Chapter Twenty Two: SHUT UP!

"sometimes, it's better to just stop talking, rather than apologise."
-emperorwolf

in another dimension, far away from the planet of our story...

a black featureless humanoid shape clutched it's head "NO! we... Cannot!"
a white featureless humanoid shape sneered "oh, but we can, zedin"
"densro, we cannot, it would tear countless worlds asunder!!"
"this does not matter."
"it does! why do you not see this?"
"our utopia, is a barren void. not a mess of an existance. they will understand, we are gods to them."
"densro, no, we are meerly positive and negative, we are no gods"
densro began floating away "yes, we are, both myself and you."
and he vanished.
zedin screamed "i must get to the planet XLEN!!"
the vast, empty dimension faded.

---

back in the space of our story... one week later...

a basketball flew through the air, bumping against the backboard in the gymnasium. the leopard who'd tossed it cursed.
a clamour rose as fans sat on the edge of their seats, watching the students play against the rival school.
a fox stood "go kevin!"
a black wolf joined him "do it!!"
the entire stand stood, cheering the german shepherd on, as he leapt from the ground, caught the ball in midair....
WHAM!!
he slam-dunked the ball, a siren blew, fans cheered louder.
"saint greit's wins!!"
everyone roared with congratulations, cheering for the students in yellow.
kevin put his hands on his knees and slumped over, panting hard.
"whew... just made it!"
he looked at the stands to see benson and Oriado cheering and whooping, tails wagging furiously.
(great, they saw.) he thought to himself, as the gates opened and the crowd poured onto the gym floor, an anxious fox and wolf pushing past to him.
"way to play, kevin!" benson shouted jovially.
"you're the dog!!" oriado cheered, catching the german shepherd in a headlock.
"hey, come on!" kevin protested half heartedly "save some for the team!"
and as he said it, his teammates clambered around him, joining in on the jostling and cheering.
kevin laughed "SAINT GREIT'S ACADEMY!!"
"SAINT GREIT'S!"
"SAINT GREIT'S!"
"SAINT GREIT'S!"

everyone chanted joyously.

the captain of the other team, a squirrel in a red singlet, walked over, smiling
everyone cleared a path for him to kevin.
kevin smiled.
the two shook paws.
"good game, st.greit's."
"y'not so bad y'selves, heartrow's"
the student from heartrow's school for excelence walked away, and began chatting to carl, who stood among the team from st. greit's.
"heartrow's woulda won if your friend hadn't jumped."
"maybe, maybe not." the leopard laughed "st. greit's was destined to win!"
the team from heartrow's left, leaving the fans of saint greit's cheering wildly for their team.

in the guest box overhead, amelia and lily stood with an older yellow feline.
"well, it seems your friends have bested the school. i'm impressed, girls."
"well..." lily started "we had to side with our friends on this one, sorry uncle frel."
"it's okay. just means we've gotta get the team in better shape for next year, go join your freinds." he said happily.
they ran out with syrus, ian, patrick, and collin.
they joined them at the exit port, and climed out onto benson's waiting paws.
they all congratulated the german shepherd as they were held before his face.
"thanks, guys!" he said, elated.
"our uncle was impressed!" amelia squealed gleefully "and that's rare!!"
oriado came forward "well, who wouldn't be impressed with kevin here?"
kevin laughed, keeping from showing his teeth
ian raised his hand "celebratory dinner! celebratory dinner!"
benson looked at kevin "sure, but i'm buyin!"
kevin smirked "ben..."
"hey, can't let YOU pay, can i?" the fox said slyly
"but--"
oriado shook his head "uh-uh, no objections allowed from you! NONE!"
carl appeared from behind the corner "room for one more?"
benson smiled "of course! we wouldn't have left without you!"
kevin sighed "i'm not getting outta this am i?"
"NOPE!" everyone answered
collin produced a ticket of some kind.
"see this?"
everyone looked curious
"i happen to be the one who won a competition for a FREE meal at VIVI's!"
everyone stared, mouths agape.
"and, now's the perfect time to cash it!"
kevin stammered "c-collin...y-y'r aw-awesome...!"
collin shrugged "aren't i just?"

-soon-

everyone sat at a table at vivi's, the high quality resteraunt.

benson dug into a serving of chicken parmigania
kevin and oriado shared a jumbo-serving of the roast pork bowl.
lily and amelia were having seared salmon.
syrus, carl and patrick each had soup.
collin no longer had to eat, it was a side-effect from going into full gliloutation.
he just sat at the edge of the table.
"how is it?" the white wolf asked
everyone responded with a general "it's great!"

collin sighed "good to know."
oriado coughed "so... you turn into some kinda monster... and that means you don't have to eat?"
"not anymore." he groaned
"you still could, though."
"not really, my sense of taste is gone."
"you could still--"
"no. i couldn't."
"yes you-"
"I SAID I CAN'T!!" collin roared, his blue eyes turning red.
oriado stopped.
collin scoffed "enjoy the meal, but i'm out." he dropped from the table, and sped off on foot.

oriado clutched his head.
"damn... sorry, i better go apologise."
patrick stood "he'll be at least five miles away by now. i'll take you"
kevin nudged the wolf "go. i'll save ya' some meat."
oriado touched the cat and...
whump
they appeared outside the city, where collin, in 'feral' mode was just finishing up enlarging.
oriado's ears flattened back "oh. fuckdammit..."
patrick sighed "just call when you two wolves are done with your wolf-talk."
whump

oriado stood before the megalith wolf.
he was growled at.
"uh... hi, ... collin..."
collin's muzzle turned to a snarl. the red eyes looking down at him with sheer hatered.
"uh... i... wanted... to apol...ogise... for... what i said... and... hope you'll... forgive me?"
collin roared at him, setting his paw down in front of oriado with a ground shaking thump.
"p-please?" he asked, frightened, his tail tucking between his legs.
collin snorted, the blast of air knocked oriado down.
"please... don't hur--"
collin roared, but this time, oriado understood the meaning; stop talking.
oriado clamped his mouth shut, and lay flat, trying to look submissive.
collin meerly glared at him, his eyes full of contempt.
and a loud, angry voice filled his head

WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW?!

"i... who?"

SHUT IT!

"who? who's in my head?!"

I. SAID. SHUT. UP!!

oriado noticed that behind the voice, he could hear collin roaring at him.

"you?" he looked back up at the hateful eyes.

SHUT. THE FUCK. UP!

"i'm trying to apologise!" oridao stood up and yelled.
collin's red eyes widened.

YOU DARE?!

"yes, i fucking dare! you can't just push me around! i won't let you!!"
oriado stood his ground, fear giving way to adrenaline.

collin growled: YOU UNDERSTAND? HOW?

"i... i don't know!"

the next growl came out softer: PERHAPS, BECAUSE WE ARE BOTH WOLVES?

oriado stumbled back "that... that makes sense..."
collin settled down, laying with his head on his paws.
"why're you out here?"

the next one was more of a grumble: TO LET OFF SOME STEAM... YOU KNOW HOW IT IS.

oriado rubbed his head "yeah, i do."
a blast of hot breath chuffed past him, knocking him down.
"aghh..."

SORRY.

"'s fine, 's fine. besides, that's why i came here, to apologise."

STOP TALKING.

"but--"

STOP TALKING OR I WILL MAKE YOU STOP.

he covered his muzzle with his paws.

FINALLY.

oriado growled.
collin's eyes narrowed.
he removed his paws and stood.
"no. no, you're not doing that. i came out here to freaking apologise for what i said, but now, i don't think i should have. you DON'T deserve it."
a low growl rumbled from collin's throat.
"oh, you're gonna growl? not like i can't, too!" he snapped, letting out the same low growl.

IF I WANTED TO, I COULD SIMPLY SNAP YOU UP, DEVOUR YOU WHOLE.

"go ahead and fucking try it! i'll pound your goddamn stomach from the inside!" he retorted, challenging the white wolf.

whoose muzzle curled up into a lupine smile.
YOU ARE A FUNNY LITTLE GUY!

"yeah, just you wait, whitey, as soon as you change back YOU'LL be the little one!"
WHATEVER...BLACK-AND-WHITEY.
"you suck."
WHATEVER.
oriado started laughing "you know, patrick called this 'wolf talk' "
HE'S NOT WRONG. NOT REALLY...
"you gonna change back?"
the lupine face grinned, showing the mouth full of razor sharp fangs.
oriado's body went cold.
"collin?" he asked uncertainly.
the wind whipped up, the short cyclone ending in a few seconds.
when oriado looked back, collin was in 'feral' mode, at around about giant size.
"okay, that's cool."

collin barked: call patrick.

"okay. why?"

i'm going to freak him out.

"by being a domestic?"

by being a Feral!

oriado called for the pickup.
whump
patrick appeared in canine form, and collin barked and chased him.
"shit! fucking-AAAGH!!" patrick screamed as the happy wolf chased him, biting playfully at him every so often
"FUCKING CALL OFF THE DOG!!"
"wolf." oriado corrected him.
"DON'T FUCKING CARE!! CALL IT OFF!"
oriado laughed "what do you expect me to do?"
patrick screamed "CALL IT THE FUCK OFF!"
"i dunno, he's enjoying himself..."
patrick ran to oriado, his canine features retracting and his size reducing.
collin's size reduced.
"wait a goddamn minute... COLLIN?!"
the wolf leapt, flipping over in midair, and landing back on the ground in his normal form, wearing his mask and Neowolf attire.
"got you, i fucking got you!"
patrick now chased him "FUCK YOU!"
collin just laughed.
oriado sniggered "can we get back now?" he stuck his footpaw out, creating a wall for patrick and collin to crash into.
"-OW!"
"-OW!"

the black wolf laughed.
"fine, let's go."
WHUMP

they reappeared in vivi's.
oriado picked them up and put them on the table.
"pff. you took your time." benson remarked.
kevin smirked, looking at patrick and collin. "you dogged him, didn't you?"
"yyyyyyyep!" collin laughed "but, i'm a wolf, not a dog."
carl stifled a laugh "true."

oriado sat beside kevin again "save me any?"
kevin handed him the large bowl.
empty.
"what the hell?"
"sorry, it was ben's idea."
he glared at the fox, whoose parmi hung out of his mouth.
he shrugged, smiling.
"you're lucky collin got dinner for free, or i'd order the fillet mingon bucket." (expensive)
benson went wide eyed.
everyone laughed.

the rest of the celebration went off without a hitch.

afterward, they were walking back through the forest, patrick on benson's shoulder, lily in his breast pocket, syrus atop carl's head, ian and amelia hung out of his hoodie pocket, collin sat perched upon oriado's muzzle. oriado had kevin in a hug.

"thanks for inviting us to your school finals, kev!"
"thank YOU all for cheering so much"
benson tapped kevin's shoulder "well, it was an impressive game!"
ian spoke up "got that right! i mean, i've seen uncountable civilisations, the aztecs and the mayans sports, i've seen the real coloseum matches, the first sports, but that game was impressive!
kevin and collin looked at each other.
"wow. if that's not an honour, i dunno what is." the leopard remarked.
"damn right."
ian laughed "hey, i'd like to try flying if you don't mind."
amelia growled "no! the doctors said TWO weeks, not one!"
ian pouted.
collin stood up on oriado's muzzle "well, i'd like to know, do angels have sports?"
ian raised a hand "can't tell you. do order members play sports?"

"no, but sometimes we watch" came a voice from nearby.

everyone sturned to see 'the emperor' sitting in the branches of a nearby tree.
oriado raised an eyebrow "who's the red-vested little wolf?"
collin growled "the emperor, AKA number#999, leader of the order."
"oh, good to see you remember, Neowolf."
"it's COLLIN."
"no, collin is human, Neowolf is a white wolf, who was once a human called collin bolt."
"i'm not with the order anymore!"collin barked
"you are still 'Neowolf: The White Terror Clad In Shadows' so you are still with the order"
"go fuck yourself, vesty."
999 laughed "the ironic thing about that is, as a Demigod..."
"NO!" everyone yelled, panicking.
"you still know what i was going to say, though." the brown wolf pointed out "but, relax... i'm only here to say 'well done' for the game you played... and to say something to my white friend..."
"what...?"
"your control over that power is remarkable. you pulled off a partial transformation... what do you call it? 'feral' mode?"
collin nodded hesitantly, still on guard.
"well, i never thought about trying it before... by the way..."
he took a deep breath...
"heritoswasputintotheblackroom,butsomebodysomehowgotinandbrokehisneck,it'stheonepersonican'tcontrolbysnappingmyfingersandineedyourhelp." he said VERY quickly
everyone stared blankly.
"s-say again?" benson asked
999 sighed in annoyance "heritos was put into the blackroom, but somebody somehow got in and broke his neck, it's the one person i can't control by snapping my fingers and i need your help." he repeated slower
collin raised an eyebrow "you think we'd help you? fuck you!" he laughed.
benson scoffed "collin's told us all about your 'order' and we don't like you."
everyone nodded and agreed.
"besides, draco's done, what's keeping you here?"
999 sighed pensively "well, just a man who could bring about armageddon."
everyone stared, and started walking again... then ran.
"of course they ran, why wouldn't they run?" he said annoyedly
he flew ahead of them, making them stop.
"i'm serious, and i need your help."
kevin shook his head "just handle it yourself, we can't help you!"
he raised an eyebrow "you've got an angel, a teleporter, AND Neo--"
"COLLIN."
"--wolf, why will you not help me?" he finished.
kevin stepped forward "because we..."
he closed the gap with his head "...don't..."
he pushed 999 back "...like..."
he jabbed him in the gut with a finger, pushing him away "...you."
999 clutched his stomach "oof." then he lost his noble air "what the hell?! i'm asking you this time!! like you suggested before, COLLIN, AND it's to stop the END OF DAYS! why WON'T you help?!" he was angry, his eyes literally flaming with rage.
"go ahead and light your eyes on fire as much as you want, vesty, you'll get no sympathy from us!"
"GRRRR! you're all MORONS! fine, then have fun DYING IN HELL ON ... WHATEVER THIS PLANET'S CALLED, SEE IF I CARE!" he barked
lily rolled her eyes "how old ARE you? five?"
"I. AM. SEVENTEEN. YOU. BITCH" he clenched his fists, the fire in his eyes going away, replaced by his green eyes turning bloodred.
collin glared "you turn, and i'll do the same, i won't let you hurt them!"
"well, 'collin'.... FUCK YOU!" he bared his teeth "i could turn you human and banish you back to earth if i so wanted to! never to see your FRIENDS ever again!!"
kevin pushed forward "if you wanna go, then why not just enlarge yourself?, i'll take you on right now!"
999 trembled, whether it was in rage or in fear was unclear.
"i... cannot... alter sizes" he said, his eyes returning to green, and he hung his head.
amelia scratched her head "but aren't you a demigod?"
"there are... limits to my power." he admitted, he floated down to the ground, removed his crown, and his nobleman clothing vanished.
he wore a black jacket and black track pants.
the crown vanished.
"when you get down to the basics... i'm still mortal." he said sadly, looking at his now bare paws.
he sighed "i'm... imma leave..." he began to walk off to the side of the track.
syrus stared "you're... just a wolf?"
he looked up at the otter on carl's head, crying as he looked "well... yes... i am, on this world..."
patrick narrowed his gaze "THIS world?"
"yes... i do come from earth... where i'm a nobody. when i arrived here, i became this wolf... the powers followed." he turned and walked into the woods.
"wait!" benson called, and he stopped.
"yes?"
"do you... regret... the wrongs you've done?"
"yes... everything." and then he bolted into the forest.
collin tapped his snout "i think his crown... is like the Neowolf mask... it contains his most powerful abilities, while he keeps the more mundane ones inside himself."
everyone looked on, realising they pitied the one being who was at the root of so many mysteries, who had never been straight out about what he wanted until now.

but they still couldn't help him.

---

999 ran through the gigantic forest, crying.
(why...??? why?? why won't they understand?)

he slumped against a tree trunk.
"i just... don't get it..."
he glared into space, and spoke the release incantation.
"the Ruling One submits to his lesser self, entrusting his identity to those present, revealing all but his name"
his body glowed slightly, and his lupine features vanished, donning a pair of sunglasses.
his untidy short brown hair blew in the wind.
he brushed his fingers across his mustache.

"i hate this."

he walked on, deeper into the woods, exiting into a clearing with a steakhouse, until a bear in a biker jacket stepped in front of him "sorry, kid, skyrippers only."
he looked up "that so?"
"get out of here, punk."
"oh, you're confused, i am not a punk, i'm actually quite-"
the bear swung at him, and he ducked just in time
"-quite the intelectual, and i'm also not very rebellious."
the bear stared, wide eyed.
"how'd you...?"
he touched the paw gently "don't feel bad..." the place where their 'hands' touched began to glow.
"...i'm not a regular human."
the bear's eyes glowed.
"that's it, take a look, see what i am"
the bear pulled his paw away, shaking his head
"woah... headrush... but... you're one of the boss' friends?"
he nodded, and bowed "yes."
"shoulda just said so."
"my apologies."
the bear led him inside, where everyone gave the human the deathstare.
"s'okay! he's a friend of the boss!"
the bikers nodded and resumed their rowdiness.
he was lead to the back room, where a particularly well-dressed ape sat at an office desk.
classical music played, and the rock music outside could not be heard.
"ah, nine-ninety-nine, my friend, sit down!"
he sat opposite the ape "how's buisiness, zachary?"
"you know i can't tell you."
"just being polite."
"of course" the ape smiled "you always are."
"i need to find someone, zachary."
the ape smiled "oh, you do, do you? who?"
"i need to find reginald and millian palmer."
"tough luck, they're dead."
999 smiled "actually, they're not, not entirely."
zachary's eyes widened "what? ... i'm not helping with any creepy stuff."
"come on, help a fellow 'primate' out, zachary!"
zachary smiled "oh, you know just how to get me to help you, don't you?"
"anyone with a brain can understand the species-ist ideals you have, zachary."
they shook hands "sure, kid. i'm in. dead or alive?"
"i need them to be brought in... very...much...alive"
"any idea to a location?"
"the famous ruins at the south pole, it's cold outside, but it's tropical inside."
"ooh, THAT place. supposed to be pretty rich in riches..."
"of course, you get to keep any treasures you find inside, consider it payment."
"deal." zachary laughed.

number#999 had set the plan in motion, now, he just had to set up the pieces on the board...
"let the games begin, old friend"

AUTHOR NOTE: if you haven't guessed by now, 'the emperor' is me, emperorwolf, also known as 'emperorwolf999' in some other places, i included myself to get a better control on the storyline.
sorry the cameos haven't appeared yet, but they're not far away... sort of...