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Counter Earth Chronicles - Fallen Empire Chapter 6: Aware And Terrified

Day 9 (Near World Five)

"SOMEONE HELP US PLEASE!!!"

Corey, Rumble, Corbin and I looked at each other.

"How far away was that?" I asked.

"It looks to be about a mile and half from us now." Corey said.

"We could hear the red panda's screams from that far?" Corbin asked.

"Apparently so." The teenager said to the little mongoose.

We all decided to get closer to the source of the disturbance. How close? Until we were about half a mile away from the distressed red pandas.

"This is much worse than I could have ever thought." I said staring at the what looked like two young cubs slightly younger than Corbin floating in the flood waters on what seemed to be nothing more than driftwood. "That water must be freezing!"

"They are surrounded by beastials and humans, but why aren't they doing something?" Corey said.

There were two humans- a man who looked to be in his thirties and a woman in her forties walking along the new shoreline oblivious to the cubs in despair. Not far from them was a lizard, a cow, a mule and woodchuck enjoying the mild temperatures on this January day.

"Look at the dazed expressions on their faces!" The little mongoose boy said. "They must be Others."

"Rumble, let's go!" Corey shouted running off. The were-creature dropped to all fours following behind him.

"Corey! It is not safe!" I shouted. "They could attack either of you at any moment!"

"And if we don't do anything those cubs will freeze in the water or become possessed by the entity." The black haired teen shouted. "Stay here and keep watch!"

"But..." Corbin started to protest.

"STAY!" The teen ordered.

"And what if..." I started to say.

"...STAY..." Rumble grumbled as the two raced off heroically.

"Um, alright." The little mongoose said.

"They are impetuous." I huffed. "They are going to lead our enemies right to us."

Corey and Rumble arrived at the shoreline and started looking for something that would serve as a makeshift raft or boat. Something they could use to reach the cubs.

"HELP US!! HELP US PLEASE!!" The two red panda cubs screamed.

"Working on it!" Corey called out to them. "How can we help them?!" The black haired teen said thinking out loud. "Perhaps you could swim out to them and carry them back... but then I would have to deal with wet dog smell afterward."

Corey was stopped by a huge paw as he started to fumble through some debris that had wound up on shore. "What?" He said staring at the were-creature.

"... too late..." Rumble pointed.

*WHOOSH*

No sooner had the were-creature made that statement something dove out of the air and grabbed one of the cubs! It was turning around to dive bomb again to snatch the other cub when it started screaming and writhing before crash landing on to the shore. Its prey rolling away as it landed.

"What the hell was that?!" The black haired teen said looking at Rumble.

The two looked at the thing writhing as if it was in some kind of extreme distress on the shore near the man, woman, lizard, cow, mule and woodchuck.

"...lab creature..." Rumble grumbled.

"It's a harpy!" Corbin said.

The creature that had taken one of the red pandas looked like a human female from the head down to just the top portion of her torso. The rest of her looked like a avian. She had silvery- white wings, white feathers all over her torso, groin and legs. However her 'feet' looked to be yellow with talons.

I watched as the red panda cub reached for her so did the man, woman, lizard, cow, mule and woodchuck. The seven of them held her steady while she continued to writhe before helping her to her um, 'feet'.

She screamed loudly as her feathers bristled from her top to bottom before she adopted the same dazed look as the seven around her.

!!!

I looked at the remaining cub on the makeshift raft, he had the same dazed look.

(Why didn't I notice it before?!)

That was when the eight of them locked their eyes on us with goofy, stupid smirks.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Corey said as Corbin and I joined him and Rumble along the shore.

"...trap..." Rumble said growling.

"More like a recruitment drive." The little mongoose boy said.

"We should leave. NOW." I said to my companions.

The werewolf tossed me, Corbin and Corey onto his back and bolted. He ran the three miles right back to the cave entrance without missing a beat.

"Rumble, you are amazing!" The little mongoose said.

"The ride was rather bumpy though." I said rolling off of the were-creature's back.

"Uh, we have another problem guys our tracks lead right back to the cave." The black haired teen said looking at the wet ground we had walked on.

"Oh no!" Corbin said. "What should we do?"

"Confuse the enemy. Everyone! Start making tracks around the entrance to the cave, the grounds all over the place!" I said to my companions.

The four of us quickly made tracks all over the area around the cave entrance for about a quarter mile in all directions on the wet winter ground.

"That should keep them busy for a while." Corey said.

"...'s go...!" The were-creature said tossing the mongoose boy on his back and darting inside the cave.

I started to look back to see if the Others were after us just as the teen grabbed my hand and pulled me in with him.

"We need to seal off this exit and every cavern that lead to the exit." Corey said pulling me.

We backtracked to the cave network and then the maze. We ended up sealing off every tunnel, cavern and entrance we passed and ultimately the hole Rumble had dug leading to the cave network and then the entrance to the north maze from the lost city.

"I suppose we need to tell Lady Ursa and the professor." Corey surmised.

"Most definitely, they didn't want us returning above ground after our visit to the Grand Kingdom." Corbin added.

When we notified professor Stern and my mistress about our inadvertent discovery, they agreed to never use the north maze unless of extreme emergency. It was to remain sealed off permanently.

Dawn was very concerned that something could follow us back through the cave network and attack us in our sleep. My she beast decided to start using the surveillance tools on the prototype as a early warning system of sorts.

That evening...

"So what do you think?" Corey said to the confused were-creature.

"............."

"It is a hammock. It is softer than the bed and better than sleeping on the floor."

"............."

"Thank you for the large round of indifference." The teen said to his wolf creature. "Here, you lie in it like this."

Rumble watched his roommate gently climb in and recline. It looked awkward but very comfortable.

"Now you try." Corey said climbing out. "Don't worry, it is quite stable."

The former lab experiment fumbled climbing in as he mimicked the black haired teen's movements ultimately reclining on his back.

"...comfortable..."

"One of the pleasures of domestication. You don't have to sleep on the cold forest ground anymore." Corey quipped.

"...it is missing something..."

"What is that?"

*snatch*

The were-creature grabbed the teenager, lifting him off the floor, into the hammock to join him.

The teen rested his head on to the creature's mane as he stretched out on his furred mattress once again.

"...better..."

"Yeah it is. I am glad you didn't dive into that lake this afternoon. I don't like the smell of wet dog." The teen quipped. "But you still smell."

".............."

"Rumble, I was kidding! By the way you did good this afternoon."

"...Corey... I have been thinking... about my creation... my purpose..."

"So it can speak more than simple phrases." The teen remarked.

Corey received an angry stare and some growling for that snarky remark.

"Ok. lay it on me."

Day 10 (8 AM Central Building Washroom)

"How primitive!" Corey said looking at the bare shower stall.

"I know it isn't what you are used to. But this is what we have." The little mongoose boy said.

"So there is no plumbing to the stalls, no mist, no shower spray with variable speeds and intensity?!" The teen said to Corbin perturbed.

"Nope. You fill up the two tubs above the shower stall, soap yourself down and then dump the water on yourself when you are ready to rinse." The little boy said to the teen.

"Savages, savages all of you!" The snarky teen remarked.

"And let me guess you had some type of plumbing at the compound?" The little mongoose said.

"Yeah, we were allowed showers every now and again. The water came from the stream, was heated and sent through the house."

"Well, I guess that level of technology wasn't available when this city was constructed. So you have a shower stall, foam soap and two tubs of water." Corbin said to the annoyed teen.

"...why am I here...?" The were creature said inspecting the bathing area.

"Because you reek! Especially after all the spelunking we did yesterday. Rumble when was the last time you bathed?" Corey asked.

The werewolf thought for a moment started to answer but was cut off by his roommate.

"Licking yourself isn't quite the same thing." The teen retorted. "Now get in there stinky."

The were-creature hesitated as Corbin and Corey tried to coax him into the shower stall.

"Rumble an important aspect of domestication is cleanliness." The little mongoose boy said to the former lab experiment. "It is important to take care of personal hygiene; to um, make yourself presentable to others."

"I have a feeling I am going to need help with this Corbin." Corey said.

"Um." The little mongoose said hesitating.

"Hey, I thought communal bathing is an important ritual for beastials- you know it symbolizes friendship and closeness."

Corbin looked at the seven foot tall reluctant were-creature.

"Ok."

"All right you big baby- just relax." Corey said to his nervous roommate. He then removed the white loin-cloth from the werewolf placing it on the far side of the washroom.

Rumble was completely naked.

"I have a feeling we might as well bathe along with him too Corbin."

So Corey and Corbin both removed their clothing as well then joined the werewolf in the shower stall.

"Wow so large!" The little mongoose said looking at the were-creature's genitals. "I mean all of him."

"I will start in the front, you take the back." Corey ordered Corbin.

And so the two started lathering up Rumble. Corey his front- legs, paws, arms, chest, mane, head, ears and genitals. Corbin worked on his back legs, rump, back, arms, neck and mane.

While initially hesitant, Rumble started to like the gentle massage the two boys were administering to him.

"See that wasn't so bad now it is your turn." Corey said turning around.

Rumble grabbed a paw-full of foam soap and tried to lather Corey's back. Not to effectively.

"No, like this." The little mongoose boy demonstrated. Corbin started at Corey's neck and worked his way down to his feet. When he had finished he turned the teen around and lathered his front. "When you get to the genitals make sure you give them a extra deep cleaning they tend to not get that much attention."

Corey blushed at that remark.

The werewolf watched his two shower-mates carefully.

"Your turn now. Lather up Corbin." Corey ordered. "Gently."

The were-creature used both his paws to soap up the mongoose boy holding him like a piece of clay on a pottery wheel. He when he had finished, the little boy was gone replaced by a mound of soap foam.

"Ok good. Now how do we rinse Corbin?"

"Pull the rope for the first tub."

The black haired teen did as ordered and the three were completely doused with warm water which managed to wash some of the soap away.

"Almost." Corbin said looking at his naked companions. "Pull the second rope."

The three were doused again with the contents of the second tub which took care of the remainder of the soap.

"See that wasn't so bad now was it?" Corey said to the hesitant werewolf. "Admit it, it was kind of fun wasn't it?"

"...not finished..." The were-creature said as he reached out grabbing both of Corey's hands in his massive left paw and both of Corbin's paws in his massive right paw. He then shook dry his fur left and right and right and left sending water droplets everywhere.

"ACK!!" Corbin screamed.

"Rumble!!" Corey yelled and the smirking beast.

"I think he enjoyed that." Corbin said reaching for a towel.

"Morning! Um, Communal bathing?" I said to the trio. The three were drying each other off when I 'found' them.

"Morning Alex." My little brother said greeting me.

"Hey get dressed. The professor is having a meeting downstairs in five minutes."

Unlike the past few morning meetings the main topic of this one was defense, our defense.

"Morning momma bear, professor." The little mongoose said entering Dawn's study room.

"Good morning boys." My fierce ursine warrior said greeting Corbin, Corey and Rumble.

"You four are exploring the eastern maze today- right?"

"Yes, mistress."

"I want you three to be extra careful and not to take chances. We don't know where that maze will lead to." Dawn said.

"We didn't know where the other two mazes went until we explored them." Corey said.

"Regardless "I am still having nightmares about the north maze." Ms. Stern said.

"What type of nightmares?" I asked my sister's doppelgänger.

"Last night she dreamed that she awoke and found a hideous monster at her bedside. It had found its way into the city from one of the mazes. She had just enough time to scream before it devoured her." The little mongoose boy said.

"It was quite real and disturbing." Ms. Stern said.

"It's alright professor we have the prototype's surveillance system and Rumble and Lady Ursa here to protect us." Corey said.

"And if they are unavailable?" The blond female asked.

"Yeah that raises a good point." I said thinking. "You know the blue coupe wasn't the only prototype the knights had in World One- there was the red and silver ones as well."

"I see your point pet. I have been searching for the other prototypes during my return visits to World One. So far, I have not been able to locate their whereabouts. Or determine if they are still in one piece and functional."

"It would be great if we had some additional modes of transport besides walking." Corbin said.

The sad fact was that with all forms of technology down if there were survivors in the five cities, they were isolated and cut off from each other.

We decided that the lost city was especially vulnerable while my she beast and the blue coupe were away. But what was the alternative?

Corbin, Corey and I continued to ponder this as we started to explore the eastern maze that morning. Unlike the southern, western and northern mazes which were constructed of white stone, the architects who ever they were used red stone, it gave it a distinct serious look.

"Interesting color scheme." Corey said as he took the lead. I followed. Rumble and Corbin made up the rear. Once again the little mongoose boy mapped and documented our progress as we tried to navigate our way through the red stone corridors.

"It is really amazing that there aren't any traps." The little boy said from a top the werewolf's shoulders.

"I think we should be thankful of that." I added.

"No. If there was, that would be brilliant." The teen added. "He is a really smart kid."

"Corey?" I asked as the three of us gave him a curious glance.

"Think about it. The professor is worried about defense when Ursa is away right? If there were traps in the mazes they could be an early warning or detection system that intruders are present and that we have been infiltrated."

"That IS frigging brilliant. Every little bit helps." I remarked.

Like the other two mazes, we walked for miles underground until we reached a set of red stone stairs which ended at primitive trap door at the surface.

"This is it boys." The black haired teen quipped. "Ready to see what is top side?"

"Very much so." I said.

"Let's just be careful." The little mongoose boy warned as I joined Corey at the top of the stairs.

"On three." He said. I nodded.

"THREE!"

"Hey, what about one and two?!" I protested.

Carefully we peaked our heads up from the ground. A light coating of snow had fallen overnight and was just starting to melt leaving the ground wet and mushy.

"Well?" Corbin asked as Rumble looked on.

"We are in the forest." Corey said climbing up and looking around.

Rumble, Corbin and I soon joined him.

"No way." The beastial cub said.

"What?" I asked my 'little brother.'

"I know where we are. This way."

We followed the energetic mongoose for about quarter of a mile.

"So where are we?" I asked.

"Here." Corbin said clearing some more brush that ended at a grassy plains area and a familiar structure.

"Well I will be! Capital stadium?" I said.

The eastern maze ended at the stadium that straddles the border of World Five and World Four.

"This was where we watched that game between the World One Warriors and the Extreme Rage a few years ago." The little mongoose boy said.

"I remember we were with Lord Tiger and that was the first time you became aware of the entity." I said recalling.

"Who knew that there was an hidden entrance leading back to the lost city near by." Corbin exclaimed.

"First heard of the entity?" Corey asked as Rumble started to sniff the air.

"Yes, several of the possessed made their way into the stadium and started 'recruiting,' Corbin, Lord Tiger, myself and a rebel fled to the forests far, far west of the lost city."

"We ended crashing near World Six, a remote colony populated by imperfect beastials who had fled the High Evolutionary." The little mongoose said to the teen. "They looked after us for awhile before taking us back to the empire."

"Weird thing was when we got back, nothing had changed. Those who were infected returned to normal." I added.

"What do you think happened?" Corey asked.

"In retrospect, I think the entity was conducting a test of its power."

"That is quite the story, well it looks like the stadium didn't fair too well." The black haired teen said.

It seemed like it had been heavily damaged, there were cracks and fractures all along the exterior. One side of it had down right collapsed.

"That's interesting I don't think the flood waters extended this far out. So how did the stadium sustain damage?" I said as I started to approach it.

That was when Rumble bristled and started growling- loudly.

"Rumble?" Corey asked.

"...not safe here..." The were-creature said sniffing the air.

"I am not sensing anything!" I managed to say.

The were-creature moved from behind to right in front of us blocking our path.

"...no little Corbin... there is death here..." Rumble said placing his huge paw on the little mongoose boy's head.

"Ok, I trust you." The little beastial said to the escaped lab creature.

The werewolf went into action- dropping to all fours he picked up Corbin then bounded toward Corey and myself grabbing each of us with his mouth and tossing us on to his back.

"...'s go..."

"AUGH!! NOT AGAIN!!" I wheezed as Corey and I were laying crosswise to the running werewolf.

Rumble darted toward the entrance to the maze at top speed. Once we were inside, he made sure that we weren't followed and that the trap door was closed tight.

"Rumble, what was that about?" Corbin said approaching the werewolf who continued to sniff the air trying to smell intruders.

"...extreme danger..."

"You mean there were monsters near by?" I asked the were-creature.

He nodded.

"Wow, we dodged that one." The little mongoose boy concluded.

"But during the daytime?" I countered.

"The harpy we saw yesterday was out and about during the daytime." The little mongoose said.

"Looks like another tunnel we will have to seal off. The black haired teen quipped. "The Intendant and his goons to our west, Others to our north and monsters to our east- we are in such a prime location."

"Suddenly I feel like being a homebody too." Corbin said as we followed our wolf back to the lost city.

That evening we presented our findings to the professor and my mistress. They weren't too pleased. But did like the booby trap idea as a type of early warning system. Regardless the maze system surrounding the lost city was a remarkable feat of engineering; residents of the city could walk miles underground and appear at other locations without having to travel the forest.

Day 11 (2:42 AM)

Despite our adventures and findings of the last few days I didn't let that haunt my sleep as the professor did. That night I slept peacefully within my lover's embrace- we were lying on our right sides her chin was resting on my head, my butt was inside her crotch and the back of my head was resting on her bare breasts. It was my favorite sleeping position. She had even managed to not talk about ONE in her sleep tonight. That was great right?

Not really. In the early morning hours I awoke wet- it wasn't the kind of wet that I liked, my back, head and neck were damp. I quickly put, two and two together and realized that my fierce ursine warrior had been crying.

"Something wrong mistress?"

"Yes, Alex. I was remembering what I saw yesterday while out scavenging for supplies- something disturbing."

"That is right, when you came back home, you didn't really tell anyone about your visit to World One. So what did you see?"

"I found Lian and Hugh Wild. I was too late to save either of them." She said as I rolled over to face her.

"Mistress, how did they?"

"Lea's boyfriend was crushed by rubble and Mr. Wild was crushed by a hover vehicle."

"I am sorry." I said to her. "At least we know what happened to them."

(And I know what Diamantopoulous said to me was the truth.)

"I know pet. But that is not all." She said her gold eyes locking on me. "Alex, Corey and Rumble do you trust those two?"

"I had my suspicions in the beginning but Corey and Rumble helped Corbin and I escape the Grand Kingdom and return back to you. After working with both and getting to know both, I trust them implicitly. I am proud to call each of them my friend."

"So you would vouch for both of them?"

I looked at my lover and nodded.

"Since their arrival I have been watching and observing them implicitly without their knowledge, in the central building, in the mazes and even in the house they share together. I just wanted to make sure that we weren't set up. We weren't. They are trusted allies mistress."

"Pet come with me." She said arising from the bed.

"Ok, where to?"

"The prototype."

The two of us headed out the front door to the blue coupe.

*Good morning Lady Ursa, Mr. Winter.*

"Good morning Overwatch how are things?" I asked the automated assistant.

*Everything as it should be, no intruders detected. The surrounding area is secure.*

"Overwatch playback what you recorded yesterday evening as we flew by Capital stadium."

*As you wish ma'am.*

I looked at the upper left monitor in the center stack. I watched the playback and observed a dark hairy something make its way into the stadium.

"Overwatch switch to infrared."

*As you wish Mr. Winter.*

"It's a canid- about seven feet tall moving under the cover of darkness." I said.

I looked at my warrior bear and she at me.

"Do you still trust him implicitly?"

Alex Winter - January 11th, YOE 34...