Chapter Thirty Seven: The Invention Goes Public! plus... something else happens...
"if one posesses a new, useful creation, is it not wise to share it with the world?"
-emperorwolf.
"initiate mysterious suspense... or whatever"
-Neowolf (collin)
"collin?! get out of my intro! you're supposed to be in the storyline, not here!"
-(me)
"okay, fine. i'm goin' alright..."
-(collin)
"stupid wolf, messing up my int-- oh, right! the story! ahem sorry, please read on, valued readers."
-(me)
benson sat in the lounge-area, reading from an article on his phone.
"blist- ahem ... Bllistahvan... notretick?"
he cleared his throat again "that's... to greet and welcome respectfully and formally...?"
he felt a little pinch at his toes, and looked down past his phone to see lily smiling back at him from the ground.
"actually, you'll want 'miristava pok mootek' ... which is a less... 15th century-ish way of greeting."
he chuckled a bit "well, if i'm going to be helping you present resilix, i need to be able to speak in gentikan... and what do you mean '15th century-ish' anyway?"
"you essentially said: 'i bid thee Salutations, mine Community' ... where as my suggestion was kind of like: 'hello and welcome, everyone' see?"
benson groaned "gentikan's a freaking difficult language..."
lily climbed up onto the top of his toes "no way, it's easy!"
benson rolled his eyes "uh, no. it's your mother tongue, not mine, remember?"
"grestrotian..."
he sighed loudly, and in agitation, as he typed the word into his translator app.
"lesee here... what?! i'm not an imbeceile!" he barked, leaning forward quickly, but kept his lower body stable, so as to prevent throwing the little cat halfway across the room.
lily laughed "oh, benny, you're so easy!"
he rolled his eyes again, and wiggled his toes, succeeding in making her fall between them.
"okay, ha ha... now get me out of here, ben!" she called, muffled.
he chuckled a little "i dunno... doesn't feel half bad~" he crooned
she began thrashing around a bit "ben, lemme out!"
he laughed heartily "calm down, lil, i'm just playing~!"
he stretched his toes out to the sides, allowing his girlfriend to flop out from between them.
"you should know i'd never do something like that for real!" he laughed, enjoying himself quite clearly.
she sighed "well, at least you do remember to wash there."
he snickered "well, duh. i wouldn't put you anywhere foul!"
she gave him a sneaky smile "and what about the last four nights, then?"
he blushed, his tail thrashing nervously "well, to be perfectly honest, you went there of your own free will..." he looked away from her "but... it was nice... i'll admit..."
she laughed, and tickled his toepads, making him tremble as he held himself in place firmly.
"hnn...ngh... snerk pl-ple~ase... st-stop...!" he begged her.
she laughed cruelly, but playfully "oh, no! i'm getting you back for the toe thing!"
he trembled, his upper body closing into a tight ball "l-lil... snerk pleeeeaseeee ha! ha! ha! sto~o~op!" he laughed painedly, not enjoying the tickle torture.
finally, she stopped and hugged his middle toe "big cry-puppy!"
he caught his breath, smiling broadly "you little... get your tail up here...!"
as she gripped the toe tighter, he raised his paw to a 'T' formation atop his other knee, and carefully pulled her off his toe "... so i can get you back!"
she playfully squirmed in his relatively loose grip, making sarcastic cries for help "aah! save me, please, someone save me from fox-zilla!"
he looked at her happily and scoffed "i'm going to point out that i'm furred... and 'king-fox' would've made more sense!"
he raised her up and gently put her down atop his left shoulder "besides, at least that movie had some romance in it!"
she gripped her sides in laughter "okay! point taken! but there's no way i'm calling you 'king' -anything!"
benson looked back at his phone "would it really be so bad if i just used the automatic translator?" he asked, a little bit cautiously.
she hugged his neck as much as she could "yes, yes it would. you need to know Gentikan if you're talking to the target audience!" she kissed his neck "which, in case you've forgotten, you ARE doing."
he groaned slightly "but come on, lil! i'm 25! it's difficult learning a new language! you had the advantage of learning Viradan and Gentikan side by side as a kitten! i only learned Viradan as a pup!" he pouted, letting a bit of affection into his voice.
suddenly, his phone buzzed, and he pressed 'answer' with his thumb "hello?"
""zerzetta kovachi?"" an adult-sounding male voice asked in a thick eastern accent, in a language unknown to benson, it wasn't Firish or Gentikan, and it definitely wasn't Viradan.
benson frowned "i... i'm sorry, i can't understand you... do you speak viradan?"
""ah, yes, yes, i am very sorry. i am looking for Syrusimus Revino, do you know his number?""
benson looked at lily "does he mean syrus?"
""abka! yes! i believe he goes by 'Syrus' these days, are you a friend of his?""
benson thought about it "and... who're you?"
""ah, i apologise, i have neglected to say this. my name is Aaron Arpoxid, i was a close friend of Syrus' during childhood.""
lily dialled syrus' number, and he picked up right away ""yes? who's calling?
""
"it's lily. see, we got a wrong number who claims to know you.
"
syrus sounded like he was clearing his throat ""what's the name?""
"i think it was... Airen Aprocky... or something..."
""uh... you wouldn't mean 'Aaron Arpoxid' would you?""
benson nodded to her
"uh, yeah, that's the name."
""do my ears deceive me? or do i hear my old friend?"" Aaron asked through the phone line
benson and lily turned on a pan-call, linking the telecommunication signals to allow the conversation to go through benson's phone entirely.
""Aaron? that you?""
""yes! ah, i have missed that voice much!""
benson sighed, and his thumb hovered over the 'hang up' button "i'll leave you two to talk."
he hung up, leaving the conversation.
lily stood up on his shoulder "weird."
suddenly, she gripped her abdomen "ugh!"
benson gasped "what's wrong?!"
she almost fell, but a quick black paw swung up to catch her.
"i... i don't feel... well..." she moaned in pain "my stomach... it hurts..."
benson looked around frantic, no idea what to do.
"ben... the green eye..."
he gasped, and he used the ocular power in his green eye to see inside of her.
in her chest there was a luminous, large ball of golden light, just like always...
but there below it, inside her, lay a smaller, white ball of light, fragile, dim.
wait, no, not one, two. they were orbiting each other inside her.
"what in the...?" he asked blankly, amazed at what he was seeing.
his other eye lit up a brilliant azure blue, and the x-ray like vision faded, and instead, he saw a thin blue flame enveloping lily, and orbiting it were two smaller flames.
he knew these flames by appearance.
souls.
"lil... you'll never believe this..."
she looked up at him desperately "what?"
"there are... two new souls inside you..."
she stared in disbelief.
minutes later, lily sat atop the bathroom sink, holding a thin, oblong tube.
benson paced, unable to keep still.
"i don't get it..." he muttered to himself "i just don't..."
lily gasped, and the fox quickly turned to her.
"ben... there're two... red... dots... and a... blue stripe..."
now he gasped.
lily began to cry "i can't believe it... i... i'm... i'm..."
benson quickly walked over, and knelt to he was eye level with her.
"lil... you're not saying...?"
she nodded, fully crying.
"i'm pregnant..."
he nearly fainted "b... but... i didn't think you were in..."
she shook her head "neither did i... but i must have been..."
benson sniffed her, and cringed "yeah... smells like you're in heat... since last night..."
a heavy silence fell over the room.
benson put his head in his paws, hating himself "not like this... not now..."
lily cried, she understood how he felt.
after they became 'intimate' a few nights ago, she'd been a bit too overzealous during the most recent, and benson had accidentally gotten a bit rough in the midst of things because of it, and she'd wound up badly bruised, and he'd panicked, despising himself that he could ever harm her, even just bruising...
and now it seemed that wasn't all that had happened...
"i took precautions... i wanted to wait at least two years before this happened... like the information said we'd have to before we could encounter this... now i've hurt you and done this... how'd i let this happen?"
suddenly, the answer hit her in the face like a brick on a stick.
"oh... bindageten... it's my fault..."
he looked up at her through depressed eyes "how? i won't believe that."
"ben... i've been eating hirilo berries..."
"and? what's that got to do with anything?"
"one of the ingredients in resilix... is denvap oil... which, when mixed with the enzymes found in hirilo berries... can increase..."
his eyes shot wide open "can increase... the chances of pregnancy following intimacy..." he finished in disbelief "no... you mean...?"
she nodded sadly "it's completely my own fault..."
he shook his head, and gently caressed her to his chest, allowing her to feel the beat of his heart.
"don't you dare blame yourself. i'm just as much at fault as you are."
"but--"
"no buts. you're too perfect to make mistakes all on your own."
she clutched his white chest fur and trembled "you mean like how i went after 'that spot' that you warned me was too sensitive last night? like then you mean? ... no... i'm the one who ignored your warning... that's probably why we're in this situation right now..."
he groaned "lil... i'll always be here for you... even if i'm not completely ready for this..." he started crying, and a single tear landed on top of the litte feline "... i'll stay with you... through thick and thin"
"i... i won't leave you either... i need you now more than ever..."
a thought came to mind "lil... what're we going to do about resilix?"
two days later, benson sat outside in a park, with a huge crowd of non-giants and giants in front of him.
lily stood upon his knee.
the camera crews trained their cameras on the fox.
"welcome everyone... i'm Benson Palmer, and this is my girlfriend, Elilabetha Heartrow... we're here to introduce a new product to you all."
everyone 'oohed'
lily cleared her throat, and held up a bottle of green liquid "Resilix, the status equaliser."
the cameras focussed on the cat holding the bottle.
"resilix is my own creation, and with it, non-giants have almost nothing to fear from giants anymore!"
the crowd gasped in surprise.
benson started speaking "by increasing the physical perameters of non-giants, resilix brings them closer to equal with giants. as such, it removes the danger of falling underfoot, and actually makes them strong enough to shatter solid steel. it also increases jumping ability, and enhances the senses tenfold."
to demonstrate, lily leapt into the air, landing on the fox's shoulder.
everyone cheered
"there's one side effect, though..."
everyone hushed.
"if the user is female, and consumes hirilo berries, or anything with the nejil enzymes in it, before 24 hours pass after taking resilix, it can cause a higher chance of pregnancy... as we found out the hard way..."
the crowd murmured, all looking at lily.
"yeah... it's true..." she admitted. "i'm pregnant... and we're not aborting"
the crowd gasped.
"but, it's only a minor side effect when you think about it." benson added "and, it seems it actually improves the unborn child's chances of survival... but Resilix is Only for use to equalise wih giants. it can't be used to just improve the chances of baring offspring."
lily smiled "Lasts 48 hours in a single dose of one hundred mililitres. take only as needed!"
everyone cheered and clapped as the duo bowed.
as benson prepared to stand and leave, a pair of yellow, male and female gentikan felines wearing buisiness suits walked up.
"Elilabetha! p'nit yerl kommakki!" the male called at her.
she groaned "hi... mother... father..."
lily's mother tapped her paw impatiently as she politely asked benson in fractured viradan if she could speak to her daughter.
benson looked at lily for approval.
she nodded begrudgingly, and he carefully and gently lowered her to the ground.
her father hissed at benson angrilly the second lily touched ground.
lily stood before her parents, looking nervous "what's this about?
"
her father scoffed "it is about you neglecting to mention your... involvment... with this disgusting creature, elilabetha! and furthermore, that you are with child.... *its* child, no less!
" he snapped at her.
lily stepped back "i'm not a kitten anymnore!
"
her mother shook her head "now, dear, we're just asking that you abort and find a better mate. why not that nice fox from when you were young? you liked him, didn't you?
"
lily glared "this..." she motioned to the giant fox behind her "... IS benson!"
they stared at him, and her father shook his head "b-but... the 'benson' you told us about wasn't a monster... you said he was a buki...
"
"there was an accident, he lost his powers and was turned into a giant... and he never once considered leaving me, not even the unexpected pregnancy could make him leave me..."
benson fidgeted "c-can i say something... please?" he asked quietly.
before her father could say 'no' to him, lily told him to speak.
"mrs Heartrow and mr Heartrow... i promise you i'd never willingly harm her... she's more precious than all the wealth in this world to me... i can't imagine living without her..."
lily's father growled "you are... worthless monster... i no... accept this... she deserve far more than you, disgusting beast of utter revulsion! she deserve REAL mate, not stupid monster!"
benson was taken aback "i..."
he began to weep.
"ah-HA! see now? monster weak and cries! monster is nothing!"
lily growled furiously, and walked right up to her father, glaring into his eyes.
"I HATE YOU! GET OUT OF MY LIFE!!" she screamed, visibly causing her father some sort of pain as he stumbled back in shock.
lily continued "I'VE ALWAYS HATED YOU! YOU KEEP TRYING TO CONTROL ME, WELL NEWS FLASH I. WON'T. BE. CONTROLLED. LIKE. A. MACHINE!"
lily's mother stepped back "my dear...?"
she turned to her mother, considerably kinder toward her "and stop trying to make me someone i'm not... i'm old enough to make my own decisions... will you both just let me live my life! please!"
her parents stared, dumbstruck.
benson turned his gaze to his girlfriend "lil... don't be so hard on them..." he said pitifully
they all turned and looked at him in surprise.
"remember... you at least still have them... even if they're wrong or opressive... they're still your family... and that's more than I have..."
he carefully stood, and faced away from them "i'm sorry, lil... i'll be back home if you need me..."
"ben--!"
"i just... need to go away... i can't stand all this blind hatered..." his voice started breaking "i'm sorry... i'll see you at home, lil..."
and he walked off quickly, but they still heard the sadness in his voice as he cried fully, heading back home.
lily's mother bowed her head "oh my... we were complete... i'm sorry, dear..."
lily took the continued use of viradan language while no viradan citizen was present as a message; her mother had accepted it.
her mother nudged her father "uh... yes... i was wrong... i am..."
lily started crying "just... STOP." the turned to her parents, eyes full of tears "you always do this! nobody's 'good enough' no matter how i feel... what's wrong with you?!"
and with that, she ran off at a speed comparative to that at which the fox had walked away at, leaving her parents where they stood.
"wow. you two really suck at this."
they turned to see Amelia looking at them with her arms crossed, and a blonde human standing next to her.
"Amelianna? what are you...?"
"i'm leaving, that's what. you two need to think about other people's needs, not just your own..." her expression turned sad "or do i have to bring up what happened to gene?"
her parents looked down, beaten.
gene, or Genelovich, was Amelia's and Lily's older blood-related brother... or, he would be, if he wasn't in a coma caused by their father's ignorance.
"or nia for that matter?"
and nia, or Nialaya, was gene's twin sister... but she'd died when she was young, because of an accident her parents had inadvertedly caused.
"no..." her father said solemnly "you are right...
the human bowed partway "i'm Ian Buckler."
he offered his hand and amelia's father shook it.
"you said that you had two other children...?"
mrs Heartrow nodded "yes... our eldest children... Genelovich was put into a coma after a... mistake.... and Nialaya sacrificed herself to save Amelianna... that was at least thirteen years ago..."
ian nodded, and amelia grabbed his wrist, and pulled him back "what're you doing?!" she whispered loudly.
he smiled "you'll see..."
ian bowed again "it was interesting meeting you, Mr & Mrs Heartrow..."
the human and feline walked off.
"so, your name's actually 'Amelianna' is it?"
"shut up, or i'll wring your neck with your Halo."
"i'm just asking."
amelia groaned "yes..."
he nudged her arm "it's a nice name"
"oh, like Kenz-..." her voice quietened to nothing as they walked away, out of earshot.
mr H looked at his wife "i guess we should just head home...
"
mrs H nodded sadly "yes... that would probably be for the best....
"
meanwhile, in Virada national Penitentary...
now wearing an orange jumpsuit marked with a code 'VA002' on the back, a certain brown-haired teenager lifted weights while a certain older teenager with black hair and glasses read a book nearby, he was marked 'VA001'.
"that is ninety... seven.... that is ninety eight... that is ninety nine..." he huffed "and that... is one hundred."
the other inmates avoided the duo, all except for a large bear marked 'R579' who sat in the G-sector, next to the area called B-sector, where the 'VA' duo was, separated by a thick fence, they'd talked routinely, but never mentioned names or any personal details.
"so, you two're new here? all things considered."
the black haired, studious looking one sighed "i suppose so, yes, we only were sent here about a month ago. what about you?"
"ah, jeez... i've been here only a bit longer than you two. so what're y'z in for?"
the weightlifter scoffed "the badge-tag reads 'VA' if this is what you are asking?"
"yep, 'VA' stands for 'various atrocities' ... who are you guys, anyway?"
the weightlifter sat up, revealing a grotesquely scarred portion of his face "i am called Draco Shay, second born son of the legendary 'masked genocist' called Isello Shay."
"ooh, ominous..." the bear taunted, but seemed impressed.
the studious looking one stood "i'm Jack Shay, first born son of Isello Shay, i'm also Draco's older brother."
the bear nodded "i'm Jason Quillin, marked 'R' for 'Rapist' ... they say my 'desires' almost killed a buncha people... i won't go into details."
"i will thank you much for you not to divulge as you have said you will not, bear."
"why do you talk like that?"
jack smiled "he just does. that's simply how he talks."
jason sighed "whatever. anyway, how'd they get you two?"
draco chuckled, remembering "we were going to use harnessed technomage energy, along with fiend power, to charge the item that was the most powerful weapon our father owned to full capacity... but the technomage had allies, and they ruined everything..."
jack groaned "yes, they robbed us of our Henolin-generated power, and sealed away our mystic power we were born with... they brought the entire police force to retrieve the technomage... we couldn't do anything."
jason's eyes widened "oh! you're the guys that blew stuff the Friggin' hell up with a mask and a book!"
draco rolled his eyes "flame of the king"
"F.O.T.K? weird name."
"this is coming from a behemothic rapist bear? your argument holds no place in respectable logic."
jason laughed "maybe."
a bell rang out
""ALL INMATES RETURN TO YOUR CELLS, BREAK PERIOD IS NOW OVER!""
draco chuckled "perhaps we will converse again? i bid you farewell at present."
the shay brothers headed off to the internment facility, while jason and the other giant inmates were herded to a much larger variant.
back in their prison cell, draco lay in bed, thinking.
"brother, do you believe our power is truly gone?"
jack hummed, thinking about it "well, our natural mystic power is meerly sealed. if we could remove these inhibitor collars, we'd likely regain them."
draco nodded "how do you think our cousin is doing, brother?"
"no clue. but i know he lost Conduit."
"that is truly a shame."
later that night, draco was awakened by the sound of their cell door being unlocked.
"brother."
"i heard, draco."
in the 'doorway' stood a silhouetted figure, looking around adult height, muscular...
and radiatng pure evil.
"i know of this power... you are the one who calls himself 'the harbinger of armageddon' yes?"
"yes, very perceptive, but, you are Isello's sons after all..."
"you have come to free us... or kill us?"
"i don't need to kill you, you're the offspring of one of our soldiers, after all."
jack nodded "can you free us from these collars?"
harbinger walked over, and snapped the collars with brute force.
ebony lightning danced across draco's arms, lighting up the darkness with an eerie glow.
an odd, flaming quill appeared in jack's hand, and a gothic looking sketchpad in the other.
their true powers were back.
"the galactic dragon and the artist of death have returned... welcome back, young destroyers of the world." harbinger commented. "from now on, you are 'The Vengeance Seekers' okay?"
the brothers nodded, and draco's half black-half white facemask reappeared on his face.
"just one thing first, i would like to bring someone." draco pointed out
"who?"
"a bear called 'jason quillin' in the sector of G."
as the parents of amelia and lily heartrow slept on their plane back to gentiki, they had a vivid dream...
they stood in a misty area, and in front of them, stood a figure wearing a thick black robe, his hands were gloved, he held a weapon, an old, twisted tree branch, with a shining silver cresent-moon shaped blade in it.
A Scythe.
and in place of his head, there was a skull, picked clean, and centuries old.
it was Death, the Grim Reaper himself.
"you have been called here as a favor to a brother of mine, you will be punished by those you wronged, those you lead down the path to me. as the thirteenth card reads..."
death seemed to look up "at the end of the beaten path lies the..."
the middle aged felines knew the saying "... absolute end, it matters not who you are, death awaits you."
Death nodded, and out of the mist walked a teenage feline girl, and an adult feline male, both coloured very similarly...
"nialaya... genelovich..." the father said sadly.
nia looked somewhere between 10 and 15.
"mother... father... why didn't you watch us... you let amelia play near a cliff because you were more interested in your watches... and i had to jump over to catch her as she fell over the edge, i caught her... but as i swung her back up...
i fell to my death...
why didn't you pay atention?"
gene was somewhere in his thirties or fourties.
"why? why didn't you do anything? why didn't you listen?
i couldn't come into contact with that book, but you forced me to read it, just because i told you what it could do...
you knew full well i'd be trapped between life and death if i did, and you made me anyway...
why did you ignore my needs?"
their phantasmal children walked back into the mist, vanishing once again.
Death 'looked' back at them
"do you understand now?"
they nodded sadly.
"then, as per my deal with halfbrother kenziel, i willingly return the soul of the half-desceased one back to his living body once more... freeing him from purgatory."
gene reappeared and seemed to smile, before dissapating into blue dust.
"i cannot return the noble sacrifice, her time may have been cut short, but i cannot break the laws that i myself, Death, have written as unchangable."
the mist thickened "now, reawaken..."
benson sat on the roof of the apartment, looking up at the night sky.
a light padding sound alerted him to someone approaching.
"room for one more, benny?"
he pat the ground next to him, and she moved and sat upon his paw.
"i'm sorry about earlier..."
"no, it wasn't your fault, lil..."
"but still..."
he sighed "how many times do i have to say it?"
he raised his paw to his chest, moving lily along with it "a perfect little cat like yourself doesn't make mistakes, remember?" he said kindly "it's impossible."
she shivered in the cold night air, and benson must have noticed, because he put her just inside the collar of his shirt, in the warmth of the fabric and his soft fur at the same time.
"th-thanks, ben..."
"no problem. i'd do anything for you, anything at all."
she offered a shivering laugh "ev-even jump o-off a bridge?"
he nuzzled the top of her head "only if you asked me nicely enough~"
"w-well d-d-don't j-jump off a br-bridge..."
he licked her gently "i won't, don't worry. i'll never abandon you."
she squirmed a bit, going down until she was engulfed in the thick fur of his chest ruff.
"thanks, ben... i owe you one."
he placed a paw over her "no, it's the other way around. I owe you one... just for being with me..."
he stood, and walked back to the door leading inside "i must be the luckiest guy in the world..."
"why?"
"because," he said lovingly "i have you."
she snuggled closer to him "and someday, you'll have a real family, one that loves and cares for you, like it should be... someday... when they abolish prop. 99."
proposition 99 was the law that prevented intersize marriage, it was a thorn in benson's heart. "yes, and when that day comes, i'll make you the happiest girl on the planet."
"too late," she giggled "i already am."
"and why is that?"
"because," she pressed herself harder to his chest "just like you have me, I also have you~"
(next chapter: Awakening- the malformed gemstone appears.)
chapter 37.
that suggestiveness from a few chapters ago has left an effect for benson and lily... one that puts a big impact on their relationship.
also, I put in a bit of backstory for lily's family.
Link
emperorwolf
guy on phone with syrus is an ildelessian.
he will make an appearance in series 2.