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Multiple Settings Mass Clans: Beyond

"I don't think so." Pest reports, keeping his voice low still. "Where did Lula go?" The tom would ask, his voice tinged with worry as he follows after Trinity, catching sight of the now purple she-cat. He approaches slowly so as not to startle her. Once he's close, enough, he stops beside her. He can already tell she's pretty distraught and he's not surprised. "I'm okay." The tom would mew quietly, coming around to face her. "Pretty good disguise, huh?" The tom would offer.
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"That's fine, that's about as long as her stupid prank should last anyway." Hal would respond, still having trouble standing with his artificial limb being much longer than his other legs. "What do you need me to do?"
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"Definitely. It must be that bug that the medbots mentioned when we got here. Hopefully those immune system boosters will kick in soon." The tom would mew, suddenly feeling anxious and his nausea soon returned.
 
“Achoo!” Aceline sneezed suddenly. No build up or tickle in her nose, just an immediate sneeze. She surprised herself in the process.


Lexi panted out a huge breath when Thrush. As if she’d been underwater for a year and just got to exhale.

“Malevo caught me leaving the store with my bag and knew I couldn’t afford it so she assumed I had a boyfriend. And I figured I’d never see her again so I’ll just lie and say yeah, because I’ve always wanted to get one over on her and ever since we were younger it was always a competition between me and her and she’d always win. But then she asked who it was and I panicked. S-so I blurted out Trin’s name and it all just snowballed from there. I didn’t think Malevo would be so…pushy. I forgot she was part Voltician, and…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it, I’m not trying to steal Trin from you or anything like that. Honest…He just happened to be the thing I could rub in Malevo’s face and finally 1-up her on. I wanted to win sooo bad.” Lexi explained, partly out of breath and certainly haphazardly.

“Achoo!” Aceline sneezed again, getting one of the huntresses ears to pivot.

“Oh And. And you don’t have to go along with my lie. You can-“ Lexi gulped, “-tell Malevo the truth when she comes back. I’m sorry for putting a strain on your relationship.” Lexi finished, hanging her head a little bit while still looking at Thrush to gage her reaction. A shock went up the sabertooth’s spine out of the blue and she stole a confused glance at Aceline right as the sheline sneezed again. Muttering something she returning her attention to Thrush

—

Immediately upon arriving back at the group Trin walked up to Nastiel, who was struggling to clean up the abandoned vests in the hall while still holding a paw over his nose.

“The Symphony needs to be evacuated, now.” Trin stated.

“Why?” Both Nastiel and Fye said, looking at Trin with skeptical but open minded looks.

“I’ll explain in a sec, just get it started. It’s a code green.” Trin meowed hurriedly, his gaze shifting between Nastiel and Pest over and over again. After less than half a second Trin padded past Nastiel, towards Pest and Lula.

“PIM, earth feline lymph nodes; where?” Trin asked the AI quickly as he was walking.

“Neck, let pits, haunches. Why?” PIM listed off without hesitation, or moving from her comfortable spot with Fil. Trin didn’t answer her however.

—

“Pest?…..Y-yeah, pretty good.” Lula breathed out, staring at the tom. Her chest started to expand in elation. The joyful expression growing on her features was undermined by a slightly confused one when Trin stopped next to Pest and started kneading his neck.

“Trin?” Lulalissa asked, cocking a brow and reeling back an inch. The red eyed tom didn’t respond, instead humming when he found a spot on Pest’s neck he was looking for. Wasting no time he unsheathed a claw and made a small cut into Pest’s neck, deep enough to draw a well of blood immediately.

“Tri-“ Before Lula could even voice her displeasure she was cut off by the tom’s next action. Trin gave the cut on Pest’s neck a long lick before swallowing the blood on his tongue and then giving it yet another long lick in the opposite direction. Lula was gobsmacked. She would have sat there in silent shock if Trin didn’t proceed to immediately turn around and leave.

“What the heck? What’s going on?” The Mia’Moray asked, following him with her eyes.

—

“Overlord, begin preparations for a code green in sector 2–“ Nastiel spoke into his comms.

“ALL sectors.” Trin corrected him as he came back from licking Pest.

“We can handle a code green, there’s already been like 30 today.” Nastiel retorted, shaking his head.

“Yeah but none of those were a virus made by Turish and put into every single snack bag in the Symphony!” Trin snapped harshly. His outburst got everyone’s attention.

“What?” Fye and god-ring enforcer asked.

“PIM, over here. Scan me and see if you can find any micro-organism that’s not supposed to be in my body, it’ll be inert. Check my stomach first since I just took a sample of Pest’s blood.” Trin ignored their question for the time being and waved over the AI. PIM gave Filament one last squeeze before standing and going over to the tom.

“Um…….yeah, in the stomach you’ve got something resembling a virus. It’s not inert like you said, will probably pass through the digestive tract.” PIM reported, leaning close to Trin’s belly before standing up straight.

“Turish makes my DNA immune to all her projects. But there’s your proof that it exists and is already highly contagious. I drank a juice pouch a day ago, I have a virus in my body. Pest didn’t have anything to drink besides sterilizing alcohol and yet he had already contracted it. And who got to provide the juice pouches this year?” Trin explained, looking at Nastiel and Fye. The two had stepped closer together, making it easier to look at the two of them simultaneously.

“The demons.” Nastiel answered while Fye just zoned out.

“Turish is working with the demons. Undertaker wants to cause chaos just a day before the god-ring counter-offensive begins. The Symphony needs to be evacuated.” Trin finished sharing his findings with a serious look in his eye.

“Overlord, begin operation: Fog Colony. We have a multiverse level bioweapon. I repeat, begin—“ Nastiel started to relay to the higher ups but Fye slapped mic off his neck.

“We can’t just cancel the Symphony. I have never had to cancel a Symphony before no matter what threat. It’s the god-rings job to ensure security, so ensure it! This thing is my life’s work, evacuating the symphony would set back years of progress! This year was supposed to be special.” Fye warbled in a voice that flopped between aggression and pleading.

“Overlord says they copy boss. Operation fog colony in effect.” One of the masked guards informed. Fye slapping the mic off was more of a dramatic than an effective way fo stoping the order. After informing, the guards began to produce gas masks from a pouch in their vests. Slipping them on without hesitation.

“AHchoo!” Aceline sneezed, inhaling in discomfort after.

“Sorry Fye. But this is us ensuring security. You know who Trin is, who these animals are? I trust they wouldn’t lie. We didn’t listen the last time they warned us about Undertaker. We won’t make that mistake again.” Nastiel meowed, before producing his own mask and putting it on. Once it was snug and secured, he took in a deep breath through his nose. Whatever the reason for him to cover his nose was for, it seemed the mask negated it.

“Fye it’ll be better for animals to know that you’re willing to evacuate them for their safety than to keep them here if they’re not. More will come back in the future now than if your Symphony became known for death.” Trin tried to quickly console the weather AI.

“I know…I invite him here and he f**ks me over! I want that piece of back alley gutter trash dead!” Fye growled, stomping a paw.

“We’ll get him.” Trin and Nastiel said in unison.

“Please tell me Lussmill’s suit is air tight.” Fye asked, returning to her pleading tone.

“Yeah. Why?” Trin nodded when Nastiel shrugged.

“Because I invited her to make an appearance?” Fye groaned out sheepishly. Her sheepish manner juxtaposed by a squad of god-ring enforcers sprinting down a hallway behind her.

“What!?” Trin, Nastiel, Triss, and PIM all yowled.

“Her handler said it was okay! She said Lussmill was feeling cooped up and was going to ship out today anyway, so I offered to pay for an appearance. And since she’s technically not apart the God-ring military I didn’t have to inform you guys. It was going to be a surprise for the god-ring Security too.” Fye rambled our a defense, rubbing her temple with a paw.

“Canc–“

“She’s already in route. ETA 25 to 30 minutes.” Fye informed, stopping Trin in his tracks.

“Dammit Yuripi.” Trin groaned, shaking his head.

“She’ll probably be a nice comforting sight to see and keep animals from panicking in the evacuation. For now let’s worry about figuring out what kind of–“ PIM started to say but was cut off.

“ACHOO!” Aceline sneezed hard, blooding spraying from her nose. But that wasn’t the most shocking part of her sneeze.

“Portal.” Lexi informed instinctively right as Aceline was sneezing. Only a second later did Lexi remember where they were and that there shouldn’t be a portal. But as soon as she turned to look at the orange sheline, she was surprised. There in the middle of the hallway in front of the earth sheline was a portal. On the other side was a gray ashen landscape.

Aceline was reeling. Her eyes were bloodshot and threatening to completely roll into the back of her head. Her balance was completely off snd her breathing was choked. She looked exactly like Trin did back when he overexerted himself. And just like him, she passed out a second later.

“kind of…virus…it is.” PIM trailed on her initial thought, while staring at the portal and Aceline.

“…I think Turish made everyone into jumper.” Trin meowed, staring at the portal in shock and awe.

“To ensure it spreads.” Triss chimed in, walking towards the portal.

“And cause even more chaos. Millions of out of control jumpers in one place, all panicking and wishing they could go anywhere but here.” Trin meowed out with dread.
 
Flame is right by her side when her sneezing starts and he's talking to her but she's not responding. He watches in horror as the sneezes get harsher but eventually he's left mumbling as his vision begins to tunnel. "Ac-" The tom tries to mew when his face is sprayed by blood from her nose. He falls backwards, blood running from his nose. His eyes are squeezed tight and he gags loudly, falling onto his hindquarters.
The world is spinning and he coughs and splutters, sending bloody droplets side to side. The coughs, harsh and ragged, eventually end when a portal pops into existence above him, showing the interior of the model 7 that they'd traveled for so long in.

"Trin? Speed?" The tom rasps out, sides heaving, his voice sounding not unlike a dying man's last breath.
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Pestilence doesn't fight Trin when he pricks his throat. "But I'll be immune right? Like from the plague? That's how it works?" The tom would stammer, eyes turning wide as dinner plates. His heart rate picks up and the tom begins to feel very faint, like his watching this from far away. Out of the corner of his eye, he watches his uncle collapse next to Aceline. "I don't want that to happen to me, not me, not me. I'm scared." The tom starts his statement as a desperate mewl but it slowly drawls into muttering.

He steps quickly away from Lula, seeming to get a bit of a hold on himself. "Don't breath, stay back!" The tom demands, hopping backwards away from her. This was all too familiar to the tom.

"Jezebel! Mother! I'm afraid!" the tom would yowl as he backpedals against the wall furthest away from everyone. Unlike usual, where he makes some snarky or selfish remark, the tom seems genuinely horrified.
"I'm the one who doesn't get sick. This isn't real!" The tom wails, sounding like he hadn't since his father had died. "I'm-I- I can't catch it. It's just in my body, it's-" The tom pleads, his eyes darting around the room. If PIM was checking on him his previous high blood pressure was beginning to reach dangerous levels.

"I'm always okay, I'm gonna be okay I'm gonna be okay I'm gonna be okay I'm gonna be okay I'm gonna be okay I'm gonna be okay" The tom mews, shaking violently.
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Filament was about to step away from PIM to protect her when he remembers that this is merely one of her pods. The panic taking over the entire room is beginning to affect him though and he's starting to look more and more like the rather terrified cat he'd been when they'd shot up the club, when he'd shot at the cops in Hell.

"God-Ring can block jumping right? They've done it to us before, maybe a scrambler linked to uninhabited worlds?" The tom mews, managing to keep his voice steady. He didn't feel weird yet. Maybe that was because he had the body of an adult. He had no idea but he looks to one of the guards. "Can I get a spare mask?"
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Hal looks at the Ant expectantly.
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Holly is completely despondent besides Thistle. She doesn't even notice how high his voice was. "Are they dead?" She'd ask, cautioning a tentative gaze at her father and his mate who lay breathing shallowly on the floor.
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Luther slips on a gasmask along with the soldiers, carefully stepping back and making room between himself and the others. "We are so fucked."
 
The tan ant stared at Hal silently for a couple awkward seconds.

“Nothing. A coworker is procuring a young adult age solution right now.” The insect answered. Half a minute later, an ant and feline hybrid brought a small plastic pouch and set it on the counter.

“Here you go-“

“All Symphony attendees proceed to the muster stations indicated on your ticket and brochure. All symphony attendees please proceed to the muster stations indicated on your ticket and brochure. Thank you.” An announcement over the stadium wide intercom system cut the felid ant off.

“Apologetically: we are now closed. Thank you.” The two ants aliens said in unison before turning away from the counter.

All the electronic and holographic signs and displays through the stadium switched from the advertisements and videos they were playing to red screens displaying the previously announced message. After being displayed for 30 seconds, the screen color was changed the message replaced to indicate that Hal was in muster station ‘blue triangle.’

“What’s going on?”
“I threw my brochure away.”
“Is this a drill?”
“I still want my order!”
“This is ridiculous.” a multitude of murmurings echoed off one another as animals verbally reacted to what was going on.

“Symphony attendees located in: Suites, Daycares, laboratories, and the grounds outside of the stadium are advised to stay where they are and keep their doors shut. If you are not currently in one of these areas, make your way to the muster station indicated on your ticket and brochure.” One more announcement came. The previous one had gone mostly ignored but this one got everyone’s attention.

“Okay, now I’m getting a little freaked out.”
“You think it’s a gas attack?”
“Maybe there’s a nuclear threat?”
“If it was nuclear they wouldn’t tell us to stay outside.”
“They would if the bomb is inside the stadium!”
“My cubs!”
“Somebody help! My brother’s bleeding!”

Various outbursts of panic and confusion filled the air while god-ring enforcers seemed to magically appear in larger numbers than before. Where there used to be pairs of enforcers patrolling the area, there were now six animal squads setting up some small stations and unpacking big bulky bags. And all of them wore gas masks. And if they weren’t actively setting up a station they were sprinting somewhere else as fast as they could without looking frightened or like they were fleeing something.

—

Back in the hallway where the group was located, animals were not following the instructions of the announcement. Doors to the suites around them opened one after another with animals filling out and looking around. Some of them sneezing already.

—

Triss was the closest to Aceline and Flame and as such was the first to the orange tom’s side. She kneeled down next to, placing her paw on his chest both to comfort him and feel his heart.

“It’s okay Flame! You’re just feeling the overload of opening a portal like that. Deep breaths okay, innnn and ouuut. Innnn and ouut.” Triss meowed, her voice serious but high pitched.


Speed vomited onto the ground, pointed away from everyone else. But it wasn’t out of sickness or nerves, and it didn’t look uncontrolled. She spit it out more so than threw up; the action was something her species could do.

On her way over to Flame, Speed grabbed Holly’s helmet and plopped it onto the she-cat’s head as she passed by. Hopefully The racing suit could still seal up even with Holly small now. Rushing over with a skid, Speed came to a rest next to Flame.

“I’m her captain. Right here.” Speed cooed, stroking his head a few times.

—

PIM grimaced at Filament with dread.

“Millions of animals trying to open portals is going to be too much for any portal blocking machine. And opening a portal while actively blocked is more dangerous for the jumper; we’re lucky Flame and Aceline didn’t immediately die just now.” PIM meowed to Filament, being sure to whisper the last part.

As one of the guards moved to take their mask off to give it to Filament, a turquoise med-bot canine came sprinting down the hall with two huge duffel bag. They jogged to a halt next to Nastiel and shrugged one bag off their shoulders.

“Gas masks. One size fits most, should be 50 in that bag. Hand them out, just know there won’t be enough for everyone.” The med-bot reported before sprinting away to go deliver the next bag. Nastiel unzipped the duffel and looked inside. Within were packets of rubber canvas masks, much different from the clear plastic ones they were wearing. These looked straight out of some ancient trench soldier’s kit. No large visor, instead just two acrylic viewports and a built in filter.

“The heck are those! We have better masks than that in reserve.” The purple furred guard snapped.

“It probably means we’re already out of those.” One of the other guards rationalized darkly.

“F**k…” The female guard muttered, trotting forward to help hand out the masks.

“You each have a mask in your vests.” Nastiel told Filament before walking over to a family of kangaroos with a pawful of masks.


—

Trin was overwhelmed. So much was going on in front of him and his brain was racing with images of what was going on just around the corner, in the next sector over, on the other side of the stadium, etc.

“Uh-um…No they’re not dead.” Trin mumbled at too low of a volume. His eyes were vapid and empty and he his body was stock still. He kept trying to think of something he could do to fix everything, or help, or do something. But what could he do? His mind was inevitably drawing a blank on what to do to save the billions of animals in the Symphony and the countless animals beyond. Pest’s freak out pulled him back to his senses and he shook his head wildly. He’d never seen the tom like that. That scared and panicked.

Lula pressed against Pest to try and calm him down, tears welling in her eyes. Both from seeing Pest like this but also from fear too. His emotion was infectious and she had the brain of a kid again. She wanted to be brave for Pest but was terrified along with him.

Jezebel took a few steps towards the duo when the tom called her name. But stopped in place when a tan cream she-cat appeared next them in the blink of an eye; her tail already wrapped around Pest and Lula.

“It is okay Pest. No need to tremble.” Mother meowed softly, looking down at the tom.

“Do not be afraid. Your friends will keep you safe.” Mother said, looking down at Pest before looking directly at Trin. Indicating the message was for the both of them. A moment after she said that, a portal opened 20 yards down the hallway behind her that immediately began spewing out lava. Shrieks of fright and panic sounded and the flow of molten rock sent animals running away. The lava engulfed the animal that opened the portal after they passed out trying to flee.

—

“Lussmill landing in five. minutes. Standby for giantfall.” The message buzzed out through an earpiece that had been discarded on the ground.
 
Thrush sits and goes over what Lexi just told her, brow furrowing. She closes her eyes and takes a calming breath. "Just some friendly advice: if you breathe a word of what I'm about to tell you to anyone I will rip those ivories out of your muzzle and make a nice pair of shivs to gut you with." She is so casual with the threat. Professional, like she's done this before. Her tone doesn't change and her posture is relaxed. Just a couple of friends having a conversation.

She heaves a sigh, mentally preparing herself to finally voice these thoughts she's kept locked up for so long. "Trin once told me that I'm not his first mate. I'm not even his hundredth. And ever since the whole fiasco with Holly I have lived in constant fear that he will leave me for someone else. Someone prettier. Someone worthy of his time and affections. Someone just... better."

"Knowing even a little about Trin's past romantic history is enough to make anyone feel.... tiny. Insignificant. I don't know the scope of his lifespan or just how many mates he's had, but I do know I am just a blip in the story of Trin's Life. He'll probably forget me when I die. Maybe he'll erect a statue of me in my honor on the next planet he buys then pack it away somewhere to collect dust when his next true love comes along." Thrush laughs bitterly at the thought.

"I just wanted you to understand why your spur-of-the-moment lie strikes such a chord with me." Thrush makes eye contact with Lexi, "I forgive you. Thank you for coming to apologize "

After baring her soul to Lexi, there's a pause. While she isn't paying attention things are clearly starting to ramp up around them. Their friends are talking, words indistinct but voices shrill with panic. Lexi moves to rejoin the group after Thrush is done speaking, but before she goes, in what could possibly be the last moment of quiet at the Symphony, she calls out to the huntress. "Hey. Can you do me a favor? After the Symphony's over, can you... teach Thistle and I how to open portals? Trin promised he'd teach us but that was before the Flame Incident so he, Triss and Speed kinda swore to never teach us. I figure it's better to have extra Jumpers just in case, right?" Thrush offers Lexi a crooked smile, indicating that things are going to be okay between them.



As Trin, Pim and Nastiel go off about the state of the Symphony and the virus that's been unleashed, Thistle shrinks in on himself, nose stinging with oncoming tears. Pest and gods know who else in the group are already infected, how long until he's next? He doesn't want to die from sneezing open a portal.

Just hearing the severity of the situation, Lethe zones out. He sees the others talking but can't hear their voices. He looks to the opening of this alley they're in and a flood of animals goes sprinting past. His hearing returns when Nastiel announces that there are masks in their vests. Trembling paws struggle to undo zippers in a frantic search for the mask.

Nyx springs into action, turning out all the pockets in the abandoned vests and pulling out masks. She even digs through vests still being worn and finds the mask inside, dropping it at the wearer's feet before moving on. On her way to help the frightened Craterborn tom, Nyx hears a voice coming through a nearby earpiece. She picks it up carefully between her teeth, ears perking to listen closely. Standby for giantfall. That's not good. "Nastiel!" The demoness hurries to the blue cat. "They-they said-" she lets the earpiece fall to the ground between them. "The giant is almost here! Five minutes! Can you get them to abort?"



"That's what I was thinking." Adrianna mews with a nod.

Bracken and Blade share a look with each other. The mermaid said they could just start shouting Foofi's name but both toms don't want to attract the wrong kind of attention. They keep quiet for now.
 
Filament reaches into his vest and dons his mask. "I think it's a bit late to stop it, but at least we can try and stop the next group of animals coming to the symphony." The tom sounds a bit panicked but his voice and body remains. It seems that he remains the only tom in the room still wearing his vest and wielding a gun. "I find it difficult to think that Undertaker has already been able to leave." The tom would mew, inwardly hoping that the bastard catches his own disease.
He loads the lethal magazine into his gun and inhales deeply. "I imagine everyone in this room is already infected if Pest already has it. That being said, unless Turish made him immune, Undertaker should've already caught it."


He turns his attention to Pim "Are you going to be okay?"
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Holly seems to regain her senses and puts one of the masks from the duffel bag onto Bailey. "We can't have you getting sick, now can we?" The she-cat mews, through a very strained smile from behind her helmet. She isn't feeling anymore off than usual and she gives Thistle a quizzical glance. Without warning, she slaps a mask over his head. "OR you." The she-cat would mew, surprisingly in control of her own actions and she looks at Nastiel suspiciously as the tom mulls about with the other soldiers. She had just now realized he'd had a weird habit of keeping his nose plugged. "For what reason have you kept your nose covered?"
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Flame turns his eyes to one of his only real friends and sets a paw on hers. "Everything hurts, Speed, Triss." The ginger tom would groan, fighting to not fall unconscious. He was not going to die again. He rests his other paw on Aceline and utters a small prayer to Aslan. "If you could let us be okay, It would mean as much to me as my help for Farichea meant to you." The tom would gasp and shudder but kept his eyes open. "Thank you for taking care of my daughter, it really means the world to me, Speed." The tom would mew, breaths slowing as he finally registered what Triss had said.

"I'm not going to die again." The tom said determinedly, for once picking up his nephew's previous stubborness.

"Aceline, breathe with me. I love you and you too Speed." He wants to explain that his love for Speed is different but he's confident that she already knows.
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Pest was originally going to shove her backwards when he sees the tears in her eyes and he once again is able to steady himself on her shaky foundations. His cheeks are wet with tears and he leans against Lula and Mother. "I'm so scared." His voice is shaky. He'd always been the one who didn't get sick and this completely alien situation weighed heavily on his tipsy adolescent mind.

"I don't want to be the reason you get sick, please, put on a mask, Lulalissa." The tom would mew from behind a paw. His previously well muscled and lanky frame is now reduced to a shivering tangle of skinny limbs and he probably looks more like how he feels than ever. That inner traumatized child now brought to the forefront for the first time in years. There is no sass, no snark and no false confidence to hide behind. He's shaken to his foundations.

"I'm not going to be the reason you die, I've seen it too many times!" The tom would cry, pressing hard against Mother. "Please help me, keep her safe." The tom mews, beginning to look extremely tired.
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"Abort the landing, now goddamn it!" Luther would mew into the communicator as he slunk out from his vest, careful to keep his gasmask on.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Hal drank the serum almost as soon as it had landed in front of him and visibly sighed with relief as he began to fit better in his vest. The gun that had previously been dragging beside him, came back to a comfortable rest on his side, lethal magazine loaded. As soon as the message played over his shoulders he let out a silent gasp, a switch seeming to go off from some place deep within himself. "What the hell is going on? It's getting crazy out here." The tom would ask as a small group of animals ran past him, followed shortly by a smaller group of stragglers who limped along, blood running down their eyelids.

One of whom set their claws into the shoulders of his vest. "You've got to help us! It hurts, so much." The unidentifiable (to him) animal would mew, blood running down their chin as red spittle landed on his face.

"There's a lot of animals, bleeding down here." The tom would add into his communicator, as the animal let go and continued to limp after the larger group that had charged by.
 
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Saraphina uttered a genuine thank you to Nyx when she pulled the mask out of her vest for her. The Debenary had been frantically going through her pouches and skipped the one with the vest multiple times out of nervousness.

Penny and Stalker also thank the she-wolf as the pulled their masks on.

—

Lexi listened to Thrush as she opened up, nodding along. Aceline’s sudden portal got the huntresses’ attention but she gave her focus back to Thrush afterwards.

“Yeah, I can teach you two.” Lexi agreed with a nod and strained smile, struggling to not turn and see what was happening for a few seconds in order to give Thrush proper attention.

—

Bailey smiled when Holly put a mask on him. Even if his lips trembled a bit from nerves.

—

“I don’t think she can stop herself mid-flight.” Nastiel answered Nyx with a shrug. He helped a doe tie a mask over her head before padding back to the duffel bag.


The yellow eyed tom’s nose scrunched up at the randomness of Holly’s question from his point of view.

“My species is highly sensitive to pheromones. What’s considered a normal unnoticeable amount for you all is ghoulish overkill for me. If my nose isn’t covered the pheromones I smell influence my mental state heavily. Which would be really bad right now since I’m certain most of you are giving off a lot of fear scent.” Nastiel explained as he came back and pulled the last of the gas masks out of the duffel bag.

—

PIM looked at Filament and nodded.

“I’ll be fine. And you might be right. I can’t imagine he’s gotten far.” PIM said, giving the tom a reassuring smile about her health. It was him she was worried about.

—

“That’s good Flame. Now relax. Stop talking, your body needs to rest.” Triss stated.

“Rest.” She reiterated, trying to express it’s importance as she gently pushed down to keep him from moving.

Speed patted Flame with a paw with a smile.

“Happy to do so dude, she’s a good girl.” Speed purred, purposefully ignoring his last sentence.

“We’ll watch Aceline, Streak, and Holly Flame. Promise. And you don’t need to be scared to fall asleep, your body just needs a break. You’ll wake up in minutes.” Triss informed, remembering the first time she was in his position and how she felt.

—

Hunter still had all his gear on, if the oversized vest could be considered “on.” So he could still hear all the comms chatter, including Hal.

“Hal, there’s a gas mask in one of the pouches on your vest. Put it on now and get back here.” Hunter said curtly.

“You! Demon girl, did you know about this?” Hunter looked to the demon defector who was sitting against a wall with one of the surplus masks over her head. Without saying anything she shook her head ‘no.’

“I guess it makes sense you wouldn’t be here if you did…but why leave a bunch of demon civilians here too?” Hunter pondered aloud.

“It doesn’t matter if any demons die here. I don’t know much but I do know there’s been months of misinformation campaigning just to prime the media here that a viral outbreak is coming. I don’t think Undertaker wants this to be considered an bio weapon, he wants it to be viewed as incompetence from the God-ring to control a natural virus. Any of us die and it’s just more fuel against the god-ring. That’s why there’s been rumors of a contagion spreading here on Starworld for weeks. That was us. It was to put the idea in the public’s mind so that god-ring gets blamed for incompetence instead of the demon empire being blamed.” The defector meowed out from behind her mask.

“On top of that, all the higher ups always mock god-ring enforcement for “doing the right thing.” They know you guys are just going to take care of the demons that get sick anyway. I have a mask now, I’m pretty sure most of the other demons in the symphony have been given a mask already. Because you’re the good guys…I-I-I’d like to emphasize that I don’t mean that in a mocking way.” The defector added on one more thing in a less formal tone.

—

Mother squeezed Pest and Lula with her tail.

“Pest, you must come back to your senses. It is your fear of death that will bring it about. It is time to be courageous. It’s not about having no fear, it is about having the most fear of all and persevering anyway.” Mother spoke steadily. Her cadence pleasant and confident.

—

Trin shook his head again, trying to get his mind focused. After he heard Nyx and Luther he stepped back into the suite to see what was going on outside. Their hallway alone was already chaotic with lava flowing down the marble floors and panicking patrons. But the view outside was even worse. The stadium stands were littered with portals opened haphazardly. Animals were rushing to leave, causing bottlenecks to form behind the crowd control infrastructures designed to prevent bottlenecking in emergencies. Animals were fleeing into the open portals that led who knows where and things from who knows where were coming into the Symphony through them. Non-sapient animals were coming out of one portal, noxious or toxic gasses leaked out of another. Liquids of all kinds from mercury to methane poured out from portals opened to no telling how many aquatic homeworlds. Lava flows burning bright with orange, red, and green hues could be seen rolling down the stands. Black smoke rising from the edges as the immense heat they brought cooked their surroundings with extreme prejudice. Some portals were even opened up directly to the vacuum of space. They violently and ravenously sucked animals in to their inevitable deaths out in the inky abyss. To make matters even worse, some animals were coming in through the portals to try and help their friends or loved ones or even strangers but they were only adding to the crowd. Firefighters, medics, lifeliners and enforcers. All were struggling to get through or gain some control over the crowds to save lives.

Everywhere Trin looked there was a tragedy occurring in real-time before him. His eyes would focus in on a youngling only to see them trampled. His focus switched to an enforcer only to see panicked attendees swamp them before they could get to the child being trampled. Some flying animals were holding their flightless counterparts up in the air, away from the chaos. But many were being kept on the ground by scared patrons begging to be lifted up; clinging to them. Their fear blinding them to fact that a single flying dog could not carry the 20 animals holding him down. Taller animals were being toppled by groups of smaller animals climbing on them to escape the surge. Trin’s eyes spotted an animal in an atmosphere suit, desperately holding closed a tear in their fabric while reaching out for help. The sight made Trin reach his own paw towards the glass instinctually even though he was too far away to help. His claws and toes flexed tight when the suited animal collapsed and no one stopped to help them. The stands that had once been filled with happy animals, delighted and overjoyed just to be here were now filled with horror, fear, panic, and loss.

Vasteye came into the room behind Trin and stopped next to him, at first moving to put a paw on the tom’s shoulder then deciding against it.

A glint in the sky signaled Lussmill’s arrival and got a portion of the animals in the stadium to look up. The small glint grew in size until the full silhouette of a giant cat could be seen falling down. As more and more features could be made out from the silhouette like it’s green color, parachutes erupted from it’s back and thrusters on it’s paws roared to life. The powerful, volatile pops and cracklings from the thrusters got more and more animals attention as did the massive orange parachutes. A couple hundred feet from the ground the parachutes retracted and the thrusters shut off, leaving Lussmill to land with an impact soft enough to not cause a tidal wave but still forceful enough to shake what felt like the entire world. In under a minute, the giant had gone from nonexistent to standing there in the water just outside the stadium in all her glory. She was completely covered in green armor from her tail to her ears tucked inside of her helmet. Sunlight reflecting off of her colossal stature, she gently took the few steps needed to bridge the gap between her and the stadium proper. Yuripi had mentioned something about her eyesight being incredible and that was no lie. Even without being able to see her entire face through her helmet, her mannerisms and widened eyes behind the visor were filled with horror. Lussmill stood just a few stories shorter than the highest point of the Symphony stadium, so she was able to look down upon everything going on. And just like Trin, it was an information overload for her. After scanning over the stadium a few times, a loud fog horn boomed from her helmet to grab everyone’s attention.

“E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E…C-A-L-M!” Lussmill ordered as tactfully as she could. Her voice loud, bellowing, deep, and seeming slow to normal ears. Accompanied by the microphone filter in her helmet. Her order was met with silence. The world froze in face of the massive giant, crowds stopping, and billions of eyes going to her. But it only lasted about 10 seconds before everyone began to slowly start panicking again, just not as extremely. Lava, toxic gasses, and many other dangers still terrorized the symphony attendees and Lussmill’s arrival didn’t magically make them go away.
 
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Holly smiles back at Bailey, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder as her attention returns to Nastiel. "I bet your right. I'm terrified." The she-cat would mew to him, her suspicions fading as she sat on her haunches. She wanted to run over to Flame but was too scared, she'd be no good to Bailey if she joined him in his sad state.
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Filament lets out loud sigh of relief, briefly fogging his gasmask's visor. "This is really bad. I just hope he doesn't get too far. Would be pretty ironic if the multiverse's biggest criminal accidentally got sucked into space, huh?" The tom would ask rhetorically, trying to keep calm.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Flame actually does seem to relax and pretty soon his sides are heaving slower and his eyes are shut. No cat would ordinarily be able to sleep in such circumstances but his body had been pushed to its limit.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hal's eyes widen when Hunter tells him to don his gasmask but he does so as quickly as he can, the rim of the mask smearing the blood on his face around slightly. "Somebody got blood on me." The tom reports once the mask is properly sealed, shuddering slightly as he pushes past throngs of panicked crowds. Luckily the arrival of the giant gives him enough time to make it into the elevator and in less than a minute he's back in the suite. His voice has returned to normal and he sits at normal height, rifle slung on his side.
"What the hell is going on?"
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Pest shakes his head, wiping tears on the she-cat's shoulders. "Please don't call me by that name. Dad would want you to know me as you knew me." The tom whimpers, still crying fairly audibly much more than the group has ever seen. "He called me Alec when I was a youngling, that stupid moniker was something I chose to hide behind." The tom sounds like he's on the verge of a complete mental breakdown. The one concrete thing about his entire life is falling between his toes.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
Thrush catches sight of her terrified brother over Lexi's shoulder. She gives the huntress a polite head bow and vocalizes her gratitude before turning out all the pockets in hers and Thistle's discarded vests. She looks up again after successfully acquiring both masks and at that moment Holly equips the ruddy tom with a gasmask of his own. Thrush releases a breath, glad someone else is watching out for him, too. "Here." She slides the second mask over to Lexi then ducks her head down to secure the apparatus over her face.


With unsteady paws, Lethe finds and secures his gasmask over his face. He looks around. Aside from the few passing out emergency equipment or tending to the infected, no one has really moved. How would they be able to help here? There are portals opening everywhere, many dangers flooding into the arena, animals stampeding, just overwhelming chaos. The earthling thinks it would be best for their group to get out but they were brought here to protect the civilians from Undertaker and any of his schemes.

Thistle stammers a thanks to Holly, hesitantly tugging at the straps to tighten the mask to his face.

After passing out all the masks she can find, Nyx grabs the one she saved for herself and puts it on.
 
“Alec it is then. Be not afraid, you are not doomed to die.” Mother meowed softly.

Jezebel on the other hand glanced at the three of them with unamused eyes.

—

Aceline began to stir, letting out a short pant.

Triss scooted over in order to press her ear against the sheline’s chest. Her heartbeat seemed normal but her lungs were certainly immunily compromised. They were labored and wheezy.

“You guys have medkits?” Triss asked one of the guards.

“Yeah, left cheek pocket.” A response came immediately. The guards were busy maintaining a perimeter around the group. Most of the animals that were once in the hallways had received their masks and were making their way to their muster station. But there were a few stragglers and casualties. Idle chatter showing that some felt it safer to remain here next to “such a large group” of god-ring enforcers while others were waiting for a mask or for a friend to hopefully wake up.

“You guys use butt pockets?” Triss asked in a banal tone as she padded over and pulled out a small box.

“As opposed?” The guard asked, looking back and cocking their head.

“I prefer the angled flank pockets. More ergonomic.” Triss replied.

“Yeah but if you’re single file how is your teammate going to get to your gear? Or if you’re in a tight space?” The guard asked as Triss made her way back to Aceline.

“True-“ The red eyed sheline pushed a syringe into the orange she-cat’s flank, “-jus’ a little awkward. Grabbing stuff from your friend’s butt.” Triss meowed, beginning to noisily unfold a mylar thermal placing it over Aceline and Flame.

“You don’t like touching your friend’s butts?” The guard joked, the humorous tone coming out easily even in spite of the situation. Triss, the guards, Stalker, and even Anya shared a few dry snickers between them.

“Oh I loooove touching my friend’s butts. Except Nyx’s.” Triss meowed dryly with a snicker while standing to her paws. Flame and Aceline were stable and thus far no one else in their group was displaying the late stage symptoms. Triss gave Speed a pat on the back with her tail before started towards Trin.

“Excuse me, god-ring is giving out masks right?” A dark purple therapsid asked, walking up to one of the guards. Their clothing was colored oddly, with colors clashing hard. Far behind them a familiar pink doe was slowly making her way towards them with an entourage of mercenaries. Slowed down even more by not just the doe’s languid pace but two large designer trunks full of who knows what being carried by the mercs in pairs.

“Yes. We’re just waiting for a resupply. Remain calm and patient and we’ll get you set up okay?” The female guard answered in an up-beat tactful manner. The therapsid, who looked nervous and scared before grew a small smile on his face and nodded. The almost otter-like alien stepped off to the side to wait like the few others in the hallways. As they began sitting against a wall a crystalline she-cat padded around the corner at a brisk, but elegant pace. She’d look like your average cat if not for the talk slender legs she sported, making her look like a maned wolf…only feline. The tall she-cat had a lanyard hanging around her neck and three rose gold masks hanging from her maw.

“Only three masks?” An animal apart of a family of three asked in both annoyance and worry as the tall cat made her way to the group.

“These masks are not for you I’m afraid.” The crystalline being responded curtly. As she got closer, you could see that the lanyard belonged to the Haven Agency. And as such she made a b-line to Holly.

“Midday greetings Madam Holly.” The amazonian she-cat said, kneeling down and gently pulling her mask off with a paw. Deftly, she then replaced the previous mask with a rose gold one. The mask had immaculate construction. Two filters on either size of the muzzle, and pristine glass made up a visor segmented into four panes like a heliocopter’s cockpit.

“Our Haven agency masks are top of the line. Bullet resistant, with finer materials and a filtration system that will not only keep out anything but actively flush out your respiratory system.” The Haven agent explained, quickly combing the fur caught under the mask’s straps for Holly’s comfort.

“There is also a Haven lounge prepared on the top floor for you to be evacuated safely once god-ring allows anyone to leave.” The tall cat informed. Standing back up to full height and going over to Trin inside the suite.

“Monsieur Trin, the Haven agency would—“

“I’m immune, my daughter is immune.” Trin meowed, staring out the window.

“Are you sure? What about Holly?” The agent asked with a tinge of worry in her otherwise stoic voice.

“Yes– what does Holly have to do with this?” Trin asked. Thankfully his curiosity snapped him out of his forlorn trance.

“You put miss Holly on your list earlier today, with full benefits. The whole shaboodle as it were. Would you like to remove her?” The tall cat asked.

“N-no. No. Don’t remove her…I just…thank you. You can go.” Trin meowed out, a confused look on his face. Everything was out of wack.

“Yes sir. There is also a Haven lounge on the top floor for you to be evacuated at the earliest convenience.” The tall cat meowed, bowing and turning around.

“Wait! How’d the Haven agency know to avoid the juice pouches?” Trin asked, ushering with his tail for the agent to come back.

“Come again sir?”

“The Haven agents that greeted me at the door. They suggested I stay away from the snack bags at the Symphony this year and cited the juice pouches. Why?” Trin asked, his gaze brooding.

“I don’t know why sir. Just that we were informed to not drink any of the juice pouches this year and to persuade our clients against doing so as well. I know not the impetus for such a directive.” The tall cat answered without hesitation.

“Thank you. That’ll be all. Oh and give those masks to someone else.” Trin said, gesturing that she could leave. She nodded and left, dropping the two masks in the duffel bag next to Nastiel.

—

“All units be advised, our emergency stockpile of masks is entirely depleted. We’re requesting the naval vessels above drop some extras but as it stands, best estimate is that we’ve only managed to get masks to 35% of the Symphony population. All units standby as we go to the evacuation phase of Operation: Fog Colony.” The message buzzed through all the comms, spelling bad news. The god-ring guard subtly But visibly deflated.

“Umm, excuse me everyone! Please make your way to your designated muster station now.” The purple furred guard said loudly.

“What about our masks?”
“I can’t get to my muster station.”
“I’m not going down there!”
“That’s where all the infected are!” A cacophony of complaints came in response.

“Don’t worry! We will keep you safe, promise. Just follow the instructio—“

“How are you going to keep up safe from the air!? Where’s our masks?” The family cat from earlier shouted angrily and desperately.

“We have some masks, just make an orderly line right here for me please.” The female guard instructed, pointing along an imaginary line in front of her. The instruction calmed the small crowd down while they lined up, all the while the purple furred guard was counting them. Once the line was formed she pulled her mask off and put it onto the first in line, a kid.

“Here you go. Comfy?” She asked. When the kid nodded she smiled. When the next animal in line stepped forward Nastiel pulled his mask off and slid it over to her without any fanfare. He placed a paw back over his nose while listening intently to the various comms channels throughout the Symphony.

Then the next animal stepped up, and another god-ring guard gave up their mask. Then the next. And the next, then it was up to the three god-enforcers who’d shown up to assist with the door. And without much hesitation they gave their masks up too. Leaving just three animals left in the line. The purple guard gave the two Haven masks to the therapsid and a Mia’Moray, leaving just a pink doe. The same pink doe that had her guard truck Speed earlier in the day. The same mercs who now had their own company issued masks on and had evidently refused to give one of their up to the animal they were protecting.

“I’m. I’m sorry ma’am. We don’t have any more.” The guard explained with as good of a bedside manner as one could muster.

“You have to have an extra! You said you were waiting for a resupply, so where is it!?” The doe demanded, beginning to freak out.

“All of our stockpiles are gone. I’m sorry. Just make your way to your muster station and—“ As the purple guard was talking and gray paw pulled off and then slid a mask over to her.

“Keesipip!” Saraphina yelped, her tone on the verge of scolding.

“No Keesipip, you’re a civilian. Put your mas–“ Nastiel started to try and persuade.

“No, I want to. Our survival is about sacrifice, not selfishness. My mom taught me that.” Keesipip meowed emphatically. After a bit of hesitation the purple guard put the mask onto the doe. The doe gave Keesipip a dip of the head before hurrying away, escorted by the last other god-ring enforcers. Leaving their hallway completely empty now.

“Now what?” One of the guards asked, looking to Nastiel.

“We get out of here and regroup. We did our job now– wait a second. Some animals are getting onto the stage.” Nastiel cut himself off when he heard the report over the comms. With nothing else to do, he and several others padded back into the suite to look out the window. Triss and Speed stayed with Flame and Aceline. Lula stuck with Pest. And Purple stayed with Bailey and Streak. Lexi, Jezebel and Mother also stayed out in the hallway. The later still holding Pest and Lula with her tail.

—

Outside in the stadium, a collection of black furred animals were bringing a load of instruments on stage. A miniature orchestra of instruments, mainly consisting of strings and woodwinds. As they jostled and rustled getting into place, you could hear the feedback through the stadium speakers. Apparently the stage was still connected. The animals wasted no time in tuning their already perfectly tuned instruments. Once they were all in position, a single female beagle took her place in the front of the group and began to sing.

As the song began to play, anyone keen enough to look could see a growing bulge out in the water behind Lussmill. The giant in question was busy blocking lava flows in the stadium with her paws to help animals get to safety.
 
Timeskip several hours later...


Trin pushed the door to Milky's apartment open and trudged inside. Properly drained and exhausted. Behind him was everyone else aside from Aceline, Stalker, Vasteye, Anya, Jassiveepee, Speed, and all of Nastiel's guards. All of them had been quarantined. It didn't take long for God-ring to turn the entirety of the grounds outside the Symphony into a triage, quarantine, and forward operating base all in one. Hundreds of inflatable airlocks and staging grounds. Each one they needed to pass through and get tested within before they were allowed to leave. Millions of bodies were strewn across the grass as they were leaving, tons of them belonging to God-ring. Nastiel's guards weren't a unique case. By the time the group got out of the Symphony it became an absolute rarity to see an enforcer wearing a mask; having given theirs away.

"Milky?" Trin asked, letting Hunter walk past him as he stopped in the doorway. There was no response for a disconcertingly long amount of time before a soft 'hey' came from the upstairs master bedroom. With Milky's presence confirmed Trin continued into the apartment and flopped down onto the floor against the couch. Triss flopped onto the couch above him, her tail dangling down over his face. Penny padded over to the windows and stared out at the afternoon view. The no aircraft rule for Symphony day was being broken by multiple god-ring frigates hovering low above the skyscrapers, tiny ships whizzing to and from them. The Barnabus was no where to be seen.

"What the hell happened?" Crimson asked, padding out of the office.

"A virus." Saraphina answered, slumping down against a wall.

"You're supposed to protect your daughter. Not put her in the center of an epidemic." Crimson chided, staring at Trin in case it wasn't clear who she was addressing. Purple was walking in alongside Bailey as she did so.

"My DNA is immune to the virus. Purple is the safest animal on this planet, perhaps in the multiverse because of me. So I'm not in the mood for the GUILT TRIP RIGHT NOW! I still gotta get those twins home and, ugh..." Trin groaned out, snapping at the end.

"I'm taking Purple back home tonight." Crimson stated.

"How? Everything's grounded and you can't jump. Crimson just...stop. We can spat about parental responsibility later." Trin meowed out in a voice heavy with fatigue.

"What. Happened? God-ring's not saying anything." Crimson asked. Her mood and tone still harsh, but she relented enough to switch the topic.

"We f**ked up! Turish, as in THAT Turish, slipped a pathogen into the Symphony snack bags and infected billions with a virus that forces animals to open portals. Incubation period of just 30 minutes and can be spread just from breathing. And that's all they've figured out so far!" Triss hissed, throwing a paw up in the air from her spot reclined on the couch.

"And then the demons somehow managed to sneak a mech as big as Lussmill planetside. Stood up right next to her and stared her in the face." Lexi added on.

"We look incompetent." Nastiel groaned, rubbing his face.

"Yeah I noticed that. That's all the news is talking about. How the God-ring can't secure itself and Lussmill looks weak." Crimson meowed.

"Did the news mention that 240 nations have already pulled out of God-ring? Or how 13 of those have begun taking violent action against us? Full on declarations of war?" Nastiel asked rhetorically.

"No..." Crimson meowed, patting Purple on the head as she passed by.

"Because of our failure, millions are dead. Billions are dying. And who knows how many are going to die." Nastiel said, stomping the carpet. After that Crimson's line of questioning ended. It took her a while but she had finally read the room and realized how many of them were missing. The red she-cat fell silent and stowed away the few other questions she had. She decided to not take up a spot on the couch and just sit by the kitchen bar. After a bit, the door to Milky's room opened and he came down the steps.

"Trin?" Was the first thing he said. A confused tone escorting the word.

"Yeah?" Trin asked, lazily looking up at the tom.

"...You're supposed to be in the shower?" Milky asked, his expression growing more confused and nervous.

"What do you mean?" Trin asked, perking up his ears. True enough, now that Milky's bedroom door was open you could hear a shower was running.

"You. Just got into the shower. Ten minutes ago." Milky said, pointing to Trin and then pointing to the upstairs door. Trin and Milky stared at each other for a few seconds before Trin quietly stood to his paws. As he did so, the shower stopped.

"Crimson?" Trin asked, looking to the red sheline. She just shrugged.

"I just got back too." She answered, her eyes going to the top of the stairs. Trin began to slowly stalk towards the stairs, claws unsheathed. Right as he took the first step up the stairs a white feline stopped at the top of them. There above them was an exact copy of Trin. Same red eyes. Same alabaster pelt. Same pink nose, same everything. The only difference was that this Trin lacked a mane and his fur was pristine. Unlike the Trin at the bottom of the stairs who's neck fur was fully grown out and destressed. The two of them stared at one another without a word. Neither's fur bristled and the imposter didn't give off an aggressive aura.

"Aww. I thought I was the first one here. Don't shoot please." The Trin at the top of the stairs finally spoke after Keesipip aimed a pistol at him. He was looking down the stairs but his gaze rested on Triss, not Keesipip.

"You've got to be kidding me. Now?" Trin, the one at the bottom, asked incredulously.

"Well not now now. You've got a little time. But yeah, now." The Trin at the top answered, giving Trin a smile that failed to be as sympathetic as he probably intended it to.

"Hey Trinity." Triss meowed, stifling a groan.

"Hey Triss. And here I thought I was going to be the first one here this time." The Trin at the top of the stairs said, stomping his paw in faux frustration.

"Who is it?" The original Trin, the one with a mane, asked.

"Oh you know it's Red." A familiar voice answered, but from a new location. Yet another Trin padded into the living room from the balcony. This one resembling the one at the top of the stairs perfectly. As he did so two portals opened simultaneously and two more versions of Trin stepped through. One male and one female.

"What!? How'd you beat me?" The new male Trin asked, the question pointed to Triss.

"Why is probably what you should be asking. Triss you're never early." The new female Trin asked, already making herself comfortable at the kitchen bar next to Crimson.

"...I was here already." Triss answered after letting out a preemptive sigh.

"What do you...oooohhhh. You've been hanging out with this Trin?" The Trin at the top of the stairs asked, gesturing to the original maned Trin.

"More than hanging out." An older Trin answered as he padded through the front door.

"You...You've been shaking sheets with him? HA! Oh that's so weird!" The new female Trin laughed, pointing at Triss accusingly.

"He's like your brother. I'M like your brother. How was that?" The trin who'd arrived in time with the female one asked. And as three more portals opened it very quickly became really hard to distinguish the versions apart unless you remembered exactly where they came from. They didn't make that easy either since they were all content to move around and make themselves at home without hesitation. Save for "old" Trin and the one at the top of the stairs.

"Well you'll find out yourself in a few thousand years so why don't you get off my back?" Triss growled, rolling her head as she rolled her eyes.

"I don't think he's the one who needs to get off your back." A doe version of Trin said as she daintily stepped into the room through the front door. Still white as ever but with gray eyes. The room of Trinitys erupted into laughter at her comment, making Triss pout.

"He IS the rich one."
"I'm rich."
"Yeah but your saliva taste like chocolate!"
"Chocolate's good."
"Chocolate's just dirt and mud mixed together but somehow tastes worse."
"You meat eaters don't know taste. Don't make me laugh."
"OH NO! Help me! I'd defend myself but my species decided having massive eyes on the sides of my head was a better idea than claaaaws."
"At least my eyes are red!"
"Like that matters!'
"It matters enough that you wear red contacts in 300 years!"
"Well now that you tell me, I'm not going to."
"I'm still going to."
"Anyone seen kit Trin?"
"You think one of these are number 7?"
"I totally forgot about number 7!"
"It HAS to be the wolf. She's definitely number 7."
"I love seeing their confused faces. This has to be the most adorable group."
"That's why I travel alone."
"That's just because you're annoying to be around."
"Says you."
"This place is pretty swanky."

The myraid of Trins starting talking amongst themselves as more and more arrived until there were 15 different versions of the red eyed tom standing somewhere in the room. Most were normal cats but a few were different felids and a pawful were completely different species including a doe, rabbit, and dragon.
 
As the door opened, Hal tossed his gasmask onto the floor, and moved briskly towards the stairs, lending the Trins as they started to appear only a passing glance. He brushes past the false Trin as he gets to the top of the stairs and brushes past him quickly, making way for a guest bedroom. As soon as he's inside, he closes the door quietly behind himself and the tears start to flow. All of those animals had died and he was still here.
What he couldn't reconcile was that the growing dead had family and friends. He didn't have anyone who actually cared about him. Thrush was right when she'd said he was just a dumb hanger on. Angrily, he threw his rifle onto the floor,and flopped onto the bed with a soft sob. He'd ruined everything and now nobody cared about him.
No one in the group actually cared about him and he was foolish for thinking Lexi would ever see him as anything more than some bumbling idiot that she felt loyalty towards.
Cheeks dampening, he'd lay into the pillow and cry as loud as he could, he was some patchwork barely alive waste.
Nothing they did would ever matter and they were all going to die.

"I'm not a good cat and it should've been me instead of youuuu on Turish's piiiiit" The tom wailed into the pillow.
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Flame slowly came to in the quarantine tent, next to Aceline. "Takes you back, doesn't it? To the refugee camps back on Earth." The tom would mew drowsily, wheezing and groaning as he rolled over to face her. What a mess they'd gotten themselves into. "It hurts to breath." the tom would croak out, shutting his eyes tight for a second.

He opens them again and tries to calm his erratic heartbeat.
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Pestilence makes his way into the room blearily. His head is pounding, his cheeks are wet and he is visibly exhausted. His movements are slow and laggy and he staggers to lean into the couch as the world spins. If you asked someone to describe him in just one word it would be defeated.

There was no malicious or stubborn glint in his eyes anymore, just fear and overwhelming fear at that. The tom still shook and shivered but he was at least out of complete hysterics by this point.
"I need to lay down, I don't feel so good." The tom announces while slumping against the side of the couch.

His breathing isn't labored and it's pretty clear that he's more exhausted than anything else.
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Holly is immediately on edge at the sight of all of the Trin clones. "What the hell?" She'd whisper, still wearing the gasmask that Keesipip had refused when she'd offered it to the ashlander.

"Has this happened before Trin?" The she-cat would ask, eyes baggy but more lucid (than any of Fil's characters) than most of the afflicted animals in the room.

"Hey Milky, you gonna be really mad if I grab a whisky and soda?" The she-cat would query, eyes indicating the fridge.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Luther was nowhere to be seen as surprisingly he'd given up his mask as well. Being a smoker, it didn't take long for him to be afflicted by signs of infection.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Streak merely shivers and shakes as he makes his way inside, he doesn't know who to go to or interact with. "Jezebel? I'm kinda scared, can I get a hug." The tom would ask, his eyes looking around the room for the strange she-cat.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Filament moves past the stationary animals with Pim, unnerved for sure but stoic. His gaze was scarred but not anymore than usual with his shrapnel scars and missing eye. He'd given his mask away (No doubt much to Pim's chagrin) but wasn't showing any symptoms yet and so he'd been allowed to leave.

"We failed them, Pim." The tom would mutter to his companion, pressing his pelt against hers. He wasn't really sure if it was to comfort himself or her.

"You're the smartest animal in the room, do you think we can win this?" The tom would ask, uncharacteristically defeatist.
 
"Uuuuh, no. Go for it. Not sure if I have whiskey." Milky answered Holly, dredging his attention from the Trins for a second to do so. As she went over to the kitchen the original Trin nodded his head to her. Confirming this has indeed happened before.

"His name is Milky? Want to explain why he kissed me when I walked through the door? Also, what was with that tom who just brushed past me?" The Trin at the top of the stairs asked, his question managing to silence almost all of the other versions.

"I'm pretty sure you've figured it out." The original Trin meowed, rolling his eyes.

"First you date yourself then you date a tom. Is Purple next?" One of the Trins joked, getting a chuckle from the group of clones.

"She does start looking really cute in 8 years." A rabbit version of Trin commented.

"Hey! Come on man." The maned Trin chided, shaking his head.

"She does! I ran into her at some gala in about, oooh, 30 years? She had this gorgeous blue dress and the most intelligent eyes. Talked my ears off for hours and then fell asleep on my lap in the back of a car. She seemed to have some dad issues, might want to address that." A cream colored Trin broke in, nudging the maned Trin.

"She had dad issues?" The original Trin asked in a sad tone full of guilt. His eyes glanced over to Purple and the day's events flashed through his head all over again. Reminding him that every time his daughter tried to spend time with him, he was busy.

"Yeah. 100%. Don't worry, you've got time." The cream colored Trin meowed reassuringly.

"Speaking of time guys. Let's get this started." A new Trin said as he came out of a portal with blood in his fur. This one had a mane just like the original.

"There he is!" The doe Trin whooped, pointing at him like he was some star athlete.

"Yeah yeah yeah. Every Trin get on one side of the room so I can explain." The bloodied Trin said, stifling a pant. Rowdiness sufficiently suppressed, the Trins separated themselves from the group.

"I'm the designated small blind for this emergency. Which makes Trin prime designated big blind. Understood?" The bloodied Trin meowed directly to the Trins assembled like they were at a mission briefing.

"Understood." Most of the red eyed individuals answered in unison. A few others blew raspberries, blew kisses, or pretending to be dumb. The bloodied Trin rolled his eyes and then turned his attention to the group.

"Hey guys. I'm your Trin 3 hours from the future-"

"You're a time jumper?" Lexi asked in awe.

"She's a keeper."
"Number 7."
"We all just hitchhiked!" A few Trins teased. Lexi's expression soured to a deadpan glare at one of them before she looked back to the bloodied tom.

"Yes. I can time jump. Most of those versions of me are from different times. Some of them are literally just me from either the past or the future. It's necessary for the tactic we're using it. We call it a temporal pincer maneuver. Whenever there's a huge threat that cannot be left to chance we rally together to ensure we win. I just defeated the threat and now I'm back here to confirm that the threat was successfully defeated." The bloodied Trin explained.

"The demons?" Penny asked, already sensing she was wrong.

"Red." Both the bloody Trin and the original Trin answered together.

"But...-" The bloodied Trin said, turning to the original Trin. "-we've got three hours before Red shows up. So you've got as long as you need to get those twins back home." He finished with a pat on the tom's shoulder.

"We felt you could use the break all things considered." A female version of Trin chirped, making a bunch of them nod in agreement.

________


PIM leaned back against Filament and nodded solemnly to his first statement. She then nodded in response to his second statement, running her chin across his head a couple times. Relishing the physical contact with him.

"We can win. It'll be hard and times are getting dark. But we can win." PIM meowed softly and confidently.

_______


Jezebel looked down at streak and smiled. "Of course Streak." She purred, sitting down behind him and pulling him against her chest. Content to listen to what was going on quietly was cuddling the youngling.


_____


Anya gently kneaded Pest's head and shoulders idly. She figured it would be soothing and was too drained herself to talk or really do anything else. Usually she'd just keep her distance but the camaraderie of being in a stressful situation made her not think about it. Especially since Lula was literally already asleep on her back.
 
Thrush trudges into the apartment, her head hung low and her tail dragging on the ground. Undertaker released a deadly virus unto the multiverse and now things are just falling apart. She flops gracelessly on the floor, groaning when Crimson starts her bitching again. The earthling only raises her head when Trins start popping out of the woodwork. "I, uh..." Her eyes flick from Original Trin with his mane to one of the many white-furred and red-eyed beings in the room, "What's happening?"

Thistle sits down, placing himself directly in front of his sister, purposely blocking her view of most of the main level. "Will you sing for me now?"

"Uh..." She intones, clearly not paying attention. Thrush leans far to one side, peering around Thistle so she can see what's going on. The appearance of the bloodied tom makes her skin prickle with apprehension. "Time jumper... Right..." Thrush recalls at the Red Temple when Trin admitted to time traveling and knowing Earth was doomed from the very beginning.


"A break?" Lethe asks, eyes wide with disbelief. "If it's Red showing up shouldn't we prepare? Buy some more guns or a rocket launcher or an army?" Back at the party on the skyship it was just Red - or at least a copy - against their recon group. Even with Trin's expert fighting and Thistle's magic they still didn't make it out unscathed.

"YES!" Nyx exclaims in relief.
 
"Oh don't fret my little pet. See the sheer fact we're here means that you'll win." A female version of Trin said in response to Lethe. Her tone indicating she'd probably be patting him on the head if she were closer.

"Why are we killing Red again?" One Trin asked curiously.

"He becomes a real a**hole, trust us. Once you get here, you'll understand." The original Trin answered, supported by a nod from the bloodied one. As he was nodding yet another Trin walked through the door accompanied by a ginger she-cat.

"Everyone! You won't believe it! I found another causational...anomaly?" The Trin announced proudly, gesturing to the alternate version of Holly beside him. Only to lose his thunder when he spotted Holly among the group already.

"Aww you've got to be kitting me!" The new Trin exclaimed in frustration, as giggling spread amongst the collected Trin copies.

"You're late. Good effort though." Triss responded. She still remained sat amongst the group instead of with all the other Trins.

"Of course it's Trin prime that beats me to it." This new Trin said, rolling his eyes as he made his way over to the group of Trins.

"I don't like that name." The original Trin mumbled.

"Then die already and we'll give the title to someone else." The doe responded lightly. After that the banter faded away.

"SO...Where are those little twins?" Rabbit Trin asked.

"The office, on the computer." Crimson answered. Her tone and mannerisms giving away how weird she felt talking to another Trin.

"Sweet. I'll open a portal to that wasteland, and you can go find the portal residue for their homeworld. Piece of cake. Or it was for me. I set the portal to send to back in time for as long as it'll take to get them home. So for us here, it'll only feel like an hour's passed even if it takes you a while." The physically older looking Trin answered as a portal to a sweltering desert opened up. Which was interesting two-fold given the fact almost every portal Trin prime opened was black and completely opaque to the other side, whereas this one was completely see-through.


Penny looked at the desert through the portal and shook her head. "Pass." The sheline said, opting herself out of this adventure.

"I'll come-" Callista started to raise her paw.

"Nope. That world's uncontacted. Your winged and tiger tailed flank stays here. Sorry. You'd stand out too much." A past version of Triss stopped the guardian in her metaphorical tracks.

"I'm in." Keesipip chirped, though her body language was weaker than her tone.

"Me too." Lexi volunteered.

"I guess I'll go as well." Hunter said with a shrug. If he remembered correctly, the place was a parallel earth. It'd be nice to go back to some semblance of his home. This made the brown tabby the last volunteer(of my chars). Hunter gave Anya a nod to come along but she silently declined. In time with this, one of the Trins took the liberty of going into the office and bringing the twins out.

"Before we go..." The original Trin let the words die in his mouth as he walked over to the fridge. He pulled out several bottles of water and stowed them into a plastic bag.

"There. I got extra for you Nyx." Trin informed, walking over to the portal and stepping through.

"I forgot how hot it was." Trin commented, to the humor of the other Trins and a few group members. The laughter died down quick, leaving Trin to sit down on the hot ground. Kessipip was the next through, followed by Lexi and Hunter who nudged the twins through. PIM was not among them shockingly enough. The red eyed tom paid it no mind however and was looking around to see if there were any landmarks or indications of any other animals.

"My plan is to find the animals that worked the caravan we ran into. I'm hoping they'd be able to guide us back to where they found us." Trin laid out his intentions right before Lexi was about to ask what their plan was.
 
Holly tried to ignore the ignore the Trins as they argued amongst themselves. The she-cat was slightly distracted as she poured a healthy amount of a strong smelling liquor from it's bottle into a cup that she'd set beside her. Once she was satisfied, she set the bottle back within the fridge and poured some fruity coctail into the cup.

"A causational anomaly? She'd query, turning her attention at last from the drink to the alabaster animals in the room. Holly had in truth gone out of her way to avoid interacting with Trinity since their last fight.

"That's what you'd called me when you said it was unlikely I'd produce offspring, if I recall?" The she-cat asked earnestly before taking a sip from the cocktail she'd prepared for herself.

She supposed she really shouldn't be surprised to be looking at yet another image of herself. When the portal opened, she slammed the drink in one quick motion before following through the tear herself. The last thing she wanted was to have another run in with Red.

"It's easy to forget that this is just another universe's Earth. Humans always seem to turn out the same, do they not?" The she-cat would mew, looking around at the barren desert around her.
_______________________________________________________________

"You're a fucking asshole, you know that?" The tom would utter to himself as the sobs gave way to anger. "I don't know what Flame sees in your illusions of grandeur." The bicolor tom would mew as he stood upon the bed and cursed his self appointed God.

"I don't need you, or them. I've never needed anyone else. I'm fine on my own like always and it's a fucking embarassment you'd expect my adoration after everything you've done to me."

With those words, Hal jumped off the bed and made his way into the living room wordlessly, giving the other cats in the room hardly a glance.
______________________________________________________________
Alec did not resist her comforting despite his negative opinion of her and soon the tom is asleep
______________________________________________________________
Filament made way for the portal, as they encountered the all too familiar shrub desert. "No rest for the wicked huh?" The umber tom would ask Trinity as he glanced about the desert, nobody other than their group in sight. The sun was setting and ahead of them lied miles of cooling black top that stretched over a hill on the horizon.

The echoes of gunshots reached them even this far behind and the tom was instantly alert. It had been his understanding that animals did not yet yield weapons here and that the sound could only be produced by humanity although if he'd had more insight, he'd know that he was very wrong.

A plume of smoke rose just over the hill that was many miles ahead of them and distant caterwhauling might just scarecely reach observant ears.
_______________________________________________________________

Gunshots tore through the air, and fire blazed amongst the dry and yet somehow still tall grass around the stranded caravan. "Stay away from the edges!" Ford ordered, clumsily firing off too shots from atop the wagon at the wriggling mass beneath the two of them.
 
Trin hummed and brought his attention away from the smoke on the horizon and on to Holly.
"That they do. Humans don't often make it off planet. As for the causational thing it's not just you being almost sterile. Or barren in your case. It's more about how often you appear in the multiverse." Trin meowed casually. Trin gave Filament a smirk at his comment and nodded. The tom began to make tracks towards the smoke, slightly adjusting the way the plastic bag hung from his side as he did so. Not at a very fast pace though, in case anyone wanted to come with them at the last minute.

"Most animals only appear about 5 to 7 times per quintillion universes. And usually those versions just exist in a parallel world. Basically your average animals will only ever have 5-7 other versions of themselves existing at the same time. It's just math and statistics. There's some outliers who are rarer or more common., but the average is single digits. Me and you however, naturally occur in almost identical states far more than anyone else. PIM estimates about 11,000 per quintillion universes. Which is causationally speaking, supposed to be impossible. And because of that, we tend to get in our own way whether it's a good thing or bad thing. Versions of you with exact or very close mental and physical make-up to you exist all over the place if you went looking." Trin explained as he walked. His voice was relaxed and content. For the first time in a while he didn't need to be in a rush.

"So Purple is...?" Hunter asked, letting the question hang in the air.

"A very lucky kit. Yeah. That's what that whole 'number 7' stuff the other mes were talking about." Trin meowed, nodding. Hunter hummed in acknowledgement.

"This place reminds me of a lot of places bounties would hide out at. Run down spot, low population, no major technological infrastructure they can be tracked on. Paradise for a multiverse criminal. I caught one guy pretending to be an orphan since his species looked like a child in comparison to the huge natives." Lexi commented, glancing around.

________

"So what's this number 7 stuff?" Penny asked, looking toward the collection of Trins expectantly.

"So like 200,000 years back your time, this random cat starts showing up. Saying they're Trin prime's seventh kid. But no one knows who their mom is, even those of us that have gone far into the future. They're always covered up to so we're not even sure what they fully look like. All we know is that they can time jump like we can, know how to keep even us off their trail, and know of our exploits. So ever since we've been trying to guess who would be Number 7's mom." A much younger version of Triss leapt at the chance to elaborate, showing off her pink and cherry red braces as she did so.

"Oh! And we've never met another one of Trin prime's offspring. For billions and billions of years, number 7's been the last one we've ever seen. And number 7 seems to be aware of their own significance. The last of the Trin prime bloodline...as far as we know. I think she's a girl." Another Trin chimed in, adding in his own personal belief at the end.

"I think they're Eden's kit." Another Trin commented.

"Eden's dead stupid." The doe Trin scoffed.

"Doesn't mean she couldn't have a kit..." The same Trin defended confidently. The Trin's grew quiet and gave him a mass of weird looks.

"I mean time dilated! Not whatEVER you all were thinking. Eden could have had a kit with Trin before she got transferred into a book and then boom. She forgets because of the book situation and Trin wipes his own memory for her safety or some other complicated reason. Number 7 grows up in the future despite being born in the past. Maybe number 7 themself is the reason their parents don't remem-"

"Purple is 11! Even if that idiotic theory was true, Azure would still give birth WAY after. Meaning Eden's hypothetical son can't be the seventh. That's why I called you stupid." The doe Trin exlpained, rolling her eyes at the end.

"Oh." The Trin stated, looking down at his paws.

"Yeah." The doe Trin said, suppressing a snicker. As she did so, she spotted Hal coming down the stairs. Her eyes followed Hal to where he stopped in the living room.

"Milky. Turn on the news?" Triss asked. The black tom in question was enamored with the Trins but managed to nod and wave his paw for the tv to turn on. As the news anchor's voice filled the living room, the Trins started to disperse once again and find their own spots throughout the room. The doe Trin gracefully walked over to Hal and leaned down to him.


"Hey weepy. What's wrong? I already know but tell me anyway." She said to the tom, her voice right on the border of being sardonic.


"-Forces have the Symphony completely surrounded and you can find god-ring enforcers regrouping and resting as far as five cities away here on Starworld. But what might be the most noticeable evidence of what's happened here earlier today is the massive mech standing in the water just outside of the stadium. You can see now that Lussmill is keeping guard on it. There's no hiding the massive demon empire insignias on the shoulder blades of the mech. It's not yet clear who's piloting it or if it is somehow autonomous. And it's just animals here on Starworld that are seeing this thing. Many citizens as well ad government officials of various government from the three rings have voiced their concern at God-ring security's incompetence today as well as their lack of confidence that the giants, like Lussmill, are still the impregnable deterrents they're made out to be. Anonymous sources have already confirmed tens of nations have officially withdrawn from God-ring already and a few that have decided to attack what they see as a weakened God-ring military power." The news anchor explained, standing on the outskirts of the Symphony. With a handful of former Symphony attendees behind them, being checked on by a god-ring medic.


______

Aceline gave Flame a weak smile. "I was never in a refugee camp. But I do remember getting a few cans of food from them. I remember the first time I'd tried it...I didn't even know what corn was. Just that it was some leftovers from the humans. I, uh...." Aceline took a few deep breaths to keep herself from getting winded, "-I spent an entire day trying to get that can open. They didn't tell me you needed a can opener!" Aceline giggled hoarsley.

__________
Meanwhile in the dead realm...


"So...did you guys die in the big explosion? How'd you die?' Merlida asked the small group quietly but casually. Not a hint of shame in her voice.

"Really?" Farichea looked at the mermaid with an annoyed, incredulous expression.

"I want to know. Consider it small talk." Merlida meowed with a shrug.
 
Nyx trots after Trin, passing through the portal right after the bunny-turned-feline boys. While she is glad they're on the path to getting them home, she never thought they'd have to return to this place in particular. The acrid air stings her nose upon her first breath on the other side.


"No thank you." Lethe mews quietly to himself, hopping on the couch when a space frees up. He waves goodbye to those who make for the portal.


"Pleeeease?" Thistle begs, leaning down to get face to face with his sister. "We're not working anymore and the Symphony's over. You promised."

Sapphire eyes flick about the crowded room. With the addition of the Horde of Trins, privacy will undoubtedly be a rarity.

“Come oooon!" He whines, "You know, it’s been a while since I’ve heard you sing…"

Standing, Thrush gently shoves her brother in the direction of the portal and heads on over.

Thistle follows, grumbling something about interruptions under his breath.

"So." She begins casually, gazing at the familiar barrens of this world before looking expectantly at her brother, a sparkle in her eye. "What song do you want to hear?" Thrush laughs softly at the little dance he does in his excitement.

"The one where Thor tricks Alvíss!" Thistle hums the opening line to the song as if to jog his sister's memory.

Thrush eyes their companions walking ahead of them, waiting a few moments before she too starts walking and begins to hum. A short introduction to the song but it's more of a warmup for her because true to his word, she hasn't sung in what feels like forever. The first few notes are soft and the words have a gentle lilt to them, a dramatic shift from how she normally speaks. Like this voice doesn't belong to her, the quiet, intimidating Crater cat.



Adrianna avoids looking at Merlida when she asks the group how they died. The memory of that night is still fresh in her brain and thinking of how she died only reminds her of everyone she left behind.

"Sepsis." The tortoiseshell tom replies, easily enough. "Though, technically, mine was a mercy killin'."

"What!?" Adrianna gasps, wheeling on her friend. "You never told me about this!"

"Yea. Caught the claws of a Plaguebeast." Blade confirms, "Let it break it's teeth on my leg while I had it pinned 'n it managed to hit me while I reached for my sidearm. Turns out, the Infected don't keep their claws nice 'n clean like us so crap builds up on 'em after every, uh, meal. Thought it was just a cut so I field dressed it. Kept gettin' sicker 'n sicker and eventually I told 'em to put me outta my misery."

"Who?" she blurts out, curious to know who killed her street-toughened friend.

Blade shrugs. "Dunno. Ask the rest of our team if we find 'em."

A choked sound escapes the vermillion sheline at the revelation.

Bracken answers next, laying his tail over Adrianna's back in support. "I don't know how I died. I was a part of the flood, or whatever people here before me called it. One moment I was at the Alliance HQ, the next, I'm waking up here."

The direwolf female is silent. Only when she catches the anticipatory glances of her small feline companions does she respond. "I was killed by the last of my kind." she admits grimly.
 
Trin and Lexi both looked back when the sound of Thrush's singing hit their ears. A grin spread across the sheline's saber-toothed maw.

"Thrush can sing. That's a pleasant-...surpise!" Lexi spoke in her normal hard-boiled tone at first before ending in an emphatic whisper. Trin gave her a quizzical look but went back to staring ahead without a word. Lexi drifted over to Nyx with casual purpose, leaving the white tom to his devices.

"Hey Nyx. Does Thrush like surprises?" Lexi asked the wolf in a low voice, intent to keep the conversation out of Thrush's ears. As she fell in step with the wolf and awaited an answer she looked to the twins. Even already they were looking a little winded. A fact that made Lexi unconsciously give them a look of contempt. Only for long enough for the two young toms to fully notice and drift away from her.

_____

Hunter walked along with Filament. He was one of the few he didn't have any sort of sour relationship with.

"You fit in so well with us I almost forgot you weren't with us on Earth." Hunter meowed, glancing over at Filament for a brief moment. His eyes went back to staring at the ground ahead of him while his paw steps were inordinately high and long. Even with the sun setting, the temperature of the ground was uncomfortable on his pads. He kept his eyes on the ground to avoid stepping on any stones, pebbles, or hot patches of sand.

"Do you regret it?" Hunter levied the question against Filament without looking up from the ground.



________
Meanwhile in the dead realm...


Merlida listened to the death stories with intrigue. Silently showing her solidarity with Bracken by pointing to him and nodding when he spoke.

"Brutal. All of you. Which is mostly a compliment in mermaid culture." Merlida drew her gaze over all of them, "How about you wolf girl?" She stopped on Farichea,

"I don't know. I think was assassinated." Farichea answered, pursing her lips. Her transfer to this world was an instant and violent one. In the moonlight you could see on her face how her mind was trying to form a mental image of how her demise went down.

"I thi...I think my partner had me killed." Farichea said, her tone and words unsure but her face stiff from the dreadful certainty of their truthfulness. Deciet totally had her killed.

"Wow. Two betrayals. Is it a wolf thing?" Merlida ended with a half joke.

"Who killed you?" Jaeger mumbled out.

"A co-worker. Are you coming to?" Farichea answered vaguely and shifted the subject.

"A little. I don't feel as lost in myself anymore." The tom mumbled, his eyes fluttering open and then closing again.

"Don't strain yourself. So, Merlida. How'd you go?" Farichea queired.

"I had my throat sliced. Never thought it would hurt so much. I guess that means none of us died in any way peacefully? No friends or family to see us off to the next adventure?" Merlida did a cut gesture at her neck before looking around the group.
 
A couple of hours ago that comment about being barren would've disturbed her far more. "So it's possible, that at some point, I'll be standing in a room of myselves?" The she-cat would ask, grimacing as the alcohol she'd taken hit her slightly. "Do you think that gunfire is concerning? Could just be humans." The she-cat would mew, seeming more lively than she had in months.
What a terrible version of Earth, although the she-cat supposed it easily trumped their home planet which had been completely destroyed. This version seemed slightly better off somehow.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Filament doesn't seem bothered when Hunter comes into step beside him and passes a compliment, or rather what he supposed would count as a compliment in this company. "Yeah, I've always been pretty adaptable I guess." The tom would mew good naturedly, bringing a forepaw over his remaining natural ear in embarrassment. For a few blissful moments everything was quiet and then the brown tom levied quite the question on his shoulders.
"Well I lost my good looks, I guess but I really like traveling with you guys." The scarred tom would offer a bit guarded. "I've also got a pretty cool girlfriend who's super smart and nice." He seems to be thinking but it's really all for looks, he'd already asked himself that question.
"Naw, not really. This is guaranteed a once in a lifetime experience and it beats the hell out of slutty shipwashes." He concludes with a laugh and gives the tom a playful bump on the shoulder.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"I've never had corn." Flame laments, "I've eaten lots of sparrows though. They weren't the most intelligent and were always easy to catch." The tom wheezes as he leans over to face her, slowly laying a paw on her side in an embrace. "We're gonna be okay, y'know that? I just got a good feeling about it."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Hal whips his head around to glare at the Trin. "If you already know, then don't ask, it makes you sound stupid." He snaps, flinging the fridge open and retrieving the bottle he'd seen Holly drink from. Without another word, he puts the bottle in his mouth and flings his head back, managing to choke down about two thirds of its contents. With a small growl he puts it back in the fridge.
The audacity of her, the audacity of everyone and holy shit that was harsh. It was becoming pretty clear to him now, the reason why Adrianna couldn't seem to ever drink enough.
"You think you're so good, don't you? Time doesn't mean a damn thing to you and you just hop skip teleport whenever you damn well please." The tom would bark at her, "I think I'd rather be alone than have to be stuck as you, forced to watch thousands of timelines of your friends dying in agony. I don't envy you." The tom would stifle a retch and lean against the counter, his attention on the television. "Well let me know if you'll even bother to remember anyone in this room when we die."

"Well that's just great, you know I'm starting to think the whole God-Ring thing is a waste of time, hey, Nastiel, why don't you just call it quits, huh?" The tom lets out a sad laugh and shivers, tears welling in his remaining eye. "I mean, we blew their submarine, killed a general and you know what that caused? DO youuu? It caused this to happen and now therez just so many orphans and for what? What makes God-Ring and the demons so different?"
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
The doe Trin stared at Hal with a bored deadpan as he snapped. Only really reacting when he drank, but said reaction was an empathetic look at Milky for his loss of alcohol. A few other Trin were stifling humored or mocking reactions of their own while most of the the others paid it no mind. The same could not be said for Nastiel.

"What!?" The tom growled, standing up onto two legs.

"Forgot he can do that." One of the Trins whispered to another, who nodded in solidarity.

"What makes us different!? Last I checked the demons weren't giving their masks away! My entire team is in a quarantine zone and could very well die because they believed in what the God-ring stands for! I believe in what it stands for! ALL we do, all we ever try to do is make it so that animals are free to do what they want, how they want! "To protect life and liberty, and institute happiness." To keep larger civilizations from bullying smaller weaker ones. So that pacifists get to be pacifists without needing to worry! So that atheists won't be forced into theism or vice versa! So that animals can choose to live how they want to without some megalomaniacal a**holes telling them what they should or shouldn't do! We ensure everybody has freedom of movement, freedom of medicine, freedom to think for themselves and we make sure none of that intrudes on anyone else! We make sure that Jeff, who got the bad end of the genetic lottery on his home planet, gets a chance to find happiness in a society that values what his previous one didn't. We let Lallica marry a boy when her home planet views that as bad but we don't force her planet to change their ways either! We go out of our way, expend infinite resources to make everyone as safe as possible, to raise everyone else up with us if they want. Free food to those who need it, housing, education, happiness, protection. That's why civilization after civilization, universe after universe has joined up! The only thing we impose on others is to not impose on others! And yet there's always some animals like you." Nastiel hissed, glaring at Hal as he walked over to the tom.

"Animals like you always have something to complain about! No matter what we do, you'll never be happy because your twisted egotistical little personality can't handle any authority! Even if that authority is there for your benefit! Even when that authority keeps out those who would abuse the position if they had the chance. Animals like you receive free food and rant that it's a ploy to make you subservient. We defend you and you accuse us of trying to leverage favor! We educate and you cry manipulation, indoctrination, brainwashing! We remove those your society doesn't want and you whine because deep down you need someone to hate or else your pitiful insecure soul won't be able to take it. You think only in the short-term and only about yourself, the greater good never supersedes your personal benefit! And you know what happens to civilizations with too many yous in them? They die! They use up their resources, pick unnecessary fights, oppress their citizens, and let horrible animals rise to power. And any time someone tries to help you're all SUCH horrible animals deep down that you're paranoid and distrustful of everyone else. Because if you were in their position you'd abuse it! Because you would never help someone for no reason so your wretched mind can't even believe someone else would. Even just now your words show who you really are! Animals think you have to wait until someone is in a powerful position to see if they'll abuse it. When all you really have to do is to watch how they judge those already in that position. And how'd you judge that doe? You insinuated she'd forget everyone. Because that's what you'd do in Trin's position. That's what'd you'd do with his power!" Nastiel spoke passionately and angrily. Ending by poking Hal on the nose twice. The navy tom's nose in turn was left uncovered as he spoke. Whether it was by accident or by choice was unknown.

______________


Trin looked at Holly and smiled. "It's possible. If you want. Or another version of you wants." Trin meowed cheekily. He turned his gaze back to the smoke in the distance and hummed.

"Could be. I'm hoping it's cats. The sooner we meet any, the sooner they can tell us where the nearest town or caravan route is. But that shooting has been going on for a while. Guess we'll see when we get there. Not too long now." He said, sporting an optimistic tone one walking towards a firefight would not normally possess.

__________


Hunter let out a laugh and took the bump in stride, drifting away a couple steps before stepping back in place.

"Well that makes one of us." Hunter said in an edgy tone of voice. He turned his head to Filament with a smirk plastered on his muzzle showing that he was joking.

"Nah, I'm glad. I'd hate for you to feel strung along with us. And don't worry about the good looks. They'll come back. I mean, I looked like a pink overgrown fetus not too long ago. Though this heat is kind of making me miss it." Hunter meowed humorously.


_______


Aceline closed her eyes and sighed when Flame place his paw on her. A subtle, content curl appearing on the ends of her mouth.

"I know. We didn't walk all that way just to show back up." Aceline purred barely above a whisper. She was happy to just lay there quietly for a bit. Both for the comfort Flame provided as well as to give her straining lungs and body a rest. When a nurse passed through the plastic divider, her eyes opened again. The droid silently checked one of the monitors they were connected to before looking at Aceline and smiling.

"You're both doing just fine." The nurse confirmed with a nod.

"Do you all have any corn?" Aceline asked slowly.

"Corn?" The droid reiterated.

"Mhmm. Yellow and mushy. He's never tried any." Aceline meowed, pointing to Flame with her eyes.

"Cream corn? I think I can find some." The droid answered with a smile and left. Aceline flashed an excited look at Flame and place one of her paws on his side.
 
Hal looked kind of dumbfounded when the tom stood onto his hindlegs, but the dumbfounded look quickly as the tom began to rant. "Weird how 'free' animals aren't allowed to question your authority." The tom would me snidely, not backing down.
"How'd it go? You said that the belief that everyone is free to make their own meaning out of anything is hazardous and wrong? Right, doesn't sound very free to me." The tom would snicker drunkenly as the tom went on. "Freedom to think for themselves my ass."

When the tom gets to the part about universes being joined up the tom cracks a sad smile. "Oh yeah, and now look at how they all leave at the first sign of trouble. So much unity."

The tom tenses as the tom walks over to him, ready to rebut a physical attack if he has to. After his time with the group, the thought of being attacked during an argument doesn't escape him. To his relief the tom does not.

Once the tom is done, Hal stares him dead in the face.
"And how ready they all are to leave or turn their guns on you. Sounds like the universe is full of a lot of people like me who don't like to take things at your word and prefeeer to think for themselves, huh pal?" The tom would ask tauntingly, anger burning in his eyes.

"Oh, and for the record, I'd never be in Trin's position because I don't need that kind of power that you speak of so highly. I never need to lord over others just to flaunt my thinly veilleeed illusions of grandeur and superiority as you do, SIR." The tom would mew the words snarkily, flashing the tom a mock and very lopsided salute.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"What a weird thought. I wonder if they'd have had better luck making friends." Holly would me with a slight hint of regret in her voice. "Speed has been a big help with me, being able to put what you said to me into motion." She'd confide, stopping throughout her sentence as though she wasn't sure how to phrase it.

"Speaking of Speed, I don't recall her being much impressed with the lodging they sent us to last time." She mrrowed humorously, a small laugh escaping her muzzle.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Filament in truth does feel slightly bad for the tom. As much as the others vilified the tom, he didn't believe that the tom was beyond reproach but he also didn't want to condescend to the brown tabby. "I'm sure Saraphina will come around, I have a pretty good sense for animals. I don't see like I used to but I sure saw her warm up a bit when we were back in the meeting room with Undertaker." The tom realized after that the statement might be a bit confusing and so he elaborates.

"I can see heat with my eye, and I don't think the extra warmth was from being out of the water." The tom would explain, keeping an easy pace beside the tom.

"I don't, if I wanted to leave I'd have done it already, and don't sweat it, if what Pim tells me about Trin is true, I'm sure some would've found you quite attractive like that, but personally I think you look quite handsome just the way you are now." The tom would hush the bit about Trin so that hopefully the alabaster tom wouldn't hear.

"I'm not too worried about my looks in all honesty, I mean I guess, I'm over explaining here but I just feel like how you treat others is so much more influential to how they feel about you than how you look. Nobody seemed to mind my scars when I was washing that ship and what reason would there be for them to care? I was having a good time, with good animals. That's all that really matters I think."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Damn straight we didn't." Flame mewed weakly, his breathing relaxing for the moment. It didn't stay that way for long and he sneezed harshly, being sure to tilt his head away from hers. "That was a bad one." The tom remarked, not having heard anything until the mention of creamed corn.

"Sounds nummy, kinda looking forward to it, thanks hun." The tom would mew, giving her a small weak smile.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Streak buried his face into Jezabel's chest fur fearfully as Hal and Nastiel bickered.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
"The only animals that question our authority are ones that want to remove the freedoms of others. Every time someone creates their own meaning it just ends in them oppressing others. I mean just listen to yourself! You're trying to argue that a collection of independent civilizations, free to do whatever they please in their own territory, united and lead by a purely democratically elected council with strict term limits and representation from each member civilization, is bad. You're arguing that the non-aggressive, purely defensive military put forth by these nations for the sake of common defense...is bad. The same military that prioritizes de-escalation and non-lethal means and requires all personnel to undergo years of training before they're fielded." Nastiel looked away with a scowl on his face and took a long, deep breath in and released it.

"Did you even see us doing what you accuse us of? Huh? At the Symphony did you see any enforcers ripping down posters or flyers of alternative ideas? How about censoring speakers in the lecture halls? Anything like that at all!? No? Because we don't do that! What I heard at the Symphony was us protecting those their own society vilified, allowing them to experience what the multiverse has to offer. I saw animals being given necessary medical aid on our credits! The ticket price pays for the venue not our door services, but of course you couldn't be bothered to inquire about that. I heard well trained enforcers refuse to encroach on the sovereignty of other civilizations and instead risked their own careers in order to enforce justice. Hal, not once did you ever ask what our policies are. You heard scary vague words and assumed the worst. Like an idiot arguing the efficacy of incarceration for the sheer sake of it. Not once did you ask WHAT ideas we don't want our citizens adopting.......Months ago you back talked a couple of god-ring detectives, going on about rights and other things you're ignorant of. It was on your file. And you did so because you were guilty in some measure to the crime they were investigating. And I can't help but suspect it's the same thing now. The only reason you have a problem with god-ring is because deep down you know we're a threat to you. The same way the police are a threat to a criminal. Hal, you're the bad guy. You're an ignorant little tom who's guidance would inevitably bring everyone who followed you to their demise. You're jaded and distrustful of everyone yet for some reason get offended at the thought that not everyone should be trusted. And we've been studying your type for longer than you could imagine. You bring about things like autocracy, anarchy, populism, hyper-individualism, genocide, tribalism, dystopia. You argue for blind freedom, to let anyone do whatever they want, while standing in the midst of the consequences of someone doing just that! And how did Undertaker rationalize his actions? By suggesting that it is somehow necessary! By creating his own meaning for genocide! And now it's spreading to a few hundred civilizations of the billions that make up god-ring. THAT'S what happens when animals get to thinking it's okay to hinder other's freedom for the sake of their own or some illusory principle!-" Nastiel pointed to the news broadcast showing the aftermath of the day's events, "-That's the endpoint of your beliefs whether you want to think about it or not! Animals get hurt! They die! Because the only animals who question non-aggression are aggressors! The only ones who question democracy are tyrants! The only ones who question a message of "do good and allow others to live as they please" are evil!" Nastiel ended slightly out of breath, panting a little.

"If you want to think we're the same as the demons. Fine. Just be sure to remember which side was attacked unprovoked after vying for peace. Which side abused the other's trust. And don't give me some victim blaming crap. Can't even be bothered to ask any questions but won't hesitate to demonize us, when my team's in quarantine tent-maybe dead already." Nastiel added on, putting a paw back over his nose, falling back to all fours, and catching his breath. Grumbling the last part under it. The navy didn't retreat though and stood in front of Hal, staring him down with anger and grief battling for dominance in his yellow eyes.
 
Nyx looks down at Lexi, pursing her lips in thought. "Mmm I'd say it depends. She's hard to get a bead on sometimes. But, who knows! She might love surprises and just hasn't told me. Thrush isn't much of a "sharer". Why do you ask?"


There is a familiar pattern when Thrush sings: she calls a question with the high notes and the response comes when she shifts octaves. The next verse, while comfortably in her vocal range, is much lower as she recites the words of Alvíss the All-Knower.

Thistle joins in occasionally during the response portions, singing softly under his sister's voice. He notices when the conversations around them suddenly becomes dim and glances are cast back at them. The tom watches Thrush, who in this moment, has her eyelids lowered and slowly bobs her head along to the rhythm. Ever since they left Earth, it's rare to hear her sing, doing so in front of others is practically unheard of. He catches the gaze of one of their companions but says nothing, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that everyone can hear her song. Thistle doesn't want her to stop.

To those outside their family, they might think the song is simple and repetitive, but they can't hear the story. Thor administers a test for Alvíss, who wishes to marry the thunder lord's daughter. If he can answer all the questions correctly then he shall have his bride. But at the end, the whole thing was a sly trick! Thor asked so many questions that night passed and the sun rose, turning the dwarf to stone.


Lethe remains deathly quiet, listening to Hal get a through dressing-down from the god-ring enforcer. Hopefully Hal will learn a lesson from this and stop provoking others.
 
Lexi grinned for just a second, relieved the answer wasn't a blatant 'no.'

"I was thinking about setting her up for a fancy date with Trin. Though now I'm not too sure it's a good idea. I don't think any of my ideas of a good ate match with hers." Lexi explained to Nyx in a neutral tone.

_______

Hunter laughed at the part about Trin, glancing over at Filament before bringing his gaze back to the ground.

"I wish I'd ran with your crowd growing up. Appearance was never the end all be all but it was certainly important where I grew up. You look good too by the way...and thanks. For that stuff you said bout Saraphina." Hunter said as they padded along.

_______

"Speed's a very good friend...But yeah she's not a fan of slumming it." Trin meowed with a growing smile. His ears raising perfectly straight now that they'd gotten so close to the gunfire.

"The top of this hill should give us a good look at what's going on." Trin observed, trudging up the incline without hesitation.

_________

A nurse droid passed through the plastic divider with a bowl in mouth. Aceline brightened up and the droid took her excitement as a cue to place the bowl in between her and Flame. Then they left. Aceline eagerly pointed to the cream corn with her eyes, silently egging Flame to try it.
 
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