Everyone at the penthouse was watching a movie together on a gigantic 4K TV with an advanced theater system.
While most of the guests were enraptured by the film, Ibuki found himself unable to pay attention. In fact, it seemed to him that Legosi and Haru also seemed distracted.
Ibuki quietly sighed as he wondered where the hell his boyfriend was.
Trevor charged towards Lee. Despite his size, the ursine was fast. The chimera only just barely dodged.
Lee backed up. "Senpai! Stop!"
The bear charged again with his right shoulder directed towards Lee. The chimera was unsuccessful in dodging and got knocked to the ground.
Lee scoffed as he stood up. It seemed non-violence was not an option. He ran over to Trevor and delivered a quick punch to the nose. The chimera had heard once that bears have extremely sensitive noses.
Trevor winced, but he wasn't out of the fight yet, so he kicked Lee in the gut, knocking him to the ground.
The chimera jumped back up and swung at him with a right hook. However, the bear caught the punch.
Trevor took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Lee-kun." The bear started to twist the chimera's arm, making Lee yelp in pain.
Lee could tell Trevor was willing to break his arm at this point. The wolf-rabbit had to get creative. Suddenly, an instinct from his wolf genes took over his mind, causing Lee to lunge forward and bite his opponent's arm.
Trevor growled in pain and released Lee's arm. He raised two fists up in the air and tried to bring them down on the chimera.
Lee dodged but became distracted when a heavy metal song started playing out of his pocket. At least he brought his phone this time. He pulled it out to see Ibuki's name come up as the caller ID. The wolf-rabbit declined the call and put the phone back in his pocket. He'll have to call him back later.
Immediately after putting away the phone, the chimera kicked the bear in the gut, causing him to stumble a bit. While the ursine stumbled backward, Lee swept his leg, causing the bear to fall on his butt.
Before Trevor could recover, Lee lunged forward and wrapped his arm around the bear's neck, pinning him to the ground. Lee began to strangle him. Hopefully, he could win this fight by making the bear pass out from oxygen deprivation.
The ursine grabbed Lee's arm and tried to pull the chimera off, but was unsuccessful.
Lee thought he had won until he spotted the bear opening his mouth wide. The chimera panicked and jumped away.
Clack!
Lee watched as the bear bit the air. The chimera trembled. He was actually going to bite him. The wolf-rabbit growled. The bear was way more like Riz than he thought. If Trevor got a taste of Lee's blood, god knows what would happen.
In an instant, Lee became far less patient with the bear. Trevor had to have known the wolf-rabbit's blood could trigger his carnivorous instincts. He was in too deep, and Lee could only recognize the bear as an enemy.
He punched Trevor in the face with a right hook, then a left, then a right again, and he repeated this process. The chimera would only be satisfied when the bear was completely unconscious.
Trevor pushed him away, but the damage was clearly done as his nose was drenched in blood. He punched Lee in the chest, sending the chimera flying.
Lee rolled across the ground before scrambling to his feet. He angrily charged the bear, ramming into him at top speed, knocking him over.
Trevor kicked the chimera in the gut before getting back on his feet. He snarled and punched Lee so hard he stumbled into one of the concrete supports that kept the bridge up.
Before Lee could react, Trevor grabbed his throat and lifted the chimera up with one hand, pinning him to the wall.
Lee gasped for air, but the bear tightened his stranglehold. The wolf-rabbit couldn't believe this. How many fights is he going to lose by getting strangled?! He clawed at Trevor's arm, but the bear resisted the pain and continued choking him.
The wolf-rabbit knew this was the end of the fight. He had no way to win, no way to save the bear from himself. He failed.
Trevor sadly frowned. "I'm sorry about this, Lee-kun. When you wake up, please don't blame yourself."
The chimera grunted. First Ben, now this. Lee truly was useless.
In the adjacent rec room from the rest of the party, Ibuki spoke privately with Esther and Olivia.
The tiger looked concerned. "So he didn't pick up, huh?"
Olivia crossed her arms in contemplation. "Where could he have gone?"
Ibuki rubbed the bridge between his eyes. "I don't know. But this is extremely concerning. I just want to know if he's okay."
The lab glanced around. "And he didn't just leave his phone again, did he?"
Esther grinned as she seemed to have an idea. "Maybe we can, like, track him with his phone or something."
Ibuki raised an eyebrow. "Track him? With what? How are we going to track his phone?"
The tiger balked until it seemed another idea hit her. "Let's call Theo-kun. Maybe he can hack his phone or something."
Olivia rolled her eyes. "Hacking isn't like how it is in movies, hun."
The deer-wolf pulled out his phone. "True. But let me try anyway. I'll take even the most remote possibility."
Ibuki went through his contacts and found Theo's number. He gave it a call and put it on speaker.
"Uh. I'm a little busy, Ibuki-kun."
"I'll try to keep this short. We can't find Lee and need your help. I just want to make sure he's okay but he's not answering his phone."
Esther leaned towards the phone. "Can you hack his phone or something to find him?"
Theo snorted. "Hacking isn't like how it is in the movies, Esther-chan."
The tiger's ears lowered and she had a sad expression.
"I can't hack his phone but I cantrack him. I installed something on his phone so I know where he is."
Olivia looked alarmed. "Why in the world would you do that?"
"In case he did something stupid or lost his phone. Gimmie a sec."
There was a long pause before Theo spoke again.
"Yeah, it says he's at the Gazura Bridge downtown."
Esther tilted her head. "The Gazura Bridge? Why?"
Ibuki's eyes widened and he gasped when he had a realization. "I-I'll talk to you later, Theo-kun."
"Alrighty then. Happy New Ye-"
Ibuki hung up.
Lee desperately tried to move. He couldn't breathe and things were starting to get dark. He can't let this happen. If he passed out, then Trevor and Riz were going to be dead for sure.
Why is he so useless?! Years and years of getting into fights, but when someone's life is on the line he ends up losing. The wolf-rabbit had to wonder if he's really Legosi's son at all.
Lee had one last idea left, though he doubted it would work. He slowly closed his eyes and went limp, pretending to already be unconscious. He just hoped that Trevor would fall for it and drop him early.
Then, a familiar, deep voice came from behind the bear. "Drop him, Trevor."
Trevor turned towards the source of the voice, dropping Lee in the process.
When Lee hit the ground, it took a lot of willpower to not gasp for breath. He felt he could still trick the ursine, so he took shallow breaths.
He slightly opened one eye, but not enough for Trevor to notice.
Standing there not far from them was a tall and skinny bear. White shirt, black jacket. The same outfit he wore to Tem's memorial.
Riz gave him a stern look. "Assaulting your friend, Trevor? I'm disappointed."
Trevor snorted angrily. "At least I didn't eathim."
The older bear sighed. "I'm guessing you called me here so you could kill me."
Trevor nodded.
Riz had a look that was a mix between exasperation and sadness. "I want to talk first."
Trevor charged forward and wrapped both hands around his father's neck. "No more talking. Mama is dead because of us. Now we both get to pay the price."
Riz wheezed out a response. "I'm sorry, Trevor."
Trevor looked surprised. "What?"
Lee opened his eyes all the way and got on his feet, slowly sneaking up to Trevor from behind.
Riz looked melancholy. "When Legosi-kun defeated me, I realized the connection I thought I had with Tem was fake. That I murdered my best friend and he hated me for it. I felt an emptiness inside me that I desperately wanted to fill. I thought a normal life with a wife and child was what I needed. To just be another bear."
Lee froze for a bit when Trevor shifted his body, making the chimera think he might be turning around. However, he gulped and continued sneaking up on him after he was fairly certain the ursine wasn't looking.
The older bear's eyes started to tear up. "I realized I made a mistake. Not only did I not feel fulfilled, but I brought someone into the world that was mistreated for being my son. So I sent you to Cherryton to right my wrongs and be a better person than I was. And as soon as you moved into the dorms, I ran away like a coward."
He shook his head. "Your mother's death was completely my fault. But you shouldn't blame yourself. Kill me if you need to, but pleasedon't end your own life too. I don't want this to be the end of your story."
Trevor fell silent. Lee couldn't see the younger bear's expression from this angle, so he didn't know how he was feeling about this. But Lee decided it was better safe than sorry.
The chimera jumped on Trevor's back and wrapped both arms around the bear's throat.
RRRROOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRR!
Trevor released his father and thrashed about, trying to get the wolf-rabbit off of him.
Lee held tight, not allowing the ursine another chance to bite him. He choked Trevor for as long as he could.
What Lee didn't notice though was that Trevor was rapidly backing up towards the same support he pinned the chimera to earlier.
Trevor slammed backward into the support, smashing Lee into it.
The chimera shouted in pain, not expecting the sudden blow and accidentally loosened his grip.
The raging ursine grabbed Lee by the arms and flipped him over his head, causing the chimera to land on his back.
Trevor snarled at Lee with a feral expression full of hatred and anger.
Lee got up to his knees but noticed too late that Trevor's right hand was far above him.
Before the chimera could react, the raging ursine's hand came down and sliced him with his claws.
Lee felt an intense pain in the left side of his chest and loudly cried out. He reflexively covered his chest. He could feel a deep cut not far from his heart and warm liquid oozing between his fingers.
In an instant, Trevor's furious expression was replaced by one of pure horror as his face turned pale. "L-Lee-kun!"
For the first time in months, Trevor's demeanor seemed like the bear that Lee really knew.
Riz looked surprised then he shook his head in disappointment. "Oh, Trevor…"
The younger bear stammered, trembling as panic started to set in. "I-I-"
Lee could hear police sirens rapidly getting closer and watched as three police cruisers and an ambulance surrounded them.
Officer Akahana jumped out of her car and pulled out her gun, pointing it at Trevor. "Police! Hands in the air!" The eagle looked down at Lee with a shocked expression. "L-Lee-kun?!"
Several other officers jumped out of their own vehicles with weapons aimed at both bears. "Hands in the air! Now!"
Riz held his hands up and sighed. "I'm getting déjà vu."
Trevor held up his own hands and started to tear up. "I didn't mean- I…!"
Lee started to feel woozy. His clothes were absolutely drenched in blood. It seemed Trevor must've cut him deep as he was bleeding out quickly.
Soon the world around the chimera became a swirl of blurry colors and muffled noises as everything grew dark.
Lee fell forward and hit the ground. Then, there was nothing but darkness.