Shownotes
Chase, intending to drown his sorrows in alcohol, finds the drink is more psychoactive than he expected. And then the monster appears.
Today’s story is “Colour Me Terrified” by friend-of-the-fireplace B. P. Rugger, who has previously submitted “Of His Flesh the Mystery Sing” to The Voice of Dog. Rugger lives in Ottawa, Canada with his kitten, Stephane, and his pups, Dagda and Kale. Though he writes muggle fiction under his legal name, D.I. Harris, he feels most comfortable in the furry community, which he has been part of since 1995, He is hard at work on his first novel, The Quantity of Desire.
Read for you by Khaki, your faithful fireside companion.
Transcripts
Today I'm reading an adult story for mature listeners.
Speaker:If that's not your cup of tea,
Speaker:or if there are youngsters listening,
Speaker:you can skip this one and
Speaker:I'll have a new story for you next time.
Speaker:You’re listening to The Voice of Dog.
Speaker:I’m Khaki, your faithful fireside companion,
Speaker:and today’s story is
Speaker:“Colour Me Terrified” by Friend of the Fireplace B. P. Rugger,
Speaker:who has previously submitted
Speaker:“Of His Flesh the Mystery Sing”
Speaker:to The Voice of Dog.
Speaker:Rugger lives in Ottawa, Canada with his kitten, Stephane, and his pups, Dagda and Kale.
Speaker:Though he writes muggle fiction under his legal name, D.I. Harris,
Speaker:he feels most comfortable in the furry community,
Speaker:which he has been part of since 1995. Yes, he is that old. Rugger began writing at 7, and keeps coming back to fiction.
Speaker:He is hard at work on his first novel,
Speaker:The Quantity of Desire.
Speaker:He spends his life playing rugby,
Speaker:powerlifting, reading,
Speaker:and gaming. Please enjoy:
Speaker:“Colour Me Terrified”
Speaker:by B. P. Rugger Chase let himself fall onto the stool, and it creaked under the bull’s weight.
Speaker:But the stool would hold him while he drank enough alcohol to forget he ever existed,
Speaker:and that was the only thing he cared about. He had
Speaker:barely even glanced at the name of the bar as he stumbled in.
Speaker:Though now that he was here,
Speaker:he had to confess that Electric Sewer was an apt name.
Speaker:Beside him, a skunk sat,
Speaker:its stripe glowing a deep indigo.
Speaker:The skunk caught him staring,
Speaker:and looked Chase over from top to bottom.
Speaker:Then it turned away,
Speaker:bored. Chase could understand the boredom.
Speaker:Everywhere he looked, he saw vibrant colour:
Speaker:yellow and red and purple and green,
Speaker:all glowing beneath the blacklights of the bar.
Speaker:And here he was, brown and tan,
Speaker:just stumbling in because it was the first bar he passed on his journey to oblivion.
Speaker:Well, he could be boring;
Speaker:he didn’t care. He only cared about enough alcohol to drown himself in.
Speaker:He heard a loud cough behind him.
Speaker:Chase turned on his stool,
Speaker:and looked into the face of a giant pink rat.
Speaker:The rat spat into a dirty mug and wiped it clean with a grey cloth,
Speaker:his sharp nails clicking against the glass.
Speaker:“Nice to meet you,”
Speaker:Chase said out of habit. “My name’s Chase.”
Speaker:The rat arched one eyebrow
Speaker:and pointed to the sign above him.
Speaker:“All drinks, $5,” it read.
Speaker:He then put the mug down on the bar, beside the taps.
Speaker:Chase chuckled hollowly.
Speaker:He didn’t feel like talking anyway.
Speaker:Chase looked at the fluorescent taps;
Speaker:a bright green one caught his eye. “Acid Perry,”
Speaker:Chase read aloud. “I’ll try that.”
Speaker:The rat put the mug under the tap,
Speaker:and the luminous green liquid that came from it made the tap look dull and lifeless.
Speaker:The paws of the pink rat shone green from its light.
Speaker:Chase had to admit,
Speaker:he was impressed.
Speaker:The rat banged the full mug on the counter in front of Chase.
Speaker:Chase groped in his pocket and pulled out six dollars,
Speaker:the slid it across the counter.
Speaker:As the rat took the money, he studied Chase for a second,
Speaker:his big arms folded across his chest.
Speaker:Then he grunted and smiled just ever so slightly,
Speaker:as though he knew something Chase didn’t.
Speaker:Then the rat walked away to serve a lion with a fuschia mane.
Speaker:Chase watched him go,
Speaker:and then turned to his drink.
Speaker:“Here’s to sorrow,”
Speaker:Chase said, and, taking a last look at that impossibly green liquid,
Speaker:he chugged. It was sweet,
Speaker:but hit him like wasabi;
Speaker:it filled his sinuses with an intense heat as it went down.
Speaker:Chase closed his eyes hard against the pain,
Speaker:and his eyes watered.
Speaker:In a second, the pain was gone.
Speaker:When he opened his eyes again, it looked like someone had turned the contrast up to maximum.
Speaker:All he could see was the glowing colours on the dancefloor.
Speaker:Everything else—faces,
Speaker:bodies—was almost black.
Speaker:But mohawks, manes, tailfeathers, crests…
Speaker:all were incandescent .
Speaker:The colours swirled before his eyes, and pulsed with the bass line of the music.
Speaker:And, oh wow, the music.
Speaker:Chase had mostly ignored it before,
Speaker:the raspy, aggressive snarl of the vocalist just fitting his mood.
Speaker:But now the buzzsaw drone of the power chords felt like it was lifting him off the stool
Speaker:and onto the dancefloor.
Speaker:Chase followed along with it,
Speaker:as though he had no will of his own.
Speaker:And, truth be told,
Speaker:he didn’t think he did anymore.
Speaker:Whatever happened to him, happened.
Speaker:Chase approached the dancefloor.
Speaker:But now that he was there,
Speaker:“dancefloor” seemed less apt a name than he initially thought.
Speaker:There was dancing all right,
Speaker:all sorts of animals moshing and spinning to the music,
Speaker:but there was so much more.
Speaker:In his tank and kilt, Chase was one of the most overdressed people there.
Speaker:Breasts and cocks, glowing every colour from purple to red,
Speaker:jumped up and down with their owners.
Speaker:On the far side of the room,
Speaker:Chase could see an alligator lowering himself down onto a bunny’s cock;
Speaker:the alligator’s teeth glowing cyan as they pressed into the bunny’s neck,
Speaker:light enough not to draw blood,
Speaker:but hard enough to part the fur and mark the delicate skin there.
Speaker:The bunny’s purple ears quivered in excitement
Speaker:and fear. Chase guffawed,
Speaker:a bit of real humour in it this time.
Speaker:This was the bar he needed.
Speaker:He began to dance,
Speaker:letting the music’s energy take him over,
Speaker:feeling the beat drown everything else out in his brain.
Speaker:He was awash in the colour and the music,
Speaker:all blending into a haze of sensuality.
Speaker:A dog, her breasts and ears glowing bright yellow and her pussy surrounded by red fur,
Speaker:danced across the floor toward him.
Speaker:She looked at him and smiled wide,
Speaker:playful and confident.
Speaker:She reached into a pot belted to her waist,
Speaker:and her paws came out as yellow as her breasts.
Speaker:She slid up to Chase, and,
Speaker:though a good foot shorter than him,
Speaker:reached above his head,
Speaker:going up on her toes.
Speaker:Her breasts pushed into Chase’s belly
Speaker:as she rubbed her paws over his horns,
Speaker:stroking them softly in time with the music.
Speaker:Satisfied, she reached back into her pot, and then,
Speaker:her paws glowing sufficiently yellow,
Speaker:slid them under Chase’s shirt.
Speaker:She rubbed them over Chase's belly
Speaker:and felt the powerful muscles beneath his layer of belly fat.
Speaker:She growled in appreciation,
Speaker:and ran her paws up his chest,
Speaker:lifting Chase's shirt as she did so.
Speaker:Then, in a quick motion,
Speaker:she pulled Chase's shirt off his body,
Speaker:her markings glowing on Chase's exposed chest.
Speaker:She leaned in to Chase again, and kissed him,
Speaker:her warm, pulsing yellow breasts rubbing against Chase's fur.
Speaker:Then she undid Chase’s kilt,
Speaker:letting it drop to the floor around him,
Speaker:and reached into her pot again.
Speaker:This time, she began stroking Chase’s cock,
Speaker:and he mooed, deep and guttural.
Speaker:The yellow spread over Chase's cock, and then she pressed her whole body against him.
Speaker:Chase could feel the flat head of his cock pressed against the red of her pussy,
Speaker:sliding against her folds.
Speaker:She grabbed Chase's horns,
Speaker:and brought his head down,
Speaker:then kissed him, hard.
Speaker:Chase could feel his cockhead getting harder,
Speaker:sliding deeper into her folds,
Speaker:but just when he thought his cock was going to slip inside her,
Speaker:she broke the kiss, and,
Speaker:smiling wide at him,
Speaker:skipped away into the crowd.
Speaker:Chase laughed, feeling alive for the first time in...
Speaker:he didn’t know how long, and he didn’t care.
Speaker:Chase picked up his kilt, and danced back to the bar.
Speaker:The pink rat watched him approach,
Speaker:his thick arms crossed,
Speaker:and an evil grin on his face.
Speaker:Chase hadn't noticed how big the rat’s arms were before,
Speaker:and now he imagined feeling them around his neck,
Speaker:the rat’s cock pressing into his ass as the world blackened.
Speaker:Chase saw the rat’s eyes go down to his still-engorged cock,
Speaker:and the rat smirked.
Speaker:But the rat seemed content to just watch,
Speaker:and Chase had come back for another reason.
Speaker:“I’ll have two more of…”
Speaker:what was it again? “That green one”
Speaker:Chase said, and pointed.
Speaker:The rat grunted,
Speaker:and grabbed two mugs,
Speaker:filling them both up with the glowing green candy.
Speaker:Chase slammed the money down on the bar, and chugged the first drink.
Speaker:It hit him just as hard as the first one,
Speaker:and he closed his eyes against the burn once again.
Speaker:When he opened them again, he had to squint, the colours were so bright.
Speaker:Everything was radiant.
Speaker:The sex, the music,
Speaker:the musk of old beer and sweat…
Speaker:it all hit his eyes and shone bright.
Speaker:Chase turned back to his second drink,
Speaker:and saw the rat still in front of him,
Speaker:watching the hedonistic abandon with a leering grin.
Speaker:Chase picked up his second mug,
Speaker:and was about to chug it
Speaker:when the rat’s face
Speaker:changed. It was hard.
Speaker:Immovable. Angry. The rat pointed over Chase’s shoulder.
Speaker:“That don’t belong in my bar,”
Speaker:he growled. The growl sounded deep orange to Chase's ear.
Speaker:Chase turned and saw…
Speaker:he wasn’t sure what exactly.
Speaker:It was the bunny he had seen earlier, he was sure of that; he recognized the purple glow of its ears.
Speaker:But the bunny was no longer with the alligator.
Speaker:It was with… Chase couldn’t make out what it was.
Speaker:It was dark and bright at the same time,
Speaker:as though the light around it curved,
Speaker:leaving itself in darkness even as Chase’s eyes only saw light.
Speaker:But where the bunny’s face had
Speaker:mixed fear with arousal before,
Speaker:now it was pure black terror.
Speaker:He struggled weakly,
Speaker:his limbs slow and jerky.
Speaker:Whatever it was that held him,
Speaker:it had somehow sedated the bunny,
Speaker:and was making its way to the side exit.
Speaker:A few animals saw that something bad was happening, but before they could step in,
Speaker:they were pushed back by….
Speaker:Chase couldn’t see what pushed them.
Speaker:They just seemed to fall.
Speaker:And, as they lay on the floor,
Speaker:their chests heaved.
Speaker:“Looks like that bunny could use himself a bull,”
Speaker:the rat said. His voice was purple,
Speaker:calm yet firm. Chase leapt to his feet, spilling some of the green drink all over himself.
Speaker:It lay atop the yellow already there,
Speaker:and they glowed together.
Speaker:Chase put the half-empty mug back on the bar,
Speaker:and said, “I won’t fail again.”
Speaker:Then he ran across the bar,
Speaker:and out the door. The full
Speaker:moon shone down,
Speaker:brilliant, and the sky glowed indigo in its light.
Speaker:Even the stars shined bright, spinning in the sky. The moonlit
Speaker:alley was dark,
Speaker:but every metallic surface,
Speaker:from handrails to garbage cans,
Speaker:reflected that brilliant moon with a blaze of light.
Speaker:Chase saw the glowing purple ears of the bunny,
Speaker:and ran, his hooves striking hard and crimson on the pavement.
Speaker:The dark haze turned,
Speaker:and Chase knew he was being looked at, though Chase couldn’t say why.
Speaker:Then the haze continued moving.
Speaker:Fast. But Chase was faster.
Speaker:The clack of Chase’s hooves turned orange,
Speaker:then yellow, and finally incandescent white as each step came quicker and harder than the last.
Speaker:Chase would not let this thing get away.
Speaker:The haze turned, but Chase knew it was too late to stop him.
Speaker:Chase had already lept into the air,
Speaker:horns first, arms splayed wide to catch whatever this thing was.
Speaker:But then Chase felt something hit him in his chest,
Speaker:dark blue and green.
Speaker:The breath went out of him;
Speaker:Chase could see it,
Speaker:grey and wispy, and he felt like he couldn’t breathe it back in, no matter how hard his chest heaved.
Speaker:But that was not enough to stop a bull in full charge.
Speaker:Chase’s horns hit...
Speaker:flesh? It felt different, somehow,
Speaker:and Chase couldn’t say why.
Speaker:Whatever it was, he felt his horns pierce through it.
Speaker:And there was no mistaking the creature's carmine scream for anything but agony.
Speaker:Chase hit the pavement,
Speaker:and what little energy he had left went out of him in a puff of lilac breath.
Speaker:He was midnight blue;
Speaker:his chest heaved, and his keratinous fingers clacked on the pavement.
Speaker:But his fingers were all he could move.
Speaker:Chase felt a tug on his horns
Speaker:and heard a yellow grunt.
Speaker:He then savoured a small swell of pride;
Speaker:whatever it was, it was still impaled and couldn’t get away.
Speaker:Hopefully whatever power it had wouldn’t work on him again.
Speaker:Chase wasn’t sure he could survive a second blast of that.
Speaker:“Pathetic little cow.”
Speaker:The words were blue and white,
Speaker:like blue fire, and the voice sounded…
Speaker:wrong, somehow. Chase felt a lemon-yellow panic flare through his body.
Speaker:Chase could barely move,
Speaker:and that creature could still speak.
Speaker:Chase’s fingers caught on a crack in the pavement,
Speaker:and he tried to force himself up.
Speaker:His head tugged at the body of whatever it was,
Speaker:eliciting a scarlet snarl.
Speaker:“Die!” As the vermillion word hit Chase’s ears,
Speaker:he felt the same energy that hit him before,
Speaker:dark blue and green.
Speaker:It was weaker this time,
Speaker:but so was Chase.
Speaker:He collapsed back down to the ground, and the gleam of all the metal in the alley dimmed to a dull grey.
Speaker:The indigo sky turned black.
Speaker:And, slowly, even the impossibly bright moon began to wane.
Speaker:“Isn’t this what you wanted?”
Speaker:a grey voice asked him.
Speaker:It looked almost like his own,
Speaker:just drained of colour.
Speaker:“Didn’t you come here to drink until you joined your dads in death?”
Speaker:The moon, its light dying,
Speaker:split into the full rainbow.
Speaker:Chase watched the colours go out one by one, turning grey and lifeless.
Speaker:The purple of determination.
Speaker:The blue of harmony.
Speaker:The green of beauty. The yellow of joy.
Speaker:The orange of passion.
Speaker:None of them mattered anymore.
Speaker:The red of love flickered.
Speaker:Chase thought of those he had lost,
Speaker:of Delsaran, and Jon,
Speaker:and Brimark. They were gone now.
Speaker:It was time to let them go.
Speaker:The red turned grey,
Speaker:and Chase felt his body go limp.
Speaker:There was nothing worth fighting for, Chase knew.
Speaker:He could just let oblivion overtake him,
Speaker:and rest. There were a couple of liminal colours left,
Speaker:Chase noticed idly.
Speaker:They’d go out, and leave him in peace.
Speaker:The indigo of devotion.
Speaker:There was nothing worth devoting yourself to.
Speaker:The maroon of rage.
Speaker:Rage was just a burden on yourself.
Speaker:The chartreuse of the dog’s paint
Speaker:and Acid Perry mixed on his chest.
Speaker:That had been fun, hadn’t it?
Speaker:He had felt every beat of his heart in his cock.
Speaker:But the grey voice told him that it was over now;
Speaker:it was time to rest.
Speaker:The cyan of the alligator’s teeth as he rode the bunny.
Speaker:That bunny had looked so alive.
Speaker:And was now going to die.
Speaker:Just like Delsaran, and Jon, and Brimark,
Speaker:and now Chase. Just like everyone did in the end,
Speaker:so he didn't have to worry about it.
Speaker:“No.” Chase had tried to shout,
Speaker:but it came out as a tendril,
Speaker:weak and twisted. But though it was faint and pale,
Speaker:in every twist Chase could see another colour of the rainbow.
Speaker:His black fingertips caught in the crack once more,
Speaker:and he shoved with everything he had,
Speaker:driving his horns forward and into the creature once more.
Speaker:Chase’s vision exploded in kaleidoscopic stars,
Speaker:drowning out everything but the faintest trace
Speaker:of an orange grunt.
Speaker:Every joint in Chase’s body screamed red agony.
Speaker:He tried to rise, but the red turned crimson,
Speaker:and he collapsed.
Speaker:And he still couldn’t see anything past the iridescent colours that obscured his vision.
Speaker:Chase heard yellow screaming,
Speaker:and felt his head being jerked around.
Speaker:Whatever it was, it was pulling itself off Chase’s horns, painfully.
Speaker:The scream intensified to a yellowblue roar,
Speaker:something Chase had never seen before.
Speaker:An impossible colour from an unnatural vocal chord.
Speaker:Finally, Chase’s head hit the ground;
Speaker:the creature was free.
Speaker:As the sound subsided,
Speaker:Chase saw the delicate mint click of the thing’s feet.
Speaker:Chase’s heart caught in his throat.
Speaker:He was defenseless now.
Speaker:Would the thing kill him here?
Speaker:He tried to get a hand under himself,
Speaker:but it just wouldn’t move.
Speaker:He felt the dark blue and green energy hit him again,
Speaker:but it was dull and unsaturated.
Speaker:It barely dimmed his vision for a moment.
Speaker:The thing hissed,
Speaker:a pale, weak blue,
Speaker:and Chase saw the beige whimpers that had to be the bunny.
Speaker:Then Chase saw the delicate mint clicks,
Speaker:the colour growing paler each step as the creature moved away.
Speaker:Finally, Chase could hear and see no more.
Speaker:The thing was gone.
Speaker:Chase lay on the ground for a minute,
Speaker:letting his breathing become stronger.
Speaker:Then he moved his hand an inch at a time,
Speaker:taking a big amber breath between each inch.
Speaker:Finally, his hands beneath his chest,
Speaker:he sucked in as much air as he could, and pushed,
Speaker:the air going out in a gust of purple.
Speaker:He was on his knees,
Speaker:and could finally look around.
Speaker:The creature was gone,
Speaker:as he had already known.
Speaker:But in front of him, there was a small puddle of bright blue…
Speaker:something. Chase didn’t know whether to call it blood or not,
Speaker:but it was certainly some kind of precious fluid.
Speaker:It shone and glistened in the moonlight,
Speaker:and looking down the alley,
Speaker:Chase could see a droplet ahead.
Speaker:On a normal night,
Speaker:Chase didn't think he'd be able to follow it.
Speaker:The droplets were small and distant.
Speaker:But today—today the blood lit up the alley with its blue light.
Speaker:Chase pushed himself to one knee.
Speaker:He gasped purple,
Speaker:and struggled to control his heaving chest.
Speaker:After a while, his breath calmed to a cool blue.
Speaker:He groped around beside himself until he grabbed a railing,
Speaker:still shining bright from the full moon.
Speaker:He took a moment to steady himself, and then,
Speaker:with an orange grunt,
Speaker:he hoisted one leg up.
Speaker:Chase panted mahogany for a moment,
Speaker:before his breath finally calmed to a cool blue again.
Speaker:Then, with all his might,
Speaker:Chase roared red
Speaker:and pulled himself to his feet,
Speaker:the kaleidoscopic stars covering his vision for a moment.
Speaker:But that moment passed,
Speaker:and the blue of the blood
Speaker:lit the alley once again.
Speaker:With stumbling, rust-coloured clacks,
Speaker:Chase made his way through the alley.
Speaker:That thing would not get away.
Speaker:Chase had tracked it for about 15 minutes
Speaker:when he reached a dark, dead-end alley.
Speaker:Two tall buildings lay on either side,
Speaker:and one stood in front of him,
Speaker:blank walls dark grey in the absence of light.
Speaker:Chase wondered if the thing could have
Speaker:flown or climbed out of the alley.
Speaker:But then why wouldn’t it have done that before?
Speaker:Chase let out a rough growl;
Speaker:he put all his anger and frustration into it,
Speaker:and heard it echo off the buildings around him,
Speaker:rebounding until it sounded like a herd of enraged bulls.
Speaker:Then Chase froze.
Speaker:Something was wrong.
Speaker:Chase looked around the alley:
Speaker:at the trash littered on the ground,
Speaker:the windows high up on the buildings,
Speaker:the black night sky...
Speaker:Chase tapped his hoof of the pavement,
Speaker:and heard the sharp click
Speaker:echo. He looked down at his cock,
Speaker:and saw the dull yellow of the dog’s paint.
Speaker:Chase slowly backed out of the alley,
Speaker:and then looked around him.
Speaker:He squinted against the radiant moon,
Speaker:its light making every surface gleam.
Speaker:He tapped his hoof against the pavement,
Speaker:and saw the cyan click bounce off the wall.
Speaker:Chase looked down
Speaker:and his cock glowed with yellow light.
Speaker:The alley, then. Chase walked back into the alley.
Speaker:He ran his fingers along the wall, searching for something hidden,
Speaker:listening to the dull rumble of his hard fingertips against the wall.
Speaker:And then, on a piece of wall that looked blank,
Speaker:his fingers caught on something.
Speaker:He looked closely,
Speaker:but couldn’t see anything at all to distinguish it from the rest of the wall.
Speaker:But he could trace it with his fingers.
Speaker:It was a large rectangle,
Speaker:just big enough for him to walk through.
Speaker:A door. Chase felt around the door, but there was no door handle,
Speaker:and no lever or switch that he could find.
Speaker:He briefly considered looking longer,
Speaker:but he remembered the look of terror on the bunny’s face.
Speaker:Whatever this thing was up to,
Speaker:he didn’t think that bunny had much time.
Speaker:Chase reared up, and kicked the door as hard as he could.
Speaker:His leg protested in pain,
Speaker:still not recovered from his earlier ordeal with the creature.
Speaker:But he felt the door shudder.
Speaker:He could do this.
Speaker:Chase prepared himself for the pain, and kicked again.
Speaker:Red stabbed up his leg and through his body,
Speaker:and swirling colours filled Chase’s vision.
Speaker:For a moment, Chase thought his vision had gone kaleidoscopic again, but as the red subsided,
Speaker:he realised that he was just seeing inside the building.
Speaker:The door had caved in,
Speaker:and there were pipes carrying
Speaker:iridescent liquids through the hall
Speaker:that the door opened into.
Speaker:This was the place.
Speaker:Chase ran in. His kicks had to have been heard;
Speaker:his only hope now was to charge before the thing could prepare.
Speaker:Chase's hooves clacked sky-blue on the tiled floor, and his laboured
Speaker:breaths were emerald.
Speaker:He followed the pipes from that hallway to another,
Speaker:then sprinted through an open door.
Speaker:It opened into a large room
Speaker:that had once been a cafeteria.
Speaker:Its white walls reflected every colour of the pipes,
Speaker:a swirling mass of colours everywhere Chase looked.
Speaker:In the middle of the room,
Speaker:on one of the tables originally meant for eating,
Speaker:the bunny lay, the thing standing over him.
Speaker:Chase still couldn't make the thing out; the light bent around it,
Speaker:leaving it light and dark and blurred all at the same time.
Speaker:But it could be stopped.
Speaker:Chase had seen that.
Speaker:The thing had one… hand… on the bunny,
Speaker:and the other was excreting a swirling goop into a hose.
Speaker:The hose was connected to a blubbery, organic mass;
Speaker:colours eddied through it,
Speaker:and then separated into the pipes that Chase had followed here.
Speaker:"I did not expect you to find me so quickly,”
Speaker:the thing said, its redgreen words smooth.
Speaker:"However," it continued,
Speaker:but Chase saw it was still extracting more goop from the bunny.
Speaker:It was stalling. Chase charged,
Speaker:head down and horns out,
Speaker:mooing dark amber,
Speaker:but the creature spun away in a fog of black and light.
Speaker:Chase cursed, and braced himself against the table to stop his charge.
Speaker:He wouldn't be able to catch the creature off guard again.
Speaker:But he had forced the creature off the bunny
Speaker:—hopefully in time to save his life.
Speaker:Chase looked down at the bunny;
Speaker:his chest moved weakly, and an insipid wisp of chartreuse breath
Speaker:escaped from his lips.
Speaker:But he breathed. Now Chase had to take care of himself.
Speaker:He looked around the room,
Speaker:but found no weapons he could use,
Speaker:nothing he could even throw.
Speaker:All the chairs had been removed, and the tables were bolted to the floor.
Speaker:He would have to fight this thing using his fists and hooves.
Speaker:And he still had no idea what it was.
Speaker:It drained him of light and life, somehow, and could hide itself among the brightest lights.
Speaker:Even here, with the swirling colours shining across the room,
Speaker:it was like a shadow in a fog
Speaker:—Chase knew there was something there,
Speaker:but what it was, he couldn’t make out.
Speaker:But it was more than that, too.
Speaker:His eyes kept slipping off it,
Speaker:as though some part of it repelled him.
Speaker:But Chase knew it could see him.
Speaker:He felt… seen through.
Speaker:As though the thing could see how sore,
Speaker:how tired Chase was,
Speaker:how Chase had barely been able to get up after their last encounter.
Speaker:Chase was glad he was still holding on to the table;
Speaker:his legs shook as the lemon-coloured panic went through him again.
Speaker:Then the thing charged.
Speaker:Its feet made a light lavender click along the floor,
Speaker:as though they were scarcely touching it.
Speaker:Chase calmed the yellow panic and waited,
Speaker:readying a punch.
Speaker:He just had to hope he could hit it before it struck him.
Speaker:The thing approached,
Speaker:and Chase swung his fist,
Speaker:but his fist went right through the fog
Speaker:—his eyes hadn't tracked it right.
Speaker:Instead of appearing in front of him, the creature came up beside him.
Speaker:Chase jabbed his horns at it, but too late:
Speaker:the dark green and blue energy hit him.
Speaker:Chase saw a rainbow tendril of breath escape his lips
Speaker:and turn grey. But Chase was still standing.
Speaker:He swung his leg in a wide arc;
Speaker:he couldn't follow the creature with his fists,
Speaker:but maybe his legs could swing across the wide space and hit it,
Speaker:wherever it was. He felt his hoof connect with flesh,
Speaker:hard. Chase saw a piercing crimson scream erupt from the creature,
Speaker:and some brilliant blue liquid spurt out of the thing’s chest
Speaker:and hit the floor.
Speaker:But even as the violet rush of pride filled Chase,
Speaker:the dark blue and green energy hit him again,
Speaker:and Chase stumbled back.
Speaker:His right leg failed to support his weight, and Chase dropped to one knee.
Speaker:The creature skittered back for a moment,
Speaker:but then saw that Chase was down,
Speaker:and charged. The light lavender clicks came quickly,
Speaker:and Chase struggled to rise.
Speaker:He was too weak for another kick,
Speaker:so he swung his fist in a wide arc,
Speaker:and felt it hit… something slimy and rough
Speaker:and as though it were made of a thousand different filaments
Speaker:held together by some sort of field.
Speaker:He dug his fingers into whatever it was,
Speaker:and the thing hissed ochre.
Speaker:Then the dark blue and green energy hit Chase again.
Speaker:Chase’s grip faltered,
Speaker:and the creature pulled away.
Speaker:Chase stumbled, his hooves coming down
Speaker:hard and moss-coloured.
Speaker:He grabbed a table to keep himself from falling.
Speaker:The creature was weakened,
Speaker:Chase knew. Even though he was prepared for those blasts now,
Speaker:a dark blue-green blast with the power of the first one that hit him
Speaker:would have felled him.
Speaker:For Chase had been weakened, too.
Speaker:These attacks were pale shadows of that blast.
Speaker:But that didn't mean the blows didn't take their toll.
Speaker:Chase was outmatched, and he knew it.
Speaker:He had caught the creature by surprise before, but this time
Speaker:all its defences were up.
Speaker:And bar a lucky blow from his horns,
Speaker:Chase would lose.
Speaker:He had to keep fighting,
Speaker:using whatever reserves he had left.
Speaker:But gumption alone wouldn't be enough to win this fight.
Speaker:He needed a plan.
Speaker:Chase kept the table between himself and the creature.
Speaker:The creature began to circle him,
Speaker:and Chase moved around the table,
Speaker:keeping himself out of its reach.
Speaker:This was a temporary measure at best, Chase knew.
Speaker:Sooner or later, the creature would realise that this left the bunny open to whatever the creature was doing to him.
Speaker:And, whatever it had been doing,
Speaker:it had seemed to make this thing stronger,
Speaker:and the bunny weaker.
Speaker:Chase fought the urge to look at the bunny.
Speaker:Instead, he looked at the hose that the goop went through to get to the blubbery transmutation thing, and….
Speaker:A plan came to Chase.
Speaker:It was a dumb plan.
Speaker:Even if he could pull it off, Chase had no idea if it would work.
Speaker:But he saw the creature glance at the bunny,
Speaker:and Chase knew the only alternative was to swing his horns wildly
Speaker:and hope to land a lucky blow.
Speaker:And Chase was rapidly running out of strength.
Speaker:Chase waited until his back was to the blubbery blob,
Speaker:the creature still circling him,
Speaker:and then Chase ran.
Speaker:His breath came in loud but shallow gasps of blush.
Speaker:His hooves slapped steel blue.
Speaker:Each table went by agonisingly slowly,
Speaker:and the creature’s clicks were violet, so much more saturated than when it had been charging at him before.
Speaker:Clearly, Chase had upset it.
Speaker:The violet turned indigo as the creature came closer.
Speaker:Chase could feel it at his back.
Speaker:He could feel it preparing to take him out with another dark blue and green blast.
Speaker:But Chase had reached the blob.
Speaker:He took one last step
Speaker:and let his weight carry him,
Speaker:horn first, into the blubbery blob.
Speaker:There was a snot-green squelch as his horns sunk in,
Speaker:and Chase felt a moment of triumph
Speaker:even as he was hit by another blast from the creature.
Speaker:His body went limp, but his momentum carried him deeper into the blob.
Speaker:There was a fuschia pop;
Speaker:Chase felt himself come free,
Speaker:and fell to the floor with a shamrock-green thud.
Speaker:He closed his eyes against the red pain,
Speaker:unsure if he’d have the energy to open them again.
Speaker:But that was fine.
Speaker:He heard a lilac hiss above him.
Speaker:He had struck the blob,
Speaker:and there was nothing more to do, now.
Speaker:He had either succeeded,
Speaker:or he would die. Chase heard a blueyellow chitter,
Speaker:and a pale multicolored scrabbling.
Speaker:He could feel…
Speaker:something like a fleshy talon,
Speaker:pressing against his side, but completely uninterested in him.
Speaker:Instead, the scrabbling grew faster,
Speaker:the colours brighter.
Speaker:The hiss began to subside.
Speaker:Chase gathered his strength,
Speaker:and opened his eyes.
Speaker:There was a wisp of black-white fog, but his eyes didn’t slide off it this time.
Speaker:He could see the talon.
Speaker:It was fleshy, but skinless.
Speaker:Fibres ran through it,
Speaker:black and white and red.
Speaker:He could see it pulse,
Speaker:the fibres spreading out, revealing something blue beneath.
Speaker:Then the fibres pulled back in,
Speaker:almost like it was breathing.
Speaker:Chase waited until the fibres were as spread out as they went,
Speaker:and then dug his black fingers into the cracks between them.
Speaker:He squeezed as hard as he could,
Speaker:feeling the keratin slide between the slimy fibres,
Speaker:into that blue something.
Speaker:It was hard and soft and wet and dry, all at the same time.
Speaker:There was a vermillion shriek,
Speaker:and then Chase twisted his hand with all his might.
Speaker:The creature toppled
Speaker:with a wet green smack.
Speaker:Chase saw its face
Speaker:only for a moment,
Speaker:but that was enough.
Speaker:Its eyes were like broken glass,
Speaker:cracks spreading out from the centre,
Speaker:where the pupil was formed from the jagged edges of the glass.
Speaker:The jagged edges pointed straight at Chase,
Speaker:and Chase felt its anger.
Speaker:Beneath the eyes, its only other feature was Its mouth:
Speaker:a large black void that had no end
Speaker:and seemed to have swallowed up most of its face.
Speaker:That mouth didn’t move as it hurled a crimson scream full of more hatred
Speaker:than Chase ever imagined could have existed.
Speaker:And then the blob exploded.
Speaker:Globs of colour shot across the room,
Speaker:striking the walls and splattering back over the tables and floor.
Speaker:The creature got to its talons, and tried to press against the tide of colour,
Speaker:but it was shot back against the far wall.
Speaker:It began to scream redgreen as the colour seeped between its tendrils,
Speaker:the blue within it flickering madly
Speaker:as the creature thrashed.
Speaker:As he looked at the creature,
Speaker:Chase could see the wall beside it begin to buckle.
Speaker:Chase began to crawl.
Speaker:The colours burned yellow where he touched them,
Speaker:but there was no avoiding them:
Speaker:they had covered the room within seconds,
Speaker:and showed no sign of stopping.
Speaker:All Chase could do
Speaker:was endure it. Finally, he reached the table that held the bunny,
Speaker:and pulled himself up.
Speaker:The bunny was moving its legs weakly,
Speaker:but couldn’t roll over to get its legs under itself.
Speaker:Chase would have to carry him out.
Speaker:A glob of red hit Chase, and he stumbled,
Speaker:but he kept his footing.
Speaker:Rage course through Chase.
Speaker:That creature had killed who knows how many animals,
Speaker:and Chase was just planning on running?
Speaker:He should go up to the creature and beat it to death right now.
Speaker:Chase began to take a step towards the creature,
Speaker:but then he remembered the wall buckling,
Speaker:and the bunny, unable to get his legs under himself.
Speaker:Chase breathed and let the anger pass.
Speaker:He needed to get out of here.
Speaker:Chase picked up the bunny,
Speaker:and threw him over his shoulder,
Speaker:holding on to the table with his other hand.
Speaker:Another glob of colour hit him,
Speaker:this one midnight blue,
Speaker:and Chase slipped and sat down on the table.
Speaker:He was never going to get out of here like this.
Speaker:He was useless after all.
Speaker:He had let his friends die, his family die, and now he and this bunny would die here.
Speaker:The creature would probably
Speaker:escape to kill again, too.
Speaker:Chase dug his fingers into his leg.
Speaker:Yellow pain rose through his vision.
Speaker:He would fight to the last.
Speaker:The walls buckled more and more.
Speaker:The building wouldn’t last long, Chase knew.
Speaker:But if he was right—and lucky
Speaker:—he would only need to wait a second more….
Speaker:Another glob of colour, fire orange, hit Chase,
Speaker:and almost knocked him over the table,
Speaker:but Chase managed to hold on.
Speaker:And he would hold on.
Speaker:Chase could do this.
Speaker:All he needed to do was run.
Speaker:And Chase was a bull;
Speaker:he was made to run.
Speaker:Head down, Chase ran.
Speaker:He followed the pipes through the first hall, and turned into the next.
Speaker:The pipes were dull and empty now,
Speaker:but they still led the way.
Speaker:The door was still open to the alley,
Speaker:hanging off its hinges.
Speaker:Chase just kept running straight through the door and the alley until finally his strength gave out.
Speaker:Chase collapsed, dropping the bunny as he fell.
Speaker:The bunny gave a beige grunt
Speaker:as Chase landed on top of him.
Speaker:Chase tried to roll off of him, but couldn't.
Speaker:His body just wouldn't respond.
Speaker:Instead, Chase just lay there,
Speaker:panting emerald puffs.
Speaker:After a moment passed,
Speaker:Chase heard a rust-colored groan,
Speaker:then a cacophony of rumbling colour.
Speaker:Chase finally rolled,
Speaker:and saw the building behind him collapsing,
Speaker:its rear wall falling on top of the rubble and breaking in half with a white snap.
Speaker:Chase lay there, staring at the rubble,
Speaker:waiting for any movement.
Speaker:But nothing moved.
Speaker:The night was still and clear
Speaker:—aside from the neon glow
Speaker:from every drop of colour Chase could see.
Speaker:Just as Chase began to relax,
Speaker:the bunny spoke, his worlds a light and playful magenta,
Speaker:“I had always wanted to be saved by a big burly bull,
Speaker:but I did not expect to be smushed beneath his sizable cock when he collapsed on top of me.”
Speaker:Chase looked over at the bunny, who was smiling…
Speaker:at his cock, which still glowed yellow from the dog’s paint.
Speaker:“That said, I, uh, can’t complain.”
Speaker:Chase laughed. It was a deep, rumbling laugh,
Speaker:by parts red and yellow and green and blue.
Speaker:“In my fantasies, I’m not too tired to fuck the appreciative bunny after I save his life,”
Speaker:Chase said in a similarly light magenta.
Speaker:“Have you tried Carlos’s Howling Hot Pink Passion?”
Speaker:the bunny asked in an orange voice.
Speaker:“I’m sure that would give you the energy.”
Speaker:Chase looked up at the deep indigo sky,
Speaker:the moon that shone brighter than the sun,
Speaker:and the stars that spun and danced.
Speaker:Those drinks had hit him hard.
Speaker:He could do with another one.
Speaker:“Does the damsel pay?”
Speaker:Chase asked, his voice coral.
Speaker:"Only if you promise to give me the tip after,"
Speaker:the bunny responded with an aqua chuckle
Speaker:Chase laughed. And in his laugh,
Speaker:he saw the rainbow,
Speaker:bright and vibrant
Speaker:as it floated up
Speaker:into the sky.This was “Story Title” by Author Name, read for you by Khaki, your faithful fireside
Speaker:companion. Thank
Speaker:you for listening
Speaker:to The Voice of Dog