"This whole thing creeps me out," Gill grumbled as he followed Serenity answered, "and that cat IS as bad as Jensen. It doesn't matter if the Hardys had a choice or not. It continues the game and allows it to affect them. Lions are polygamists and not necessarily loyal to their mates. What do you suppose will happen when Felicity, Bobbi, Bernie, Penny, MJ, Wanda, Nellie, Lexi, Megan, Sasha, Fox, and Elise come into heat? Or someone outside of this "pride" and happens to be a lion person or lion like?"
"Unless they find someone they truly love and are truly loved in return... and either Gary or Brian are around, I'd suppose you'd have a lot of mating lions around," Serenity sighed as they continued to her alchemy lab, "which if it's Brian will probably get him in serious trouble with Felicity..."
There was a silence for a moment.
"Gill you know I agree with you on this," Serenity spoke, "my goal is to end the curse. Finding out that even if we make the wolves "good" that they'll most likely stay around the Smith manor and can not be human again was horrible for me... the last thing I wanted was the Hardys to respond by locking their forms and then turning twelve officers into lion people permanently was not the way to end things... and the curse will likely make all of us, the Pride included pay for it..."
"But we can't afford to divide ourselves," Serenity sighed, "You want to lecture Trevor for giving it to them, fine, I'm actually quite tempted to do the same myself... but we should wait until after Jensen and his wolves are freed from the brainwashing the curse has put on them. If we fight each other over this... you and I could end up on the losing end of a lion's claws. Jensen and his wolves have the strength and natural weaponry to fight back, we don't. And Mary seems to have bonded with Trevor... which means Felicity, or Brian, could respond extremely violently if they feel Mary's been hurt or threatened."
Gill only sighed, but didn't say anything. As Serenity went into the alchemy lab she then turned to Gill who had stopped at the doorway.
"You'd best call the DA," Serenity warned, "what is coming will either be a battle or finding an empty manor... but without a warrant, even if we free the wolves from their prison, the Pride, and you by association could end up fired for unlawful action and any crimes that the wolves press charges against Jensen for will be thrown out as the evidence was obtained illegally."
"But you..."
"Remember, I'm too close to the Game for your and the law's comfort," Serenity told him, "My saying that this was a rescue operation of several brainwashed curse victims will not fly in a court of law."
"How am I supposed to get a warrant on such short notice?" Gill asked, "if we wait the standard length of time, they'll surely be gone by then."
"I'm sure you can think of a way," Serenity shrugged, "You've done it before."
+++++++
"Katie?" Penny asked again to the lion that held her, feeling happy beyond all belief.
"I'm Kirk now, Penny," Kirk spoke, "Unless you want me to call you Penn. Which will certainly make things interesting at night..."
"You became male..." Penny said weakly, still only barely conscious.
"Well, you are female now, and I wasn't a homosexual," Kirk said, "I guess I had to become male."
"But the wolves..." Penny spoke again, "they beat me..."
"But didn't kill you," Kirk tried to comfort Penny, "the one they called Yamato insisted you be left alive, and the one called Amy lied to her pack mates to protect me, Arael, Armisael, Gabriel, and Mal'akh. I can not say way."
"She protected you?" Penny gasped, trying to get up.
"Easy, sister," Mal'akh put a paw on on Penny's back, "they sliced all your ligaments and tendons behind your knees. You won't be doing much for a few days."
"But the wolves, my Pride has to stop them... save them..."
"We will help, Penny," Kirk told her, "and from the way Yamato argued with his pack mates to keep you alive and Amy saving us for you... something tells me these "Big Bad Wolves" are not all bad, that there is some good in them... and that maybe their Pack and our Pride can one day work together."
"Work with the wolves?" Penny gasped weakly.
"Yes," Kirk said licking her nose, "Just because they are wolves doesn't mean we HAVE to hate them because we are lions... and Fran and Darla were former cops. We worked with them already. All we need to do is undo their brainwashing."
Gabriel and Arael then retured, Arael carrying the curator.
"The wolves?" Kirk asked nervously.
"No... me... he sorta fainted when he saw me," Arael spoke, "I think he only expected Penny to come out."
"The mirrors are all covered... though I wouldn't think the wolves will come back here," Gabriel sighed.
"Why?" Kirk asked, "Certainly they'll figure out the female pup lied to them..."
"They've already won the fight here with Penny and took the rest of the gallery victims," Gabriel sighed, "While I'm glad their free of being "gallery victims", it will be frustrating when we likely have to fight them later... if they were to become animals, I would have preferred them to become lions like us."
Kirk nodded, "You're getting off track Gabe."
"Sorry," Gabriel sighed, "it's that they have what they want. From what we sensed, the while Penny here likely underestimated the wolves, the real reason their victory here was as easy as it was for them was that Penny was outnumbered. We are here now, and it's likely that the rest of the Pride will come when Armisael gets off the phone with the police. If they're smart, they'll take their victory and not risk a fight they can't win when they learned that the pup lied."
"I hope you're right, because ultimately, I think saving these wolves from the curse and from themselves will be tough," Kirk sighed, "very tough."
++++++
The gallery team returned to the manor with mixed looking emotions. While the Japanese wolves returned looking triumphant, although Chiyoye looked somewhat disappointed, the triplets and Amy looked miserable. Alice looked concerned for her mother and Aunts, partially as Fran was beginning to recover from being knocked out by Penny in the opening blow of the fight, but she believed her mother and Aunts would recover. Zelipe looked oblivious and innocent as he held June and Pearl's hands. June and Pearl looked relieved that their children came to no harm.
Following them were twelve new wolves. Two males with the rest being female. None of the females, however had the outrageously large breasts that the Japanese females did. They were, in fact, more normally proportioned. The largest of them only equaled Kaylee and her copies.
Jensen noticed the looks on his pack members and gave a heavy sigh. Something wasn't sitting well with the triplets and Amy specifically, and something told him they needed reassurance or support in some way. Now, he loved the triplets, just as much as he loved Kaylee, but he wondered where the concern for Amy came from. Was that the sort of benign transformation that he had been noticing in himself and in lesser degrees in the rest of the pack? Was this the fact that he was the Alpha Male and the Pack's leader, and he had to look out for his pack mates? He decided he would think that out when they had successfully evacuated the manor.
The twelve new wolves bowed to Jensen. While the triplets went to discuss something with Kaylee, who had finished her inspection. Other then Megan's guilt over her brother, the evacuation was going well.
"Hello, Master," they all said together.
"Rise," Jensen instructed, "and tell me your names."
"I am Wendy, Master Jensen," a dark blond she wolf spoke, her fur somewhere between a true blond and a light brown.
"I am Helen," a gray and white female with the same coloring style as Ashley and Millie.
"I am Robert," a male with a black head and back with gray chest and stomach. He was clearly male, but not as well muscled as Jensen, Nick, Yamato, Roger, and Lawrence were.
"I am Jessica," a red and green female spoke.
"I am Betty," a white female spoke, "I believe my nephew is already part of your pack."
Lawrence?" Jensen asked.
Betty nodded, and said slowly, "It will be interesting to see him again."
"I am Kira," said a very dark brown female.
"I am Rose, Master," said a rose pink female.
"I am Nelson," the other male spoke. He was a mixed plain brown and a tan brown.
"Leslie," a black and brown female spoke.
"Michelle," said a red-orange she wolf.
"Trinity," said a yellow and white female.
Kimberly," said the final pink and white female.
"We will all serve you," the new wolves told Jensen, "Master."
"Good," Jensen answered, "we are in the midst of evacuating the manor for our island. Please aid the present pack members in doing so. Formal introductions to the rest of the pack will be done once we are safely away from here. That will go for the Japanese wolves as well."
"We're still leaving?" Kaylee asked, sounding depressed at that.
"I'm not taking any chances," Jensen spoke, "not with the pups to look after. The lions and Serenity will certainly notice this. Hopefully the game decides to play with them extensively when they begin using the game to try and counter him, allowing him to leave.
"But we have more then enough to beat two of them," Kaylee protested.
"And from the report the triplets gave me, they've already made more," Jensen spoke, "and I do not know the minimum ratio of wolves to lion needed to beat them. It would be best that if we are to fight a war with the lions we do so in conditions that we control... and sadly we can not control this manor and the estate and expect to beat the lions in the long run. The island and the use of the mirrorverse is our only hope for the moment... maybe fleeing to someplace like Yellowstone where there are normal wolves and we would be protected by law if the island becomes untenable... but there we'd still have humans to worry about. The island is our only safe place until we can either defeat these lions and Serenity or convince them to leave the pack alone."
Kaylee sighed. She had hoped the idea would allow the Pack to stay, but appeared that Jensen was determined to continue with the evacuation. Kaylee only hoped they would get a chance to return someday.
"The evacuation is going well," Kaylee spoke, "Orange and white, Magenta, and Pink have taken some tarps and a few poles that were in the shed set aside for the grounds staff which will keep the elements off of things like books for the pups and paper and whatnot."
"They're Millie, Robyn, and Maxine, my love," Jensen told Kaylee.
"I'm sorry, dear... it's just that there are so many now, and I was NEVER good with names," Kaylee admitted, "Maybe when I get to know everyone better I will be able to remember their names."
Jensen nodded and turned to see Yamato, standing at attention nearby.
"Is there something you need?" Jensen asked him.
"Alice has told me of some of the manor's defenses," Yamato spoke, "and I feel I must voice my concerns."
Jensen turned to Kaylee.
"Go on, dear," Kaylee spoke, "Julie had some ideas to deal with the rather... OVER-SIZED proportions of the Japanese females... and it looked to me like they need someone to talk to."
Jensen nodded, as Kaylee then moved off heading in the direction of the medical room where the triplets had headed after their arrival and brief discussion with their Alpha Female.
++++++
"I'm a monster!" Amy cried into Zack's shoulder with June, Pearl and Zelipe standing nearby.
The white furred pup still felt distraught over her confusion at the gallery. Five of them weren't connected to the pack and seemed to be connected to the lioness that the triplets and Japanese wolves had beaten. She saved them for the lioness, as she felt it the right thing to do, but her mind was deeply troubled over the whole issue.
Zelipe would have transformed them, and had even tried to transform the lioness into a pup, and what troubled her was that her transform was supposed to make her and Zelipe the same... yet she wasn't. Zelipe didn't add the Japanese syntax that she did, yet they were supposed to be the same, with the obvious exception of appearance and gender. And right now, Amy needed to feel her father's comfort. Jensen and Kaylee were too nervous about the Pack as a whole, only Zack and her own mother and "aunt" could do that.
"What is all this?" Zack asked, "Did something go wrong?"
"I'm a monster," Amy cried, "the souls at the gallery... they weren't already connected to the Pack, "and we transformed them, unwillingly! I'm a monster."
"I will have NONE of that," Zack told her, "You aren't a monster. You are my daughter and the cutest female pup in the Pack."
"But they weren't connected to us," Amy protested.
Zack hugged her and gently ran one paw down her back, "They're happy now, aren't they? Free of their statue prison?"
"Of course, but that's because of our powers, father," Amy said, "they didn't want to join us."
"It was for the good of the pack," Zelipe spoke from Pearl's side, "to protect us."
"You're brother is right," Zack spoke, "I'm sure it feels bad now... but it's for what is ultimately the best. They'll help protect you and your brother, and the Master's pups. They'll feel the same family bonds that we do with their pack mates... and once we are secure and no one can threaten us... we can do some good for Glendale."
He wasn't sure where that came from, but he felt it would ease his daughter's pains.
"You think so?" Amy asked.
Zack nodded, and set her down, "You'd best run along. It won't be too long before you two and the pups go to the island."
"Thank you, father," Amy spoke and joined Zelipe in searching out the other pups, Martha, and Mr. P.
+++++++
Paul felt slightly nervous as he entered the pride's lounge area. Even with the vials of powder to kill the Game's turns in one hand, and Trevor cradled in the other arm, he was nervous. Mostly instinct, though, which Paul had managed to keep under control. In nature, the orangutan had no contact with any species of lion. The Asiatic Lion was limited only to a small forest in western India, while the pride seemed to be based off of the African Lion which largely only lived south of the Sahara Desert. He guessed though that their cat-like forms did remind him of a predator that the orangutan did instinctively know and occasionally fell victim to... the Sumatran Tiger.
He found the pride in various states of conversation over certain issues. A small group was around Brian, with MJ and Nellie actually pawing at Brian's mane, which to Paul made Felicity jealous. Brian didn't entirely seem to notice. Mary sat between her father and mother.
"Ecckksss...uuueess meee," Paul spoke clearly to draw their attention.
Once all of the large cat's eyes were on him, Paul set Trevor down and set the vials of powder on the table in the center of the room.
"What is that?" Bernie asked as she approached and sniffed at the vials.
Paul swatted her nose away, just to make sure she didn't blow a vial of the table, ruining Serenity's hard work. He then began signing, which most of the pride could understand. Those that couldn't received a translation from those that could.
"These vials contain a powder that channels white magic," Paul signed, "the counter to the magic the witches used to curse Glendale, and dates back to Merlin Ambrosius. It can and will kill any turn of the Game, and is how my brother and I killed the turns forced on us."
"It can cure Frank and Daryl?" Bobbi asked, looking interested.
"No," Paul signed, "It does not affect your form, and wouldn't affect your "true love" powers or the extra abilities given to specific members of Jensen's pack. It would only remove their turns of the Game. Once they are freed from their brainwashing, you are to use the powder on them. Their turns will be dead and gone, and with their minds free, it is unlikely that those in the pack that have extra abilities like yours, with the exception of the Hardys themselves, will ever use them as most intelligent people prefer to remain human."
"So do most of us," Bobbi spoke, "and I know I want to go back to being human when this is over, no offense."
"Unfortunately, that is impossible, as I have seen the transform the Hardys gave you," Paul signed, "you CAN NOT be turned back, which is also why you will be expected to take the cure once Jensen and his pack are freed from the curse's grip to insure that the Curse travels no further."
"We can't..." Bobbi gasped, her hopes at being Bob again dashed.
"There's nothing wrong with what we are," Wanda commented, "we all chose this... and we don't need the game to make more lions, and when we do, and when our children do, all of them will be willing transformations, unlike Jensen which isn't giving anyone any choice."
"The curse is the curse," Bobbi argued, "It doesn't MATTER if this was our choice or not. It's like trying to say suicide is better then murder because the victim was also the killer. The fact of the matter is that the victim is still DEAD."
"Jensen might have tried to transform or dare you into something else," Brian spoke, "that's why we had to lock your forms forever. That way we will win without fear of them using the game against us."
"You could have at least explained what you planned to do when you started this," Bobbi spoke, sounding like a person who was trying to advise a lifelong friend, "or let us help you word out the transform so that those of us who DON'T want to be lions forever could have a chance to being what we were before the game hit us. I wanted to be who I was before I was turned into Bobbi... a human male. I don't blame you, as I think you were trying to be helpful, but there is such a thing as too much help."
"I'm sorry," Brian and Felicity admitted, "we didn't want them to do anything to you... but then the wolves forms are supposedly locked too, yet we broke Ashley's brainwashing, maybe we can figure a way around this "lock"."
"Brian, Serenity's been trying to become who she was before she became Madame Serenity for practically a hundred years," Bobbi told him, "when a form is locked, it is locked. You might be able to alter some small things, largely personality, but their physical form can not be altered in ANY way. If there were a way around a lock, Serenity would have found it by now."
"I'm sorry," Brian told the other lioness, "Maybe we weren't thinking."
"It's alright," Bobbi sighed after a moment, "I got used to being Bobbi... I guess I can get used to being furry and nine feet tall..."
"How does the cure work?" Wanda asked Paul, trying to get things back on track. She privately loved her new form, and would never give it up, but did agree that the possession of a turn would be too tempting, and as earlier presented, the pride didn't need the game to transform willing pride mates.
"Once the wolves are freed of their brainwashing, and your need of turns is over," Paul signed, "You are to circle one vial's worth of powder around one individual. Once the circle is drawn, you must speak the words "in the name of the Divine Lord, purge this curse forever more", but in Latin, of course. Serenity has the translation in her bag for you to look once we've captured the wolves. Although it has only one use per person. Which means the process must be repeated for each turn holder."
"Will it work?" Bobbi asked.
"It worked for my brother and I," Paul signed.
He was about to sign more when the door opened and a uniformed officer came in.
"You might want to get down to the Gallery," the officer spoke, "a call just came in from a Armisael, said that Penny got jumped there and can't move very well."
Paul and the discussion over the transform the Hardys used to transform the pride was forgotten as they all rushed out, the urge to protect a pride member too strong. As they left, only Mary was left alone with Paul and Trevor. Neither of them knew sign language, but Mary got the clue from the discussion that Paul had signed something that went against her father's idea.
"Why did you sign that?" Mary growled at the ape, "Daddy made everyone better."
Paul found a pen and paper and carefully began to write his answer.
"Maybe, but he took no account of what his pride wanted," Paul wrote, "he simply wanted a pride, since you have thrown your humanity away, which is likely what the curse wants..."
"But I wanted to because of..."
"That wolf boy has NOTHING to do with what the Curse wants," Paul wrote, "This Uly may be your excuse, but ultimately the decision is the curse's because that way it can survive and spread and ruin lives. And it does not care if you are civilized or not. Think of it like this, before you were cursed, would you have wanted to be a lion forever?"
"No."
"So why is it that a wolf is responsible for you wanting to retain your own cursed form?" Paul questioned, "that you wanted your parents to be like you, and that you are defending the permanent transformation of twelve officers of the law into lions themselves? How is one wolf responsible for that? How is he able to affect your mind? Your decision came from the Curse's influence. This Uly was only your rationalization for that decision."
Mary didn't say anything.
"For my brother and I, for Serenity, the real enemy in this saga is not Jensen or his Alpha Female, but the Curse itself," Paul wrote, "Your father and the pride are so focused on Jensen that they do not see the REAL enemy. Jensen is a victim, being influenced by the game, just as you are, and as your pride is. The only way to weaken it is to kill the turns both your pride and Jensen's pack hold. Which is why I signed what I signed. If I didn't, under the Curse's influence, they would never use it on themselves. The Curse would urge them to keep their turns as a sort of backup. This game has to stop Mary, and the only way is to kill the turns... and the only way that can easily be done is if we are all truly honest with one another, regardless of the consequences. There is NO such thing as a good lie. And it isn't Christian."
++++++
Outside the manor, Yamato lead Jensen around the grounds.
"This hedge fences are good and tight," Yamato spoke, "anything that comes through them will either be slowed down or will make a tremendous noise trying to get through. Which means we are largely protected from the sides and rear, the easiest assault avenue is the front."
"The new gate will see to that," Jensen told the red and white wolf.
"It will stop cars and humans, but these lions could likely hurdle the gate or the front wall near it," Yamato spoke.
"We have the gargoyles to deal with that," Jensen commented, "Once any aggressor enters the estate, they will strike them."
"Yes, but these lions have one of the Pack already, do they not?" Yamato asked.
"Yes," Jensen nodded, "Ashley. I've been thinking of a way to free her, but it's difficult. There is nothing reflective in her cell other then a toilet outside it, and I don't think anyone wants to be pulled into the mirrorverse while going to the bathroom."
"That might be your only option then," Yamato commented, "but that is not the point. The lions likely used the game on her to make her willing to talk. We would do the same if we were to take one of them prisoner... as it wouldn't challenge their form or their loyalty to you or whoever..."
"You think that she's told them about the gargoyles?" Jensen asked.
"She's likely told them everything," Yamato spoke, "which means that either you must lock the gargoyle's forms... or have them face outwards at a forty-five degree angle, letting them view any approaching threat and react accordingly. If I were the lions, as the gargoyles are now, I would sneak up behind them, transform them back and then send the bulk of the pride in through the side doors, avoiding Frontdoor and Backdoor altogether. By the time they could react, we would be fighting inside the manor, where their size would be a threat to both the pride and us."
Jensen then looked at the gargoyles. The pack's best protection, and the only things that could stop the lions on their own. But, their only defense against the game was that no one would assume they could respond to vocal commands and that they were only statues. The lion's had likely forced Ashley to tell them the gargoyle's strengths and weaknesses.
"Fetch Isabelle, Hope, Grace, and Millie," Jensen commanded to Yamato, "tell them that they are to lock the gargoyle's forms They know the wording to that. Once they're locked, have them instruct the gargoyles to turn and face outward. We will need them to cover our withdrawal from the manor, before they too go to the island with us."
"At once, Jensen-Sama," Yamato bowed and hurried back inside while Jensen turned and saw Sandi, Terri, and Jasimine wrestling with some of the deer to prepare them for the journey to the island.
+++++++
Gary was the first in and was shocked by what he found. Penny was on her back with a male lion stroking her shoulders. Cloth bandages were wrapped around her knees. There was another male standing nearby with three other females near Penny as well. He guessed that the "true love" powers worked on the gallery, but he assumed there would be more lions there.
"Where are they?" Gary growled, "what have they done to Penny?"
"The wolves are gone, along with the rest of the gallery of curse victims, likely transformed by now," Kirk spoke, "though a white pup with red highlights deliberately spared us five the transformation into wolves, and Penny's love for us and our love for her, mine especially transformed us to what we are now."
"Katie?" Elise asked.
"I am Kirk now," Kirk spoke, "as for what they did to Penny, the worst injury they did was to claw through the tendons and ligaments behind her knees. We've stopped the bleeding, and determined that the cuts aren't deep enough to fully restrict movement, but it will be a day or so before Penny can move well, and even longer to fight."
"Who did this?!" Bobbi growled, feeling very defensive of her wounded pride mate, even if she didn't want to be a lioness forever, she wasn't about to let one of the pride get hurt.
"Julie and Darla saw to the knocking out of Penny," Kirk explained, "Penny did not get the names of the two that sliced at her knees."
"She was knocked out?" the lioness Megan asked nervously.
"Yes," Kirk nodded, "and at their mercy. They could have killed her if they wanted to, but they followed a male named Yamato who had them spare her."
"Wait, Julie and Darla?" came Felicity's voice as she and Brian came forward, "the woman that first hired Serenity was named Julie."
"Frank's wife," Bobbi said turning to the other lioness, they had no qualms with Brian and Felicity riding along. Their vans had been specially built for them.
"Who are these two?" Kirk asked.
"These are the top two in the Pride," Gary spoke, "This is Brian, and together we are the Pride's males and will lead it... though Brian will need to go through the academy first. And this is Felicity our newest female pride member, and also needs to go through the academy."
"A pleasure to meet you," Kirk spoke, "I am Kirk. Penny's mate, and a former officer. Hopefully Gill will let us back in and Gabriel and I can join you two as Pride males... and before you wonder about ratios, coalitions between males is not set in stone. The one to six ratio is a bare minimum. I've seen Big Cat Diary. In their first season the Big Pride had four males, seven lionesses, and around fourteen cubs."
"Wow," MJ wondered, "So how many cubs will we have?"
Felicity almost gave the other lioness a sour look as she had asked Brian that question, although a part of her mind said that Gary, Gabriel, and Kirk wouldn't be that bad either. They were, after all, pride males along with Brian. Kirk meanwhile brought the discussion away from mating.
"We are also quite willing to join in the fight to free the pack from the curse's control," Kirk added, "if things go well even if this pack doesn't disperse, but stays together... maybe we can all work together. Their problem, going form their Master to every other wolf is the game's control over them. Without it, they'd be canid versions of us and we can all work together."
"Very hopeful, Kirk," Gary spoke, perfectly calm with the fact that Kirk was originally female... but then he was the only officer in the Pride that was his original gender, as Brian and Felicity weren't officers, yet, and Bobbi had been male before being transformed into Bobbi.
"I try to be," Kirk spoke, "but we need to get Penny to a doctor. They might be able to fix her up better... and I need to stay with her."
"Bernie, MJ, Wanda, help Kirk and the others carry Penny to a van," Gary instructed, "we'll drop them off at the hospital, and then we need to plan in earnest. It's eight now... and we need to attack the Smith Manor no later then midnight so that the wolves can not escape."