Warning: spoilers for the Abuse Syndicate Saga.
Note: read “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” and “Andre: The Next Episode” first.
On a beautiful morning, about a week after the ChaotiX’s battle with the Abuse Syndicate, Dr. Erwin Stahlberg arrives at the Faucheuse Foundation.
blip
Appearing in the parking lot, Erwin looks at a wall across the street from the Foundation.
The A.S. graffiti has been removed.
Erwin smiles as he walks inside.
After the harrowing events the squad endured aboard the Syndicate’s space station, which the ChaotiX shamelessly claimed for themselves afterwards, Erwin is glad to be back on terra firma, to get back to the mission of diagnosing and treating fluffies.
A fluffy with no legs is so much easier to deal with than a horde of infant spider-monsters from space.
And were it not for the Foundation’s efforts, many fluffies would still be doomed to miserable lives as pillow fluffs, unable to do any of the things fluffies love to do.
Fireball definitely appreciates the Foundation’s efforts.
After getting to his examination room, Erwin checks the vats in the regeneration room.
Several mares, all of whom had been pillowed, are in the vats, with foal-sized legs already having popped out of the stumps. All of the mares were being used as breeding pillows.
The mares had been recovered from one of the Syndicate’s mills, established purely to provide abusers with playthings, primarily in areas where fluffy abuse has been criminalised.
There is a veritable black market for abusers, and the Syndicate was a big part of that. Vanessa Valentine went out of her way to proliferate fluffy abuse in predominantly pro-hugbox areas.
All to spite her ex-husband, who adored fluffies for reasons Vanessa simply could not understand, and those who fight for fluffykind.
But with the Syndicate’s leadership either awaiting trial in jail, or, in Hans Stahlberg’s case, on the run, and the treasure trove of information on the Syndicate’s activities and membership the ChaotiX recovered from their shiny new space station, a serious blow has been dealt to this pointlessly cruel black market.
Of course, a lot of those mills are still operating in the absence of the Syndicate’s leadership. So is the Ultimate Fluffy Championship. And fluffy corpses with bullet holes are still being found in pro-hugbox areas.
However, none of those people actually cared about Vanessa’s spiteful agenda. They were just in it to make money and abuse fluffies without consequences. And they don’t need Vanessa to do that.
So that’s what the ChaotiX is focusing on right now. Making sure the Syndicate stays down. And they have the names of everyone affiliated with the Syndicate now. So, obviously, a lot of its members have gone on the run.
But they can’t outrun the ChaotiX.
Calvin does not want to still be dealing with the Syndicate when he’s sixty.
After checking on the former breeding pillows, Erwin welcomes his first patient of the day.
A tall, bald, green-skinned man, bringing in a heavily pregnant green and red unicorn mare with amber eyes, in one of Flufftopia’s luxury carriers for expectant fluffy mummahs.
“Ah, Mr. J’onzz. Bringing Megan in for another check-up? She looks ready to pop any day now.”
J’onn J’onzz, Martian, no relation, puts the carrier on the table, next to the Stahlskanner, and opens it.
“Oh yeah, I’ve got everything ready at home. A Bestest Mummah bed, Bestest Babbehs kibble and formula, the works.”
“Megan knu da deew. Megan pik wun babbeh tu keep, an da west git nyu hoomin daddehs an mummahs. Ow, uh, nyu nu-hoomin daddehs an mummahs.”
J’onn chuckles, carefully placing Megan on the medical scanner.
“That’s right. I bet Hasbio never expected Martians to own fluffies when they first had the idea.”
ping!
“She’s in good health, Mr. J’onzz. And so are the foals. But of course, Ziggy’s sired a lot of excellent litters.”
Yes, Ziggy is still crushing it as a stud, and so is Scarface. A lot of people will pay top dollar for one of Marley’s descendants these days, and others don’t care if Scarface’s foals come out brown, if they inherit his brains.
But Megan’s litter was one of the last Ziggy fathered before he and Scarface decided to go on a sabbatical.
They both realised that it was time to let other studs have a turn, because the gene pool was starting to get rather shallow.
“I’ll bring the foals in after the birth, Dr. Stahlberg. I wanna make sure they all grow up happy and healthy. So Megan, no playing favorites, okay? You love all of them the same.”
Megan nods.
“Yus, daddeh. Megan wiww wub aww babbehs.”
Erwin and J’onn can tell that Megan is being sincere.
Before the Martian and his fluffy leave, Erwin offers Megan a skettie treat, which he does for all of his patients.
He wants them to see going to the doctor as a pleasant experience.
With the push of a button, several mechanical arms descent from the ceiling, disinfecting everything Megan touched.
Fifteen minutes later, Andre brings in an sobbing afro fluffy stallion with several cuts and bruises.
“Huu… Wuckus nu knu wut Wuckus did but Wuckes neba du it again… huu huu huu…”
Erwin starts dabbing regen gel on Ruckus’ wounds.
“There, there. You’re safe now, Ruckus. Andre, what happened?”
Andre scowls.
“This lil’ dude’s owner was beatin’ him like he owed the nigga money, that’s what. For any ol’ reason, and Ruckus was lucky if there was a reason. I squeezed in through the keyhole and was like nigga did I just catch you abusin’ yo fluffy?”
“And then?”
And then Andre grins.
“I let Kyle in, and he put up an illusion. Made the nigga think he covered in black widows. So now the asshole’s tryna beat off spiders that ain’t actually there. That’ll keep him busy until 5-0 shows up.”
“You hear that, Ruckus? He won’t hurt you anymore. You’ll be safe here, if we can’t adopt you out to a loving owner.”
Ruckus sniffs, and Andre pulls a handkerchief out, gently drying the fluffy’s tears.
When Andre is working to recover fluffies from abusive owners, he always keeps some handkerchiefs on him.
“I’d take you in myself, but I ain’t got room for three fluffies. But you can meet my boys if you like. Say the word, lil’ dude.”
Ruckus smiles weakly.
“Wuckus wiww wemembew dat, mistah Awndway.”
Andre holds up a fist.
dap
And Ruckus taps it with a hoof.
“You gon’ like it here, Ruckus.”
Once Erwin is done treating the wounds, he calls Mark in to take Ruckus to the bathing room.
Andre whistles when Mark walks in.
“Daaaaaamn, Mark! You gettin’ jacked, son!”
Mark smiles.
“Well, I’ve joined the Hunter Association. I can work it around my duties here.”
“You got a blipper yet, Mark? If you get one a those, it’ll be easy. Talk to Cal. He’ll hook you up. You ain’t in the ChaotiX, but Cal likes you.”
Mark’s smile becomes a cheeky grin.
“Well, I did sell him the strongest fluffy on the planet.”
After Mark takes Ruckus to give the afro fluffy a bath, Andre leaves too, promising to check in later, and Erwin gets his examination room ready for the next patient.
A young Japanese woman, with a white streak dyed into her sleek hair, brings in an… unusual fluffy.
An earthie colt, yellow, with the beginning of a darker yellow mane, and a darker yellow tail, tipped with white and black.
While it’s not currently apparent, the unusual thing about this foal is that, as he grows…
He will grow two more tails.
“Ah, Void. Is this foal what I think he is?”
Hiromi “Void” Tezuka, guitarist in Zephyr, nods.
“Little Michael here is a kitsune fluffy, Erwin. I had to blip to Japan to get him, they aren’t available in the States yet.”
“Koh-nee-chee-wah, Ewwin-san! Chirp!”
Every member of Zephyr has a blipper, because the leader of the band is in the ChaotiX.
Blippers are still not available to the public, and after the Abuse Syndicate plagiarized and abused the technology, the Cabal has put their plans to make blippers available for purchase on hold.
“I just wanna see if he’s healthy, and you’re the best fluffy doc I know of.”
“Why thank you, Void. But I’m surprised they can speak Japanese.”
Void smiles sheepishly.
“Well, it’s only a few words. Fluffies struggle enough with English.”
Erwin places Michael on the Stahlskanner.
bzzz
“冗談でしょ! Erwin, what’s wrong?”
Erwin looks at the screen.
“Oh, it’s nothing severe. A minor case of constipation. I’ve seen worse.”
“…I thought it was strange he hadn’t pooped yet. I just picked him up yesterday.”
“Mike-uw wuz wun-duh-win abowt dat tuu. Peep.”
Erwin reassures Void and Michael.
“Don’t worry, we’ve got a stool softener that works wonders. You can pick some up at the pharmacy on the way out. Other than that, Michael is healthy.”
“Good, good. You know Wallace just got an aquafluffy?”
“Seth told me. It’s not just Hydroxians who like them. They’re becoming quite popular in coastal regions, since regular fluffies don’t mix well with water.”
“I heard they’re all the rage in Venice. And Terrence is thinking about getting a stone fluffy, too. So it’s not just trolls who like them, either.”
“Oh yes, sooner or later there’ll be a breed of fluffy for everyone, no matter what shape they are.”
“Mike-uw am happeh tu heaw dat. Peep. Fwuffies am fow ev-wee-wun tu wub.”
Void strokes Michael’s fluff, and the kitsune foal coos.
“I can’t argue with that, Michael. We’ll get out of your hair, Erwin. I’m gonna go show my brother the cover art for Zephyr’s next album.”
Erwin grins.
“If you’re looking for Akira, him and Wukong are currently in Shibuya with Needles and Spike. By now, I suspect they’re all considerably soused on sake.”
“…I bet Cousin Takeshi is with them. He’s a bad influence.”
After Void and Michael leave, Erwin decides to take a break.
On his way out to Starbucks, he sees Gilda, working the counter, chatting to Mark.
Since her fall from grace and her generous serving of humble pie, Gilda has been a model employee.
However, Erwin cannot help but notice that, since Mark got on board the Gains Train, Gilda can’t stop checking Mark out.
Some bad habits die hard.
But unfortunately for Gilda, Mark just sees her as a friend.
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