FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

DISCLAIMER: No adult action in this chapter again, but some character development and a mysterious character to be revealed is in this chapter, so I hope you guys enjoy this one. I'd also like to thank everyone again on FA that let me use their characters for this chapter: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7570379

Hope you all enjoy :)

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The rest of the day seemed to pass by really quickly after everything had ended. The eight of us all worked on cleaning up the inside of Chowder's restaurant, from cleaning up the broken glass, to cleaning up the stains on the floor (especially all the blood from Sully and Dracon's arm), to finally painting over some of the bullet holes (even though that was going to take a bit more work to fix up than just a coating of paint.)

My parents called me while we were cleaning as well, as they were worried sick after hearing what had happened at the restaurant. They wanted me to immediately come back home, even though I insisted that I was fine, and that I was actually enjoying the company of everyone else with me. Regardless, they were VERY upset and concerned over the whole situation.

As we were cleaning, we were a bit stunned to also notice that some of the other hostages from earlier actually came back in to help as well, though some of them also came back in to see if they had left anything in the restaurant. And even after everything that happened, a few people even came back in to talk to Sully and Ord specifically as well.

I was also able to talk to a few of the other hostages and even made friends with a couple of them, including a grey wolf named Cyber, and a yellow Tiger named Static. We were also confronted by a couple of aligator policemen that seemed like they already knew who we were, and we all gave our own individual reports to the two as to what we went through.

In the end, even though everything that went down at the restaurant was truly a VERY frightening experience, at least Junir was able to be there with us, and the Klodia brothers were finally taken back to jail where they belonged.

<<<<<<<< ******

Meanwhile......after Tony, Aquin, and Michael saw the television and the report about what was going down.....

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

"Fuck.....I need to get back there! I hope Crank and Bolt are there! Shit!" Aquin moaned out, as he felt like he had actually made a mistake for once as the three saw the news crews showing Chowder's soup café in the background.

"W-wait.....what's going on??" Michael then asked.

A few moments of silence enveloped the air while the three kept watching the TV.

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

"............................P-please god.....I hope.....they weren't there....." Tony then mentioned out of nowhere, as that was the first time he expressed any painful emotions ever since what happened earlier that day with Mike. The Tiger then went and turned the volume nearly all the way down on the TV, as he didn't want to hear what possibly went down inside the restaurant.

"I'm still confused....what the hell happened there????" Michael asked.

Neither Tony nor Aquin wanted to speak right then and there as they kept looking on.

*sigh* "........We......we were there at that place yesterday, and.....Mike....and the others......they're near there......." Tony replied, putting his head down.

"We can't stay here guys. We need to go. Tony, I'm going to head back and make sure they're safe, and I REALLY think you should come with me." Aquin insisted.

Tony lifted his head up, and sighed again. It was then though that his face turned from a worried look, almost into a look of anger.

"I'm sorry Aquin.....regardless of what happened there....I still need to take care of this, for myself." Tony replied.

"Marco needs to pay for what he's done, and I can't let him get away with his shit any longer." The Tiger then added.

Suddenly, the three were caught off guard when they heard another voice emitting from the front entrance.

"Hey Aquin, how's everything in here?"

Tony and Michael took their eyes off the television and then looked over to see a green eastern dragon that was wearing a white buttoned shirt and blue jeans walking towards the three with his car keys in hand, wondering what was going on.

"Not good Thunder......we're going soon...I....I just can't believe all this shit's happening!" Aquin exclaimed as he kept watching the TV. The green dragon was a bit stunned to see Aquin the way he was, as he had never seen the Gator acting, or even talking like this. Aquin himself was in a state of mind that he almost never showed to other people.....and that was pain.

Right at that moment, Aquin felt his head a bit, and needed to actually sit down on one of the chairs in the waiting area.

"Whoa holy shit......you ok 'Quin??" Thunder asked as he walked over to the Gator. Michael and Tony kept watching the TV as the dragon came over to assist the Gator, even though both Tigers were still concerned right then and there.

"Y-ye- *COUGH COUGH*"

"Holy shit....easy there! Damn!"

*O_O* *O_O*

"Jesus! Should I go get a nurse??" Michael then asked, as the three noticed the Gator coughing up a bit of blood.

"......What's going on Aquin??" Tony then asked, as this was something he was NOT used to seeing at all from the Gator, though at the same time, both Tony and Aquin still didn't really know each other that well as they only met a few days earlier.

"h-hhnnnggg.....*COUGH* I....I'm fine g-guys.....just a bit overwhelmed...." Aquin replied to the three.

"Just catch your breath dude, don't overdo it." Thunder insisted as he sat next to the Gator, while Michael quickly went over to the vending machine and bought a bottle of water so that he could give it to the gator.

Aquin nodded and continued to breathe slowly and also taking a couple drinks of water, while Tony and Michael started watching the TV again, even though the news channel was reporting something completely different. At the same time though, the two Tigers realized they never introduced themselves to the dragon.

"S-so wait, you're Thunder?" Tony asked while the Dragon kept sitting next to Aquin.

"Yep, why do you ask?" The dragon replied.

"Aquin was telling me that you're a REALLY good driver....but I mean....still.....how the hell did...."

"Heh, let's just say that Aquin isn't the only one here that can get around using his special skills. Ain't that right bud?" Thunder replied, patting the Gator on the back to try to lighten his friend/partner up.

"Y-yeah....heh." Aquin replied, smiling a bit but still catching his breath at the same time and still drinking some water.

"Well....I'm-"

"Tony, yes I know that's you, I've seen your face heh." Thunder replied.

Tony actually smirked a bit, though he was still in no mood for fun & games. The big Tiger did realize that he didn't mention who was with him though.

"This is my friend Mike by the way." Tony then mentioned, which ultimately lead to Michael and Thunder also greeting one another and shaking hands themselves.

"W-we gotta go.....we don't have time to waste here guys...." Aquin then said out of nowhere as the Gator got up off the seat.

"Easy Aquin! Like I said, don't overwork yourself!" Thunder exclaimed.

"I'm fine now Thun', we gotta go. You need to take me back to the hideout."

"Huh? Hideout? What is he talking about Tony?" Michael asked.

"I have no fucking clue....." The orange striped tiger replied.

"Well I'll take you there 'Quin, but if the others see you doing what you just did, leaving a few spots of blood like that on the floor over there, they're CERTAINLY not going to let you leave."

"I don't care! We NEED to get out of here!" Aquin nearly shouted as he walked towards the front door. Michael and Tony didn't know what to think as they simply watched the two walking away from them, but they figured they should follow them both anyway.

"We might as well go Tony......wait....T-Tony?" Michael asked as he was starting to walk towards the door himself, only to stop as Tony was still looking at the TV.

"H-hey.....wait....Mike look....is.....is that....."

Tony pointed at a very small figure in the background on the TV screen, with his eyes widening once again while Aquin and Thunder were now outside of the hospital. As Michael looked onward back at the TV himself, Tony turned up the volume once again.

"...........lots of shock around the area Kelly, it seems like the power has come back on inside.....wait a minute.....it now looks like a few more hostages are coming outside."

"....................." *O_O*

Tony's eyes were now wider than ever, as Eric, Kimahri, and Chowder had walked outside of the restaurant as they were shown on the TV, though their eyes were still also on another person as well.

"Wait.....is that....is that Junir?!?!?!" Michael then mentioned as he looked on the left side of the TV, noticing a Lion wandering around the area even though he wasn't in clear view.

"What in the motherfucking hell happened there?!?!?!?!" Tony then lashed out of nowhere, as the Tiger's eyes were now becoming bloodshot and full of rage compared to the worried look he had earlier.

Just then, the news reporter started speaking some more.

"......And we're being told Kelly that we now have some new footage that was shot by a bystander on his camera roughly a half hour ago when this was first escalating. We do wanna warn our viewers that this footage may look or sound disturbing, so please be advised."

At that moment, the television turned from the news report, to what looked to be a pocket camcorder video playing on the screen.

And it was also at that same moment....that Tony and Michael saw one of the faces of the apparent gunmen as they heard these words being shouted in the video:

"ALRIGHT, YOU ALL LISTEN TO ME. SOMEONE IS GONNA DIE WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR IF WE DON'T HAVE 5 MILLION DOLLARS IN OUR HANDS, AND IT MIGHT BE THIS GUY."

"LISTEN, WE CAN HANDLE THIS SITUATION VERY THUROUGHLY. PLEASE LET SOME PEOPLE GO AND WE WILL COMPLY WITH YOUR REQUEST."

"59 MINUTES LEFT."

The video ended right then and there, quickly turning back to the news reporter.

".............No......."

"............No....no....not them.....oh my god....oh....my....fucking.....god...." Tony softly moaned out, feeling his head as he saw one of the black bears on the TV screen......holding up a gun to Chowder's neck while a gator cop tried talking back to the gunmen.

"W-wait...do.....do you....know that guy Ton?" Michael asked, as Tony had to take a seat much like Aquin did right then and there. Michael then turned down the TV so that he could talk with the big guy.

"......w-why.....why did.....why did I l-leave? Oh my god.....why did I do that?!?!?!"

Tony ultimately let out all of his emotions right then and there as he went from having a look of rage, to a look of nervousness and even to the point where he looked like he might cry over what he was seeing on the TV. The big tiger realized that instead of leaving his friends and loved ones behind to keep them safe, he was actually nearly leaving them for dead after seeing the gunmen on the TV.

"Easy Tony! What's going on? Talk to me!" Michael then nearly shouted, even though he didn't really know what to do since he still didn't know exactly what was going on.

******

"That'll be $7.65."

"Here you go, keep the change."

"I really just hope that Junir is okay after everything that happened here..." Gantu mentioned as the cab drove off.

"I'm just glad that that fucking shootout is over!" Kumi exclaimed as the two walked up towards the entrance of the hospital and eventually walking inside.

"Yeah same here......that mechanic said it would take roughly an hour to replace the windshield and the dents, right?"

"Yeah I believe so."

"Good, thank god I didn't get back on the highway, those cops would've been all over me for that. I'm just shocked that guy had everything I needed there."

"Yeah I am too.......I wonder where Jun.....hey wait.....TONY??"

*****

"TONY??"

"W-what??" The tiger moaned out, lifting his face out of his hands and turning to his right to see who was calling his name.

"O-oh....h-hey guys...." Tony then added as he noticed Gantu and Kumi walking up to him.

"Tony! What's going on? What the fuck happened to your house?!?! Hey wait a sec....where's.....where's Mike??" The tall whale curiously asked.

".....it's.....it's a VERY long story....."

"Wait....where have I seen you before?? Hey wait.....you're Gantu, right?" Michael then asked the big whale.

"Yeah, and this is my mate Kumi as well." Gantu replied, introducing the bear to the Tiger as the two shook hands, even though both the whale and the bear were wondering where Mike was.

"W-wait....w-why are you guys here anyway? Oh wait....are you here to see Junir?" Tony then murmured.

"Yeah....even though we don't really know him as well as you do, we still wanted to see him regardless....that's why I also bought these flowers for him...." Kumi said to the two Tigers.

"But we also saw where he was and how he got injured! What the fuck happened Tony?!?!?!?!" Gantu then exclaimed as he was eager to know why Tony's house was pretty much demolished after seeing the report on the TV from earlier that morning.

"Ugh.....so much shit has happened over the last week....I.....I don't know...." Tony replied, feeling his head again and slouching over on the seat in the lobby.

"Tony.....talk to me, I've known you long enough and have never seen you like this! Tell me what's going on!" Gantu nearly demanded as he sat down next to the Tiger.

".......I......I can't......it just....aghhhh.....my head hurts...."

"Did...something happen....to Junir??" Kumi asked, as the bear was thinking that Tony was perhaps worrying a lot about the Lion, although at the same time, the bear was still wondering where the human was.

"Junir......well.....he's....he's not here...." Michael then slowly slurred back.

"WHAT?!" "WHAT?!?! What do you mean??" Gantu and Kumi frantically asked.

"I don't know what it is.....but this world seems to be getting smaller by the minute.....cause Tony and I.....well.....hey look, there!" Michael then pointed out, as he noticed the news station still on the scene of the incident back at Chowder's place, which happened to show a particular Lion....limping closer and closer to the screen. In fact, the Lion was now getting so close to the camera on the left side....that the reporter seemed to want to get the Lion on camera to ask him what was going on, even though the Lion was covered in cut marks and bruises.

"Wait.....is that Junir?!?!?!" Gantu shouted. Michael turned up the volume on the television again, to eventually hear the words:

".....Sir, can you tell us what you have thought about this whole situation so far?" The female reporter asked.

At that moment, the Lion slid into view of the camera, which ultimately caused the three standing near the TV to shout out:

"Holy shit!" "It's Junir!" "Junir!!!"

Tony was still sitting on the chair with his head down, though he could still hear the report.

"Also, are you okay? You seemed a little banged up yourself, were you inside there with the others??" The reporter then added.

"N-no I wasn't.....but a few of my friends are in there.....I just hope nothing happened to them.....hey wait....look, more cops are coming out now!" The Lion mentioned as he was on camera wearing the borrowed clothes from Dracon.

"Well hopefully everyone that was in there was safe as we take a look over at the restaurant again.....and it appears that the cops are now bringing out the alleged gunmen that we showed you on the video from just a few moments ago, yet we still do not know how everything escalated inside."

"........are those...."

".......what happened, let me see." Tony replied, getting up and looking behind him to see the TV above the four.

"And as you can see, the cops are putting these two gunmen who apparently broke out of prison only a couple of weeks ago into the patrol cars right now, and I'm being told here that they will be escorted to the Rikers Island prison in New York, but that's all I know for now Kelly."

"Wait Jane, I know that Lion standing next to you looks familiar, but where have I seen him?"

"I'm not sure Kelly.....sir, would you mind telling us who you are and where you're from?"

Junir was kinda thrown off guard by the statement, but he also figured that he couldn't avoid being talked about since he was on the news himself not long before everything went down.

"I'm Junir Espinoza from Saratoga Springs in New York, but I'm here visiting a few of my friends, who still happen to be in that café.....ugh....I hope nothing happened to them inside...." Junir replied to the reporter.

"Just how the hell did he...."

"How did Junir....?!?!"

"I don't know what to think...."

"At least Junir is okay....."

All four guys that were watching the TV expressed their opinions differently while they saw the Lion speak on camera. At the same time though, Tony's eyes were still wide open as he saw the gunmen being dragged out, since it was officially the two bears that had caused the whole epidemic in the first place.

"I knew that he looked familiar, because we have a report about how he was admitted to the Elmhurst Hospital in New York. Junir, if you can hear what I'm saying, how did you get from the hospital to that area of Massachusetts so quickly, and furthermore, why are you out of the hospital?" The anchor woman asked into the monitor that was being transmitted to the reporter near the café.

Junir really didn't want to explain the story, and was even more shocked about how the news station wasn't reporting about the shootout that happened at the hospital earlier.

"Well.....let's just say I got lucky and barely escaped something major that went down at that hospital....." Junir replied, though he also felt a bit awkward being on camera right then and there.

"I'm gonna head back over now." Junir then said to the reporter, walking away from the camera and back over to where he was before. Michael turned the TV down again as the news report cut away from the hostage scene as the TV channel went to commercials.

"He's definitely right about that, it was CRAZY here earlier!" Kumi exclaimed.

"Got that right." "I'm just glad I wasn't here." "..........................."

Gantu, Michael, and Tony all had different reactions, but they were also glad knowing that the Lion was safe at least.

"What....should we do now then??" Gantu asked the three.

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

"I think Tony has really been hit hard with everything going on here, we should let him rest a little longer." Michael softly whispered into the Whale's ear while the Tiger- was still sitting down, holding his hands to his face. Gantu nodded and immediately said the same thing to Kumi very quietly.

******

"Where are those guys? We need to fucking get out of here!" Aquin shouted as Thunder pulled the Lamborghini out of the parking spot and drove it out of the lot, back towards the median in front of the hospital.

"Should we just leave them?" Thunder asked curiously.

".........ugh......you know what......I shouldn't be doing this, but I guess I have no choice. Hang on, I'll be right back Thun'" Aquin mentioned in a frustrated voice as he quickly got out of the car and bolted towards the entrance again, still wondering why Tony and the others hadn't come outside yet.

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

Aquin went inside, and immediately noticed two people he had never seen before, standing right next to Tony and Michael.

"Tony.....I need to let you know something." Aquin spoke out VERY swiftly, which ultimately threw off Gantu and Kumi.

"Who are you??" Gantu asked.

"It's....it's ok guys, I'll explain everything after. What do you want Aquin." Tony replied slowly, and almost like his brain simply couldn't express any emotions after all the thoughts that were processing through it already.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all of this, and I feel like I'm partially responsible. I know you want to go after Marco, and I'm not going to stop you either. But I want you to have this just in case you need it.

The Gator reached into the back of his pocket and pulled out his own gun that he hardly ever used, and handed it right to the big guy. Tony simply grabbed the gun, and put it next to him while covering his face again.

Gantu and Kumi were more confused than ever at that point, and didn't even know where to begin in terms of wondering what the hell was going on. The two continued to let the Gator speak though, even though he had just handed Tony a weapon.

"I know you don't want to talk, but hopefully you'll listen. This pistol is special, and it has some special effects to it that you'll be able to use well if you face Marco one on one. And most importantly, keep yourself out of harm's way. Mike loves you very much and I don't want him to be upset, but he already is because of what you've done. So YOU need to do this not just for yourself Tony, but for Mike as well because otherwise, you might as well never go back to him."

Tony still held his face in his hands, though he did let out a small nod. However, the nod was also followed by a few sniffing noises as well, as the Tiger started to cry a bit.

"I'm out of here, you guys make sure Tony doesn't get himself in any trouble." Aquin mentioned to the other three as he took a cigarette out, put it in his mouth, headed back towards the entrance of the hospital and eventually left the area.

*****

"Who the hell was that??" Gantu asked, then adding "And who is Marco??"

"I wouldn't wanna talk about Marco...." Michael replied softly into Gantu's ear.

"Marco..... *sniff* is my cousin.....who is ultimately responsible for everything you, me, and nearly everyone else we know has been through." Tony replied out of nowhere, taking his hands off his face, wiping away a couple of tears and looking up to the others while he kept sitting on the chair in the lobby.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Gantu replied.

"Basically.....it's like this....=" Tony slurred out a bit, as he started to explain everything that Gantu and Kumi didn't know about in terms of everything that went down after Tony's birthday party from a couple weeks beforehand.

******

"They coming?" Thunder asked as Aquin got into the car.

"No they're not. I gave Tony the Spectre."

".......you're kidding, right?"

"No I'm not. Let's go."

"Sorry 'Quin, but I think you're crazy. Are you seriously going to give that up for real? Do you even realize what could happen if that thing is misused??"

"Yes, I know. But I also know that Tony isn't stupid and that he's only going to use that when he needs to. Now let's get going."

"Alright I guess, but I still think you're crazy."

With that said, both Thunder and Aquin drove off and left the hospital driveway, heading back towards the main city to head back to their mysterious "club".

However.....right as they left the hospital....

"Wait...... slow down....you feel that Thunder?"

"......yeah....what am I sensing?"

"Something.....went down near here......and it's close by....."

"You're right....."

Thunder kept driving the Lamborghini, though he was now driving at a VERY slow rate while Aquin and the Dragon were looking out of the windows, as they sensed that something was wrong nearby on the back road that was part of the hospital exit.

"......we're close....."

".....hey look.....THERE! STOP!"

Aquin shouted at the Dragon, causing the Lambo to screech to an abrupt halt as the two noticed a VERY badly damaged car in the backyard of a house. Thunder quickly pulled the car into the driveway of the house, and the two got out to examine what was going on.

"Why do I have a bad feeling that something happened here...." Thunder mentioned to the Gator, while the two were walking around the corner of the house.

"I...smell blood........oh no....OH MY GOD!!!"

".......What.....the......holy....."

"Who the fuck......."

The two looked around the corner and noticed a female siamese cat, along with what looked to be her son.....dead in each other's arms......lying in a pool of blood.

Aquin went up to the bodies, noticing the terrified look that was frozen on the woman's face as she lied there motionless, along with her child that had no emotions on his face at all.

".................GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR......"

"......Who....the motherfucking hell....did this...."

Thunder was still asking questions very quietly, though Aquin was now growling.....VERY loudly. It was truly a side of the Gator that few had ever seen, and much like only a handful of people had seen the painful side of Aquin, even less saw the RAGEFUL side of the muscular Gator.

"........GRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr........those motherfuckers.....WILL DEFINITELY PAY!!!!" Aquin shouted at the top of his lungs, venting out everything he could while glowing a dark red color right in front of Thunder. The dragon definitely felt intimidated, as he had never seen the Gator like this before.

"grrrrrr.........*pant....pant*......"

".............hnnngg......."

Aquin pretty much let out everything he had in terms of the anger that was stored inside him, but then he calmed down again, and started to speak in his normal voice.

"May you two......have each other in your arms for peace and in eternity......" The gator finally mentioned out loud, putting his hand on both bodies and closing his eyes for a minute.

"Jesus......talk about heartless assholes....I still wanna know who the fuck did this...." Thunder thought to himself after noticing how banged up the car was that was in the backyard of the house.

"......Let's go Thunder." Aquin then exclaimed to the Dragon, walking back towards the car while the dragon complied.

"What are you going to do now??" Thunder asked as the two got inside the Lambo once again.

"Oh I'm still going to head back to check up on Mike and the others, but I'm also going to make sure that whoever did this will personally get a VERY special visit from me wherever it is that they might be located, whether it's at jail, a warehouse, hospital, or even a fucking gravesite for all that matters. Let's go."

The two finally left, and were off to go back to the city.

****

As Tony explained the story to Gantu and Kumi, their reaction was nearly the same as when Tony explained everything to Michael not long beforehand. Even though the couple knew that Mike had been kidnapped since they saw the news report and asked Tony about it that same day, the two simply could not believe the words coming out of Tony's mouth, as it seemed like nearly everything the big Tiger was explaining about what happened after Mike was kidnapped felt like something from an action movie, and not in real life.

"......and then after we found Mike....." Tony continued, as he started to then explain what happened to his home after everything that had unfolded after the group met Aquin and then found Mike.

Tony continued to explain his story, from nearly being gunned down at his own house, to finding his neighbor dead and left in his backyard, to finally heading back to where Mike's parents lived at his old house in Massachusetts.

"So you're telling me that all these people that have caused you to go though this, ultimately lead back to that one guy....Marco???" Gantu asked as Tony finished explaining everything to that point.

"......every single one of them.....yes...." Tony slowly replied, shaking his head in frustration and disbelief as well.

"Wait a minute....but how did your house end up the way we saw it on TV?!?!" Gantu then exclaimed.

"Well......I'll just make a long story short here. Sull, Ord, Aquin and myself went to go see Mike, and we were doing fine and even made a few new friends up where he was staying. But then.....after I saw that damn news report and saw what happened to Junir and my house.......agh......I'm sorry, I just.......I just can't take it anymore. I'm getting out of here." Tony blurted out, not even being able to finish what he was saying as he simply got out of the chair, and walked towards the front door VERY fast with Aquin's gun in his hand and with a determined look on his face.

"TONY, WAIT!" "Tony, where are you going?!?!?" "TONY?!?!?" All three shouted as they watched the orange Tiger exit the front door of the hospital, with the Tiger walking VERY quickly towards his Hummer and eventually getting in it.

Michael, Gantu, and Kumi felt like there was nothing they could do as they watched Tony start up his vehicle and drive off very quickly as the vehicle exited the hospital driveway.

"What the hell is up with him?!?!?! In all the years I've known that guy I've NEVER seen him like this!" Gantu said to the other two, still not knowing what to think as all the events that Tony described was now making his own head spin.

"Well.....he did explain everything to me though.......not sure why he wouldn't tell you guys.....but maybe it has to do with the fact that we're both connected to the same problem as we speak....."

".....huh? What do you mean? He still didn't explain what happened to his house....."

"He told me though, cause Junir actually called him and explained what happened, since Tony originally wanted Junir to check on the house while he went and visited Mike along with Sully, Ord, and Aquin."

"Wait.....Junir called Tony??" Kumi asked. "From where though? Here? Or where he was on the TV??"

"It had to have been here, cause I remember he told me that Junir said he was in the hospital bed calling him.....but from what Tony told me, Junir said to him that someone fucking planted several actual bombs in his own house!" Michael replied, which caused Gantu and Kumi to open their eyes widely again.

".......Was Tony serious when he said that every single thing that he has apparently been through along with Mike and the others, all leads back to that Marco guy??"

"Unfortunately yes. I'm so glad that Tony helped me come clean.....I just wish this shit would stop though....."

"Come clean?" Gantu asked.

".....Yeah......he didn't tell you....but the two of us used to be in the same gang together along with Marco and a few others....." Michael explained.

"Ok......I'm fucking lost here......so Tony explained all that stuff to us just now, which I still don't believe, and now you're telling me he used to be in a gang?!?!?!" the Whale nearly yelled out, which even took the receptionist by surprise that wasn't sitting far from them.

"It was a VERY LONG time ago, believe me. Tony and I got out of the group since Marco and the others were dealing with dangerous shit, and they all ultimately got thrown in jail because of it. Marco somehow got out though, and since then, he's gone back to his old self again as if nothing has changed." The Tiger told the other two.

"Ok so let me get this straight. Tony used to be in a gang, got out of it along with you, the two of you go your own way and become who you are today, and now all this shit is happening with Tony over the last month?!?!"

"I guess so....."

"Well whatever happened.......Tony never explained why Mike isn't here." Gantu then replied.

"Tony told me....that he separated with Mike for the time being until he was able to take care of Marco himself...." Michael explained to the bear and the whale.

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

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

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

Once again, silence ran through the air as the three simply didn't say a single word to each other. However, the three did notice that the TV was reporting on the scene of the restaurant once again, though it looked like everything was clearing up.

Michael turned up the TV against to break the silence between himself and the other two as the reporter started speaking again.

"......and it looks like the situation is now over with Kelly, as there is some cleaning up to do, but the emotional ride that these people have been through certainly will last with them for quite a while."

"That's certain, thank you Jane.......hang on, look behind you, I think someone else is now coming out of the restaurant." The anchor woman mentioned from the studio she was talking in on the TV screen.

"Hey......is....that...." Gantu spoke out very softly while the TV kept broadcasting the news report, as he noticed a familiar looking person walking out of the restaurant and looking all around the area.

"Yes, you're right Kelly. I guess not everyone has officially left the restaurant yet, but we do know that the perpetrators have officially been taken away and have...."

"MIKE!!!!"

"......JUNIR!!!!"

Before the reporter could finish speaking, she was caught off guard as she heard a couple of voices behind her, as the camera recorded the Lion that was being interviewed earlier running up to a human, with the two eventually hugging each other.

"Hey! There's Mike!" Kumi pointed out.

Michael, Gantu, and Kumi all smiled right then and there as they watched the two guys hugging each other, while the news reporter let the scene speak louder than words could.

"That's so sweet....." Gantu mentioned as he kept smiling while watching the TV, but then he added:

"But......why would Tony.....break up with Mike?!?!"

"So that's the guy that Tony was telling me about that he broke up with?" Michael asked as the human and the Lion broke their hug and started walking back towards the police cars near them.

"Yeah....that's definitely Mike. Hey wait.....didn't Junir have like a whole bunch of cuts on him and shit when he was being interviewed earlier??" Kumi replied.

"You're right Kum.....what the.....hell? He looks like he's a brand new person now, but then again he's not necessarily close up to the camera like he was before." Gantu pointed out.

"Oh look! Is that Sull and Ord?" The brown bear then mentioned, noticing the blue monster and the blue dragon walking out of the restaurant.

"Yeah! Wait....who's that other guy?" Gantu asked as the three also noticed a red dragon walking out in the background as well. Michael and Kumi simply shrugged their shoulders, but they were still happy to know that Mike and Junir were at least okay.

"So what should we do now??" Gantu asked.

"Where do you think Tony drove off to? Is he really going to go after that Marco guy that he was talking about?" Kumi then added.

"Perhaps. He was also talking about his own house being demolished, maybe he's heading there." Michael then pointed out.

"I kinda wanna see Mike, Junir, and the others though up there in Massachusetts." Kumi replied to the two.

"Good idea Kum. As much of a friend that Tony is to you and me, he really sounds like he needs to be by himself. And the last thing I wanna do is be involved in another shootout like we just went through earlier, it was like going to hell and back." Gantu said.

"So are you two going to head up there then?" Michael asked.

"Yeah." "Yeah we are." Both the bear and the whale replied.

"Well, I'm going to see if I can find Tony, I hope he went to his house cause at least I think I know where that is since they mentioned it in that news report this morning. Do you guys know where it is exactly?"

"His house is in Douglaston, and make sure you look for Kairos drive if you head there then." Gantu instructed the Tiger.

"Alright, I'll head there then since that's really not far from here anyway. It was nice meeting you two." Michael then mentioned.

"Same here." "It was nice meeting you too Michael." Gantu and Kumi replied as the three exchanged handshakes once again. Michael eventually headed out and left the hospital, while Gantu and Kumi had to wait for a phone call from the auto repair building a few miles down the road so that the two could go get their truck back.

".....Don't do anything stupid Tony.....Marco is smart." Michael thought to himself as he got into his Mitsubishi Lancer, programmed his GPS unit on his smartphone, and headed off to see if Tony was indeed heading to his wrecked home.

"Hey Gant, just how are we going to find out where Mike and the others are up there?" Kumi asked.

"Well I can email him, I'm sure whatever they went through won't stop him from checking it since he still has that G2 phone I think."

"Yeah good point. Can you email him with that new phone you got?"

"Well let's find out heh." Gantu replied, pulling out his new Iphone and quickly composing a new message to Mike's email address that the two exchanged at Tony's birthday party a couple weeks beforehand. With that said, everything at the hospital was now over and done with, and the news report on the TV finally wrapped up completely, as the channel was now talking about other current events going on in the country.

>>>>>>>> *****

"Man....what a day...." I thought to myself, leaving the café after spending a good couple hours with the others, from cleaning up the place, to simply talking to each other and actually enjoying each other's company, nearly forgetting about what we had been through earlier.

I left the café along with Sully, Ord, Junir, Eric, Kimahri, Cyber, Static, Dracon, and finally Chowder, who locked the place up, even though one of the windows was only covered with some caution tape.

"Well, you have to admit guys, today was definitely a crazy day." Sull exclaimed, as we all stood as a group near the entrance of the restaurant as it was now 5:30 PM, with the sun fading off slowly in the distance even though there was still daylight outside.

"Yeah it was." "Definitely." "Craziest one in quite some time." Several people replied.

"I just hope I can get these things fixed soon so I can re-open the café...." Chowder then mentioned with a bit of a sad look on his face.

"Hey there Chowder, don't be giving us a face like that, I'm going to make sure I'm your first customer when you re-open the place." Junir then mentioned, as the two big cats certainly got along VERY well with each other after they met one another earlier.

"Same here, just the thought of the food you mentioned is making me hungry heh." Dracon then mentioned, scratching his head a bit.

"So.....what do you guys wanna do now then?" Ord then asked everyone.

"Well, Kimahri and I should probably head back home, we need to check up on the house and everything and I know my friends are probably worried sick about me online if they saw everything on the TV...."

"Yeah, my phone's been buzzing non-stop over the last couple of hours with voicemails and emails, I had to turn off my phone since I pretty much ran out of battery with all the buzzing heh." I then mentioned to the others.

"Well....it was really nice to meet you guys, but Static and I have to head back home ourselves.....but we'll definitely make sure we stop back here soon when you re-open Mr. Chowder." The grey wolf happily insisted.

"Please, call me Chowder, I don't wanna feel like an old man here haha!" The big Tiger replied.

"It was definitely nice meeting you two, and you guys have my AIM and MSN messenger info, right?" I asked the yellow Tiger and the Wolf.

"Yep, already put it on my phone here hehe." "Yep, got it Mike." Both Static and Cyber replied.

"And I'm guessing you have my AIM info too?" Sully then asked the two as they were now near their Mazda CX7 vehicle.

"Y-yes we do, thanks again Mr. Sullivan!" Cyber replied with a bit of a stutter, since he was still flattered knowing that he was talking to the famous monster in person.

"You're really polite Cyber, but like Chowder said, just call me Sully." The big guy happily replied.

"Alrighty then Sully, we'll see you all later!" Cyber finally exclaimed to all of us, as he gave his goodbye along with his Tiger friend as the two eventually drove off and left the plaza, leaving the eight of us now near all of our cars....except for Junir and Dracon, who had no vehicle at all.

"I still can't believe you two actually flew here together heh. I'm jealous." Eric joked with a little smile on his face as he talked at the Lion and the Dragon.

"Well...as crazy as it sounds.....if it weren't for this guy.....I honestly don't know if we'd be talking out here right now....." Junir replied, with all of us nodding in agreement.

The whole time we were all talking, I just kept noticing how the large red dragon kept eying me ever so slightly, almost as if he was checking me out. He was definitely a dragon that looked strong and determined, but also very loyal and caring too. I couldn't help but feel my heart rate go up every time he slightly looked at me, though I didn't know if he was trying to send a message of some sort.

"I guess we should all head back to our homes...." Eric then insisted, though he then added:

"Oh hang on guys, I got another phone call here."

The human quickly pulled out his phone and walked away from us along with Kimahri so that he could hear the phone more clearly.

"Well, Mike's not going anywhere without us, regardless of where we have to stay." Sull replied, putting his hand on my shoulder, as did Ord as well.

"Like I said, if you guys wanna stay at my place again you're more than welcome to, although.....I might need some time to myself tonight after everything that's happened today...." Chowder then explained to Sully, Ord, and myself.

"Well, I live in Portsmouth so it won't take me long to fly back there from here." Dracon then mentioned to us.

"Oh wow, you live in Portsmouth? That's a really nice city, it's been quite a while t-though since I last went there." I replied to the red dragon, even though I stuttered a bit since I was still a bit overwhelmed by his appearance, and knowing that Junir was also still near me was another contributing factor.

"Yep, I own a nice house on the Oceanside, you guys should all come visit it and the bowling alley I own too!" The dragon insisted.

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

My jaw simply dropped once again, though this time it was more of a good jaw drop, at least compared to the way I reacted when I saw the two bears enter the café earlier.

"Oh man....." "Heh." Sully and Ord replied, as they knew what was coming from a certain human they knew.

"Y-you....OWN A BOWLING ALLEY?!?!?!?!?!!?!?" I shouted, as I was simply stunned by the Dragon's statement, but also hoping that it wasn't some sort of joke.

"Heh yeah, how long has it been since you actually visited Portsmouth, Mike?" Dracon asked me as he was now standing right in front of me. I had to look up quite a bit as the Dragon clearly towered over my body, being at least a couple feet taller than I was.

".......it's been quite a while.....at least a couple of years. I.....I usually just pass through it, I don't usually visit the city though my mom used to l-live there...." I murmured back, as my heart was pounding more and more, feeling a bit intimidated but also a bit shy in front of the dragon with his muscular figure standing in front of my body.

"Ah ok, I've only had the place open for about a year now so that's why you probably haven't seen it heh." The dragon replied, smiling and scratching his head again.

"I gotta check it out though! Is it open right now??" I replied, not even thinking about the other guys around me as I was REALLY interested in this bowling alley that the Dragon was talking about.

"Yeah it should be, though my workers are probably wondering where the hell I'm at since I haven't called them or anything.....probably should do that now." Dracon replied, pulling out his own phone from his gym bag and dialing up his supposed bowling alley and walking away from us so that he wouldn't be disturbed while making the phone call..

".....This has been the craziest roller coaster ride ever if you ask me." Junir mentioned, shaking his head a bit but still smiling along with the rest of us.

"Well...we're just glad you're okay Jun." Sull replied, though he then whispered into the Lion's ear:

"And I know a human that is REALLY glad that you're okay too hehe."

The Lion simply laughed while I blushed heavily at that moment as I still heard what the blue monster said.

"Yeah, I'm glad I'm here with all of you guys. It's just too bad that Tony and Aquin aren't here....."

Right when Junir mentioned Tony's name, I felt another sharp jolt of pain running through my head, but oddly enough, the pain wasn't as bad as before. I guess that with everything we had been through as a group together today really helped calm me down and also realize that regardless of Tony and myself separating, my friends were still there for me in the end.

At the same time though....I really did wish that both Tony and Aquin were there with us too so that this day could've ended in a much better way.

"......*sigh*.....It's getting late here anyway....as much as I'd love to check out that bowling alley, my parents are probably worried sick about me." I mentioned, scratching my head a little bit.

*CLICK*

Before anyone could say anything else, Eric came back over to us along with Kimahri, and said to our group:

"Hey guys, we're gonna head back home now, my parents are actually coming down from Maine since they heard what happened...."

We all nodded, though I then replied:

"Should we exchange numbers or instant messenger names so we can talk online?"

"I was actually going to ask you the same thing Mike, heh." Eric happily replied. With that we both nodded at each other, and wrote down each other's info into our smartphones. Kimahri also did the same with me, and the two also exchanged their contact info with nearly everyone else there as well, except for Dracon who was still talking on his phone.

"Alright guys....well we gotta go, but we'll keep in touch with you all, and don't hesitate to visit us either up in Raymond!" Eric happily mentioned.

"I'll talk to you guys online so we can all get together again sometime!" I replied.

Eric walked up to me personally, and then said right to my face:

"If you need someone to talk to because of everything that happened Mike, I'm only a phone call away, okay?"

"Thanks Eric, I really do appreciate it." I replied. The two of us gave each other a small, quick hug, and Kimahri then did the same to show that he also cared about everything I had been through.

"Alrighty then, we'll see you guys all later!" Eric finally replied, with Kimahri waving himself as the human and the Ronso went over and got into their vehicle.

"See ya!" "See you guys!" "Take care!" A bunch of voices replied including my own, with the two eventually driving off in their Chevy Camaro, now leaving just me, Ord, Sull, Junir, Chowder, and Dracon in the parking lot of Chowder's café.

Right as the car left the plaza, I noticed Dracon ending his phone call, and walking back towards us.

"How's the bowling alley doing?" I asked curiously to the red dragon, as I REALLY wanted to know more about the place.

"Good, good. Couple of people were wondering where I was but they were able to handle themselves fine heh." Dracon replied smiling.

"That's good." "We gotta visit there ourselves." I replied, with Sull talking right after me.

"Well, I guess I should probably go see my parents and head back to my house." I mentioned to the others.

"Yeah, we should all get going." Sull replied.

"Meh.....I don't feel like flying all the way back to my place at this time of day, I've been through enough today haha. Plus, I wanna hang around with you some more Ord, it's been so long and I don't just wanna leave right away." Dracon then mentioned out of nowhere, and then adding: "Mind if I crash at your place Chowder?"

"Not at all, but like I said, I still might need some time to myself tonight. Junir, you can also stay as well if you want to." The big tiger replied, with Ord also nodding at Dracon's last statement.

"Might as well, since you guys all are doing so apparently. Wait, where is your house??" Junir asked.

"Oh, I didn't tell you? Chowder and I live next to each other." I replied to the Lion.

"Oh nice! I should stop by and say hi to your mom again as well while I'm there." Junir then added, with me nodding back.

"Wanna ride with us then Jun'?" Sull asked the Lion.

"Sure! Who's riding with who here?"

As much as I wanted to ride back with Sull, Ord, and Junir, I figured that it would also be a crowded car, plus I also wanted to comfort Chowder in his time of need too, as well as getting to know Dracon better too, even though I didn't know who the dragon wanted to ride with.

"I'll ride with Chowder." I replied, going up to the Tiger and putting my arm around him to comfort him, which did cause him to smile a bit.

"Yeah I might as well too......is that your car chowder?" Dracon asked, pointing to a VERY nice looking grey Chevy Corvette, which looked like it had a hood on the top of it that could be popped down.

"Y-yes it is.....just bought it too...." Chowder stuttered back a bit, as we walked over to both cars that happened to be parked next to each other.

"Hmmmm....not sure if I can fit in it....." Dracon then replied.

"I'll put the hood down for you, see how everything is when I do so." The tiger then said to the Dragon, opening his car and slowly letting the top of the car fold down.

"Well, we're gonna head back to your house but we'll wait for you guys there and maybe we'll say hi to your family as well Mike." Sull then told the three of us as Junir, Ord, and himself got into their car, quickly turning it on and driving off.

"So....I guess we should head back home then....." I mentioned to Chowder and Dracon, as I got into the front seat of the convertible.

"Yeah, it's been a long day. Too long." Chowder replied, letting out a small sigh and getting in the driver's seat of his vehicle.

"Hopefully I can fit in the back here.....hnnngggg....."

I felt a sudden jolt on my own seat as I felt it being pushed forward somewhat.

"Mind moving the seat forward Mike?" Dracon asked. I complied and moved it forward as much as I could, though I still felt the dragon's knee pushing against the seat pretty hard.

".....it's too tight here......hey, how about I just ride in the back with you here...." I replied. Chowder and Dracon both nodded, and I got out of the car, walking around and getting on the other side of the back seat so that Dracon wouldn't have to worry about the seat that his legs were pressing against since no one was sitting in it.

With the three of us in the car, Chowder turned on the vehicle, and we all drove off from the plaza, heading back towards Salisbury to go home.

*****

"Man...what a day....can't believe how packed it was there at the grocery store......let's see what's on TV here......"

"..............and in sports today....the Yankees extended their winning streak to 4 straight, while the Knicks are facing elimination against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference quarter finals. Heather."

"Thanks Jim. Later at 8 tonight, we will continue our report about the massive hostage scare we were reporting earlier today, as we learn that even though no one was hurt, two celebrity figures were actually involved, as shown here. We will have full details on our report later tonight."

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

*O_O*

"Oh.....my god.....ORD!!!! Espero que él esté bien!! I hope I still have his number.....hopefully he answers if I call him.... por favor ser bien mi amigo...."

With all the thoughts running through his mind, including some that he vented out, the very large yellow Dragon frivolously walked over to his phone, and quickly looked in his contact book to make sure he still had the info of the person he used to work with...and still really cared about.

TO BE CONTINUED......