Ch. 02: The Rat in Black

Bill looked nervously between Jon and Jacob.

The rat smiled sadly, "Hannah was a close friend of mine and Bill's. We were going to spend the rest of our lives together, but she died. I was working at Studio 23, I had just proposed to her. Not even an hour later, when she had to go home, there was this blue sedan. It had been wired to blow and she had to be... right there when the driver turned it on."

Jonny sucked air through his buckteeth, "Oh no... that's terrible. Did the police ever find out who did it?"

Jacob drank his rum from the bottle, "No... Whoever it was... whoever put that bomb there... they're still out there." He frowned as his arms started turning black,

"Someday..." He remembered where he was and his arms flashed back to normal.

Neither Bill or Jon seemed to notice. Bill looked for a way to change the subject. He spotted a cheetah sitting at the bar. He nudged Jacob, "Hey, check the little number over there."

Jacob raised an eyebrow at his friend then looked at the girl, she was pretty but he wasn't up for anything, "She looks nice but..."

The opossum downed another shot, "Well, I'm goin' in!" He got up then walked right over to the cheetah.

Jacob watched with Jonathan, "So you're okay with Bill talking to girls?"

Jonny laughed, "Jacob, I don't care. Bill and Me, we're friends with benefits; I like the guy, but if he wants to throw his DNA at some hussy, that's fine with me. Bill looks kinda hot when he fucks." He giggled not caring about what he just revealed about himself.

The rat laughed, "So I gotta ask: Which of you is the top?"

The squirrel puffed his chest proudly, "Oh that'd be me. Bill's cute, but he likes to lift tail a little more than he wants to admit. I'm a little guy, I like domming taller guys like him." He looked Jacob up and down, "Speaking of... are you total straight, or can you be persuaded?"

Jacob drank his rum before he whispered in Jon's ear, "Sadly, yes, but thanks for asking."

The squirrel snorted as the rum in his drink was just affecting him. He sniffed, "That's fair. Can I still call you cute at least?"

Jacob laughed, "Sure you can."

Jon quipped, "Then I sure will, handsome!"

The rat laughed with the squirrel before he noticed a large bear approaching Bill and the cheetah girl.

Bill and the cheetah, who was named Cherry, were just hitting it off nicely when a meaty bear paw pushed him aside.

The bear, a big brown grizzly in a cheesy suit and a cowboy hat, growled at Bill, "Easy, pardner, this dime ain't the type to lose your life over, so why don't cha make all nice an' get gone?"

The cheetah clicked her tongue at the bear, "Brutus! I told you I didn't want to talk to you again!"

The bear cussed at her, "Shut the fuck up! A whore don't tell her pimp what he can't do! I own your ass an' I say this prick ain't got the balls for ya!" He pushed Bill some more.

The opossum stood up to the larger male, "We were just talkin', Brutus or whatever your name is! And if a girl says she don't wanna talk, you should probably listen."

Brutus pinched Bill's muzzle between two fingers, "You crackin' wise at me?"

Bill flinched, "What?! No! I'm just sayin'!"

The bear heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw the rat staring back at him. Brutus sneered, "An' who th' fuck are you? The Mickey Mouse patrol?"

Jacob had dealt with guys like him before. He opened up calmly, "Sir, you're going to let my friend and this nice girl go, now."

The bear spat on the rat's shoes, "Fuck you."

Jacob sighed, "Fine..." He took off his leather jacket then cracked his neck bones, "Then I'll take them from you."

The bear laughed, "Try it, I'll rip your throat out then let you bleed out all over the floor."

Any ensuing violence was thus halted by the sudden chik-chik of a pump-action shotgun. The bartender, a gruff looking old leopard seal pointed his weapon at the bear, "The only bleedin' will be from your brains all over my floor."

The bear glared at him, Jacob kept an even temper, Bill cowered behind Cherry.

Brutus pointed one claw at Jacob, "This ain't over!" Then, he stormed out, wrecking a nearby table in the process.

The seal lowered his weapon but didn't take it away. He squinted his eyes at the rat, "You an' your friends should leave before there's more trouble."

Jacob nodded as he collected Bill and Jonathan, "Come on."

Cherry stayed behind, "Thanks, Gus..."

The seal put his gun down, "Anytime, Cherry."

She kissed him goodbye then left as well.

...

While all this was going on, Jill Prescott and her siblings had gone to Studio 23, conveniently only two blocks away from the bar Jacob had been.

Jill, Desi, Junior and Isa were able to get in easy, then they were able to buy bottle service.

The ferret and her beaver friend kissed, both increasingly drunk from vodka.

Junior and Isa were the lightweights of the foursome, only drinking enough to feel a buzz, but not enough to lose their inhibitions in public. The male ferret had been able to pick up a cute raccoon guy who seemed a bit young to be in here, but Junior was gonna let the kid have fun before he inevitably got in trouble.

The teenage raccoon enjoyed the closeness from the college-aged male and found himself drawn to the mustelid's pretty blue eyes.

Isa wasn't as interested in picking up a date; few guys ever went for girls that didn't have boobs.

Jill broke her drunken kiss with her lover, "Oh, how could this get any better?"

Desi looked around, "Well, we got enough people to have us a hot little five-way and the cock to twat ratio is almost equal."

Jill giggled, "Who knew math could be so dirty?" She saw the young raccoon guy, "You, what's your name?"

The raccoon blushed then stuttered, "I-I'm Sean."

Jill wasn't too drunk to see he was underage, "Sean, how old are you?"

He answered, "Eighteen." Jill waited for a real answer. He laughed then said "Honest, I'm eighteen, I just turned in October."

Jill petted him, "Well, okay then. I guess you can hang with us. Just don't expect us to get you any drinks, honey." She winked while her brother nuzzled the youth openly.

Junior played with the teen's greased hair, "Yeah, we were just like you, me literally two years ago."

Sean smiled at all their friendly reassurances, he couldn't believe his luck getting to hang out with these sexy ferrets and their equally sexy friends. Oh his friends would never believe him. "Thank you!"

Jill shook hands with him, "I'm Jill. The hot guy holding you right now is my little brother, Junior. There's our adopted sister, Isa and this is my girl, Desi. She's the real man eater in our group." she teased him.

The beaver tickled the raccoon's neck, "Man, boy, it doesn't matter to me."

...

So they left the club with their conquest.

The young raccoon rode in the back between Desiree and Jill as both were too drunk to be in the front.

Jill introduced the teen to french kissing while her friend opened up the coon's pants to fish him out.

Desi liked its shape, "So it's true, raccoons do have a hook-penis." She licked the bare, pink shaft and made the boy moan in his kiss with Jill.

Junior was driving as he was the least inebriated of the four and Sean was too busy losing his virginity to drive.

Isabella was on the passenger seat, covertly fingering herself as her sister made out with their young conquest.

Junior shook his head, the only one in this car not having some kind of sex.

...

Meanwhile, Jacob, Bill and Jonathan stood outside the bar with Cherry.

The cheetah had bummed a cigarette off of Jacob and, with the burning white stick between her fingers, she spoke, "As fun as this was, getting to meet all you sweet guys, a girl's gotta earn her rent so unless you three are game for an orgy, I'm gone."

Bill had to laugh, "I had no idea you were one of those girls. Not that there's anything bad about it, we all gotta make a living. I do it by fixing cars, you do it by fixing guys."

Cherry giggled, "You're a sweet one alright. And I'm serious, if you three are all interested, I'm into groups." She rubbed her butt against Bill's groin.

Bill blushed while Little Bill was standing at attention, "Well, I'm game and this guy here's a downright beast when it comes to sex" he pointed to Jonathan who confidently puffed his chest "But Jacob's our token straight guy, so I don't know if he'd be up for it."

The rat shrugged while he puffed on a cigarette himself, "Yeah, I'm not really interested. You're nice and all, but I'm not quite on the market right now."

Cherry smiled, "That's fair, as for you two," she turned to Bill and Jon, "We all can just chill back at my place."

A gruff voice interrupted them, "The only place you guys are going to is the morgue." Brutus, the large grizzly bear grabbed Jacob before the rat could defend himself then hurled him into the street.

Just as this had happened, Jill's blue Mustang had turned the corner and Junior had taken his eyes off the road as he heard that young raccoon busting his first nut in Desi's mouth.

Jill saw the rat in the middle of the street, "Junior, look out!"

Jacob saw the car coming for him and his tattoo sensed he was in danger. Before his friends, before the bear, before the vehicle struck him, Jacob's whole body converted into a shadow and sank into the asphalt, allowing the car to pass harmlessly over him.

Bill and Jonathan were both struck by what they saw.

Cherry didn't seem to be as much in shock.

The bear's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

Junior stopped the car and got out immediately, almost sure he'd just hit someone.

His sisters stopped on either side of him as they watched a black shape rise from the street before it turned into the rat.

Jacob's eyes still glowed when he came out of his shadow form.

He glared past the people and straight at the bear.

Brutus tripped over his own feet as he backed away, "No fucking way! You're one o' dem?"

Jacob's right arm shifted into shadow and stretched across the street to grab the great bear by his throat. He pulled the bear right up to him, "You!" A voice, not entirely his own came out of his mouth, "I told you to leave me and my friends be, and you had to be Mr. Big Dick didn't you?"

The bear cowered, "Please, have mercy, I had no idea you were one of The Marks' guys! I woulda left you alone!"

Jacob was able to regain control of himself, "Who... or what is The Marks?"

Brutus stammered, "You don't know 'im? But you've got these powers. You're new?" He gulped. "I'm so, so fucking sorry. I don't like fuckin' with you guys."

The rat kept him in the air for a moment, "Guys, like me? I thought I was the only one."

Brutus grunted, "There's more, like a whole fuckin' gang of you freaks in this city. You're all different, but you all glow the same. The Marks, he's the boss of these guys."

The rat set the bear down on the ground, oblivious to the small crowd watching him. "Where can I find The Marks?"

The bear gulped, "I don't know that. I keep my nose outta that shit, and you should too... if they find out there's a new guy in town with your abilities, they'll be comin' for ya and everyone you know."

Jacob let him go, "I thank you for what you've told me, now get the fuck outta here before I decide not to forgive you."

Brutus nodded with sweat running down his brow. "Anything you say!" The bear almost considered turning and attacking him; these guys were powerful, but they weren't invulnerable. He thought better of it then just ran.

It was only then that Jacob realized other people had seen him. He saw his friends, then he saw the young people standing across the street from him.

Jill approached him before either of her siblings could stop her, "Sir, are you okay?"

He looked at her and was struck by the baby blue of her eyes. "Uh... I'm fine." He hesitated before saying more, "How much of that did you all see?"

Jill was taken by his dark violet eyes; they seemed kind and sad at the same time, "You mean, like, the part where you rose up from the ground like some kind of demon?"

He laughed at her frank tone, "Yeah, that."

She smiled, completely unafraid of this handsome, dark, tall male who stood before her, "I'm Jill."

He realized she had his hands in hers, "Uh, I'm Jacob."

And as they met, their respective groups looked on.

Desiree and Bill stood side by side. She spoke to the opossum, "I'm gonna guess he's your friend."

Bill nodded, "Yup."

Cheetah watched all with a curious smirk on her face, as if she knew more about what was going on.

...

Somewhere on the eastern most edge of the city, a female meerkat dragged herself from the surf. The dress she had worn stuck to her body so she had to tear it off, leaving her drenched body naked as she collapsed onto the beach sand. Her tattoo glowed as the shard inside her fought to heal her cold body. She passed out from the strain of having swam this far in a dress that was not at all made for aquatic exploration.

Her name was Hidaya.