Chapter 35: Day 20 Part 2 — Unwanted Reunion

King Furry rumbled through the forest, clearly not happy.

Chuck suddenly turned to the following carts. "Turn off all recording devices," he held up an odd-looking pen and turned to the camera cart in front, "Or I break the equipment."

The cameramen and technicians scrambled to put everything away.

"You can't avoid this forever," Chuck said finally satisfied. "You already publicly snubbed him."

"I know…" King Furry looked out at the forest. "Hopefully he's smart enough to leave camp."

"I know I'm just your guard," he said. "But publicly feuding with the Briefs has only ever brought more scrutiny to the Briefs. Everyone knows it started around the time Trunks would have been conceived, so it's over Vegeta. You only just confirmed it."

King Furry leaned his head back. "Why couldn't that man have died instead of him? Dad wouldn't have died from shock and everything would be back to normal."

"Do you really think Bulma Brief and her son would have let that stand? They spent 20 years inventing time travel when the resurrection failed the first time. God save us when the second happens."

"Don't remind me…"

Silence reigned as everyone reeled over the shock of what they just heard.

Then King Furry leaned in. "Nice use for the sonic screwdriver replica pen I gave you for your birthday," he whispered.

"If Vegeta didn't set the precedent, I doubt that would have worked," he whispered back.

Conner pressed his lips together trying very hard not to make a face.

Randy came into the courtyard. "King Furry is on the trail. He'll be here shortly."

"All right, I'm out," Vegeta turned to head to the upper gate.

"Where are you going?" Randy asked. "You need to greet the king."

"He deliberately skipped us at the beach in front of everyone. It's clear he doesn't want to see me. So unless you want to film a shouting match…" he stopped and turned around. "Wait, never mind, you DO want to film a shouting match, don't you?"

Randy raised his hands defensively, "No. No. You're free to leave after the greeting. Just stick around a bit."

Vegeta sighed. "Fine," he rolled his eyes. He walked over to the treehouse and tossed the balls in. "But I'm not staying long."

The golf carts rolled to a stop and the camera crews set themselves up. Chuck stepped out of camera sight and a field producer waved the golf cart forward.

Conner drove the golf cart up the wheel ruts and stopped.

He looked at King Furry and smiled. "Well, here we are!" Conner said excitedly. "The biggest act of rebellion in the show's history. Vegeta's break away camp." He hopped out and jumped over to King Furry's side.

He extended his hand, "Right this way, your majesty. Watch the ruts."

King Furry made his way up the hill. He sighed, slumping his shoulders spotting the skulls decorated with feathers. Then he saw Vegeta at the closed gate.

Vegeta gave a fake smile and tilted his head. "Hi, little Ferdie. It's been a while."

"Don't call me that," he glared.

"You let my parents call you that."

"They are NOT your parents."

"I'm going to tell mommy you said that."

"What are you, five?"

Vegeta smirked. "So, what do you call what you did on the beach?"

"Preserving my sanity to the very last moment. Will you let me in now?"

Vegeta took a step back and flamboyantly bowed, extending his hand, "Why yes, sire. Welcome, sire. Would you like to be served tea, sire?"

King Furry ran his hand down his face, "God help me…"

"Sorry, your prince of peace is in another castle. You're stuck with me."

He lifted his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Where did you even learn that…?"

"Dad's memes," Vegeta said, finally undoing the lock. "Welcome to my little principality."

Vegeta led him into the courtyard.

King Furry stopped and looked up, and up… and up.

"Holy crap. I know the security detail said… Vegeta you're insane."

"They've dubbed it the hive," he chuckled. "It's safe to go in."

King Furry headed inside, followed by a cameraman and two agents.

Vegeta crossed his arms as his Saiyan ears let him hear the king continue to say "oh my God" every few moments. He looked up.

"The windows open!" he shouted.

One of the windows tilted up, "You built this in a week?!"

"We've made little modifications since, but yes the main structure is mine." He then causally pointed at the unfinished one, "They are trying to replicate it over there."

King Furry quickly exited the hive.

*bark bark bark*

"You have a dog?"

Hassim picked up Mark who was barking at the king behind his leg.

"We have two momma cats and kittens t— oh! Mr. Fred!" Sugar Petal suddenly exclaimed. "You're the king?"

"And you are?" he asked.

She pointed, touching her cheeks and tilting her head adorably. "It's Hyo-jin."

Vegeta watched the king's eyes widen and start stuttering uncontrollably. He looked at his feet as he took a half step back.

"Sugar," Vegeta glared at King Furry darkly, "How do you know Fred?"

"He's the only beastman suit I've ever had," she smiled. She turned back to the king. "And the only one I've ever had that flew with his real name. Normally the people who fly use names like pickles and glitter for the suits if they need to talk, but everyone called him Fred, the pilot even said it over the loudspeaker."

Jerry suddenly jumped to his feet. "You slept with an underage girl?!"

"I… I didn't know."

Jerry pointed his hand at her, "What part of her screams over 18?! Even now!"

"Frank showed me all the girls' passports!" he shouted, suddenly regaining his voice. "Why would I think they were fake?!"

"Frank who?!"

"William FRANKlin Nahm!" he shouted back. He began to hyperventilate, "…. C…. cameras…"

Vegeta suddenly raised both his hands and snapped his fingers. Visible sparks flew from his fingers and suddenly all the equipment began to smoke: cameras, computers, radios, sound equipment, tiki masks…

Conner shouted and tried to get his flaming phone out of his pocket. He succeeded, but not without burns.

The crews began throwing their phones away as hard as they could over the fence.

The secret service ripped their ear pieces off their heads screaming and the king's cufflinks burst into flames.

Hassim threw water on Conner while Vegeta grabbed King Furry's arms and smothered the flames with his hands before they could move any further up his sleeves.

Vegeta turned over his arms to make sure the flames were out.

"What the hell were you wearing?!" he shouted in his face.

Then Conner's phone exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere.

"All the golf carts are on fire!" a service agent ran up the hill. "And a tree down the road!"

"On it!" Vegeta said, jumping in the air.

"Check the houses!" Hassim shouted, running into the hive.

Jerry climbed the ladder into Vegeta's loft.

Conner pulled his shorts down to get a good look at the burn.

Popping sounds could be heard outside the fence.

While people went to find the other phone fires, Chuck went over to the remains of Conner's phone.

"A lithium fire shouldn't have made such a deep crater in compacted earth…"

When Vegeta came back, there was a pile of masks in the center of the courtyard and a lot of angry glares directed at the king sitting with his head down on the bench.

"Ok… all the carts and three trees are put out—"

Suddenly Yamcha landed.

"What's going on? We lost all contact."

"I fried everything."

"We figured that. Why? The secret service is going even more nuts than Reynolds."

"King Furry said to." He looked at him, "You're welcome by the way. Every recording device in 50 yards is destroyed. It will be a while until new equipment can be brought to refilm the entire thing."

King Furry looked up, "Thank you for your thoughtfulness… but I was trying to spit out there were cameras hidden in the plane. It was entrapment."

"So, Sugar Petal's slave owners have the king of this planet as their little bitch?"

King Furry chuckled. "Yeah, I am thoroughly bent over. And I doubt I'm alone."

"Mr. Fred…" Sugar Petal moved in front of him. "I don't know if you were serviced by other girls. But if it is only me, my name and age were changed. I was 18 when I serviced you."

King Furry's head shot up. "You weren't 12?"

"No. My age was lowered because of my looks when I was purchased and brought into the training program. I'm sorry you were lied to, but I really was 18. My real birthday was actually the next week. I was almost 19."

"Swear to God!" King Furry suddenly yelled. "You're a Nahm girl, swear to God!"

Sugar Petal dropped to her knees and took King Furry's hands. "I swear on the Father above us all, the Son who died for our sins, and the Holy Ghost who fills and perfects the elect, I am 23 years old."

King Furry lunged forward and sobbed into his palms.

Sugar Petal moved to sit next to him to comfort him.

"Miss."

She looked up.

Chuck was in front of them holding a small notepad and his pen. "As a law enforcement officer, I must ask for a statement."

"I think I should…" Yamcha began to float up.

Vegeta grabbed him and pulled him down. "You're not going anywhere," he growled.

As Sugar Petal was filling up the notepad, Vegeta sat down next to King Furry, who had calmed down.

"We have a shared enemy now. You must want vengeance?"

"The Nahms are untouchable, Vegeta." He gestured towards Jessica before returning his hand to in between his knees with the other. "I almost lost my career going after the fringe cult that almost killed that girl. Going after God's voice on Earth? You're going to have almost 20% of this planet's population after your head. And that's not counting if any Catholics and Orthodox join the headhunt. Worst case you'll have 45% of this planet wanting you dead."

Vegeta looked at him and smirked. "Well Earth is facing an overpopulation crisis."

King Furry jerked his head and gave him a snarling, murderous death glare.

Vegeta looked away and chuckled, "Your face is too funny."

"Can you not casually joke about genocide…" King Furry said, annoyed. He returned to looking at his hands.

"It's not going to stop me."

"I know," he looked back at him, "Just-just let me find a non-lethal solution here. Hopefully Willy can be talked into relinquishing her to your custody. Might cost money in the end, though."

"And the others?"

"Women get bought and sold everyday Vegeta, whether it's goats or gold. You can't save everyone."

"Don't let Mom and Dad here you say that."

"For such humble origins, they are idealistic fools at times."

Vegeta leaned in, "Don't insult them like that. You sound like you barely know them for being raised next to Bulma."

"A trucker's daughter who grew up in the sleeper cab and the son of a union welder and a miner's daughter from a dying coal town that came to the city after the mine was shut down. Only one of his six siblings born in West City. Was a little too smart and too quick to fight, so father put him in boxing for discipline. Ended up with a scholarship."

Vegeta leaned in closer. "Don't insult them so casually in my presence."

King Furry glanced at him confused when Yamcha's radio went off.

*fuzz* Yamcha?! Yamcha?! Where are you? *fuzz*

"Give me that," King Furry extended his hand.

Yamcha handed him the radio.

"This is King Furry."

"What did Vegeta do?"

"Vegeta misunderstood a statement as an order. He is not to be punished. I would have ordered the footage destroyed tonight regardless."

"Do you know how much he's crippled this operation?"

"As I told you before, I am no ally. If it is so catastrophic, then I will simply shut all of this down."

There was a long silence on the other end.

"Yes… your, Majesty…"

"May I see that?" Conner asked, holding his hand out to King Furry.

He tossed it to him.

"Reynolds this is Conner. I'm heading back with Yamcha. I need medical attention for burns on my hand and leg. Get replacement radios ready to send back so we can start a proper assessment of the losses."

Conner looked at Yamcha. "Handing back now." He gave him back the radio.

"This is Yamcha. I have the radio."

"Get your ass back here!"

"Yes, Mr. Reynolds. Coming now."

Yamcha made a quick bow to King Furry as Conner stood. Conner got on his back and they disappeared.

King Furry sighed.

"Do you have more paper?" Sugar Petal asked.

"Someone give me their notepad!" Chuck ordered.

Three agents immediately pulled theirs from their pockets.

"Sugar Petal…" Sam asked "… are you really 23? Not 18?"

Sugar Petal paused. "Yes…" she said eventually.

"Sugar," Vegeta leaned back to look at her past King Furry's hunched over body. "You made the choice to save the king from blackmail. Don't back down now." He nodded in encouragement, "Keep moving forward."

Sugar Petal straightened her back. "Yes," she said with more conviction.

Hassim looked at Vegeta. "You knew? This whole time?" he said accusingly.

"I did not know that going into this! I did not even know she existed!" Vegeta snapped.

"I told Mr. Vegeta," Sugar Petal said forcefully. "I told him when I realized he wasn't a suit. I never knew a man could be anything else but a suit!"

"A suit?" Jessica asked. "A man who uses you sexually?"

"Yes. Until a woman's owner decides on exclusive use, every man can take his right as a suit. As Lot offered his daughters to quell the mob, every daughter must submit to their duty to prevent self and joint homosexual acts from unanswered desires."

"Hyo-jin," King Furry interjected. "Unless you want the Nahms to kill everyone here and their families. Shut up."

"You fear the wrong man," Sugar Petal said. "Vegeta and his friends control the resurrection and the life now."

"Resure—? OH MY GOD!" Sam shouted. "OH MY GOD!"

"Oh what?" Vegeta said annoyed. He pointed at himself, "You recognized me…" he then pointed up towards the second camp, "But not the FUCKING NAMEKIANS?"

"Vegeta shove it!" King Furry shouted. He looked at Sam, "You too!"

Hassim sighed loudly. "First ghosts, then aliens, and now whatever this is?" He walked towards the side gate, "I need a bloody break."

"Someone follow him," King Furry ordered.

One of his guards hurried after him.

He sighed, "Now what's this about a ghost?"

"Her grandmother likes to hang around," Vegeta said. "Dende confirmed it."

"The child believed to be a god you mentioned?" Sam asked.

"Vegeta…" King Furry glared at him.

"Wait… this person is an alien?"

"He was invited to Earth to take the position by the trainees who refused the job," he waved his hand dismissively. "It's a human religion and the boy was known to have developed an unhealthy obsession with it when he was a refugee here. AKA a neutral party and an easy mark for conversion. His people were more than happy to give him up. Practically shoved him on the spaceship to get rid of him."

"That… sounds horrible…"

Vegeta smirked, "Would you say the same thing if most of Earth's elite warriors were Christian? That it was the face of Earth? You'd be jumping up and down for grabbing your first convert."

Sam's eyes widened and opened and closed his mouth like a fish.

King Furry sighed and stood. "Vegeta, follow me. Chuck."

"Coming."

The three left out the upper gate.

"Is this a good spot?" King Furry asked after walking out of sight of the camp.

Vegeta snapped his fingers.

Smoke erupted from a nearby tree.

Everyone looked at it.

"Now it is," Vegeta said looking back at the king.

He sighed, "I never realized you were such a skilled liar."

"What?" he crossed his arms. "You thought I was a blabbermouth like Kakarot?"

"Yes, actually. With how much you talk about yourself."

"I'm not ashamed of my past," Vegeta said forcefully. "But Kakarot was the only person who could teleport. It would only add complications to add that and my race to the conversation. Removing those variables shortened the conversation without changing the final conclusion."

"I see." King Furry then looked concerned, "Then that is what actually happened to the child?"

"The boy is content and happy, that should be all someone like you should be concerned about." Vegeta leaned in slightly, "Since you don't recognize his authority or the possibility of alliance and the power it represents for your own position." He began to walk back, "Don't lump them in with me."

Vegeta walked off.

King Furry slumped his shoulders, "No commentary?"

"That is above my position," Chuck said.

"But?"

"He has a point."

"It's not my point to make. If their existence goes public, Vegeta is going to become the boogie man in every thumbnail and over the shoulder box. Even if he wasn't here, the fact King Piccolo's species is involved at all would destroy the government. The people who really rule Earth battling over whether our government should stay in place or if they should take direct control? We're fucked. Then there's…" King Furry paused. "Nevermind… Let's head back."

King Furry was still a good distance away and could hear screaming.

He recognized the voice and sighed annoyed.

King Furry and Chuck came down the hill.

There were new people running around, clearly technicians, with very messed up hair.

Reynolds was shouting at Vegeta, his slicked back hair now revealed to be a comically loose toupee.

Yamcha was to the side with his arms crossed, upset but quiet.

Vegeta stood there uninterested in the red-faced man in front of him, but had his arm raised to the side stopping everyone else from speaking up.

"Chuck."

He took point.

"What's going on here!" King Furry shouted, catching everyone's attention.

Sugar Petal ran and unlocked the upper doors.

Chuck motioned with his hand and the secret service agents left the compound and met them outside the doors.

"What's the current situation," Chuck ordered.

"Vegeta has destroyed…" he took out his notepad, "All seven golf carts, ten ATVs, ten segways, nineteen cameras and related equipment, eleven mask cameras, and with the latest one he destroyed a few minutes ago, seven hidden camera trees. Then there are fourteen radios, including the spares, ten cell phones, and eight digital watches.…"

"So, he set fire to everything with a battery and a copper wire," King Furry interrupted. "How long will we be compromised for?"

"Yamcha has said he would personally fly us back to the resort. He just levitated twenty-one people and flew them over with their equipment."

King Furry sighed at the stupidity, then looked at his watch, thankful it was an absurdly expensive gear construction. "Let's use the opportunity to leave a little early." He looked up, "Take me in."

King Furry and his guards entered the village.

Reynolds immediately abandoned Vegeta and went over to the group. "Your majesty, I must ask you to reconsider your position and eject Vegeta."

"No. He and Sugar Petal stay."

Reynolds took a deep breath to try and calm down. "Then… I must ask if you would be willing to refilm this meeting on another afternoon to cover this up."

"Well, my schedule won't allow for that," King Furry said firmly. He looked at Vegeta, "I will need to talk to Britches and Panchy. After the snub and now lost footage, there's going to be some controversy if this airs." He looked at Reynolds, "Emphasis on IF."

"Yeah… sure," Vegeta said sarcastically, "I bet the crazies will even blame aliens for it."

King Furry glared at him.

Vegeta smiled showing his teeth.

King Furry put his palm up. "Stop." He swiftly moved his hand down, "Just Stop. Stop trying to be human. It's creepy."

"I'm not trying to be human. I'm learning to express my natural self in a new language. Any heebie jeebies you're getting is on you."

King Furry sighed. "Yamcha, let's go…"

"Yes, sire," Yamcha nodded. "If everyone headed back would come down to the track."

All of the secret service surrounded the king and they walked out.

Reynolds stomped out the upper gate, shoving a tech to the ground who did not get out of his way fast enough.

Once in the air, a few servicemen were panicking, but most were fine.

Then the king had a thought. A thought that he would never get this opportunity again.

"Everyone," he called out. "This will not leave this group and never be discussed again."

"That's obviou—" Chuck started looking over.

He saw him put one arm out, tuck the other, then bring up one leg.

"Wooo, you go Superman!" another agent shouted.

Laughter filled the group and a few others took the pose as well.

Back on the ground…

"Heebie jeebies?" Jerry chuckled. "That is old school man…"

Vegeta rolled his eyes, "Yeah. Yeah. Rad. Cool. Hip. Neato. All that jazz."

Jerry chuckled louder.

Vegeta gave him two middle fingers.

Then he folded his arms and looked at the lower door. He looked worried.

"Was I hitting the uncanny valley at all?" He looked back at them. "I'm told I go too far sometimes."

Jerry gave him a thumbs up. "If you were going for a fuck you grin, you nailed it."

"Oh good. I was worried for a second."

"You're fucking kidding me, Reynolds… God, I don't need this this early in the morning."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Souvlaki," Reynolds apologized over the phone.

"Call Bill next and fax a copy of the damage to both of us. This is going to take days to fix. You and Conner better come up with something to fill the time gap while Bill flies new equipment in. Did you get WHY Vegeta set fire to everything on the king's behalf?"

Reynolds was silent.

"I'll take that as a no. *sigh* Anything else?"

"Conner's phone caught fire in his pocket, but got it out before it exploded. I don't know the extent of the burns. The others threw their phones as far as they could before theirs exploded."

"So… the secret service saw the blasting caps go off. Great… Hopefully they have bigger concerns and didn't notice. If he needs medevacked, let me know immediately. I'll need to make calls."

"Yes, sir."

"Call me tonight your time with a full update if another emergency doesn't come up first."

"Yes sir."

After the call ended, Reynolds dialed another number.

"Hello, Reynolds," he heard Bill say, "We've been expecting you. Let me join this with my call with Conner and we can get started."

King Furry and the group landed on the beach.

He laughed for a few moments before looking at his watch. "Ok, 12:28. We have an hour before we are supposed to leave for the villages. Let's check on Conner first."

After a quick sweep, King Furry entered the medical hall again.

"How bad is he?" he asked the doctor.

"Second degree burns on his hands. His thigh is borderline third in a few spots. But he wants to stay, so we will be monitoring for now. But if it gets worse, he's getting on that helicopter whether he likes it or not."

"I see. Is it safe to go in?"

"He's on the phone currently. But I will tell him you are here."

The doctor walked down the hall and stuck his head into one of the far rooms. He made his way back.

"He will ring the bell when he's ready to see you."

Instead of ringing the bell, Conner walked out of the room in a medical robe and blanket over his shoulders. His boots were slipped on but untied.

"Conner!" The doctor ran down the hall, "What are you doing?"

"I need to get ready for the beach party," Conner grimaced. "We've already pushed it back a half hour."

Conner looked over the doctor's shoulder and saw King Furry walking up.

"Conner, what are you doing?"

"Going to change clothes. I need to get to the set."

King Furry looked at his wrapped hand and the wrap peeking out from under the robe.

"I was told your burns were serious," he said looking back at his face.

"In the military you learn if you can feel the burn, then it's not that bad. It's only when you can't feel it that you're fucked."

King Furry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I see why you and Vegeta get along. You're both masochists." He straightened his glasses. "Ok, walk with me."

"Thank you, your majesty," he nodded.

The doctor gave up and stepped aside.

"So, what is happening?" the king asked as they began walking.

"Bill is calling the stations GPS owns in the area for compatible cameras for the crews. But the masks and tree systems are specialized enough they need flown in from Cali. Then there's getting the people who installed the tree cams in the first place. So, we need to figure out how to stretch two days of activities to five or more."

"I would suggest properly feeding everyone for one," King Furry said.

"Yes, Reynolds wants to use the opportunity to build Berapi back up off camera before stage two starts."

"What's today's new plan?"

"Nothing. Still have a beach episode with the skipped game before everyone heads back at sunset."

"So, tomorrow is the challenge and the reward?"

"That is what we need to push back. Narratively, the surprise coming half way through the visit will spoil everything."

"Why not allow a day where the visitors switch between camps?"

"Reynolds suggested that, but it could be dangerous with the past attempts on Vegeta's group."

"Everyone on the blue team knows where Vegeta's camp is, most have visited there as far as I was told. The issue I see is Angelica, and Meiko possibly being coerced by Ichiro to reveal how to get there. But Michael's group knows the general direction, that's more than enough. If Vegeta had not intercepted them, that night would not have ended so well."

Conner sighed as they got into the elevator. "I know…"

He thought for a moment. "Sire… are you really so helpless?"

"I wouldn't say helpless, just twisting my arm when he wants something. I'm sure all the mosques, synagogues, and temples are just as thrilled about all the tax breaks and exemptions as they are."

"And what you said to stop Sugar Petal from talking?"

King Furry was silent.

Conner smiled. "I was actually hopeful when you got involved… but oh well…"

King Furry looked up startled, "Has your life been threatened?"

"Yes. Bill even begged me over the phone to stop causing issues."

"Do you want protection?"

Conner looked down at the shorter man, still smiling. "Would you really protect me over what the Nahms have over you? Are you really going to pull that string over me?"

"The Nahms are not bloodthirsty morons. You're too big of a target. And with this being already called 'the cursed season' and Casey's death galvanizing the conspiracy community when it goes public, they need to be just as careful as the Briefs even if this never airs." He sighed, "Not to give Vegeta any credit… Power's purpose is to preserve itself. There is no benefit."

"Especially with you willing to do their work? I'm going to be followed too, right? Home bugged? Devices hacked?"

"Yes." King Furry said firmly.

"Then I will put my trust in Vegeta," Conner said, looking up at the descending numbers. "After all, he does control the resurrection and the life."

The elevator dinged and the door opened on Conner's floor.

"See you on the beach," he said exiting, leaving the visibly frustrated beastman behind.

King Furry waited in a conference room, chatting with the secret service both in the room, and the landing dock at the village he was leaving to over a secured video app.

"Everything has been secured and is ready for your arrival. All cellphones have been collected from the locals, and the palace media are ready to go. The leadership and the people are being very compliant and have even ratted out several journalists."

"That's a first," Chuck said. "Don't let your guards down."

"These people feel highly betrayed. They are the ones who told the press aliens were involved in the blast, but the reporters ran with it negatively, which was not their intent. The Briefs, and particularly Vegeta, are well respected here. He seems to have saved many lives in the nomadic fishing fleets and floating villages and that's spread through the grapevine. There are also refugees here from a place called Tanah that the Briefs built up personally on a charity tour. The resort seems to have bought the land from under them and were forcefully evicted at gunpoint. It's quite the horror story… We've taken the liberty to record interviews and take written statements from the literate."

"Good job," King Furry said.

"They are eager to speak with you."

King Furry's eyes suddenly widened in horror. "Wait… How many of the men already knew about Vegeta? Didn't we specifically send those people to the other tour sites?"

"Yes... We did," Chuck said, with doom slipping into his voice.

King Furry looked at him. "How many in Desa?"

"One hundred," Chuck answered.

King Furry put his head in his hands and shook his head.

"We are all performing our duties despite the… distraction," he assured the king.

"God help me…" the king mumbled, still shaking his head.

An hour later, King Furry was in Desa. He and Chuck got into a local fire-hollowed canoe from his larger boat and the specially chosen locals paddled him through the low tide of what counted as a harbor. It slid into the mud at the water's edge and he climbed the ladder up to the dock, now four feet in the air. Service men were waiting for him, then the group walked to shore.

The village elders were waiting with a very eager teenager.

Handshakes were made and pictures taken.

"Your majesty," the teenager said bowing, "I am Faisal, I speak English for the community."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Faisal," King Furry extended a handshake.

"I am not worthy," he said bowing again.

King Furry withdrew his hand. "Shall we begin then?"

Faisal relayed that to the elders, who began nodding.

"They say yes. This way."

King Furry was shown the damage at the shore. A man spoke gesturing inland.

"It was low tide, but the water still went very far," Faisal said. "Cinder block was fine, but wood and bamboo now are all out in the mud. The water mark on the buildings is one and a half meters. It overtopped the retaining wall, but did not go much farther."

"Were any homes in the affected area?" King Furry asked.

"No," he answered after translating. "But all the fishing and other tools are gone. Smokehouses and the fish inside are gone. Boats are on sides or upside down and the tide pulls them farther away each day. Many canoes are completely gone."

"Were there any deaths here? My apologies, my visit was very rushed."

"No, no one died," he said without translating, "Some injured, many broken bones from inside the ships. They were flown away." The teenager pointed, "We have a dirt runway at the top of the hill. The Briefs made it when they electrified the village. Solar panels and low turbines in the stream to not harm the fish. All homes have light, laptops, and internet and we have a large TV for football in the meeting hall."

"Yes, I can see the roof panels and the satellite dishes from here. How many people live here?"

Faisal translated.

"1,238" he told King Furry, "294 men, women, and children from Tanah and the little dusuns along the river." He paused. "There should have been 334."

"I see," King Furry said. "Tell them we can talk about the eviction in a more private setting."

Faisal translated.

"They appreciate it."

Suddenly an elder spoke.

"He asked if you could talk to the Briefs to come back. New houses are ok, but when the men sneaked back, everything was stolen. Desa has no money for electricity and our children write homework on old chalkboards."

"They stole all the electronics they gave you?"

Faisal answered directly, "No. They stole everything. Pots and dishes, tools, clothes, furniture. The glass windows and metal roofs removed. Everything that could be burned was burned. Only the walls of the dirt huts were left. Fields burned. Animals shot. They killed… I found my dog," he started to cry.

King Furry shushed him and put his hands on Faisal's shoulders. "How old are you?"

"14…"

"So, you were about 12 when this happened?"

He nodded.

Let's talk about this later, one on one, ok?"

"Yes. Ok."

King Furry was led to the community building in the town square. Here there were local police officers, two men in suits, and a few men in white lab coats, reminding him of Dr. Brief.

"Your majesty," One of the white coats came forward, "I am Dr. Tumangger from the University of Jakarta. The locals have been very persistent about this. If you would follow us to the back of the building."

He was led around the building and was met with a huge scaffold holding a stretched hide.

"12 meters 9 centimeters, 39 feet 8 inches. 1370.75 kilograms or 1.37 metric tons, 3022 pounds or 1.5 tons. Your… acquaintance… is impressive. He may have sliced its throat with a knife, but the tissue damage showed he shoved his arm in and crushed and snapped the neck vertebrae and spinal cord with his bare hand."

King Furry's jaw was on the ground.

The scientist took the squeak he made to continue. "All the meat has been butchered and distributed. Stomach contents to forensics, and the skeleton will be mounted and the hide will be taxidermied for display at the Nature Museum in Nusantara.

One of the men in suits took a step forward and began to speak. The other man translated.

"Sire, this is Mr. Suprapto, regency council spokesperson and I am Syamsul, English specialist from the tourism office."

Suprapto spoke again.

"All the villages within the regency have come to a unanimous agreement and are partitioning to hold a celebration with the Briefs as honored guests. The show refused, but we are hoping you could persuade them."

King Furry finally regained his voice. "Where would this be held?"

"In Kota, the regency capital," Syamsul answered. "It is a town of 4,700 people, but we grow to 8,000 during festival seasons and market days. We have more than enough room even if every village in the regency emptied out."

King Furry thought about what Conner said.

"I don't think the producers would refuse this time."