Chapter Thirty: Festivities segment three -Kevin's perspective-
And!
Chapter 30.5; Troubling temporal teens.

"Two chapters in one!!"

(smiling wryly) "well... a chapter and a half, actually..."

"don't ruin it for me."

-emperorwolf

-voice of reason

-emperorwolf

Kevin, Oriado, their son, Kevin's parents, his siblings, and Collin, sat in Oriado's club 'Adoration' which was closed for the public holiday.
Ronaldo raised his glass with a slight redness in his face "some good stuff you got here!"
Oriado was laughing with everyone else, but Kevin crept off, he didn't like being around his father when he was getting drunk like this.

he sighed as he took in the sights of Giki Kero from the club's roof, which admittedly was pretty underwhelming.
after all, it was kind of slummy these days.

he sighed again "this place isn't fun when it's full'a drunks..."

"who're you callin' a drunk?"

Kevin didn't need to turn to know it was Oriado coming up behind him "hey Ori, get bored of the inebriated officer?"
the black and white wolf hugged him "hey, cut your dad some slack, this is doubling as his retirement party, remember?"
Kevin groaned "i know... and i also know what he's gonna say..."
Oriado squeezed him affectionately "hey, i kinda like the idea, 'sides, he's given you all the training you'll need..."
Kevin blushed "Ori..."
the wolf turned him and gave him a kiss "i think you'll make a great chief of police."
Kevin laughed "i'll arrest you, you illegal creature!"
Oriado smirked giving him another squeeze "'tis but a crime of love."

they noticed a tapping at their footpaws, and looked down to see Collin.
"hi! i'm not interrupting am i?"
Kevin rolled his eyes "actually, you are."
the little white wolf brushed a paw through his head fur "well, i am your pet..."
the white lupine began to enlarge until he reached around the same height as Kevin "but i'm also your friend."
Kevin and Oriado smiled at him "and you're great at both."

Bailey meanwhile, was in the basement, making use of the WiFi and the desktop unit down there.
he was talking with Radin and Malcom.
"i just... i dunno, is it bad that i'm angry Zenef abandonned us there?"
the snow-leopard on screen scratched his head "you said it yourself, it was probably too intimidating."
Bailey slouched "yeah, but... he could've at least said something..."
Malcom shook his head "Bailey, me being someone you yourself would call a 'little guy' ... especially one who lives with giants, i can tell you even I get a bit nervous from time to time, and it's my family i'm with, imagine how it must be for Zenef!"
Bailey rubbed his eyes "good point... maybe i should ask Ciril? he's probably a bigger help since he's got both points of view, being a bi-sizer and all."
Radin shrugged "worth a try," the snow-leopard looked behind himself "i gotta go, laters B."
Radin's window closed.
"i gotta go, too, Grandma's doing a cake, bye Bailey." Malcom waved as his window closed as well.
Bailey sighed sadly "why'd you do this Zenef?"

the computer beeped, and a window popped up.

[recieved chat request: Zenef Fiest.]
Bailey clicked 'answer' and the black-with-white-striped canine appeared onscreen.
"hi Bailey..."
"Zenef."
Zenef fidgeted "sorry about leaving this morning..."
"everyone thinks you were intimidated or something."
"well, of course i was, but that wasn't the only thing."
Bailey frowned "okay, then what else made you leave without saying anything?"
Zenef sighed "if you promise not to tell anyone..."
"okay, i promise."

Zenef cleared his throat "the prince steps back, fading into obscurity, leaving the council of his ally."
the camera displayed bright light as some kind of chrysalis fell away from his friend, leaving a human with white-streaked black hair and silver eyes.
Bailey stared "Z-Zenef...?"
the human nodded "yeah, Bailey, it's me."
"how???"
Zenef's hair curled itself.
"i'm guessing that's the gold guy?"
Zenef groaned "yes, for some reason he's invisible to everyone but me when i'm human."
"how's that happen, anyway?"
"i think it has to do with Alpha," he replied "i'm his re... re-in..."
his hair flicked.
"reincarnation, right, i was him in my past life, so stuff about him carried over to me, like the whole... canine thing."
Bailey rubbed his muzzle "so this is the real way you look?"
he fidgeted onscreen "y-yeah..."
Bailey felt like a jerk.
"it's... odd... but you're still the same person."
Zenef smiled pitifully "you're okay with me being... human?"
"human, Buki, what's it matter, really?" he smiled sympathetically "we're friends, right?"
a single tear fell from his friend's eye "thankyou... thankyou, Bailerich Nevitto Ghast."
"you're welcome, Zenef Baion Fiest"
Zenef chuckled "i gotta go, Alpha wants us to go visit Beta in the hospital again."
Bailey waved "see you 'round."
Zenef laughed "only if you're looking down!"
his image dissapeared, and Bailey sighed, although it ended in laughter, succeding in breaking his depression at the earlier events apart, and then blowing said parts to smithereens.
"whadda ya know, he's human and buki, that's awesome!"

he headed back upstairs to see his fathers letting in a group of policemen of all three varieties.
he looked at his grandfather, quite drunk.

Kevin noticed his son come up from the basement "Bailey, what're you doing in the basement?"
"talking online." he replied simply.
Oriado smiled "talking to your friends?"
he nodded.
his lupine father beckoned him over "Bailey, your grandpa wants you to meet someone."
as he started over, Kevin glanced to Oriado "you think he'll be alright?"
"well," Oriado whispered "it's scarin' me bein' around all these cops, but i think Bailey's safe..."
"he's a bio-born," Kevin whispered back "what if they freak out?"
Oriado grumbled and closed his eyes "if they do, i'm going Bioweapon on 'em."
Kevin grabbed his wrist "Ori, we don't need you both in trouble! and what if they find out what you are? they'll go ballistic!"
"relax," the black lupine said with a smile "i know what i'm doing."
right now, Kevin wasn't so sure he actually did. as a Bio-construct, a genetically synthesized living creature built in a lab, Oriado was charged with illegality just for being alive. where did that leave their son? Kevin wasn't too keen to find out.

everything seemed to be going smoothly, his father was introducing Bailey to a human in uniform.
Kevin strode over and the human caught sight of him, jumping in surprise "-erk! Y-YOU?!"
Kevin stared "M-Max?!" his jaw dropped "Maxilon Rex?!"
the human eyed him with a shocked expression, and Ronaldo looked at his son curiously through his drunken haze "e-eh? yew two... know eachhotha?"
Kevin moved closer and stared at the officer on the bench "Dad, Maxilon was one of the technicians at Project Legion!"
"yew weh? yerr a whut nahw?"
Maxilon straightened up "i- uh... yes, i was one of the DSBIWO programmers, i even had a hand in setting up the infamous number 999's original perameters."
Bailey eyed him curiously "what's a programmer doing as a policeman?"
Maxilon flipped a silver coin "karma, kid. i figured all the bad stuff i did under Mako Dyson's watch needed some good stuff to cancel it out."
Kevin and Oriado growled "Mako..."
Mako Dyson, AKA: Harbinger, had screwed things up for them so much; he sent the invaders, he made 999 murder Benson's parents, he attacked their world and burned it, not to mention the three months intensive care he caused the both of them after he became a pirapactum... Kevin's ribs still ached from time to time. as for Oriado, well, he had to get two of his replaced along with half his sternum.
Kevin rubbed at his chest "wish i could forget him... but he left us all a permanent 'gift'..."
Maxilon nodded "join the club, nobody liked that jackass. i'm glad subject number nine hundred and ninety nine triple decapitated him."
the rest of the officers raised their glasses "amen to that!"
Ronaldo stood, slightly sobered "ey! i've an announcement!"
Kevin's ears went flat to his scalp and his tail tucked as the officers listened eagerly.
"as y'all know, i'm retirin' t'day," he slurred "an y'know i'mma name tah nexcht chief."
they all leaned closer.
"nahw, dun' take et pershonly, but ahm givin' et tah summun' ah trained spechificly tah do et."
they all nodded, one of them calling out "we trust your judgement, sir!"
another bellowed "if you tained 'em personally, we're all right as rain!"
Ronaldo gave a drunken smile "it ish..."
he swung his arm, pointing a shaky finger at Kevin "my shon, Kevin!"

Kevin screwed his eyes shut, waiting for someone to yell in protest.
but no such outburst came, just chanting.
"Kevin!"
"Kevin!"
"Kevin!"
"Kevin!"
"Kevin!"
Kevin blushed "y-you're not mad?!"
"why would we be?" someone called "if chief Ronnie's trained ya, we're all in safe paws!"
Monique rolled her eyes "hey, you boys watch out for my son, okay?"
Oriado hugged Kevin "and watch him for me, too, 'kay?"
they burst into raucous laughter "watch our backs and we'll watch yours! nobody messes with the law force!" they sang.

Kevin blushed even more and raised a glass "to health, and to my dad... even if he's drunk off his rocker!"
they all raised their glasses "here here!"
they drank on it.

and then... through his drunken stupor, Ronaldo said something he shouldn't have.
"this'z greeeat, i luv yeh place, Oriado!"
they all froze and glared at the wolf.

"Oriado, as in Oriaolovick Remiriianti?! the illegal BC?!"

Ronaldo grabbed his own face "ohhh fuuuuuuuuuuuuck... i shun'na shaid dat..."

they all rose to arms, and Kevin stood in front of Oriado protectively.
that seemed to confuse them "but... he's... he's a BC! you know the law!"
Kevin nodded "he's also my husband." he said it without hesitation, without fear.
he didn't give into emotion, any fear he may of had shut down.
he was running on instinct, and that's what happens when instinct overrides logic.
you survive, and so do your family.

they all dropped their guns.
one of them bowed his head, causing the rest to follow suit.
"sorry... soon-to-be chief Ghast..."
"yeah, if he's with you... he must be okay..." another said honestly.
Oriado poked his head out from behind his German Shepherd, ears splayed.

"sorry, Mister Oriado!" they all apologised in unison.
Kevin smiled "you're loyal, huh?"
Oriado shyed away slightly "h-hey, as long as they don't kill me..."

"we will not!"

Kevin turned and hugged Oriado, as did Bailey.
"Ori, it's alright... we'll cease all BC hunts, you'll be fine."

the officers nodded and shouted agreement.

his confidence steadily growing, Oriado slowly crept out from behind Kevin "is... is that legal?"
Kevin laughed joyously "if we vote for Ben, maybe it can be!"

Oriado smiled as the officers agreed with Kevin.
"well... if all you scary cops are okay with BC's... then from now on, every Friday night, after 10pm, the Police drink for free here at Adoration!" he annonced, winning a cheer "maximum to legal limit, you guys gotta set an example, yeah?"

everyone laughed.

Kevin joined in, but for other reasons.
because now, Oriado was finally safe, as was Bailey.
and that's something he'd wanted since day one.
he caught his wolf looking at him, as he now stood on the other side of the bar, pouring drinks for the rowdy officers. those teary eyes gazing at him, along with the elated smile the wolf wore, were saying more than any verbalised words ever could hope to.
Oriado mouthed the words that came from the heart, words that warmed Kevin's own.

they were two short and simple, but very powerful words.

Thank-You

-now starting Chapter 30.5: Troubling Temporal Teens-

Ciril looked at his younger self, then to his miniaturised Father, as they sat in a sitting room alone together, ready to hear his explanation.

"hey dad..." he said, resisting tears "good to see you..."
Benson's arms were crossed "whatever, i can see that you three are who you claim to be," he gestured to his eyes "but how and why did you come back in time?"
older Ciril swallowed hard "well, dad... in our time... things aren't too great..."
"how so?"
"well... you're... Dead, for starters..."
Benson's ears splayed, betraying his calm expression "i'm guessing it wasn't natural?"
young Ciril grabbed his future doppelganger's arm "what happens to dad?!"
older Ciril sighed and adjusted his glasses "Murdered... Political."
he saw his younger self panic, a sharp pain piercing his heart.
"and.. then a lot of other people do, too... after a while... everything ends up looking like the first Xlen here on Xlenari... and everyone but me, Virlan, Velian... and someone else... are turned to stone."
Benson stared "stone?"
"total petrification"
young Ciril gripped his older self's arm tighter "who's the other guy?!"

he took a deep breath "the same person who got us here..."
Benson frowned "who?"
he exhaled "the Emperor."
"but, He's dead!"
"no dad, half of him isn't..."
Benson facepalmed "Beta! of course!!"
he nodded "and if he doesn't get out of that coma before your assasin finds you... well, we may as well not have come back."
young Ciril growled "Who... Does... This...?"
older Ciril adjusted his glasses again "an AI the wolf originally made to free himself from Virlan, see, Virlan was the bad guy, and he went all dictator and everything... had 999 and Draco as living trophies... but then something changed... time changed..."
Benson listened as the older Ciril compared the two timelines and gathered an idea.
"sounds like the big difference is that neither Draco or 999 could weaponise you because they both died, and with Beta in a coma, he couldn't stop the time paradox-proof AI you mentioned, so, with its mission altered... it goes insane? kills everyone instead?"
older Ciril nodded "sounds right, dad... we've been trying to save our time for a while now, we were up at Foxhaven the day you guys were there, but you warped out, and afterwards, we asked the wolf for help..."
Benson gasped "the voices we heard... they were you three!"
older Ciril nodded again "and the wolf said 'there's nothing you can do, try 5 years from now'... so, here we are."

everyone reconvened, having had the same explanations, they now knew of the coming danger.
Benson, standing on a coffe table, was determined "tommorrow morning, we reunite 'The Pack' and we find wherever Beta's mind fell into!"
Velian's older self raised a handpaw "oh, we know that already."
Ian sighed "of course you do."

Virlan's older self cleared his throat "he's in an online game; Vagrant Eons Online, run by a company called Zigappsa incorporated, but if he logs off... we can find him inside the Astral Plane... and get him out of there."
Ciril's older self looked serious "who here is strong enough to Astroplane?"
his brother groaned "we know we can, but someone from this timeline has to save him, we don't want time breaking any further than it already has."
Benson recalled his shadow encounter "i think i can... and that Dyson guy from PL, i remember that 999 said something about that once."
Ian puffed out his chest "so can I."
young Ciril rubbed his muzzle "what about Zenef and Alpha?"
his older self snapped his fingers "perfect! those guys are sure to be able to find Beta in that crazy place!"

Benson was retrieved from the tabletop and placed on Lily's shoulder "tomorrow, we get this done... but tonight... i think we should let you three relax."
their ears perked.
"after everything you've been through, i think you deserve at least one night with family... and this is a reunion, after all!"

they smiled and wept.

"thanks dad..." older Ciril said, sniffling and lifting his glasses to wipe his eyes "thanks so much."

(Next Chapter: Terrifying Titan... released!)

(Author Note: the next chapter will only be a single chapter :3
lol, what did everyone think of this chapter and a half? please feel free to give feedback, i welcome any feedback to my story! it can only help, after all! :D
*as always, i hope everyone has a nice day!)