Author's Note: Hello lads and Ladies

Work is killing my sense of Time. Sorry, I am so damn sorry for the delay. Hopefully, 23 doesn't take that long... I just want to be done... I want to let you guys experience the end. nearly 4 years at this point...

In other news, a friend of mine got a discord server he'd want you guys to be a part of. It is pretty Beastars heavy so be warned. Just doing this as a favor for him. Join at your own discretion.

https://discord.com/invite/rH4ajFkdQv

See you in the next chapter, hopefully shorter waiting time this time.

Edited by: SuperAverageFoxyboy, The Dude who likes Tanks

Enjoy!

-Portal

"And? Where are the witnesses?" Captain stood at the head of the hallway with his arms crossed, two guards by his sides.

Gone with the wind, never to return to anywhere near your clutch.

"Fled. Probably scared of being arrested." Legosi answered with a hanging head. What seemed to Captain like shame was great restraint that Legosi's mind now asked from him.

"Dammit... I called it in, but I don't think they'll act if we have no witnesses... You two can go." The guards at the captain's side retreated down the corridor. Legosi and Juno however remained.

"If you feel better madam you can stay until we get any further news, and you Legosi can go back to running Inventory." Captain dismissed them with a hand wave and yet they stayed.

"Private?"

"You didn't seem surprised when we told you." Legosi stared into his eyes. Captain's eyelids faintly twitched. Legosi couldn't help but smile just a bit.

"Your friends have information that could save this city, yet they stand by doing nothing. I know how terrorists act, and the cowardice of your friends is binding my hands." Captain crossed his arms.

Legosi raised his head and peered darkly at his superior. This defensiveness seemed to be more like the guilty trying to clear himself than the innocent trying to defend himself.

"You want to know something funny, Captain?"

Captain looked down at him and crossed his arms, glaring back with anger now.

"You're going straight back to your post and drop this right now before I'll have you taken in for insubordination." Captain's attempt at regaining control did nothing but gain a cunning smile in return.

"You heard me," Captain repeated himself.

"If you weren't in on it, then you would have arrested me already."

Time moved slowly as adrenaline grasped Legosi and in turn Juno too. Captain grasped for his gun and Legosi whisked it away. He watched the gun fly away and next felt Captain's fist crashing to his temples. His head lulled back and he saw only a flash as Juno herself jumped in for the attack. He saw her head jerk back at the dull hit of fist to flesh.

Knowing the captain would move for the gun he blindly sprinted forward. He tackled the senior wolf but only managed to make him take a step or two forward before halting. With Legosi's arms firmly around him, blocking his left arm, Captain rammed his right elbow back and Legosi coughed out the air in his lungs. Juno kicked into Captain's side, sending him another step sideward yet not towards the floor.

Before another hit came in Legosi kicked into his leg, slipping it from under him. Captain went to his knees, huffing as he sank. He readied for another elbowing before a fist crashed into his face which ultimately moved him to the floor.

And as suddenly as Captain was on the ground, life around Legosi seemed to grow dimmer and dimmer until it seemed to completely disappear. The wolf on the floor was not his superior, wasn't his friend, wasn't anyone that physically existed.

Captain joined those who kept the world going exactly as it was. Like his own classmates who hated him for being socially anxious, passive, and pacifistic. Like the peers of his mother who only liked her because they were vain and she was pretty. Captain was one of the animals in charge. He held control. And without any thought behind it, Legosi's hands grasped onto Captain's neck and with all his force pushed tight.

Captain grasped for the strong arms that engulfed his neck in the same way that a drowning man flailed for the surface of the waters he was drowning in. The private he had known as a reserved yet open and kind wolf had grown into a violent monstrum. The still sane and rational part of Legosi's mind thought that perhaps Captain understood that a considerable part of his friends were animals that didn't fit into the image of normality that most Animals had. A considerable part of it must have been Hybrids themselves, but one thing Legosi was very sure of.

Captain would never know that Legosi was a quarter Komodo Dragon. Captain would never know just exactly who the wolf working under him was. He would never-

"I got the gun. Just knock him out," she said, her hand on his shoulder, her voice soft and soothing. Although hatred coursed through him and soared him to heights of strength the love inside him was still stronger.

"I am not your monster, and I never will be." He peered deeply into the panicked eyes of Captain, a wolf that followed orders all his life.

I was never meant to be obedient...

With a swift punch, Captain's eyes closed and the fight was over. With aching arms, Legosi carried Captain into a singular toilet right behind the Armory counter. He grabbed a handcuff and fastened Captain's wrist to the sink.

"Where are the other privates?" She asked as they closed the door.

"In the vehicle bay." He replied gruffly, the two walking along.

"You got an idea how to get them on our side." Juno's look made him worry for a moment.

"I've been pretty good at persuading so far. No reason for it to fail me now."

By the time they reached the vehicle bay, Legosi had regained control of himself enough that his social anxiety had returned to show him just what was at stake.

If we don't try then we already lost.

The vehicle bay was just a large garage at the back of the warehouse, connecting out to the main road. Cars stood in rows like packages on a grocery store shelf. Ready for take-off whenever the animals in charge said so. All the soldiers were dogs, prepping the cars as per the last order they had. Some tails wagged, and some were still. All of them were at least reasonably satisfied.

They want a leader, I'll be their top dog.

"Everybody!" Legosi yelled and moved into the center of their little grouping. There were twenty-five dogs in total in the garage. They turned their heads to him and his command. The holy command, the one that all dogs followed.

"What's going on? What's she doing here?" One of them asked, and Legosi waved them together.

"I have something to tell you." Legosi braced himself, Juno's presence his equilibrium.

"Melon has bombs all across the city." Jaws dropped, eyes widened, hairs stood upright and tails bushed up.

"And Captain, as well as Yahya, know it, and they don't want to do anything against it. He needs a political reason to just crush him under the heel of his boot, and he'll take this city with him if we let him. What I'll ask of you now will need more strength than you had to show in basic training, more strength than even the first apartment bombings needed to survive. What I ask from you will also mean breaking the law that Yahya set up... Do you want to let our city die... or are you with me in protecting it?"

The garage was silent, and Legosi would think it ironic that the first time they refused a command would be the time when it was most elemental that they accepted it.

"I'm with you." Barkley walked forward, pledging his allegiance.

"It's all we got. I'm with ya."

And another.

"For mom!"

"For my love!"

"For my friends!"

Another and another and another.

With a tear running down his face Legosi grabbed Juno to his side and smiled. They were unprepared, scared, and very much overwhelmed. But they were not alone.

Carol and Yajuu parked the car in the paved stone yard at the back of the clinic. They knocked, unsure of who to expect that both Juno and Legosi trusted blindly. All they knew was that Doctor Gouhin had a clinic within the black market and that they would be safe there. They did not expect to be welcomed with the barrel of a gun.

"Who are you?" The gruff-looking panda had a cigarette in the corner of his lips, a revolver raised in at them in his right hand while the left held the door. It was impossible to get a hold of where his eyes were among the dark fur pattern.

"Don't shoot! Legosi and Juno sent us, we're friends of theirs. We've come looking for sanctuary." Yajuu did the talking this time, Carol was too shocked to even open her mouth, her arms defensively raised in front of her.

The unseen eyes of the panda gauged both of them for a moment and then lowered his revolver.

"Come in." He took a drag from his cigarette and stepped aside, blowing the smoke into the room.

They stepped into the meeting room, the table, and the boards at one of the walls making its only discernible utility the conduction of meetings. On the other side of the room continued through an archway into a living room. All the lights were off.

"What do you need sanctuary from?" He turned on the singular hanging lamp above the table, a stark white clinical light that made the meeting room look very much like an office space.

"Melon... He's hiding bombs in the city."

The Panda scoffed and took another drag from his cigarette, holstering his revolver.

"Prick's been casing my place for weeks now, probably because he knows I'll call my boss at anything out of the ordinary." He opened a locker, the cigarette dropping ash down onto the floor.

He grabbed a rifle off its rack and closed the gun locker.

"Either of you ever shoot a gun before?"

Yajuu stood awkwardly, shaking his head.

"I have."

"In case things go awry" The panda threw the rifle into Carol's arms who caught it and brought it into a downward pointing position, finger resting outside the trigger guard.

Yajuu stared at her, her eyes looking back at him and giving a quick but genuine smile.

"We've only been a thing for a few months, there are still loads of things you don't know."

"I'm... sorry." Yajuu hung his head and Carol looked at him confused.

"What for?" She let go of the stock and nudged his face upward, her hand resting on his cheek.

"For not being strong."

And again Carol was amazed at how much this man before her was a child still all along. The muscles under his pelt, the years of living in the shadows, the world-weary and tired eyes. Everything dissolved when he looked at her like this, innocent and untainted. Afraid of disappointing and losing those that he loved most.

"Don't apologize. Not today." She gave him another smile and he looked back with tears in his eyes.

"You'll protect us when it comes to it, I'm sure." She kissed him and he wiped away the tears, his face remaining a sad visage.

"Come on let's sit down over there." They went into the living room and settled down on the couch, the doctor sitting in an armchair opposite them with his rifle resting on his legs.

He had killed the lights, making it less obvious from afar if anybody was even truly home. Yajuu looked outside and saw the first lights of the sky become daylight. He realized then and there that he had never gotten a chance to truly enjoy sunlight. In the sun people saw him for what he was.

"I don't know how today is gonna turn out..." Yajuu said and both the panda and Carol looked at him.

"But I hope that by the end of it, Hybrids like me can enjoy sunlight on their own terms."

Louis looked at the city phasing past the car's window as he was stuck deep in thought. His eyes every now and then drifted towards the front, only to see glimpses of the driver looking straight at him through the rearview mirror, completely distracted.

The more Louis thought about it the more he felt nervous about the idea of having a new driver at such an unfortunate time, but with a few of the things of life that he couldn't control he surrendered to this simply because there was no other option. He was stuck in the game of catching the completely incomprehensible glances of the driver.

The car came to a sudden stop in the middle of the street, Louis peered through the rearview mirror only to see hateful eyes peer back. He already knew what was coming even before it came.

I think life is running out of surprises.

"Why are you stopping?"

Laughter came in return. The okapi smiled deviously.

"Getting you back where you belong, 'master' Louis. Back in with the rest of the terrorists." The declaration was accompanied by the arrival of the blue lights of a few police cruisers rolling around the corner and blocking the rest of the street. Louis looked through the rearview mirror and found that he held no emotion at all.

"Enjoy your trip back home you hybrid siring bastard." The okapi sneered and Louis stared back blankly.

This was no livestock tower.

"The things I went through you wouldn't even know," Louis said without intonation or any form of emotion to the driver. The driver in turn seemed to almost recoil a little.

"Even if I died, it wouldn't stop, even if I go back to prison right now that hybrid problem won't get solved... No matter what happens, animals like you are always going to spill your own share of blood..."

The driver's eyes bulged as Louis' arms suddenly wrapped around his throat, the deer pulling back as hard as he could, staining under the exertion

"Purebloods. Might be like. -nitrogen. The main. Part. of Air." His words were cut off by the physical stress but even without his arms around the throat of another, this would've hurt.

"But hybrids- are like- neon. Just a sliver. But more vibrant and -colorful. And now. You'll choke on it." His betrayer flailed and grabbed for his arms, unable to lift them off his throat. And after a few more moments he did exactly what Louis wanted him to. The driver pressed onto the pedal.

The car lurched forward and accelerated. It drove at an angle for the opening of a backstreet, the one venue unchecked by police as Louis saw more blue light approach from behind. The driver didn't once grab for the steering wheel.

The car crashed into a wall, activating the airbag at the same moment as Louis released his grip, denying the driver a new breath. Louis opened the door and got out onto the street, the coughing behind him almost making him feel regret for not ending that miserable thing's life. He picked shards of glass from his scalp, no antlers there to protect him from anything.

He ran deeper into the dark night, hearing undefined shouting come from behind him as he did so. He was sure they'd have bloodhounds this time or perhaps another blockade around the corner. Anything to stop him in his tracks once and for all but as he turned the corner in the backstreet he was more shocked than relieved to find it completely empty.

The resources were stretched so thin they couldn't even scrounge up a proper blockade for an escaped convict.

Morals here or there, at least Melon is making an impact.

And so Louis went off into the brightening cusp of daylight, no sun yet to grace the citizens of Japan with a new day. One that certainly none of them would ever forget.

And just as soon as he turned the next corner he heard the expected roar of an engine, only now no emergency light to accompany it. He turned around mid-run, not really knowing what he would see, and came to a complete stop.

"Hey kid, get in!" The door to the armored car was open, the face of Free smiling at him. He wasted no time following the command.

"Got you right on time didn't we," Free quipped.

"Yeah." Was all that Louis could answer, catching his breath.

Free chuckled and gave him a friendly slap on the back, nearly shooing all the air from Louis's lungs again.

He looked around and saw Dolph in the driver's seat and Agata sitting in the passenger seat.

"How did you know where to find me?" Louis asked the Shishigumi in amazement whilst still trying to catch his breath.

"Tokugawa placed a tracker on your pickup car. He could tell that the driver wasn't straight, so he prepared for it to go south. Wished he could've gotten another driver but in these times? you wish." Free slapped his thigh and leaned back.

"Just glad we got you before the police did, talking to the fuzz is always messy and the talker's busy with something else right now."

"With what?"

"Wish I could tell you but I don't even know. Tokugawa called us early in the morning without any clue why, spoke to no one but our talking man for now, and Ibuki hasn't told us squat." Free flashed his carefree smile that he so often held, his name fitting him to a tee.

Louis looked out of the windows of the car and although he was now safe he couldn't shake that he loved that adrenaline he felt when his arm choked out the betrayer. That was him taking control in ways he had never taken control before.

"Where are we going now?"

"To Tokugawa himself," Dolph said from the driver's seat, maneuvering the relatively empty streets of the early morning.

"Can't do nothing but wait then." Louis resigned himself to the situation but now with another perspective tugged behind his repertoire. At any point, he could take control when things didn't go his way. If it meant he had to half strangle his driver or threaten violence on another to survive. If it meant he lived for his cause then he would do it.

"Sometimes you can't do anything but that." Free smiled to himself. Oblivious of the changing of the tides in the mind of the young buck beside him.

Legosi sat in the driver's seat, jerking the steering wheel from left to right and he drove the large truck over the streets. None of the other soldiers could drive, Legosi being the only one with some experience driving deliveries when he still worked for the little ramen shop under the El Train. Given that that job was done with a scouter, not a military personnel truck.

Juno sat beside him, adorned in a bulletproof vest over her shirt. Legosi insisted she'd wear one and after a moment of noticing he wasn't joking she realized that being shot at was a real possibility tonight. If not by Melon and his men then by the Police or whatever strike force that Yahya still had left.

They rolled through with unease, twenty-seven souls in the truck. Legosi thought of crashing the truck and how soon there would be no safety coming to get them in case they failed. There was no security net to catch them in case it all went wrong. If they tripped and fell, no one would come to help.

After half an hour of rolling over the streets while stuck in the type of terror that froze you from the inside out, they finally rolled onto the outer town streets that housed the very well-to-do. The high-class district in the center of town was for politicians, lawyers, and white-collar workers who polished the pedestal. Here, out of town where they lay protected from the degeneracy from the inside, the Animals on the pedestal lived. Business magnates, famous actors, heralds of true power over the people. And among them sat the estate of perhaps the most prestigious criminal family that ever ruled the Japanese black markets.

As Legosi led the truck to the estate the very first thing that his headlights illuminated was a deer without antlers standing among lions in front of a parked limousine.

"Is that Louis?" Juno asked in complete surprise.

"At least we don't have to pick him up anymore." Legosi resigned the surprise for later. With all the chips down they needed all the help they could get.

He stopped the truck, already seeing some of the Shishigumi men unholstering their pistols. Legosi opened the truck door and shouted out.

"It's me, Legosi!" The wolf stepped onto the ground and closed the door behind him about the same time Juno had gotten out on her side too.

The lions visibly eased up.

"Legosi? How come Wolfy-boy always knows where his favorite red deer buck is? You two lovers or something?"

Another day Legosi might have been annoyed, another day he might've sheepishly looked away. Tonight he didn't have the room for any of those things.

"We need to talk to Tokugawa. There is an emergency."

"Well, the Boss is waiting for Louis here, so you can go and ask him whatever your problem is." Free lazily leaned back in the air.

"Alright, then let's go." Legosi walked ahead with Juno in tow, motioning for Louis to follow.

"What's going on?" Louis asked as he followed, the intensity of Legosi being somewhat of a frightening change of pace.

"Melon's hid bombs in the city. We know through our neighbor, a long-time friend of his."

Louis stood still as his friends passed him by. Legosi was no liar, he was naive but Juno seemed equally on board and she was always the more rational of the two. So seeing her beside him in such an unquestioning way was a damning sign that whatever info they had was to a certain degree watertight.

So much for having an impact, Melon.

Louis followed quickly, not allowing himself to stagger behind. If this nightmare was real, time was of the essence. Walking through the door the ice-cold feeling gripped Louis's soul and his thoughts raced for any plans to make.

"Do you know where the bombs are?" The voice in the back of Louis's mind mockingly chuckled at trying to take back control yet Louis disallowed the thought of a prolonged existence.

"No," Legosi replied dryly, adorned in the armor he looked like a different animal entirely.

"You got any clue where?" The voice in the back of Louis' mind was becoming louder in its demand for control.

"Population centers, Important buildings," Legosi replied.

"Vital infrastructure," Juno added.

"You have anything concrete?" The voice grew ever louder.

"There was a crate in our neighbor's apartment which contained a bomb, we need to move quickly if we want to stop them"

"You two have no idea where any of them are?" The voice in Louis's mind grew ever louder.

"That's why we need to move fast."

"That's everything?" Louis was toeing the line to insanity.

"Yes."

"This is insanity."

"Correct."

Insanity. Pure unbridled loss of reality. No solid ground under any of them. They were trudging through a storm and at any point the whole place could go up in flames.

Tokugawa's office door stood wide open, Legosi and Juno walking in with a concentrated strut while Louis trailed behind. They stood still in the marvelously big room, the owner of the mansion stood by the window overlooking the inner courtyard.

Tokugawa turned around and surprise lit up on his face for a short moment. But like all the feelings of the cougar, it seemed short and muted.

"Half the team? I only expected Louis." You spoke with a smile and a half chuckle that stopped the second he realized that this was no laughing matter.

"Melon rigged the city with bombs, one of his friends revealed it to us. When we talked to my captain he already knew. We don't have much time. Twenty-five Cerberus soldiers are outside in a truck. But we need help."

After those words were said not much time was wasted. They talked details on the way, Tokugawa taking immediate and full control almost to the point that Louis began to think that he had expected this some way.

Of course, he saw this coming. Is there anything he doesn't see coming?

"What was their training? Basic military or anything beyond it, any specializations?"

"Besides base camp, we are as clueless as they come."

"Damnit."

They stepped outside the mansion and walked along the driveway. More cars had reached the gate by now, and more Shishigumi lions were standing among each other. Ibuki stepped out of the crowd, following both his boss and the young wolf.

"You have any damn idea where any of them are." Tokugawa looked at Legosi who only shook his head.

"Guesses. Probably in population centers."

"That makes this so much more complicated..." Tokugawa grabbed at his chin, looking off into space for a small moment.

"Ibuki."

"Yes, boss?"

"Get into two-man teams, each team will have a few Cerberus soldiers to take care of. You three-" He turned towards Legosi, Juno, and Louis.

"You'll travel back to his friend and try to locate Melon any chance you get... Ibuki."

"Yes?"

"You're with me, we need to drive to the state building." Tokugawa's tone was about as stone cold as the approaching winter.

No time was wasted as they got into their respective vehicles, the soldiers getting into a couple of armored heavy-weight cars.

The groups spread out like wasps running along sections of the city, blindly searching. While the trio was driving back to the blackmarket, the rebel remnants of the Cerberus project broke into malls, apartment buildings, and hospitals.

Free's team, just the idea of taking care of a few dogs pissed him off, was the one that had the general hospital in their sights. Armed with flashlights and rifles they trifled through the hospital basement, now devoid of any attention at all after the eagles' rampage down here. After fifteen minutes of checking empty rooms filled with spare medical equipment, they reached the entrance to the maintenance tunnel to the hospital's piping.

They descended steps and a single ladder and then stopped in front of the sewage entrance. The smell was unbearable.

"I'm not going down there." Free said with disgust before he thought for just a second. The hospital was a burning pile of rubble, he and the Cerberus soldiers walking away. The explosion would be wicked, but what changed his mind was the idea that both Ibuki and Tokugawa would have his head on a stick should they realize that his team was supposed to take care of it.

"Egh... What you'll do for your Bosses... This stays between us, you little shits." He pointed his fingers up at the soldiers who with wide eyes shrugged their arms in an attempt to play off the situation.

Free jumped down the open cover, his shoes splashing the mixture of excrement and drainage water, staining the pant legs of his suit.

"... If it wasn't for the booze and gunfights I'd hate this job."

The others followed, trekking along the sewage tunnels for a while, every second the irritation of Free growing. All that however came to a close when the light they shone down the tunnels fell onto a crate, and the top board fell down the side.

"Damnit, Wolfy..." Free groaned and grabbed for his radio.

"This is Free's team. We found one of the... eugh, we found one of the bombs." He depressed the button and wiped away at his forehead, the shit-reeking tunnel now seeming less of a problem.

"This is Jinma's Team. We found one too." Came back from the radio.

"Connecting the bomb diffusers now, boys. Keep your hands steady and the pulse in normal range." Tokugawa's voice was, for the very first time in Free's experience, something that was truly irritating.

"Boss, if we survive this I expect a raise."

The dry chuckle from the radio did not alleviate any of the stress in the situation. "I promise you, by the end of this you'll get the severance package of the century."