Workplace relations By Michael Barnes

Chris Foxx is owned and copyrighted \xA9 by Chris Yost. Amy Squirrel and Sabrina are copyrighted \xA9 to Eric W.Schwartz. James Sheppard is copyrighted \xA9 to James Bruner Michael Taillong and Eric Taillong are owned by me. Anthony Maximillion is copyrighted to his player Anthony Lanuza.

This story has nothing to do with events in the Sabrina Online comic strip or those in The ZigZag story or Sabrina the story. Though some chapters or parts of it may seem that way. This is a work of fiction and I in no way have taken these characters without permission. Please note this story is a work of fiction and any resemblance to anyone living or dead (without permission) is just a coincidence.

Chapter 3

The domino effect

Later that week

"It is GONE as in NOT THERE as in IT DOES NOT EXSIT!" Sabrina was yelling into her cell phone. "Yes I'm sure of it someone has hacked our website and deleted it completely! I am going to have to refund all those orders till I can restore it… Yes it will take a while and we did receive a lot of orders this month…. Um I'm not sure even James company can help with this… Yes ill get on it early tomorrow I am too tired right now from trying to trace who did this all day… I will come in early its no problem at all"

Sabrina hung up and looked at the rest of the staff. "Okay were not going to lose our jobs but this is a problem…" Various furs began to speak "Zig’s famous why would someone do this?" Eric spoke from the hall "Because they meant to sabotage her company nothing more" Everyone looked at Eric who tapped his way into the room. "Hello? IM not a vampire I do show up early its just that sometimes your all way to busy to notice now excuse me I need to get to work. Sabrina move please everyone I just saved ya from a pay cut so you can go now" Sabrina was about to leave “except you hang on while I do this”

Sabrina looked at Eric with a curious look "Just what are you going to do?" "Unlike you I made backups of the website on my zip drive here" Eric holds up a bag. "I backed everything up… I know it's not your fault that Zig didn’t buy you one sooner so I took my pay and got one… Besides what can a blind guy do with savings?"

Sabrina blushed "You know my passwords?" "No I um okay I do don't worry I wont tell anyone else" "Your something else you know that?" "Yes I do now please hook this up and my ill get to work" Having set up everything Sabrina stood. "How can you type if you can't see?" "I can see a little but not very well besides everyone doesn’t stare at the keyboard while typing"

Soon the continents of Eric's portable drive were copied onto Sabrinas work station computer. "Okay now you can set the site up again tomorrow I on the other hand need to get to work" "Eric walked right into a door on his way out. "I hate this" Sabrina giggled and opened it for Eric. "You do that a lot don't you?" "Yes I do I do it so much my nose has calluses" "Ewwww" "It’s a joke" "Oh…. Well goodnight"

Sabrina left while Eric got changed and began to clean up.

Elsewhere

"I did as you asked boss I deleted their site" A man sits in a leather chair facing a large window that overlooks the city. "Good soon I will have the upper hand and no one else will be able to stop me" Suddenly the phone rang "Yes? HE DID WHAT? DAMN!" Slamming the phone on the hook the figure stood and stepped into the light.

"It seems that boy at the studios backed up Zigs orders and her website… Take care of him tonight on his way home oh and give our informant a little something extra too while your at it" "Yes mister Maximillion" Bowing the lackey leaves Anthony alone as a hidden door opens in his office. "I need to relax" Entering the room Anthony leaves his office to do what “relaxes” him. “Those robbers the other day were nothing but weaklings with guns but that other guy I fought was excellent with his blade who was he and how could he match my strength?” Anthony puts on his costume and leaves his office.

Hours later

Eric finishes cleaning the studio and changes into his black clothing to leave. "I hate cleaning the filming studios yuck. Oh well at least I get paid for doing what I do best avoiding people"

Eric exits through the back door instead of the front and suddenly remembers that it’s a dark dank unlit alley as he stands there. "Okay can you say stupid" "Hello stupid" Eric looks at the front of the alley towards the street. Holding his walking cane defensively Eric sniffs the air. "It’s a fox hmmm"

A fox stands there holding a gun with a silencer. "Okay… I only have 40 dollars on me so can you just take that and leave me with my life?" Eric always carried 40 dollars in cash for just in case he was mugged. "Sorry I came just for that last bit of what you said"

Eric gasped "Your going to kill me? For WHAT?" Making sure his silencer is secure the fox shoots Eric in the left leg. "Oh my god…" Eric fell on his knees. "You’re a danger to my bosses operation you must die" The fox morph fired again then left the alley. Eric laid there until the attacker was gone and sat up.

Eric felt over his body and pulled out the slug caught in his skin right above his heart. Yanking on it Eric pulled away some of his fur with it. Reaching for his left leg he did the same. "Just a little blood…. Hmm they expect me to be dead… I don't want to fake my death so my only other choice is to… Go after that fur and kill him before he reports back to his boss but can I do such a thing? And I only smelled him for a moment can I track him on scent alone? More than likely"

Eric walks off with his thing's wondering why he feels eyes on him as a figure on a rooftop leaps away.

The fox walks down the street thinking on his latest kill. "That was easy he didn’t even get out a scream…" "And neither will you!"

A black figure grabs the fox and drags him into a back alley… No one heard his screams as he was torn asunder and left for the street vermin.

The next day

Michael turns on the news as he's sipping his morning drink. When suddenly he spits it all over his paper. Eric hears this and walks into the living room and trips over his feet as Michael turns up the TV.

"This morning a jogger found a body ripped to pieces so badly the police are having trouble identifying even its species" The camera zooms in on the person. "Eric its Sabrina funny I didn’t know she jogged… Who's that guy behind her?" Eric assumes it's her boyfriend Chris.

"More than likely timid yet cool Chris her BF" Michael spits out his drink again over his legs this time. "She likes those kind of guys?" "Yea I wonder what she would do if she knew you were an enhanced being" Michael smirks at his brother. "Um what do you mean by that?" Eric smiles "Think what you want hehehe"

Michael grows serious "Did you do that to that guy?" "No Mike I didn’t though he's the one that tried to kill me im sure. Pity there are not enough of furs like him in the world not" Michael grabs his keyboard and Eric stares at him. "Going to use your little invention and capture Sabrina's image from TV and ogle it for a while?" Michael turns on his keyboard and a small box turns on simultaneously under the TV on the VCR.

"No im going to zoom in on that roof top above the scene after the reporter finishes her report" When the newscast is over Michael calls up a still screen from the scene he recorded and then zooms in on a rooftop. Enhancing the image Eric frowns. "Its an "Agent" Mike" "Yep a member of the men in black by why would he be interested in this murder?"

"Because the crime matches cases in similar areas where we have lived. The government has been keeping tabs on us" Michael frowns at Eric "I knew we didn’t get away completely"

Eric shakes his head "You already know we have more than one agency after us. But two of them are with the government and the other is out to rule the world from the shadows"

Michael nods and sips what's left of his drink in its cup.

"We got away from the "legal" government you see day to day. But the mib always has been a secret organization. And their use of Agent robots is also secret" Michael blinks and ruffles his quills while sighing.

"Yea until you cut one of there heads off with my sword Eric and found it was a machine" Eric laughs "Yea well we still need to watch our backs im going to work early today and…" Eric checks his pager by holding it in front of his eyes and hitting an illumination button "Who is it?" "ZZ she wants me to fill her in on the situation… Can I use the computer room?" "Its not finished but go ahead just make sure you cover your email tracks. The FBI still checks our emails" Eric nods and goes into the basement.

There he opens a hidden door and enters a room filled with machinery of all kinds. Sitting at a computer terminal. He connects remotely through a satellite to the Internet where he types up two emails. One that is a fake and another that he sends along to his employer hidden in the fake email. "I hate espionage but I will never forget that night when we decided to use our skills for the good of the world"

A week after Erica's disappearance

Michael and Eric are riding in the back of a bus as it rumbles along. "Michael what will we do?" Michael puts a drink in Eric's hand and he brings it up to his lips to sip. "Well first off we need to figure out why you cant see…" Eric sighs "My powers overloaded my optic nerves that’s all" "I know but I meant what are the extent of your powers" Eric sighs "I don't know besides my tough skin like you. I don't know"

Michael looks out his window "Well were going to move to someplace that is safe and where we can hide…" "We are orphans and we don't even know where our parents went…" Michael hisses, "So what they sold us out and that’s that!" Eric grabs his brothers' hand and feels for his pulse.

"Your heart is racing don't you know what happens when you get mad" "Yea I know my powers activate… What was that stuff?" "Hmm well the chemical enhanced our bodies so I assume it was meant to enhance people but the results varies with each being I assume… Remember that rat we saw that had jaws that could bite through steel at the house when we went back for our stuff and found it was gone?" "How can I forget? It bit my leg!"

Eric laughs "Yea but your skin is super tough" Michael smirks "Yea so what should we do when we get to California?" "Well I plan on going to a blind school you im going to leave home during the day… Unless you want to go to school?" "Sure im not as lazy as you think Eric"

Weeks later

Michael and Eric sit in their small apartment and talk. "So what should we do today?" Michael frowns. "Nothing" "At all?" “Yep Eric” “Oh” Sitting there Michael thinks about what to do. “I cant pay my tuition cause I have to pay bills damn it and Eric is helpless… Well not completely” “Eric how much can you see?” “Err not much”

Michael tosses a lamp at Eric’s head and he turns and it smashes into a wall. “Why did you do that? We already don’t have much in here… Oh crud” “YOU CAN SEE!” “No I cant I just well can see shadows and well I also heard the lamp coming…. Your going to find me a job right?” “DEFINETLY” “Make it a night job I don’t like people much now these days…”

“Fine but I wonder would you mind if I lied about your age so you could get the job?” “Yea you do that” “Good ill get you something” “As long as I don’t have to play lookout for a drug dealer on a street corner I think I can fake it” “Not amusing at all heh”

Later

A smart looking hood picks up his cell phone in his office and speaks into it

“Yea yea just make sure that the stuff gets sent out of town and fast! I’m going to hire a lookout for the cops but since this is a “legitimate business” ill hire a janitor and pay extra for him to be a look out… Yes mister X we will hurry it up here and pack it all up for you to get rid of” Hanging up the phone Jack Rune picked a piece of lint off his suit.

Watching the men in the warehouse load the containers of a mysterious substance into freight containers. Speaking from a window to his office he scolds one of them who almost knocks down a tower of barrels. “YOU FOOL! If one of those breaks all of you could become freaks! Be careful and watch the controls of that loader carefully or…”

He didn’t have to finish his sentence. Sitting down in his office chair Jack lights a cigar and relaxes just as a knock comes to his office door. Setting his cigar down Jack opens the door. “Your early I like that come in” Michael leads Eric into the office. Jack looks the two over and sees why Michael was so desperate to get this job.

“Okay you want your little brother to work for me?” “Yes as I said on the phone if were to become somebody’s again we have to make sacrifices and if Eric does this ill finally be able to go to school and other things will come also with my education” Jack smiles

“You start tonight Eric be here at midnight and sweep the warehouse while cleaning” Eric gulps “That sounds like security work?” “Yes I want you to keep a lookout catch my drift?” “Sure just as long as you don’t sell drugs I’m cool with that” Michael starts sweating. Jack smiles and laughs “Don’t worry I don’t mess with any drugs nothing that will hurt people just make there lives better” “Oh so that chemical smell is pharmaceutical chemicals right?” “Good nose kid your right. There for helping people”

At least Jack hoped the chemicals would do that once perfected so all the mutations would be internal and not change anyone’s appearance or mind like they did with his brother.

Eric thought for a moment “Those chemicals there the same as the ones that changed us I remember that smell! Holy crap Michael needs to know… Nah he’ll just make me come back anyway… I wonder if I can make that floor buffer work right?”

That night

Eric after a few false starts had the floor buffer running smoothly. It was a seater model that reminded him of one of those ice smoother machines they always had at ice rinks. “I’m all alone that’s not comforting” Suddenly the loading doors all opened at once and men in containment suits came in with Jack and another man in business suit.

“See X it’s all here” “Excellent make sure the kid is paid well for keeping a lookout. We plan on coming back for the rest all this week” “Sure thing bro… I mean X!” Eric winces as X grabs Jack by his neck and lifts him off his feet. “Don’t EVER call me that Jack remember im a new man now. Better faster and more capable than you ever will be with the current formulas unstableness” “Yes… I understand” “See that it stays that way”

Eric stops the buffer and walks over to Jack “I am finished here should I sweep the outside again?” X looks into Eric’s face and stares “I have sentries outside already you just stay to the side and watch and remember that what you see here is the future of our people”

When some of the barrels have been loaded onto trucks X leaves. Jack turns to Eric and hands him a lot of bills. “Whoa!” “Tell your brother I want to see his report card the second he gets it” Eric stands there for a moment before exiting the warehouse when he’s not but 12 feet away the whole place explodes…

Opening his eyes Eric finds himself on the couch at home. “What happened?” “The place was rigged to explode someone didn’t want Jack alive…” “Damn oh well did you get the money” “How do you think I could afford those bandages or that laptop I plan on getting for my studies” “Huh?”

“The amount he gave you was three million dollars! With some change…” “How there were small bills…” Michael holds up three million dollar bills. “We are going to move to nowhere after I graduate buy a house and chill this is tax free cash my brother”

Eric smiles and suddenly pulls a CD out of his pocket. “Hey I found something”

The present

“Man I wish I knew what reading that disk would get me and my brother into and I would have not read it… So readily”

End of Chapter three

As always email me at Mike_Charger@hotmail.com