AN: Some of you may be interested in the title and what it means. Simply put, there's a reason the mention resurgence is short lived. Slight trigger warning for a character alive at the beginning of this chapter committing suicide by the end of it.

Ch 4: A Short Lived Resurgence

"Wake up!"

Louis is taken out of his sleep cycle very suddenly. Seeing Azuki glaring down at him on the couch, the stag remembers all of last night.

"Where is she?"

"Where's who?"

"Don't play stupid! Marie is not in her room and her guards are missing! What have you done with her, Louis?!"

The stag's alarmed to hear that his daughter's disappeared. He puts on his prosthetic leg. "I don't know!"

"That was intentional," Dolph says as he enters the room.

Azuki turns to the lion with a glare. "And what does that mean?"

"I had the boss removed from the mansion last night while the others enacted their plan."

Louis stands up now that his prosthetic's on. "What plan?"

Dolph smirks. "Your exact orders were to have Dope and Free keep watch over Marie. I would say they did that as they escorted her from the mansion."

Azuki is furious. "How dare you?! This is grounds for being fired!"

"They've already resigned."

Louis feels a pang of sadness. 'Dope and Free left me?'

"They've already taken new positions at the flower shop of one Haru the Dwarf Rabbit."

Both deer start suspecting what this means.

"Officially, Dope and Free are just regular workers there. In reality, they are bodyguards for Haru's hybrid son, Goshen,…and his new wife."

"What have you done?" Azuki asks while Dolph pulls out his phone.

"The Daily Spew's already put out an article to give a much better explanation." The lion connects his phone to the TV screen and pulls up an article.

The article onscreen is titled 'Horns Heir Marries Hybrid Lover'. Accompanying this is a photo. It features Marie and Goshen kissing in a church while a priest watches on. Legoshi and Haru can be seen as witnesses for their son, while Dope and Free can be seen as witnesses for the young hind.

Louis stares at the picture. 'My daughter is a married woman. She's married for love…a feat I couldn't accomplish.'

Azuki screams in rage. She picks up a nearby vase and throws it at Dolph.

The lion doesn't even flinch. He just bats it away with a fist.

"You traitorous monsters! You've ruined Horns Conglomerate!"

"Your company is still thriving, so that's a lie. Even if it was true, does a company whose future depends on a political marriage really deserve to stand?"

Louis's mind goes blank at the question.

Azuki is seething. "How dare you?! Filthy cat! You're fired!"

Dolph smirks. "You don't have that power over me. Only your husband does."

The hind turns to Louis. "You will end this saboteur's employment with us immediately. Might as well do the same with all those good for nothing lions as well."

Louis is shaking.

"Once that is taken care of, you will then have that blatant stain of a marriage annulled as soon as possible."

"Marie sent me a message," says Dolph. "If you two try interfering in her new life, she'll commit suicide."

Louis's eyes widen and his stomach lurches.

Azuki rolls her eyes. "Ridiculous. She's just saying that in an attempt to validate her act of rebelliousness."

'Marie never bluffs. She'd rather be dead than separated from Goshen…or tied to Horns Conglomerate.'

"Louis, you will make our daughter see reason. If she refuses that, then you will have the hybrid abomination she calls a husband destroyed."

So many familiar faces suddenly fill Louis's mind. Ibuki, Marie, Oguma, Haru, Legoshi, and Juno all seem to be staring at him. 'They're waiting for my decision. I know what they'd all think if I let Azuki have her way. I'd be cowardly scum…and I'd agree completely. Even Father, who placed so much importance on Horns Conglomerate, would never do such a thing. I'm tired of being a puppet for you, Azuki. I'm cutting my strings.' Louis turns to look at his wife with the coldest glare. "I will do no such thing."

Azuki is furious. "You will do as I say! I can just as easily have Charles do it for me!"

Louis grabs the hind. "SHUT UP!" He throws her onto the couch and he walks over to Dolph.

Knowing what his boss wants, the lion pulls out his gun and hands it over to the stag with a smile.

Louis points the gun right at Azuki. "I think you're forgetting who I used to be before we married."

The hind is now very afraid.

"All the lions in my service used to be the Shishigumi and I was their leader. We have all done shit. What makes you think you'd be safe?"

Azuki is breathing heavily. "You wouldn't dare kill me. You'd never get away with it."

"You know what? For the sake of my daughter and her happiness, I would gladly serve a life sentence for putting you down…Darling." Louis smirks at his wife. "By the way, I wouldn't just kill you. First, I'd have you stripped of your clothing. Then, tied up. Next, you'd be cut up so you'd bleed. Finally, when you've done that for a while, I'd have our lion bodyguards eat you alive."

Azuki whimpers.

"It's been quite some time since we've eaten protein that wasn't eggs or fish, Boss," says Dolph. "None of us who remain ever ate someone alive. Not to mention your wife would likely give us indigestion. Still, we'd definitely give it a try." The lion licks his lips and grins in a way that really shows off his fangs.

That last part makes Azuki fall to her hands and knees. "Please don't do it! I beg you! I will leave our daughter and the hybrid alone! I swear!"

Louis glares down at the hind. "And you won't use Charles to get around that."

"I won't! I promise!"

"Good." The stag gives the gun back to the lion. "Dolph, please hire someone to keep an eye on Charles."

Disconnecting his phone from the TV before doing so, Dolph texts someone. "Done. We have the perfect candidate. They lost friends and family to Charles."

"Make sure they don't pull the trigger unless Azuki contacts him."

"Don't worry, this animal is a professional."

Louis smirks down at Azuki. "That's insurance." He places a hand under his wife's chin and makes her look right at him. "I've won, Azuki. You can at least take comfort in the fact that I don't intend to ever share a bed with you again."

The frightened hind gets up and walks quickly from the room.

Dolph smiles at Louis. "That was great, Boss."

The stag smiles back. "Feels wonderful to have gotten the upper hand with her."

"Want me to call up a lawyer to write up divorce papers?"

Louis frowns. "No."

"No?! After everything she's done, you'd still—"

"This isn't about image. If I divorce Azuki, it'd be harder for me to stop her from hurting Goshen and Marie. She'd likely be more inclined to go after them out of spite. We also can't let ourselves forget that she'd take back what she brought to Horns Conglomerate if we divorced. It would make the Board of Directors question my business judgement and I'd risk losing my place as CEO. I'd lose power…meaning Azuki would be more likely to go after Marie."

"What if she divorces you?"

Louis chuckles. "Her father drilled into her head from a young age that she needed to be part of whatever company is the most powerful no matter what. Even before we married, Horns Conglomerate was the top company. Azuki wouldn't dare leave this." The stag sighs. "In order to keep Azuki under control, I must stay married to her."

Dolph looks at Louis with pity. "Understood. I'll start the car." He leaves the room.

'Marie, I hope you can remain happy in your new life. Rest assured that your father will do everything he can to keep it that way. It's the least I can do after I failed to stand by your side last night.' Louis exits the room to change into a business suit.

Later that day…

Louis is sitting at his desk in the Horns Conglomerate building. Again, he's just watching Dancer W videos. 'This is all I have for now. No real work to do and nothing else to ease all my stress. Damn the Board of Directors. They dared insult Marie for marrying Goshen and leaving Horns Conglomerate without an heir.' The stag massages his temples. 'Still, the way they're all panicking, the Board might remove me if I don't come up with a solution. Even if Azuki was still able to bear children, the thought of giving her my seed again, even clinically, sickens me. I'll be forced to adopt. Preferably, it'd be a young stag. He'd have much less pressure forced onto him concerning marriage. Still, knowing my luck, he'd likely end up having a sexual orientation that the Board of Directors would never accept. My own carnivore fetish, he could be gay, or maybe even both.' Louis looks back at the computer screen.

Dancer W is performing his frustration dance.

The stag smiles. 'Dancer W, if I had control over who my next child would be, I'd choose a wolf like you. Actually, even better, a deer-wolf hybrid.' Louis's mind just can't help picturing Juno as the mother of that child. He covers his face. 'Oh, Juno. I screwed up. I should've gone to you the moment I became unable to hold back my carnivore fetish. Now, you wouldn't give me the time of day. But, if I did that, Marie never would have had a chance to be with Goshen. Was I always meant to be trapped like this? One type of livestock or another?'

Dolph, seeing Louis so depressed, is almost tempted to give him a hug.

Louis looks back at the computer screen, seeing that Dancer W's most recent video (rage dance) is getting ready to start. 'I understand that personal matters can affect everyone, I am no exception. Still, your videos are a great comfort, Dancer W. I wish you'd release another video. It would really help.'

The door bursts open.

Louis clicks out of the video on reflex. He stands up to see who it is. "Agata?"

The lion is heaving. "We have to go. Now."

"What?! I've still got half an hour!"

"Nope. Leaving now. Dolph, carry him."

Without hesitation, the other lion picks up the stag and runs out of the room.

"What the hell?!" Louis shouts indignantly. "Put me down!" As he's being carried down the hall, he can see employees looking at him. 'Why do they all look so angry and…disgusted?'

The three reach the elevator and start the descent down.

Dolph puts Louis down and turns to Agata. "What's going on?"

The other lion shakes his head. "Not here. Once we're driving away from here, then you can know."

Louis stares at Agata in confusion, then his attention is brought to the elevator opening.

Standing there is one of the Board members. Seeing Louis, his face twists in fury. "You! You've disgraced Horns Conglomerate with your—!" The stag isn't able to finish as he's pushed away by Agata.

Dolph turns to the other lion in shock as the elevator closes again. "Agata, are you nuts?! That guy could seriously charge you with assault!"

"Doesn't matter," Agata says while shaking of his head. "We need to get the Boss out of here."

Louis is reeling from what just happened. 'Disgrace? What did he mean? And why does Agata think things are so bad that he'd risk going to prison again for me?!' He turns his gaze to Dolph. "When we reach the ground floor, you don't need to carry me this time. I'm able to walk or run if necessary."

Both lions nod at this.

When the elevator opens on the ground floor, Dolph and Louis understand that, whatever is going on, it's serious.

Waiting right outside the main doors is a whole mob of paparazzi.

Dolph glances at Louis. "You sure you don't want be to carried, Boss? It'd be faster that way."

The stag shakes his head while steeling himself for the crowd. "No. I'll walk out of here with dignity." He walks swiftly forward with his head held high with the two lions flanking him.

Outside, the mob rushes in almost like a tidal wave. If Dolph and Agata weren't there to keep everyone at bay with their scariest faces, the paparazzi would be right in Louis's face.

The stag doesn't let himself look anyone in the eyes. He keeps looking forward to where his car is waiting. Vague words catch his ears, but so many are speaking at once, Louis just can't make sense of any of it.

Agata opens the car door for Louis and Dolph to get in. Realizing that the reporters have gotten put out to the point that they're about ready to crowd around the car, the lion roars at them all.

Everyone backs away.

Agata gets into the car through the front passenger door and works his way to the driver's seat, locking all the doors just in case someone outside decides to ignore his roar. The lion starts the car and takes off, leaving the paparazzi far behind.

Louis sighs before looking to Agata. "Now then, would you mind telling me what all this is about?"

The car phone goes off, which Agata answers. "What is it, Hino?"

"Don't come back to the mansion yet," the third lion's voice says through the speakers.

"What do you mean?! We have to! The paparazzi could come down on us any minute if we don't hole up in the mansion!"

"If you show up before the police do, the Boss might get accused of murder."

Louis leans forward so he can be heard. "Murder?! What are you talking about?!"

"Boss…Azuki threw herself out the highest window."

The stag falls back into his seat, his head spinning. "Azuki…suicide…what?"

"It was her response to the article, Boss."

"Article? What article?"

"I haven't been able to tell him yet, Hino," says Agata. "Dolph doesn't know either. Text us when the police show up." After hanging up, Agata pulls the car into a nearby alley. "So, the evening edition of The Daily Spew came out."

"Them again?" asks Dolph. "What's it saying now?"

Agata turns to the two in back with a very worried look. "Everything."

Louis pulls out his phone and brings up The Daily Spew's latest article. From just the title alone, the stag finds himself almost unable to breathe.

Dolph takes the phone from the almost catatonic Louis and reads from it. "'Child Abuse, Carnivore Affairs, and Power Games'." As the lion reads the article, he steadily gets more pissed off.

The article describes so much that's happened since last night. Azuki smacking Marie in the face, Louis bending to Azuki's will, the stag's visit to Mask Le Strange, and capping it all off with Louis's threat against his wife. The worst part, there's images and even audio files.

Louis feels the pit of despair in his stomach grow larger as each audio file is played. 'It's obvious why Azuki would choose suicide. This article has revealed her as abusive, manipulative, and a hater of carnivores and interspecial love. Her reputation would never recover and it's the only thing she ever really cared about. Horns Conglomerate would distance themselves from her for this. She considered herself an obstacle for the company's power and chose to remove herself from the equation. The Board member's anger at me isn't surprising now since I have been outed as a carnivore fetishist who regularly cheated all these years. I've also inadvertently revealed to the public that Horns Conglomerate doesn't support interspecial love or hybrids. The activists'll be ready to come down on them hard.' A quiet gasp escapes Louis as he realizes something else. 'Dammit! I forgot Dolph brought up Juno during our talk! Now she'll be dragged into all this.' He massages his temples. 'Now, Hino's warning makes so much sense to me. After I threatened Azuki like that, it'd be easy for the police to accuse me of murdering her.'

"Is the animal monitoring Charles in danger now?" asks Agata.

"No," Dolph says as he returns the phone to Louis. "This article would actually make the police keep a closer eye on Charles. Makes our hired animal's job a bit easier. A silver lining in all this."

"We're not in any other legal trouble? Not even for hiring that animal in the first place?"

"No. We should be in the clear in that regard."

Agata takes a deep breath out of relief. He suddenly gets a text. "The police have gotten to the mansion now. Let's go."

The car leaves the alley and heads for the mansion.

AN: Ding dong, the witch is dead! That doesn't mean Louis's troubles are over though. Far from it! Anyway, I've completely finished writing the whole story and I'm in the process of typing up the last chapter now. Spoiler, there will be fourteen chapters to Kingdom Fall. This means we still have a ways to go. See you next time!