Fight or Flight

“Run!” Flurry yelled as the door behind them slammed shut. She grabbed Karl’s hand and started running down the hallway, ignoring the surprised looks from the reformed kids who had heard the announcement. “Get them! Do not let them escape!” Mag roared, his eyes glowing as he chased after them. “Turn here,” Karl explained, pushing her toward a narrow hallway. " Mag often likes bigger space so he can shoot out fireballs; we’ll be safe from him in here,” Karl muttered, squeezing after her. “But others can! Watch out!” Flurry screamed, as enormous claws swapped in, nearly shredding Karl into slices. “Ahhh!” Karl yelped, his eyes widening in shock. “Keep moving; the faster we move, the faster we can get out of this place,” Flurry said calmly, ducking the wires that were hanging from the ceiling. “How are we going to get out of here?” Karl asked, while tying his tail to his belt. “Don’t worry, I have a plan,” Flurry answered. “You can run, but you can’t hide! I have eyes everywhere, as well as hands.” They heard Adam’s voice as another claw swiped in, nearly slicing Karl’s black tail off. “Yowl!” Karl screeched, shutting his eyes in pain. “So that’s what Adam can do. Well, that’s not what I had in mind, Adam.” Flurry said, sticking her head out at him teasingly. " They are my masterpiece, 6-5-3-6. How dare you make fun of them?” Adam snarled. " Is this your plan?! Making him mad?” Karl explained, his ears flattened in surprise. Flurry ignored him. “My name is Flurry, or are you having memory problems? Maybe your syrup wasn’t so good after all,” she continued, sliding out of the hole into the larger hallway, facing Adam. " I did felt a bit wonky after he gave me the syrup.” flappy muttered. “Be quiet! I do the talking around here.” Adam snapped. Flurry continued to tease Adam, pleased to have an audience. “ Why did you chose it? Is because you couldn’t scratch your back?” she chuckled, glancing toward Karl. she quickly darted her finger left toward bucketful of water lying nearby the wall behind them and then pointed to Adam, finally she pointed up toward the ceiling. “Huh?” Karl grunted as he looks up. Finally he understand what she was trying to do. “Yeah, do you use it to scratch your back? Or your, you know. It starts with a B and end with an Utt.” Karl muttered, slowly backing up toward the wall. Adam lost it, he exploded like a volcano. “That it! Get them!” Adam screamed. Mag smirked as reached for flurry’s arm, when splash! Karl had grabbed the bucket and threw it at Mag, completely soaking him to the skin. Mag stumbled back in surprise and knocked into Adam and they crumbled onto the floor. “Now!” Flurry yelled, as white smoke surrounded her as Karl rushed toward her, throw the bucket at Mag. " Get back here! You’re one of us.” Flappy shrieked, letting go of the ceiling and started flying toward Karl, his hands reaching toward his arms. Karl spun around and slapped around Flappy’s hands without warning. “Ow!” Flappy yelled, ripping his hand away. Karl growled for a moment, suddenly Flurry flew down, and snatched him with her talons. "Time to fly cat boy. See you guys later, or never." flurry explained as she swopped up and crashed through the glass window she saw earlier. Karl let out a surpised yowled before they disappeared from view. Mag groaned as he got up, while Flappy was rubbing his sore wrist. "They're going to pay for that! Now two of our experiment are loose. What are we going to do now, Adam?" Mimic asked, appearing next to him. Adam chuckled, " Well, Luckily for us, i know where to strike next. But for this to work, i need more kids." he replied, glancing at the broken window. " You got it, sir. I'll get some of them to help us gather more." Mag grunted, leaving the hallway. Adam stared at the window for a long time, finally he spoke. "You can run, but you can't hide, 6-5-3-6. we gonna to chase you down and make you sorry that you left us." Adam muttered.

Meanwhile, back at their cousin’s house, Maya and Leo was discussing the growing threat and what should they do. Bruce was exploring the house, wondering if Karl is doing ok.

“Sis. What shall we do next once we get Karl out of Kidder Corp’s grip? Where shall we go next? We can definitely handle the dark hybrids with or without the humans, but with the Kidder Corp stalking us?” Leo explained, walking across the room. While Maya was sitting a chair, drinking tea. “That’s just adding another target painted onto our back and i don’t want to get struck by a buncha arrows.” Leo whined, slumping onto a sofa. “This is a bigger problem, bigger than any battles we have fought in the past. The Kidder Corp definitely have some experience fighters, but so do we. The only question is,” Maya muttered, glancing up from her tea. “Are we going to fight and stop them or are we going to take flight and let them finish what they had started?” Maya asked. Leo looked away for a moment, his eyes lingering at a picture of their family. Then he looked back, his eyes harden with determination. “I would choose to fight. I don’t want them to cause any more pain to us and to the humans. Beside, they scared Luke half to death, they deserve a kick in their hind.” Leo replied. “What about ya, sis? What are ya gonna do?” Leo asked. Maya glanced down, looking at her reflection in her tea. “We have faced so many battles and hard times, seen so many bloodshed, and lost friends. But here, i have made new friends, have fun, and learned that i can find good thing within the bad. The humans also had faced hard times too, and i don’t want to make their lives harder then it was.” Maya muttered looked up, facing Leo. "I choose to fight. But if thing starts to get too dangerous, I’m afraid we might have go into hiding again.” Maya said, taking a sip of her tea. Meanwhile, in the living room scared, Bruce was scanning the scanning. There are so many different types of books here, big and small. Bruce thought, as he ran his fingers over the books. Suddenly he sneezed and accidentally knocking books of the self, causing them to hit his head. “Ow! Ow! Ow! That hurts.” Bruce groaned, rubbing his head. Then his eyes caught something brown and small. Huh? He thought, as he reached his hand toward to object. He picked it and looked at it carefully. It was a small brown diary with vines, in the middle of the diary was two words ‘Maya’s Story’. Bruce glanced around before opening the book to read the first page.

Our story begins after our Creator, the one you call God, first created our kind. A young human-wolf, formed by dust and love. Unfortunately his name was lost when the dark hybrids attacked Greypaw’s castle, causing the scroll inside to be destroy. Anyway, the human-wolf wasn’t the only one that was created, other hybrids was formed. Foxes, tigers, fossa, and so many others. The creator brought them together,starting the first village. ( or kingdom i would rather call it.) Because 500 years after the creator brought them together, the hybrids were tired of fighting over who gets this or that. They asked the creator to bring someone to help them, and he did. He brought a human-fossa who used to work at a mill to be their king. Sadly many part of his story was lost, but we do know that he did many good deeds. He help our people to grow and expand, traveling as far as west as they go. Until they reached the sea, called Eamone. And there a port was built, it was once called Windy Bay. Now it is called Sunny Cove, that where one of dear friend, Captian Jackal, lives. The king ruled the land for many years, bringing peace and happiness over the land. When he grew old and can no longer rule the land, he passed his kingship to his son. And his son passed it to his son and so on for many generations. I know what you are thinking, is all our kings are good? Well, many of them did many good things as well as bad. But there is one king in our history that we consider a bad king. His name is king Mudfur, the great- great- great grandson of the first king. He started out good, but then he started ordering his soldiers to destroy houses and crops. He forced the hybrids to pay higher taxes and they suffered. My father, Willow Smallpaws, told me that the Dark Wind from the west must have invaded king Mudfur’s mind, causing him to go crazy.

Bruce looks up from the book, his mind swirling with questions. Creator….God. He formed the first hybrids, why wasn’t that in the bible? he wondered, flipping through the pages. " And the dark winds…. it invaded someone mind, made them go crazy. I wonder if that is connected to the dark hybrids.” he whispered. he shook his head, clearing his mind before continuing.

Many centuries after king Mudfur had died, a new king rose in power. He was a young human-fox name was king Strongpaws, father of king Greypaws. King Strongpaws was a mighty king and he used his strength to help those who lost everything. He cared for the young and the elders, the weak and the sick. He married a young human-wolf widow name Mayleaf and they had a son name Greypaws. Greypaws grew up to be a playful cub, he loves to play pranks on the royal cook and swim in a lake with his friends. His father gave him a dagger that he made about a few weeks before his thirteen birthday. The dagger was soon lost after he was killed in a battle against the Dark hybrids. Let me tell you the history of how the dark hybrids was formed. The story takes place soon after the human-fossa became the first king. A hybrid went rouge and started to do terrible things, too terrible to be mentions. The hybrid’s fur and eyes soon lost it’s true color, turning jet- black. That’s how they got their name. The king tried to contain this situation, but it only got worse. More hybrids went rouge and soon became an army of dark hybrids. The king had no choice but to chase them out and sent them toward the mountain in the east, called Elosel. They lived there ever since, until Greypaws became king. Greypaws was a fair king, he was also very wise. He wrote a book about the main four spirits of our forest, I’ll tell you more in a little bit. He fell in love with a human- wolf medic and they had a son and daughter. But unfortunately, their daughter died young from an illness called Ealas Gearr. In your language its call Purple Death, my sister,Lily, got it when the dark hybrid plunged a dagger covered in Nightshade Into her back. My sister had a hard time breathing and when she open her eyes, It was dark purple. That’s how it got it’s name, Ealas Gearr ( Purple Death ). The illness Is only caused By Nightshade, a type of plant that has light purple leaves and dark purple flowers.It’s okay to touch the plant but if a leaf or flower of the plant get into you, you will become extremely sick. Many hybrids died from that illness, there was barely any cure for it. Except for one, there is a type of plant that can destroy any Nightshade that went inside your body, that plant is called Stardust Blossom. A red flower with five petals on it and it is only found in the brightest place. There are rumors and legends that say Stardust Blossom was first created by star falling down from heaven and formed into a healing plant. Many of them believe it was a gift from our Creator.

Bruce eye’s widened as he remember when Lily was suddenly sick after she was hit by a dark hybrid. He overheard Ashpaws say something about Nightshade and how it can kill a Giant. Then his mind flashed back to the day when he first expired a dark hybrid, it was a terrifying experience.Brr! I’m glad that lily is doing better now, this book is.... interesting. Maya did say that she was related to the old king and she did mention Greypaws. Bruce thought, as he continued to flip through the pages. suddenly he heard a loud noise from the kitchen that made him jump. Without thinking, he stuffed the book into his pocket, disappearing from sight. Greenpaws stepped out of the kitchen, his face covered in flour. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief and started wiping his face. "Well, that's one way to open a flour bag, my dear." he explained, as Frostfur stepped out as well, holding a rolling pin. Then he noticed Bruce, who was putting the books away. "Don't worry lad. we're not under attack, it's just my wife busting the flour bag open with a rolling pin. An interesting way to open it, would you agreed?" Greenpaws asked, his ears twitching in amusement. Frostfur didn't say anything, but she nodded and went back into the kitchen.

Meanwhile at California’s city dump, " I said, you can rescue your precious humans or save your friends from a certain fate?” Koosa repeated, twirling his dagger. “W-what?! How did you found out about where we were hiding?” Lily stuttered, glancing to Zeve. “That’s none of your concern, Mouse Dung.” Stormy growled, getting ready to fight. “That’s our concern as well, right Kai?” Lily hissed. She looked up to Kai, expecting him to nod in agreement. Instead he looked away, not meeting her eyes. “Kai?” she asked again, looking confused. " I’m sorry.” he whispered. then he turned and ran toward the hole that the kids escaped through. “K-kai?” she stuttered, her ears flatted in distress. “Looks like he’s not going to help you now. His loyalty lies with Varian after all.” Koosa chuckled, taking out his dagger. Koosa leaped at Lily, his dagger gleaming as it rushes toward her. Suddenly a large green burr flash past, knocking the dagger out of Koosa’s paw. It was a large human-crocodile, his yellow eyes flashing with anger as he pinned Koosa to the ground. Koosa screamed in shocked and clawed at the ground, trying to get loose. " Vick! Brother, what are you doing here? Why aren’t you with our parents in Tiere Leben?” Lily explained, clearly as shocked as Koosa. Vick ignore her and started clawing into Koosa, growling ferociously. “Stay away from them.” He grunted, tossing Koosa into a pile of broken cans. Koosa groaned as he stumbled for a moment, then he slumped against the broken cans, unconscious. Vick chuckled. " Did ya hear me? Stay from them, or you will ya will regret that ya ever did, ya creepy one-eyed jerk.” Vick snarled. “Brother! What in the name of Old King are you doing here?” Lily asked, as she scrambled toward him. Vick’s eyes lit up and he smiled as he spotted Lily. “Lily! Oh it’s good to see you again! Where is Maya and Leo? Are they hurt, sick?! If they are, how I’m gonna to explain all this to our parent?” Vick explained as he hugged Lily tightly. “V-vick…. you’re crushing me.” Lily whispered, her tail twitching. “Oh, sorry.” Vick muttered, releasing Lily. "Maya and Leo are in Wisconsin with our cousins and aunt and uncle. We were hiding humans that was attacked from school and now we are trying to get them back home." Lily explained, while fixing her hair. " Zeve is here with us and Windy and Flurry are here too. Everything was going just fine when Koosa appeared and Kai decided to ditch us." Lily continued , shaking her head angerily. "whoa! Whoa! wait... who is Kai?" Vick asked, his eyes widened. Suddenly they heard someone screamed, then it cut short. Moments later they saw Kai racing toward them with something in his arms. " Vick tensed and growled at Kai who stopped a few feet away from them, painting heavily. "Stay away from us, ya dark hybrid. Our ya gonna have to deal with me!" Vick snarled, his tail thumping against the ground. "W-wait! Please, don't attack me." Kai panted. Then he opened his arms and sat a crying kid onto the ground and stepped back. "I rescued this little fellow from Stormy who sneaked away while you guys were busy with Koosa. And they are lying, they are not attacking our hideout." he explained. Then he looked at Vick. "Who is this guy? He looks like he wants to shred me." Kai asked. Lily sighed. "Long story, but we better get going. the faster we take the kids back home, the faster we can warn the others about this." Lily grunted, her eyes flaring with determination.

A few hours later,“ Leo! you are ok. I thought that Koosa was telling the truth about the dark hybrids was attacking here.” Lily said, as she raced pass Frostfur who had opened the door for them and threw her arms around Leo. “We can’t be together anymore. It’s getting too dangerous. we need to split up.” Maya explained. “Me and Leo will to New York and pretend to part of the Kidz Bop Kids program. We sent them them a video of us dancing and singing and they sent us a paper that says that we are accepted.” Maya continued, holding up a piece of paper. She handed it to Zeve who took it and look at it. “How long will you stay there?” he asked, looking up from the paper. “As long as it takes. beside, i really want to met them, they are very popular here.” Leo muttered, showing a picture of them. “I know them fairly. I have quite a competition with them, in fact they hate me for some reason.” Windy explained, rolling his eyes. “ Lily. You and Kai can stay here if you want, it’s better if we stay far apart for now. Zeve, can you sent your soldiers back to Tiere Leben?” Maya asked. “Sure can. But i think I’ll stay here to keep an eye on…. him.” Zeve muttered, glancing at Kai. “Still don’t trust me, even after i saved a kid from Stormy? Ouch, that is harsh of you.” Kai said, offended. " Umm? Maya?” Bruce said, walking up to her with Karl close behind. Karl was wearing one of Bruce’s hoodies to cover his ears and tail, and finger less gloves to remind him to keep his hidden claws retracted. " We want to go back to school, but not the one that was attacked by the…. dark hybrids.”he explained, glancing back at Karl, who nodded. “But aren’t you worry about kids finding out your unusual…features? we don’t want Karl to be put back in lab.” Maya mumbled,looking concerned. “We’ll be fine, Hope told me that there is a school near here that allows kids wear hoodies anytime.” Bruce explained, glancing to Hope who nodded. “OK, you can go, but please keep an eye out for anything that is out of ordinary.” Maya muttered. “We will.” Bruce replied. Maya turned her head toward Vick who just came in. “ It is good to see you agian, Brother. It has been too long since we last saw you.” Maya said, smiling. “ I agreed, however i never thought i would see you with… a dark hybrid on your side.” Vick grunted, glancing at Kai, who looked down nervously. " I wish I could say that you can come with us, but you aren't ready for this world. It's best if we leave you here with our cousins." Maya explained,looking at Leo who nodded in agreement. " OK. I can see that, but our parent told me to keep an eye on you and the others. How can I do that if i'm here?" he asked narrowing his eyes. Lily glanced at Greenpaws who shot her a knowing look. Lily smiled and turned her head back to Maya and Vick. "I think our uncle have that all figured out." she explained. " Good. Till we meet again, Don't go look for trouble. Especially you Leo, we don't need anymore break-ins into the candy store. " Maya said, looking at Leo sternly. Leo blushed and nodded his head.