Chapter Text
Leano always had a beautiful smile.
She had stopped smiling a while ago, as those closest to her knew well. At least, they never saw her smile ever since she locked herself on that room.
And now, her smile was there to be seen again. However, it was not in a way anyone had wanted.
The picture of the female wolf, beautiful as she was, stayed in front of the coffin. That was the only way anyone could see her face again, once it was a closed casket ceremony. Leano's last request, on note she left behind before doing what she did.
People came forward, each one paying their final respects to the female wolf. People who she knew from school. People who she worked with during her short career as a model. People who remembered her before she suddenly shut herself off from everyone. All of them came forward to say a few final words and express their final feelings regarding Leano and the amazing person they all remembered her as.
However, the only two people who were suffering the more were the ones out of sight on that occasion. One of them was Leano's son, who was sitting in a corner of the funerary house, far away from the coffin, from the people and all of that. He was just sitting there, his knees hugged against his chest as he looked at the ground, seeming to be unaware of all that is happening.
And the second one was currently making his way towards him, and Legoshi didn't even noticed that until the other animal talked to him:
"Legoshi."
The wolf blinked, looking up at the animal, one that every single person of the party avoided and shot glares at while wondering what he was even doing there. But, on their defense, they had no way of knowing that the Komodo dragon sitting on the chair on the very last row of the room was the deceased's own father.
"They are about to carry the casket away." Gosha said gently to the wolf, who looked at him with empty eyes. "Come say goodbye to your mother."
The wolf looked at the lizard, before looking down, as if he suddenly lost interest on him. Gosha, however, insisted.
"Legoshi, they are taking your mother to rest. We have to go and say goodbye to her. She would have wanted that."
"No, she would not." Legoshi said, his voice small and sad. "She would not have..."
"Of course, she would." Gosha said, "She loved you very much."
"Then why she did it?" Legoshi asked. "Why didn't she stay?"
Gosha flinched as he looked at the wolf cub. He knew there was no answer for that, no matter how much he wanted to give Legoshi one.
"She didn't care..." Legoshi said, "She didn't care about me..."
"Legoshi!" Gosha could not remain silent to those words. "Don't say that! Of course, she did! Is just that... she was sad. He was sad and angry at her own appearance. It was all too much for her. It was no one's fault."
The wolf then tensed.
"Yes, it was..."
The way Legoshi spoke that made Gosha flinch. Even more as the wolf lifted his eyes to him, and the Komodo could see anger on them.
"It's your fault..."
"L-Legoshi?"
"This is all your fault!" The young wolf screamed at him. "It is your fault that Mom had those scales! It is your fault she killed herself and left me all alone! It is all because of you!"
"Legoshi..." Gosha said, he tried to reach for him, but the wolf shocked him again by slapping his hand away.
"Don't touch me! I hate you! I wish you were dead instead of Mom!"
And with that, the young wolf dashed off, running through the run and out of the door. Gosha called him, but the young wolf completely ignored him. He just ran through the hallway and, on his way out, he nearly bumped into another canine, around his age and dressed in the same black suit, brought by his mother there just for the occasion.
"Legoshi!?" the Labrador said, looking at the wolf run past him. "Legoshi, wait! Where are you going? Legoshi!"
However, Jack's words were ignored by the wolf, who opened the funerary house's door and ran outside. Tears streamed down his face as he ran out of there and down the streets, startling a lot of people who were walking on the sidewalk and causing them to move to the side.
And, right in front of the funerary house, a car had been parked. Not surprise, since there were many parked cars in there for Leano's memorial, but this one was not there for the memorial. They had no interest in that dead woman.
They had no deal with the dead.
The dead were useless.
They were only interested on the living.
Like that young wolf running down the street, who they had their eyes on for a while now, and who they now could finally catch alone.
And Legoshi was unaware that this vehicle was following him, as he was too busy running. He ran because he wanted to leave. Because he wanted to escape from what was happening. From his dead mother. From his grandfather. From everything.
He would come to regret running for years to come in just a bit.
Just as he stopped after turning a corner, and then slumped into the ground with his back against a brick wall as he panted, the vehicle stopped nearby.
The tears were still coming. He could not stop them. They just kept coming, as Legoshi felt anger and sadness becoming just one. Sadness over the loss of his mother and anger at her for abandoning him like she did. Anger as his grandfather for wanting him to watch them burying her and not doing enough to help her when it mattered, and sadness for seeing the hurt on his eyes as Legoshi said those words to him.
All those feelings overwhelmed him, and the twelve-year-old wolf could not help but bury his face on his hands as he started sobbing, his whole body shaking with each hiccup.
He was unaware of the person approaching him.
"Hello, young man."
The wolf's ears perked, and he slowly looked up. He was faced with an animal looking at him. This animal was around his own size, and he was looking at him with a worried expression.
"You look lost. Are your parents nearby?"
Legoshi looked at him.
"Sorry, did you hear me?" The animal asked again. "Are you shy, little one? Can you tell me your name?"
Legoshi blinked at him again, and then he said his name, right before saying:
"I... should not be talking to strangers..."
To that, the animal said:
"My name is Deshico. There, now I am no longer a stranger. So, Legoshi, what are you doing here all alone? Don't you know those streets are dangerous?"
"I... ran away." Legoshi said, looking down. Deshico sat by his side.
"Any reason why?"
"I... just wanted to get away." The young wolf said. "I wanted to be alone."
"Oh... do you want me to leave then?" Desicho was asking that of the wolf, and it made Legoshi look at his face. It was very friendly. Being round and with beady eyes. Kind of like a plushie.
"What... are you?" Legoshi asked. "Are you a cat? Or a weasel?"
"I'm a civet." Deshico said, still with a kind smile. "We are technically classified as cats, but in truth we are distant cousins of the mongooses. But, anyways, do you really want to be all alone, Legoshi? Because, like I said, those streets aren't exactly safe. Don't you hear people say how the city can be violent?"
Yeah, the civet was right. Legoshi had been hearing more and more how the city was dangerous. His grandpa tried to keep him from those kinds of news, but Legoshi had grown perceptive enough to know that the city was not exactly safe. People talked about on how predation cases were becoming more frequent.
"Anyways, I don't think you should be all alone in here." Deshico said to him as he got up, and then he offered the young wolf a hand.
"Come with me, I am taking you back to your family. Sounds good, no?"
Legoshi looked at him and, seeing how the civet's friendly face still had one of the warmest smiles he ever saw, he decided to take it.
Soon, the two of them were walking out of the alley, where a white van was parked.
Seeing the vehicle, Legoshi hesitated a bit, but Deshico gently urged him.
"Now, now, no need to be bashful." The civet said as he walked the wolf to the van. "I need to take you back to your grandfather. I know you might not be keen on going back to where your mother is being buried, but you cannot leave the old lizard worried with you after he just lost a daughter, can you?"
Yeah, that much was true. Legoshi had to recognize that he should not have run out like that. He was feeling really bad for what he said to his grandpa before storming out off... wait.
"H-how do you know I was at my mother's funeral?" Legoshi stopped as he asked that. Deshico also stopped. "And how do you know my grandpa is a lizard?"
The civet didn't answer that. However, Legoshi could feel him gripping his wrist harder.
"Get in the van."
Those words felt cold to Legoshi. Suddenly, every single alarm on the young canine's head started blaring like a foghorn, telling him to leave, to run.
"Come now." Deshico then pulled on Legoshi's wrist hard, trying to get him to go to the van.
"N-no." The wolf tried to pull away, only for the civet to grasp his wrist so hard it hurt. The adult beast turned to look at him. All kindness had left his features, as he now glared at Legoshi with something resembling pure rage and scorn.
"Get in the van right now, you freak of nature!" Deshico yelled at him. "Before I decide to bury you alongside your worthless mother!"
"Let me go!" Legoshi yelled, as he tried to free himself from Deshico's grasp. That was when the door of the van slid open, and two animals came out of it. Soon, they were all over Legoshi, holding him by the arms while Deshico pulled a cloth and a vial from his suit.
"Help! Someone help me! Hel-" Legoshi tried to scream, but he was silenced as a damp piece of cloth was forced on his mouth, a strong chemical scent filling his nostrils and making him gag.
"Just go to sleep, you little freak." Deshico said as he pressed the chloroform-soaked tissue onto the young wolf's face. "Just take a nap while we take you to our friends who will get rid of you for us. It will be one less hybrid in the world to worry about."
Legoshi tried to struggle, to squirm himself free, but he suddenly started feeling... sleepy. The edges of his vision were darkening as he stared at the jeering, hateful expression on the civet's face. And his last thought before the dark claimed him was:
G-Grandpa...
Grandpa...
"Subject Seven!"
The loud voice, distorted for coming through a speaker system, brought the wolf back from the memory he was having from five years previous. Or, at least, what he thought were five years. It was too hard to keep track of time in there. They never told what day it was.
He only had a vague idea that it had been five years because one of them said that Legoshi was seventeen now, and the wolf knew he had been there since he was twelve.
It felt like an entire lifetime ago for the wolf.
"Are you ready, Subject Seven?" The voice came again, and the wolf knew they were talking to him. That was the only way they referred to him around there. And the only way they ever allowed him to refer to himself. Saying his actual name meant punishments. However, the wolf could still not allow himself to forget.
My name is Legoshi.
The wolf nodded, it was the only answer he could give with that muzzle on his face, and then the voice said:
"Proceed then."
And the person on the other side of that room, someone wearing a full tactical armor, including a helmet to obscure the face. The person then loaded the weapon they had in range, which was like a big and potent machine gun, and the pointed it straight at the wolf.
"Remain still, Subject Seven." The voice said, and Legoshi could only roll his eyes.
As if I could move from here while I'm chained. The wolf tugged on his wrists, causing the chains to rattle as they held the wolf in place with his arms spread wide, nearly as if he was welcoming the bullets with open arms.
And the guy on the other end of the range was aiming right at his chest.
The wolf closed his eyes.
My name is Legoshi.
The trigger was pulled, and the bullets flew towards the wolf hitting him square on the chest. Legoshi felt each bullet hitting him, impacting his chest and causing him to jolt, the chains holding him in place as those big bullets hit their mark.
The animal in tactical gear fired until he was empty, the barrel of the gun smoking once the bullets were over, and Legoshi was still there.
The bullets had all fallen at his feet, and there was not a single hole on his body.
The wolf looked about as calm as he had before the bullets were shot. He was used to it already, so he did not really react. Just like he did not react when the guy in gear put down the machine gun, and then pulled out a flamethrower and started firing it at the wolf.
My name is Legoshi.
Legoshi kept his eyes closed as the flames hit him square on the chest. It felt warm. Uncomfortably so. But it hardly even hurt. Just a minor sting that you often feel when putting your hand near boiling water. Once the flames stopped coming, Legoshi's chest was slightly blackened, but that was due to the leftover burnt fuel, as not a single fur of his chest was even charred.
Then, he put down the flamethrower and picked the last item: a grenade launcher.
He loaded it, and pointed it straight at the wolf, who looked at him with tired, indifferent eyes, before closing his eyes once more.
My name... is Legoshi.
The weapon was fired. An explosive load sailed through the air and hit the wolf square on, resulting in a blast that shook the walls of the reinforced room.
As the smoke cleared, the wolf was still there. The chains holding him had been destroyed as a result of the explosion, but the wolf himself didn't had a single scratch.
Completely undamaged.
"Alright, this concludes the test." The voice said once more. "Subject Seven will now be scouted to one of the holding rooms. Clean the place and prepare it for testing Subject Three next."
As Legoshi was scouted out of the room by two armed guards, someone who had been watching the whole thing unfold from a video feed started recording themselves:
"It is March 22, now is 19:33, and we just finished the latest physical durability test of Subject 7. As expected, the subject's durability has increased when compared to the last batch of tests, as now the subject has gained a greater resilience to temperature as well as a greater resistance to heavy-duty artillery and blasts. Such resilience is attributed to the increase on tissue density detected on the last batch of standard physical examinations. Probably related to the subjects current metamorphotic state. Worthy of note that the subject has complained of itch on the scales developing on its right arm, as well as complained about pain on the inside of its mouth. I recommend observation for any signs of collateral mutations."
Legoshi was massaging the side of his mouth through the muzzle on his face, what granted one of the guards by his side to tell him to not touch the muzzle, and they continued to take the wolf all the way to a big metal door, which they opened and then forced him inside harshly after finally removing his muzzle, before slamming the door shut.
Once inside, the wolf could finally let out a sign of relief. At least in that cell he finally could rest a bit.
Now he could properly scratch his scales. They had been itching since they started growing under his fur, which fell as they spread out. Now part of his forearm and everything between his elbow and shoulder was covered in scales, and there were also some of them showing on his neck.
I wonder if they will keep spreading. Legoshi caught himself wondering. And if they will keep itching like that...
Suddenly, a sound coming from the nearby wall made him jump a bit. It was coming from the holding cell right by the side, both separated only by a relatively thin layer of concrete. Thin enough that the person on the other side could talk to him through it:
"Yoh, is that you, Seven?"
Legoshi recognized the voice from the other end. He learned to recognize all their voices.
"Hey, Three." Legohi said, knowing that the other hybrid could hear him through the wall. "You good?"
"Yeah, I've been better..." Three said from the other side. "So, how was it? Did they try to kill you in a new way today?"
The wolf sighed.
"Just the usual, but they used a bigger gun. The bullets were heavier. Fire still feels uncomfortable, but it is better than cold."
"Oh, yeah. You still feeling colder lately, no? Since your scales started growing."
"Yeah." Legoshi looked at the scales growing alongside the extension of his arm. They seemed to have stopped appearing, but that's not to say he was done changing yet. His mother's scales continued to appear over the course of months and years, and nothing said the same wouldn't happen to Legoshi.
And his mother stayed alive until he was twelve with the only purpose of making sure that was not going to happen...
I wonder if she'd be disappointed that I didn't turned out beautiful as she had hoped.
"Seven? You still there?"
The wolf blinked, then he said:
"Oh! Sorry, Three. I was just... thinking about my scales."
"They still itch?"
"Yeah, a little bit." The wolf was scratching them as he said that. "And they don't really seem healthy. I mean, they look paler than... than they should."
"Yeah, guess you could try and convince them to look at it next time you are back on your cell. You know, after they have taken to be tested next. I am so excited for being probed and poked with electrodes again. Yay. ~" Three's voice was just as goofy as normally as it came from the other end of the wall. However, Legoshi still could say that he was mildly annoyed with this.
Three had always been the kind to show more annoyance than anything else with the fact that they were all even there. From the day Legohsi first woke up on the cells and met the others, right after coming back from the lab where they made the original procedures, Three was probably the only one who had never showed anything close to fear or apprehension.
This always made Legoshi look up to him as an inspiration for strength.
"And what about your mouth? Still hurting?"
Three's voice brought the scaled wolf back to reality once more.
"No, it stopped hurting already. But now it feels... kind of strange. I mean, sometimes is like there is something in my mouth and I keep having to swallow."
"That's called saliva, Seven."
"No, it's not that." The wolf said. "It is like something slimy keeps building up on my mouth. Something sticky with a weird taste, like..." The wolf paused, his eyes slowly widening. "Like a... bittersweet marmalade..."
"What was that?" Three's voice came from the other end. "Seven?"
The wolf barely heard, as he felt that substance on his mouth again. The flavor and texture on his mind now bringing a memory that, until now, Legoshi had not been able to quite put his finger on.
"Grandpa..."
The wolf felt the substance building up even more. And then, instead of swallowing, he spat it out.
It splattered into the concrete ground. Then it started fizzling and bubbling, as it ate through the concrete.
"Three!" Legoshi said. "Three! I have venom!"
"What?"
"I have venom!" Legoshi said. "I have venom now! Like my grandpa!"
"Wait, how do you know?"
"Because I just spat it and it is eating through the concrete of the floor." The wolf said, looking at the hole forming on the floor on the place where he spat.
"What!?"
"I... I have to tell them." Legoshi said. "I need to tell the people here I have venom now. They need to know so they can take precautions. And I'll need to be more careful around the others. I don't want to poison them by accident."
"Hold on!" Three's voice said, suddenly frantic. "Backpedal! You said you have venom!? And that your venom eats through concrete!? It is Komodo dragon venom!?"
"Yeah!" Legoshi said. "That's why I need to be careful. This venom is so potent that it can kill-"
"Seven!"
The way Three screamed that made the wolf flinch. A few seconds later, Three's voice came again, this time much more composed.
"Seven, I need you to listen to me very closely." Three's words were careful and clear, nearly as if he wanted to be sure Legoshi would not misunderstand anything he was about to say. "I need you to walk to the door and place your venom on the lock."
"What?" Legoshi said. "Why?"
There were a few seconds, before Three's voice came again:
"Are you serious!? So it can melt the lock and you can get out! And then you can do the same to my door so we can escape!"
Legoshi blinked.
He... he could do that...?
...
He could.
He could do that!
He could get them out!
He could get all of them out!
"Do it now!" Three's voice came with urgency. "Before the guards come!"
Legoshi then got up from the bed and rushed to the door, standing before it for a moment, as if he was trying to figure out how to do it. Should he just spit? That could work. But also...
Legoshi then, after a moment of deliberation, shoved his fingers into his mouth. When he pulled them out, they were coated in the slimy venom produced by the new glands that grew on the inside of his lower maw. He looked at it for a few seconds, thinking of his grandpa, who taught him that Komodo dragons did that as a way of complimenting each other, giving each other a taste of their venom, as they were immune to it.
Grandpa... you... you taught me so much...
"Seven?" Three's voice came again. "Are you still there? Hello? Are you melting the door yet?"
"O-oh! On it!" The wolf said, and then, with a careful movement, he applied the venom on his fingers around the lock. He looked at it for a few seconds, before the area coated in venom-laced saliva started to bubble and fizzle. The virulent substance eating through the metal just like it did through the concrete.
Soon, the metal had been eaten through enough that it looked frail and brittle. And, as Legoshi confirmed, it was brittle. He just needed to slam his shoulder on the door a few times to break the metal around the lock and causing the metal door to slam open.
I... I'm out...
Legoshi could hardly believe it, and he just stood there for a couple seconds, just absorbing the fact that he was able to get out of his cell on his own without any guard there to watch over him, before he eventually reminded himself about the person on the other cell.
"Three!" Legoshi rushed to the metal door and yelled that he was going to melt the lock, and for him to keep a distance. So just like he did with his own door, Legoshi applied his venom to it with his fingers, allowing it to eat away at the metal until it was so brittle that Legoshi just needed to kick that area hard enough to shatter it.
"There." Legoshi said, and he was about to pull the door open, when it suddenly swung open, slamming on his face and sending him to the ground. Not from the pain, but solely from the surprise. I mean, come on, even an explosive from a grenade launcher didn't hurt him, why would a metal door?
Legoshi still went into the ground, and he looked up to see the animal who just burst free from his cell, and who was standing there, wearing only the same beige pants as Legoshi was made to wear, as he then looked at the wolf with scales.
"What are you doing there?" Three asked the wolf "Get your ass off the floor! We have to get out of here now!"
"R-right!"
Soon, Legoshi was getting up, and the two beasts were now running barefoot down the hallway. They had been there enough times that they somehow memorized the paths, even though there were a lot of places they had never been taken before, so they didn't truly know the place.
"How do we find the exit?" Legoshi asked, to what Three said:
"I heard some of the guards speaking about the exit. We have to take a hallway past the main holding cells and take an elevator."
As they said that, they suddenly saw one of the guards just turning the hallway as they were going on that direction.
"H-hey! You two!" He said to the two as he saw them. Legoshi froze on his tracks, but Three continued running, and he collided with the guard straight on just as he was lifting his gun and ordering them to stop.
The guard tried to push him back, but that was when Three put both his hands on his neck. Then, the tiger suddenly let out a strangled scream as his whole body started convulsing violently. Just a few seconds later, he dropped to the ground, and he was no longer moving.
"Let's go!" Three said, and he continued running. However, he noticed that the wolf was not coming after.
"Seven! Come on!"
The wolf was looking at the tiger, fallen to the ground and not moving, his eyes wide and unresponsive.
"T-Three..." Legoshi said, giving a step back as a horrifying realization hit him. "You killed him!"
"Yeah, I did!" The other beast said, "And now we are both getting out of here before they find his corpse and come for us! They will put us back on our cells, and they will surely punish us for trying to escape! It's now or never, Seven!"
The wolf heard his words, and he looked back at the tiger.
Three was right. This could be their only chance to escape.
If they didn't...
That was what it took for the wolf to start going forward, and he followed Three across the hallways, going up a flight of stairs with him, until they finally found their way to the right path.
The one that passed by the main holding cells, where they were kept all the time they were not being put through exams or training.
Alongside the others.
"Guys!" Legoshi yelled as soon as he arrived on that hallway, rushing past Three. "Guys!"
"Huh?"
"What is that?"
"Seven is back!"
"But, wait. Where are the guards?"
"Seven!" A voice called. "Did... did you escape?"
"Guys!" Legoshi said, "Guys, we are leaving! All of us! Three and I will free... Three?"
Three did not stopped, he just kept running and, when seeing that the wolf had stopped, said:
"Seven, what are you waiting for!? Let's go!"
"Wha-, but... the others!"
"We have to go now!" Three said, "We need to escape!"
"Hold on!" Someone said from one of their cells. It was One. "Are you going to leave us!?"
"We gotta go now!" Three yelled at the wolf, while everyone else talked to them, asking them to free them as well. Some of them pleaded, while others threatened. And, among them, two were looking at wolf from their cells.
"Seven..." Eleven said as he looked at the older beast.
"Seven, you are not going to leave us, are you!?" Fifteen, the youngest of them all, said to the wolf as she pressed her little scaly hands on the walls, her skin quickly sifting in hues of distress.
"Guys, I-" Legoshi tried to say, but that was when an alarm started blaring. Red lights flashed as a horn sounded, and a voice came through the speakers all over the place, telling that there was a breach and that all guards ad personnel should look for subjects Seven and Three.
"Seven, they know we escaped!" The other beast said. "It's now or never!"
"Hey, hey!" Six said, slamming his fists on the translucent glass of his prison, strong enough to take on a missile with no damage. "You better not be thinking about leaving us here, you jackasses!"
"Seven, we have to go now!" Three said, "Come now or I'm leaving without you!"
Legoshi looked at Three. He was being serious, he could tell by his tone, which lacked the goofy undertone he normally had most of the time, and by the look on his eyes. He would truly leave Legoshi behind if the wolf didn't come with him now.
And he probably would be right to do so, because, by now, all the guards of the place were coming to look for the two of them right now, and Legoshi had seen, in previous situations of alarm, how quickly they could mobilize.
No way Legoshi would be able to free everyone before they eventually came there. He would only be captured as well.
And, if he was captured, he would not be able to help anyone.
"Seven?" Eleven said again, and Legoshi looked at her, feeling his heart aching. He then said:
"I'll come back."
He was walking back.
"I'll come back for you guys!" The wolf said, "I'll be back and free all of you and we will all leave together! I promise!"
Then he turned and ran to Three, with everyone else calling for him. Among them, Legoshi recognized Nine's voice:
"You two better not let them catch you and bring you here! Because I'll break you two in half if I see either of you again! Do you hear me!? I'll kill you both!"
Legoshi's ears were flat against his skull as he ran by Three's side down the hallway, the distant voices of the people who he had known for the past five hears vanishing behind him. They were back there. Two, Eight, Eleven, Fifteen.
He was leaving them all behind.
I will be back. Legoshi thought. I am not abandoning you. I am running to not be caught so I can come back later and break you all out. I am not abandoning you. I'm not. I'M NOT!
Legoshi still told himself that as he and Three arrived on the elevator. There was a lock in there. It required a specific security keycard to open, and they didn't have it.
Three, however, didn't need such thing.
He just placed his hand close, placing his fingers on the opening made to fit the keycard and, for a moment, a small spark of electricity jumped into the opening. Instantly, the electronic lock biped and then the light turned green as the elevator was activated.
The doors slid open, and the two of them rushed inside before, by doing the same thing with the lock on the console, Three unlocked the buttons and was able to press the one on the top, which would lead them all the way to the first level on the surface.
He can really to that to anything electronic. Legoshi thought as he saw it happen. No wonder the locks on the auxiliary cells are analogic. If they were electronic, Three would have unlocked then and broke out a long time ago...
"They're probably up there, waiting for us." Three said to the wolf. He turned fully to Legoshi.
"Seven, I'll need you to do exactly what I say next, okay?"
The wolf heard intently, and he soon understood the other beast's plan. By the time they arrived, and the door slid open, they were ready.
Just like Three said, there were guards in there, and they were armed and ordering them to surrender. Once they stepped out, they opened fire, just like Three said they would. That was why he told Legoshi to stand in front of him and shield him with his body as they walked forward. The wolf carefully walked forward with his arms spread, letting the bullets hit his impenetrable skin and bounce off, while Three came right behind him, protected, until they were out of the elevator.
Three then slammed his hand into the console of the elevator's controls. As he did, all lights of the entrance hall flickered, with some of the lamps on the ceiling exploding in glass and sparks.
"Run!" Three said as he and Legoshi both took advantage of the confusion of the guards and dashed past them before any of them could recover enough to aim properly at the two of them. Legoshi felt a few bullets, which did no damage at all, hit his back. Three stumbled as a bullet hit him in the shoulder, causing red to spray out.
"Three!"
"Keep running!" Three said back to the wolf, not faltering on his step even one bit. Actually, it seemed that being shot on the shoulder caused him to run even faster, as if the pain caused his adrenaline to suddenly spike.
They both ran out of there before anyone else could get on their way.
They didn't stop for anything else. They dashed through the field, and Legoshi made Three climb on his back and hold firm as the wolf climbed the fence with barbed wire on top, which he climbed and jumped with no problem, as the metal edges merely grazed harmlessly against his skin.
Once they landed on the ground, they were running again, with the lights and sounds of the facility behind them growing more and more distant as they dashed in direction to the lights ahead of them. The lights of the city a few miles distance away.
We did it... Legoshi thought. We escaped. We... He hesitated, nearly as if he was about to think something so outrageous that even thinking about it was a crime. However, as they moved farther away from the facility, and closer to the city, he finally allowed himself to think it.
We are free.
"Say, any chance the Sublime Beastar would be joining us tonight?" Said the man on the very expensive suit. Many on the room were dressed in far more expensive ones, but that did not make his own any less expensive. "I mean, he would be expected to at least appear on social events from time to time, no?"
"Oh, Yahya-san does not care too much about these events." Said the lion on a suit. He nearly seemed relieved for saying those words. Perhaps happy that the one they were talking about would not be coming at all. The animal he was talking with was interrupted before saying an answer to that, when his pager biped.
"Excuse me, Mr. Mayor." He said, turning around and walking away from the lion to see the message just sent to him. It made him stop dead on his tracks and the smile disappear from his face instantly.
On the screen, the were the words:
WE HAD A BREACH
The animal felt his jaw tightening. He placed his glass of whiskey on the nearest table, so he could type back with both hands.
IN OR OUT?
The answer came instantly.
OUT. SUBJECTS THREE AND SEVEN ESCAPED.
The man had to reign himself in not to lose it as he read those words. He looked around, nearly as if he was worried that someone could be peeking over his shoulder to peek into what he was doing. He saw no one even looking his way, but that did very little to tranquilize him.
He then typed, with shaky fingers:
FIND AND RETRIEVE
ANY MEANS NECESSARY
With this, he placed his pager back on his pocket, pulling out a vial of pills, from which he popped and promptly swallowed one before picking his half-full glass of whiskey and downing it all in one go.
He was panting.
Legoshi could have a body that could withstand bullets and explosions, but even that did nothing to improve his stamina, which was about as good as that of any wolf. He was winded after running practically more than a professional athlete in the span of just one or two hours. Sweat dripped from his fur as he took in deep breaths to recover the breath he lost while dashing like mad all the way to the city and, even after entering the urban perimeter, he just continued to run.
They only stopped once they were sure no one was following them, and it was only to catch their breath and figure out what to do next.
"Dammit..." Three said as he checked the wound on his shoulder. It still stung, but he kind of liked it...
"I need to clean this."
"Should we go to a hospital?" Legoshi asked, and Three looked at him:
"We are going to the Black Market."
Black... Market. Wait, Legoshi heard about that. He heard the guards talking something about it. It was some place where illegal things happened. He was not sure what, but it involved herbivores...
"The Black Market is a nice place to lay low, according to what those guards said while they played poker near my cell." Three said, "Sounds like a good place for us to hide for a while. At least we will be able to spend the night there."
"Do you know where it is?" The wolf asked, to what Three admitted he didn't, but that the information should not be hard to get for, apparently, every carnivore of the city knew about the Black Market.
"But we can't go around like this..." Legoshi said, and Three had to admit he was right. After all, they were wearing only pants that got torn and dirty as they ran there, he had a bloody shoulder, and the wolf coming with him had all his scales in full view.
Not to mention that the big number 7 tattooed on the wolf's left shoulder was still clearly visible, just like the 3 on the other one's.
They gathered a lot of looks just from walking around like that, and they were bond to bring on even more attention if they continued to just go on.
They needed some disguises.
Luckily, they were in an alley where something was happening.
"S-stay away from me!" Someone on the other end of the alley said, causing the two to turn their heads and look. They saw a deer rushing inside, scrambling back as a wolf came to him.
"Well, ain't that our luck..." Three said with a smirk, walking to their direction.
"Three?" Legoshi looked at him. "W-what are you going to do?"
"To get us some disguises." Three said as he continued to walk forward, while the deer had his back pressed against the wall as the wolf approached him slowly.
"W-wait!"
Three stopped and looked over his shoulder at the wolf, who then spoke:
"Don't kill them. Please."
Three looked at him for a moment, before letting out a groan, and then resuming walking to the two, who were unaware someone was coming.
"Please!" The deer said, a fresh slash wound on his cheek, courtesy of this wolf currently terrorizing him.
"Please, don't to this! I have a mother! She is elderly and sick! I am her only child! She will have no one to look after her if something happens to me!"
"Oh, really? That's sad..." the wolf said, "Oh, I know! I will call some friends and we will go to your mother's house and take her to a tour on the Black Market! What about that? There's been a high demand for old herbivore meat lately, something about it being chewy at old age." He licked his lips "Yeah, I will do that after I'm done eating some of you..."
"N-no... please..." The deer said, falling into despair as death closed in, and the wolf just laughed.
"Don't you know begging for your life does nothing? Life doesn't care if you beg, it's a waste of time." The wolf said, and then, he suddenly felt something holding his neck.
"You know what? I fully agree." Said a voice from behind. The wolf didn't even had time to acknowledge it, as a sudden surge going through his body caused him to tremble and scream, before he dropped flat on his face, revealing the animal behind him.
"Man, those streets really are dangerous, aren't they?" Three said, and the deer only stared at him as he stood a bit in the shadows, allowing the herbivore to see only that he had the look of a gazelle, before staring down at the downed wolf.
"H-he..." The deer stammered. "I-is he..."
"He's alive. But will be out for a while." The gazelle said, "Guess even carnivores cannot handle thousands of volts of electricity right to the neck."
The deer blinked, looking back at the gazelle. He could not see properly due to the dark, but he was pretty sure he didn't saw any taser or stun-gun on the other herbivore's hands. Especially as he offered one to him.
"Need help getting up?" He asked in a friendly tone, and the deer, still shaking, reached for his hand.
"You saved my life!" He said. "Thank! Thank you so much!"
The deer was so happy and relieved. He was so glad that he was alive. That this fellow herbivore was around to come and save him from becoming a predation victim. He could not stop smiling.
However, his smile did vanish as the gazelle leaned over, and the deer noticed something very wrong with how he looked.
Gazelle's didn't have feline eyes and mouths full of fangs, after all.
"Why, you're welcome. ~" Three said sweetly. That was the last thing the deer heard before he too felt a great deal of electricity course through his body, causing him to drop unconscious as well.
In just a few minutes, Three and Legoshi (who was very reluctant), were wearing the clothes of those two animals, who were left only on their underwear on the alley, the wolf with his hands tied to a post, in case he would wake up and try to attack the deer again (Legoshi asked for it). Three finished counting the money he got from the wallets of those two, before looking at them while Legoshi finished putting the wolf's clothes, which fit despite being a little bit snug.
He wanted to kill the two. Not really for any reason other than he thought it would be amusing to see them both die while convulsing. It was always amusing. However, as he thought of it, he realized that the wolf by his side had a good point in telling him not to. It would be easy for the guys they just escaped from to find them if they left a trail of corpses. So, it would be better if he refrained from killing anyone.
For now.
"So, I guess we are in the clear, aren't we?" Three said as he turned to the wolf, who adjusted the jacket the wolf was wearing, and that worked perfectly for hiding both the scales on his right arm and the tattoo on his left one.
"Actually..." the wolf said, looking back at the leopard/gazelle. "I'm kind of hungry..."
Well, no problem.
They just had to walk for five minutes before finding a pair of vending machines, one of them selling packaged egg-sandwiches.
Three just needed to place his hand near the money slot of the machine, release a small burst of electricity, and then he could have what he wanted without wasting a cent of the money they just got. They would be needing it to pay for a place to stay as they hid, after all.
"Do you really think we will be safe in this Black Market?" Legoshi asked Three as he opened the plastic container and pulled an egg sandwich from there, nearly moaning as he gave it a taste. It was the most delicious thing he'd eaten in five years...
"I guess so." The hybrid by his side said as he took a bite of his own snack, being a lot less enthusiastic than the wolf, once any food tasted like Styrofoam to him. "The guards said that is the king of place even the police don't go unless they have to. We will probably be safe in there, as long as we lay low and don't call too much attention. This is the basic of living on the lam. Just like changing your name and appearance."
"Oh..." The wolf said, looking down, and the he turned to the hybrid.
"In that case, we should stop calling each other 'Three' and 'Seven', right?"
He asked that nearly tentatively.
"So, maybe we should call each other by our actual names?" he asked again, and the hybrid showed no reaction. "So... uhhh... do you still remember your name? The one you had before they gave you a number?"
The hybrid calmly, indifferently, gave another bite to his food, chewing it with no enthusiasm at all while looking at the street.
"Melon."
"Huh?" The wolf said, looking at him in surprise and, for a moment, wondering if he was saying he wanted to eat a melon.
"My name is Melon." The hybrid said, looking at the wolf. "I know, not much better than 'Three', but it's the name my Mama gave me, and I grew too attached to drop it."
The wolf blinked, and then the hybrid asked him:
"What about you? Got a name of your own, or do I have to make up one for you?"
The wolf looked at Three... no, at Melon, and then he said, without a shred of doubt on his voice:
"My name is Legoshi."
"Legoshi, huh?" Melon said, looking at the wolf as he tested the name, "That's a mouthful, ain't it?"
The wolf said nothing, as the hybrid just got up and walked to another vending machine, which was selling many minor amenities in place of food.
"Well, we better get going now." Melon said as he forced the machine to give him another item: a surgical mask. "We can still make it to the Black Market if we hurry, and maybe we will even find some small apartment to rent there. We can decide what to do in the morning."
"I... okay." Legoshi said, and soon the two fugitives were walking down the street. It would not be easy for them to find the Black Market, but they could make it if given enough time.
As they walked down the street, Legoshi could not help but look all around. To take in all the sounds and smells surrounding him.
It's been five years since he's been outside. Five years since he'd been anywhere other than the halls of the facility. Other than the holding cells and testing rooms where they would shoot him with various kinds of weapons to test the limits of his body, made indestructible through a process the wolf could hardly even remember. The same process that made Melon a living electricity generator, and that made the others what they were as well.
The others.
Legoshi thought back about them. About how angry, and hurt, they looked as they saw the two of then escaping and leaving them behind.
They didn't believe they would come back for them.
But Fifteen did.
Legoshi could see on her eyes before leaving, and he knew she would be waiting for him to come back. Eleven would certainly be waiting for him to fulfill his promise, the two of them were close, after all. And Two... well, by now Two was probably thinking of a way to break himself out so he could chase after Legoshi.
I'll be back for them. Legoshi thought, looking forward as he walked after Melon, who walked ahead with his hands on the pockets of his new brown pants, which matched his floral-stamped pink shirt. I'll be back so I can break them all out. I'll get them all there so we can all be free. So they can also see this city, and how beautiful it is. So they can feel this breeze, and smell those scents. The scents of people. Of cats, and birds, and dogs and... and...
Legoshi's nose twitched. A smell carried by the breeze enter his nostrils and reached his brain, sparking memories that the wolf had held fond to his heart for the last five years.
On the other side of the street, a bunch of dogs were talking about the movie they just watched.
"I loved it!" Miguno said, "The special effects were the best!"
"And you saw the female lead? Now that is a tail!" Durham said, smiling wide as he spoke about the handsome cocker spaniel who played the "babe-element" of the movie, with perfect fur and a big ass that was flashing at the audience for nearly a third of the movie.
Hey, he was a heterosexual male! Of course, he would be drooling at a beautiful female behind, as primitive as it could be for anyone else.
"Well, I didn't like it too much." Collot admitted, with Voss on his regular place on his shoulder. "I mean, there were so much plot holes on the script..."
"Plot holes?" Durham said, laughing. "Dude, it's a superhero movie! No need to be caught up on a script with all that action and hot girls!"
"Well, yeah, I guess." Collot said, "But that still doesn't excuse it making no sense."
"Dude, you look too much into things." Durham said, "This is to celebrate! We all passed grades and we are starting our second year as seniors on April! That's worth celebrating, no? Tell him, Jack!"
The Labrador of the group smiled, and he told his friends that next time they could watch another movie. As he said that, they all stopped by the sidewalk, waiting for the chance to cross the road so they could take the train back to Cherryton.
Then, Voss said:
"Uhhh, guys?"
Everyone looked at him.
"That wolf on the other side of the road has been staring at us for a while..."
He pointed, and they followed his gaze and they saw a wolf on a jacket on the other side of the road, staring at them without even blinking. Nearly as if he was evaluating them.
"What's his deal?" Miguno asked, as they all looked at that wolf on the other side of the road, especially Jack, who had narrowed eyes as he stared at the wolf.
A few feet away from the wolf, Melon had stopped and turned back, looking at the wolf who was now froze on the middle of the sidewalk, staring at the other end of the road.
"Hey, dude!" Durham said, "What's your deal? Why are you staring at us? You're being creepy!"
The wolf, however, did not say anything back. He just kept staring and staring at them.
However, it was not at "them" he was staring, but at one of them specifically. One that was staring back at him, before his eyes widened as he finally remembered that wolf.
And he could not believe it.
"L-L..." Jack stammered, causing the others to look at him.
"L-L-Legoshi...?"
The wolf continued to stare at him, seeing him from a distance under the light of the streetlamp shining above him and the other canines he never saw before. It was still as beautiful as when they were kids, with its golden color and looking so pristine.
"That's you, right!?" Jack said to the wolf, who continued to stare, despite Melon calling him and telling him they needed to go. "It's you, isn't it!? Legoshi!?"
And Jack rushed forward, shocking his friends, who all told him to stop. However, he did not. On the other side of the street, Legoshi's eyes widened, and he then:
"JACK!" The wolf said, as he rushed forward, seeming like he was going at the meeting of his childhood friend. However, he was not rushing to hug him, but to save his life.
For, just as Jack ran towards the wolf who he last saw when they were both twelve, there was a truck coming down the street so fast that there was no way it would stop in time in case anyone was stupid enough to run right in front of it.
Which was Jack, who noticed, too late, that he made a mistake as he heard the horn and turned his head in time to see the road lights of the massive truck coming his way.
Then he was tackled out of the way by Legoshi jamming his shoulder on him and hurling him back.
As a result, it was Legoshi being hit by the truck instead of Jack.
Everyone around gasped, with some screaming as they saw the wolf being hit square on by the speeding truck and then run over by the wheels as they screeched to a stop. Jack ended on the ground, confused by what just happened as his brain tried to make sense of it.
His friends were close to him now, and they helped him to get up, and the Labrador blinked.
"Legoshi!" He said, and then he looked over, and his eyes widened as a feeling of sheer, dreadful horror built up on the bottom of his stomach as he saw an arm sticking out from under one of the wheels of the truck.
"L-Legoshi..." Jack said, his voice meek and trembling. His brain trying, and refusing, to process that he had finally meet his old friend five years later only to see him die.
Meanwhile, people were getting closer, while the ostrich who had been driving the truck came out, shaking and saying:
"I-it wasn't me... I-I did nothing... T-the dog came out of nowhere, I-I couldn't stop... It wasn't my fault!"
As everyone else stared at the scene with varying degrees of horror, there was one beast around that didn't seemed fazed.
"Dang it..." Melon said, looking a bit, before turning around. He started walking away, but he stopped on his tracks and, after three seconds or so, he sighed, before turning around and walking back.
"Excuse me." The gazelle hybrid said as he forced his way through the crowd. "Excuse me, excuse me. Coming through. That's my wolf over there."
He soon freed himself from the crowd and made it into the circle they all had formed around the "dead dog". He looked under the truck and saw that the wolf was in there.
"Yoh, Legoshi, you alright?" He asked, and the wolf's answer for that was to groan slightly.
"Oh, come on." Melon said, seeming annoyed. "Don't tell me that the guy who can survive a direct blast from a bazooka can be killed by some old rusty truck! Stop being lazy!"
And he grabbed Legoshi's arm and pulled him out from under the truck, while the crowd continued to watch. Once he pulled him from under, the leaned over to look at him.
"Just get up already, we have to keep going." Melon said, and the wolf looked up at him, his eyes were unfocused, and he looked dazed.
"That... kinda hurt a little bit..." Legoshi said, more to himself than to the other hybrid.
"Yeah, I'll bet." Melon said, "You can still walk, right? Come on, start getting up, we gotta go."
And he was soon forcing the wolf up. Legoshi was recovering quickly, and he was getting up as well. However, that was when someone came rushing in.
"Legoshi!" Jack said, kneeling by the wolf's side. "Legoshi! A-are you... Are you okay!? Are you hurt!? Is anything broken!?"
He kept asking question after question, while the wolf looked back at him.
"Jack..." The wolf said, looking at his old friend up close again after five years. And he looked at him as the dog looked at him with teary eyes, unsure of what to say.
"How... how have you been?" He finally asked, unsure of what else to ask. Them, Melon once more tried to urge the wolf to get up and come with him, only for Jack to pull the wolf back.
"Stop it!" Jack barked at the gazelle. "He just got hit by a truck, you can't just move him!" He turned at the wolf. "Legoshi, is okay! Lay down! J-just stay down and try not to move! It will be okay..." He seemed on the verge of tears as he said the last words, and he seemed to be saying them more to himself as he pulled out his phone and dialed for emergency.
"Hello? Please, help! My friend got hit by a truck! You gotta send an ambulance! Please, hurry!" Jack said on the phone, while Legoshi only stared at him as the Labrador had a hand on his chest to keep him from moving too much and worsening his inexistent wounds.
And Melon, who was seeing it all, could only groan and roll his eyes.
This is not how you go on the lam...