MOVEMENT TWO

Chapter Seven
 
	Gaige awakes the next morning to see that his boyfriend is sitting on the opposite side of the king-size bed. He is already fully clothed, but in clothes that Gaige had never seen before. The silver furred wolf’s ears perk up when he hears a deep inhale come from the husky boy’s nose. “Morning, sleeping beauty,” Daron greets the cute husky, smiling widely. Gaige rubs his eyes in confusion. “You slept the whole morning. It’s past noon. I tried waking you up, but you wouldn’t budge. So, I decided to take the opportunity to go out and get myself some new clothes, since I had a feeling you don’t have any more shirts that are too big for you.”
	Gaige sighs, still partially asleep, and answers, “Actually I have a ton of stuff that were my dad’s before he...”
	After a brief silence, Daron breaks it with, “What?”
	Gaige is now sitting upright, still naked under the blanket. “He... killed himself after my mom left a few months ago...” There is another silence as the small husky turns away, sniffling with his arms crossed. “He drove himself off a bridge into a river… and he didn’t get out of the car.”
	Daron’s eyes widen substantially. “Oh... I’m so sorry...” He says, sitting down on the bed. He wraps his arms around Gaige, trying to comfort him.
	“I just...” Gaige sniffles again, trying to get away from the wolf. Daron lets go of him and backs off. “I prefer not to talk about it. That’s why I didn’t tell you before,” He says into his arms. “Let’s just leave it at what it is, okay?”
	“Of course, puppy.” There is another moment of silence. “Gaige?”
	The husky sniffles. “Yeah?”
	“Why did you never sell this house? Try to move on from everything that happened?”
	Gaige looks at Daron, his fur wet a little under his eyes. “I think it’s too much of a hassle. Besides, we can afford the place. There’s also…” He sighs and looks away again. “sentimental value.”
There is another silent moment until the doorbell rings. “I’ll get it. You need to get ready, so I’ll leave you to that. And Gaige?” 
“What?” the husky murmurs. 
“I’m sorry.” 
“Just go.”
	The wolf doesn’t say anything as he stands from the bed and begins to leave. He turns around and catches a quick glance of the husky standing and stretching. His eyes are closed, so he has no idea that the wolf saw him. Daron closes the door behind him and stands there for a moment. He smiles, knowing a little bit more about the husky than he did.
Daron hurries out of the master bedroom and down the stairs. He reaches the front door and opens it to see a thin male snow leopard, who stands nearly seven feet tall; almost as tall as himself, at a whopping 7’2”. There are two identical snow leopard boys on either side of him, who look to be a few years younger than Idaline. They cower behind the tall leopard at the sight of Daron. Also behind them are two dobermans in black suits, black sunglasses, and they are both wearing wires. Parked scattered around the cul de sac are several black Escalades, all marked with the presidential seal. “Can I help you?” Daron inquires in confusion.
	“Yes, my name is Dr. Abhimanyu Raghuraman. I’m working with the FBI…” He and the two dobermans pull out badges decorated with what resemble the presidential seal. ”These are my children, Arvindh,” He gestures to the boy to his right. “And Anirudh.” He does the same to the one on his left. The twins adjust their glasses simultaneously as their father continues. “Erm, I’m sorry, they get very shy around members of other species…”
Daron replies, “Oh it’s alright. I was the same way when I was that age.”
“Aren’t we all?” The doctor smiles warmly. “Oh, I thought this was the residence of Gaige and Idaline Lane?” The snow leopard looks down at his tablet, and then at the house number on the mailbox, confirming the address of the house. “This is 14 Symblit Court, is it not?”
	“You’re right on both accounts. I don’t live here. Gaige is upstairs right now, but he’ll be down in a few minutes, I’m sure. No clue where the kid is, though. Might I ask what you need to talk to them about?” Daron tilts his head to the side.
	The doctor opens his muzzle, but he stops himself before he speaks, suddenly remembering something. He flips through some pictures on his tablet, until he finds one that makes his eyes widen in shock. He looks at Daron, and again at his tablet, Daron, his tablet, and finally at Daron, which is where his attention stays. He locks his tablet and puts it in a shoulder bag before he speaks at last. “I just realized that I need to speak to you as well, Mr. Daron McSteele. This is the biggest coincidence in history, wouldn’t you agree?” Dr. Raghuraman grins triumphantly.
	Suddenly, Gaige is seen and heard barreling down the stairs, still in his night clothes. After stumbling and getting back to his feet, he reaches his paw out for the doctor to shake as he says, “Hi. Gaige Lane. And… You are…?”
	“Dr. Abhimanyu Raghuraman. Geneticist. And I have very big news for you, Idaline, and Daron, too. May we…?”
	He carefully looks at all the SUVs parked on the street, and notices the official seals on all of them. “Well, it is a bit chilly to have this conversation out here, don’t you think?” The husky boy motions for the three leopards to enter the house, which they do so casually. The five of them walk through the foyer and into the dining room which has a large dining table that is clearly intended for use when large company is over for dinners and parties. The doctor pulls out a chair at the head of the table and sits upon it. He pulls out his tablet again and unlocks it before searching for another picture. The twins take seats behind the table closest to the wall. “I’ll be right back. I’m just going to get Idaline. Now that I think about it, she’s probably in the basement.” Daron assures Gaige and the family of leopards.
	The silver furred wolf navigates the winding corridors until he finds the door to the basement, which he assumes is where Idaline is hiding, since she turned the light on. Daron enters the basement and walks down the carpeted stairs to find the bright orange husky sitting on the sofa playing Banjo Kazooie. “Hey, Daron, you ever played this before? It’s really good. It’s by...”
	“Yes, I have played it. But, we have some people over, and I say ‘we’ because they’re here to see all three of us. It was just a coincidence that I’m here, so it’s weird. Anyway, could you come upstairs? You can leave the game running if you need to.” Daron leans on the rail of the stairs with his arms crossed, expecting a response, but the husky is silent. “Hello?”
	“Yeah, I heard you. Just give me one second.”
	“Idaline, I don’t mean to take authority like this, and I’m sorry, but I mean now. Just pause it.”
	Idaline pauses the game and sighs as she stands to go upstairs with Daron. She turns off the TV, but not the game, and the two canines go back to the dining room after leaving the basement in the darkness. “So who’s here to see us?” Idaline asks the wolf as they make their way through the winding corridors.
	“Never met him before,” Daron replies shrugging.
	“And Daron?”
	“Yeah?”
	She stops him dead in his tracks. “Stay… away… from… my brother. He is straight, and you would do well to remember that. Got it?”
	He turns away and rolls his eyes. “Sure.”
 
	“So who are you, again? I feel like I’ve met you before.” Idaline asks the snow leopard. The six of them are all now sitting at the table in the dining room, with Gaige between Daron and Idaline, and Idaline at the foot of the table, and Daron next to the doctor.
	“My name is Abhimanyu Raghuraman. I’m a geneticist, and I normally teach in New York City, but I was recruited by the president to work for him on this project. I used to work with your father, and he and I were very close partners. After your father died, and I’m sorry for your loss, by the way,” Gaige and Idaline sigh at this. “I thought we’d never be able to finish the project, but my wife convinced me to carry out our work myself, so I did. I ended up compiling a list of people, and although it’s very small right now, it is still growing as we speak. I decided to find these people and tell them the news.” The snow leopard does not realize that he didn’t start his story at the proper beginning.
	“Wait, what project?” Idaline interrupts because no one else at the table has the courage enough to do it.
	“You three have naturally occurring, but still very rare, genetic alterations that promote the ideas and facts that you can do certain things at will. And I can tell you what they are, if you’ll listen.” The snow leopard raises his eyebrow with his paws together. He leans on the glass table in front of him and waits for a response, which he does not receive. Instead, he speaks to his children: “Anirudh, show them.”
	“Appa, I need water first.” The child closest to Idaline speaks, wearing circular glasses, and the canines are confused by his statement. Gaige volunteers and walks into the kitchen. A minute later, he returns with a glass of water in his paw, which he sets in front of the child. “Thank you.” The scarlet furred husky takes his seat again and watches the snow leopard child. The leopard closes his eyes, and his entire body starts shaking. Gaige, Idaline, and Daron all watch in awe as the glass of water suddenly turns from a crystal clear liquid, to a pearl white solid. The water was no longer water, but it was ice.
	“How the hell did that happen!?” Daron yells as he stands from his chair, which is knocked over. The two FBI guards who followed them inside each pull out the pistols and cock them. The crash resonates throughout the entire house, and nearly deafens the people inside it due to the rebounding echoes. “Sorry. Just got a bit freaked out, you know?”
	“It’s alright, Daron,” the doctor grunts with his pinky in his ear.
	He tilts his head again as he sits down.
	“Then, I’ll explain after Arvind shows you as well. My son, would you stick your hand above the table and do it gently, please? We don’t want this place to go up, do we?” Idaline and Gaige sink back into their spots nervously; meanwhile Daron is picking up his own chair. He then sits back in it with the same nerves that the huskies have.
	The other snow leopard child, this one wearing a pair of rectangular prescription glasses much like Daron’s, does as he’s told as he replies, “Yes, father.” With a click of his claws, Arvind’s finger is glowing like a lit candle. His fingertip is literally on fire, and the three canines are again watching open-mouthed as the leopard slowly moves his paw over the glass of water, which he sticks his lit finger into, and the ice immediately melts into water once again. The snow leopard clicks his claws once more, and all that’s left of the tiny glow of Arvind’s claw is a small amount of smoke rising from it. “I am sorry, but I have not yet perfected my technique, unlike my brother, who has mastered what he calls his ‘glaciokiesis.’ But, I am almost there.” The snow leopard smiles, but he quickly changes his face to one of great embarrassment when he sees Daron, Idaline, and Gaige staring at him with their muzzles hanging open and their eyes wide.
	“Now, on to you three. First, Idaline. Based on the list that was created, your file says that if you were to ever be injured in any way, you would heal at a remarkable rate. But, I don’t mean days. I mean seconds.” Dr. Raghuraman stands from his seat and walks over to the orange husky. Idaline turns her head to look up at him in response. “Would you stick out your arm, please? Either one is fine.” The doctor smirks, but Idaline doesn’t notice because she is too busy rolling up the sleeve of her right arm. “Thank you, dear.” Suddenly, the doctor pulls out a switch blade, and slits Idaline’s arm before she can pull it away. Though the wound is small the orange husky still is shocked by it. She lets out a loud yelp, but not of pain. Gaige, who can see the wound easily, jumps from his seat in both shock and anger, but the snow leopard holds him back and tells him, “Wait… Just look… You see?”
	Again, everyone is in awe at the sight, but this time the twins are as well. They are staring at the wound, which, even though it is small, is not small enough to have already stopped bleeding. What’s more is that the blood that had not fallen from Idaline’s arm already was being soaked up, as if the wound was some sort of sponge that was making her blood travel back into it. Then, like it wasn’t even there, the wound was gone, as if it had closed itself up like a zipper.
	“This is crazy, I’m a freak! No offense, by the way, boys,” Idaline reassures the twins, but they still take the unintended harm the husky spewed. “How the hell have I not noticed this before!?”
	“It seems as if there has been, up until the point of discovery, a mental block. Apparently, it does not occur if you are not aware of it.” There is a pause. “You’re not a freak, Idaline. Your genes have the perfect coding to be part of the next step in evolution. Don’t you see? Everyone in this room except for me has codes like this in their genes, and…” Dr. Raghuraman is interrupted by Daron who is still sitting in his chair.
	“Wait, everyone? Meaning me and Gaige, too?”
	“Well, that’s what I said, did I not?” The doctor returns to his seat as he asks his sarcastic question. “Daron, my friend, you’re in for a treat. Your ability is strength beyond question.” The doctor looks as though he has just won the Nobel Prize, but Daron only raises his eyebrow.
	I wonder what makes you say that? The giant, muscular, silver wolf thinks to himself.
	“Maybe we should go outside for this one,” the snow leopard suggests.
 
Chapter Eight 
 
	Once they are all outside and on the well-cared-for front lawn, the six of them and the two dobermans from before stand in front of Daron’s brand new cherry red Camaro, but the silver furred wolf in front of the rest. “So I’m supposed to just lift it off the ground? You’re crazy. You know that, right?” Daron inquires with a matter-of-fact tone.
	“Am I?” Dr. Raghuraman replies, again raising his eyebrow and crossing his arms.
	“I’m flattered you think I’m strong, but…” Daron is proving the doctor correct. His car is currently being held parallel to the ground, and at chest height. “Oh… Point taken.” Daron gently rests his car down on the asphalt again, and shows a triumphant expression.
	“And last, but certainly not least, the biggest challenge of them all… Gaige, your genes have been arranged in a way that is most puzzling to me. They were interpreted as a power that allows you to copy the abilities of others. If you come into contact with them, you can absorb their power, and you can do the same thing. Isn’t that exciting, now?” The snow leopard is awfully pleased with himself for someone giving news that could scare people to death.
	The scarlet husky, contrary to what would be expected, sees the situation with a child’s eyes. The information makes him smirk, and he queries with a mischievous look, “So if I come into contact with someone else who has abilities, I can copy it... But does it matter what type of contact it is?”
	“I believe even if they simply tap you on the shoulder it would work,” the doctor replies while stroking the underside of his muzzle.
	Gaige immediately decides to seize the opportunity to flat-out kiss Daron, which surprises and embarrasses everyone greatly, but Gaige is not attentive to the surrounding people. He breaks it off, and immediately feels a rush of energy flow into his arms. He holds them out in front of his face, and uses them to lift the bright red sports car to about chest height. He keeps the car parallel to the ground as he sets it down once again on the pavement. With his paws on his hips, the husky boy asks triumphantly, “What did you think? I’m officially super strong, like Daron, right?”
	After a pause for the doctor to recollect himself, he replies, “Well, not quite.” The leopard slides his glasses to their proper position before he continues, “How do I say this without it sounding strange… Would you please shake paws with my children for the real test?”
	“I guess…” Gaige’s voice goes up in pitch as if he’s asking a question. The husky boy walks over to the twins, and they introduce themselves to him while making sure to shake his paw. Both times they come into contact, Gaige feels a sudden rush of energy flow into his paws, and it quickly spreads out through the rest of his body. “Whoah…” Gaige says in shock. “That didn’t happen before.”
	“I bet it’s because their powers are different than Daron’s. They’re able to produce fire and ice, and they do that through their hands, so it probably transferred that way as well. Daron’s power is evenly divided throughout his body, and since you touched… well…” The doctor pauses, blushing a bit, but he straightens up almost immediately and pushes his glasses into place again. “A larger surface area… So it was probably a more or less even transfer. That may be why you didn’t feel it other than the… normal… feeling.” He concludes with a sigh of embarrassment.
	“You know what? You’re probably right,” Idaline chimes in with her usual sarcasm. “But then again, I guess you’re the only expert on this stuff of the six of us. Aren’t you?”
	“Flattery won’t get you anything from me, Idaline,” The snow leopard professes in response.
	“And still, I never receive any credit for even trying. Why? I cannot say.”
	Gaige suddenly snaps his fingers together and a little ball of fire can be seen floating above his paw. Joyously, he shouts, “This is the best thing ever!” Suddenly, the fireball grows in size to be almost as tall as a small tree, but it is covered up by Idaline closing her paws around her brother’s inferno, putting it out immediately.
	“You idiot, you need to stay calm until you can learn to put it out. Ask the kid to help you.”
	“But…”
	“No ‘buts,’ Gaige.” Idaline and Gaige both feel a sudden transfer of energy as the husky grips the neck of her brother’s shirt and allows her claw to touch his nose. Gaige sneezes after his sister backs away. “Oy, that was probably the transfer. But I still have a question for the doc… Why did the transfer happen now?”
	“I think there’s a mental block that stops the transfer from happening, just like with everyone else’s abilities,” Dr. Raghuraman replies, grinning with an I-knew-it expression. “Anyway, it’s a little cold out here, don’t you think? I think we could all go for a little indoor time. Shall we go back in the house, now that the test is finished?” Dr. Raghuraman starts walking toward the house again, leading the rest of them inside. However, Gaige stays behind when Daron pulls him aside.
	Daron waits until Idaline, Arvind, Anirudh, and the doctor are inside with the door shut. He has to motion to Idaline to go ahead, which she does, leaving only the two of them outside in the late autumn morning. It is cloudy, and it looks as if it will rain soon, so the silver wolf makes a point to keep the conversation brief. He starts out by saying, “You didn’t have to do that.”
	Gaige knows exactly what he means, so he smirks mischievously. He tells a white lie, “Do what? You need to be…” Gaige taps Daron’s nose as he continues, “more specific.”
	Daron can see right through Gaige’s small lie, and he grabs the husky boy’s paw, angrily, and swipes it away from his muzzle. With several loud cracks, the next thing the two canids know is that Gaige is on the ground, cradling a crushed paw. The silver wolf is in shock, awe, and remorse all at the same time, and he shows that remorse by immediately voicing, “Holy shit! Gaige, I’m sorry! Damnit, I-I-I…”
	“Daron, it’s okay! I can heal, remember?” Gaige looks up at the wolf before looking back to his mangled paw. He snaps each of his bones back into place, one by one, until his paw is fully functional again. “See? Didn’t feel a thing. I know, you haven’t mastered your ability yet, but then again, neither have I, so we’re in the same boat.” The husky boy stands upright, and smiles at his boyfriend, reassuring him of his good condition.
	Daron sighs with relief, and replies, “Just don’t kiss me unless I say it’s okay first. I don’t want to be in public when we do it. And I thought you didn’t want to come out yet! What happened to that?”
	“Simple. I decided that hiding isn’t necessary. Something wrong with that?”
	“Those kids are scarred for life, now. Are you happy about that? They probably don’t even know what homosexuality is, but thanks to you, they’ve just witnessed it. Maybe even for the first time in their lives. If they... Because… If anything deviant happens, it’s on you, Gaige.” Daron sighs and crosses his arms as he leaves Gaige to go inside.
	The husky boy follows for a second, but he realizes the error of his ways, and he starts sniffling as he begins to cry.
	Instead of going into the dining room with everyone else, the husky instead climbs the staircase, and enters the master bedroom. Gaige buries his muzzle in the quilt-like sheets of the king-size bed, which he unleashes all his tears into. He remains like this for several minutes until there are several knocks on the door. “What do you want!?” He yells in response, still sniffling.
	“It’s Daron. I just want to talk to you. Can I come in?” Daron turns the knob.
	“Fine, whatever.” Gaige imitates Idaline’s sarcastic tone.
	Entering the room completely, the wolf doesn’t notice it until he hits his head on the wall-mounted TV. Apparently, its height had sunk a bit since he was in the room last. It is smaller than the ones downstairs. Rubbing his forehead where he had made contact with the flat screen, Daron sits on the edge of the bed. “I really should be more careful where I go, shouldn’t I?” The wolf groans, but the husky boy still is not amused. His head is still under the quilt, and Daron will not stand for that. He grabs Gaige’s hips, and pulls him into an embrace. “I think I was the one out of line back there,” Daron says. “And I’m sorry for how I treated you back there.” Gaige is not happy at first, but he slowly starts to cry again. Except these tears are different. They are tears of joy and relief that Daron realized his own mistakes as well.
	Gaige moves to put his arms around Daron’s neck, and he asks, “Is now a good time?”
	Daron smiles as he answers. “Yeah. Now is a good time.”
 
	After making their way back into the dining room, the doctor interjects quickly. “Is everything alright?” He asks Daron.
	The tall wolf smiles with his arm wrapped around the husky boy. They are walking into the dining room from the kitchen as Daron responds. “Yeah. We’re fine, doc.”
	Dr. Raghuraman raises his eyebrow before saying, “Okay, then. I guess we can get back to business. Now that we all have gotten to know each other, I can tell you why I’m working on this project. First of all, before I tell you about it, I need you all to know that the only reason why I’m calling this a ‘project,’ is because we didn’t have a better word for it when we started it. We just called it ‘Project Phoenix.’” The snow leopard pauses for a moment to let his words sink in. “Second, the story goes like this: studies from all over the world have shown one commonality in all ancient writings that we have been able to decipher. And that used to be thought of as an alien presence of sorts, but we’ve discovered that we were completely wrong.”
	“So can I guess and say that the whole project is to figure out what this commonality really is?” Idaline sarcastically assumes.
	The doctor jumps back in by pointing out, “Yes, you can, but you wouldn’t be correct in saying so. You’re close, though. We’ve already figured out what it is, but you may not like it. This is your warning. Leave the room if blood and gore will offend you.” No one at the table moves, and one could hear a pin drop in the room due to the silence. It is broken by the doctor rummaging through his bag, and pulling his tablet out of it. “No takers?” He asks. “Alright then.” The spotted felid, after unlocking the device, flips through the pictures until he finds one of an ancient painting that depicts the sacrifice of one of the subjects of an Aztec ruler. The Central American picture is stamped with a number that has no particular meaning.
	The picture shows the subject lying on the ground with his chest cut open and bleeding like a fountain raining down upon him. His executor is standing behind him with a bloody knife in one paw above his head, and in the other paw, he is holding a sparkling gem of sorts. The doctor points to the gem, and speaks to the group. “This is Project Phoenix; the ‘Phoenix Gem,’ we have dubbed it. This is what we’re trying to find. It’s said that the one who possesses this gemstone has any of their thoughts turned into power.”
	“And I’m guessing you want us to help you find it because we have super powers…” Idaline chimes in once again with her normal sarcasm.
	“Nail on the head.” The doctor points to her and smiles. “Yes. We wouldn’t want that gem getting into the wrong hands, so we need to find it quickly. Idaline, Daron, and Gaige, you all should decide. You all should take time to think.” He looks expectantly at Gaige in particular.
	“Isn’t there someone else for the job?” Gaige inquires reluctantly.
	“Just think hard and tell me if you’ve ever heard of another person who could copy other people’s abilities. Hmm? Have you?” Dr. Raghuraman lazily replies. The entire room is silent. “Have I said something?” He asks apologetically to everyone.
	“Alright, fine! We’ll do it. What do we need to do?” Gaige crosses his arms.
	“Just pack things as if you’re going away for a few weeks. We’ll travel in a caravan. You can start that now, if you so desire.”
	“What about our jobs?” Gaige asks.
	One of the dobermans puts a finger over his earpiece and says, “Did you copy that?” There is a pause for a split second, and then he answers to Gaige, “Your jobs have been covered. Letters are being drafted right now for the president to sign as we speak. Your diner, Daron’s hotel, and your video game company will receive temporary replacements for you two.”
	“Alright. They had better be good, though. Come on. Idaline, go pack your things, Daron, I assume you have things to pack. And I will also pack.”
	As Gaige stands from his chair, he beckons Idaline and Daron to follow, who do so willingly.
 
	Once everybody is ready, they finally leave the house. Gaige locks the door behind him, and with his suitcase in his clutches, he begins to follow Daron and Idaline to one of the Escalades. As Daron opens the trunk for the trio to leave their bags, the silver furred wolf pulls aside the scarlet husky. “I wish you’d stop doing things like that,” He whispers to the boy.
	“Like what?” Gaige asks.
	“Like making assumptions. You shouldn’t just assume that other people always agree with what you think. It’s not always correct. In this case it was, so you got lucky.”
	Before the husky starts to walk around to the side of the car, he answers in a cute, feminine tone. “Then if my luck paid off this time, why does it matter?”
	“Gaige.” The wolf succeeds in grabbing the husky’s attention, who stops dead in his tracks. As the boy turns his head sideways to listen, Daron says, “I’m serious…” Gaige’s heart sinks, but he perks up as his boyfriend continues while smirking, “Even when I say that I love you.”
	The husky boy immediately turns around and leaps into Daron’s arms and speaks into his chest. Though it sounds muffled, the silver wolf’s extra-sensitive hearing helps him to make out the phrase, “I love you, too.”
	They remain like this for quite some time until Idaline coughs, “Ahem! Yeah, real touching moment and all, but god-flapjacks-dammit, could we get going?” She has her head sticking out of the door of the SUV behind theirs, facing the two gay canines.
	They wrench apart, and make their happiness very subtle and unnoticeable as Gaige and Daron clamber into the back seat. The FBI officer starts the car and revs up the engine before putting it into gear, and finally drives away from Gaige’s home, following the doctor in the Escalade in front.
 
Chapter Nine
 
	“So there’s this game I picked up. It’s a rhythm game. You know what I’m talking about?” Gaige asks out of nowhere.
	Daron answers, “Osu?”
	“Yeah. It’s like the best rhythm game ever. It’s a good thing I packed my laptop.”
	Daron smiles a bit, and replies, “Mazel Tov.”
	“And with the friends Idaline has at school, I managed to get my hands on a pretty good one.”
	The silver wolf giggles quietly to himself, and again, he says, “Mazel Tov.”
	“You don’t care, do you?” Gaige slaps his paw to his forehead as he grunts. As they speed along the highway towards their destination three hours away, in New York City, Gaige finds making small talk to be difficult.
	Daron replies, “Well, if you don’t mind, I’d like to see it when you get a chance.”
	“I don’t see why not.”
	This raises Daron’s mood slightly, and he becomes more alert as a result. He suggests, “Well, how about a little music? I have, like, every genre in existence, so just name your poison.”
	Gaige grins and replies nervously, “I guess if you have classical, I’d be happy…”
	Excited, Daron interrupts, “Surely I have some of that…” Daron creates a playlist of songs, and the two canines are silent for around a full hour, listening to the music. When the german shepherd receives a phone call, he answers it. He then gets the attention of Daron, who turns off the music, and takes the satellite phone from the driver. With the phone on the side of his face, he says, “Yes?”
	Through the speaker on the phone, the wolf can hear the doctor speaking in his usual cheerful attitude. “Daron, my friend, I have found out from my source back at my lab that another one of the subjects will be passed by on our route today. We are making a slight change so we can meet with this subject and take her with us. I wanted you to know that.”
	“Okay, thanks, doc,” Daron confidently replies.
	“Very good.”
	“Sure thing. Bye.” Daron hangs up and gives the phone back. He immediately resumes the playback of the music, but the volume is turned down by the vulpine until it’s only audible to his boyfriend. The wolf asks, “Why did you do that?”
	Gaige responds, “There is no other way for me to say this, so I’m just going to say it.”
	Daron cuts him off before he can continue, though. “Don’t say it. I bet I already know what it is. I’ll say that I want it to happen, too, but you need to think about the time and place. Maybe later if we get the chance, you naughty thing, you…”
	“Oh, fine,” The husky boy answers, pouting with his arms crossed. Not what I was going to say, but whatever.
	
	It is not much later when the caravan arrives at the residence of the next person to be recruited for the search for the gemstone. When the six of them are waiting at the front door, Gaige moves a little closer to Daron, and the wolf whispers, “What are you doing?”
	To which Gaige replies with a sense of nerves, “I’m not sure why, but I have a bad feeling about this… This is creeping me out.”
	The wolf leans down to nuzzle the husky boy and reassures him, “I’m sure it’s nothing. You can hold my paw if you want to.”
	“Thanks.” The young husky accepts the offer and grabs Daron’s paw.
	Suddenly the door opens to reveal a surprised otter wearing a baseball cap, a white undershirt, an open plaid button-down over it, khaki shorts, and tennis shoes. He easily recognizes Gaige, and Gaige recognizes him. It is none other than Linus VanDiesel. Yet, Gaige can still sense deception in his eyes. “Well, Little Husky, we meet again,” he says to the boy.
	He grips Daron’s paw tighter as he says, “Linus, it’s nice to see you.”
	They proceed with a stare-down until the doctor jumps in with, “Well, I guess we’re somewhat acquainted… Er, my name is Dr. Abhimanyu Raghuraman…” and he continues to explain to Linus that he has the power to talk to technology. While this is happening, Linus and Gaige continue to stare at each other, both giving the other a look of death.
	He also explains what they are all doing, and the whole gemstone situation, to which he answers cheerfully, “I’d like to join you guys. It’ll be fun! I’ll just go pack my things, and I’ll be right out. You guys can wait for me or whatever. I’ll be like ten minutes.”
	
	Just like the otter said, he is out of the small house within ten minutes of him closing the door, with a suitcase in paw. After exchanging contact information with the doctor, Linus is told where they are headed, and he proceeds to put his things in the trunk of the third Escalade, where Idaline is.
	When they are back on the road, Idaline finds sitting with Linus very uncomfortable. “Look, just don’t talk to me okay? What you’re doing is wrong. It may even be evil.” The bright orange husky spews at the otter.
	“Wow, that’s pretty harsh kid…” He rolls his eyes and looks out the back seat window.
	Idaline starts thinking to herself, Maybe that was a little harsh. I should apologize… NO! Why the hell would I do that. He’s meant to be a girl. Why is he a guy!? It’s not right… But… Is that really all that wrong? I mean… Is it? She continues to think of these things for a few minutes, until finally, she concludes, Maybe it’s not all that bad… No… “It is that bad!” She shouts, causing the dalmation driving the SUV to accelerate violently for a split second.
	“What!? What’s all that bad?” Linus shouts in reply to the husky.
	“You, you… you…” She stutters, trying to think of a name.
	“Tranny? Satanic spawn?” The otter fills in for her. “You don’t have to say anything. I’m used to all of it. Every day people call me names, and sometimes, they ride in my cab, and when I turn around to ask them where they’re going, they either get out immediately, or they ride and don’t pay me.” Idaline just sits there, listening to Linus speak. “I’m surprised I haven’t lost my job yet because of how poorly I perform.”
	“I…” She looks down at her lap. “I didn’t realize it was so bad.”

	At any rate, the caravan continues to New York City for another two hours, and finally after making it through an enormous volume of traffic within the city, the three SUVs all pull up to the entrance to the United Nations building.
	The security tiger at the gate promptly inquires, “ID… Oh, Dr. Ragh (apparently the doctor’s nickname), you’re back. At least the sun came out, right?” The doctor nods in response, smiling as the driver of the SUV gives his ID to Ryan. The tiger scans the card as he presses, “So, did you find the two candidates you were looking for?”
	The doctor replies in his usual cheerful, boastful fashion, “Yes, Ryan, I did, and I recruited more than I expected. I convinced four people to help us!”
	“Well, I look forward to meeting the Taker, if you know what I mean…”
	Lazily, the doctor rolls off, “Why do you always think that you’re going to get with someone. You really should consider choosing one person. It’s dangerous to sleep with so many different people.”
	“Ugh…” Ryan rolls his eyes, upset about what he had just heard. He opens the gate for the caravan to pass through. Meanwhile, Ryan’s eyes are caught by the sight of one young Idaline Lane, sleeping in the back of the third SUV. Ryan starts talking to himself in his mind, Damn, she has a nice ass for a husky. Too bad she’s the epitome of evil. Oh, just look at me. I’m considering sleeping with the spawn of the devil? No way I’m doing that… But, that ass…
 
	In the parking garage, once Idaline has been woken up and brought out of the car, the doctor and his kids, and the four recruits are met with FBI security. “Boys, I do believe I called in to have some cards brought down for my new friends, here.” The doctor asks with confidence. One of the guards, a tall, thin panda, holds out a black leather brief case, and the doctor walks up to him and unlatches the locks on the case, and opens it up to reveal four non-laminated ID cards with all of the recruits’ information on them, but missing the pictures. “Thank you.” The doctor passes the cards out to their respective owners.
	The other guard, a brown wolf, short by wolf standards, says, “If you’ll follow me this way,” which no one argues with. The group is completely silent on the journey through security to get into the United Nations building. The four recruits give the guards their bags as well as themselves to be checked over for suspicious objects. Still, despite the massive amount of possessions the recruits had brought with them, nothing needed a second look. All was allowed through.
	It is as if there is no time to even catch one’s breath between security and what is next. There is an FBI officer, a gold lab woman, sitting behind a desk built into the room which is covered in black marble. Each of the recruits give their cards to the woman behind the desk, and within ten minutes, all four of the cards have their proper pictures, and a plastic encasement from being laminated. They are all asked to wear the cards as badges by use of a hole punched into the cards, and a clip to be hooked onto a belt loop. With the brown wolf and another FBI officer, a tall, muscular Doberman, they are then all crammed into an elevator that goes up to the 40th floor, where they are all greeted by a face they all know.
	It is the President, Jack Harolds, the first raccoon ever to be elected into office. The four newcomers to the team are all stunned. They all knew they’d be meeting people high in the government, but never the President. He greets them, smiling widely, “It is my pleasure to welcome you to the United Nations. Come, let’s walk and talk.” They all step out of the elevator and into a carpeted hallway very similar to a large hotel. They follow FBI guards down the corridor. Harolds continues, “You may know me, but I definitely don’t know you. Pink Floyd, what is your name?”
	Daron’s mind goes blank because of the shock from seeing the President of his own country standing before him, let alone greeting him personally. He completely forgets that he is wearing his new Pink Floyd shirt he had gotten from the store that morning. Gaige, still squishing himself next to the wolf, nudges him in his arm, which brings him around rather quickly. “O-oh! Daron McSteele… S-sir!” He is very tense as he speaks, mostly out of the shock and nerves.
	Harolds replies warmly, “Good, very good. And you, young lady in the blazer?”
	Referring to Linus, he boldly corrects him, “You mean ‘young man,’ Mr. President.” Harolds blushes a bit, as he is a rather conservative man when it comes to the subject of sexuality. The otter bows his head in respect, continuing, “Linus VanDiesel at your service, sir. I know it’s a muzzle-full, so I just go by Linus.”
	“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Mr. VanDiesel.” The President no longer feels comfortable talking with the group, so all keep silent for the rest of the journey through the maze of corridors they meander through.
	They are lead into a large, circular, wooden and carpeted room. There are rows of seating in all directions, most likely giving this room a purpose for things like voting and conferences and whatnot. However, this is not where they stay. Instead they are lead straight through the room to another elevator which travels up another twenty floors. It is a larger elevator than the other one, so there’s no reason to complain. They door opens up to reveal a large open room with only simple desks and chairs, much like a high school classroom. There are several other people in the room as well as the group that just got off the elevator; a middle-aged grizzly bear, a white rabbit, a striped ferret, and a yellow mare.
	Surprisingly, the bear recognized Gaige almost immediately. It is Gus the bartender. Even after almost six years, and only seeing him one time, he still knows it is Gaige. He stands up and places his hands on his hips, and smirks saying, “Hey, it’s that drunk husky kid who came into my bar all those years ago! Your name escapes me, but I never forget a face. You haven’t changed a bit!” Gaige tries to hide himself from all who are staring at him in confusion.
	Daron bends down and whispers in the husky boy’s ear a confused, suspicious and slightly angry, “You know this guy?”
	Gaige suddenly remembers the time when he went out dressed as a female. He replies, “Yes, Daron, I know him.”
	Dr. Raghuraman is next to say something, though it is mostly out of nerves. “Well, this is a bit awkward, I’m sure, but I believe we should get down to business…”
	Harolds chimes in, “Hm, quite right, Doctor. All of you can find a seat for yourselves. Doctor, I’m sure you’re capable enough to handle this?” The tiger pushes up his glasses as he steps back into the elevator, along with two officers.
	The doctor quickly replies, “Yes, sir!”
 
Chapter Ten 
 
	The doctor turns around to face the others and claps his paws together. He sighs and quickly jumps into his usual cheerful self. As he resets the tuft of hair on his furry head, he walks up to the front of the bunch of desks saying, “Well, since we’re going to be working as a team for the next few weeks, wouldn’t it make sense that we all know each other on a first-name basis? I believe it would. Would you care to take seats?” The new recruits and Gus all sit down, Gaige sitting between Daron and Idaline, and Linus in the row I front. Anirudh and Arvind sit front and center, however.
	The room itself is very large. It looks as if the entire floor is composed of just the one room. Large windows fill the walls, with only one wall providing an exception, which is the wall with the elevator. The bunch of desks sit on a small carpeted area in front of the elevator, but the rest of the room is completely made of concrete and tile. There are some weights in a corner that look to be abnormally heavy. Next to the weights is a very complicated looking computer station, then a table with three glasses of water, and various other things. Yet, the rest of the room remains empty.
	Dr. Raghuraman continues his spiel, “Why don’t we all introduce ourselves? You already know me, so we can skip over myself. Gus, why don’t you start?” The majority of the group share the same thought at this point, He’s treating this like we’re in an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting…
	“What’s there to say? My name’s Gus Clarkson, and I own a bar in New Olive, which a certain someone in this room happened to stumble upon a few years ago. I served him a drink, but I snuck him one without alcohol, as he was already too drunk to be any wiser…”
	Blushing hard, Gaige jumps in with, “I wasn’t drunk!”
	Idaline breaks up the argument by shushing her brother, “Gaige, calm your tits, he’s speaking.” Hearing all of this reassures Daron that Gaige isn’t seeing anyone else, so he relaxes a bit.
	Gus continues, “Well, as a matter of fact, you were drunk to where you couldn’t even stand without going out, like the little light you are.”
	Just then the doctor steps in, “Gentlemen, please, time and place. The past is the past, and doesn’t matter. Just tell us why you’re here, Gus, so we can get on with what we came here to do in the first place.”
	Gus sticks his tongue out at the doctor, smirking, arms crossed. In return, Dr. Raghuraman raises his eyebrow in a lack of amusement. “Whatever… I’m here because I have super powers. Plain and simple.”
	“Such as…?” Several people, including the doctor, say this simultaneously.
	“I’m able to change shape into anything around the same size as myself.” He says this like it is nothing.
	“Thank you. And now,” The doctor indicates to the person next to Gus that it’s her turn.
	The yellow mare also has her arms crossed, but she takes it more seriously. She speaks with a British accent, and most of the people in the room infer that she’s from the United Kingdom. “Well, if someone wants me to read their mind, then your friendly, neighborhood Brooklyn Murray can tell what you’re thinking. I can predict your every move before you know what it is even.” This is when Gaige stands up, volunteering himself. “You’re thinking that you’d rather do it with the wolf sitting next to you instead of me. You know that really hurts me…”
Gaige slaps his paw to his forehead and sighs, thinking, I'm gay, Brooklyn.
“Oh… er... never mind, then. I thought you were straight. Anyone else?” No one speaks.
	Dr. Raghuraman notifies the white rabbit next to Brooklyn that it’s his turn. The rabbit also has an accent, and English seems to be his second language, but he still speaks it fluently. He sounds like he is from somewhere in the eastern part of Asia. “Well, I am Adam Xin, I’m a comedian, and I can fly. There's nothing more to me than that.” All nod in approval.
	“And the new people… Sir?” The doctor smiles as he looks at Linus.
	“The name’s Linus. I can tell by some of your texts and emails that you probably would ask me if you had the balls to, my sex and gender are different, so shut up and deal. Anyway, just watch this…” The otter closes his eyes, concentrating as hard as he can, and suddenly all five of the cell phones in the room start ringing at full volume. Daron’s ringtone easily stands out as the loudest and the most obnoxious of them all. Everyone feels like they’ve been seriously violated. For all they know, Linus could be going through all their messages and photos on their devices. They easily have good reason for feeling that way. When Linus opens his eyes, he releases the tension that had built up while he was, ‘using’ his ability.
	Idaline introduced herself next, demonstrating her constant sarcasm as a secondary ability to her tissue regeneration. “So yeah, apparently when I get sick or hurt, I heal in a couple seconds, so yeah.” She rolls her green eyes, nearly the exact same hue as her brother’s, as she finishes.
	Daron gives out his name next, talking about how crazy the past week has been, and whatnot. He then lifts the table in front of him above his head with a single paw. No one is impressed, however. They all have gotten used to the fact that none of them are normal.
	The doctor then proceeds to explain to all the people there who Gaige is, and what his role is in the grand scheme of things. He tells everyone about the Phoenix Gem, and how Gaige is the only one who can get it. “Alright, now that all that is out of the way, let’s get to the main event. All that needs to happen is for Gaige here to simply shake paws with everyone that’s been here for a while, and we’ll be able to move on,” Dr. Raghuraman presses.
	Gaige grabs the bridge of his muzzle sighing to himself, “Goddammit, this is ridiculous. I can’t believe I have to make myself look like an idiot AGAIN.” He stands up and goes around the area of the enormous room, strange as it sounds, touching everyone, blushing hard. His tail is completely stiff, showing his reluctance.
	“Good, good, fine. Yes that works out perfectly. Now, on to testing.” He says this last bit with a very creepy smile. Both of the twins shrink into their seats, and even Idaline cringes in fear a bit.
	
	Throughout the room, tables and desks full of medical and computer equipment are noticed by the cases. All of them are hooked up to the electronics spread out throughout the massive empty room. During this testing, Idaline is given a knife, and she slits her paw. Just like before, she feels no pain, and the blood that does not fall to the floor goes back into her pawpad. Daron is required to lift the abnormally heavy weights, which he does without a problem. Gus shows his ability by simply looking at someone else, and making himself look like their clone. That is, except for not being able to change his face to look like them. Brooklyn is given tests where she needs to guess the number in the officer’s head. She has no problems. The twins are given water to boil and freeze, respectively, though Arvind still has trouble putting out his flame. Adam is required to simply lift himself a few feet above the ground. He instead sends his head through the ceiling, and falls back to the ground, landing flat on his back side. Meanwhile, FBI officers are called in to run the computers and monitor progress, which goes over nicely. That is, until Gaige’s testing.
	Once he has an IV in his wrist, and sensors on multiple places all over his body, much like all the others, his test turns out to be different than everyone elses’. He is required to perform each and every task that all the others are capable of. He is first required to lift himself off the ground and simply float. Easy enough, he tells himself as he does this perfectly and joyfully. The shear happiness fills him the whole time he is being tested.
	Eventually, he gets to the final test, the test Idaline was given. One of the officers brings Gaige a knife, which he offers to him. Gaige’s joy suddenly leaves him when this occurs. “Fuck, no. I will not be taking a knife to my chest, my arm, or anything else. I may be able to heal, but it doesn’t mean I don’t feel the pain!” All stare at the knife, then at Gaige, then at the knife, and Gaige again. Finally, they set their focus on the officer, who merely takes off his glasses, and whispers to Gaige, “If you don’t do this for me, I lose my job, and I may not have any super abilities or whatever, but I swear, you’ll pay for it. Got it?”
	“O-okay,” Gaige says in utter terror. He shrinks even though he is practically God compared to the doberman officer. Sweating profusely, the husky boy takes the knife from the black and brown dog. He closes his eyes tightly, sticks his arm out straight, holds the knife against it, shaking in fear, ready for the sharp stinging pain to come, and finally, slits his own arm.
	The blood flows out of Gaige’s arm at an alarming rate for a few seconds, meanwhile he is shrieking in pain and agony, even when the husky heals himself. A pair of tears come out of his eyes one at a time, slowly dripping down his cheeks. Though his fur is thoroughly stained, the bleeding has at least stopped.
	“That’s interesting…” The doctor begins scribbling down notes very rapidly. “It seems as though Gaige’s powers have certain limitations to them. Though he can copy and mimic those of others, they don’t seem to be as strong.”
	“Oh well that’s fantastic!” Gaige snaps at the snow leopard.
	“Try some of the other abilities you’ve collected.”
	Though try as he must, Gaige finds his powers very hard to control. He points out to the doctor, “It seems I either can’t be strong enough, or I am too strong with it.” This is particularly true when he attempts to create a steady fireball from Arvind, and creates a small fire on the ceiling, which one of the FBI officers quickly puts out with a fire extinguisher.
	It’s been a whole hour now after Gaige’s testing started, and everyone other than Daron and Idaline have since left the testing chamber and gone to their rooms for the evening. It is nearly six after all. Still, now that Gaige’s testing has finished, and his arms are thoroughly stained with blood, the three remaining members of the group are told they should go unpack their things in their suites. Before they go, Dr. Raghuraman stops the trio in their tracks. “I’ve already notified your employers, Gaige. You don’t need to worry about that, and I’ve also talked to your friends at your diner as well; they know what to do.”
	“Thanks, doc. I owe you one.” Gaige replies sincerely. The husky bows his head in respect to the snow leopard as they leave in the elevator.
	“Why did you bow to him?” Daron asks Gaige in the elevator as they go higher into the upper half of the United Nations Building.
	“Yeah, what gives bro?” Idaline chimes in.
	“Just felt like being Japanese, I guess. Nothing you need to worry about,” Gaige smirks as he responds.
	As the door to the elevator finally opens after a long ride up, the trio is shown a beige carpeted, green walled corridor. The white ceiling could even be thought of as whipped cream. The FBI officers that came along follow them to the suites, unlocking the double doors to each of them for the three canines. One of the officers, a black bear, has an envious look on his face, the corner of his mouth is twitching, though he hides his expression well. The bear simply mumbles, “Enjoy.” He then leaves the key card on the end table next to the door, which he closes, leaving the two huskies and wolf inside.
	The bags are all in front of the king-size bed. Idaline immediately grabs her suitcase and takes it with her into the next suite. She slams the door behind her, but not before turning around on her heels and encouraging the two males by saying, “I believe you boys need the bigger bed more than me, so I’ll leave you two alone. Have fun, you two!”

Chapter Eleven

	Gaige confusedly asks, “We’re not at THAT point, are we?” He pauses as Daron makes a puppy-face in response. “Daron, I’m just not sure if I’m ready for that yet. First of all, I haven’t… well… ‘practiced,’ in a while.”
	“Well isn’t that just peachy?” Daron mumbles with a bit of Idaline’s sarcasm.
	“Daron, I…”
The wolf interrupts him, “No, no, no. It’s fine. I’m moving too quickly anyway. Fuck, I need to control myself. This isn’t the time or the place.” The silver wolf curls his tail around his waist and grabs it. He sighs in a discomfort Gaige has never seen before in a wolf. Generally wolves are always holding their head up high in pride and jubilance, and they’re tough even when they’re sick or hurt. But Daron is now explicitly upset about what Gaige is telling him.
	“Daron?”
	“What?”
	“Come, sit on the bed. I need to talk to you, but I’m tired after all that stuff they made us do.” Gaige pats the bed with his paw as he sits down on the edge. He starts swishing his tail every so often, and Daron follows suit. “You know, just because I’m not ready for THAT...” Gaige moves his paw onto Daron’s leg. “Doesn’t mean you can’t kiss me.” They both smile at each other, and they each move in.
	When they are done, Daron blurts out, “I want to take you out on a date sometime when this whole government mess is sorted out.”
	Gaige replies without hesitation, “I think we already did go out when I took you in, but that doesn’t have to count if you don’t want it to.” He winks at him confidently.
	“Kid, I…” Daron now fully realizes the problem with everything that’s happening. It’s all going too quickly. “Gaige, I think this whole relationship between you and me is problematic. Or at least it might be sometime in the near future. I don’t want that to happen. I don’t want it to end completely.”
	“What do you mean?”
	“I think we should wait to be intimate. It’s just that we’re both in limerence...”
“Limerence…?”
“Okay maybe that’s not the right word… Regardless, we’re moving too fast. I mean, it’s only been like, what, a little over a week since we first met? And what we did at my hotel was a bit awkward. And that vision we seemed to both have simultaneously. That’s… weird, and I can’t explain it. So, all in all. We shouldn’t rush into this. We should get to know each other more before we try to be in a relationship.”
	Meanwhile, Idaline is on the other side of the door, listening. When she hears what Daron says, she mutters to herself, sarcastically as usual, “Well, shit.” Immediately after Idaline says that, she hears Gaige echo her words precisely. “Huh. Wonder if they know I’m here.”
	“Idaline, I took Brooklyn’s telepathic ability before, remember? Though, I can’t quite control it yet, I can still hear your thoughts. You’re also speaking pretty loud.”
	“Fuck… My… Life…” She states slowly. She closes the door as she leaves the area and begins unpacking her bag. When she finds her friend’s old laptop he had given her, she decides to place it on the night table next to the queen-size bed. She turns up the green backlight on the keyboard as she plugs it into the wall. She then notices the desk on the other side of the room. “Fuck me…”
	After moving everything to the desk and setting up her mouse, she attempts to log into the wireless network. She fails many times, and after giving up, she decides to close the computer and let it charge for a while. She slumps down in her chair, looking at her legs. Her paws are resting right in her lap. “Should I…” she whispers under her breath, considering the dirty deed. “No. Not here. What if the room is bugged? It probably is…” Idaline checks the corners of the ceiling, and right above the door to the hallway, there is a little black sphere mounted to the wall. “Yeah, it is. Guess that’s out of the question.”
	While this all is happening, Daron and Gaige have decided to “hold off on the intimacy,” until they have become more familiar with each other. They are both sitting on the king-size bed with their heads against the padded bed-post. Daron is focusing on the television, watching a news report about a new law that was just put into effect that morning. “So, the top story today… recreational marijuana is now legal in the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Vermont, and Maine.” Meanwhile, Gaige is busy on his laptop editing a video he made a few days before he had gone into that hotel.
	One thing Gaige enjoys about his life is his web-show on YouTube, which has quite a fanbase; almost one million by now. The video he’s editing is his one-million subscriber special. He has spent hours editing it, and it’s nearly finished. Once he sets the video to render, he places his laptop down on the table next to the bed. He has to move the copy of the Bible and the phone out of the way, but he still manages to find room enough for the computer to have plenty of breathing space.
	By the time the rendering is at twenty percent, the husky turns to Daron next to him and says, “Why are we doing this?”
	The wolf replies simply, “Because we don’t want to rush into everything and risk ending it all.”
	“No, no, no, I mean, why are we here? Looking for this crystal or whatever, I mean.”
	Daron is about to answer, but a knock on the door interrupts him. He holds up a finger indicating, “one minute,” as he gets up to answer it. Gaige can now hear many voices in his head. All screaming in pain, and he is about to warn Daron, but it is too late. As the silver wolf opens the door, he sees a brown stallion with an off-white mane. He is slightly shorter than the wolf, who recognizes the visitor immediately. It’s his ex. Daron is stunned, but he doesn’t have much time to stay that way, as the horse grabs him by the scruff of his neck, and pins him against the wall. “Fuck you, Vincent. Get…”
	The stallion places a finger over Daron’s muzzle, shushing him. Meanwhile, both Gaige and Idaline are watching the whole thing happen, cowering, too scared to do anything. Once Vincent sees the two huskies standing there, he smirks, and points at Daron’s forehead, slowly moving it sideways. As he does this, Daron is screaming at the top of his lungs in pure, shear agony, as a line of blood is drawn across his forehead. It is now that Gaige works up the courage to do something about the situation. He springs forward, full of anger with tears in his eyes, and punches the stallion right in his ribcage, which broke in a few places upon impact. Now Vincent is flying through the air, being hurled into the hall. As he lands on the floor and slides, hitting the wall, another of his ribs breaks, this one on his other side.
	Gaige points at the horse with nothing but anger, shear anger, tears rolling down his face, “If you EVER, hurt him again, I swear to God…” The small husky gets right up in the stallion’s face to finish, “I will break you.” He is about to grab the horse by the mane, to look at his face clearly, but just as he is about to make contact with him, he disappears into thin air. “Good riddance.” Gaige looks at either side of the door to see all four of the FBI officers lying on the carpet with the tops of their heads sliced clean off, each of their brains missing. It’s as if the tops of their heads had been removed with a chainsaw. Blood is everywhere, and after nearly vomiting at the site of it all, he turns to see Daron collapsed on the ground, passed out, Idaline aiding him with a washcloth on his forehead. It is still leaking blood very badly. He runs over to them and scoops Daron up in his arms. He brings him over to the bed and sets him down.
	By now, Idaline is also in tears, and she shouts at Gaige, “Go get help… NOW!” And without a second thought he was sprinting down the hall, but there was already someone there, staring at the whole scene.
A great dane in a black suit is sending for a medical squad, and when he is done, he notices Gaige had run up to him. The husky begins to tell him everything as they run back to the room. When he sees Daron lying on the bed, he checks his breathing and pulse. “He’s stable, but he won’t be for long…” He picks up his radio again, and yells into it, “Where’s that med team?! I got someone dying here, and it’s one of the cases!” He turns to Gaige and asks him, “Now explain to me how the hell he got part of his head sliced off!” Gaige hadn’t gotten to that part yet, so he continues to explain as the three of them aid the dying wolf.
“As far as I know, his ex has some kind of ability as well. It looked like… I don’t even know what it looked like! What he did to Daron, though, God, I’ve never even imagined anything remotely like it! I got so scared I couldn’t do anything at first. I had completely forgotten about everything I had acquired up until then…” By now the team of medics had arrived, and they placed Daron on a stretcher once they deemed it safe to.
Then one of the medics reels on Gaige. “Were you the one who moved him to the bed?”
“Yes…?” He replied nervously.
“What’s your medical training history like?”
“I have a certification for CPR…”
“Anything else?” The lion is now nose-to-nose with Gaige.
“No…” Gaige slumps down in sadness and remorse.
“Then you better pray that you didn’t hurt him. You could be in a lot of trouble, but we’ll see about that, won’t we?” He leaves, swishing his tail in Gaige’s face. The husky sighs shamefully as the room is cleared out. Tears fill his eyes and dribble down his face as he starts bawling once again, cursing anything and everything that comes to his mind.

Chapter Twelve

Idaline and Gaige are both sitting on chairs outside the operating room, when a doctor comes out holding a clipboard. "I have good news and bad news." The lion says plainly. There is a pause as the two huskies look up at him. "The good news is that Daron is stable, and he didn't lose enough blood to kill him. He should recover within a few weeks to months."
Gaige sighs heavily with relief, but Idaline chimes in with, "And the bad news?"
The lion places his paw over the bridge of his muzzle, massaging it for a second. As he removes his paw from his face, he sighs and answers, "His brain suffered severe trauma, and the part we're worried about is his hippocampus, which was damaged as well. We're not sure if his memories will be quite the same when he recovers." Both the huskies are paying all their attention to the doctor, listening intently. "Unfortunately, if that is the case, it may be irreversible. Luckily, though, the least we can hope for at this point is that he stays stable. He won't be awake for a while, so I don't think now is the best time to see him.” The lion puts his paw on Gaige’s shoulder and meaningfully says, “I'm sorry."
As the doctor walks away down the hall, Gaige breaks down in tears again. “This is all my fault, goddammit!”
Idaline jumps in to cheer her brother up, “Actually, when you look at what happened, you did pretty much everything right. Sure, you risked hurting him by moving him onto the bed, but otherwise, I don’t see anything wrong with what you did.”
	Her attempt fails, despite being correct about all of it, and having such a soothing tone. “No, it IS my fault. I was able to hear Vincent’s thoughts in the hall before Daron answered the door, and I didn’t warn him in time!” Gaige sobs. “What’s the point of even having these powers, or whatever they are, if I can’t even help people with them!?”
	Idaline puts her arms around her brother next to her, and holds him very tightly. “Gaige, you can’t blame yourself for every bad thing that happens around you. You need to cut yourself some slack.” Gaige continues sobbing into his arms. Idaline whispers into his ear, “I’m sure he’ll be fine.” She gets up from her seat and leaves him alone in the hallway.
	After finally coming to his senses, Gaige stops his weeping, and starts to leave the ER. He tells the guards outside the operating room where he’s going, and they allow him to go back to the room to move his things to another one. He doesn’t even want to think about what had transpired not three hours earlier.

	As the bell rings from the door knocking against it, loud clicks echo throughout the entryway. Though Daron behind the counter does not look up to see who just entered the hotel, he still welcomes them with his usual, “Welcome, can I help you?” However, there is no response from the guest. The wolf repeats, “Can I help you?” This time he stands up after performing a quick save of the work on his computer screen. “Is anybody…” Daron finally sees who is standing in front of the front desk. It is Vincent. The brown stallion stands about 4 inches shorter than the silver wolf, and is much less muscular. “What do you want from me? If this is about the other day, you can forget about us… AAAHH!”
Without a word, the horse grabs Daron by the scruff of his neck, lifting and throwing him over the desk and onto the marble floor. The wolf’s muzzle is crushed on impact, and blood starts leaking onto the ground. Vincent thinks to himself, I need to keep them secret. Who knows how many people can hear what’s happening. A blade would be better, but I don’t know how effective it would be for cutting through skulls… Daron, I’m sorry for this, but I know you. You’d never want any part in my cause… The wolf hears very distinctly a loud click belonging to a switch blade extending. As more clicks of hoofsteps approach Daron, he turns on his back and blocks a swipe of the blade with his paw, leaving a huge gash along his upper arm. He quickly thrusts his legs at Vincent’s crotch, landing a successful kick right in his balls.
As Daron gets to his feet, he sprints out of the hotel into the bright sunlight. Goddamnit, where do I go? Daron worries himself in his mind. If I call the cops, he’d be expecting that… but he’d also expect me to go to the hospital… or my parents’ house… Maybe… Gaige! By now he has gotten into his cherry red sports car, and sped away from the hotel. As he is driving away, however, Vincent is now running as fast as his hooves can carry him, but the brand new Camaro is just too fast for the stallion.
Well, I’ll find him eventually… He stops running after the car, and after it is out of sight, he walks into the nearest alleyway, and before one can blink, he is gone.

	It has been nearly an hour since Gaige had his, Idaline’s, and Daron’s things moved to the new room, and the husky boy is finally settling in.  I’m sure he’ll get better… I hope… He lays muzzle-down on the bed, and begins to cry again. “Fuck it! I could’ve done something to prevent this, and I didn’t. WHY!?”
He continues to sob into the pillow of the bed, but he stops when he hears whispering in his ear. But it’s strange… the sound is going into both ears equally. It is saying, Gaige, can you hear me? It’s Daron, and it’s really dark in here, repeating it until Gaige sits upright.
	“Daron?” He stutters, looking around the room for the source of the voice. That is when the husky boy walks over to the window of the room. He looks at the horizon just above the ocean, and sees a ball of light, almost blinding him. As his vision becomes clear again, he is able to make out a huge wave of water rushing towards the city. He wants to move to warn people, but he is in a state of shock, and none of his muscles will budge.
	The huge wall of water continues to rush towards him, growing in size and speed all the time. Faster and faster, bigger and bigger. As the wave finally begins destroying everything in sight, the husky boy screams as loud as his body will allow. Buildings start to collapse, and the ground begins to shake violently. The next thing Gaige knows is that he is falling down… down… down…
	As Gaige sits in the darkness, he sees Daron sleeping in a hospital bed, patched up from his wounds. The scarlet husky runs over to him, but try as he must, the wolf and the bed recede away faster than Gaige can move. But then he remembers, Wait a minute, I can fly! He then notices that he had already lifted himself off the ground, and is now floating above a line of sparkles below him. As he starts to finally catch up to the retreating bed, the wolf upon it awakens and sits up, looking right at Gaige. “Daron! You’re-”
	The wolf interrupts the husky boy with, “Dead...”
“Dead?” The husky asks, confused.
“Yes, I’m dead. You killed me, remember?” The deep wolf voice said, echoing intensely.
“No…” Gaige backs up a bit, denying that he killed the silver wolf.
	“Yes! Along with the rest of the world. You used the gemstone to wipe out the world and start anew. The only one you spared…”
	“No… no…” He continues to walk backwards, but he trips, and falls to the ground.
	Suddenly, Daron’s head covering unravels itself, revealing the wound Vincent made. Daron’s head detaches itself from his body, and comes rushing towards Gaige. Gaige cannot move at all. He is glued to the spot. Now, echoing even more, louder, and deeper, “...IS YOURSELF!”
	“NO! You’re wrong, that never happened! I never killed anyone!” He feels that he is free, and starts to sprint away as fast as he can. He tries and tries, but he can’t outrun the floating disembodied head of Daron.
	As he now flies away, Daron’s head catches up with him, putting itself right in front of Gaige’s face. “Why do you flee, boy? It’s too late, you know. By killing me, you’ve already set your life on a roller coaster of mass extinction. All because of you. But to make you feel better, I’ll show you what you missed out on. Here, take a look!” As the head moves itself out of the way, it reveals to Gaige a green grass-covered hill, which he sets himself on top of. There is an oak tree at the top, looking over a flowing river and miles upon miles of plains. On the other side, it shows a silhouette of New Olive in the distance, and at the bottom is a dirt road, with Daron’s cherry red sports car parked on it.
	“What is this?” Gaige asks.
	“Hmph, you really don’t know? You’ve been here before... the north side of New Olive, of course.”
	A pair of people step out of the car, and begin walking up the hill towards the tree. “Hey, that’s me! And Daron too? But I thought-”
	“Like I said, this is what would have happened, had you not killed me. Just look… See that?”
	“Hmm?” The husky looks down at himself and the wolf, now standing underneath the oak tree.
	The Daron on the hill gets down and kneels, reaching into the pocket of his shorts, and cupping his paws around a black box. He starts speaking up to the would-be Gaige, and though it isn’t audible, the real Gaige is able to read lips well enough to make out, “Will you do the honors of being my husband?” as he reveals a ring inside the little black box. Gaige now sees himself and the wolf embracing and kissing lovingly.
	Gaige now sheds a single tear, in awe at the sight of all this. Now with deep sarcasm and ridule, the disembodied head speaks. “Now, isn’t that sweet? Crying over what would have been your marriage, OH! I might just join you. Oh, boo hoo hoo! I regret everything I ever did wrong in my life! OH, woe is me… Boo hoo!”
	Gaige is now blind with rage. He swats at the floating head, but it is no use. His attacks only phase right through it. “Stop this, you devil! Stop it right now!”
	“Oooh, your mother sucks cocks in hell, now! HAHAHAHA!” The head yells at the husky, laughing maniacally.
	“STOP!”

	Fading in, steadily getting louder and louder, Gaige can hear the voice of his Idaline, saying his name over and over again. He finally opens his eyes to see the husky girl standing over him, shaking him awake. “Get a hold of yourself, Gaige!”
As Idaline stops shaking him, he sits up on the bed in the new room and speaks, "What happened? Where's Daron?"
"That's the problem..."
"How do you mean?" She begins to shed a single tear. His eyes grow wide. "No..." Idaline merely stares at her brother.