The beginning is. . .
#1 of The Beginning is...
The sun crept along the skyline of downtown Merin, the bright rays reflecting along the once darkened glass to give a glow of new life. The beginning sounds of traffic and pedestrians were heard all along the city even to the tallest skyscrapers. The red, yellow, pink and orange colors colliding with the dark blues and purples of the night, forcing it back to the horizon from where it came. The beauty of this struggle was reflected within the eyes of a red fox standing next to the railing of the balcony on his top floor Penthouse suite.
All the accommodations were inviting and were nothing less than five star: Widescreen HDTVs in every room, black leather sofas and chairs in the spacious living room, spotless white tiled kitchen with stainless steel appliances and marble countertops. There was also the large master bedroom complete with king size bed, red silk curtains and sheets, plus the elegantly tiled bathroom with granite shower and sink. The suite seemed eerily quiet as the fox stared at the sunrise.
The sound of a cell phone ringtone shattered the silence and acquired the fox's attention. He stepped inside through the open double doors and quickly scooped up the phone with one paw and answering the call.
"Hello?" said the fox
"Good morning Axel, I hope I am not disturbing you this morning." asked a gentle female voice
"Ah, Mrs. Matakami, this is a pleasant surprise."
"That's cute Axel, but you know why I'm calling."
"Well as a lady of your stature I-
"Cut the crap Axel," said Mrs. Matakami sternly, "I'm not one of those little girls whom you sweet talked into a late-night fuck. You know exactly what this call means."
"How long?"
"Three hours."
"Well, that's plenty of time to-
"All preparations must be completed before he arrives and last I checked, it seems you aren't even halfway done."
"Don't you think that's a little harsh?"
"Considering the resources that we had to spend to get your sorry carcass out there in the first place?"
"I will be ready when it's time."
"You'd better be, god knows how pissed he'll be if you screw this one up."
"Don't worry, this fox has a few tricks up his sleeve."
Axel ended the call and walked to the surround sound stereo and turned on the CD changer. The song "Uprising" by Muse began to play at a respectable volume. Axel walked into the master bedroom and opened the walk in closet to figure out what to wear for this day. He decided on a light blue T-shirt to match the dark blue jeans he already had on. He grabbed some essentials in the drawers at the bottom of the left side of the closet: his MP3 player, a few knives, his ID card, wallet, and the chain with a very rare Red Phoenix orb connected to the end of it. Axel placed the mp3 player and ID card into their respective front pockets. Then he slid the wallet into the right back pocket and connected the chain to one of the jeans belt loops and let the Phoenix orb slide in to the right front pocket. Axel quickly walked into the bathroom to make sure he looked presentable.
Many people and furs said that his crimson red hair looked like Reno minus the ponytail.
From Final Fantasy? or something
He couldn't recall, but it didn't matter to him anyway. He had a slightly muscular physique even though he was one of the top executives for N Enterprises. N had dabbled in many areas from aerospace and aeronautics to pharmaceutical medicines and genetic engineering. N was a giant in the world and Axel was lucky enough to be one of the top brass on the western branch. Something that took quite a while to get to, and it was about to pay off big.
Axel checked for any discrepancies that might paint him in a bad light, after all he made it a point not to look like he just fell out of bed or just woke up. He turned around and returned to the closet to grab one last item. A pitch black cloak was hanging right where he left it. Axel pulled in off the hanger and without missing a beat, had it on his person in about five seconds. The cloak was of simple design, a hood big enough to cover half of his face and still allow him to see and a zipper dividing the cloak in two. It seemed simple enough but Axel knew better and he also knew that he'd need this, especially today.
He walked out of the bedroom and snatched up the phone and silver attaché case on the coffee table and got out of the room with the stereo still running. He could afford to let it run while he was out, not like that would be a problem for him. He decided to take the elevator next to his suite and punched the ground floor button as soon as he got inside. The phone rang as soon as the elevator doors had closed shut. Axel took this opportunity to put on his more casual side as he answered.
"Hello?"
"Excuse me, Mr. D?"
"Yes?"
"I have just finished transferring your funds to your account and your packages should arrive at the destinations you requested within the hour."
"Excellent."
"Is there anything else you need done today Mr. D?
"No, Sally, but I would like you to take the rest of the day off."
"But what about-
"You do not need to worry; I have it all taken care of. Besides, I hear in the office that you have a party to get ready for. I had an envelope placed on the top of your desk when you arrived; consider it a bonus and thanks for all that you have done for me."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure Sally. It would mean a lot to me if you took today off, you deserve it."
"Thank you Mr. D."
"You're welcome Sally."
He ended the call just as the doors slid open to the front lobby and Axel walked quickly out of the elevator and through the small crowd of humans and furs walking through the area. He made his way out onto the street where a black limousine was waiting out on the curb for him. The black door swung open automatically as if to welcome him. Axel got in quickly and shut the door. The black leather seats were quite comfortable and the same song that he had just been listening to not five minutes before was playing on the speakers.
"This is quite a coincidence." Axel noted as the limo left the curb and began to head out of the city. The sound of the driver caught his attention.
"So, Mr. D, are you being called out on business again?"
"It would appear so."
"Well, the company sure seems to like sending you all over the place."
"Ha, yeah that's me, Mr. P.R."
"Don't take it too hard, I hear there's supposed to be a big announcement today at the company."
"It's a shame I have to miss it."
"Family emergency?"
"No, an old friend wanted to see me and this was the only time I could meet him. I should be departing by 10."
"Well he should really appreciate you coming out here."
"More of the other way around actually. Turns out he runs a group that is apparently in big demand, and he wanted to ask me over to discuss a proposition."
"This should be promising."
"Believe me, it is."
Axel started going through the applications of his phone and chose the camera. Instantly a view popped up not of the area in front of him but of the balcony of his suite. He took out his headphones from the player in his pocket and plugged them into his phone, then he put one phone in his right ear and listened taking note of the song playing it's final chorus as if to time the moment.
They, will, not, force us
They, will, stop, de-gra-ding us
_ They, will, not, con-trol us_
_ We, will, be, vic-tor-ious_
The picture cut to static and the sound of an explosion sounded through the headphone. Axel stopped the app and turned off his phone. He took out the headphone and looked back to catch the fresh pillar of black smoke emerging from the city skyline. Axel sighed, and turned to face the front of the limo.
It appears, he thought, that the operation has already started. This_. . .is gonna be one hell of a show._