FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

DISCLAIMER: No adult action in this one, but a lot of swearing is involved as well as some VERY unexpected moments. We also get introduced to a few more characters in this chapter but only briefly, as we'll see what happens in the chapters ahead with everything going down. Special thanks to everyone that let me use their characters in this chapter (http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7378081), and I hope you enjoy ^_^

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Silence.

Complete Silence.

You could hear a feather float to the floor as I turned off the TV, with the faces of nearly everyone around me looking like they had just seen a ghost, although Eric, Kimahri, and Chowder didn't really understand what was going on.

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

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

We all still remained silent, though we all looked at each other after a little while, but couldn't emit any words from our mouths.

"W-what was that about?" Eric asked in a low voice, not really understanding what everyone else just saw on the news report.

"My......my.................................my.......MY HOUSE!!!!!!" Tony screamed out, still not wanting to believe that he just saw his own place nearly completely destroyed on the television. The big Tiger immediately started pacing rapidly back and forth in the living room, which was the first time I had ever seen Tony the way he was.

"Tony! Tony! Calm down! We're here for you!" Sull mentioned, getting up off the couch and going over to the Tiger to comfort him.

"NO!!! I KNOW WHO DID THIS! IT'S THAT DAMN.....Marco.....my god.....oh my god...my house!!!" Tony lashed out, nearly shoving the big blue monster back a bit as he kept pacing in the living room. I knew that I had to do something to calm Tony down, cause otherwise he might do something stupid and regrettable.

"Tony....it's ok, we still have each other. Please.....for me.....calm down and let's talk." I mentioned softly as I walked up to him and put my hand on his shoulder.

"................" *sniff*

The muscular tiger actually brought out his emotions in front of all of us, and right after I put my hand on his shoulder to comfort him, he wrapped his arms around me very tightly, picking me up off the ground and just holding me in his arms as I noticed the big guy starting to form tears in his eyes.

"T-thanks Mike.....I'm just glad I have all of you here.....I-I just....can't believe.....my house...."

"Well you have insurance obviously, right big guy?" Sull then asked the big Tiger as he walked over to the two of us.

"Y-yeah. *SNIFF* Why though....all my belongings....why did they have to do that?!?!" Tony murmured as he kept weeping right in front of us.

"I'm so sorry about your home Tony....if there's anything Kimahri and I can do here to help, we'll be glad to give you whatever you need." Eric then mentioned with a concerned look on his own face.

"Yeah, like he said Tony, anything you need we'll be glad to help you with." Kimahri then added as the two showed that they really did care about what just happened to Tony.

"T-thanks guys.....I r-really do appreciate it." Tony replied.

"W-what about Junir though Tony? Is he going to be ok?!?!" Ord then asked in a frantic type of way.

"I-if he didn't check my house....he wouldn't be in the hospital....why did I ask him to do that....oh my god...."

Tony put his hands on his face and sat back down at the couch, still feeling heartbroken over everything.

"Junir will be fine Tony. But we should all definitely go see him, right guys?" Sull asked as he patted Tony on the shoulder, trying to comfort the big guy.

"Yeah definitely." "Yeah we should go see how he is." "Junir....." A bunch of voices emitted, including me, as I couldn't even imagine what Junir must've went through....though none of us knew exactly how Tony's house or the Lion ended up the way they were in the end as well.

"......First it was Mike getting put in the hospital.....then he was kidnapped.... and left.... f-for... dead in the middle of nowhere.....then F-Franco gets killed....and now Junir is in the hospital and my house is gone....I'm sorry everyone.....but I think there's something you all need to know...."

I was absolutely shocked at what the Tiger had to say to me, and everyone else nearly felt the same way as well, as we all had our eyes wide open once again.

"W-what are you saying Tony? I don't want to leave you, I love you!" I exclaimed in return, feeling my heart rate go up and my head starting to hurt as I was feeling a bit of pain from what Tony just said to me.

"I know Mike....and I love you too....but I've been putting you in these situations.....it's me that they want.....they already think you're dead."

I felt like I was being stabbed in the chest right then and there as Tony kept saying these words to me right in front of everyone. I honestly felt like I was at the point where I couldn't control the words that were ready to come out of my mouth.

"S-stop it Tony! I love you! I don't want you to feel like you're responsible for what happens to me!" I blurted out. I was so riled up at that point that I stood up from the couch and started pacing myself back and forth, not even realizing what I just said to the Tiger.

"Mike....listen to me...." Tony then replied, grabbing me and helping me sit back down. I had no idea what to think at that point, and just let Tony talk to myself and everyone else as well.

"When you were kidnapped.....we found some of your things in a warehouse when we looked for you. Can you remember who was there when everything....happened?"

My head was REALLY hurting at that point, as I didn't want to think about that moment in my mind again, though I had to explain everything to Tony.

"Y-yeah....I remember those two b-bears and a few other guys.....t-though I r-remember there was another guy....he looked like a W-white tiger....but his face was covered up...."

"That's him...." Tony mentioned, shaking his head and covering his face with his hands again for a few moments, though he finally started talking again.

".....Long before I became who I was on TV......I wasn't.....a good person......and....I did some bad things...."

I remained silent, though Sull asked "Like what? You've never told me this before Tony...."

The tiger continued, saying "Well......Marco and I.....well.....we.....we knew each other......"

*O_O*

Once again, nearly everyone listening was simply stunned at listening to what the Tiger was saying, though Tony still had more to add to the story.

"And......even though it was many years ago.....we used....to work together.....and we.....we are also cousins...."

"What the fuck? Why have you never told me any of this?!" Sull lashed out, simply not believing that the guy that was causing all these problems for the group actually was related to Tony.

"Believe me James....I thought I'd never have to worry about him after I came clean.....he was busted pretty badly and thrown into jail for life after being convicted of murder and robbery....though I have no idea how he got out of there!"

"I think I might know....." Aquin then mentioned out of nowhere, which took us all by surprise.

"W-what do you mean?" Tony asked, still having tears in his eyes a bit.

"Remember when we were all out in the woods and I felt an odd presence out there? I think maybe this Marco guy could be behind it....and maybe he perhaps sold his own soul in exchange for power."

Everyone else including myself looked at the Gator in an odd way, though I did remember seeing a strange ghostly figure with Tony that same day, which ultimately made me wonder if Aquin was actually right about the whole thing. At the same time though, my head was still hurting from trying to process everything that was going on.

"Well regardless.....I did some bad things with Marco......but I cleaned myself up and got out of that dark area of my life." Tony then finally added.

"I'm just glad you're with us Tony and not with Marco." Ord said to the Tiger.

"Yeah.....but I still feel.....like I'm endangering all of you because of this....and especially you....Mike....."

Tony looked at me with his innocent eyes, and then held my hand again as he was about to continue speaking to me. I looked right back into Tony's eyes, and made sure I was listening to every word he had to say, even though I had no idea what he was about to tell me.

"Mike.....I do love you a lot....I've never felt the way I do around anyone else but you.....but....Marco's group doesn't know that you're alive.....and until I can put an end to this whole thing myself.....I think....... we should stay away from each other for now."

"......."

*SLAP*

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SAYING TONY? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FUCKING MIND?!?!" Sull furiously shouted as he slapped the Tiger right in the face, not believing what he just said to the one person he cared about the most.

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

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

*sniff* *sniff*

I felt like my heart was gone. I had no idea what to think, though my body couldn't control itself, and I found myself running back upstairs to the nearest bedroom, forming tears in my own eyes and just slamming the bedroom door and falling on top of one of the beds.

****

"LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID TO MIKE, ARE YOU HAPPY?" Sull shouted.

"Yeah Tony....why would you say that to someone who loves you that much? You don't let stuff like that come between you guys!" Ord then added. Aquin, Chowder, Eric, Kimahri, and Ralph remained silent, though they all looked very concerned over the whole situation, as they also found it hard to believe what emitted from Tony's mouth at that moment.

"You go and apologize to him right now!" Sull demanded with a very angry look on his face.

"......You just don't understand.....I'm sorry guys...." Tony replied, getting up and walking towards the front door and heading out of the house.

"TONY! WHAT ARE YOU...." Sull shouted, though Aquin quickly added "Let him be......I think he just needs a little time to himself, but he'll be back. He won't just leave Mike like that."

"I hope not....." Sull mentioned as he looked out the door and saw that Tony was heading towards his Hummer. The rest of the group poked their heads outside to notice the vehicle storming off as it left the driveway of Mike's house.

"W-Will Tony be back??" Chowder asked with a bit of an upset look on his face, acting like everything happened so quickly in front of the Tiger, especially knowing how much Tony and Mike showed their love for each other before they saw everything on the TV.

"I-I don't know....I've never seen Tony like this...." Sull replied, closing the front door and walking back in with the rest of the gang still crowding around the couch.

"W-what just happened?!" Ord then added, still stunned over what he just witnessed in front of his own eyes.

"I can't imagine what Mike must be going through up there...." Eric then added as he looked towards the stairway, which made everyone else look towards the upstairs area as well.

"I've never seen Mike like this either...." Sull then added, feeling really bad for the human and assuming that he was in one of the bedrooms and feeling nothing but pain.

"Me neither....I don't think I've ever seen Mike this emotional....." Ralph then added. Before anyone could say anything else though, a ringing noise emitted from Ralph's pocket.

"Oh crap...I gotta take a business call here guys. If you guys need anything, I'll be next door. Please take good care of Mike you guys."

"Will do." Sully replied, as the rest of the group nodded as well. Ralph quickly walked towards the front door, and headed out to go back to his own house next door.

"Mike needs us guys....I can't imagine what he's feeling right now." Chowder mentioned, walking near the stairway himself. Before he started walking up though, everyone else followed the big Tiger, knowing that they also wanted to be there to comfort Mike after what just happened.

Step by step, the group wanted to be somewhat quiet as they got upstairs, trying their best to approach the situation in a calm fashion. As the group made it upstairs all the way, they all noticed that there was one bedroom door that was closed, and as the six came up to it, they could hear a faint noise emitting from inside. It ultimately made all of them feel really bad, as they could easily tell that Mike was crying.

*****

*Sniff.....Sniff*

I couldn't think straight. I felt like a knife was stuck in my chest and left there. I was hoping that this was all a bad dream, as I kept putting my head down on the bed, hoping that I would eventually wake up from everything. Unfortunately, it wasn't happening. I pretty much formed a small puddle on the pillow sheets with all the tears that poured down my face. Was this really happening? Did Tony....just break up with me? Was this the last time I would ever see the Tiger?

*CREEEEK*

As soon as I heard the door creaking near me, I immediately sat up and looked at the door, hoping that the tiger would be there for me. I then realized though that Tony wasn't there while the rest of the gang showed up in front of the bedroom door as it opened up all the way.

"H-hey Mike." Chowder softly mentioned as he walked up to me, with the rest of the gang also coming up near the bed that I was on.

*sniff.....sniff* "W-why did.....T-t-t-tony....." I stuttered badly, not even being able to get the words out of my mouth as I kept crying on the bed.

"Don't worry Mike....we're here for you bud....." James mentioned as he sat on the bed next to me, while Chowder sat on the other side as well, both putting their arms around me as they tried to comfort me.

"T-t-t-thanks g-g-guys.......w-why though.....T-tony......" I stuttered once again, as not even the warmness of Chowder and Sull's arms could calm me down after everything that just happened.

"W-w-where....is....T-t-tony?" I then asked, wondering if the Tiger was still downstairs, though I still couldn't think straight at all.

"He........he....left." Sull quietly mentioned to me, turning my body towards his and giving me a big hug to tell me that he was still there for me at least. I really didn't want to believe the words that the furry blue monster just said to my face....and I kept crying as I continued to the big guy.

"I want to let you know Mike, that Ord, myself, and everyone else here will NEVER do what Tony just did to you. We are with you no matter what, ok hun?" Sull then insisted as he looked right into my weeping eyes after breaking the hug with me, though he was still holding onto my arms tightly.

"T-thank...you...guys.....*sniff* *sniff* I....I need to rest....." I then mentioned to everyone, as my head was hurting very badly from all the thoughts that were going through me.

"Want us to stay with you Mike?" Ord then asked, as he also seemed very concerned for me.

"I-if you want t-to.....I j-just need to r-rest though re-regardless...." I stuttered back, as I laid down onto the bed, still feeling the tears flow down my cheek as I rested my head onto one of the moist pillows.

"We should let Mike rest." Kimahri softly mentioned to Eric. The two nodded at each other, and quietly walked out of the room, hoping that Mike would get better from everything that just occurred, though they knew it wouldn't be easy.

Aquin simply shook his head at the whole situation, and walked over to the bed, putting his hand on Mike's face even though Mike was turned away from the others.

"Tony will be back Mike. Trust me." The Gator softly whispered to me. I slowly turned over, and even though I was still crying, the words that emitted from the Gator sounded confident enough to actually ease up my tears a bit, though I was still crying nonetheless.

"T-thanks Aquin.....I-I hope y-y-you're right...." I murmured back, as the two of us hugged each other. After we finished our hug, the gator nodded at me, and left the room as well.

"I need to go open the café Mike.....but you guys can all stay here as long as you want.....if you need anything you can call me, I'll leave my number downstairs hun." Chowder then mentioned, putting his own arms around me and embracing me in a hug much like Sull and Aquin did beforehand.

"T-thanks Chowder....thank you f-for e-everything you've done for us...." I replied softly, hugging the Tiger back tightly for a good amount of time, as I knew he really cared for me, and also liked me more than just a friend. As we finished hugging, the Tiger gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, which made me blush a tad but couldn't help me hold back the tears that were still forming in my eyes.

Chowder finished comforting me, and left the room himself. As I lied back down on the bed, Ord and Sull remained near me, assuring me that they were not going to go anywhere.

While I kept lying down on the bed, I ultimately wanted to fall asleep at that moment, but all the thoughts going through me prevented me from doing so. I knew the only way I could sleep was if Sull and Ord comforted me on the bed to help my mind ease itself and eventually rest.

"S-sull....O-ord....can you guys...h-help me fall a-asleep?" I mumbled, still unable to speak clearly.

"Of course hun, we're not going anywhere." "Sure thing Mike, we're here for you bud." Both Sull and Ord replied, as they lied down on each side of the bed, with me in the middle. I was still hurting really badly at that point, but I was able to ease up a bit when both the dragon and the monster comforted me by wiping away my tears and putting their arms over me. I didn't know what was going to happen from here on out.....but as Sull and Ord held me tightly between the two of them, I was able to let my mind rest for a little while as I fell back asleep.

******

*Sigh....*

"REMAIN ON THE CURRENT ROAD FOR.....ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY MILES" The GPS system exclaimed, as Tony drove his Hummer on the highway. With each mile passing, Tony couldn't think about anything specific, as he was also having a million different thoughts circulate in his head about everything that was going down. From Junir in the hospital, to the destroyed house, to Marco and his gang, and finally....to Mike's feelings, Tony found himself going a steady 85 on the highway, as the thoughts almost made him lose his sense of driving.

As soon as the Tiger realized how fast he was going though, he quickly slowed down and took a deep breath, though he still couldn't help but form tears in his eyes from time to time over everything.

"Marco.....you're gonna fucking pay...." Tony thought to himself as he was heading back to New York through the Mass Turnpike.

******

"HHHNNGGG....W-w-where....am....I....? O-ow....shit!"

The Lion awoke slowly, only to feel a bit of pain going through nearly every part of his body, as he remained in a hospital bed covered with Band-Aids and medical tape.

"H-how...did I get h-here?" The Lion then thought to himself, also noticing that he was hooked up to an IV tube while lying in the bed.

"Oh good I see you're awake Mr. Espinoza!" a nurse exclaimed as she walked into the room.

"P-please...call me Junir....h-how did I get here though? L-last thing I remember....oh.....crap..."

The Lion then realized that the last thing he saw was what looked to be a bomb in the bedroom of Tony's house, and after he saw it, he had jumped out of the bedroom window, falling a good 20 feet to the ground and hitting the grassy area pretty hard before feeling debris hitting him hard from the loud explosions inside the house, which ultimately knocked the big guy out.

"Well from what I was told last night, the red Dragon that's waiting outside here was the one that found you the way you were and brought you here."

*o_O*

Junir was kinda shocked, but didn't really know what to think at the same time.

"W-wait.....how did he find me and then bring me here? Did he c-call 911 at all?" The Lion asked as the nurse came over to check Junir's IV bag as well as his vitals while the Lion sat up on the bed.

"Long story short.....he told me that he did something that he shouldn't have done to bring you here....but let's just keep that between us, ok?" The nurse softly whispered to the Lion.

"O-ok nurse. I-is the guy still here?"

"Yep, like I said, he's outside the room here, he actually slept through the night as well since he wanted to make sure you were doing okay." The nurse replied, then adding "Want me to let him know that you're awake?"

"S-sure I guess." Junir replied, being a bit hesitant though as he had no idea who this person was that ultimately saved his life.

"Alrighty, I'll go get him out here." The nurse then mentioned, finishing checking on the muscular Lion and then heading out of the room to let the Dragon know that the Lion was awake.

"Man....my head hurts.....ow!" Junir said to himself, feeling a pretty nasty bump on his head after taking that nasty fall from the window of Tony's bedroom the night before. Before the Lion could say anything else though, the nurse opened the hospital door again, saying "Here's the guy that brought you here Junir, I'll let you two get to know each other while I go grab you some breakfast."

Junir looked past the nurse to see a tall, muscular red and black dragon walk into the room, wearing blue jeans and a white tank top as well. Junir also couldn't help but notice how large the Dragon's wings were as well as the big guy walked up to the hospital bed.

"H-hey there.....so you brought me here?" Junir asked in a calm voice, smiling a bit.

"Y-yeah. I was flying back home and noticed a huge cloud of smoke as I flew near your area. How are you feeling?" Dracon asked.

"So that's what he did...he actually flew...." Junir thought to himself.

"I-I'm feeling ok....hurting a bit throughout my body and itching a bit from these burn marks but I'll live." The lion replied.

"That's good.....I wasn't thinking though when I brought you here....was.....was there a-anyone e-else in the house?" The Dragon asked a bit hesitantly, as he didn't want to imagine the possibility that he may have left other people behind in the burning home.

"Thankfully, no. I was checking the house for a friend of mine since he's away.....but.....for some reason....in his bedroom there was a BOMB placed inside his entertainment center!"

"W-what?!?!" Dracon asked, not believe what the Lion just said.

"Y-yeah....I got lucky too, a few DVD's fell out of the entertainment center as I was checking his room....if I hadn't tried to put them back....I would've never noticed the bomb....and I probably wouldn't be here.....thank you so much again for helping me out, I really appreciate it." Junir explained.

"H-hey it's no worries. I'm glad you're ok. I'm Dracon by the way." The red Dragon replied, extending his hand out to the Lion.

"Thank you so much Dracon. I really do owe you one. I'm Junir by the way."

The two shook hands firmly, but at that same time, neither the Lion nor the Dragon could help but feel their hearts beat a bit faster as they exchanged the handshake.

"M-man....I just hope I can get out of here soon. Where's my wallet and phone?" The Lion asked after breaking the handshake.

"Oh, I think they're over at the table over here....I think they may have looked at your wallet to see who you were though, cause I think I may have seen the nurse looking at it last night." Dracon mentioned, then pointing out a wallet and cell phone on another table not too far from where the Lion was resting.

"That's good. Would you mind grabbing my cell phone? I should probably.....actually....I shouldn't...."

"What? You shouldn't what?" Dracon asked curiously.

"W-well...I dunno if I should call Tony and let him know what happened to me....then again, it wouldn't surprise me if the news got a hold of what happened if the house was destroyed."

"Your call. He's gonna find out sooner or later anyway, and it would probably be better if you didn't hold it back from him." Dracon then insisted.

"You're right. I'll call his cell phone right now." Junir firmly replied, as the Dragon handed the Lion his wallet and cell phone.

"I have him on speed dial here.....there we go. *BEEP"

*RIIIINNNNNGGGGGGG............RIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGG.......RIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGG......*

****

*RIIIIINNNNNGGGGGGG.....*

*Sigh.....*

Tony let out another heavy breath and pulled out his cell phone, expecting the call to be from Sull and/or Ord to ask why he did what he did to Mike. Much to his surprise though, as he looked at the display screen, his eyes quickly opened when he read the name "JUNIR" on his phone.

*BEEP*

"Junir???" Tony asked as he kept driving on the highway while holding the phone to his ear.

"H-hey Tony!" The Lion replied back in what sounded to be a lower tone than usual, almost as if the Lion wasn't feeling so good.

"W-what's going on? I h-heard y-you were at the hospital o-on the news!" Tony stuttered, as not even a conversation with a guy he worried about could hold back his thoughts that were still circling in his head.

"Oh damn....the news reported that I was admitted here? I guess I can't help it since Dracon was the one that did all the work getting me here and telling the nurse what happened."

"Dracon? Who's that? And why the hell did I see my house demolished on the news?!?!" Tony frantically asked back.

"I'm so sorry for what h-happened Tony.....b-basically....I went to your house, and everything seemed fine. I decided to check your bedroom really quick, and when I opened it, I heard a clicking noise. I didn't know what it w-was, but I walked around and noticed nothing out of the ordinary......but....my foot hit your entertainment center and a few DVD's fell out......and when I went to put them back.....a....bomb......was staring right at me, with a timer saying there was only 10 seconds left...."

*O_O*

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

Tony almost dropped the phone and also almost lost his surroundings as he nearly veered into the next lane on the highway. As he quickly swerved back onto his lane though, he then heard the words

"Hello? Tony? TONY?"

"....s-sorry Junir.....I.....just don't....know what to think.....that bomb....was probably meant for me.....I just know it...."

"W-who the hell did this anyway? Wait....don't tell me....."

"......Yeah......Marco."

"My god.....will they ever quit? You would think they would've moved on after the horrendous things they did to Mike!"

"S-sorry Junir....I-I don't want to think about that...." Tony softly replied.

"I understand.....but how is Mike though?" Junir then asked curiously.

"Like I said.....I don't want to talk about that......."

"W-what do you mean? Isn't he with you and the others?"

"I said STOP IT." Tony lashed out.

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

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

A few seconds of silence went through the air, as neither Junir nor Tony mentioned anything after Tony shouted into the phone.

".............s-sorry Tony......b-but.....is....Mike.....o-ok?" Junir then asked yet again, since he didn't get an answer from Tony at all about the human.

"H-he's probably not. I really don't want to talk about this Junir, ok? Sorry I lashed out at you."

"Well......okay then......" Junir replied a bit slowly, being VERY confused at everything that was going on.

"I'm coming to visit you right now.....but I'm going to go back to my place first.....I need to talk to the local police department about everything and hopefully get my insurance stuff straightened out...." Tony then mentioned over the phone.

"O-ok Tony. I really am sorry for what happened....."

"Wait....you never finished telling me what happened.....what happened after....well...you know...."

"Yeah....I saw that bomb....and quickly jumped out your bedroom window down.....and that hurt like hell.....then I heard a loud ass explosion behind me....and basically, I was knocked out. Luckily, Dracon here was actually flying around the area and noticed the smoke emitting from your place....and pretty much carried me all the way here from what I've gathered. And that's where I'm at right now."

"Holy shit......I-I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this Jun......believe me, I'm going to take care of all your medical expenses, okay?" Tony insisted.

"R-really Tony? You don't have to do that." Junir replied, acting a bit surprised.

"Please Jun....it's the least I can do for what you have been through.....I'll come see you first thing after I head back to my place, okay?" The big Tiger said to the Lion.

"Sounds good Tony, thanks again bud. I really owe you one." Junir replied, giving his goodbye to the Tiger over the cell phone, and ending the call.

"H-hey Junir.....that guy you were talking to....why did his voice sound familiar??" Dracon asked as he stood next to the Lion in his bed.

"Well.....I guess you've seen him on TV then....that was Tony....the Tiger. Heh." Junir sort of laughed back.

"REALLY?! WOW! Wait....so that was his house that was destroyed?!?!?!?!" Dracon then asked back with a VERY shocked look on his face.

"Yeah......and I have a bad feeling that there's something I don't know about here.....why did Tony not want to talk about Mike at all???" Junir then asked himself softly.

"W-who's Mike if you mind me asking?" The Red dragon curiously asked the Lion.

"I might as well explain everything to you right now about Tony and why I'm ultimately here." Junir replied, as he proceeded to tell the Dragon all the events that had went down over the last month.

*****

"Alright guys....remember you can stay as long as you want, I gotta go set up some more things at the café now before I open it." Chowder mentioned, grabbing his keys to head out the door.

"Where's your café?" Eric asked.

"It's at the Market Square Plaza in Newburyport. You two are more than welcome to come visit it!" The tiger replied to the Ronso and the human, while Aquin was in the kitchen grabbing something to drink.

"We'll definitely check it out sometime, maybe later today perhaps!" Eric replied.

"Well....I just hope that everything gets better from what I just saw.....anyway, see you guys later!" Chowder said to the three, leaving his house to head out to his restaurant.

After saying their goodbyes to the Tiger, Aquin came back into the living room with a soda in his hand, sitting down and remaining quiet.

"I wonder how Mike's doing up there...." Eric asked as he sat next to Kimahri and Aquin on the couch.

"Yeah....we should at least stay here until he gets better....." Kimahri added.

"I think we should check to see if they updated anything on the news." Aquin then mentioned. The three nodded at each other-- and grabbed the remote, turning on the television to see if there were any more news stories regarding Tony's house.

After flipping through each channel, the three now noticed that it was roughly 10:05 A.M., and that the news stations had pretty much wrapped up to allow the other morning programs to air on their designated times, like the shows "Let's make a Deal" and "The View".

"I guess they're not gonna mention anything else....." Eric mentioned as he decided to leave the channel on the CBS station, which was currently showing "Let's make a Deal", and also happened to be the channel that reported the story about Tony's house from earlier.

"AND AT THE END OF THE SHOW TODAY, THE BIG DEAL WILL BE WORTH OVER $32,000!" Wayne Brady exclaimed as the three watched all the humans and anthros in the audience, wanting to be picked to make deals with the host.

"AND NEXT.....We have a deal where someone could walk out with a prize worth over $18,000....stay tuned." Wayne said towards the camera, as the show was about to cut away to a commercial.

"Do you watch game shows at all Aquin?" Eric asked the Gator.

"I don't really watch much television in general, but when I do, I love watching automobile shows."

"Ah nice." Eric replied, as the commercials started to play.

"I just hope Tony and Mike don't completely sever their relationship after what just happened...." Kimahri then pointed out.

"Yeah....I wonder where.....wait....hey look!"

*BREAKING NEWS* were the words that showed up on the television, as the commercials quickly cut back to the newsroom. The three quickly looked on from the couch, not knowing if they were going to talk about Tony's house or not, but still listened regardless.

"Good morning everyone, we have breaking news that Red Sox player Adrian Gonzalez has been TRADED to the Milwaukee Brewers for 3 players to be announced, in which we will keep you updated when more news becomes available. We have also learned some new information after reporting about the horrific fire in Douglaston, New York this morning, as the house supposedly belongs to television star Tony the Tiger, even though we reported that 26 year old Junir Espinoza was emitted to the Elmhurst hospital because of what occurred. We are still learning details about the situation, and WBZ Newscenter 4 will keep you updated throughout the rest of the morning."

"Oh man.....so that was Tony's house after all....." Eric softly mentioned, finding it hard to believe what he just saw as they showed more pictures of Tony's demolished house while giving an update of the story.

"Damn....I guess Tony couldn't control his emotions after seeing that...." Kimahri added.

"Well I've known Tony for a little while now, and like Sull mentioned, this is the first time I've really seen him like this. But I really doubt he will just leave Mike like that, those two have a special relationship and Tony wouldn't just end it that quickly." Aquin then told the two.

"This ain't good though.....they mentioned that the house belonged to Tony...don't you think the press will be all over it now?" Eric then asked.

"Shit.....you're right....I need to do something about this before Tony gets himself hurt...which would hurt Mike even more..." Aquin then said to Eric and Kimahri, getting up from the couch and going to the phone in the kitchen.

"Who are you calling??" Eric asked the Gator.

"Trust me. I know what I'm doing." Aquin assured as he dialed up a certain number using Chowder's house phone.

*****

*RIINNNNGGGGGGG.....RIIIINNNNGGGGGGGG.....*

"Who is this."

"It's me."

"Aquin?!?! Shit man, where have you been?! You've missed out on some good stuff up in here!"

"Yeah well....I've needed some time to get away from everything....but never mind that. I need you to do me a favor."

"Shoot."

"Get me a ride back to the hangout, I need to grab my ride cause shit's about to go DOWN."

"No prob 'Quin. Where ya at?"

"The address is 27 Port Road in Salisbury, Massachusetts."

"Damn, why you all the way up there?"

"Just hanging with some of my close friends...though I've had to deal with some unfortunate events lately around them....I almost feel like I'm responsible."

"Well we're here for you Quin like always. You gonna try to get anyone into the club here?"

"Not yet, but I have to let you know a few things that have happened." Aquin then mentioned on the phone, about to explain the whole situation that he was currently in.

****

"Who's he talking to?" Eric asked Kimahri as the two sat on the couch and watched more of "Let's make a deal" while Aquin was on the phone.

"No idea.... how long do you wanna stay here though? We haven't taken a shower or anything since yesterday at the gym, and we have to do some work back at the house." The Ronso mentioned.

"We can head home soon, though I wanna wait and see if Mike can at least get better. I really do feel sorry for what he's been through, especially from what Ryan told me. I think I'm actually gonna head back up there to see how he is."

"I'll just watch some TV down here then. I do agree though....Mike's been through a lot, and that was rough seeing what happened between him and Tony.....I hope he does turn out okay from all of this...." Kimahri replied.

"Yeah....I hope so too...." Eric said in a worried tone, heading back upstairs in Chowder's house to check on Mike.

****

"No Shit!"

"Yeah, so basically, that's where I'm at right now."

"I can't believe you're hanging out with Tony, Sull and Ord. But I REALLY can't believe what you told me about that human Mike."

"Yeah....well enough of the disbelief, can you send someone out to get me so I can meet up with you guys? I have no way of getting back unless Ord and Sull bring me back, though they're gonna probably stay here with Mike, and I really have no time to spare. Tony doesn't realize that he's in danger."

"I'll send out Thunder to bring you back. Anything else you need before I let him know everything Aquin?"

"Hmmmmmm.....yeah....I think you should send someone out here to replace me, at least for the moment. Think you could do that?"

"Sorry dude....everyone else is out or they're busy with other personal matters."

"It's ok, I just want to make sure Mike is safe, but he's in good hands with the guys here I think."

"Alright then, Thunder will be out there as soon as possible to come and get you. See ya in a little while Aquin."

"Thanks Leather." The Gator mentioned, hanging up the phone, only to notice a VERY confused Ronso sitting on the couch looking at him.

"W-what was that about?" Kimahri asked looking very confused.

"Long story short, I have some connections that will help me try to get to Tony before that Tiger gets himself backed into a corner that he can't get out of. Mike's been through enough up there, he doesn't deserve any more pain by hearing something happen to the guy he cares about the most."

"Good point. So you're leaving then?" Kimahri then mentioned.

"Yeah, though I gotta wait for them to get here. As each second goes by, I get more and more worried though. Tony's still alive out there, but I can't sense where he is at all."

"Y-yeah......." Kimahri replied, not really understanding what Aquin was talking about, though the Ronso still went with it. As the TV kept airing the game show, Kimahri remained sitting on the couch, while Aquin started pacing a bit around the room, constantly checking the window to see if a car was pulling in, even though it was still WAY too early for that.

****

"I h-hope he's not crying still....." Eric wondered as he paced a bit outside the bedroom, not hearing anything from inside. The human debated whether he should open the door, or just leave it to let Mike recover himself, although Eric also realized that Ord and Sull were still in there too.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to peek to see if he's feeling better...." Eric figured, grabbing the doorknob and turning it as quietly as possible.

*CRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKK*

Even though the human tried to poke his head in without making any noise, the door made a REALLY obviously creaking sound as it was opening.

"Someone there?" A voice whispered sort of loudly.

Eric finished opening the door, figuring he couldn't hide himself anymore. After opening the door completely, the human noticed that it was Ord that turned himself towards the doorway.

"Oh....hey Eric.....Mike's sleeping here I think....." Ord then pointed out.

"Is he?" Eric replied in a low voice, coming up to the bed and noticing Mike with his eyes closed in-between both Sull and Ord. The furry blue monster also looked like he was asleep himself, and Mike looked like he may have cried himself to sleep, as Eric noticed the tear marks on the human's face.

"Awwwww...oh man....poor Mike...." Eric mentioned, sighing heavily and feeling really bad to see Mike the way he was. At the same time though, he was glad that Mike was being comforted by the dragon and the monster.

Eric then noticed there was a small recliner at the end of the room near the bed, and decided to sit down on it to make sure Mike would be okay when he woke up. As he noticed Ord and Sull still snuggling in the large bed along with Mike, the human decided to rest himself for a little bit on the recliner.

****

*RIIIINNNNGGGGGGGG......RIIIINNNNNGGGGGGGG....*

"Hello?"

"Duco, it's me."

"Hey Marco! Did you guys get the shipments I sent out last week to that warehouse you guys moved to?"

"Yep, every single one of them, we're still inspecting them as well since we haven't opened up all the crates. Listen, I need to talk to you though."

"Yeah?"

"I know you don't like getting involved in things that get physical, but you see, I've been dealing with a problem that I can't take care of. And to be honest, my guys have not been pleasing me at all when I've been asking them to take care of my problem."

"Lemme guess, so you're coming to me then asking if I can take care of your "problem?"

"I don't want you to just take care of my problem, cause I know what you're capable of. My guys are out as we speak trying to handle the current situation, though I'm really pissed off because of what I've had to deal with over the last few weeks."

"Wait.....what's been going on? You haven't told me anything besides the fact that you had a run in with Tony again."

"I didn't tell you anything else cause I didn't want to have to bring you into this, mainly because you've done me well in supplying us here Duco. But now, I've lost seven of my own guys, and can't afford to lose any more."

"Damn, that sucks. It hasn't just been me at the warehouse though, I recently found another acquaintance as well, he seems to really know a lot about packing and inspecting our drugs, and he also helps in our greenhouse too."

"That's good to know that you're at least expanding your workload. But can you help me out here Duco?"

"Yeah I will. Last thing I wanna see is the money not flowing in, so what do you want me to do?"

"Well, you obviously know that Tony has been the problem, but I want you to find out more about what he's been doing. You have all your high tech stuff with you there, so first, find out where the hell that Tiger has been lately. I guarantee you that you'll find something since he's so goddamn popular and since people take pictures left and right and put it on the internet these days."

"Alright, I'll find out what I can about him. Then what?"

"If there's anyone still with that Tiger since I know he was with that puny human before, kill them. Make that Tiger suffer as much as possible by any means necessary for what he's done to our business."

"Good, now I have a reason to send Mark out to use his special "skill"."

"Skill? What you mean by that?"

"Let's just say he's one Shark that bites people's heads off...with his sniper rifle."

"I like it. And I'll make sure you get paid a hefty bonus if you do this for me Duco."

"Hey, that's what business partners are for. But what do you want me to do about Tony himself?"

"Well, I know what you're capable of. How about you make him suffer personally as long as possible, like the way you've done so to your victims in the past?"

"I don't like doing that you know Marco. But if this Tiger is going to affect our business, then I guess I have no choice."

"Good. I still have my cell phone here if you need to talk to me at all."

"Speaking of cell phones, you really need a new one Marco. I've seen yours haha."

"Well I never use it, but yeah I will get one soon. Anyway, call me if you need anything, but otherwise, you know what to do."

"Gotcha. Take care Marco."

"You too Duco." *BEEP*

With that said, the white Tiger closed his very old flip phone, and emitted a bit of a grin on his face as he knew that he was confident in his business partner to carry out the task.

"Now it's my turn to make you suffer Tony." Marco said to himself, glowing black a bit again and walking back over to count the money from the briefcases that Tristen, Gordon, and Jamie brought back. Before he could continue counting though, Marco's phone immediately rang again, which threw the Tiger off a bit as not many people called him in general.

*BEEP*

"What is it?" The Tiger asked as he answered the phone.

"Boss, it's us." Gordon replied, as it sounded like the three were still driving on the highway towards their set destination.

"What do you want? You better have a good reason to call me." Marco replied, sounding a bit angry.

"Well, obviously we can't just march into that hospital with guns, should we just wait outside until that supposedly injured Lion gets released?"

"Are you really that fucking stupid? Ugh...you know what, let me assist you in getting the Lion out of there. Hang on." *BEEP*

Marco ended the call, though he quickly re-dialed 9-1-1.

"9-1-1 state your emergency"

"Yeah. There's a bomb inside the Elmhurst hospital." Marco mentioned very swiftly, and then hanging up the phone right after. The Tiger then dialed up Gordon's cell, and put the phone up to his ear.

*RIIIINNNNGGGGGGGG*

"Hello?" The human's voice asked on the phone.

"You're all set. Now don't disappoint me, kill that motherfucking Lion." *BEEP*

*****

"Was that boss?" Jamie asked as he kept driving on the highway with the other two in the Oldsmobile that Jim and Eric used before they were ultimately killed by Tony and the gang from the week before.

"Yeah, he said we were all set.....I wonder what he did." Gordon replied. The group then noticed a giant sign on the highway saying "WELCOME TO ELMHURST, NEW YORK" followed by a sign right after saying "ELMHURST HOSPITAL, EXIT 35"

"Think we should've brought the heavy artillery instead of these puny ass uzi's?" Tristen asked, stroking the top of the gun a bit and making sure it was all set to go.

"Nah, this ain't as bad as when we had to break out Andre and Marc' from jail. We're just killing a lion and anyone else that tries to mess with us." The large bull replied as the group kept driving, getting near the highway exit to head to the hospital itself.

"I think I know what boss probably did. Knowing him, he made a bomb threat to the hospital." Gordon then pointed out.

"If that's the case, then one of us has to start a distraction so that we can get to the Lion." Jamie replied.

"I'll do that, leave it to me." The Orca confidently replied from the back seat, still stroking his weapon.

"Alright guys....get ready. Let's unleash hell." Jamie mentioned, as the car got off exit 35 on the highway, with their Uzi's set to finish off Junir.

****

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

Aquin kept pacing back and forth, while Kimahri remained on the couch, and while the others were still in the bedroom upstairs comforting Mike.

"..............oh....shit....."

"What is it Aquin?" The Ronso asked.

"Something bad is going down again.....I can feel it."