Fox/Violet

 

“...Fooooox…”

Mmn…

“Fox and Violeeeeet~”

My ears twitch, beginning to stir from slumber as I stretch my arms out and yawn, sleepy eyes blinking out the dust so I can see Sue-Zee smiling back at me.

“Good morning, Sue-Zee~”

“Heeeyyyy~”

We coo at one another before noticing the duo looking back and forth between me and below, my gaze trailing down to see that Violet has them completely bound within our tail.

“Hmm.”

“Yeah, hmm.”

Staring at each other for a bit longer, we both burst into laughter as Violet unfurls, seeming both embarrassed for being caught and also reluctant to let go as the duo rolls out of her grasp with a ‘weee!’ Goddamn adorable.

With a kiss and a squeeze, we motivate each other out of bed and start getting dressed, only for me to realize…I still don’t have anything completely fitting aside from my stealth gear. Shit. Maybe we should have asked Geppette while we had the chance…oh well. Skimpy as this stealth gear is, I don’t mind the cold, especially thanks to my fluffy and luxuriously soft fur, and with business looming in the horizon, this outfit will work perfectly. Or I could help out.

Before I have a chance to slip into anything, I feel Violet’s darkness creep over my body, clinging to my fur in two shades of black, creating shadowy clothing in the form of elbow gloves, a bandage wrapping textured one piece with both a propped up collar and a little flowing cape at the end that opens up for our tail. Lastly, she manifests over my body as torn up looking thigh highs and a pauldron like my old stealth gear…then another on the other side, creating sturdy shoulder guards.

“And here I thought I looked slutty enough as is,” I jest, looking over to find a starry eyed Sue-Zee staring at us, a tint of red joining the darkness, both on my face and over the Violet made chest piece. “Now why does this feel familiar…”

The duo snap themselves out of it with a ‘sorry, sorry!’ and start throwing off the pajamas they’d grabbed before returning here, prompting me to turn away with an even redder face. I’ve seen Cat nude before, but for some reason our heart races even faster here, being this comfortable and close to the duo seeming like an impossibility before now, and now that we’re here…jeez, the pounding in our chest feels all the more intense. Keeping myself distracted while Sue and Zee get dressed, I listen to the faint sizzling sound from outside our room, figuring that must be where Cat had gone, since I’m fairly certain she would have crawled into bed with us at some point while we slept. Moments later, both we and Sue-Zee are ready to go out and greet her, exiting our room and stepping into the dining area–

 

“...Eh?”

Everything is just about normal in the kitchen. Niamh is sitting at the table with her indecipherable newspaper, waving and smiling at us, while Cat works at the stove…next to Coyotl?

“A-ah. Good…good morning…everyone…”

A gaze of absolute judgement sizzles and sparks over my shoulder, from the duo’s eyes to the chimera, the tension palpable in the room as Cat tries to wave it off.

“G’mornin’, ny’all,” she greets us, looking me and Violet over with a smile. “Damn, looking good, you two. Anyways, don’t mind Coyo here, they were a bit antsy after last night so came a bit early. Figured I’d teach ‘em how to cook with something that isn’t a microwave.”

Looking back, Sue-Zee still seems somewhat displeased, but sighs and resigns themselves to civility.

“Alright. Yeah, good morning,” they say somewhat begrudgingly, taking a seat furthest from Coyotl, keeping the uncomfortable air fresh and alive. Yeesh…something to ask them about later, I suppose. Thankfully, Niamh seems keen on disarming the duo, her tail sneaking around behind them to tap on one shoulder, then zipping around to tap on the other once their attention is pulled in another direction, earning the snake a groan.

“Yeeessss, Niamh?”

“Hmm~? What can I help you with, darling~?”

The faintest of smiles spreads across Sue-Zee’s face, Niamh looking real proud of herself behind that paper.

“Yeah, what’s the news like in light land?”

The serpent snorts, laying the paper over the table and pointing from one illegible story to the next.

“Let’s see, Horus and Set, not actually related like this world’s mythos, have gotten back together after their 343rd break up.”

“Did Horus and Set really get localized as siblings instead of gay lovers?” Cat asks with a smirk, Sue-Zee snorting and trying not to laugh.

“Perhaps the world was not ready for such a potent trans masc enemies to rivals to lovers relationship~” Niamh tacks on before returning to the tabloids. “In other news, Mothman is back from vacation and is reporting the weather once more–”

“MOTHMAN IS REAL?!” both Zee and Coyotl exclaim at the same time, looking at one another, the former cocking an eyebrow and the latter sweating.

“Shouldn’t you know he’s real?” the duo inquires, Coyotl looking back at the bacon in the cat’s pan.

“I-I have no idea what you’re talking about,” they say, Cat nudging them with her elbow.

“I’m pretty sure we all know, Coyo, no worries.”

The chimera sighs and hangs their head, pulling off their hood to reveal their TV head, Sue-Zee now seeming more curious than judgemental.

“L-look,” Coyotl begins explaining, “not every cryptid sighting is the result of a Radiant by the same name. Sometimes it really is just people being weird.”

“As if you’re some stranger to being weird,” Cat adds, snickering as the chimera groans and holds out a plate the catgirl motions to, stacking a slice of bread, then bacon, lettuce, and–

“No tomato for us, please,” Sue-Zee requests, Cat nodding and topping it off with another slice of bread, Coyotl then placing the plate on the table and sliding it towards the duo. “Ah. Thanks, Coyotl…”

The chimera nods and holds out another plate, repeating the process for each of us, keeping us well fed and ready to kick off the day.

“Alright, first day back on the job in a month,” I say, standing up and pushing my chair back in. “At least, the first day we’re at peak condition!”

Sue-Zee stands up next, walking over to the coat rack and grabbing their oversized blue sweater.

“Same place and time, Cat?”

Our partner nods, leaning back against the kitchen counter, paws curled around its edge.

“The rat’ll be waiting. If you need anything, text…”

She stops, just now realizing why that might be difficult.

“Shit. You don’t have a phone yet, huh?”

“Ah, damn, yeah, we don’t,” I sigh, only for Sue-Zee to perk up.

“Oh, that reminds me! Can we stop by our place before we head out?”

I grin and nod, the ever prepared navigators having a solution on hand as always.

“Take care, everyone,” Coyotl says, looking away awkwardly.

“Ta-ta, crimson-hued crew~” follows up Niamh, not having looked away from her paper once yet.

“Yeah, good luck!” Cat adds, smiling and waving a paw. “Don’t die or I’ll kill you!”

“I’d like to see you try,” Violet barks from our tail, Cat smirking, her tail swishing as if ready to pounce.

“All the more reason to live then, yeah? Get outta here, you dumb dog.”

“Pussy.”

I have to cover my mouth to hold back my laughter, ducking out of the house as Violet shifts into a hand to wave goodbye.

 

Getting to walk through the woods like this with Sue-Zee, just the four of us, it’s easy to get lost in the closeness. A big dumb smile stretches from cheek to cheek and I am only kept from running too far ahead with excitement by the warm hand locking fingers with mine. Goddess, our heart swells being next to these two in this chilly little woods, tail swishing back and forth, eventually straight up wrapping our arms around theirs and clinging to them the rest of the way, purring a little even as we enter Aspen Town.

“What do you need from your place anyways?” I ask, looking up at the duo who flash me a grin.

“A better question would be, what do you need from our place anyways?”

“Isn’t that what I asked?”

The two of them snort, and I hear Violet bury her face in her claws from within our head, both things which I tilt my head at.

“C’mon, we’ll just show ya.”

The duo kicks out their leg, blue wheels jutting out of their white, cybernetic boot, revealing themselves as skates as they do the same with the other boot, promptly picking us up bridal style (does this still warrant an ‘oh my’ at this point?) and kicking off towards their place. Upon arriving, they put me down and unlock their door by holding their wrist watch up to a panel next to it, hearing it click open and showing us into their den. It looks a whole lot less messy than their place in Railsent, though somehow just as chaotic? Everything is lit up by bright blue walls and even brighter blue neon lights in the ceiling or outlining the opening to various box shaped shelves and bins, bits of tech strewn about and pushed aside to make a path.

“Wait right here!” they tell us, bouncing off towards an elevator going down. “Or don’t! I ain’t ya dad!”

You know, he’s got a point there.

No?

Given the OK, we explore around a bit, not seeing anything any more noteworthy than another, maybe the giant closed chute built into the living space floor, and one of equal size in the ceiling above? Mostly, we’re struck with awe at the sci-fi levels of technology these two work with, looking even more advanced than the Monorise Sky Rail, which is pretty damn new. There are some schematics laid out over a table, one looking like an upgraded version of their old mecha suit, but another that seems much more ambitious than any of the others. Some sort of shape shifting wireframe with antennae coming out the top of it? I can’t make heads or tails from it, and thankfully I don’t have to try for much longer, hearing the elevator come back up and seeing Sue-Zee sliding over, holding something out to us.

“Tah-dah! Your very own phone!” they proclaim as we take the touch screen brick, thankfully a decent enough size for these big claws of ours. “If you don’t know how it works, give us a nudge and we’ll help ya! Consider this our merry birthmas from us to you!”

“Aw, jeez, you two…”

Stuffing the phone into one of Violet’s pockets, I leap up onto the duo, clinging to and hugging them tight with a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you so much! I wish there was something we could have gotten you while we were a little critter, and not so little a critter, but…”

“Ehh, don’t worry about it! We got three whole ass girlfriends for Christmas, asking for anything more would put our karmic balance into the negatives!”

We snicker at one another, kissing once more before heading out, making our way for Monorise and below.

 

Taking Sue-Zee’s vents through to Subterfuge is a lot more convenient than the other routes we used to have to take, leading us straight into the Rat’s Den, much to the surprise of Liz’s underlings, though they don’t fuss too much. Waltzing into her throne room, we find the Rat Queen lounging sideways on her sofa throne, little packets of her rats scurrying about the room, some playing foosball, others dancing to the boombox manned by another rat. Finally glancing away from her phone, the rat looks on in surprise, grinning and sitting up, leaning forward at the edge of her seat.

“Well, would ya looks at dat. Fox Vixen, in da fur!” she exclaims, another group of rats hopping over to crawl up and around me, very curious about Violet’s threads until she starts trying to bite back. “And here I’s was worried I’d neva see the day. Ya break a witch’s curse or somethin’, toots?”

Wow, I hate her. Easy, girl, if Cat can put up with her, we can too. Do I look as patient as Cat Fucking Kitten to you? Can you try for me?

…Fine.

“It just took a trip to another world and back. Faced the void itself, became as darkness, etc. etc,” I flippantly explain, Liz nodding along curiously.

“You’ll have ta show me sometime. Making claim of otherworldly territory sounds fun~” she muses, making me cross my arms and raise an eyebrow, though she doesn’t seem interested in entertaining my curiosity. “Now, where’s my Cat Kitten.”

I shrug.

“Out of commission. Dollmaker’s orders.”

The rat’s grin quickly corrodes into a frown, leaning back, propped up by her bat, looking all too displeased.

“You support a small business and dis is what they do for ya? I’s can’t stand it.”

Sue snorts, nudging their head in the direction of the exit.

“You’ll find we’re just as capable,” she assures Liz, her voice modulator back on, back to disguising themselves. “Lead the way, Rat Queen. We have a tech giant to kill.”

Liz’s smile returns hearing Sue’s plan, pushing herself up with her bat and strutting forward.

“Glad we’s on the same page, babes,” she says, turning back and leaning forward on her bat, tail swishing playfully, a warning sign as loud as a snake’s rattle. “Dis fucker ain’t got the luxury of mystique Jan-ass did, an’ you’s all ain’t got the command ‘a Cat Kitten to hold me back~”

Taking a trip down to the edge of Subterfuge, the rat is already groaning as we approach her professional bumper cart.

“Who da hell parked it like dis? You’s supposed to line it up BETWEEN the BRIGHT NEON MAKERS, RIGHT. HERE!!”

We and Sue look at each other and snort, snickering seeing the bratty rat get all huffy, walking over and taking our seats in the back as Liz grumbles and seethes.

“I sure would hate to be the guy who fucked that up,” Sue mumbles, making it even harder to hold back my laughter as the rat turns around, claws sunken into the back of her seat.

“Awfully chatty todays ain’tcha?” she snarls, flashing us a sardonic grin. “Ya in a good mood? Getcha self a girlfriend at last or somethin’? Well keep it to yaself.”

Once the rat is done hissing, she turns back around and starts the vehicle, Sue giving me a pet while she’s not looking, sitting patiently as told as we make way to the further depths of Subterfuge.

 

“...Oh, you’s gotta be fuckin’ my ass” is a great thing to hear the rat grumble as she stops the car, us in the back not even needing to ask what the issue is, said issue making itself well known as it marches towards us.

Ghosts, I think we heard Cat call them once before, though, much, much more agitated than the last time I’d seen them. A whole wall of them shamble towards us, their oily, churning bodies rippling with anger, metallic moans and wails reverberating through the hall of Subterfuge, each carrying some hateful instrument, a rusty pitchfork, a torch with an undulating silver flame, some even heralding shoddy, beaten up firearms…

And they all seethe with a smouldering, bubbling, molten hatred.

“Alright, ladies,” Liz sighs, grunting as she throws open the door to her cart, “let’s get dis over…?”

I can’t FUCKING STAND IT!! I reach up and pull ourselves onto the roof of the front car, overtaking our body as we rise, catapulting ourselves into the fray as a hail of metal rain punctuates the stuttering grinding, sputtering oil, and ungodly screeching, all consumed into my darkness.

“HATE…LET ME SHOW YOU THE HATE YOU’VE WRRRROOOOOUGHT!!”

The very concrete containing us shudders at my roar, their hatred and anger, their pain which pierces, their fear simmering under the surface of disgust, it all fuels me. Claws reared back, arms becoming jagged, forming gnawing maw that consumes their futile attempts to sway me, each lash they inflict making my hunger grow until–

“RRRAAAAAAGGGGGGHHH!! DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!! DIE AGAIN!! AGAIN, AND AGAIN!!”

Snapping the maw shut, I feel their grinding pieces snap and splinter, swinging the muzzle my arms form to the side, smashing all between it and the walls to bits, splattering, splitting, silenced. Finally reeling my arms back, I am greeted once again by an assault of steel and hatred, calling this shadowy storm to bring suffering and anguish.

Charging headfirst in, the darkness coating us boils, bubbling, ready to burst, taking all of their attacks and returning them in a malefic nova of shadow, Fox standing guard until I’ve receded back over her, bullets of wind pushing back those stupid enough to approach. The distance cannot save them. My tail extends and grabs a pack of ghosts, hurling them into another, catching those thrown up by the blast and TEARING, RIPPING THEM APART, ONE AFTER ANOTHER STUFFING MY MAW. IT IS ONLY NOW THEY SEE THEIR WEAKNESS AND BEGIN TO SCATTER AND FLEE, ANGER AND HATRED DOING LITTLE TO PROTECT AND HERALD THEIR FEAR ANY LONGER, LEADING TO COWARDICE.

“I STILL HUNGER!! RUN, RUN WHILE YOU CAN, THE VOID WILL CONSUME YOU ALL!!”

Violet!

GRRR…RRRHH…

The sound of my Light returns my senses at last, closing my eyes and sighing before stomping back to the piece of shit excuse for a vehicle, finding those I’ve protected staring wide eyed, the rat’s gaze shaken with fear, and the duo’s alight with awe.

“We’ve gotten this over with. Let’s go.”

I give way, allowing me to return and take a seat next to Sue-Zee, who pulls me in by their side as I sigh.

“Violet really takes it out of us, but…can’t say she’s not effective.”

“Is dat what you’s calls it…” the rat mumbles, starting up the vehicle again as I chuckle, still breathing heavy.

“Sorry, I don’t know what came over us. She’s not usually this blood thirsty.”

Liz closes her eyes with a groan, leaning back and steering with one hand.

“Dose ‘Ghosts’...they instill and amplify hate and frustration,” she explains, “Saw it happen yestaday. Somethin’ tells me dat Shadow ‘a yours’ got an interestin’ relationship with hate.”

Hah…interesting. I lean onto Sue-Zee, taking the time we have before arrival to recuperate after that gruesome display, watching the subway’s lights pass us by and looking at the rat.

“You…could say that.”