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and Rupert must fight for not only his and Frances's dignity, but their lives.
(Also on AO3)
The story of the golden mask's fate will be continued in ‘Destiny Delta - Road 1: The Cosmic Catalyst’", "writing": " One moment, everything was fine. The next, Rupert’s worst fears had come true. \n His kiss with Frances was broken forcefully as she was grabbed from behind, being pulled back by Norik’s arm and thrown into the wall. Rupert could only watch in terror as the strong Russian wolf approached him, raising the golden mask that was still in his hand. \n [i]‘No!’[/i] Rupert thought, [i]‘We weren’t quick enough!’[/i]\n He looked to Frances, checking to make sure she was alright. As he saw her struggling to get up, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his skull as Norik hit him over the head with the mask.\n\n In an instant, Rupert opened his eyes and found himself in a different place. Another world entirely. It was daytime now, and he was standing on a shore - but not one that looked anything like Sandy Cove. This was an island, with a large volcano in the middle that seemed to pierce the sky.\n\n But as quickly as it’d appeared, the strange vision was gone, and Rupert was back in the ship’s control room again. Norik was about to beat him over the head again when Rupert crouched down and pulled on the wolf’s ankle as hard as he could, yanking him off balance and onto his back just long enough to buy him a few seconds. He looked around the room for anything he could use, spotting a fire extinguisher in a glass case on the wall. \n [i]‘Perfect’,[/i] he thought, quickly punching the glass with his fist and pulling the fire extinguisher out before pulling the tab and spraying it directly on Norik’s face. \n [b]“CYKA BLYAT!”[/b] the wolf roared in anger as he let go of the mask, receiving even more of the fine powder in his mouth. Rupert continued directing it at Norik as he made his way around him and kicked the mask over to Frances, who was now standing again - albeit a bit dizzy. \n “C’mon, Rupert!” Frances said, picking up the mask as they reached the door. Rupert looked at Norik as he held the fire extinguisher in his hand, a dark thought crossing his mind. He could kill Norik. Slay this monster, before he could hurt the woman he loved. It would be the simplest solution, after all. \n However, Rupert’s conscience wouldn’t allow him. The very thought of taking someone’s life… it was something that Rupert found himself incapable of doing. He was better than Norik, and that was something Rupert took pride in - unlike this soulless wolf, he [i]valued[/i] life. \n So as much as he wanted to put Norik out of his misery, Rupert instead decided to simply escape with Frances, chucking the fire extinguisher at Norik’s face as they left. \n But when Rupert and Frances reached the ropes, they stopped in their tracks as they were greeted by a familiar human and snow leopard, who were pointing their guns at them. Without thinking, Rupert held his arms out and stood in front of Frances to protect her. \n “Rupert…” Frances whispered loud enough for him to hear, her heart both warmed with overwhelming love and chilled to the bone with the fear that Rupert was willing to sacrifice himself for her. “If we make it out of this alive, I am [i]marrying[/i] you. And that’s not a question.”\n Rupert said nothing, trembling with fear as he faced down the Russians. But in his heart, he [i]did[/i] want to marry Frances; he just didn’t want to get his hopes up that they would make it off this boat alive. Things certainly weren’t looking good.\n And they were only about to get worse. \n Frances yelped out in pain as she was roughly grabbed from behind again, with Norik putting her in a headlock in one arm and grabbing one of her breasts with another. \n “Drop it,” he commanded grimly in her ear, and Frances dropped the mask to the floor of the deck. Rupert turned his head back to see that, although his furry face was covered in a thick layer of powder and his eyes were red as blood, Norik had mostly recovered.\n “Heh, you know…” Norik said in Frances’s ear. “I knew whole time you two were spying on us. From under window, from behind fence, I can [i]smell[/i] you. And you, my little prekrasnyy… smell so… [i]breedable.”[/i]\n The wolf pressed his wet nose to Frances’s hair, inhaling deeply. Frances felt the most sickening kind of goosebumps, her muscles stiffening in resistance to his touch.\n “Don’t…” Rupert muttered, his voice trembling. “Don’t touch her.”\n “What is dis?” Norik chuckled, amused by Rupert’s fear. “Speak up.”\n “Don’t you [i]fucking[/i] touch her!” Rupert shouted, his blood boiling.\n “Ah, you are going to do the cryings, little bear cub? Piss in pants, maybe?” the wolf said mockingly. “WAAAH, WAAAH! Like lost little baby.”\n He and his comrades cackled.\n “Tell you what…” Norik said, giving Frances’s cheek a lick. “We make deal, da? I put baby in you, make crybaby boyfriend watch as I make you woman. And in exchange… you both get to leave this ship with your lives. You can spend the rest of your pathetic lives on this beach if you want, raising my pup. Is very good deal, I promise you this.”\n Frances and Rupert felt tears dripping down their faces, appalled by Norik’s revolting proposal. But at this point… what other choice did they have?\n “You are… absolutely [i]putrid,”[/i] Frances growled through her teeth. “And vile. You’re no man. You’re a disgrace, and I hope you die a painful death.”\n “But…?” Norik asked, expectantly.\n “If you promise to let us go, then…” Frances shuddered as she sighed, looking to Rupert. This was far from an ideal situation, but if it meant keeping the one she loved safe, then she would do anything. “Okay.”\n The wolf turned his head, hacking up some of the powder he’d inhaled earlier. \n “Er, boss,” the human named Iruni spoke up again. “Your face, it is not looking so good. Leave girl with us, we’ll watch them both while you get cleaned up.”\n Norik nodded, letting Frances go as he went into a coughing fit and headed for the washroom. Once the wolf was gone, Frances rushed into Rupert’s arms, sobbing. Rupert turned to the two gunmen, hoping to appeal to their better nature.\n “Please, sirs. We… won’t tell anyone you were here. Just let us go.”\n The snow leopard and the human looked at each other and nodded, lowering their guns. The snow leopard spoke first, his voice having changed into a British accent.\n “So sorry for the spot of trouble you’ve gotten mixed up into. Have to keep up appearances and all that.”\nRupert and Frances stared in confusion, feeling completely lost. \n “We’re with MI5,” Iruni said and he pulled out a badge, his accent also now British. “We’re actually double-agents sent to sabotage foreign spies and terrorists. But you didn’t hear that from us.”\n He winked, tapping the side of his nose.\n “S-so… you’re going to let us go?” Frances asked hopefully. \n “Yes, but you should leave before he gets back.” the snow leopard said, gesturing to the ropes. “Let us take care of-”\n “Take care of [i]what,[/i] exactly?”\n Everyone turned to see Norik had returned, pointing a pistol at them. Having been compromised, the snow leopard and the human counter-spies pointed their guns at the wolf and pulled the trigger - but the chambers were empty. \n “You think because I am Russian, I am stupid?” Norik asked before shooting the snow leopard in the foot, who let out a scream of pain. “That was warning shot, Mikael. I know all along that all three of you were traitors, but now that I have mask, I no longer have need of you. Now, you will do what I say.”\n He pointed the gun at the leopard. \n “You, fix control panel. If it’s not fixed by sunrise, you die. And you, Iruni. Stay where I can see you, so you cannot do the schemings with Mikael.”\n Norik grabbed Frances again, yanking him away from Rupert and pointing the gun to her head as he began backing up.\n “I always get what I want. So I am going to screw this bitch’s brains out, and if anyone tries to stop me, I’ll [i]blow[/i] her brains out instead.”\n He held Frances by the back of her collar, slowly backing up further while holding the gun to her head. Rupert desperately thought of anything he could do to stop this, looking around for a solution. He looked down at the mask at his feet, remembering the strange vision he’d had. It was such a strange shape; it vaguely looked like some kind of ceremonial Maori mask from Polynesia, but it was almost [i]alien[/i] in design. And it was large - much too large to fit on any normal person’s face. \n Rupert picked it up, noticing how it really [i]was[/i] as light as a feather. \n “I’ve got another deal for you, wolf,” he said. “You want [i]this,[/i] right? If you bring this to your General Secretary back home, you get all the women and money you could ever want?”\n “Give it to me, or I’ll-!” Norik backed up again and pulled his thumb down with a metallic click on the chamber. \n “Give [i]her[/i] to me, or this mask belongs to the ocean.” Rupert held the mask over the side of the ship. “Is one girl really worth all the riches you’ll have with this thing?”\n “...Fine. We trade. Just bring it to me, no funny business, and you can take this bitch with you.” Norik said, stopping in place. “She’s probably used goods anyway.”\n Rupert slowly and cautiously approached Norik with the mask, careful not to make any sudden movements. When he got closer, Norik instinctively backed up more.\n “Well I certainly can’t give you the mask if you keep backing away from me, now can I?” Rupert asked, as they nearly reached the back of the ship.\n “You are up to something, I know it,” Norik growled. “You have look of mischief in eye.”\n “No mischief, I promise,” Rupert said, holding it out to him. “Now let her go.”\n “I think not, little bear,” the wolf replied, “I let her go, you throw mask overboard.”\n “Well I hardly think I can give it to you unless you let her go or drop the gun,” Rupert retorted slyly. “Unless…”\n “What?” Norik asked.\n “I could put it on your face. It [i]is[/i] a mask, after all. Then will you let her go?” Rupert asked. He could tell by the expression on Norik’s face that he had him right where he wanted him. “Who knows, it might look good on you.”\n “Hmm… I suppose.” Norik nodded stoically. “Alright, put mask on me and girl is yours.”\n “Okay, here I go… I’m putting the mask on…” Rupert flipped the mask around, reaching it up closer to his face. “Now promise you’ll let her go when I do.”\n “Promise,” Norik lied.\n Rupert held his breath as he pushed the mask hard onto Norik’s face, knowing it was a huge gamble. As soon as he did, the wolf’s eyes began to glow red though the mask and he froze stiff as though he was in some sort of petrified trance. His grip loosened on Frances, letting go of her as he saw the same vision of the volcanic island that Rupert had.\n “Frances!” Rupert said as he quickly grabbed her, pulling her away from him and pushing her towards the ropes. “Go with Iruni and get somewhere safe!”\n “What?!” Frances shouted, “Rupert, what about you?!”\n “Just go!” Rupert said, “I love you!”\n “I love you too…” Frances said, going to the human.\n Rupert turned back to Norik, knowing his trance would be over in seconds. \n “You don’t deserve a happy ending, Norik. Not after everything you’ve done. That mask doesn’t belong to you!”\n Rupert gathered his courage and rushed at the wolf, yanking the mask off himself and tossing it aside before punching him in the snout with all his might. Iruni beckoned for Frances to leave the ship, but she was frozen in place, unable to look away as Rupert ferociously fought the wolf. \n Rupert kicked the gun away closer to the back edge of the ship with his foot, using the same foot to kick the wolf hard in the kneecap, shattering it. Norik howled in pain as he grabbed Rupert by the front of his vest and slammed him onto the floor, kicking him hard twice in the gut with his remaining good leg before he rushed to grab the gun. \n “I am wolf!” he shouted, hobbling over to the pistol at the end of the deck. “Apex predator! Prey to none!”\nRupert got up and spat out a bit of blood, the taste of which awakened something ancestral from within him.\n “You may be a wolf, Norik” Rupert growled, his sense of smell heightening as he targeted the enemy in his sights. \n “But I… am… a[b][i] BEAR[/i][/b][i].”[/i]\n With that, he ran at full speed at the wolf with a loud bear-like roar. Norik picked up the gun and fired it twice at Rupert, who dodged them by crouching down and running on all fours without slowing down. As the once mild-mannered bear, who wouldn’t even hurt a fly, closed the distance between himself and his prey, he began to salivate. He no longer had it in him to spare his foe. To be sure that Frances would be truly safe, Norik [i]had[/i] to die. There was no other way.\n [i]‘Do not trust him.’[/i]\n Norik fired his gun two more shots just in front of Rupert, but those missed as well when Rupert leapt up at him at the opportune moment. Time itself seemed to move slower as Norik moved his arm, firing the last two bullets. The first shot went straight through Rupert’s right hand, and the second just narrowly nicked Rupert’s right ear, leaving a bleeding notch in it. \n By then, with only one bullet left, it was already too late for Norik.\n Within fractions of a second, Rupert pushed the wolf’s head upwards and sank his teeth deep into his neck with the intent to kill. His weight pushed them both over the railing of the ship, with only Norik's dropped gun left behind.\n [i]“RUPERT!”[/i] Frances cried out as they went over the edge, instinctively running over in an effort to save him. When she reached the far rear side of the ship, she saw Rupert hanging by his left hand off the edge and with Norik clinging onto Rupert’s shoe with one hand while holding his bleeding throat shut with the other.\n “Kch… quite a bear, you are, Rupert.” the wolf coughed harshly, struggling for air. Without a word, Rupert used his other foot to slide his shoe off, and Norik began his descent to the water below. He smirked.\n “...Quite a bear.”\n Just then, the engine of the ship started up as the snow leopard known only as ‘Mikael’ had fixed the control panel, and the propellers began to spin faster and faster in reverse as they slowly cast off from the shore. \n Thus, when Norik plunged into the water, he would never again emerge.\n “Rupert, grab my hand!” Frances said as she held her hand out to him, which he grabbed with his injured and bloodied hand. He winced in pain as she pulled him up, but his pain soon subsided as he was pushed to the deck and his face was smothered with overjoyed kisses from Frances.\n “Don’t ever-! Scare me-! Like that-! Again-!” she said between each kiss, beginning to cry.\n “Don’t worry, Frances,” Rupert said with a weak smile, “This is my last adventure.”\n The sun peeked over the horizon, officially ending the long and harrowing night with the arrival of dawn.\n “Well then,” the human known as Iruni said as he approached them and picked up Norik's gun, joined shortly after by Mikael after he’d turned off the ship’s engine. “I suppose our job here is done, then.”\n “I suppose it is,” the snow leopard added, nodding. He turned his attention to Rupert and Frances. “Thank you for all you’ve done here.”\n “N-no worries,” Rupert said awkwardly as Frances continued to kiss his cheeks, still not used to their British accents. “By the way, that mask… what’s so special about it, anyway?”\n “I’m afraid that’s classified information, my good man,” Iruni said, walking over to it and picking it up. “But rest assured, this will be kept safe - and in good hands. Now, about your compensation…”\n “Compensation?” Frances and Rupert asked together, finally standing up.\n “Why of course. Note that this isn’t to reward you for eliminating a top-level Russian asset, nor for recovering this artifact - those are both strictly off-record.” Iruni pulled out what appeared to be a small black envelope from under his shirt, which suddenly unfolded into a briefcase large enough for the mask to fit in. “This is merely… for your time. How does fifteen sound?”\n “Th-hank you, sir,” Rupert said, “fifteen pounds is quite generous of you.”\n “Oh-! Ahahaha!” the human laughed in amusement, pulling out a small digital device. “No no, you misunderstand me, dear boy. 15[i]K[/i]. As in, fifteen [i]thousand[/i] pounds. After taxes. Each.”\n Rupert and Frances both nearly fainted on the spot at that number. \n “Fif… fifteen… fifteen [i]thousand[/i]…?” Rupert asked, holding onto Frances for support. That was a [i]life-changing[/i] amount of money. “A-are you sure?”\n “Yes, quite sure.” Iruni pressed a few buttons before putting the device away. “The British parliament takes care of its own, after all. It’s being wired to your accounts as we speak. Just consider it a small token of our gratitude. And something of a bribe, I suppose you could call it - to politely encourage you not to speak of this night to anyone. Does that seem like a fair arrangement?”\n The two of them nodded in agreement. \n “Er, one thing, though…” Rupert asked, “Before you take it, do you think it would be alright if we… had a picture with the mask? Just as a souvenir. And a reminder.”\n Iruni and Mikael looked at each other, unsure. \n “We promise we won’t share it with anyone.” Frances added. “It’ll be for our eyes only.”\n “Well…” Iruni said sternly, “Alright. [i]One[/i] photo. But if we ever find it in a newspaper, we’ll know who to come looking for.”\n “Thank you, sir.” Rupert said, and Iruni cautiously handed them the mask. Mikael took out a small camera out of a hidden compartment in his shirt as Rupert and Frances posed together with the mask, and he snapped a picture of them. An instant-print photo emerged from a thin slot in the camera, and they exchanged the mask for it.\n “Well then, you two had best be off.” Mikael said, escorting them back to the ropes they’d boarded the boat on. “And so should we, we need to get this mask back to London posthaste.”\n “Thank you again. For everything,” Frances said, grabbing the rope and disappearing down the side back to the shore.”\n “Yes, thank you.” Rupert said. Grabbing the rope after her. “And don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope we may [i]never[/i] see each other again.”\n “No, thank [i]you,”[/i] Iruni said, patting him on the shoulder with a smile. “And likewise.”\n And with that, they parted ways as Rupert slid down the rope - using only his good hand, that is. \n Several moments after Rupert landed firmly on the sand, the ship’s engine started up again and it began to back out of the shore, leaving Sandy Cove behind.\n “Rupert, your hand…” Frances said with concern, noting his badly-bleeding right hand. It had a hole clean through it. “We have to get you to the hospital right away, or you might never be able to write again!”\n “You’re right,” Rupert said, smiling. “I’m sure it’ll hurt like hell tomorrow, but… even if I can’t use my hand anymore…”\n “I’ll be there.” Frances smiled back, wrapping her arms around Rupert’s waist. He returned the embrace. “And we’ll write our story together.”\n They looked on as the ship disappeared into the horizon, the sun rising higher and higher into the sky above it.\n\n Meanwhile, back on the ship, the snow leopard pulled out his small radio transmitter to send a message of mission success back to headquarters as Iruni adjusted the collar of his shirt.\n “Camelot, this is agent Quicksilver reporting mission success, asset has been retrieved, over.”\n No response. Nothing but static. \n “Camelot, this is Quicksilver, do you copy?”\n Dead signal. \n “Strange, there should be a signal he-”\n In an instant, the snow leopard suddenly collapsed dead on the floor, a bullet-sized hole in his head. \n The human known as Iruni lowered Norik's gun, dropping it on the floor of the ship. He adjusted his collar once again and picked up the briefcase containing the artifact before pulling out a radio transmitter of his own, his voice changing once again into an American accent. \n “It’s done, Director. Reporting Operation Olmak a success.”\n “...Well done, Agent Colburn. I know it was a huge risk, but it's good to see our investment in you paid off. Coordinates traced, sending extraction to you now.”\n\n “I still can’t help but wonder why everyone seemed to want to get their hands on that mask,” Rupert muttered aloud. “I saw something strange when I was hit on the head with it. It was some kind of island. It felt like a dream.”\n “Hm,” Frances wondered as well, but didn’t dwell on it. “Perhaps it’s just not something we’re ever meant to know.”\n “Perhaps…” Rupert whispered. Maybe someday, even if years from now, the answers to such mysteries might eventually make themselves known. \n “Did you mean what you said before?” Frances asked, changing the subject. “About this whole mask ordeal being your last adventure?”\n “Oh, I wasn’t talking about the mask, Frances,” Rupert looked deeply into her eyes and smiled.\n\n “My last adventure… is you.”\n\n They leaned in and kissed as the morning wind brushed the ocean waves to shore, which cascaded onto the warm sand with a triumphant declaration of hope that rang clear and true in Frances’s soul:\n\n [i]“And they lived happily ever after.”[/i]\n\n But this was not the end.\n\n This was merely the prologue of another adventure yet to come.", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "            One moment, everything was fine. The next, Rupert’s worst fears had come true.
            His kiss with Frances was broken forcefully as she was grabbed from behind, being pulled back by Norik’s arm and thrown into the wall. Rupert could only watch in terror as the strong Russian wolf approached him, raising the golden mask that was still in his hand.
            ‘No!’ Rupert thought, ‘We weren’t quick enough!’
            He looked to Frances, checking to make sure she was alright. As he saw her struggling to get up, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his skull as Norik hit him over the head with the mask.

            In an instant, Rupert opened his eyes and found himself in a different place. Another world entirely. It was daytime now, and he was standing on a shore - but not one that looked anything like Sandy Cove. This was an island, with a large volcano in the middle that seemed to pierce the sky.

            But as quickly as it’d appeared, the strange vision was gone, and Rupert was back in the ship’s control room again. Norik was about to beat him over the head again when Rupert crouched down and pulled on the wolf’s ankle as hard as he could, yanking him off balance and onto his back just long enough to buy him a few seconds. He looked around the room for anything he could use, spotting a fire extinguisher in a glass case on the wall.
            ‘Perfect’, he thought, quickly punching the glass with his fist and pulling the fire extinguisher out before pulling the tab and spraying it directly on Norik’s face.
            “CYKA BLYAT!” the wolf roared in anger as he let go of the mask, receiving even more of the fine powder in his mouth. Rupert continued directing it at Norik as he made his way around him and kicked the mask over to Frances, who was now standing again - albeit a bit dizzy.
            “C’mon, Rupert!” Frances said, picking up the mask as they reached the door. Rupert looked at Norik as he held the fire extinguisher in his hand, a dark thought crossing his mind. He could kill Norik. Slay this monster, before he could hurt the woman he loved. It would be the simplest solution, after all.
            However, Rupert’s conscience wouldn’t allow him. The very thought of taking someone’s life… it was something that Rupert found himself incapable of doing. He was better than Norik, and that was something Rupert took pride in - unlike this soulless wolf, he valued life.
            So as much as he wanted to put Norik out of his misery, Rupert instead decided to simply escape with Frances, chucking the fire extinguisher at Norik’s face as they left.
            But when Rupert and Frances reached the ropes, they stopped in their tracks as they were greeted by a familiar human and snow leopard, who were pointing their guns at them. Without thinking, Rupert held his arms out and stood in front of Frances to protect her.
            “Rupert…” Frances whispered loud enough for him to hear, her heart both warmed with overwhelming love and chilled to the bone with the fear that Rupert was willing to sacrifice himself for her. “If we make it out of this alive, I am marrying you. And that’s not a question.”
            Rupert said nothing, trembling with fear as he faced down the Russians. But in his heart, he did want to marry Frances; he just didn’t want to get his hopes up that they would make it off this boat alive. Things certainly weren’t looking good.
            And they were only about to get worse.
            Frances yelped out in pain as she was roughly grabbed from behind again, with Norik putting her in a headlock in one arm and grabbing one of her breasts with another.
            “Drop it,” he commanded grimly in her ear, and Frances dropped the mask to the floor of the deck. Rupert turned his head back to see that, although his furry face was covered in a thick layer of powder and his eyes were red as blood, Norik had mostly recovered.
            “Heh, you know…” Norik said in Frances’s ear. “I knew whole time you two were spying on us. From under window, from behind fence, I can smell you. And you, my little prekrasnyy… smell so… breedable.”
            The wolf pressed his wet nose to Frances’s hair, inhaling deeply. Frances felt the most sickening kind of goosebumps, her muscles stiffening in resistance to his touch.
            “Don’t…” Rupert muttered, his voice trembling. “Don’t touch her.”
            “What is dis?” Norik chuckled, amused by Rupert’s fear. “Speak up.”
            “Don’t you fucking touch her!” Rupert shouted, his blood boiling.
            “Ah, you are going to do the cryings, little bear cub? Piss in pants, maybe?” the wolf said mockingly. “WAAAH, WAAAH! Like lost little baby.”
            He and his comrades cackled.
            “Tell you what…” Norik said, giving Frances’s cheek a lick. “We make deal, da? I put baby in you, make crybaby boyfriend watch as I make you woman. And in exchange… you both get to leave this ship with your lives. You can spend the rest of your pathetic lives on this beach if you want, raising my pup. Is very good deal, I promise you this.”
            Frances and Rupert felt tears dripping down their faces, appalled by Norik’s revolting proposal. But at this point… what other choice did they have?
            “You are… absolutely putrid,” Frances growled through her teeth. “And vile. You’re no man. You’re a disgrace, and I hope you die a painful death.”
            “But…?” Norik asked, expectantly.
            “If you promise to let us go, then…” Frances shuddered as she sighed, looking to Rupert. This was far from an ideal situation, but if it meant keeping the one she loved safe, then she would do anything. “Okay.”
            The wolf turned his head, hacking up some of the powder he’d inhaled earlier.
            “Er, boss,” the human named Iruni spoke up again. “Your face, it is not looking so good. Leave girl with us, we’ll watch them both while you get cleaned up.”
            Norik nodded, letting Frances go as he went into a coughing fit and headed for the washroom. Once the wolf was gone, Frances rushed into Rupert’s arms, sobbing. Rupert turned to the two gunmen, hoping to appeal to their better nature.
            “Please, sirs. We… won’t tell anyone you were here. Just let us go.”
            The snow leopard and the human looked at each other and nodded, lowering their guns. The snow leopard spoke first, his voice having changed into a British accent.
            “So sorry for the spot of trouble you’ve gotten mixed up into. Have to keep up appearances and all that.”
Rupert and Frances stared in confusion, feeling completely lost.
            “We’re with MI5,” Iruni said and he pulled out a badge, his accent also now British. “We’re actually double-agents sent to sabotage foreign spies and terrorists. But you didn’t hear that from us.”
            He winked, tapping the side of his nose.
            “S-so… you’re going to let us go?” Frances asked hopefully.
            “Yes, but you should leave before he gets back.” the snow leopard said, gesturing to the ropes. “Let us take care of-”
            “Take care of what, exactly?”
            Everyone turned to see Norik had returned, pointing a pistol at them. Having been compromised, the snow leopard and the human counter-spies pointed their guns at the wolf and pulled the trigger - but the chambers were empty.
            “You think because I am Russian, I am stupid?” Norik asked before shooting the snow leopard in the foot, who let out a scream of pain. “That was warning shot, Mikael. I know all along that all three of you were traitors, but now that I have mask, I no longer have need of you. Now, you will do what I say.”
            He pointed the gun at the leopard.
            “You, fix control panel. If it’s not fixed by sunrise, you die. And you, Iruni. Stay where I can see you, so you cannot do the schemings with Mikael.”
            Norik grabbed Frances again, yanking him away from Rupert and pointing the gun to her head as he began backing up.
            “I always get what I want. So I am going to screw this bitch’s brains out, and if anyone tries to stop me, I’ll blow her brains out instead.”
            He held Frances by the back of her collar, slowly backing up further while holding the gun to her head. Rupert desperately thought of anything he could do to stop this, looking around for a solution. He looked down at the mask at his feet, remembering the strange vision he’d had. It was such a strange shape; it vaguely looked like some kind of ceremonial Maori mask from Polynesia, but it was almost alien in design. And it was large - much too large to fit on any normal person’s face.
            Rupert picked it up, noticing how it really was as light as a feather.
            “I’ve got another deal for you, wolf,” he said. “You want this, right? If you bring this to your General Secretary back home, you get all the women and money you could ever want?”
            “Give it to me, or I’ll-!” Norik backed up again and pulled his thumb down with a metallic click on the chamber.
            “Give her to me, or this mask belongs to the ocean.” Rupert held the mask over the side of the ship. “Is one girl really worth all the riches you’ll have with this thing?”
            “...Fine. We trade. Just bring it to me, no funny business, and you can take this bitch with you.” Norik said, stopping in place. “She’s probably used goods anyway.”
            Rupert slowly and cautiously approached Norik with the mask, careful not to make any sudden movements. When he got closer, Norik instinctively backed up more.
            “Well I certainly can’t give you the mask if you keep backing away from me, now can I?” Rupert asked, as they nearly reached the back of the ship.
            “You are up to something, I know it,” Norik growled. “You have look of mischief in eye.”
            “No mischief, I promise,” Rupert said, holding it out to him. “Now let her go.”
            “I think not, little bear,” the wolf replied, “I let her go, you throw mask overboard.”
            “Well I hardly think I can give it to you unless you let her go or drop the gun,” Rupert retorted slyly. “Unless…”
            “What?” Norik asked.
            “I could put it on your face. It is a mask, after all. Then will you let her go?” Rupert asked. He could tell by the expression on Norik’s face that he had him right where he wanted him. “Who knows, it might look good on you.”
            “Hmm… I suppose.” Norik nodded stoically. “Alright, put mask on me and girl is yours.”
            “Okay, here I go… I’m putting the mask on…” Rupert flipped the mask around, reaching it up closer to his face. “Now promise you’ll let her go when I do.”
            “Promise,” Norik lied.
            Rupert held his breath as he pushed the mask hard onto Norik’s face, knowing it was a huge gamble. As soon as he did, the wolf’s eyes began to glow red though the mask and he froze stiff as though he was in some sort of petrified trance. His grip loosened on Frances, letting go of her as he saw the same vision of the volcanic island that Rupert had.
            “Frances!” Rupert said as he quickly grabbed her, pulling her away from him and pushing her towards the ropes. “Go with Iruni and get somewhere safe!”
            “What?!” Frances shouted, “Rupert, what about you?!”
            “Just go!” Rupert said, “I love you!”
            “I love you too…” Frances said, going to the human.
            Rupert turned back to Norik, knowing his trance would be over in seconds.
            “You don’t deserve a happy ending, Norik. Not after everything you’ve done. That mask doesn’t belong to you!”
            Rupert gathered his courage and rushed at the wolf, yanking the mask off himself and tossing it aside before punching him in the snout with all his might. Iruni beckoned for Frances to leave the ship, but she was frozen in place, unable to look away as Rupert ferociously fought the wolf.
            Rupert kicked the gun away closer to the back edge of the ship with his foot, using the same foot to kick the wolf hard in the kneecap, shattering it. Norik howled in pain as he grabbed Rupert by the front of his vest and slammed him onto the floor, kicking him hard twice in the gut with his remaining good leg before he rushed to grab the gun.
            “I am wolf!” he shouted, hobbling over to the pistol at the end of the deck. “Apex predator! Prey to none!”
Rupert got up and spat out a bit of blood, the taste of which awakened something ancestral from within him.
            “You may be a wolf, Norik” Rupert growled, his sense of smell heightening as he targeted the enemy in his sights.
            “But I… am… a BEAR.”
            With that, he ran at full speed at the wolf with a loud bear-like roar. Norik picked up the gun and fired it twice at Rupert, who dodged them by crouching down and running on all fours without slowing down. As the once mild-mannered bear, who wouldn’t even hurt a fly, closed the distance between himself and his prey, he began to salivate. He no longer had it in him to spare his foe. To be sure that Frances would be truly safe, Norik had to die. There was no other way.
            ‘Do not trust him.’
            Norik fired his gun two more shots just in front of Rupert, but those missed as well when Rupert leapt up at him at the opportune moment. Time itself seemed to move slower as Norik moved his arm, firing the last two bullets. The first shot went straight through Rupert’s right hand, and the second just narrowly nicked Rupert’s right ear, leaving a bleeding notch in it.
            By then, with only one bullet left, it was already too late for Norik.
            Within fractions of a second, Rupert pushed the wolf’s head upwards and sank his teeth deep into his neck with the intent to kill. His weight pushed them both over the railing of the ship, with only Norik's dropped gun left behind.
            “RUPERT!” Frances cried out as they went over the edge, instinctively running over in an effort to save him. When she reached the far rear side of the ship, she saw Rupert hanging by his left hand off the edge and with Norik clinging onto Rupert’s shoe with one hand while holding his bleeding throat shut with the other.
            “Kch… quite a bear, you are, Rupert.” the wolf coughed harshly, struggling for air. Without a word, Rupert used his other foot to slide his shoe off, and Norik began his descent to the water below. He smirked.
            “...Quite a bear.”
            Just then, the engine of the ship started up as the snow leopard known only as ‘Mikael’ had fixed the control panel, and the propellers began to spin faster and faster in reverse as they slowly cast off from the shore.
            Thus, when Norik plunged into the water, he would never again emerge.
            “Rupert, grab my hand!” Frances said as she held her hand out to him, which he grabbed with his injured and bloodied hand. He winced in pain as she pulled him up, but his pain soon subsided as he was pushed to the deck and his face was smothered with overjoyed kisses from Frances.
            “Don’t ever-! Scare me-! Like that-! Again-!” she said between each kiss, beginning to cry.
            “Don’t worry, Frances,” Rupert said with a weak smile, “This is my last adventure.”
            The sun peeked over the horizon, officially ending the long and harrowing night with the arrival of dawn.
            “Well then,” the human known as Iruni said as he approached them and picked up Norik's gun, joined shortly after by Mikael after he’d turned off the ship’s engine. “I suppose our job here is done, then.”
            “I suppose it is,” the snow leopard added, nodding. He turned his attention to Rupert and Frances. “Thank you for all you’ve done here.”
            “N-no worries,” Rupert said awkwardly as Frances continued to kiss his cheeks, still not used to their British accents. “By the way, that mask… what’s so special about it, anyway?”
            “I’m afraid that’s classified information, my good man,” Iruni said, walking over to it and picking it up. “But rest assured, this will be kept safe - and in good hands. Now, about your compensation…”
            “Compensation?” Frances and Rupert asked together, finally standing up.
            “Why of course. Note that this isn’t to reward you for eliminating a top-level Russian asset, nor for recovering this artifact - those are both strictly off-record.” Iruni pulled out what appeared to be  a small black envelope from under his shirt, which suddenly unfolded into a briefcase large enough for the mask to fit in. “This is merely… for your time. How does fifteen sound?”
            “Th-hank you, sir,” Rupert said, “fifteen pounds is quite generous of you.”
            “Oh-! Ahahaha!” the human laughed in amusement, pulling out a small digital device. “No no, you misunderstand me, dear boy. 15K. As in, fifteen thousand pounds. After taxes. Each.”
            Rupert and Frances both nearly fainted on the spot at that number.
            “Fif… fifteen… fifteen thousand…?” Rupert asked, holding onto Frances for support. That was a life-changing amount of money. “A-are you sure?”
            “Yes, quite sure.” Iruni pressed a few buttons before putting the device away. “The British parliament takes care of its own, after all. It’s being wired to your accounts as we speak. Just consider it a small token of our gratitude. And something of a bribe, I suppose you could call it - to politely encourage you not to speak of this night to anyone. Does that seem like a fair arrangement?”
            The two of them nodded in agreement.
            “Er, one thing, though…” Rupert asked, “Before you take it, do you think it would be alright if we… had a picture with the mask? Just as a souvenir. And a reminder.”
            Iruni and Mikael looked at each other, unsure.
            “We promise we won’t share it with anyone.” Frances added. “It’ll be for our eyes only.”
            “Well…” Iruni said sternly, “Alright. One photo. But if we ever find it in a newspaper, we’ll know who to come looking for.”
            “Thank you, sir.” Rupert said, and Iruni cautiously handed them the mask. Mikael took out a small camera out of a hidden compartment in his shirt as Rupert and Frances posed together with the mask, and he snapped a picture of them. An instant-print photo emerged from a thin slot in the camera, and they exchanged the mask for it.
            “Well then, you two had best be off.” Mikael said, escorting them back to the ropes they’d boarded the boat on. “And so should we, we need to get this mask back to London posthaste.”
            “Thank you again. For everything,” Frances said, grabbing the rope and disappearing down the side back to the shore.”
            “Yes, thank you.” Rupert said. Grabbing the rope after her. “And don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope we may never see each other again.”
            “No, thank you,” Iruni said, patting him on the shoulder with a smile. “And likewise.”
            And with that, they parted ways as Rupert slid down the rope - using only his good hand, that is.
            Several moments after Rupert landed firmly on the sand, the ship’s engine started up again and it began to back out of the shore, leaving Sandy Cove behind.
            “Rupert, your hand…” Frances said with concern, noting his badly-bleeding right hand. It had a hole clean through it. “We have to get you to the hospital right away, or you might never be able to write again!”
            “You’re right,” Rupert said, smiling. “I’m sure it’ll hurt like hell tomorrow, but… even if I can’t use my hand anymore…”
            “I’ll be there.” Frances smiled back, wrapping her arms around Rupert’s waist. He returned the embrace. “And we’ll write our story together.”
            They looked on as the ship disappeared into the horizon, the sun rising higher and higher into the sky above it.

            Meanwhile, back on the ship, the snow leopard pulled out his small radio transmitter to send a message of mission success back to headquarters as Iruni adjusted the collar of his shirt.
            “Camelot, this is agent Quicksilver reporting mission success, asset has been retrieved, over.”
            No response. Nothing but static.
            “Camelot, this is Quicksilver, do you copy?”
            Dead signal.
            “Strange, there should be a signal he-”
            In an instant, the snow leopard suddenly collapsed dead on the floor, a bullet-sized hole in his head.
            The human known as Iruni lowered Norik's gun, dropping it on the floor of the ship. He adjusted his collar once again and picked up the briefcase containing the artifact before pulling out a radio transmitter of his own, his voice changing once again into an American accent.
            “It’s done, Director. Reporting Operation Olmak a success.”
            “...Well done, Agent Colburn. I know it was a huge risk, but it's good to see our investment in you paid off. Coordinates traced, sending extraction to you now.”

            “I still can’t help but wonder why everyone seemed to want to get their hands on that mask,” Rupert muttered aloud. “I saw something strange when I was hit on the head with it. It was some kind of island. It felt like a dream.”
            “Hm,” Frances wondered as well, but didn’t dwell on it. “Perhaps it’s just not something we’re ever meant to know.”
            “Perhaps…” Rupert whispered. Maybe someday, even if years from now, the answers to such mysteries might eventually make themselves known.
            “Did you mean what you said before?” Frances asked, changing the subject. “About this whole mask ordeal being your last adventure?”
            “Oh, I wasn’t talking about the mask, Frances,” Rupert looked deeply into her eyes and smiled.

            “My last adventure… is you.”

            They leaned in and kissed as the morning wind brushed the ocean waves to shore, which cascaded onto the warm sand with a triumphant declaration of hope that rang clear and true in Frances’s soul:

            “And they lived happily ever after.”

            But this was not the end.

            This was merely the prologue of another adventure yet to come.", "pools_count": 0, "title": "Rupert and the Last Adventure - Part 3 - The Destined Roads", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "image/png", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "2", "rating_name": "Adult", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "5", "name": "Strong Violence", "description": "Strong violence, blood, serious injury or death", "rating_id": "2" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "f", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "0", "views": "126" }