Zenny belongs to me and Kohaku belongs to a friend of mine Read here and show your support here: https://www.patreon.com/DHVinci ---------- Within his humble abode with headphones on his ears, the demon dog lay in his bed listening to the latest hits of hip-hop music. He closed his eyes and rocked his head back and forth to the rhythm, mumbling the words under his breath with a smile.
“Kohaku! Ya there!?” Yelled a voice from outside his door. The stranger knocked repeatedly, receiving no response from the other side. The door rattled back and forth as the stranger tried to unlock it. A few seconds later a powerful thrust hit the wooden surface, enough to make the demon jump and sit up.
“What was that?” Ko asked himself, moving one of the buds from his ear.
The door came off the hinges and slammed down. Small soldiers entered the room wearing police helmets, masks, and uniforms. Ko, in fear and confusion, dropped his iPod and lifted his hands to the sky. He watched as guns pointed at him with ten soldiers surrounding his bed.
“What the heck's going on here?!” The white-haired dog demanded. “Why are you in my room? What did I do? I know my rights! You can't do anything to me! Who are yo-”
“Mr. Kohaku,” said a deep voice, coming from around the corner in the hallway. Accompanying him were two more soldiers, armed to the teeth. “We are in need of your assistance.”
The demon dog on the bed bared his teeth at the leader. His yellow eyes scanned over his attire, completely black but no badge on his chest like official officers. His face was hidden behind a glass window attached to the mask. The helmet hid his ears, preventing the identification of the species, and somehow masked his scent. He stood up straight, about 7 ft tall, broad chest and muscular arms.
“And what if I refuse?” He sneered. The soldiers locked and loaded their guns but were silenced by their leader, who held his hand up to signal the soldiers not to fire.
“You made a promise we could do it again,” said the stern, authoritative voice. “And I intend to make do with that promise.”
Ko’s ear flicked as he looked at the leader in confusion.
“I don't know what you're talking about. I never made any promises!” He said, putting his hands down, now more annoyed than frightened. “Who do you think you are?! Bursting into my house, do you have any idea who you're messing with?”
The other soldiers laughed, causing the demon to growl lowly.
“Oh, we know all too well. And you're going to help us one way or another. I'm sure once you remember, you'll agree as well,” said the leader, standing at the foot of the bed.
“Who are you!” Kohaku demanded, losing his patience.
“Why… I am...” The leader reached for his mask and at the same time, several of the soldiers reached for the back of their masks. Kohaku stared at the leader with fiery yellow eyes, forgetting the other weaklings. At the top of the man's head, there was a zipper Kohaku hadn't noticed. Kohaku's eyes widened as the leader unzipped from the top of his head, down in between his face, neck, and chest, all the way down the middle. The body split in two, revealing a familiar face inside the costume, though closer to the floor. “Me!” Said the one-tailed, red-eyed, tiny fox.
“Wha...” Ko said dumbfounded.
As he looked around, all the soldiers unzipped the same way, revealing a Zenny clone in each one.
“Got you Ko!” The original said, glomping the speechless demon to his back.
Ko burst into laughter, hugging his little friend and wagging his scaly tail. “Oh my god little dude you scared me for a minute!” He said wrapping his arms around the fox. “I seriously thought I'd have to fight my way out of this. Don't you dare do that again!”
Zenny grinned, baring his toothy, innocent smile as he licked Ko's cheek. After the hug Zenny sat next to him, cooing softly when Ko petted his head.
“Alright little dude, what's up? How ya been?”
“Awesome!” He showed Ko his empty palm, flicked his wrist, and revealed his business card a moment later. “My business has been booming!”
“Nice job little guy,” Ko said, scratching behind the fox's ear, prompting a purr and a wagging tail in response. “So, what was this promise you were talking about?”
“A trip to the store!” Zenny cheered, bouncing on the bed. He snapped his fingers, making the clones around the room disappear. “You said you wanted to do it again, I'm ready!”
“Haha, is that so? Well, I got some free time on my hands, wasn't doing much but listening to music… Sure, we can head out now.”
“Great! To the race car!” Zenny cheered.
Ko's eyes widened, remembering the last time he went to the store with his little friend. The fear of going over a hundred miles an hour, mixed with spontaneously created roads that traveled on the sides of buildings, and a large ramp, sent a chill up his spine. Out of reflex, he grabbed the fox in midair as he tried to jump out of the bed.
“No!” He shouted. “I-I mean… why don't we walk...? Heh, it's a good day outside anyway. We can go on a nice, relaxing, slow, safe walk over there? Whadda ya say?” He smiled nervously.
“Well… how about another idea?” Zenny offered. “How about we bounce our way over there?”
“Bounce?” Kohaku questioned.
“Yeah,” Zenny went over to the window, pulling his friend by the arm and opened it. “Like this,” he explained, letting Kohaku go then walked out towards the hall.
“What's he doing?” Ko asked himself quietly. He watched as Zenny left the room slowly then came back running and jumped out the window.
“Little dude!” Cried the demon dumbfounded. He came over to the window and stuck his head out, looking at the ground for his hopefully unharmed friend. It only took three seconds before the fox wrapped around his face and yanked him out of the window, falling from the second floor.
“Gmmgphph, ghaaa!” Cried Ko. The two fell from the window heading for the ground while Zenny laughed and nipped Ko's ear. Ko braced himself, shielding his face with the masked-covered Zenny to keep from falling face-first to the ground. His arms met an elastic fabric, and they bounced back up into the air. Zenny laughed and let go of Ko as he went back down.
Ko reached for Zenny but missed, looking down to see a large red target below him. As Zenny bounced back up when Ko came down, Ko felt himself go back up when Zenny went down.
“Surprise!” Zenny said, laughing with each bounce. Ko shook his head.
“You nearly scared me… again!” Ko said, folding his arms as he forced a frown on his face to convey his seriousness despite bouncing.
“Hehe, this is what I mean.” Zenny matched the bouncing height with Ko so they bounced together, though going twice as high now. He pulled out a map to show Ko the destination and their current location. “We bounce over to the store via more trampolines.”
Ko rubbed his head. “This is the craziest… and most awesome idea you've ever had for traveling.” He unfolded his arms and read the map. “Should only take us like 15 minutes too… Alright… where's the next trampoline?” He asked, all for the idea.
Zenny pointed in the direction of the store. As he pointed, random spots everywhere along the path formed trampolines on the ground, the side of buildings, and rooftops. He took initiative and after getting in a jumping position, he launched off the trampoline, over a building and landed on the trampoline on the other side. Ko bit his nails nervously watching, then sighed in relief when he saw his buddy jump back up in the air.
“Okay Ko… you can do this… here goes...” With a deep breath he jumped high into the air, aiming to follow Zenny but misjudged the distance. As the flying demon came down to earth, he looked at a building top with no trampoline. “Zenny!” He cried.
The little red fox laughed and fired an arrow under Ko. The arrow turned into black sand then reformed into a trampoline under the white lion after hitting the building. Ko bounced on it and flipped from his front to his back in the air, the pressure from the fabric bouncing him with little effort.
“Finding Nemo! Think of Finding Nemo!” Zenny shouted as he jumped from one trampoline on the side of one building to one on the sidewalk, making his way towards the store.
It took Ko a moment to realize the scene Zenny referenced and smiled. “Haha, wait for me!”
Ko grunted as he started to get the rhythm of bouncing throughout the air. His eyes scanned the ground at first for the trampolines but soon turned his focus to the orange fox ahead of him. Ko landed without looking down and bounced back up, smiling as Zenny made trampolines under him wherever he jumped.
Several bounces later the two appeared directly in front of the mall, a few eyes from the crowd watched them, confused at their sudden arrival, before continuing their daily lives. Ko dusted himself off and stretched.
“That was awesome little dude! Now that's a fun way to travel.”
With a beaming smile on his face the little fox bowed his head majestically. “Tis always a pleasure.”
Zenny grabbed Ko's arm and ran into the store, making Ko stagger a bit before following quickly. The store was just as Ko remembered from his last trip, large open hallway with three floors, an escalator in front of them and 5 stores surrounding the entrance in an oval form. A map was placed on the side of the escalator in the middle of the room, but Zenny remembered the way, dragging him down the hallway.
Ko apologized to the people they ran past with one hand, still bent forward a bit so he wouldn't fall as he kept up with his little friend.
“The candy store should be just around the corner,” Ko said as Zenny yipped happily. The dog’s eyes casually scanned the hallway on the second floor, before seeing Zenny's face on a sign ahead of them. “Oh, that's pretty cool,” he said to himself.
The candy store was right next to an unfamiliar one Ko didn't recognize. When he looked up again his eyes widened and he stopped, making Zenny yipe. “Hold up what the heck!?” Said the demon, looking up.
Ko saw a sign saying “Kaycen's Creations” with his little buddy smiling, a thumbs up just above the sign while the store was closed. Zenny gestured to the candy store, pawing with one hand in the air while the other tried to get Ko to move. Ko instead walked forward, taking Zenny with him as he looked through the glass, trying to see inside. “Since when did this get here?!” He turned to Zenny. “When did...how did… you just… what?”
Zenny giggled. “I've had a store here since a week after you last brought me here.”
Ko's jaw dropped. “But… How can you even afford a store? Wh-what do you even make?!”
“Oh, I make all kinds of things; jewelry, clothes, merchandise, equipment, I thought I told you.”
“You told me you perform at parties and events, you never said anything about having a store to yourself!”
Zenny smiled nervously and giggled. “Surprise...” he said, creating a moment of silence as Kohaku stared at him.
“Come on in!” Zenny insisted, opening the door and pulled his friend in. Zenny turned on the lights, showing a bunch of shelves and desks with his merchandise. From purses to backpacks, jewelry, nick-nacks, clothes, and even a few toy weapons, Zenny had a little something lined up along the walls and behind a glass desk showing his more expensive stuff. Ko scanned the room with his face in awe, and the most impressive piece of work was at the corner. “Is that...”
“Yep, my own forge!” Zenny said proudly, standing next to it.
The forge was cleaned out and next to it was a wooden work bench and tanning rack for leather. Ko touched everything, still in awe as to the fox's hobby. “This is… awesome dude! You gotta make something for me,” Kohaku said enthusiastically.
Zennny smiled and sat on the counter near the cash register, watching Ko scuffle through his wares.
Ko found something else odd and looked at it curiously before touching around. “What's this thing?” He asked.
A wire kept a large metal rod hung in the air and supported by two metal frames, on the ground was an iron table that faintly resembled a rock but paved flat on the top, mainly used for making carvings into other pieces of metal.
“Careful Ko,” Zenny warned.
“Dont worry, I'll be fine,” Ko reassured with a thumbs up. “You forget, I'm a demon, nothing can harm me that hard,” he said with a gleam in his smile, tapping the wooden frame supporting the stone rod anvil above his head.
The old wood gave way to the tap, a piece of wood cracking near the base where a loosened nail came out. Without the added support, the stone anvil fell but bounced on the metal string keeping it up, just as Ko flinched as he covered his head.
The fox flinched but sighed in relief, as did the demon, wiping his brow. “That was close” Ko said, accidentally leaning on the iron table in his unguarded relief. The metal string attaching the rod above snapped in half and the metal rod came crashing down on top of Ko's hand.
The scream from the Ko caused the windows of Zenny's shop to shatter and Zenny flinched with an eye closed as he saw Ko's hands. The poor guy’s fingers throbbed red but Ko pushed it off and held it, jumping around. He whined with crocodile tears streaming down his face, his hand swollen and five times bigger. Zenny came over and reached behind his back, pulling out a bag of ice from out of nowhere. Ko sighed contently as the ice bag melted, the ice turning into steam then water as it helped to ease his aching hand.
Zenny took the water bag away and Ko's hand returned to normal.
“That wasn't so bad...” Ko smiled, trying to play it cool, remembering Zenny's magic gave his body more toon properties.
“Ya sure, I'mma gonna have ta charge you for the windows,” he said, gesturing to the broken glass.
“Oh yeah, sure buddy… Just don’t... don’t tell anyone it was me.”
Zenny giggled. “I won't. I wouldn't want my new merchandise to be defective,” he said whistling casually as he walked out the store.
“Whadda ya mean by that?” He said looking at his hand. When he turned to see the back, Ko's face stared at the symbol now engraved there, Kaycen's Creations, branding him under Zenny's product. The demon face palmed and grumbled as he followed the little fox to get chocolate, hoping this wasn't permanent.
