FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A/N: So, I said I would update when I got time. so I have plenty of time now. I hope you enjoy story two!

Picture Perfected

By J. Sabo

Slash loved this town! Each day he ventured from his new house he was having fun. He had Dux and Kit to thank for that. Man, were those two just a godsend, he thought. Never before has Slash had friends that were eager to hang out with him. Everything about this move, everything about this town, everything about Dux and Kit, he loved.

Today he wasn't in such a loving mood.

Slash knew the second he and his parents moved they would have to unpack. That's not a problem, he thought, but there was so much stuff to unpack. It's been almost a week and they haven't made any progress unpacking the mountains of boxes. But Slash couldn't do it today, as he explained to Shirna.

He pleaded with his mother, "Come on, Mom," as he tailed behind her around the living room. "Dux and Kit said that they were going to show me the lake. Mom, this town has a lake!"

"Yes, I know," Shirna replied as she dug into one of the boxes on the floor. "I did live here before."

"Then you know why it's important that I skip on the unpacking and join them." Slash said. "I've never lived in a town that has a lake!"

"I understand, poops," Shirna spoke the childish name she gives her son. "But we need to get this stuff out of these boxes."

Heavy footsteps came into the room. Slash turned to spot his dad Slim walking in.

Slim had heard what Shirna said and agreed with her. "Yeah, we're not just going to open a few boxes, unpack them, and shove the rest of the boxes in the basement like the last house. Not this time." Slim announced.

Frustrated, Slash knew he couldn't argue with his parents. It was two against one. And those two think on the same mental wavelength than he does. There would be no point. Like it or not, he had to go with them.

Defeated without putting up much of a fight, Slash crossed his arms angrily. "Fine," he said. "But I'm doing my room first."

"That's fine." Shirna replied. "After that though you need to help your father and I up here."

"Deal." Slash said.

Slash walked away from his parents. He headed towards the stairs that led to the basement of the house. His room was down there and he liked it. Alone, Slash didn't have to worry about anything down in the basement. As far as he was concerned, the basement was his domain.

The basement was rather bare compared to the upstairs. Concrete floors were naked without any rugs. Water pipes could be seen up above; every now and then making noises of rushing water. There were red support beams lined in rows across the basement. And it was cold; cold all the time.

Far off in the corner of the basement Slash spotted a plywood wall. A door was put into the plywood and scribbled on that door were the words 'Slash's Liar.' He made his way towards the door and entered his room. His room was pretty bare just like the rest of the basement only with a few exceptions.

His room was warm. Carpet was put in and lined the entire room. There was a bed already here when he moved in. Bookcases were here when he moved in. All of these luxuries were bestowed upon this room thanks to his grandmother. Bless that woman, Slash thought.

Yet with all of these fancy things his grandmother gave him Slash still didn't feel like it was his room. Not his room just yet anyways.

Much like the rest of the house Slash's room was filled with boxes from the move. Most of the boxes had his terrible, scribbly handwriting on their sides. Slash knew exactly what was in each of the boxes. He was also pretty sure that most of his stuff was broken--he carelessly shoved whatever he saw in his old room into a box and called it quits.

Sighing, Slash reached for one of boxes and opened it. Inside were little trophies from several sports Slash did when he was little. The trophies didn't say anything rewarding like 'Best Bowler' or 'Most Homeruns.' Instead the trophies said 'Congratulations for Participating.'

Slash knew that it was one of those cases of getting an award for showing up. When he was a kid however he thought he achieved something great.

Oh how naive I was... Slash thought.

He took the trophies, three of them, and placed them on one of the bookcases.

He proceeded to dig further into the box. He was reluctant to unpack all of his stuff. "I might as well just dump all of the boxes on the ground. Then it'll feel like home." Slash said to himself.

There was a noise that stopped Slash; a knock. He left the box and went to his door. When he opened it there was no one there. Brushing it off, Slash dismissed it as his imagination. When he heard the knock again Slash went to the door and opened it only to find no one there.

"Okay, I know someone knocked!" Slash stated. "I'm not losing my mind. Not yet anyways..."

With the door still ajar, the knock came again. Unsettled, Slash began to think that his house was haunted. How else would noise be coming from nowhere, messing with him? Slash decided to turn towards the window and saw the faces he wanted to see. It was Dux and Kit. Dux was pressing his face against the window while Kit was smiling.

Slash went to the window and opened it. "How's it going, guys?" he asked. "Man, am I glad to see you."

"I was hoping that you wouldn't find us." Kit said. "I wanted to see if you kept going to the door."

"Ha, ha, Kit," Slash said.

"We saw the lights on from the window and came over to see what was going on." Dux said. "It's pretty cool that you have a room in the basement."

"Eh, just wait," Slash rested his arm on the window frame. "Come winter this basement will be an icebox. My dad says there's no insulation down here."

"Hmm, interesting." Kit plainly said, uninterested. "So are you still going down to the lake with us?"

"Yeah, you could see Kit's bathing suit." Dux said jocularly. Kit's response to this was a forceful punch in the shoulder. Dux cried as he soothed his shoulder.

"As much as I would love to see that," Slash played with the joke, smiling when he saw Kit's cheek blush. "But unfortunately I can't."

"What?" Dux shockingly asked. "Why not?"

"My parents are keeping me here to help them out with unpacking." Slash replied. "You know, the moving and all."

"Well, your day sounds like it's booked." Kit said satisfyingly. She started to walk away. "We'll see you tomorrow."

Dux happened to grab Kit's tail before she got too far away. "Now hold on, Kit." He said. "We should help Slash."

"Excuse me?" Kit muttered.

"Hey, yeah," Slash got an idea. "You guys could help me with unpacking that way it can go by quicker."

"The quicker we help you the quicker we can show you the lake." Dux said happily.

Kit yanked her tail away from Dux, smoothing out the fur where Dux put his hands. "Wait," Kit said. "We can't just do that."

"Why not?" Dux asked.

Kit replied, "Well... we can't just barge into Slash's house unannounced and start picking at their belongings."

"What's wrong with that?" Slash asked. "I do that when I go to your house."

Kit didn't even want to imagine what Slash meant when he said that.

"You guys just stay right here," Slash said to them. "I'll be right back. I'll ask my mom if you can help me out."

Slash dashed off from the window making his way out the door. He sped up the stairs and found Shirna putting away glass cups in the kitchen. Slash danced his way to the kitchen up to his mother. His mother must've been ignoring his because Slash made some noise entering the kitchen and she didn't turn to face him.

"Mom," Slash said with a high pitched tone of voice. "So remember when you said that I couldn't hang out with Dux and Kit."

"Hmmhmm." Shirna breathed.

"Well Dux and Kit love me so much that they are willingly to set aside their entire day to help me unpack. And being a responsible son, I must ask you permission to allow them inside."

"Hmmhmm."

"So... may Dux and Kit come in and help us move in?"

"Hmmhmm."

Slash snapped his fingers and pointed at Shirna. "I'll take that as a yes." Slash responded. "You're the best mom ever. Hands down."

Slash knew it wouldn't take long for Shirna to comprehend the conversation he was having with her. Even if she was ignoring people, Shirna was quite aware of what people told her. Slash walked away quickly before Shirna came to.

When he thought he was in the clear, Slash ran down the stairs and back to his room. When he went to the window he saw Kit strangling Dux.

"I had a chance to sharpen my claws today, you dupe!" he heard Kit say.

"Am I interrupting something?" Slash said.

Once Kit saw Slash, she released her grip on Dux. Dux was thankful that Slash came when he did; he was certain he wasn't coming back from this one.

Coughing Dux managed to say, "So, what'd Mrs. Ferret say?"

"After much debate," Slash laughed at his humor. "My mom said it was acceptable."

"That's great!" Dux said.

"Yeah... Joy..." Kit uttered.

Slash opened the window wider. "Well what are you waiting for?" he asked. "Come on in!"

Not a conventional way of entering a house--unless you're a bugler. Dux was the first to enter through the window. He clumsily tripped over himself but was caught by Slash before he fell to his face.

"I gotcha buddy." Slash said.

Kit really didn't want to do this. She was okay with showing Slash the lake--at least that was entertaining. But this was boring. Only movers do this kind of job. She thought, she could run now and leave the dupes to their own devices. She realized how rude that would be. Slash was now her friend, no longer a stranger; she needed to be nicer. Plus, Dux already said that they would do it. Kit finally entered Slash's room, closing the window behind her.

"Alright, where do we begin?" Kit said.

Slash had a few ideas. There were three stacks of boxes--one for each of them. His memory was precise on the items inside each box. He noticed a rather water drenched box in one of the stacks. That box had all of his clothes in it. The best part was that he never washed them before moving. A devious grin appeared on his face.

"Okay, we tackle each of the stacks. I take this one, Dux you take that one, and Kit," Slash pointed to the stack with water drenched box in it. "Take that one. If you don't know where it goes, just throw it on the ground. I'll deal with it later."

Dux and Kit took to their stacks and started opening them.

It almost felt wrong, Kit felt, to go through other people's belongings. Even with consent from the owner, she still felt it was wrong. Opening one of the boxes Kit found it was full of souvenirs. She reached into it and pulled out the first thing she grabbed: a polar bear stuffed toy. The toy had on a red scarf and a distinct soda bottle in its palm.

Since the box was full of souvenirs Kit figured Slash decorated his room with them. She decided that it was best to let Slash deal with this.

She went on to the next box. It was a water drenched box that had dried overtime and had become crusty. A putrid odor came from the box forcing Kit to draw back. She went back to the box and opened it ever so slightly to see what was in it. She saw a sock.

Hmm, dump your dirty laundry on me, will you? Kit thought.

Kit grabbed the box. She crept past Dux and walked up to Slash. "Hey, Slash," she asked.

Slash turned his eyes away from his box to face Kit. "Yes?" he replied.

The next thing Slash knew he was plunged into darkness. Kit had dumped his clothes box onto him. The dirty clothes dropped onto the ground around Slash's feet. Slash smelled the air inside the box and he gagged.

"Oh gah!" he gagged. "It's like rancid milk and rotten eyes had a disgusting baby!"

"That's what you get for trying to trick me." Kit laughed.

Dux watched them and laughed. He didn't stray too far from his task however. He said he would help unpacking and that's what he's doing. A certain item he found in one of the boxes stopped him. He looked at it curiously--a padded book with white embroidering on the edges with the words 'Ferret Family' written on the cover.

He reached in and pulled it out. "Hey, Slash," Dux managed to get Slash's attention. "What's this?" he showed Slash the book.

Throwing the terrible smelling box across the room, Slash looked at the book confusingly. "How the dickens did this get into my boxes?" he said as he grabbed the book.

"Well what is it?" Kit asked.

"This is my family album." Slash presented the book to them. He opened the book to the first page that displayed construction paper-like figures holding up a sign that also said 'Ferret Family.' "My mom has been keeping this since she and my dad met... look," Slash turned the page and the first picture in the album was a picture of Slim and Shirna.

Years had passed since the picture was taken and Slim and Shirna had changed. In the picture Slim was a lot skinnier with fewer muscles to him. Yet he still had a grin that Slash recognized him for. Shirna looked like a completely different person from what she is now. With a psychedelic shirt on and a feather hanging in her hair, Shirna looked like one of the flower children of the seventies.

Dux and Kit looked at the two ferrets in the picture. They would've never guessed that it was Slim and Shirna in the picture.

"Yeah, I know," Slash saw the stunned expressions on their faces. "It's hard to believe too. My dad used to be a scrawny thing and my mom was a hippie. Weird world, huh?"

"Well," Kit was flabbergasted at Slim and Shirna's younger selves. "Your mom kept the glasses..."

"Yeah," Slash took a look at the picture himself. "You know, this picture was the first thing my dad and mom ever took together. My dad tells me that they took it at the park when they were just friends." He then took the picture out of the album. "I so have to make fun of my mom for being a hippie." He placed the picture away.

Slash turned the next page. He always looked at photo albums as retro camera phones. You can keep the photo and do what you want with it and let the whole world see the best photos you have.

Dux and Kit went to Slash's side and looked over his shoulder inside the album. Besides the photos there were also little paper decorations like letters and everyday objects like drinking glasses and baseballs.

"Mom does scrapbooking." Slash explained. "She's been doing it for years. She says it's to make the page jump out more."

Slash turned several pages. Now they were getting somewhere. The page was completely white with a wedding invitation taped to the page. There was one picture of a church, the people gathered in the church, and the bride and groom.

Kit looked at Shirna's big flowing and elegant dress and, giving in to the girl side of her, found Shirna beautiful. Slim was absolutely handsome in his sharp jet-black suit.

Luckily Kit didn't have to say anything. Dux spoke her mind.

"Aw, your parents' wedding day." Dux vaguely said. "Looks like a fairy tale wedding."

"It wasn't that big of a deal." Slash responded.

"Not a big deal?" Kit asked. "How would you know?"

Slash laughed, "Because I attended it."

"Huh?" Dux asked.

Slash turned the next page. He scrolled his finger along the page of pictures looking for a specific one. "Aha!" he exclaimed. Slash showed them a picture of Slim and Shirna at the alter holding a small ferret baby wrapped in a blue blanket. "See, I went to that shindig."

"Did you get any of the cake?" Dux asked, eyeing at a picture of Slim cutting a piece of cake.

"No, unfortunately." Slash replied. "I was only born a week earlier."

Looking at the picture of baby Slash gave Kit an idea. She suddenly yanked the album from Slash's hands. She flipped through pages.

"What are you doing?" Slash asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Kit asked with a grin. "I'm looking for your baby pictures."

It didn't take long until Kit found the right page. When she looked at the pictures she burst out laughing. Dux went over to investigate. Once seeing the pictures he couldn't help but laugh too. The image of Slash as a baby was too much for them.

Slash knew what he looked like as a baby. He was cute, adorable, just like any other baby. But curiosity peaked in him; maybe he didn't know how he looked as a baby. Perhaps he was really ugly and that's why Dux and Kit were laughing. A peek at the pictures wouldn't kill his views on his early life.

The pictures, all lined like columns, were of Slash as a newborn and progress to a year. Slash came to expect little from the first few, him being inside a blanket and eyes closed. As he went down the columns he saw his progress. He was putting on a little weight. By the time he was about a year old Slash didn't look like he does now; little baby Slash looked like a bowling ball.

"You, you," Kit was crying with laughter, her sides hurting. "You were so fat as a baby!"

"Hey," Slash stated. "Fat babies are cute."

"Look at this one," Dux said. He was pointing to one picture was baby Slash was looking off in the distance instead of the camera. "You seemed distracted. I wonder what you were looking at."

Kit nudged Dux. "He was probably looking at cake flavored baby food." she and Dux laughed again.

Slash's cheeks were finally turning red. His lip was slowly and slowly pouting out. But his embarrassment quickly faded as he looked at his younger self. He was pretty fat. He finally cracked a smile. "Cake flavor--no," Slash joined in on the mocking. "More like cheese puffs and chili."

Their laughter went on for a few seconds before it stopped. Slim's voice was heard. He was calling for Slash.

Slash grabbed the album from Kit and carried it with him. He left his room and went to the stairs. Dux and Kit followed him.

Once they reached the top of the stairs they were met with a fragrant smell. To Slash this was normal. Dux's nose was alit with fumes of smoke and lavender and strawberries. He looked around and noticed large amounts of candles were lit.

"Boy, Slash," Dux said. "I bet you that if everyone lived in a house that smelt like yours nobody would be angry."

"Another one of Mom's hobbies." Slash explained. He tossed the photo album on the couch nearby.

They then saw Slim. He was at the table in the kitchen grabbing car keys and a few papers. He shouted out, "Are you sure we didn't leave the papers in the van?"

Shirna's voice replied from the other end of the house, "I think so. If they're not in the house then we left them in the van."

Slim tossed the papers on the table in the kitchen. He turned and saw Slash, along with Dux and Kit. "Dux, Kit," he said confusingly. "When did you guys get here?"

"Mom said they could come in," Slash replied. "Dux and Kit are helping me unpack."

Slim didn't argue with that. "Well if your mother said so," he simply put it. "Okay, listen, Mom and I have to return the moving van to one of their stores."

"So you want me to hold down the fort as per norm." Slash assumed.

"You got it," Slim replied. "And while we're gone keep unpacking. I don't want this house to look like the old one. Grandma put a lot of care into this house so let's take care of it."

"Yessir," Slash responded with a salute of his hand.

Slim took the keys and put them in his pocket. He went to the front door and waited. "Shirna, come on, let's go." he shouted.

Shirna came to Slim's call. She came walking down the stairs. In her arms she was carrying a red bag. A binder, some newspapers, and other papers marked with company names were overflowing from the red bag. She held the bag with two hands, struggling to keep it from dragging down the stairs. Slim rolled his eyes at the sight of that bag.

Finally Shirna made it to the bottom of the stairs. "I'm coming." She said with faint breaths.

"Couldn't you just leave the bag here for once?" Slim asked opening the door.

Shirna walked to the door passing Slash, Dux and Kit. "You know I can't leave without my bills." She said passing the bag off to Slim.

They were about to leave. Slash still had the picture with him. He had to make fun of Shirna now otherwise he would forget it. He reached for the picture, looking at it, absorbing the image and figuring out some funny one-liners to say.

However before he could say anything, Slim and Shirna were already out the door.

"Okay, you guys be good. And Slash, don't get Dux and Kit into too much trouble." Slim said. He shut the door.

Slash tried to stop them as he ran to the door. But when he heard the monstrous roar of the moving van's engine kick on Slash didn't even bother. He just snapped his fingers, foiled.

"Shoot," he complained. "Mom got lucky."

"You weren't really going to make fun of your mom were you?" Dux asked.

Slash laughed. "Well of course I was," he responded. He shrugged, unbeknownst to him that his hand was hanging over one of his mother's lit candles. "What kind of son would I be if I didn't make fun of his mother's past look?"

"A pretty lousy one." Kit quickly retorted.

They smelled something burning. It almost smelled like someone was roasting some meat. Puzzled, they all gave each other a confused look. No one was in the kitchen. So where was this burning aroma coming from.

Slash then saw black smoke rising above him. He followed the trail of smoke from the ceiling and down to the source. The source of the smoke was coming from his hand. His entire hand was engulfed in flames. The picture too was being burned. Weird, he thought. He didn't even feel it burning.

Dux and Kit gasped at Slash's flaming hand. "Slash!" Dux shouted. "Your hand is on fire!"

"That it is, Dux." Slash responded. "That it is."

Finally his hand began to feel the pain of the fire. He screamed loudly. He ran around waving his hand around.

"Stop, drop, and roll, Slash!" Dux screamed. "Stop, drop, and roll!"

Slash didn't stop. However he tripped over some furniture, landing square on his face. With the drop step complete, Slash went on to roll around on the floor. That didn't help his burning hand.

"It's not working!" Slash cried in agony.

"Water, you dupe!" Kit yelled. "Dose your hand in water!"

Slash looked at the nearest place to dump his hand in water. The kitchen was closer to him, as Kit eagerly gestured. But Slash had his eyes set on something else. Down the hallway presented his salvation, the solution to this pain. The porcelain throne called to him.

Hopping to his feet, Slash ran past the kitchen down the hallway. Kit couldn't believe that he was passing the kitchen. "What are you doing!?" Kit screamed. "The kitchen is this way!"

Slash dismissed her. Once he reached the bathroom, Slash opened the toilet seat and dunked his hand inside. His hand sizzled and cooled in the water making Slash sigh with relief.

With his hand dosed and fine, Slash flushed the toilet and left the bathroom. He returned to his friends and held his hand up. "High-five." He said to Kit.

Kit was disgusted. She cringed at Slash's held up hand. "Ew, no," she exclaimed. "You're disgusting. Go wash your hands!"

Slash looked at his hand. Nothing was wrong about it. Plus he technically washed it when he dunked it in toilet water. But then he felt dread come over him. This hand--it had the picture.

"Uh, please tell me nothing bad happened to the picture." He said.

Dux came up to him. He had his hands cupped. Inside his hands was nothing but ashes. He didn't say anything. He just simply showed the ashes to Slash with a sad expression.

It took Slash one look at the ashes for him to leave Dux and Kit. He left them, went to another room of the house, and came back with a shovel in his hands. He then made his way to the back door and went into the middle of the backyard. In the middle of the yard full of overgrowing grass and patches of dirt scattered about, Slash pierced the ground with the shovel.

Dux and Kit watched this with perplexed looks. They entered the backyard and walked to Slash.

"What are you doing?" Kit asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Slash asked.

"Digging for buried treasure?" Dux asked with a raised brow.

"No... I'm digging my own grave."

Dux and Kit looked more perplexed. "Isn't that a little macabre?" Kit asked.

"No, no," Slash responded. "Once my mom sees that I just scorched her favorite photo she will murder me. I'm just helping her out." he stopped digging for a second. "I wonder how good Dad is in hiding evidence."

"Your mom isn't going to kill you." Dux assured Slash. "It was an accident. I'm sure if we just explain that she'll be fine. Just tell the truth; you might get in trouble but at least you don't have to keep the lie alive."

"Dux, you don't understand. That woman, when angry, is a monster. I have nightmares of my angry mom. Just thinking about it gives me the willies."

"It can't be that bad," Kit explained. "Mrs. Ferret doesn't seem like the person who just blows up."

"That's not just it, guys." Slash explained. "I just burned the first picture of them together! Think about it, their firstborn child burning their first photo! I'm not okay!"

Slash collapsed to the floor. He ran his hand across his head and sighed heavily.

It was clear to Dux and Kit that Slash was frustrated. And they knew where he was coming from. Kit had a flashback when Slash helped them retrieve a device just so her dad wouldn't get angry with her or Dux. Slash went so far just to help them out, even if it was his fault to begin with. What kind of friends would they be if they didn't return the favor?

Dux and Kit went over to Slash and sat down next to him. "I know this guy in town," Dux explained. "He's an artist. He's real good at painting and making pictures look so life-like that you can't even tell if it's a painting or not."

"He owes Dux a favor," Kit said.

"Wait," Slash raised his head, looking at both of them. "Are you saying that you guys are going to help me with some harebrained scheme instead of trying to fix it the right way?"

"You helped us," Dux replied. "We help you."

"Well," Slash asked. "Who's the guy?"

"A real shut-in." Kit answered.

In the shopping district Dux and Kit led Slash to a small shack. The shack looked like it was only supposed to hold one person. It was square with four windows barred up. It was yellow in color with the boards coming undone. At the front of the shack there was a sign that said 'Chuck's Art Coop.'

Slash looked at the shack with a raised brow. "You took me to this?" Slash asked.

"Don't worry," Dux said. "Chuck Cluck is a real nice guy. He's great at what he does."

"I don't know..."

Kit punched Slash in the gut, reassuring him. "Don't let the dilapidated shack fool you. All artists are dirty bums anyways."

Slash was still uneasy about this. But he trusted Dux and Kit. If they said this Chuck guy was good then he trusted their word. "Alright..." he sighed. "Let's go talk to this guy."

They walked towards the shack careening around the empty paint tubes and crumpled up papers. Slash took in the scenery almost feeling like this was his room at one time. When they reached the door, Dux knocked at the door in a melody. It took only seconds before the door opened.

Slash and Kit yelped at the terrifying sight.

At the door was a small chicken with molting feathers. He was wearing an apron covered in different colors of paint and paintbrushes sticking out of his pockets. His beak was rather crooked and had a permanent frown on it. His angry scowl could've punched a hole through a wall.

"What, what do you want?!" the chicken demanded rudely.

Dux approached the chicken with his usual smile. "Chuck," he said. "Calm down, it's just me."

"Yeah," Chuck Cluck wiped away paint from his fingers on his apron. "So what do you want?"

"Remember that favor I did for you?"

"Yeah...?"

"Well, I need to call that one in." Dux brought Slash forward. "My friend here needs a painting done ASAP."

Chuck ran his eyes up and down Slash. "You're that new kid, huh?" he watched Slash nod. "Well, on any other circumstances I would tell you to piss off."

Kit gritted her teeth behind her closed mouth. She hated Chuck's attitude and she wanted to let him know that. She cracked her knuckles and just waited for him to say something else.

"But," Chuck continued. "Since I owe Dux a favor, I'll take you on." He stepped aside and allowed them inside his Coop.

The inside was no better than the outside. Slash looked around seeing all of the trash scattered around the floor. Blots of paint were covering the floor and the walls. Canvases hung on the wall and on the stands. However on those canvases were the complete opposite of the Coop.

The paintings were absolutely stunning. Paintings of landscapes and golden fields of the farmlands looked like a photographer took it. Slash looked at the pictures with a gaping jaw.

Chuck walked in passing Slash. He took one look at Slash's awestruck gaze and smirked. "Yes, I know," he said proudly. "I'm great. Even greater than Da Vinci."

"Okay," Kit stopped Chuck before his head got too big. "Don't compare yourself to Da Vinci. That would be embarrassing."

Chuck just glared angrily at Kit, and Kit returned the glare. He then grabbed a canvas and his paintbrushes from his pocket. He sat down in a chair that was missing a leg, being held up with a book. "What do you need?" he asked. "And make it fast. I got other paintings to get to."

"Well, it's not a painting that Slash needs." Dux explained.

"Then why the hell did you come to me?" Chuck demanded.

"Because, you molting bag of feathers," Kit said. "You're the only person in town who knows how to make a painting look life-like."

"Darn straight." Chuck proudly said again.

Slash managed to say something, "Listen, Chuck. I burned my parents' first photo--"

"I don't care, man. Tell me what you want and I got it."

"Could you make a painting look like a photo?" Slash asked.

"Can a corporation rule the world?" Chuck asked. He got puzzled looks from them. "Yes, I can make a painting look like a photo." He whispered under his breath, "Imbeciles."

Chuck threw the canvas on the table and grabbed a special kind of paper, one that was lamented and shiny on the surface. It would be hard to tell that it was just a simple piece of paper. Cutting it into the size Slash thought was appropriate Chuck took his paintbrush to the paper. "Alright, what does the pic look like?"

"Okay, well its two ferrets," Slash began. "One of them is a purple ferret wearing nothing but hippie clothing, and throwing up a piece sign. The other is a grey ferret wearing a jersey; he's scrawny and has a big smile on his face."

"Got it." Chuck claimed. He took the paintbrush and went to work. He swiped his brush across the paper making the image Slash had given him.

Kit wasn't finding the image of the actual picture compared to Slash's verbal explanation of the photo. "Don't you think you'll need more information about the picture?" she asked Chuck. "Like style of clothing, or accessories or stuff like that?"

"No need." Chuck replied. "Let my magic happen."

Chuck at first was very delicate with the paper, the movement of the brush careful and slow. As he went on the brush moved faster and faster. His expression turned furious. Soon he took the brush and was slicing through the paper, creating a masterpiece he would be proud of. He was possessed by the muses, unable to control his movements.

Slash, Dux and Kit watched this display with fright. The way Chuck was moving was scary. Honestly, putting him in a haunted house attraction would be the main attraction.

A few minutes later Chuck was finished. He breathed with exhaustion and collapsed in his chair. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned his gaze to Slash, Dux and Kit. "Finished." he declared. He presented the painting to them and waited for their praise.

"What the dickens is that!?" Slash yelled.

What they were looking at wasn't what Slash wanted. Chuck managed to draw two figures on the paper, just as asked. However their proportions were abstracted. Their lines were exaggerated and made to look more fantastical than what it was supposed to be. And in the background were different colored blotches accompanied by squares and circles.

"Chuck, that's not what we needed." Kit stated.

"You asked for a photo, and I gave you one." Chuck retorted.

"Not a Picasso photo, idiota!"

"Okay, that's it!" Chuck screamed, throwing the painting on the ground, enraged. Despite his small stature, Chuck grabbed all three of his unwanted houseguests and walked them to the door. He kicked them out. "I'm tired of this town mocking my artwork! You want something done go find someone else to do it, you simpleminded savages!" He slammed his door on them.

Slash, Dux and Kit picked themselves off of the ground, dusting off the dirt from their fur.

"I would've never guessed that Chuck would be that strong enough to do that." Dux stated, shocked at Chuck's display of strength.

"Never mind that, Dux." Slash said. "Now how am I going to duplicate my parents' picture now?"

They thought in silence.

Kit was thinking of any other possible pictures in Slash's house that would've used the same kind of photo. What kind of place would store that kind of photo? She then remembered: Slim's jersey. It was the same kind of jersey football players wore in high school years ago.

"Slash, did any of your parents buy a school yearbook when they were in high school?" Kit asked.

"Yeah, my dad keeps his junior and senior years in his room." Slash replied. "Why?"

"I think I found where we can get the same picture." She said. "It's a longshot--I mean a one in a zillion chance of it actually happening--but it wouldn't hurt to try."

Slash saw where Kit was going. The yearbooks should have plenty of his parents in its pages. And hopefully, if he was fortunate, the picture with Slim and Shirna side by side would appear. Like Kit had said, it wouldn't hurt to try.

Back at Slash's house, Slash rammed through his front door. He had a feeling in his gut that Slim and Shirna weren't too far. His gut was always right; the way it just stings told him truth. Listening to his gut, he needed to find those yearbooks and fast. Hopefully Slim had stacked them on the bookshelf in his room.

He ran up the stairs to his parents' bedroom. Just like the rest of the house, Slash found their room to be completely bare. There were boxes everywhere, still taped up, none of them looked through.

Slash let out a cry of annoyance. "I hate boxes!"

Dux and Kit heard Slash's scream from the bottom of the stairs. "Did you find them?" Dux asked.

"No!" Slash replied loudly. "I'm so very much screwed!"

Dux and Kit ran up the stairs. They went into Slim and Shirna's room to help Slash look for the yearbooks. Slash was in need of more help than they thought.

Slash was tearing open each box one by one and emptying them onto the floor. With the contents on the floor, Slash rummaged through them but found no trace of what looked like a yearbook. With one box out of the way, he went to another. Then he went to another.

It was truly a pathetic sight. Kit watched this and felt pity for Slash. He was desperately trying to fix his mess but he was making a bigger one. How does he think he can fix this by trashing his parents' room for just one picture? Kit wanted to tell him off, knock some sense into him.

Yet, she saw something relatable. When Slash threw away Gomez's useless device, she panicked, thinking the same thing Slash was thinking. She thought her dad wouldn't be able to forgive her. Slash was there to keep her from losing it. It would only be fair to do the same for him.

"Dux," she told her brother. "Grab him."

Dux did as he was told. "Yeah..." Dux felt like they needed to save Slash from himself. He went behind Slash and grabbed him.

With Dux's arms around his waist, Slash was stunned. "What the dickens?" Slash shouted. "Let me go, I gotta find that picture!"

Kit then did her part. She went in front of Slash facing him. She gently grabbed Slash's cheeks and steadied him. "Slash, Slash, calm down," she gently said. "Look at me, look me in the eye."

Kit's soft hands on cupping his cheeks, Slash couldn't help but feel slightly more at ease. His erratic behavior was slowly vanishing as he looked Kit in the eye.

"Slash, everything is going to be fine." Kit told him. "We're going to find the picture, but not like this, okay? You making more of a mess isn't solving anything. If you keep it up, we're going to go deeper into a hole that we can't get out of."

Slash sighed, realizing how foolish he was being. "You're right, Kit." He said.

"Of course I am," Kit replied. "Aren't I always right, Dux?"

"That's the truth." Dux answered.

Kit patted Slash's cheeks. "Now that you're back, we can calmly approach trying to find the picture." She said.

A roaring engine came from outside. Slash, Dux and Kit could hear the wheels of a car rolling into the driveway. When they heard two doors opening and shutting, they knew that their time was up.

Kit returned her calm gaze at Slash. Without raising her tone she said, "Okay, you can start panicking again."

The front door opened and Slim and Shirna walked in. Slim carried with him Shirna's red bag, heaving it in and dropping it on the floor. "Hey, Slash, we're home." Slim announced.

"Why are there still boxes everywhere?" Shirna asked. "Nothing's been touched."

"Slash probably got caught up in one of his show's marathons again." Slim explained. "I did just set up the cable and everything."

Shirna turned to Slim, "We told him to get some of it out of the way." She said.

Slash, Dux and Kit left the room and spied on the two ferrets from the stairs. Slash saw Shirna see something on the couch. She was looking at her beloved photo album.

"Hey Slim," Shirna called. Slim went over to her, looking over her shoulder. "Slash found the album."

Oh no, she found the album! Why didn't I leave it in the box!?

He was in so much trouble once Shirna reaches the first page. If there's one thing Slash knows is that Shirna always looks at the first page.

"What are you gonna do?" Dux asked, hiding with him.

"What's the use?" Slash replied. "I'm outta ideas. Once Mom finds out that her picture is gone, that means I'm gone."

"Well... you can always tell the truth." Dux pressed on.

"Might as well... I can't get into any more trouble. Why cause more?"

"Hey, what happened to our picture?" Slash, Dux and Kit heard Shirna ask.

Slash took a deep breath and stood up. "Now or never... I suppose." Slash said.

He was shaking with fear as he walked down the stairs. He didn't want to confront his parents and tell them what happened. Luckily, he didn't have to do it alone. With Dux's hand on his back and Kit by his side, Slash had backup. He said before and he'll say it again, Dux and Kit are just a godsend.

Slash felt new exuberance run through him with just a hint of anxiety as he and his friends reach the bottom of the stairs. Putting on a façade, Slash acted like nothing was wrong. "Hey, I didn't hear you guys come in." he said to Slim and Shirna.

"Hey," Slim said. "How come you didn't unpack like we asked?"

"I... got busy...?" he told him in a form of a question.

Slash was looking at his mother. Shirna's eyes were focusing on the first page. Any minute now she would turn to Slash and ask him where the picture went. And without a doubt in his mind, Shirna turned to Slash and asked him, "Slash, do you know what happened to the picture? Last I remember it was still here."

"Uh..." Slash felt his gut sink and his heart in his throat. "Well, that's a funny story actually."

Funny story were the last words Shirna wanted to hear. She frowned and just looked at Slash. "What did you do?" she plainly asked.

Dux and Kit nudged Slash forward. With their support, Slash scratched the top of his head and said, "I was jacking around, okay. I found the album in one of my boxes and I was showing Dux and Kit all of our cool pictures. When we looked at the first picture you guys ever took together... well you guys looked so different, especially you, Mom."

"Slash, what happened to the picture?" Slim asked.

Sighing, Slash went on, "I took the picture out and I wanted to make fun of how you were a hippie in your teen years, Mom. You guys left before I could do that, and I accidently kinda, sorta set the picture ablaze underneath a candle."

"Wait," Shirna asked, puzzled. "You set our picture on fire?"

"It was an accident!" Slash explained. "If it makes a difference, my hand was severely burned, too."

"You set the first picture of you father and I on fire!?" Shirna asked again.

"Yes..." Slash slouched. "But believe me, I tried to fix this. I went so far as to get a professional artist to replicate the picture."

"Professional nut job if you ask me." Kit said silently from aside.

"I didn't mean to do it. I just... I screwed up..." Slash said sadly. He looked at his mom and dad studying their expressions. He was expecting disappointing faces from them. That wasn't the case. Instead, they were trying to put on a frown but a smile kept cracking their frowns. Slash was confused.

"I didn't really like that picture anyways." Shirna finally said after a moment of silence.

"Hold on, what?" Slash asked.

"Slash, your mom was going to burn that picture herself if it was up to her." Slim explained.

"...I'm confused..." Slash said with a headache occurring.

Shirna explained, "That was the first picture we took together, yes. But I hated it. I hated it so much!"

"Then why did you keep it in there and make me feel like I committed a federal crime!?" Slash demanded.

"We kept it there because it was for other people." Shirna explained. "When they look at a first page they expect the family, right?"

"So... did I do a good thing?" Slash asked.

"Let's just put it as you did a favor for us." Slim stated. He went into the kitchen, going to one of the cabinets. He pulled out an old Polaroid camera covered in tape and cracks. He returned to them and said, "Now we can finally take a picture that has the entire family in it."

Relieved, Slash fell to his knees. He sighed heavily and managed to smile. Never has he felt more relieved about something in his life.

Slim turned to Dux. "Dux, could you take the picture?" he asked him.

Dux smiled. "I would be honored."

Slim and Shirna wrapped their arms around each other. "Slash, get in here." Shirna said.

Slash jumped up to feet and joined his parents, standing in between them. Waiting for Dux to snap the picture, Slash was grateful that his parents were so awesome.

Slim leaned over and whispered to Slash, "We're not angry with you. You told the truth. If you didn't we would've been pissed."

As much as Slash wanted to take credit for telling the truth, he would be stealing it actually. For his courage to tell the truth, Slash had Dux and Kit to thank for that. He smiled at them, hoping that they would know it was his way of saying thank you.

Kit knew. "I'm never going to let him live this down." Kit whispered to Dux.

Dux readied the camera. "Everyone say, 'Happy Family!'"

"Happy family!" the ferrets say.

The camera light flashed.

Late at night Shirna was still awake. She was in the kitchen with only the sink light illuminating the place. She sat at the kitchen table slouching over the photo album. She tore apart the previous decorations and was busy with new ones. New trimmings to the page were added; foam letters that spelled 'One Happy Family' were placed at the top; and the final piece was placed in the center of the page.

Shirna believes that a picture can hold a million words. Looking back on the pictures in the album, the way she and Slim lived their lives spoke nothing but happiness. The pictures with Slash, the progression of just being a little baby to the young ferret he is now, just added onto the happiness.

Her album is far from complete. But if she could never do her scrapbooking ever again, Shirna would feel that her album would be finished knowing that the first page that anyone would open to would be a picture of her entire family. Slim, herself, and Slash.

SEEYA LATER FELLAS!

A/N: There you go. I hope you like the character as much as I put time and effort into them. Seeya next time!