Boom, boom, boom. Zzzzzzzz whooomp.

Uwu gripped his gun tight, his hand trembling as he stepped into the red brick building. Smoke filled the air. Gun shots rang out here and there. Uwu almost tripped over a dead body as he waved his hand in front of his face. The smoke lingered in the air, hanging about like an unwanted guest.

The body was dressed the same as the militants who had crashed the event outside. The same bastards that had arrested and killed so many Anthros in the plaza. If they were here in the building already, that had to mean one thing. This was a set up. It was all planned beforehand. They must have known of the speech Rosa was going to give. They set up shop and waited for everything to fall into place.

Uwu’s eyes glanced up the smokey stairs in front of him, following the steps up and up the stairwell. The bastards had to pay. The assassin was just up five flights of stairs. This was it. His heart trembled at the thought of killing someone. He wanted a peaceful solution to the injustice he and his kind had faced, but at this moment in time, he could enforce actual change, right now with his own hands.

The grey cat stepped out of a side room, wiping blood off his face with a dirty rag, “Don’t just stand around wanking it, my man, we got a job to do.” He tossed the ran on the corpse and stood at the base of the stairs. Two black hooded cats joined him, loading their pistols with some loose rounds from their pockets.

The large white cat came lumbering over, the Arc Splitter still in her thick arms.

“Dutch, my dear, if you could please watch the lobby here. I don’t need any uninvited guests. We have and infestation that needs cleared out.”

The massive Anthro-Cat nodded, “Hmm.”

Yeti held out his hand, gesturing to the stairs, “This way to freedom, gentlemen, one body at a time.”

Uwu watched as Yeti took a few steps up the stairs, hopping joyfully, swinging his arms about like a child playing hopscotch.

“And freedom we shall have! After we pry it from our oppressors’ god damn hands!”

“Hell yeah!” “Fucking right!” The other Anthros chimed in as Uwu followed them up the stairs.

Could he take a life? Could he do what Yeti wanted done, even if it was the man that took his friend’s life and changed the Anthro movement forever? He wasn’t sure he could. He didn’t have the same faith in himself that Yeti did.

Yeti made it to the top of the first landing, gun in hand. He slowed down as he ascended the staircase, his gun now scanning the level for anymore thugs with a death wish. The fuckers had rained carnage down on the Anthros’ parade. He had hoped that some good would have come from the protest, and it seemed like it would, but if there was one thing Yeti knew in his life, it was that good things never last, and for Anthros, it never happened in the first place.

He had seen so much death and despair all around him his whole life. Every scrap of hope was ripped away from the people he cared about. No future, no promised land, just a life full of working for shit wages, stuck in the worst parts of every city. Not a single ray of light to lift them from their struggle. Well, not anymore. Yeti promised to fight back. This wasn’t his first-time cracking down on the powers that be, and it sure as hell wouldn’t be his last. He wouldn’t stop fighting until the Anthros were free, or his last breath left his body.

A militant in black clothing came running down the stairs, rifle in hand, “We got bogies in the building. First floor, come in. First floor. Hostiles in the …” His feet planted and he slid down on his ass as he rounding the corner, seeing several Anthro-Cats and a Fox.

Yeti aimed his pistol right at the militant, “Sorry, bub, but your death means our freedom.” Yeti shrugged, “Shame.”

The militant struggled to get his rifle readied, his feet flailing about, trying to stand back up.

Boom.

His facemask exploded on impact. Blood gushed from his face.

Yeti waved his free hand to the several doors that lined the landing. The other Anthro-Cats took a door each. Yeti pointed at Uwu and jerked his head for Uwu to follow.

The Fox stepped around the dead body, gazing down at some young human and what was left of his face. He couldn’t quite comprehend why they hated Anthros so much. Humans created Anthros, so why treat them all so badly? Is this what God had done to the Humans? Did they just enact the same wrath on their own creations.

Yeti glanced back out of the corner of his eye, “Just three more flights and we’re at the big baddy. You ready to do what needs to be done?”

Uwu gulped as they went up the next flight. Each step upwards took him to his destiny. Some gunshots below shook Uwu from his thoughts. He glanced down over the railing. There wasn’t much to see.

“Come on, before the fucker gets away and murders some other up and coming star with a great future.” Yeti dragged Uwu along, scanning the next landing with his gun. “Just two more.”

They ran up and around to the next flight of stairs. All was quiet now. The made their way to the fourth story, scanning the landing again. There were no sounds. Yeti jerked his head again. They stepped up to the landing.

The door at the end opened. A black dressed militant was zipping up his pants, his gun leaning against the doorframe. Past him, on the floor, was a bloodied Anthro-woman crying, limp on the floor, her clothes nowhere to be seen.

Yeti didn’t hesitate. He fired his gun over and over into the body of the militant. Blood spurted with each hit. The militant slammed down on the ground, landing with a loud thump. The door next to Yeti whipped open, another militant standing there, his gun aimed and ready. Yeti grabbed his rifle, pushing the muzzle into the air. A few rounds went off, crumbling old plaster down on the Anthro couple.

Yeti’s hand sizzled. “Get your ass upstairs!” Yeti shouted before a fist crashed into his face. The two combatants began wrestling down atop the ground, fighting for control of the gun.

Uwu ducked down and pushed past the fight, running to the next flight of stairs. He pushed himself up, forcing his muscles to keep moving, step after step.

He made it to the landing, his eyes locked on the one apartment facing the stage outside.

That was the room.

He ran with all his might and crashed into the door with his shoulder. The door slammed open, smashing into the wall behind it.

Uwu stood looking into the apartment. The window was directly ahead of him. The curtains flowing in the wind. Screams and gunshots could still be heard from outside. Beneath the window sat a human, his head shaved clean, smoking a cigarette. A large rifle sat next to him, leaning up by the window.

The man exhaled a cloud of smoke, “You the mongrel sent to pick me up? What’s going on downstairs?” He took another drag off his cigarette.

Uwu raised his gun at the man, his hand trembling, “You killed her, didn’t you?”

He smirked, “That she-bitch fox?” He chuckled while inhaling some smoke, “Yeah, I put one right between her eyes. Deserved far more if you ask me. I would’ve enjoyed some alone time with the bitch.” Smoke escaped his mouth with each word spoken. “That’ll teach Anthro fucks like you to mind your place here. This is our planet. You hear me? Ours.” He smiled as he looked down Uwu’s hand, the gun jittering about. “If you’re going to shoot me, do it. Otherwise get the fuck out. I’m trying to have a smoke.”

Uwu’s face burned as blood rushed about his body. The man was right there. He admitted to it, to killing Rosa. Rosa’s face passed through Uwu’s mind. The young, bright star with so much to live for cut down before she could do what she was meant to do.

The sound of gunshots rang out from downstairs.

The man smirked. He tossed his cigarette out the window and stood, “It always tastes better after a good kill. This one was great. Best fag I ever had.” He started walking over to Uwu. “Sounds like your friends are done for. Just set down the gun and walk away. Tie, button up shirt, pfft, you ain’t no killer, son.”

Uwu was sweating through his shirt now. He saw a small necklace around the man’s throat, dangling down to a star in the shape of a cross. The same as those nasty people, the Gellical Collective, that was protesting everything that Anthros were.

“Give me the gun, son.” His hand stretched out to Uwu. “You know it’s the right thing to do. Give me the gun and walk away.”

Uwu thought of the endless nights he spent with Rosa, preparing her speeches, organizing fundraisers, and pushing political action on apathetic Antrhos. She always was positive that change would come. “We must push them into action and make them believe something better is possible. Don’t lose hope in them, and they’ll find it in us.” She would always say to him even if a drink was splashed in her face or she was threatened for her life. She always had faith in the best of people.

Uwu smiled, “Her name was Rosa.” His teeth grit down, scrapping against each other.

“Like I give a shit what the mongrel was, now give me the gun!” Spittle spewed from his mouth.

He looked the man in the face, “Her name was Rosa and she was loving and selfless and full of hope for our future!” Uwu began to cry, “You want this gun? Then take it.” Uwu aimed the gun at the man’s knee. He pulled the trigger and watched as his knee exploded into a bloody pulp.

“She hated violence, but the Meowtlaws are right. We can’t change everything with words. Sometimes, a bullet does just fine, even better.” Uwu aimed the gun at the man’s face, “Like now, I’m going to make the world a better place without you in it.”

“You bitch you won’t…”

“This is our world now.”

Boom.