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The harsh yet important requirements to join the Society

It would be over a week before La Volpe approached Michael again and he had requested that they speak once more before the actual training started.

"The second stage in your training will push you to your physical limit. The Society has very strict physical requirements for its members and many have failed admittance because of them. It doesn't disqualify you from trying again though but it is easier on the first few attempts," La Volpe told the skunk as they walked through the botanical gardens, "Don't think that I will go easy on you, you will be examined like everyone else to see if you meet the minimum requirements,"

The skunk nodded as he followed closely behind the fennec. It surprised Michael that despite how dingy the city had become that there was still beauty in one form. He stared longingly at some of the flowering plants, admiring them for their beauty, the brilliant shades of red, white and pink captivating and stimulating a part of his mind.

"Speed, strength and endurance are not the only things that the Society looks for though. Those with grace, poise and creativity amongst other things are also highly sought after, maybe not necessarily for front line work but are also used behind the scenes and also for the artful contributions they partake in. Many a time a graceful member has entertained the chapter heads with a well choreographed dance or a beautiful piece of composed music. Those who do this are often well respected for their art. Like the flowers you see before you those who are masters of the arts will forever be seen as beautiful beings," La Volpe continued, noticing Michael looking at the flowers.

"How does that apply to me? I possess neither speed nor strength and I don't know anything about dancing, music or art. Why bother mentioning that to me then?" the skunk asked. La Volpe gave him a small smile which soon changed in a playful smirk.

"Well there are other ways to 'entertain' others per se," the fennec mused before he started to walk off in another direction. Michael was still too naive for his own good and didn't quite understand the fennec's sudden emphasis on the word 'entertain'. If he had then he might have had second thoughts about joining. La Volpe was very careful about phrasing his words because there would be no doubt that some of the Society members would certainly love a piece of Michael's girly rear and if the skunk knew about that there was bound to be trouble. For the duration of his training though, Michael would be under the protection of La Volpe and that also meant to prevent any of the other Society members from making a move on the young skunk, something which would be a real hassle in the meantime but had the chance of paying off in the future.

The next day had Michael get up rather early in the morning and he had to stifle a yawn as he eventually met La Volpe in an open field.

"Did you have to get me up this early?" Michael whined, "I don't like being up at five in the morning,"

"You'll get your beauty sleep whenever you can. The Society can call upon you to do something at any time of the day and you have to be prepared for it," La Volpe firmly responded, "Today I shall be examining you for your speed and later endurance. Please step up to the line I have marked here,"

La Volpe had requested that Michael come in some loose clothes and to bring a water bottle and the skunk slowly made his way to the line, making sure to stretch before he started.

"When I give the signal you are to sprint from here to my position. The time you must beat is 14 seconds,"

This didn't seem unreasonable and as the sound of a whistle reached his ears, Michael dashed forward, hoping that he would cover the 100 metres in time.

"Hmm... 13.8 seconds... you're cutting it a bit close but it'll do," La Volpe commented as he recorded down the number. Michael breathed deeply as he slowly started to get his breath back. Not one who normally partook in physical activity, it surprised him that he could run so fast.

"Catch your breath then go to the spot that I have marked out for you. I want to see your times for 200 and 400 metres as well," La Volpe ordered.

By the time that Michael was done with the distance running he was exhausted. Slumping on the grassy field, his throat burning with thirst, the skunk let out a quiet groan as he wiped some sweat off his brow. La Volpe merely smirked at this before throwing Michael a bottle of blue coloured fluid. The skunk caught the bottle and quickly drained the fluid inside, the strange flavour dancing around the inside of his mouth.

"What is that?" Michael asked, throwing the bottle back to the fennec.

"A new drink that has been recently put onto the market, we've been running some tests on the claims that have been put forward," La Volpe told him.

"Well it sort of works. I don't feel as dehydrated as before,"

"Just wait... it'll kick in,"

Michael had no idea what La Volpe had meant by this but he soon found out. Partway through one of the exercises, Michael suddenly felt incredibly fatigued and he immediately collapsed, unable to continue. He wasn't sure what had happened and his first instinct was that La Volpe had somehow spiked his drink without damaging the packaging. This was of course impossible and Michael cursed his mind for coming up with such an idea.

"Need some help?" La Volpe asked as he rolled Michael over onto his back, "See what I meant? That 'energy drink' I just gave you was something that the government had come up with. As you have experienced firsthand it gives a brief stint of energy before draining you of everything else,"

Michael nodded dumbly as he was handed another drink, this one being from a well recognised brand. Draining the fluid inside, Michael warily got to his feet only to have his knees give way, forcing him onto the ground again.

"Well I have been pushing you quite hard for the past few hours. I guess you've impressed me enough. Be aware though that I am testing you only on the core skills required for your induction. Do not think for one second that there aren't other useful skills that can be garnered,"

With Michael's legs still feeling like jelly, La Volpe was forced to help the skunk home before handing Michael a small package. Being a little too tired to actually care what it contained, the skunk haphazardly left it on his bed while he went off to take a shower. Luckily enough for him nobody else had bothered to check up on him and he was allowed to look at the package without anybody interrupting him. Inside was a copy of his times that he had managed to obtained for the trials that day. Putting them aside he took out another set of papers and looked at them carefully.

"Just another fact sheet from The Society... I wonder if this is merely the start of a propaganda war," Michael muttered as he flicked over a page. Finding a blank piece of paper, he scratched his head before a photograph detached itself from the sheet. He stared at it for a few minutes, trying to make sense of what it was about. It seemed generic enough to him so he didn't understand the reason for including it. Looking back at the sheet of paper it was attached to the skunk noticed a few lines of text written in small, neat handwriting.

"Hold on to that picture," it said, "You may not make sense of it now but when the time comes you will understand. This picture is one of the most famous photographs you will ever see and marked an important point in one of the most well known wars ever fought,"

Shrugging his shoulders, the skunk put away the picture and the sheets of paper, hiding them underneath his mattress before he started to work on a paper for university.

"Do tell me Michael, can you swim?"

The skunk's face drained of its colour momentarily before returning to its normal shade.

"Um... not really, I've had a... few bad experiences with swimming in the past," Michael admitted. The main one which he distinctly remembered was almost drowning when he was about five or six in a backyard swimming pool and had to be resuscitated at the scene. He had been very wary of any water activities since then.

"So I assume that you have nothing to use for swimming then... that's fine, I'll find something for you," La Volpe responded as he led the skunk to his locker at the nearby gym. He had already forewarned Michael about his trials for the day but wasn't exactly surprised when he heard this. The fennec was already wearing his gear but always had a second set in his locker for situations like that.

"Here you can wear this," La Volpe told the skunk, holding up a pair of rainbow striped speedos. Michael stared at it for a few moments, his eye twitching ever so slightly.

"You have got to be joking right?" Michael asked, "I am not wearing these!"

"Well it's either these or you swim naked. Which for some reason this gym allows. I don't understand why myself but something tells me I don't want to know. I'll be waiting outside for you," La Volpe firmly answered before stripping down to his own pair of blue speedos, the colour contrasting against his golden fur. Michael stared at the brightly coloured piece of swimwear before reluctantly changing into them. He felt odd wearing it, the material hugging his crotch and not leaving much to the imagination. When he built up enough self confidence to eventually leave the change rooms he noticed that La Volpe had already started to do a few laps in the Olympic length pool. As the fennec resurfaced from under the water he gestured for Michael to come join him in the cold yet refreshing water. The stench of chlorine by itself was enough to put Michael off the test itself but he had to give it a shot even if it meant that he would be smelling like chlorine for the rest of the day. Taking a deep breath, the skunk sat on the side of the pool before sliding in, disappearing beneath the water momentarily before surfacing.

"So you have little swimming experience then?" La Volpe asked him.

"Well I have some. I haven't done any proper swimming since I was about twelve or something so there will probably be no doubt that I won't make the requirements," Michael mumbled.

"Well to be honest the swimming isn't really that important. Others have gotten in with minimal experience. Hell there isn't even a lot of water around these parts and for the aquatic missions we mostly use those who are experts. Unsurprisingly they all happen to be otters and other cetaceans. The bare minimum is being able to swim fifty metres in any stroke. You'll be fine. I can give you additional training in swimming if you want though,"

Michael gave this some thought as he floated in the deep end of the pool. He had tried to stand in it but promptly sank like a stone, the bottom obviously much deeper than what he originally though.

"No I'll be fine,"

"Alright then, please swim to the shallow end for me please," La Volpe ordered, "You may choose any stroke you want,"

It didn't take long for the skunk to cover the minimum requirement and La Volpe had easily kept up with him for the whole duration. The fox had obviously been in training for a long time, especially given that La Volpe had the appropriate body shape for swimming, the fennec's slender form accompanied by well hidden but toned muscles was enough to drive Michael's mind into a state of sheer ecstasy.

"You look like a professional swimmer. Why don't you ever go out on those missions then?" Michael had to ask as he stood up in the shallow end of the swimming pool. La Volpe merely pointed to his ears.

"You see how big these things are? I am quite prone to ear infections and I don't want to keep taking antibiotics every damn time I get one, which happens on an almost regular basis," La Volpe grunted as he started to do another lap, "I want to see how much endurance you have. Please keep doing laps for me until you're exhausted,"

Michael could only do an additional half a lap before finding himself too tired to continue. La Volpe could already tell why the skunk had tired so easily and it was rather to do with technique rather than stamina.

"You're using too much energy on poor technique. I'm sure you can cover more distance if you don't waste your stamina. Here let me help you," La Volpe kindly suggested as he effectively glided over to the tired skunk, "Your breaststroke seems to be your weakest and I think I see why. Come with me to the shallow end where you can stand upright,"

Floating over to the fennec, Michael stood up in the shallow end, the water only reaching up to his waist, waiting for La Volpe's request.

"From what I'm seeing, you're wasting too much energy by doing this," the fennec told him before demonstrating what he had seen Michael doing, "You'll want to change your technique a little however. Your kick seems to have very little power so you may want to work on that a little. I want you to follow me to see if you can get it right,"

Michael suddenly felt like he was back in primary school and when they forced them to do swimming lessons. Despite La Volpe showing him what to do, he just couldn't get the technique right and ended up tiring himself more than anything else. La Volpe let out a quiet sigh as he scratched his head for a way to teach the skunk proper swimming technique.

"We'll try this another time. Swimming is good general exercise so I recommend you keep it as part of a fitness regime," La Volpe told the skunk, "Just relax for now, we have the pool to ourselves from the looks of things,"

Thankful that he had now been given a chance to rest his tired muscles, the skunk slumped so that the water stopped at his neck. The gentle movements of the water, was enough to distract the skunk for long enough to allow La Volpe to swim up to him and gently run a paw along his arm.

"Something is troubling you and I want to know what it is," La Volpe whispered. Michael couldn't look La Volpe in the eye as he thought of a response. Those steely but kind eyes bore down into the depths of his soul and the skunk opened his mouth several times to say something but no words would come out.

"Always remember that if you ever have second thoughts about the Society, feel free to quit any time at all. Once you join and become a part of the Society there is no turning back, so think carefully about your decision. I will not force you into anything that you do not want to do," the fennec gently told him.

"I guess that maybe I might be wrong. I'm still not sure whether or not this is a good idea or not," Michael eventually admitted.

"There is no right or wrong answer. I cannot tell you what is right or what is wrong. You must come to that conclusion by yourself. We'd better get going, I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you,"

As he walked onto his university campus later that week, he was greeted by a sight that he had hoped to never see. In the centre of campus it appeared that one of the university groups had set up a stall, blindly promoting the hate-filled statements of the government. Michael slowly walked past, warily eyeing every one of the individuals. It didn't surprise him that every single one of them was either a feline or a canine. One of the more subtle messages of the government was that felines and canines were apparently some superior master species or something to that effect. Pausing at one of the stores he was handed a pamphlet by a tiger wearing a broad smile on her face.

"Hi there," she started, "Will you help join our petition?"

"What kind of petition?" Michael asked carefully.

"For too long our way of life has been encroached on by foreigners bringing in their customs associated with their infernal religions. They dare to threaten the Christian establishment that our society has painstakingly set up over thousands of years. We must band together if we want to drive out these foreigners and their illogical beliefs,"

Michael was in shock. Some of the people in his course were from other cultures and they were some of the nicest people he had ever met. Nodding dumbly, he was about to move on when he was suddenly confronted by a giant of wolf. Standing a good head and a half over the smaller skunk and built like a solid brick wall, he very politely handed another pamphlet to the discouraged skunk before starting his obviously rehearsed rant.

"Hi there, can I take a moment of your time to talk about the gay scourge that threatens to engulf us all?" he asked.

"You're not really giving me a choice here are you?" Michael thought bitterly as he nodded.

"It has been a sad fact of life that homosexuality has existed for so long and hadn't been eradicated," the wolf continued in a sad voice, "These perverted individuals continue to live among us, doing our jobs, spreading disease, having their strange perverted sex... the list goes on! We must do all we can to exterminate these pests and their attempts at upsetting the Christian institution which they are so opposed against!"

Michael's heart sank. He had hoped that those who made it to university were more open minded than the average person on the street but from the looks of things this wasn't the case. It took every single ounce of willpower to prevent himself from sending a retort back which would probably say more about him than anything else. Faking a smile as best he could, Michael continued on his way to his lecture although he no longer had the will to sit through it.

Night had fallen by the time he left the library on campus, having gone there to do some research for his upcoming paper a few hours earlier and he carefully made his way to the bus stop without passing by too many other people. There was always the risk of getting robbed at the bus stop, particularly if you were an international student or just happened to appear even the slightest bit rich. Despite the fact it was poorly lit, Michael could see a scuffle of activity. Hiding behind a wall, the skunk peered over the top as he watched the scene unfold.

A group of at least three individuals, all either felines or canines judging from their looks had approached a dragon that looked only lightly built at best with the obvious intention of intimidating him.

"Well, well if it isn't the cute little play thing from the gym... what's a wimpy faggot like you doing out so late at night?" one of the felines sneered.

"God what the fuck is wrong with you people? Just leave me alone already!" the dragon called out.

"And why should we? You should know the punishments that are reserved for your kind around here! Don't think for a second that your scholarship will save you for one moment," smirked another as the group surrounded the scrawny male.

"Hey let me go!" the dragon cried as the group started to manhandle him.

"We're not gonna let that happen! You fags need to know your place!"

Michael could only look on in horror as he watched the drama unfold in front of him. The few stragglers that were waiting for a bus knew better than to intervene in such a situation, every one of them, choosing to either turn away or distract themselves with something else. The skunk felt sick to the stomach as he watched the group beat up the defenceless dragon before robbing him of what few possessions he had at the time. He knew that by himself there was no way he could take on that many thugs so rushing in to help would be pointless, perhaps even suicidal. Watching the group eventually slink away into the shadows, Michael eventually came out of hiding and rushed over to help the fallen dragon.

"Hey, are you okay? Can you move?" he asked as he observed the extent of the dragon's injuries. Blood was seeping from the corner of the dragon's mouth, contrasting against the bright blue scales. Coupled with two black eyes, a nosebleed and a lot of bruising, the dragon didn't seem much worse for wear from what the skunk could see.

"No! Please no more!" the dragon replied, looking up blearily at Michael before shutting his eyes again, "Please finish me if you must!"

"What? No I'm here to help you!" Michael cried as he heard the wheezing of the dragon's strained breathing, "You need help! Let me call an ambulance for you!"

Taking out his mobile, Michael started to dial the number for the emergency service. The dragon tried to protest, claiming that the pack of thugs would come find him and finish him off.

"Don't worry I'll stay here in case they do," Michael reassured him.

In the end they didn't come back and Michael remained true to his word, comforting the injured dragon until an ambulance came to take him to the hospital. By the time Michael arrived back home it was nearing 10 pm. Luckily for him his parents were still under the pretence that he had stayed back for additional study and didn't question why he was out so late. The bone chilling truth came back to him as he lay on his bed as he attempted to get some sleep. What would have happened if that band of thugs had come back? He shivered despite the fact that it wasn't a particularly cold night. The thought of what could have happened scared him to no end and it would be a long time before he managed to get to sleep that night.

"The last of your physical tests is melee combat. You must know how to take care of yourself when in the field as you will be by yourself under most circumstances. When worst comes to worst you must know how to kill your opponent completely unaided. The Society condones unnecessary deaths, kill only when you are threatened with death itself. If you are faced with a weapon, disable your enemy so that he or she drops it,"

Michael nodded solemnly as he watched the fennec pace back and forth in front of him. He hated his scrawny body to a certain extent and had always longed to put on some muscle. Ever since he had met La Volpe, the skunk had wanted a toned body structure but he did have to admit that there were advantages to having a feminine body structure. He had been mistaken for a girl on a few occasions and that had managed to get him out of a few sticky situations in the past.

"Depending on the situation you will be forced to take different actions as necessary in order to evade capture. Anybody from the Society who is captured becomes a great danger and getting caught is an almost sure fire way to get booted out of the Society. That snitch who gave away our presence in the club the first time we met for example was one such individual and he was punished severely when caught,"

Michael's mind trailed back to the police ambush a few months ago. That one event had left a powerful imprint in his mind.

"Let's see what kind of force you hide in those muscles of yours," La Volpe continued, passing Michael a pair of boxing gloves, "hit the pads with your left then your right please,"

The skunk gingerly took the gloves and followed the directions he had been given.

"You can hit harder you know. I'm not made of glass,"

Michael was unsure of whether or not to take this as an insult or not but tried his best anyway, punching again with as much force possible.

It wasn't long before the skunk soon became tired, leaving La Volpe somewhat unimpressed with Michael's strength and endurance. As the skunk caught his breath, the fennec shook his head ruefully.

"I'm not sure that we have a place for you at the moment. You really need to be able to hit harder for much longer. I can try my best to train you but I'm not sure whether or not the Society wants someone of your... calibre. The Society is very strict and does not allow weaklings into their ranks,"

The word 'weakling' echoed in Michael's mind. His mind trailed back to what had happened at the university the other day. The scene of the bashing played in his mind again and he could feel his anger start to rise as he remembered the brutal attack. When he looked up at La Volpe a moment later he didn't see the image of the cold yet kind fennec. Instead he saw the visage of one of the attackers from the previous day. Filled by a sudden surge of energy he leaped up and lashed out at the surprised fennec. La Volpe was a relatively good melee fighter however and managed to block the vast majority of the skunk's attacks while dodging almost the rest of those that broke past his defence.

"Now that's what I'm talking about! This is the kind of fight I wanted to see!" La Volpe called out enthusiastically as he started to lash back with some attacks with his own and smiling as Michael deftly avoided the blows. A brief lapse in concentration however allowed Michael to get in a good punch that hit La Volpe in the jaw, forcing the fennec to reel back with the force of the blow.

"What the hell? I thought we were merely practicing... well fine then," La Volpe muttered as he lashed out with a volley of punches.

Three minutes later and Michael was left on the ground groaning out aloud from the beating that he had sustained from La Volpe's calculated strikes.

"Well that last bout sure as hell impressed me," La Volpe told the grounded skunk, rubbing the side of his mouth as he helped Michael into a chair, "Your one strike that you got at me was a good one and I'm curious, why did you suddenly go berserk on me like that?"

Michael let out a pained moan as he felt La Volpe carefully massage his tired muscles. It had been a while since he had been beaten up like that and it took him a while before he was willing to answer the question.

"I... saw someone get beaten up at the university bus stop. I just remember the look of desperation on his face so plainly and I want to exact revenge on the bastards that attacked him," Michael eventually mumbled. La Volpe nodded solemnly as he heard this. It didn't surprise the fennec that there had been some stimulus for the sudden onslaught of attacks.

"Well, always bear in mind that anger clouds your judgement at the best of times so always go into something with a cool head. If you can fight like that when you're not enraged then that completes your testing and you'll have earned entrance to the Society. I'll be keeping a close watch on you though,"

Michael nodded dumbly as he winced slightly, the fennec having touched a rather tender spot on his body.

"Jeez do you really bruise this easily? I'm sorry about having to beat you up like that but you weren't going to relent until one of us hit the ground," La Volpe apologized as he started on Michael's legs and worked his way up. The gentle massage was working wonders on the skunk and he closed his eyes as he enjoyed the sensations of the fennec's golden brown paws running over his body.

"Oh god that's good," Michael muttered as he leaned against one of the corners of the boxing ring.

"Well it's reassuring to know that at least somebody thinks so!" La Volpe grumbled as he stood up to his full height and stretched out his body, "Come on, I'm sure that you want to get home as quickly as possible,"

Leading Michael to the locker room, La Volpe was more than aware that Michael was warranting more looks then he had hoped. The fennec was a well known figure in the gym and many rumours had been spread about how he constantly appeared with a different person every month or so. It was only out of mere politeness that nobody dared to say anything and it was whispered that every new guy that turned up was somebody who had been charmed by the fennec and would no doubt be spending the same bed with him that night. Only a few of them knew that La Volpe was a part of the Society and each newcomer was somebody who had been undergoing rigorous testing. Those who didn't chose to believe that the fennec simply had an overactive sex drive and was capitalizing on it with his good looks.

"I feel like a piece of meat surrounded by a pack of bloodthirsty animals," Michael whispered as he followed closely behind La Volpe.

"Don't worry. The guys here may look intimidating but they're really nice once you know them. What's more if you're with me, they know to leave you alone," La Volpe responded.

Michael puzzled over this for a moment. La Volpe wasn't as intimidating as some of the others and the skunk couldn't piece together how they could be scared of the fennec. Keeping his thoughts to himself he stopped as La Volpe took a pair of towels out of his locker. Handing one to the skunk, Michael looked at him confusedly for moment.

"Well I'm sure that you don't want to go home smelling of sweat right? I really should have offered after your swimming test but it slipped my mind at the time. If you don't want to have a shower that's fine just wait outside until I come out," La Volpe offhandedly said as he stripped off and wrapped the towel around his waist. Looking back warily at the males who were watching him, Michael quickly followed suit and scampered after La Volpe, holding the towel around his waist.

The place for showering was a common area meaning that there were no walls to divide the different shower heads and Michael was more than anxious to shed his towel. La Volpe didn't have this problem and he willingly put up his towel without a second thought before entering and activating one of the showers. Looking back at the males who were watching him, Michael gulped slightly before following suit and turning on the shower next to La Volpe.

"Still nervous about the other guys yeah?" the fennec asked.

"Yeah that's right," Michael whispered, letting the cooling water wash away the sweat from his brow.

"Don't worry you'll see them a lot more often considering you'll be in here at least once a week. The looks will stop soon enough and they'll leave you alone,"

Michael paused for a moment as he thought about this.

"Are they all Society members as well?" he whispered.

"Some are and you'll recognise them by their tattoo,"

The skunk looked at La Volpe curiously as he watched the fennec lather up his golden coloured fur before noticing the tattoo of a faceless mask on the fennec's back.

"Wait... there's a tattoo as well?" he asked.

La Volpe gave Michael a brief look before nodding and handing the body wash he was using to the skunk.

"Each chapter has its own personal tattoo although you will mainly see three designs. The snake biting its tail represents sexual diversity; the faceless mask represents species and cultural diversity and the modified cross represents religious diversity. There are other chapters as well each with their own design but they are the major ones," La Volpe continued, rinsing off the suds from his body and showing Michael the different designs that were on the insides of his wrists and on his back, "In due time you will be emblazoned with one or more of these tattoos and it is imperative that you come to a final decision about whether or not you want to join before that date,"

Nodding his understanding, Michael uncapped the body wash and started to lather up his body, the white suds contrasting against his black fur. Noting that La Volpe was starting to finish up, Michael quickly rubbed the body wash into fur but as he was doing so, he felt a sharp pain run along the length of his right arm, letting out a cry of surprise as he grabbed at his shoulder with his left paw. Drawing the attention of La Volpe, Michael noticed the fennec walk over, standing behind him with a concerned look on his face.

"You okay?" he asked.

Michael winced slightly as he rubbed his shoulder ruefully, "Yeah I'm fine... just give me a minute," he mumbled as he stretched his shoulder and arm slowly.

"Here let me take a look at that,"

Before he had a chance to protest, Michael could feel La Volpe carefully run his paws over his shoulders and back, sending shivers down the skunk's spine. Moments later he felt the fennec's gentle paws start to massage his sore muscles once more, the gentle throbbing of his muscles being slowly eased by the careful and calculated movements of the fennec's paws.

"When you go home tonight I want you to go get some rest okay. I think you may have strained something so give it some rest and if it still hurts go see a doctor. I don't want you to hurt yourself because of the testing, do you understand?" the fennec told him, eliciting a nod from the skunk. Closing his eyes, Michael leaned back against La Volpe, feeling the warmth of the fennec's body against his own. La Volpe didn't pull away immediately, instead choosing to gently run his paws down the skunk's slender frame, eliciting a soft gasp from the skunk.

"I'm sorry if I caused you to strain anything. It's been a while since I trained anyone else personally," La Volpe whispered as he gently rubbed Michael's stomach.

"Don't worry about it. It just shows how out of shape I am!" Michael laughed.

"It's not safe to mess around here. We'd better get going before anyone starts to suspect anything," La Volpe warned. Michael frowned slightly but said nothing as he followed after La Volpe, watching the fennec's tail sway back and forth in front of him.

"Damnit I was so close!" Michael thought bitterly as he tried his best to hide his growing arousal underneath his towel. He had hoped to see the size of the fennec's cock and he was bitter about the fact that the plan had backfired so quickly. Changing into his normal street clothes as discreetly as possible he hurried out to where La Volpe was waiting for him.

The drive back to the skunk's house was uneventful with La Volpe wittering on about the Society; information that Michael wasn't bothering to listen to. Thanking the fennec for the ride, Michael was about to step out of the car when he felt a shooting pain run down the length of his leg. Gritting his teeth he stepped out carefully before walking as best as he could to the front door, taking the time to wave goodbye to the fennec. Poking head in, the aroma of dinner wafted through the house and the skunk started to salivate. Making his way into the kitchen, he only saw his mother there and that only two bowls had been set out.

"Your father decided to work overtime today so it's just the two of us eating dinner tonight," she told him, not looking up from the pot of soup she was boiling. Michael cursed his luck as he scooped out the appropriate servings of rice for him and his mother from the rice cooker. Without his dad there, there would be no doubt that his mother would start asking him all sorts of questions about his day, questions he would be very reluctant to answer.

As they sat down to eat, the young skunk could feel his mother's gaze fall upon him, the silence of the room only broken by the sound of chopsticks knocking against the porcelain bowls. Not looking up from his bowl, Michael avoided as much eye contact as possible, only looking up to take the occasional piece of meat or vegetable.

"How do you expect to be properly nourished if you don't eat more hmm?" he heard his mother ask as she scooped a small pile of the side dishes and placed them on the side of his bowl. His spirits sank slightly as he slouched in his chair. He had always been told by both of his parents that he wasn't eating enough and that it was the explanation behind his somewhat scrawny frame. He had been giving his parents the silent treatment as of late, given that over the past few weeks his thoughts had been wilfully ignored.

"Are you okay? You've been very quiet," his mother continued.

"I...I'm fine," Michael eventually mumbled, "I've just got a lot on my mind is all,"

His mother gave him a sceptical look. She knew that it was not a wise idea to actually say anything this time around, especially since Michael was clearly in no mood to talk.

Heading to his room after dinner, Michael flopped on his bed as he stared longingly at the ceiling. His gaze fixed on the glow-in-the-dark stars and planets that plastered the roof of his room. They had always been there ever since he could remember and his parents would constantly remind him of his fascination with the solar system when he was younger.

"You loved the mobile of all the planets when you were a cub," they would say in an obvious display meant to embarrass him whenever he had friends around. If anything it was the last bastion he had to remind himself of a time when the hardest decision he had to make was choosing which crayon to use in a picture.

"I never thought I'd see the day that I wished I was six again," he thought bitterly as he turned his attention to his homework which he had yet to start for the university. He wasn't exactly in the mood to work but he knew that he had to get it done or else risk losing ten percent of his grade. As he scanned through the journal article for his Health Science Communication paper he was about to consider ditching it when he heard his mobile go off beside him. It had never occurred to him that it would be a wise choice to change his ringtone to something a little less suggestive and he was more than grateful that nobody had ever decided to call him when he was on the university campus.

"Hello?"

"Hey Michael my man, La Volpe just informed of your test results! You did good man!"

"Dave will you cut the crap already! My body still aches after all of that. La Volpe sure knows how to throw a punch," Michael grumbled as he closed the .pdf file and deleted it off the computer.

"Yeah you gotta be careful with La Volpe there. Don't think for a second that he's the best fighter around though. You should see... oh what her name again... Diana that's right! Man that dragoness would turn La Volpe into mincemeat. Few can best her Muai Thai kickboxing skills let me tell you,"

Michael remained silent as he imagined the fennec being put down with a barrage of well aimed kicks. He had seen kickboxing in the past and he was terrified that he would come up against somebody with fighting skills like that.

"So um... what's the deal with this tattoo thing? La Volpe mentioned it while we were showering," Michael started, breaking the awkward silence.

"You saw La Volpe naked? You lucky bastard! Um...right the tattoo. Well I'm sure he told you but each chapter of the Society has its own tattoo which can be used to differentiate Society Members from the general public. It will be on you to remember the designs of the tattoos so as to not be caught by a commoner," Dave responded. Michael frowned slightly but kept quiet as he continued listening.

"Depending on which chapters you decide on joining will determine which tattoos you will be emblazoned with. Bear in mind that the chapters typically keep to themselves and joint operations are rare. Only the chapter heads and some high ranking members like La Volpe constantly keep in contact with one another. Take you, you'd seem right to join the chapters for species diversity and sexuality but ultimately it's up to you which ones you join,"

"Uh huh... so where'd you put your tattoo, I noticed La Volpe having them all over his body, if anything it makes him look like a cult leader,"

The leopard remained silent for a moment, trying to think of a reasonable response to the question.

"Um... La Volpe will explain that to you when the time comes," Dave eventually answered. He was more than reluctant to part with such information given one of the projects he was working on for the Society actually addressed this particular piece of information.

"Look you'll receive some details about your tattoo session soon enough from La Volpe. You still sure you want to join the Society? I don't want to pressure you into anything"

Michael could tell that Dave was a little more than anxious judging from the tone of voice.

"Dave look I've been exposed to enough hate as it is. I mean just because I'm not a feline or canine causes enough hassles as it is. So much for the enlightened society we live in. I saw someone get bashed in front of me and I don't want to see that happen again or to get involved in something like that. With the government spewing out such poisonous words I want to fend off jackasses like that,"

The skunk had clearly stunned Dave and a brief silence later the leopard hung up, leaving Michael to get back to his work.

When La Volpe did eventually contact him again, his mid semester exams were just around the corner and the skunk was going all out in studying everything in time. He had never felt so busy before and this wasn't taking into account anything the Society would call upon him to do. As he poured through his chemistry notes he heard his mother call out that he had a letter come for him. Yawning loudly, the skunk trudged out of his room and opened the envelope that was addressed to him. He could take a rough guess at what it was about so he wasn't particularly surprised to see that it was written by La Volpe. What did surprise him though was the style that it was written in. Half expecting something to be scrawled quickly on a piece of paper, instead was a neatly formatted letter printed out on decorated paper no less with La Volpe's credentials listed on it. At least he knew La Volpe's proper name now.

"Michael," the letter started, "Congratulations on passing your physical examination recently. The Society is interested in what contributions you can make to help correct the injustice applied to minority populations. This is the last chance that you will have to back out for once you are indoctrinated you will remain a part of us forever. If you are willing to dedicate yourself to fighting social injustice through the use of covert means then welcome aboard. Your actions will speak louder than any words ever will. You will be supplied with a code of conduct that you are to obey at all times and under no circumstances are you to break them. Doing so will result in disciplinary action against you. Congratulations once more on your acceptance. We hope to see more of you in future,"

Scanning the rest of the page he saw four signatures, one of La Volpe and the rest from what Michael presumed to be the heads of the three main chapters. Scrawled down the bottom though was something in neat handwriting in what appeared to be a calligraphy pen.

"Michael, its La Volpe here, I have gone to the liberty of including some details and the designs of the tattoos that the Society uses. I noticed your hesitance when I mentioned it recently but don't think too much about it. I'll give you a call when I schedule the appointment, Dave gave me your number. I'll be seeing you soon,"

Taking the letter back to his room, Michael rummaged around in the envelope once more and pulled out a few pieces of glossy paper. On each of them was the design of a tattoo which represented the chapter. In addition to the three main ones there were also a few for some of the smaller chapters. While not particularly impressed with the designs he knew that there was little he could do about it. It daunted him slightly that he would be going behind his parents' back in doing this but he was starting to get a little sick of being picked on all the time and this was his little way of getting back at the society that scorned him so.

Luckily for Michael, La Volpe had only called him up after all of his exams were done so he was given a little bit of freedom by his parents as to what to do with his time. On the day where he was supposed to get his tattoo done, Michael was reading in the front room when he the sound of a car horn caught his attention.

"Son of a bitch!" the skunk mouthed as he peered out of the window to see La Volpe sitting in a red sports car with a pair of sunglasses perched on his face.

"Mom I'm going out for the afternoon," he called out as he quickly left the house and made his way to the car. He admired it momentarily before getting in.

"Leather interior as well... where'd you get this beauty?" Michael asked.

"I'm a lawyer kiddo I can't be seen driving a beat up sedan, what would my clientele think?" La Volpe smirked as he reversed before speeding off. Not having a driver's license at the present moment and the speed that they were travelling at, caused Michael to wonder when he would ever consider getting his license. There was no doubt that they were breaking the law at this point but if he was going to join the Society one traffic infringement would pale in comparison.

"So where are we going then?" the skunk asked.

"Tattoo parlour. The woman there is an ally of the Society but not a member. We do have roles for those who don't pass the physical exams and you'll get to meet some of them soon enough. Lucy is one of them," La Volpe answered as they pulled up at a red light. Sitting back in the chair, Michael looked at his surroundings. He had no idea where he was at the moment but he didn't like the looks of it. Despite what the government was trying to do in cleaning up the so called 'rough side' of the city, it wasn't really doing much except remove some 'undesirable' people off the street, mainly the homeless.

"Well here we are,"

"What a dump! You sure you haven't brought me to the wrong place?" Michael asked, looking at the exterior of the building. The skunk could barely make out the details of the tattoo parlour given the vast amount of graffiti all over the sign and the surrounding area.

"Don't let the outside fool you, Lucy keeps the inside incredibly clean and sterile,"

Following the fennec inside, Michael was half expecting to see dirty equipment and a place encrusted with filth but just like La Volpe had said the place was spotless. If anything it resembled more of a dental surgery than a tattoo parlour.

"Ah La Volpe is this the new kid you've been telling me about?"

"Yeah... cute one isn't he?" La Volpe laughed. Michael looked from the fennec to the female rabbit. The pure white fur was criss-crossed with all sorts of designs, coloured from jet black to brilliant greens and blues.

"Uh... um hi," Michael quietly said. Lucy gave him a cautious glance before looking back to La Volpe.

"The kid's just a little shy. I'm guessing he's lived a sheltered life away from the harsh realities of the world. This is probably a big step for him," the fennec whispered. Michael tensed slightly as he heard this. He wasn't sure what to make of it but he was more than willing to go through with the procedure.

"Alrighty then, where are we putting this symbol then?" Lucy asked, gesturing for Michael to take a seat. The skunk willing sat down but looked at La Volpe, hoping that the fennec would provide him with some guidance.

"Where you put it is up to you. If you want to keep it covert I'd suggest putting it somewhere where one wouldn't look. We do use the symbol as identification so you'd best avoid putting it uh... down there. One guy did it and he was howling in pain during it so word to the wise, don't tattoo your balls," La Volpe told him. Michael blushed slightly as his mind trailed back to the conversation he had with Dave. An image of the leopard having his crotch emblazoned with the snake biting its tail was burning itself into Michael's mind and the young skunk was enjoying the show.

"Um... here I guess," Michael mumbled, gesturing to a spot on his chest.

"Okay then do you want any colour apart from the standard black? Given your already dark fur perhaps a blue or red?" the rabbit continued, unbuttoning the skunk's shirt and examining Michael's chest, the white fur that covered his chest and stomach contrasting with the black on the rest of his body.

"Let's keep it to a straight black... I don't need it to stand out," Michael eventually answered, looking around before turning back to Lucy. He soon got the shock of his life when he saw her approach him with what looked to be a needle of some sort. A cold sweat suddenly formed on the skunk's brow as he stared at it. He started to mumble incoherently as he pressed himself back into the chair as much as he could.

"Let me guess you're scared of needles right?" La Volpe asked. Michael nodded quickly as he saw Lucy back off momentarily.

"Well to be honest you reminded me of something I have to do first. I haven't had a client in a long time so it's easy to forget standard procedure," Lucy sighed. Putting the needle away she instead took out a shaver from a nearby drawer, "You have to ink the skin under the fur otherwise it's only temporary. This won't take long,"

Shutting his eyes tightly, Michael tried to ignore the buzzing of the shaver as the rabbit cleanly removed a small circle of fur from his chest, revealing the skin underneath before washing the area with what he believed to be a saline solution. Opening his eyes again, Michael watched as Lucy pulled on a pair of disposable gloves from a box and carefully inserted some new needles from a package. It was only then did the skunk notice the biohazard symbols on a few yellow bins nearby, where the rabbit promptly disposed on the old needles and her gloves before putting on a fresh pair.

"Try not to think too much about this," Lucy reassuringly told him as she started to work on the elaborate design.

La Volpe was more than willing to distract Michael for long enough so that the skunk was barely aware of the prickling sensations on his chest.

"Okay we're done. Now a few precautions you have to take until the fur grows back,"

Michael's mind started to wander slightly as the rabbit advised him on how to prevent the ink from fading. His disinterest was subtle but obvious enough for Lucy to consider writing it down on a sheet of paper. Buttoning up his shirt the skunk took the piece of paper before getting out the chair. A surge of adrenaline ran through his limbs as the reality of the situation started to sink into his mind. He didn't hear La Volpe thank the rabbit for the procedure and slip her a few banknotes. It felt strange to have a patch of fur missing from his chest but Michael was smart enough not to complain about it. He didn't need La Volpe to tell him that whining wouldn't make it grow back any faster.

"Come on kid, you remember what you were told about taking care of that?" the fennec asked as he waited for Michael to sit down in the car.

"Enough so that I won't smudge the damn thing. So tell me when do I finally get to go on a mission with you guys?" Michael asked, his tail thumping against the seat impatiently.

"You'll see the action soon enough as it is. Keep up with your studies; I don't want you throwing your future away on something from the Society. We are not as important as your future, do you understand me?"

The skunk sheepishly looked from the fennec to the paws sitting in his lap. He squirmed slightly as he thought about all the excitement he had built up over this. Despite not having neglected his work entirely Michael knew that he could do that much better. He was on a scholarship grant that paid five thousand every year and what scholarship student only got 70's in their assessments?

"I understand but still,"

Michael's gaze turned to the rapidly changing scenery, from the slums to the middle class neighbourhoods which seemed so familiar yet so foreign to him at the same time. Many times he had just wanted a life like that, an average life. He gazed at a few kids playing in the street with a soccer ball, they all looked so happy, so carefree, unlike the bondage of servitude that he was engaged in until who knows when.

"Hey chin up kid, the Society only wants to make sure that you're ready before we throw you into the deep end. You gotta know how to walk before you start to run; now you study hard alright? I want you to make the most of that scholarship you obtained,"

Michael wrung his paws slightly as he heard this. So far he had been neglecting his studies, owing to his inability to concentrate for prolonged periods of time. He had gotten away without doing a lot of work for now but if he wasn't careful then who knows what could happen to him.

"Can you promise that you'll work hard for me?" La Volpe asked, not taking his eyes off the road. Michael hesitated for a moment. He made this promise to his parents multiple times and now he wasn't sure about whether or not he could actually act upon it.

"Yeah I think I can," he finally answered. This appeared to placate the fennec, effectively ending the conversation.

Dropping the skunk off back at his home, La Volpe paused slightly as he watched Michael get out of his car.

"Alright kiddo, consider yourself a member of the Society. Prepare yourself for the ride of a lifetime. You'll find yourself in a lot of training regimens before you actually undertake a proper mission. I'll be seeing you around," the fennec told him before driving off. Waving his goodbye, Michael slowly walked up the driveway towards the front door, now more than aware of what he was doing. It felt exhilarating to be doing something like this and for once, he was determined to hide something from his parents and society at large.