The Bewitching Hour

It would be another routine mission. At least, that's what Kitsune believed. Outside of her codename, which referred to the mythical ‘Nine-Tailed Fox,’ she didn't know anything related to her true identity. Sometimes reality seemed like a surreal blur, conscious only for brief moments in her downtime, before she was summoned back into action by her mysterious masters. Find the target. Hunt them down. Execute. Return to base. Have memories wiped. Rest and Repeat.

The sole person who kept her grounded was Wispy Willow, a fellow test subject experimented on. The tigress was designed as a scout and escort, distracting her opponents while Kitsune finished her grisly work. Despite her reserved expression, her heart ached when she looked upon her sister Wispy, determined to protect and one day liberate her from the compound that imprisoned them. Hopefully...

After she and Wispy left the showers in the locker rooms, she performed routine maintenance on her body. Having become more machine than woman, Kitsune no longer required organic sustenance or bothered with any mundane bodily functions.

A rattle sounded when Wispy, who hadn't dressed yet after she toweled off, rifled through the military-grade arsenal in the lockers. They hesitated to slip into their combat gear as if they could put this mission off, even though their handlers watched them from cameras placed around the room. “So,” began Wispy, bent over. “Who are we supposed to eighty-six tonight?”

“A politician,” answered the kunoichi who kept her lips pursed.

“Oh, great! More of them need to die,” Wispy told herself to justify what they were forced to do, her striped tail and plush butt shaking as she yanked out a pulse rifle. “Oh, hell yeah~!” She kissed the weapon, which shimmered under dim lighting.

Kitsune shook her head. “This is a stealth mission, remember. We won’t resort to that.”

“Eeh! Better safe than sorry.” After checking it, Wispy placed the rifle aside. She and her sister slipped into their infiltration attire, form-fitted black stealth suits that doubled as armor. She loaded hers down with a small arsenal.

Kitsune finished dressing and arming herself a moment later, aware that she would have to take a more direct approach if they ran into complications. She prayed it would not come to that. For in truth, she loathed the violence they were forced to enact. But were she to refuse, there was no doubt their owners would take their wrath out on her dear sister to motivate her.

The doors slid open with a whoosh. A reminder there was no time left to waste. Masked soldiers with rifles in hand marched up to meet them and directed them down a corridor, all the way to a hangar on the other side of the compound.

There, a helicopter awaited. While she could alter her shape to transport her sister, she knew their masters wanted to be on standby to watch.

“Fail, and you'll be terminated,” reminded the commander who prodded them in the back with a rifle. He nodded at the chokers that adorned their necks, ready to blow their heads off were orders not obeyed to the letter. "Understand?”

“Ryōkai shita,” Kitsune answered, bowing her head. Wispy shot them a glare but had learned to hold her sharp tongue. They boarded the unmarked black chopper, which started to whir once the roof overhead unfolded and lights on the runway flashed around them.

Many a time, the copper red-maned vixen had fantasized about neutralizing the commandos and fleeing the city with her sister. Yet, she dared not execute that idea without a solid plan. No, they needed to keep biding their time without resorting to senseless bloodshed.

They zipped off into the vast darkness, towards the target designated for assassination.

*****

Until she was ready for action, Kitsune entered stasis to conserve her energy. But when her target approached, her eyes snapped open, and she sprang to her feet. The chopper whirred closer, and out the open door she saw a river below, reflecting the moonlight and neon colors cast by the distant cityscape. Her eyes narrowed, and her hand rested over a sheathe.

In the middle of the waters rested a massive raft situated in a restaurant that floated outside the city limits. No doubt where 'important people' indulged their hedonism and made illicit deals and alliances in secret. Her pulse started to quicken in anticipation, informed that she would infiltrate the building and dispatch a man she didn't know. But of course, she couldn't exactly say no, not with the collars around her and Wispy, ready to detonate at the press of a button.

“I could distract them,” offered Wispy, who started to form an orb atop her palm.

“No, Imoto.” She clasped a hand over hers to snuff out the sphere. “We can’t afford to draw unnecessary attention.” Kitsune would slip in, take the politician out, then slip away into the darkness. Nothing flashy nor thrilling, like how Wispy usually went about her business. It saddened her that the abyssinian cat craved such violence to make herself feel alive.

Unable to take them too close or else they would give away their position, the helicopter lowered to the river, and the kunoichi hopped down. She touched down silently on the water's surface without a splash, burst into a dash while she skimmed the unbroken ocean, shrouded in black attire complete with a hood and oni mask that hid her dour expression.

Wispy softly whistled at the sight. “Still don't know how she does that,” she whispered. A rifle butt poked her in the back, and she shut her mouth, reminded of the commandos around them who were meant to keep the specimens in line.

Small lit lanterns that were left to float atop the surface skimmed, barely disturbed by the assassin's unbroken run.

With a hop, the fox woman sailed through the air and landed on the raft, which rocked slightly, thankfully unnoticed by the revelers who went about their business as she kept to the shadows. A pair of serpentine dragon statues loomed over the entrance, but she dared not take the front door, doubtful that an exotic creature like her could pass as simply another attendee.

Guards in shades and business suits stood in silent vigil, pulse rifles in hand. She scanned the area with the mask's built-in scanner and noted that the men were highly enhanced by cybernetics like she expected. She scaled a wall, as, unfortunately, her ability to shift herself had its limits, and she couldn't maintain a more malleable form for longer than a few moments.

Faint music sounded from the party below. Then, removing tools from her belt, she disarmed the alarms around the skylight, which took several painstaking minutes, since she both needed to make sure not to alert the system and set up a dummy signal in its place to mask it.

Kitsune listened to the thump of her heart, and wiped her sweaty brow. Over an hour had passed since she arrived.

Finally, the abyssinian fox opened the barrier and spotted the restaurant below. Well-dressed men and women ate, danced, and chatted down, swathed in bright lights. Some wore fancy masks. Curiously, they were served by painted white women in silk kimonos. Geisha, she presumed.

Unfortunately, she couldn't see her target offhand, told that while he was behind this meeting, he was notoriously reclusive.

Perhaps he was away from the action to attend some 'private business'? If so, it would be difficult to reach him in secret.

Kitsune considered her options. How to draw the recluse out into the open...?

The decision was made for her when she spotted a familiar tigress down below. So many eyes were drawn to the exotic Wispy Willow, who sauntered her way inside with a cheeky smile, dressed in a slinky scarlet dress that bared her legs and plunged its neckline to barely cover her breasts, as they bounced with every purposeful stride she took forward in her heels.

Her eyes narrowed when she watched her sister chat up with potential suitors, flirting back and forth. It was just like her. Didn't she trust her older sister to handle this on her own? But, of course, Wispy wasn't the type to sit on the sidelines. She ended up bored too easily!

Taking advantage of the distraction, Kitsune slipped in and clung to the ceiling with her claws when she crawled closer to the action. She needed to move fast, because all it would take was someone to look up to catch her.

She scrambled into position, a place where she could catch some privacy spotted. A floral-print fold-out screen, currently occupied, where she could see a few nude female silhouettes behind it while they slipped into costume.

She scampered over and saw painted women with their hair tied up. Each of them was sculpted to perfection. Finally, they slipped into their kimonos and waddled out onto the floor.

After she was alone, she dropped down behind the screen. Her ear perked at the sound of Wispy, who fake gasped with a hand to her lips and said, “He's here...? Ooh, I can't wait to see him!”

The man in question made his entrance, surrounded by more geisha on all sides. Dressed in a black pin-striped suit, a curtain of silky, dark hair trailed behind him when he walked. “Let me first welcome you all to my home! I trust you're all enjoying yourselves?” There were nods and claps. Then, his almond brown eyes settled on the party-crasher. “And who might you be...?”

“Take me somewhere private, and maybe I'll tell you~” Wispy coyly tittered once he took her hand and kissed it. She tried to press closer to him, but he drew away, and his closest geisha rushed in to impede her. She faked a pout.

“Very well. Follow me.” He turned, and she followed alongside his companions. Kitsune, worried she would lose them, quickly kicked off her clothes and mask, slipped into a kimono, and raced to trail behind them, thankful her curtain of rust-colored hair would hide her face from behind. She secreted what tools she could onto her person in preparation for the deed.

With her head bowed, she blended back and wandered after him down a corridor lit by lamps, past the patrols who nodded at them, up the stairs which creaked and directed them to his private chambers. It appeared to be a dojo with a mat in the middle, lined in inky kanji.

He unsheathed a katana on display. “You weren't on the guest list. So let’s skip the theatrics, shall we? Tell me, who sent you?!”

“No one! I’m just a curious floozy,” Wispy lied, laughing nervously. She sucked in a breath when the flat of his blade touched her cleavage, the sword used to push aside her dress as he exposed her breasts, one at a time. She heaved them as her perky, erect nipples were exposed to the breeze. He continued to push down her garments, until she stood completely naked.

“Hmph. Curiosity killed the cat, you know,” he teased and brushed the flat of his weapon over her supple tits. “But perhaps one of your nine lives can be spared if you properly entertain me~” Then, on cue, his geisha undid their robes in unison, and let them drop to bare their extraordinary physiques.

Kitsune, caught unprepared, froze as several eyes fell on her as she hadn't undressed. “Ahh! What do we have here?” Crowed the host. “A second intruder? How amusing…and equally exotic.”

The kunoichi snarled when his brown eyes lustfully drank in her concealed form, and unsheathed her blade with a subdued scrape of finely-honed metal. “Shi no junbi!”

“Heh! Many have tried.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “This fortress is my prison. I was raised here from childhood and have never set foot in the city.” His eyes opened to study them. “You two are like me, aren't you? Fellow test subjects ready to be discarded once they've outlived their usefulness. I embarrassed my handlers, refused an honorable suicide, and now they send you...”

“Maybe that's true,” scoffed Wispy. “I’m guessing you won't make this easy for us?”

“Unlike you two, I’m not collared. I've helped them reach the top and spread their influence in secret. But I’ve allowed too much to slip. And they fear I'll blow their secrets wide open. I assume they wish to test you too? Your loyalty, competence, and ruthlessness.” He shook his head, his hand shaking and sweaty when it curled around the hilt in preparation.

“We bear you no ill-will,” said the fox woman.

“Nevertheless, the results are the same. If I must go out… I refuse to do so quietly!” He took a combative stance, sword pointed towards Wispy, who summoned a few colorful spheres. His geisha took up defensive postures, conditioned to protect and obey their master above all. Even if it now conflicted with the interests of their watchers, who likely studied them even now.

“Gaagh! This is nuts! Just let it happen,” cried Wispy, who knew her sister didn't want to shed more blood than necessary.

"No dice," came his answer with a slash.

Everyone broke into action at once. The host swiped at Wispy, who barely ducked in time and lost control of an orb she summoned. The ball of plasma bounced on the floor and prematurely exploded in a brilliant burst. Liquid flames spat out in pops, hit the area, and set it alight with a hiss. She desperately tried to banish the fire, which refused to respond to her will.

The fox woman batted away the servants who assaulted her, careful not to harm them more than necessary. Her strikes knocked a couple of them out with a thump, the group surrounded by the famished blaze that continued its rapid spread around them in blossoms of dark smoke.

She leaped into the air and hopped off a woman's head towards the host with her shiny blade raised. Failure would mean the deaths of her and her sister. She couldn't allow that. She reminded herself their memories of this event would be stripped away, were they to succeed.

He blocked her attack in a shower of sparks, his footing almost lost when she landed. He'd trained his entire life for such an event, knew that it would always come to something like this. Trapped like a rat and driven into a corner.

Their swords repeatedly clashed in desperation, his in a faint hope to survive, hers because she knew there was no time to waste.

A kick into a midsection from Wispy launched one of her assailants through the door with a crash. The action spilled out into the open, down the stairs where the woman rolled, where the men on duty rushed up to protect the party's host.

“Damn,” cried Wispy, hissing in pain. “We've lost control of the situation!” She summoned up more spheres, willed them to burst, and the brilliance that exploded like sunbursts blinded the new arrivals, who screamed and fired wildly.

Yet the older sister could only focus on her target while their blades continued to rattle, driven out of the chambers as they danced in more sparks.

Finally, a fiery wall blackened and collapsed with a thud. The host was forced backward under her attacks, out onto the second floor in the open. His eyes widened, immediately hit by the cool open-air and the neon city on the horizon.

“N-no,” he whimpered and almost froze up, his senses overwhelmed as he shook. He was assailed by the world around him since he rarely came out into the open, and when he did, it was with at least half a dozen geisha to support him.

For a moment, Kitsune saw herself and Wispy in the eyes of this politician. Another victim of the system. And she, too, paused.

That's when the choice was taken from her. Emergency protocols were activated by her masters. Her eyes turned pure white once the machine part of her seized complete control, and with a swift, decisive strike, she liberated his head from its body in a spray of hot crimson.

Nor were his geisha spared when she turned. Her sword made quick work of them in a whirlwind of death. Heads and limbs rolled in a splash of red once she carved a path to the other specimen, Wispy. A bare, severed tit slapped disembodied into a wall and left a scarlet trail once it slid down.

She didn't hear the screams, scooped up her shaken sister, and dashed back across the sea.

She leaped to catch a rope ladder and climbed into the chopper, which retreated. Wispy sobbed and whined, “It's all my fault!” But at the time, her little sister's words didn't penetrate.

As Kitsune started to slip into stasis, the restaurant blazed in an apocalyptic pyre.

The sisters would see a similar sight when they escaped the compound much later. As usual, their memories were stripped after this mission. But they slowly started to resurface once they escaped their life of subjugation.

From the reports they studied, nearly everyone at the party had perished. Anywho escaped were likely dealt with by other weapons like them.

Yet they couldn't help but feel responsible, aware that due to their actions they had indirectly murdered over a hundred 'innocents' that day.

*****

“...that's one I remember particularly well,” confessed Kitsune, sitting nude on the pool's edge, unable to hold back quiet tears that streaked along her downcast face. She felt her sister's hand tighten around her own. “I believe it's only fair you all know who we are ahead of time, before we become friends. I understand if this makes us monsters in your eyes.”

She rarely talked or opened up this much. Now, it seemed to spill out all at once, like she was in a confessional. Her sins would always come back to haunt her. She hoped with B.A.B.E. and Eclipsed Heart, they could somehow make amends.

“I'm responsible,” said Wispy, who frowned while wiping away her own tears. “I wanted to prove I could be useful, that I didn't need to hide behind you. But all I did was mess up! Who knows how much blood's on my claws?” She trembled by her.

“Far less than I,” came her murmured reply. She had done most of the bloodiest work, partly to spare her little sister.

“We've all done bad stuff,” assured Foal-Bearer, who swam with Wet Nurse when they listened closely. They paddled in the pristine waters, all of their wet bodies illuminated by the thin light that reflected around the chamber and emphasized their crystalline curves. “Think of this place as a chance to start fresh. We, too, were forced to execute several innocents...”

“But we didn't have to stay monsters!” Wet Nurse sympathetically smiled at them. “Neither do you, for that matter.”

“I…hope that you’re right,” answered the fox woman, lost in contemplation. Her heart ached at how easily they were accepted here. She couldn't bear to tell Eclipsed Heart the truth, afraid that the kind and innocent princess of pop would be devastated and thus abandon them.

Unlike her, Wispy had tried to kill the past. To pretend what they'd done didn't matter anymore.

She wanted to believe that was true, if only to spare those she loved further pain. Wispy was the world to her. An anchor that kept her from submission to despair. With Eclipsed and the band B.A.B.E., she found another outlet.

A yelp escaped her when Wispy shoved her into the pool. “C’mon, enough with the sob stories! We’re here to take it easy, remember?” She cackled and watched Kitsune resurface.

“I think that would be best for everyone,” nodded Foal-Bearer. “Ahh! And speaking of everyone~!” She turned at the footsteps that padded from the entrance once Midnight, Moonlight, and Cerise wandered in. The threesome immediately started to strip their scanty clothes for a swim.

“Wow,” Wispy gasped in astonishment, her eyes fixated with the charcoal dancer. “You look just like her! Well, maybe a tad less busty, but still!”

“O-ohh, really? It’s nice to meet you,” beamed Cerise when the pair scooted closer. “This is my husband, Midnight Blitzer, and our herd mate, Moonlight River.” She blushed deep and pressed closer to them. “And I'm Cerise Silhouette! I think Bellatrix and Moxxi are on their way as well!”

The twins surveyed around the pool, pouting. “But where is Sir Dion..?”

“BANZAI!!!”

A loud voice boomed as something crashed down into the water, causing a wave to splash everyone within close proximity. Wispy ducked for cover, fur sticking up in fear of getting wet. The alabaster ram reemerged right between the crystal mares, scooping them into his muscular arms while they cooed and giggled joyously.

“Woo! Way to make an entrance~!” Cerise laughed, droplets raining down her slim figure.

“No better way tae wake up after a long nap than a good cannonball,” Dion chuckled, his hands immediately handling the maids' pert pink posteriors under the water. “Hope ye’ve been keepin’ these sparkly rumps in shape!”

“Of course, master~” They tittered, pressing their coral pink nakedness to his chiseled musculature as close as they could.

“H-hey, easy wit th’ ‘master’ talk,” the warrior insisted, cheeks flourishing.

Midnight snickered and asked, “So are we supposed to play shirts and skins? Because so far, I only see skin!” His emerald eyes couldn't help but admire the new beauties around him. He did his best not to leer, even as his fluffy plume stiffened out to betray his appreciation.

“Don’t worry. The ladies can play in swimsuits,” suggested Moonlight, whose cheeks colored. “Less because we’re shy, and more because it can hurt to have our tits flop all over the place. But the commander did say pain builds character!”

“Is that why you're such a masochist?" He punctuated the playful taunt with a hard smack on the bat mare's taut gray ass.

“Naughty boy, we have company~!” Nonetheless, shw crushed soft, ample breasts into his muscular chest. Cerise pressed up to her husband from behind and wrapped around his midsection, aware his needs were insatiable.

“Damn! So that’s a ‘hyper-stallion’, huh? They really do pack a third leg,” quipped Wispy, checking out the pegasus with a sultry look, purring excitedly. Her attention drew to the sturdy ram as swam with the maids, wearing nothing but the black wool over his hips. “And you! You’re built like a heavy-duty pickup truck!”

Dion laughed at the compliment, his maroon eyes wandering over the feline’s striped body, drinking in her curves. “An’ it seems like they built ye wit a ferrari engine. Care tae have a race~?”

Wispy snickered as she summoned a plasma orb above her palm. “Easy, hot rod! It’ll take more than smooth talk for you to pet this pussy cat! First, beat the pants off my striped ass, and then I’ll think about taking you for a ride~!”

“Ooho, trust me! Ah plan tae do a lot mair than just beat it~,” the ram promised before he playfully picked up both twins in his arms and jumped back into the pool, the trio tittering.

Wispy licked her lips before wiggling naked lower half under the waters while her cat ears flicked in lustful anticipation. “Damn it, Beatrix! You and your pals better hurry up and come back already!” Her tail slapped about impatiently.

“I think Bellatrix is contacting her,” Cerise offered, who rubbed her husband’s torso as they walked into the shallow end. “Give her an hour or so!”

“Until then, let's swim~!” Cheered Moonlight, who took to the diving board and somersaulted into the pool. Upon surfacing, she splashed her friends and herd mates with her leather wings until an all-out water battle commenced.

Fortunately at this point, Kitsune had dried her last tears and relaxed her posture. She managed a slight smile to see her little sister's sassy, mischievous cheer, a reminder of who they might have been...before experiments perverted them.

Yet, she was almost thankful at times for the power it afforded, an assurance she could protect those close to her. The abyssinian fox felt the calm waters wrap around her when she slipped in deeper, murmuring at the faint sensations that had been suppressed to make her a weapon. She closed her eyes and slowly traced curves that wrapped over taut, lithe muscle lined by thin fur.

She and Wispy were curious about Cerise, who was equal parts similar but also different from Eclipsed Heart. Another reminder of what kept the fox woman attached to the world. She swam as the group relaxed and idly passed the time, preparing for the saucy volleyball game ahead.