use them to power up?"

“Yuck. They aren't delectable in the least." Yoana countered. “I would even go as far as to say they are disgusting."

“You mean as compared to me?" The wolverine said noticing that he had lost some weight during the ordeal.

“In all fairness though chubby I have slowed my feeding off of you, that is why..."

“I am faring better than Primrose, Minka and Arthur when you and your friends used them?"

“Yes." Yoana said, growing silent.

“What is it?"

“I think I might have an idea."

“Really?" Milo asked with a tinge of hope in his voice.

“They are back. We need to merge." The goo creature warned.

“Crap."

“Just relax and give yourself to me."

*Power Up*

The six foot tall canid goo creature watched two of the greys press a series of buttons on some translucent displays. The glass dome she was encased in was heated to a very high temperature.

The goo creature shriveled up, falling to the floor of the dome.

“Oh ya got me!!"

The two scientists looked at each other. The next thing Yoana knew the glass dome was being lifted.

“Not!" She said shooting some of herself at her would be tormentors.

They repelled the gook that was thrown at them as if they had personal force fields surrounding them. One of the globs they had repelled, started crawling toward the exit and into the corridor off to explore this wherever they were.

1:10 PM Free Counter Earth's Moon (Very Dark Room, Undisclosed Location)

It had been another tough morning for Dr. Pina. The aliens had taken a particular interest in the beastial scientist since our arrival at wherever we were for reasons I am not sure of why. Perhaps they knew he was Sir Ram's replacement?

Well for the last week they had been particularly hard on him. It began with the removal of his horns and accelerated from there. Today his legs had been amputated and then surgically reattached. Without anesthesia!

The dall sheep was in particular pain as he cried himself to sleep. I tried to comfort him the best I could, reminding him that apart from the physical pain he had received, they had put him back together- correctly; his legs still worked as well as before. But I could see it in his eyes he wasn't going to be able to stand this much longer. But those that the aliens had harvested from Castle Wundagore, Lord Tiger, Lian, Lea included- this had been their reality for months if not longer.

Only Lady Vermin had found her way back. Something was bothering me about this. It was the fact that the KLIS had all but ignored me during our confinement- no visits, no hi how are you doing? No updates on Sorren or my mistress either.

That was until now. I was sleeping on what remained of the dall sheep after his very awful no good very bad morning. I was awakened by my clairvoyance. The blue spotlight was still being shined upon us- but it was beyond that spotlight that was of concern; we were being observed by someone.

“So all this is because of you?" I said as the spotlight above turned from blue to white. My docility, passivity faded and my bodily functions reasserted themselves; I had the very urgent need to relieve liquid and solid wastes from my body. “Um, hold that thought."

It wasn't the female KLIS scientist that had abducted my mistress all those years ago but her protege- the one who had branched out on his own… the one who worked with Deer-feeder to take down Sir Ram and Mara. He smiled as I made sure the dall sheep was asleep while I did my business over that hole in the center of our cell.

“Come." He telegraphed to me when I had finished.

“This didn't feel like the female's operation." I said following him out of the very dark room which I realized might as well been the size of a warehouse; many KLIS prisoners besides us were being held there. I lost count of how many blue spot lights I had seen.

Outside there was a corridor with five more rooms just like it.

“Your superiors begged for your safe return." The male KLIS scientist telegraphed to me as he floated and I walked.

“And in light of your past dealings with the new rebellion you decided to honor that request?"

He turned around and smiled at me again.

There was that silence. Okay he did pick up some bad habits from the female KLIS.

"Soooo what exactly is this place?"

“From your perspective the office. Yes my office, let's go with that."

“It is a nice size- do you rent or own it outright?" I quipped as we strolled by several orange circular rooms- laboratories.

“Where is here exactly?"

He guided me to a window. I looked out it to see a desolate lunar landscape.

“Perfect place for a base of operations." I said as I saw a reflection on the window from another nearby research room. This one was black and red. I was drawn to it- inside was a teenage she panda inside a conical structure rising up to her neck from the floor. “Panda Lee?"

Several rooms later I saw my perfect person on a padded table- unrestrained something jammed inside her vagina moaning as several greys studied holographic displays around her.

“Mistress?"

“Forget what you have seen here." The male scientist ordered me.

“That is a very generous offer sir, but I can not." I replied, turning to look at him.

“Oh?"

“The panda girl in that room over there is a friend of mine and the brown bear in that lab, well she is my lover."

“Don't you have a someone special some where else?" The male KLIS scientist asked pressing a sequence of buttons on a holographic display.

“Yes." I admitted.

“So you have two lovers in opposition to each other?"

“Well, when you put it like that, yeah. It is pretty messed up and I have trouble picking a side."

The grey alien scientist smiled.

“Hey don't judge me! Some of those you have harvested are also friends of mine. Yeah they are citizens of a dictator that represses humans but even so…"

“And you also have friends who are working to free your kind from the dictator that is repressing you."

“Uh, yeah. Bottom line I can't in good conscience leave here knowing what you are doing to my mistress, Sorren, Lord Tiger, Lian, Lea, Panda Lee and lord knows countless others!

Are you sure? He asked leading away from the lab my mistress was in.

At the very end of the corridor was a walkway leading to another dark room and in its center was the scout ship!!!

“You can walk away from all this, right here right now. Stay with your comrades in that forest and forget the beastials… all of them."

Memories of all I have known and interacted with on Counter Earth over the years flashed in front of me. My lover, acquaintances, friends, foes and enemies.

“No! No, no way, forget it" I immediately replied. “I was an accessory to the harvesting of Caste Wundagore; in a way I was responsible for all of this!"

“Still trying to straddle to both sides? Very well then."

(Uh Oh!)

*YOINK*

I was levitated away and taken to a vacant orange circular room and strapped to a padded table. It happened so fast!

Adjacent to my torture table was another human- Barely. He had brown hair, long finger nails, yellowish orange skin with black stripes, a cat-like nose, human ears and even smaller feline ears on the top of his head!

(Wait this is another beastial who they converted to a human isn't it?!)

“What have you done to me?!" He screamed.

“And now… time for a little stare and compare." A voice echoed through my head.

_1:20 PM Free Counter Earth Rumble and Corey's Lair (Forests near World Five) _

“By order of the knights of Sovereign, all vagabonds living out here must return to the city!" A voice over a loud speaker boomed.

“Must obey beastial superiors, must return to World Five." Corey Collins said struggling from within the werewolf's grasp.

“...no…" Rumble grumbled. “...they are collecting those that have strayed…"

“Those that have strayed…" The black haired teen repeated out loud.

The werewolf looked at his boy- he had been behaving weirdly since the orange bobbles appeared in their forest. It must be the reason the humans living outside the city limits had all disappeared. The empire found a way to control their humans. Corey was no exception.

Rumble longed to hear a snide remark, a jab, bitting quip from his teen. He didn't, only compliance.

“Must obey." Corey said, reaching for the trapdoor of their below ground hide-away.

Didn't his boy know what he was doing?

Rumble scented the air. He was certain a patrol was combing the forest looking for more second class citizens.

“...I wish you would go back to the way you were…" He mumbled.

“Yes master…"

*boing*

“What is this snuggle time?!" Corey asked looking down at the paws that were holding him and then at who they belonged to.

“...Corey…!" The were said nuzzling his human.

“Not that I mind though…. Yeah this is nice."

“...yes it is…"

“Say Tiny… why do I have an unbelievable urge to turn myself in?"

1:50 PM Free Counter Earth's Moon (Orange Room, Undisclosed Location)

“Oh my it seems that you have re-imprisoned me." Yoana said feigning fear.

The two grey aliens continued testing the six foot tall canid goo creature that had attacked them earlier; they pressed even more buttons on their holographic displays watching how Yoana reacted underneath the glass dome.

*ATOMIC DECONSTRUCTION*

“Nice try…."

*INTENSE COLD*

“Kinda nippy in here. But still nice."

*INTENSE WIND*

“Whee!!!" The black goo creature said gliding on the gusts.

*DELUGE*

“That water is tasty!"

The grey aliens looked at each other. They were totally flummoxed.

“Ba ha ha ha ha! Perplexed are we now?" Yoana taunted her captors.

*Power Down*

“Wait! What just happened?"

*pop*

The six foot canid go creature was no more in its place a weakened wolverine boy and a female free person.

“I don't feel so good." Milo moaned.

They had been discovered!

The goo creature placed a tentacle on Milo's head. “You are extremely exhausted and fatigued."

“That is why we separated?" The wolverine boy asked.

“Of all the times not now! I had even slowed my feeding off you." Yoana said in front of the astonished KLIS scientists. Who looked at each other then smiled wickedly at their prey.

“Sorry to disappoint you. Wait, you were feeding off of me?! Milo said leaning up against the glass enclosure.

“Not the time!" Yoana shouted as the glass enclosure disappeared and the weak wolverine boy was levitated away.

“LEAVE HIM! HE IS MINE!" The goo creature shouted jumping up and down.

But it is hard to intimidate your tormentors when you aren't really intimidating.

*BAP*

Yoana was sent flying across the room and into the glass enclosure housing Dr. Pina's creation.

“Chubby!!" She shouted out as Milo Silver was taken from her, from the lab they had been in for the last two weeks to have who knows what done to him.

The female goo creature shriveled up as she watched her host being taken away. She and him were completely, totally, utterly screwed. She thought as she traded glances with the tanuki in the adjacent glass dome. Or were they?

To Be Continued….

[MEANWHILE]

December 24th, YOE 25

11:13 AM Open space (Bridge, KLIS' Spaceship)

“The captives and/or prisoners have been bathed, their cells have been cleaned Mum." The little aardvark said bowing respectively at his mistress.

The female KLIS scientist that had taken him, his cousin, the dinosaur beasital and a human stowaway after the fall of Counter Earth was quiet. She was transfixed on a hexagonal work station with five pilots around it touching its controls furiously.

“Mum, is everything ok?" Cinder asked approaching the extraterrestrial. The grey alien turned around to face him, as she did he noticed that her face had a goofy smirk.

It was too late! He had touched her before realizing what was so very wrong. “Cinder's fur started vibrating as his soul was pushed to the side and a new tenant had taken over his body.

“This one will do very nicely, next the ship and then the rest of the galaxy!"

“NO!" The little aardvark gasped, stirring.

“How you can even sleep right now is beyond me!" Ember said to his cousin.

The young prodigy looked around- he and his cousin were in the dark room underneath one of those all and encompassing spotlights. All around him the skyship shook and shuddered as if in some type of battle.

“What's going on?"

“I don't know but it doesn't sound good." The older of the aardvarks said as the light above their 'cage' flickered out; they were free.

“Let's go." Ember said, grabbing his cousin's paw.

“K'ay."

Mum's servants made their way to the bridge with no resistance. Which meant things were really bad right now.

As they entered the room they found the ship's pilots around a hexagonal station frantically pressing controls, buttons and dials. Mum was nearby looking at four holographic monitors. All were focused on a large triangular ship similar to hers which was moving at high speed. Occasionally shooting this yellow beam of light.

“That is not our ship is it?" Ember asked everyone in the room. The five greys around the hexagonal control panel looked up at him and then back down to what they were doing.

“Ember, the ship is under attack." Cinder replied stating the obvious.

“By who?"

“ONE." Mum projected to her aardvark servants.

The female alien watched as the little aardvark calmly walked out of the room and off of the bridge.

“Cinder, where are you going?" Ember called out to his cousin.

“I am going to find a closet." The littlest aardvark said.

“Why?" The older of the two asked looking back at Mum and then his cousin.

“To hide in!"

11:33 AM Chaundoon (Wild's Restaurant, World Seven Central Tower)

“Momma, this place is completely full." The first pitbull cub asked.

“Are we going to be able to find a seat?" The second inquired.

“Will we have to eat in the hallway?" The third opined.

The ugly female pitbull stared at her brood. “Tano, Nano and Tumuda. I want you three on your best behavior or no dessert."

“Yes momma!" Masha's cubs replied in unison.

“Morning Miss Masha table for four?" Mia asked greeting the colony council member and her family.

“Yes dear, but do you even have any space?"

“Little Gia will find you a table." Hue and Dianna's adopted daughter said smiling. “If you will follow her."

The mute she dingo and female human looked adorable in their black waitress uniforms. Even Masha noticed while she followed their hostess. Yup, there were a few tables left and they managed to snag one.

“Panda Lee, Ms. Mallow and Ms. Fuller thank you for helping out- the rush never seems to end." Hue said looking at the incoming orders.

“It is because our humble city is becoming a major destination now dear." Dianna said to her mate.

“We are glad to help!" The cheeky monkey said grinning.

“Like for sure!" The she orangutan said feigning happiness while noticing her flickering seemed to have gotten worse.

“Uh oh, looks like you have customers at table six." The panda said to the monkey.

“On it!" Minka said walking over to the restaurant's newest patrons. “Good morning! You come here often handsome?"

“Um, not really." The dark akita replied. “But I just might from now on."

“I think he likes the atmosphere and the company." Arthur said as the she monkey locked eyes with her akita.

“Or it must be his new found confidence since he began dying his fur." Milo said piling on.

Midnight Black gave his dining companions an assassin's stare.

“Um, I think we better place our orders." Arthur said blushing.

“And quickly." Milo noted.

At table nine…

“Pretty lady bear looks even prettier today." The dark brown bear with the v shaped birthmark across his chest said to his dining companion.

“And I don't every morning?" Lady Ursa asked her breeding partner.

“Err… um…"

Boy did he walk into that one!

“With everything going on in knight command it is nice to get away for a break." The senior knight commented.

“Construction and maintenance have been busy too since city's population spike." Boris countered. “Speaking of population increase…. Boris knows pretty lady bear loves family and daughter…."

“And you want to know if you could convince me to have another one despite what I said I would do to you if you ever 'touched' me again?"

“Boris knows pregnancy was difficult."

“And the labor and birth." Lady Ursa replied, lifting an eyebrow.

“But with family our size raising daughter has not been stressful." The dark brown bear countered.

“We have Alex and Shakara to thank for that." The she bear said staring down the he bear.

“Would pretty lady bear consider?"

“Lady Ursa and Boris may I take your order?" Little Corey asked approaching the two bears. Hue and Dianna's adopted son looked at the pleading expression on Boris' face and the horrified reaction on Lady Ursa's. “I see that you two need a little more time. I will be back."

Based on their reactions Little Corey decided to give the dining couple a lot of extra time.

At table thirteen…

“Schwee, schwee, schwee, schwee!" The adorable blue slime said to the bemused dingo waitress.

“Um, I am sorry what did Addy say?" Tina asked the miniature pony and she skunk.

“She said she wanted the house special." The grey and white pony said to the dingo.

“You know what, I will as well." Nikka added. “What about you Russell?"

“Sure. We will have to keep our meal short we have to get back to the bed and breakfast." The miniature pony replied.

“You three have been quite busy with your hotel?" Tina asked her patrons.

“Very busy." The she skunk said. “The city's population is increasing every day."

“I can see it here too." Russell said looking around.

At table two…

“Mitsa and Lune on lunch break?" Panda Lee asked.

“Yeah we snuck out for a quick bite." The male dalmatian replied scanning the restaurant.

“But only a quick bite dear- I think everyone here will be heading over to our place after they are done with their meals." The female dalmatian replied.

“Yeah- I think we are about to be slammed next."

At table eight…

“King Dragon and Duchess Jua continue to hear reports about more structures appearing around the planet like the one professor Stern encountered."

“Do they pose any threat Shira?" The jackal asked the saber tooth tigress.

“Unknown at this time."

“But if it does, can you imagine the panic?" Titanous said thinking out loud. “Perhaps the Nexus was a better place to ride out the after empire era."

“What is that supposed to mean?" Shira asked her dining companion.

“Life there is stable, constant, uneventful."

“And boring Titanous. On Chaundoon there is always something going on."

“That is for sure." The jackal said thinking about the year that had just passed and the friends that they had lost during the upheaval including the third member of their trio Gia.

“Alright, here are your orders." Flo said presenting two plates- fish and chips for the handsome canine and like, grilled fish for the pretty feline. May I get you anything else?

“Yes, how about two glasses of water and…" Titanous replied.

Flo raised her pad and pencil preparing to write the order.

*flicker* *flicker*

Only to have her tools fall through her paws light she was a ghost.

“Hold on one second." She said kneeling to pick them up. But she couldn't.

“Flo, is something wrong?" Shira asked her orangutan server.

“I seem to be very clumsy today."

At table six…

“It seems Minka, Flo and even you Mr. Black are enjoying some time away from what we normally do. Should we make it permanent?" Arthur asked.

“I supposed at some point we should get back on the proverbial horse." The dark akita said as he watched some of the restaurant's patrons stand up from their chairs and move toward table eight. Then there was a few more, then a whole crowd!

“Good- I think I could find us a…"

“Arthur!" Milo shouted pointing.

The hedgehog boy followed the former assassin and rotund wolverine to where the patrons of the restaurant had congregated.

“Meena, Tilikum, Gulay, Khai what is going on?" Midnight Black asked the meerkat mechanics who were at the end of the crowd.

“It is Flo!" Gulay shouted.

1:20 PM Chaundoon (Woodlands near World Seven)

“Why did we agree to this Rumble?" The white wolf asked the brown.

“...community service…" The brown wolf said to the white.

“Yeah, Kip and Yogi wanted the city's school to have some sort of intercollegiate athletics."

“…intercollegiate…?"

“A sports program Rumble. It is rather hard to do when there aren't any other teams nearby." Corey Collins said to his fellow wolf.

“...or schools…"

“Head's up here they come again!" The former human warned.

“Pass it! Pass it! Trail shouted to Ganzel.

“Done! Now what?" Ganzel asked.

“You are supposed to kick the ball past Rumble into the net!" Kip shouted.

“Like this!" Yogi replied, receiving the pass from the black bear cub.

“Oh." The dragon brothers said in unison.

The werewolves watched as the quartet made their way down the impromptu field toward their net. They kicked the ball back and forth between themselves as they maneuvered around Corey. At last they approached their final target- Rumble!

*kick*

The he beast snorted as the red ball bounced off his chest. Denied.

Not one to give up, Ganzel kicked the rebound back toward the goal which again bounced off of Rumble's torso. Denied again.

Trail caught the rebound and returned it. The ball made a weird arching motion right over Rumble and the net!

“Well that was almost a goal!" Kip shouted.

“We are improving!" Yogi added.

“You played this game on your world?" Trail asked.

“Sometimes." Corey replied. “Most of the time we watched, you see there were these professional teams that played."

“It was a big event for spectators- the partying, the crowds, and the food." Yogi added.

“It is a fun game once you learn the basics." Kip added. “I played a variation of the game before…"

“Before your hidden colony was discovered, captured and placed in suspended animation by the high evolutionary." The white werewolf said, finishing the bear cub's sentence.

That created an awkward silence between the six players.

“...nice one…" Rumble paw slapped his fellow wolf and the back of his head.

“Ah so perhaps we should go find our ball?" Corey said, smiling nervously.

“You know you look weird when you do that right?" Basil and Rose's son asked.

The two sand dragons, two werewolves, bear and yeti went in search of their ball in the nearby woods with multi-colored trees.

“Found it!" Ganzel said, picking it up.

“That ain't all we found." Kip said pointing.

“Well that is new." Trail added.

“New how?" The white wolf asked.

“...that wasn't here last week…." The brown wolf grumbled.

About a half mile from their position were six white glistening towers about 25 feet in height rising from the forest. Around the structures nicely manicured green space that could have rivaled Friendship Park.

“These are some more of those weird structures appearing around the planet aren't they?" The manufactured toy asked.

“Yeah." Kip replied. "I heard the grown ups talking about it."

“And now some have appeared in our backyard practically." Corey replied.

“They are rather striking to look at though." Ganzel observed.

“I guess we should investigate." Trail added.

“...bad idea…" Rumble said sniffing the air.

“What are you sniffing?" Corey asked his wolf. “I am not sensing anything."

“...you have much to learn little wolf…"

“What?! Just because I don't groom myself like you do?!" Corey shot back.

The brown and white weres soon discovered that their teammates had abandoned them to investigate the structures.

“And they are gone. Come on Rumble."

1:50 PM Chaundoon (Infirmary, Central Tower)

“I can't explain it, her life signs are stable!" My apprentice said running the scanner over our patient.

“Pestle, let me see." I said reaching for the triangular scanner.

I repeated the same scans as our resident S'mar healer.

“Like how bad is it?" The female orangutan asked. “Am I dying?"

“No, according to the readings you are the picture of health and nothing is wrong with you."

“But there is." Ms. Fuller said looking and her paws and the rest of herself.

“Alex, how is she?" Minka said wandering into the room. She was followed by Arthur and Midnight Black.

“I have never seen anything like this!" I gasped. “I can't explain it."

“I think I know." Mr. Speedwell said.

All eyes in the medical room turned toward the hedgehog boy.

“It is the same phenomena that allowed us to come back to the Eeth's realm from the one next to it."

“Uh, what is a realm?" My skinny protege asked.

“A pocket reality outside of this reality." I said to the bare chested loin cloth wearing healer. I soon realized I was trying to describe something beyond his understanding. “Think of this reality as a large flowing river. Well, a pocket reality or realm is a tributary off of that flowing river."

“That hurts my head."

“You mean we were able to come back from the realm of fire and magma because the veil between realms weakened just enough to pull us back?" Minka asked.

“And pull that damn wolf demon to this side." The dark akita said crossing his arms.

“And you brought me along for the ride. For that I am grateful." Flo said smiling.

“But now it looks like the veil is strengthening…." Arthur observed.

“And like I am being pulled back." The she orangutan said holding out her paw. Arthur and Minka reached for it.

“Yes. I was afraid of this." The hedgehog boy said, tearing up.

“I will make sure next time to use a portal instead." The she orangutan joked.

“Can't you do something about this healer?" The former assassin asked me indignantly.

“Midnight Black, I am a medic, not a quantum physicist!" I snapped back.

“How long do I have?" Ms. Fuller asked, looking at her flickering body.

Everyone in the room fell silent.

To Be Continued….