Sticky Justice 3: WOOFKNOT Rises

Story by seraphls on SoFurry

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#3 of Sticky Justice

At long last, the conclusion to my Sticky Justice series. I admit, I ran out of steam on this one, hence it taking forever. I'm definitely going to start going to shorter stories again to avoid this problem in the future. However, this one is done, and I'm confident it matches the rest of the series! Enjoy!


"I don't care what it takes you, or what your boss is going to do to you. I came here for answers, and we're not letting you go until you give them up."

Roman growled and tightened his grip on the stoat as he tried to wriggle free of the German shepherd's headlock. Adrian stood close beside his partner, taser aimed at the mustlelid in case he somehow managed to throw off the larger canine. Lance wasn't worried about that, however, as the two shepherds had years of subduing petty criminals under their belts.

"I already told you... I don't even know his name." the stoat coughed out, wriggling on the ground with the comparatively huge shepherd on top of him, his suit getting more and more scuffed and messed up, "He only contacted me through proxies. If you were after what he was after, you'd take care to cover your tracks too."

"And I'm supposed to believe you would just take a shady job like that without looking into your employer at all?" Lance scoffed, picking dirt out from under his claws using the stoat's letter opener as he looked down at him, "You're just a pawn, sure, but only an idiot would get involved with these people without getting some sort of leverage in case things went wrong. And, as my associates will tell you, things are going quite wrong for you right now."

Roman chuckled as he sat up on the stoat, keeping him pinned down with his large paws. Adrian knelt down and tapped the taser to their captive's head with a chuckle.

"I'm sure you don't recognize us, but we both remember you very well," Adrian said with a menacing grin, "All those criminals you kept out of jail... all those slimy deals you cut.... Personally, I'm okay with you not talking. Gives me more time to enjoy watching you squirm."

"I told you, I was just hired to make sure the investigation never happened." The lawyer pleaded, "I'm just the added precaution. If I tell you who's responsible, I shoot to the top of some very dangerous people's shit-lists - assuming you don't just kill me."

"Oh, we're not going to kill you." Lance reassured the stoat, the red panda standing and walking toward the lawyer, "And if it helps you out to tell your employer everything about us, so be it. I don't care - the stealthy approach hasn't worked out too well for me in the past, anyhow."

The stoat grumbled and struggled against Roman, but it was to no avail. The stash of Twilight fanfictions that the red panda had turned up was enough to ruin the stoat's business for life, and he had no interest in having his back broken by a half-naked German shepherd.

"Laporkra..." the stoat stuttered, "He's the guy who did it. But he's just a pawn too. I don't know who he's working for or why."

Lance took a moment to digest this information, then waved Roman off. The shepherd huffed and reluctantly stood as the red panda took his coat from the rack.

"I'm sure we can put it together. I'd just be sure you sleep with a gun nearby. And the next time a pair of large canines bust into your office, shouting 'fuck you' at them is really easy to turn around against you."

The pathetic-looking lawyer struggled up to his knees, looking back at the three and scrambling for his glasses.

"You don't even know what you're getting into," he warned, "Why are you even risking so much for a scumbag like Enil Christensen?"

Lance paused midstep and grinned, looking back at the stoat.

"Let's just say he still owes me a set of drapes."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"It's hard to come up with badass one-liners on the spot. Give me a break."

* * *

After being locked inside an oversized chest for hours, Enil was starting to worry about his muscles locking up in their cramped positions. With his wrists and ankles bound, he could barely even shift his positioning in the tight chest. The inside had a lining of thick fabric, but every small bump or jostle from the outside felt magnified for the snow leopard. He had given up on shouting, the gag tied around his muzzle keeping him muffled.

After what felt like days, the cart Enil's chest was on came to a stop. After a loud jolt to the side, the cart was upended, causing the snow leopard to spill out into a blindingly bright room. The feline groaned and moved his arms up to rub his eyes, but could barely even get his paws past his shoulders with how stiff his muscles were. He heard several people laughing, and immediately flexed his claws, but his eyes could barely even focus enough to make out more than several blurs. He tried to shout out a string of well-crafted expletives, but found his throat too dry to make out anything more than weak vowels.

Too weak to resist, Enil was hoisted up to his feet by the thick leather collar strapped around his neck. He was fully naked, not having had an opportunity to clothe himself after being captured in his own headquarters. Enil was roughly shoved into a chair in front of a large table across from the blurred figures. His wrists were freed, and a silver tray with a large cover on it was placed in front of him.

When the cover was pulled away, the smell of turkey, garlic, and herbs brought Enil's vision back all at once, and with it the hunger of not eating for days. Without hesitation, the snow leopard tore into the turkey with his bare claws, ripping out chunks of meat and filling his mouth as quick as he could. As the grease dripped down his chin, he swallowed hard and reached for a glass of water, which was swiftly delivered to his paw. The thought that the food might have been poisoned quickly flashed through Enil's mind, but he quickly dismissed it, figuring he would at least die full.

When half the bird was torn apart and devoured, Enil's senses had cleared enough to see the figures sitting at the table in front of him. Three wolves, a husky, and a fox were seated on the other side from the snow leopard, dressed in expensive looking clothes. The room was a large dining hall, but was empty except for the six of them... and Laporkra sitting on a bench off to the side, chuckling to himself at the scene before him. Enil glared at the wolf who had captured him, but sitting there naked with a half-eaten turkey in his paws, Enil could only muster up so much pride.

"Now that you've been fed, perhaps we should get down to business." The wolf seated in the middle said, nodding over to Laporkra. The wolf smirked and stood, walking over to Enil and kicking the chair out from under the snow leopard. He grabbed the back of Enil's collar and hoisted him up effortlessly to his feet.

"If you people think that you're going to keep me like this," Enil growled as threateningly as he could, "You're sorely mistaken. Killing isn't really my style, but I'm going to make one hell of an exception for all of you once I get out of here. At this point, I'm too thoroughly annoyed to even get a kick out of watching you beg for mercy."

"Ahh, that ever-entertaining arrogance," the wolf chuckled, sipping from a glass of wine, "Do they teach you that in your silly little Feline Council, or is it just inherent to your kind? Do keep it up - it suits you, especially when you're in such a powerless position."

"Well, you're obviously some sort of organization... the Bag of Meat here isn't really the type for personal favors," Enil grumbled, tilting his head back to indicate Laporkra and earning himself a tight squeeze around the neck for a few seconds, "So now the question is, who are you, and why do you have such a huge death wish?"

"From our position, I can't exactly say I'm worried about any 'death wish', but as to who we are, we are the people who will bring down the Evil Feline Council, so that nobody has to listen to you all droning on about how great you feline are." The lead wolf pulled on a cord, letting a large flag unfurl behind him. Embroidered on it were two large paw prints, with a letter on each paw pad, "We are the World Organization Of Fierce K-Nines' Operational Taskforce!"

While the four other canines stood up and saluted, Enil just cocked his head to the side for a moment before bursting out laughing.

"Seriously?! WOOFKNOT?! That's got to be the most horrible, obviously forced acronym I've ever seen! Seriously, did you guys even give it two seconds of thought, or had you already paid the guy who made the flag?"

The five canines exchanged a series of embarrassed looks, but none of them ultimately had any argument to make. Even Laporkra couldn't help but snicker, but he made sure to keep a tight hold on Enil.

"Regardless of our..."

"Shitty!"

"... name," the lead wolf said, regaining his composure, "You're our prisoner now. In addition to providing us with a good amount of leverage against your kind, you'll be put to whatever... uses we may have for you."

With that, Enil's paws were forced into a pair of leather mitts and secured tight. Laporkra shoved the feline forward, making him stumble forward into the table. The fox stepped out from behind the tail with a length of cord in his paw. As Laporkra held Enil down, the fox tied one end of the cord around Enil's thick tail, and then attached it to his collar. With a quick tug, the snow leopard's tail was forced up, making sure his rear would stay exposed to whoever wanted a turn with it. The fox grinned and stuck his fingers in his mouth for a moment before unceremoniously shoving them into Enil's tailhole, prompting a yelp from the feline.

"Hah, almost no resistance," the fox taunted, sliding his fingers in and out of Enil's rear, "Though I hear you did kidnap a couple cops... I bet they've been giving it to you good every night."

Enil growled at the fox, but couldn't keep himself from moaning a bit as the long fingers pressed in, zeroing in on his prostate with perfect accuracy. The fox just grinned as he nodded for Laporkra to step aside, pulling Enil up by the chest and cupping his sac in his paw.

"Yep, this cat sure loves it," the fox observed as Enil's length poked out of his sheath, "Can't even stand up to a fox... if this is the best the Slutty Feline Council can give us, we're going to be having a lot of fun with this."

The four other canines chuckled as they watched the fox stroke his paw up and down along Enil's length while fingerfucking the feline. Enil bit down on his lower lip to try and keep himself from moaning too audibly, but he found it was to no avail. The fox was far too adept at hitting him in just the right spots. It didn't take long at all for Enil to start shooting cum onto the table while everyone else in the room laughed. The fox just grinned and wiped his cum on his paw off on the downy fur on the underside of Enil's tail, pulling out of his rear all at once.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself there," the alpha wolf said with a grin as he readied a red ballgag, "This next part, though, you might not enjoy as much."

* * *

After a series of events far too boring to get into, Lance, Adrian, and Roman found themselves skulking through the halls of the WOOFKNOT headquarters. They tried a stealthy approach first, hoping to avoid any unnecessary confrontation that would lead to them being captured and likely raped. Lance quickly discovered, however, that gaining access to a building that housed a secret canine organization was far easier with a pair of German shepherd ex-cops "escorting" him.

When two guards stopped the three, Lance thought for sure that they were screwed (or soon-to-be screwed, as it were). However, Roman immediately straightened up and placed a paw on the red panda's shoulder.

"Just a prisoner transfer from Block 1138." Roman said firmly, immediately slipping into his confident police attitude. The guards simply nodded and let them pass without so much as batting an eyelash. Once they rounded a corner, Roman broke out into a deep red blush, hiding a smirk behind his paw. "Can't believe that actually worked. Sorry if it made you nervous, sir."

"You don't need to call me 'sir'. It just sounds weird," Lance grumbled, taking the lead again as he looked around for what looked like it could be a prison or dungeon, "I thought you two were supposed to be cops - calling me 'sir' and 'master' isn't really something I'd think a cop would want to do."

"Another life..." Adrian mused, following close behind, "Call it what you will, but Enil is our master now. Honestly, it's a much easier life. We're taken care of, we eat well, the sex is pretty good... you really should consider it for yourself once we get him back."

Lance just muttered something under his breath and rolled his eyes, turning down a hallway with signs pointing them to a prison block. The hall was mostly deserted, save for a husky guarding a single door. Lance grinned to himself and approached, flanked by his two shepherds.

"What do you want?" one of the guards asked, tilting his head suspiciously, "This one's not scheduled for anything until this aftern-"

The husky was cut off by Roman's fist swinging from the side, catching him in the neck right below his jaw. The husky didn't even have time to bark before he hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. Lance jumped back with a yelp, looking up at Roman with eyes the size of dinner plates.

"What the fuck was that?!" he demanded, doing a double-take to the collapsed husky, "We're not trying to kill anyone here!"

"Relax, it's just an ear-box," Roman reassured the red panda as Adrian just chuckled, "He'll just be out for a few minutes - I didn't even hit him that hard."

Lance grumbled something about brain damage as Adrian knelt down, groping the unconscious husky a couple of times - "Just in case he's hiding anything there!" - before unclipping a keycard from his belt and swiping it across the door lock. The door clicked open to reveal a pitch-black room. Lance cautiously stepped in and ran his paw along the wall to find some sort of light switch. Once he found it, he found himself just a few feet away from Enil.

The snow leopard was naked, save for his collar, and bound with his paws over his head and his legs spread apart. His fur was matted from cum all over, some of it his own, most of it god-knows-who's. The entire room stank of sweat, urine, and cum, causing Lance to shudder. Enil seemed to be passed out, but a poke from Lance made him groan and open his eyes slowly.

"Can't you wait and let me get some goddamn slee-" Enil started before his vision cleared. His eyes shot open when he saw Lance with Adrian and Roman standing in front of him, only to narrow suspiciously, "What the hell are you doing here? How did you even find this place?"

"Is that any way to show appreciation to your rescuers?" Lance asked, looking the snow leopard up and down, "We had to go through a lot to find this place. Even after we found out who took you, we had to track down several different leads, each of whom had a clue to the location of this place. Even then, we had to trek through countless alleys, looking for an entrance. Then we had to disguise ourselves to get in, fighting through several guards on the way in. Once we even knew where you-"

"Oh knock it off," Adrian interrupted, stepping forward, "We talked to one lawyer who spilled the beans faster before we could get a pen and paper handy. And finding the place was as easy as reading the billboard that said 'Secret Canine Organization, Next Exit'."

"These guys really don't do subtlety very well." Roman concurred, kneeling down to undo the straps holding Enil's feet in place. As he stood, he brushed his muzzle against the feline's sheath, "Been a little busy? Do Adrian and I need to start feeling jealous?"

"Just get me down from here, will ya?" Enil growled impatiently, struggling a bit against his wristcuffs, "You never did tell me why you're here. You two bitches I can understand, but why did you bring the barista?"

"I'm obviously just here to make you all a cup of coffee." Lance said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Could you?" Enil asked, only half-mocking, "Because all sarcasm aside, I could seriously go for a cup right now. Could we maybe hit a Starbucks on the way back, or is that still a sore subject for you?"

"If you'd rather stay here, I'm sure these guys aren't bored with you yet." Lance threatened as Roman wrestled Enil's wrists free, "I'm only here because these guys got in the way of my own revenge against you."

"To be fair, I've pissed off a lot of people, and I don't remember you getting in any vindication queue."

Once the straps holding Enil in place were released, the snow leopard collapsed onto Roman, struggling back to his feet. He groaned as he used the shepherd for support, his legs stiff from being tied in place for so long.

"Tell you what," Enil offered, Roman helping to stabilize him, "Get me the hell out of here, give me a few to deal with these fuckers, and then if you can catch me again, you can go live out whatever revenge fantasy you've been hatching."

Lance scowled at the snow leopard, biting back a comment on how Enil was in no position to make offers. He thought better of the remark though, and gave a resentful nod.

"Fine," he agreed, "But who are these people, anyway? And what kind of a name is WOOFKNOT? Seriously, what self-respecting evil organization calls themselves that?"

"The kind of organization," a deep voice behind him answered, causing the fur on the back of the red panda's neck to stand on end, "that does not take too kindly to intruders releasing their prized captive."

Lance, Roman, and Adrian spun around to see a large wolf standing behind him with his arms crossed over his bare chest. Behind him were two other wolves, and the husky guard who had apparently woken up. They were all armed with nightsticks, with the leader towering above the four furs in the cell.

"Well now," the wolf said, looking directly at Lance, "I must confess myself a bit surprised that this cat had anyone who would want to rescue him... and even more surprised that he would have two dogs to help him."

Adrian and Roman growled defensively, moving themselves in front of Enil as Lance picked himself up, trying to look as tall and intimidating as a scrawny red panda could.

"At least they're loyal to something!" Lance said defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest, "What are you even loyal to?"

"Um, my secret canine organization?" the wolf replied, tilting his head, "I mean, we've all got each other's backs here. I don't think loyalty comes into it."

Lance paused for a moment, then grumbled to himself, looking down a bit.

"Is it revenge you're after?" the wolf asked, spreading his arms before him, "Then you should leave him with us. Even better, join us! Did you even have a plan for what to do once you got him? We've got a whole itinerary laid out for this cat - stay with us, and we'll make sure you get all the vengeance your heart could desire and then some! And when we're done with him, we'll set you up here with a permanent job. You've got nothing to lose with us, but you'll get nowhere if you let this cat escape."

Lance looked back at Enil with a scowl, his mouth half open to accept the wolf's offer. For a moment, though, he couldn't recognize the snow leopard in the room. Lance could still remember every detail of Enil coming into his coffee shop and lighting the place on fire. Ever since that snow leopard passed though his life, everything had completely gone to shit for the red panda. His job, his girlfriend, his apartment, and his friendships had turned to dust in his paws, and yet he could feel nothing but pity for Enil. Whether it was genuine or some sort of convoluted sinister feline plot, Lance could do nothing but shake his head.

"This cat deserves a better class of revenge." Lance said, trying hard to not sound horribly intimidated, "And I'm gonna give it to him."

"You're really not good at this whole 'badass one-liner' thing, aren't you?" the alpha said, rolling his eyes, "So be it. You three can join him. Boys?"

The two wolves moved in and subdued Roman and Adrian in an instant, getting behind the two shepherds and pinning them down before they could even respond. The husky grabbed Lance by the wrist, but the red panda bit down as hard as he could, causing the dog to yowl in pain. The alpha pushed the husky aside and grabbed the red panda by his collar, dragging him out and lifting him up off his feet.

"You made your choice. Not my fault it was the wrong one." The alpha said nonchalantly, setting Lance down and zip tying his paws behind his back before pushing him back to the husky. Roman and Adrian were bound similarly, and Enil was lifted up and thrown over the alpha's shoulder.

The four were blindfolded and led down a series of hallways, making turns at seemingly random places, occasionally turning around completely. Eventually they were led into a large warm chamber where their blindfolds were removed. Enil was already placed in the alpha's lap, the wolf's paw fondling his bare sheath. Roman and Adrian were stripped down, their captors shaking their heads at the chastity devices on their bits before snapping the locks almost effortlessly.

"Clearly this cat had some issues with intimidation." The alpha mused, sniffing at Enil's neck as the bulge in his pants pressed at the snow leopard's rear, "I think we'll have to show him a real wolf's cock. Would you like to see that, little panda?"

Lance growled as his shirt was torn away, and his pants were unceremoniously pulled away. The husky gave the red panda a quick bite on the neck before swatting his rear.

"Real pain in the ass those teeth are, eh?" he said, rubbing his still-hurting wrist as he went over to grab a large dildo from a nearby table. He set it on the ground pointing up, then placed his paws on Lance's shoulder, "I guess I'll need to give you a much more literal pain in the ass."

He pushed Lance down onto his knees, the tip of the dildo pressing between the red panda's cheeks. Lance bit down on his tongue to try to not cry out, but he couldn't help but wince as he was pushed down further, the thick toy stretching his tailhole wide until his ass touched his heels. The red panda just shuddered as he looked to the side, seeing Roman and Adrian being tied down to chairs and gagged.

"We have a rule against punishing other canines," the alpha addressed Lance, seeing him looking at the shepherds, "But these two need to see just what becomes of those who cross us, and to be reminded of where their loyalty should lie."

Enil just closed his eyes as the alpha patting his rear. He stood up and dropped down to his knees in front of the wolf, undoing his pants and pulling them down to his shins. As the alpha placed a heavy paw on Enil's head, the snow leopard began to lap at the wolf's growing length, a spurt of pre immediately landing on his nose.

"Tell you what, you two were really missing out on this cat. That bristly tongue of him sure works wonders on my cock..."

Adrian started to yell at the wolf, but quickly had a gag stuffed in his maw. Roman received the same treatment, and the two were pushed closer to the alpha in their chairs. The husky behind lance began to put pressure on the red panda's shoulders again, pushing him down a bit further onto the toy on the floor, then letting him rise back up only to be pushed down again.

Once Enil had slickened up the alpha's length enough with his tongue, the wolf wrapped a finger in the feline's collar, urging him back to his feet and turning him around. He placed his paws on Enil's hips and guided the snow leopard back down into his lap, his flared cocktip easily finding home between the cat's cheeks.

"Yes, this cat has definitely taken to his new duties well," the alpha said with a grin as he pulled Enil down, spreading his ass with his thick cock as the cat mewed weakly, "You definitely chose poorly, not bending this cocksleeve over like he was meant for."

Enil gave a defeated whine, hating to be seen like this in front of his pets, but unable to resist for fear of a far worse fate. The snow leopard just shuddered, biting his lower lip as he used his legs to ride up and down along the wolf's warm length. The alpha rewarded him with several light pets down his side and a light grope to his sac.

Lance growled as he watched, but couldn't find any words to say. As satisfying as it was to see the big-talking cat get what he deserved, he could only wish it was from him. As the husky continued to use the red panda's weight to fuck him with the thick dildo, he grinned and knelt down to stroke at Lance's sheath. The red panda shuddered as the toy pressing against his prostate helped his length jump to life in the husky's paw.

As Enil rode up and down on the wolf's length, the canine would only occasionally stroke a finger along the feline's length, teasing at his barbs just enough to encourage him to keep going. The cat squeezed his eyes shut and moaned loud, though whether it was from pure pleasure or for giving a show was unclear. He bit his lower lip to try and stifle his moans, but as the Alpha's knot began to stretch his tailhole, Enil could hardly help himself.

As Lance watched the snow leopard ride the large wolf, his own length was rock-hard. He was beginning to ride the toy beneath him on his own accord, freeing the husky behind him to stroke up and down along his lithe body, fingers brushing against the red panda's small nipples. Each time Lance let himself drop onto the toy, he felt it press against his prostate, making his cock twitch with excitement.

With everyone focused on the snow leopard and the red panda, Laporkra's entrance went entirely unnoticed. The wolf casually walked behind the Alpha and placed a paw on his shoulder. As the large wolf looked up, Laporkra squeezed down, causing the wolf to wince, but freeze up completely.

"If you don't mind," Laporkra said calmly, "I'm afraid this cat is going to have to come with me."

The Alpha grunted and tried to twist around, but Laporkra's paw held onto the pressure point, rendering him unable to move anything below the neck.

"Wh-what the hell are you doing?" the Alpha demanded, struggling to even lift his arms.

Though the wolf was no longer holding down Enil, the snow leopard continued to ride along his cock. He lifted his paw up to his length and started stroking furiously, moaning and meowing as he started to spurt his load out in front of everyone. As he climaxed, a few shots landed right on Lance's chest, making the red panda blush dark red.

"It's nothing personal," Laporkra said, his grip remaining firm, "I just got a call from my lawyer, and apparently my money from this job 'mysteriously disappeared'. That stoat may be a conniving, two-faced prick, but he's no idiot with money. No money for the cat, no cat for you. Simply business."

The Alpha grunted as Laporkra looked over to the two canines guarding Adrian and Roman, wisely keeping from making a move against the fearsome wolf.

"I'll ask you to untie those two." He instructed. The two canines flinched at the wolf's order and hastily undid the bonds on the shepherds. The two stood, not taking their eyes off Laporkra. "Now, if you'd kindly let off the cat and panda, we will take our leave."

Roman cautiously approached Enil and the Alpha, lifting his master off the wolf's length. Adrian freed Lance and barked at the husky to chase him off. The red panda winced loudly as he was lifted off the thick toy, rubbing his rear with a groan.

"Thing was... really thick..." the red panda muttered as the four were escorted out by Laporkra. Enil kept his tail pulled between his legs, covering his cum-spattered rear and bits, while Lance collected his pants off the floor. Once they were outside, Lance gave a relieved sigh.

"Thank you..." the red panda panted, looking up at the wolf.

"No need to. Like I said, it was simply business. Though I'm surprised my lawyer got spooked like that." Laporkra looked down at Lance with a raised eyebrow, "It's not like him to be intimidated, but them's the breaks, no?"

Lance blushed and looked down, avoiding the wolf's gaze. When he looked back up, Adrian and Roman were tending to Enil, checking an increasingly irritable snow leopard for injuries.

"I told you, I'm fine." Enil grumbled, shooing the shepherds away.

Lance just chuckled as Laporkra walked off down the street. The red panda thought about going after the wolf, but knew deep down that nothing good could come of it. Instead, he turned to Enil.

"So... what happens now?" Lance asked, "I did have a revenge plan - a horrible, multi-leveled one that would have completely destroyed you - but at this point... I think revenge plots have only gone wrong for me. And I think that harassing canines might have lost some appeal for you after all this. So... where do we go from here?"

"The hell if I know," Enil grumbled, letting his tail fall and exposing himself to the night air, recomposing himself into that confident swagger.

"But you know, I've learned something today," he started, "I've learned that all this time, all these months of abusing canines, I was just covering up what I thought were my own insecurities... but I was wrong about having those to begin with. I thought that I could just hide behind some mask of being an Evil Feline... that I was right about. I thought I was just looking for Man's Best Friend With Benefits. But after all this it's clear, it doesn't matter whether you're canine or feline. What matters is that I'm better than all you fuckers!"

With that, Enil began confidently walking down the street at a brisk pace, naked as he was the entire time. Roman and Adrian rolled their eyes and looked at Lance.

"What can we say? He'd be screwed without us." Roman said with a grin before the two started chasing after Enil, leaving a bewildered red panda behind. Lance just shook his head.

* * *

Lance gave a wide grin as he turned the key. After months of planning, renovating, and saving, opening day at his coffee shop had finally come. No boss to yell at him, a décor he actually liked, and the freedom to run his own business how he wanted. It took quite a few loans, but he had found a new lawyer who insisted on working for cheap, for fear of a pair of "bodyguards" showing up. His new lawyer had helped him navigate some very convoluted loans, and helped him weasel into some nice tax credits. He managed to find a new apartment and start his business in under a year.

Lance beamed with pride as he opened the door. There wasn't exactly a huge line of people waiting for coffee, but he was confident that time and word of mouth would keep his coffee shop running. Once opened, the red panda stepped behind the counter and waited for customers.

The first people to walk through the door, however, made Lance nearly fall into a panic attack. A blonde snow leopard flanked by two German shepherds, all finely dressed. Enil stopped in the doorway and flashed Lance a sly smile, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a matchbook. Before Lance could jump over the counter, the snow leopard tossed it aside with a wink and approached the counter.

The three ordered their drinks and sat down completely nonchalantly, chatting with each other as though they had never seen Lance before. The whole time, Lance was nearly shaking making their drinks, but they relaxed and hung out for a few hours with no incident. While no other customers came in, three glowing reviews popped up online for Lance's shop while they were there, making no mystery as to their source.

As they left, Enil gave Lance a wink and placed a folded up piece of paper on the counter, then walked out with the two. Lance picked it up, but several customers walked in before he could give it a read. His business picked up after that point, keeping him busy until closing, when he finally got a chance to read the note:

Lance,

I'm sure by now we can let bygones be bygones. Roman and Adrian miss you and would love for you to come around sometime. I'm sure you can get some "horrible revenge" on my ass then.

-Enil

Lance rolled his eyes and crumpled up the paper, tossing it into the wastebasket... after writing down the phone number and address on the back and checking his calendar for some free time.

"Oh yes... horrible revenge will be had."