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“Neon Bruises” by Domus Vocis (part 2 of 2, read by Rhythm Bastard)
On a cyberpunk exoplanet in the far future, a transgender she-wolf joins an illegal fighting tournament to keep her home, but at what cost?
Today’s story is the second and final part of “Neon Bruises” by Domus Vocis, who spends his free time listening to vaporwave music & working the graveyard shift while writing/reading furry fiction. He also recently published a historical romance novella titled “Two Souls of Fangcrest Manor” alongside his co-author Fruitz in 2023. You can also find more stories by Domus Vocis on his Patreon.
Read by Rhythm Bastard, Swole Raccoon Punk.
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https://thevoice.dog/episode/neon-bruises-by-domus-vocis-part-2-of-2
Transcript
You’re listening to Pride Month on The Voice of Dog.
Speaker:This is Rob MacWolf, your fellow traveler,
Speaker:and Today’s story is the second and final part of
Speaker:“Neon Bruises” by Domus Vocis,
Speaker:who spends his free time listening to vaporwave music
Speaker:& working the graveyard shift while writing/reading
Speaker:furry
Speaker:fiction. He also recently published a historical romance novella titled
Speaker:“Two Souls of Fangcrest Manor”
Speaker:alongside his co-author Fruitz in 2023. You can also find more stories by Domus Vocis on his Patreon. You may well have been asked, at some family dinner, why ‘the gays have to always be so hostile about it?!’
Speaker:And the answer is not complicated:
Speaker:we have had no choice but to face hostility,
Speaker:and pride itself
Speaker:is a riot. As the revered proverb says:
Speaker:"the queers who were nice/patient/gentle
Speaker:all got shot or bullied to death all that's left r me
Speaker:& the other pissed-off cockroach motherfuckers.
Speaker:motherfuckers." We did not choose to become tough,
Speaker:to learn to fight,
Speaker:to become survivors.
Speaker:If the fight is inevitable,
Speaker:the most uplifting thing one can hear
Speaker:is assurance that it can be won.
Speaker:And we have every right to be proud
Speaker:of winning. Last time,
Speaker:Toby Earhart managed to survive the preliminaries of the illegal fighting tournament,
Speaker:but with nine other opponents just as eager as her to claim the winning prize,
Speaker:will she walk out in one piece by the end of the night?
Speaker:Read by Rhythm Bastard, Swole Raccoon Punk.
Speaker:Please enjoy “Neon Bruises” by Domus Vocis,
Speaker:Part 2 of 2 Ten minutes went by without me noticing.
Speaker:After having one of the on-site medics patch up the claw marks on my back,
Speaker:they gave me three items I eagerly accepted:
Speaker:pain pills, a large water bottle I chugged down empty,
Speaker:as well as a piece of paper with the number nine written on it.
Speaker:So did every one of the other winners.
Speaker:I thanked whichever deity showed favor in making me the second-to-last to go. Fortune
Speaker:favored me further when the cheetah twins dropped out.
Speaker:From what we were able to gleam from their hushed conversation with Cayden,
Speaker:neither wanted to fight their opponents separately,
Speaker:let alone against each other.
Speaker:I made out the words
Speaker:‘we are a matched set’
Speaker:in the female fighter’s argument.
Speaker:The fennec hybrid didn’t look amused.
Speaker:Still, the twins adamantly refused to reconsider in the end,
Speaker:leaving with their promised credits soon after.
Speaker:Everyone and their mothers didn’t like this, shouting insults or taunts as they went straight for the construction dome’s exit.
Speaker:Me? I couldn’t stop grinning like a mad woman.
Speaker:Nine challengers went suddenly down to seven,
Speaker:without anyone getting back into the makeshift ring.
Speaker:“Numbers one and two, get ready!” Cayden
Speaker:barked into his microphone.
Speaker:The brute human and suited tiger entered the clearing.
Speaker:Dozens cheered the minute Cayden’s whistle blew, and their fists started flying.
Speaker:Both brawlers fought like sluggers,
Speaker:but I noticed the human
Speaker:—skin unnaturally pale,
Speaker:biceps well-defined, and his scars more visible without his discarded jacket
Speaker:—attacking without impulse.
Speaker:The tiger in the ruined business suit knew how to throw punches, clearly.
Speaker:However, his hidden beer belly and tired panting showed a likely gap in training.
Speaker:Something the human didn’t hesitate to exploit.
Speaker:For each attempted punch or missing swipe of his feline claws,
Speaker:the tiger’s non-ani-coded opponent gracefully returned in kind.
Speaker:Finally, the human ended the fight with two ferocious hits to the tiger’s throat and stomach.
Speaker:Seconds later, the tiger waved an arm after stumbling towards a trashcan to puke his guts out.
Speaker:“Number three into the ring!”
Speaker:Medics examined the vomiting tiger, as the polar bear from earlier stepped past the wall of onlookers.
Speaker:Everyone held their breaths,
Speaker:expecting a bloodbath within minutes.
Speaker:Much to our surprise though, after the whistle shrilled again,
Speaker:the human held his ground.
Speaker:He did what I’d do and keep a wide distance,
Speaker:letting the larger foe make missed swings that wasted energy.
Speaker:A part of me wanted to see if the strategy would play out.
Speaker:A shame that Cayden’s employer didn’t organize a boxing match with standard rules.
Speaker:After five minutes, the fennec
Speaker:hybrid turned his microphone back on,
Speaker:the feedback slowing time.
Speaker:“Mr. Tremaine is getting very impatient, you two,”
Speaker:he informed the human and polar bear.
Speaker:“End this round, or you’re both walking out.
Speaker:You have sixty seconds!”
Speaker:That drone hovering above the ring displayed a large hologram.
Speaker:It started counting down from sixty,
Speaker:and it seemed to make the normally calm human snap.
Speaker:Suddenly, he didn’t continue the out-boxer strategy.
Speaker:He couldn’t. Not with the timer hanging over his shoulders.
Speaker:He did wait for the polar bear to strike first,
Speaker:then connected a fist into a white-furred muzzle.
Speaker:He didn’t pull away fast enough.
Speaker:A big mistake, in hindsight.
Speaker:It all happened in a flash.
Speaker:One minute, the brute human had fingers on his right hand.
Speaker:The next, he didn’t have them.
Speaker:His ursine opponent had craned his neck and quickly snapped two powerful jaws down on unprotected digits.
Speaker:Then, the polar bear snapped his head back,
Speaker:and an audible crack was drowned out by the human’s agonized scream.
Speaker:Everyone blanched or gasped at what they saw.
Speaker:I certainly did. The bear spat the poor human’s severed fingers from his mouth towards the ground,
Speaker:letting out a blood-drenched roar as another solid punch sent his collapsed victim flying backwards into the crowd.
Speaker:I think squirting blood hit a few horrified onlookers.
Speaker:Those who didn’t care about what they’d witnessed cheered for the polar bear’s bloody victory.
Speaker:One of the on-site medics saved the fingers.
Speaker:Whether they brought the miserable human to a hospital or treated him themselves,
Speaker:I never found out.
Speaker:“Well, that was brutal,”
Speaker:Cayden announced minutes later,
Speaker:“Number six into the ring!”
Speaker:The bored-looking hyena stepped away from the surrounding crowd.
Speaker:I watched with nauseous, rapt attention as he stood in front of the polar bear,
Speaker:his white-furred muzzle painted dried crimson
Speaker:and a wild look in his green eyes.
Speaker:Unlike the previous round, it didn’t result in a sudden timer.
Speaker:The hyena was smart enough not to drag the fight out too long in hopes of tiring his larger adversary.
Speaker:Rather, he made sure the polar bear didn’t have time to give a single punch.
Speaker:A swarmer, huh? I thought.
Speaker:He’s not gonna make it.
Speaker:Then again, I needed to remind myself that we weren’t in a boxing match.
Speaker:Much to everyone’s surprise, the hyena held his ground against the polar bear,
Speaker:the former avoiding the latter’s upper body and instead striking blows as far as possible from the face.
Speaker:A kick to the groin made the large ursine stagger.
Speaker:The hyena made an expressive snarl as the polar bear tried to make a biting lunge forward.
Speaker:Not only did he dodge the attack
Speaker:but kneed his opponent in the throat.
Speaker:Very hard. “Aha!” The hyena laughed.
Speaker:“Gotcha, ya big bastard!”
Speaker:The polar bear fell into the dirt,
Speaker:still choking and raising a paw after the hyena started giving relentless kicks to the back of his head.
Speaker:Everyone subsequently cheered,
Speaker:including me. “Number seven into the ring!”
Speaker:The lithe leopard stepped forward, but not before giving me another smug glare.
Speaker:It caused me to stare confusedly,
Speaker:then give my own sharp glare back.
Speaker:Who was this creep?
Speaker:Had I seen him before?
Speaker:It wasn’t like ani-coded leopards were a rarity in the galaxy,
Speaker:let alone Twilight City.
Speaker:“I’m gonna slice that smile right off your fuckin’ face, yeen!”
Speaker:The leopard let out a mocking cackle,
Speaker:his smile unwavering.
Speaker:“C’mon, bitch! C’mon!”
Speaker:The whistle erupted.
Speaker:So did the crowd, their noise drowning out the leopard’s hiss as he started giving relentless strikes that were soon blocked.
Speaker:The hyena held his arms up in defense until a swipe of claws made it no longer feasible.
Speaker:Before anyone could react,
Speaker:the leopard’s claws swiped above his forehead.
Speaker:Blood trickled down,
Speaker:blinding the hyena enough for him to be struck in the chest,
Speaker:stomach, and groin before being kneed in the throat and elbowed in the back of the head.
Speaker:“Yeen bitch!” The leopard spat down at him,
Speaker:then flipped middle fingers at a few members of the audience booing in his direction.
Speaker:“Oh, go fuck yourselves! Fuck you!”
Speaker:Cayden hollered into the mike,
Speaker:“Number eight into the ring!”
Speaker:The lion with a blood-stained mane didn’t wait for the whistle.
Speaker:Even so, the leopard was prepared;
Speaker:he performed the same strategy of blinding his opponent,
Speaker:then punching his head until the fellow feline collapsed into an unconscious heap.
Speaker:If disregarding the whistle hadn’t caused him to lose the fight,
Speaker:then ignoring the leopard’s strategy immediately did.
Speaker:Again, Cayden hollered into the mike,
Speaker:“Number nine into the ring!”
Speaker:My narrowed eyes connected with the rabid leopard’s,
Speaker:who seemed to purr excitedly upon seeing me.
Speaker:“Finally, I’ve been looking forward to this,”
Speaker:he said. “I can smell your fake cunt a mile away from here.”
Speaker:“Do I know you?” I asked, half-annoyed and half-concerned.
Speaker:He cocked his ears up.
Speaker:“Don’t recognize me, he-bitch?”
Speaker:Blood boiled underneath my skin,
Speaker:yet I didn’t let him see how much it angered me.
Speaker:If Elysium Towers’ expensive boxing lessons ever taught me anything,
Speaker:it was to never let your enemy see weaknesses.
Speaker:Be it physical or psychological.
Speaker:“Not really.” I feigned a shrug before tensing my raised fists.
Speaker:“You work back at that M-Way,” he said.
Speaker:“Me and my buddies were having fun last month,
Speaker:then ya had to ruin our night by getting us arrested.
Speaker:And banned too!” I remembered.
Speaker:The urge to suddenly attack before the whistle rang felt strong.
Speaker:“You were spraying paint on merchandise,” I barked at him, frowning.
Speaker:“You’re just a sad little punk who—”
Speaker:The whistle rang.
Speaker:My leopard foe practically flung himself at me in milliseconds,
Speaker:narrowly hitting my temple with his claws.
Speaker:An elbow nearly connected to my ribs, but I was faster.
Speaker:I was older too, more trained and precise.
Speaker:Whatever experience the leopard had under his belt couldn’t compare to what I once gained in Elysium Academy’s All-Star Boxing Club. “Get outta
Speaker:here and go back to M-Way, he-bitch,”
Speaker:he tried intimidating me.
Speaker:The cheers around us faded to background noise, along with catcalls and individual jabs about me being an
Speaker:‘exposed’ transwoman.
Speaker:He attempted a punch, missing,
Speaker:only to leave a sharp claw scratch on my cheek.
Speaker:I growled at feeling pain, as well as small spurts of blood.
Speaker:“You’re better off back in retail,
Speaker:pretending to be a woman!”
Speaker:Again, he tried using his claws.
Speaker:I anticipated it,
Speaker:snatching his wrist and bending it downward,
Speaker:my right knee hitting his whiskered nose.
Speaker:“I am a woman!” I spat.
Speaker:He made another blind swipe, and I punched him in the jaw.
Speaker:He lunged, and I let him slide past me,
Speaker:using his miss to twist an arm around his back and pressing my own arms rigidly to the throat.
Speaker:“And that’s she-bitch to you, pussy!”
Speaker:I barked into his round, boiling-hot ears.
Speaker:“Tap out!” He tried struggling, snarling and hissing as my arm applied further pressure.
Speaker:His free paw flailed around as a striped tail thrashed between our torsos.
Speaker:Those fast legs couldn’t connect to mine.
Speaker:It wasn’t until another holographic timer appeared via
Speaker:the drone that the desperate leopard started acting more like a cornered animal.
Speaker:“You’re the one calling me pussy, tranny?”
Speaker:he managed to say between short breaths.
Speaker:“Mine’s better than any pussy you’ve had,”
Speaker:I snidely retorted.
Speaker:“Or have!” He let out a curt snort.
Speaker:“Very funny, he-wolf—Ack!”
Speaker:I squeezed down harder.
Speaker:Whimpering left with the remaining air in his throat.
Speaker:The nameless leopard’s eyes bulged out, and his claws reached down to dig into my thigh.
Speaker:I could smell and feel blood.
Speaker:My knees gave out, but I didn’t let go,
Speaker:instead bringing the punk down with me to the dusty earth.
Speaker:“Tap out!” I shouted into his ears.
Speaker:“Tap out! Tap out! I said to fucking tap out!”
Speaker:At last, he let go of my knee and raised a paw high into the air.
Speaker:I shoved him away.
Speaker:His gasping for air got drowned out by the loud whopping and chanting of ‘she-bitch’ coming from all sides.
Speaker:Several onlookers raised their clenched paws high when I did too,
Speaker:with some laughing and pointing at the leopard.
Speaker:He didn’t say anything.
Speaker:Merely gave me the finger,
Speaker:called me several variations of the c-word,
Speaker:then roughly pushed and shoved his way through the crowd.
Speaker:Presumably to nurse his pride more than his wounds.
Speaker:“Number ten into the ring!”
Speaker:The musclebound rhino approached with the same unchanging expression.
Speaker:He towered over twice my height and wore immense clothes like the earlier polar bear’s.
Speaker:Sizing him up did little to boost my confidence.
Speaker:If anything, it caused my tail to curl and every single hair of fur on my body to stand straight on end.
Speaker:He wasn’t just big.
Speaker:He was massive. One brutal punch from him would result in me being taken to the E.R.
Speaker:If not on a stretcher, then
Speaker:in a rehabilitation home’s hover chair.
Speaker:“Just get outta here while you can.
Speaker:Before things get messy,” he huffed before colliding his knuckles together.
Speaker:“You got lucky earlier,
Speaker:but we both know you can’t beat me.”
Speaker:Some would blame it on the adrenaline rush clouding my judgment.
Speaker:In any scenario, I would’ve walked away.
Speaker:A smarter decision for most, but not for me.
Speaker:Not after everything I did to survive the preliminaries.
Speaker:Either I had a death wish
Speaker:or an undiagnosed concussion.
Speaker:Whatever the case,
Speaker:my steely blue eyes didn’t waver from staring daggers back into his.
Speaker:“Maybe,” I said after refastening my wrist straps.
Speaker:“Do me a favor though:
Speaker:don’t fuckin’ hold back.”
Speaker:His sneer morphed into a respectful smirk.
Speaker:“You got it, girlie.” I almost thanked him for calling me by my correct gender.
Speaker:He was an utter gentleman compared to that leopard.
Speaker:The whistle had other plans though, and the towering rhino stampeded with a descending fist.
Speaker:My dodge felt natural.
Speaker:Nimble on my toes and sly in my returning punches,
Speaker:I knew I couldn’t just outrun the clock.
Speaker:Not like in a regular round of boxing.
Speaker:My potential employer wanted a fighter who could take down their antagonist quickly.
Speaker:So, I improvised. Go for the pressure points!
Speaker:And the joints! I thought.
Speaker:Points and joints,
Speaker:points and joints! One small obstacle came with the plan, however.
Speaker:The rhino not only took advantage of his height and weight, but his horns too.
Speaker:I wondered if he ever worked in the Solaris District one day in his ani-coded life.
Speaker:Otherwise, the sharpened protrusion at the end of his nose would’ve been shaved into a stub.
Speaker:Not into a makeshift machete that tried impaling me each time he leaned down to punch me,
Speaker:then I tried striking him in the wrist,
Speaker:arm, or even face. Only to open myself up to a strike from the longer horn. His
Speaker:fist collided with my face at one point.
Speaker:I remember letting out a wounded yelp,
Speaker:sounding like the wolf species I resembled.
Speaker:Pain flared along my ashen muzzle as I flew backwards,
Speaker:my shoulders hitting random paws belonging to onlookers.
Speaker:They screamed in my ears before propelling me forward.
Speaker:It took immense willpower not to fall to the ground,
Speaker:my head swaying as black dots and bright stars danced across my vision.
Speaker:A holographic timer appeared once again,
Speaker:the drone hovering over our heads as the rhino approached me.
Speaker:“Ya done yet?” he called out.
Speaker:Using my tongue, I moved my loosened tooth back into place,
Speaker:the copper taste in my maw keeping me alert.
Speaker:When I didn’t respond to his question, he swung and missed.
Speaker:Swung and missed.
Speaker:My hackles stood on end with the fur on my hide.
Speaker:Fifty seconds. Sweat flew off our arms and foreheads. “C’mon,
Speaker:tap out!” he grunted, again trying to hit me. My
Speaker:knuckles started to wear down the power in his arms.
Speaker:His elbows weren’t as fluid as before.
Speaker:His knees visibly staggered even harder each time I laid a steady strike
Speaker:—be it with my paws or ankles.
Speaker:There wasn’t enough time though! Forty
Speaker:seconds. In hindsight, the following plan was uncoordinated and impulsive.
Speaker:Stupid too. An idea came to mind, and as soon as I had distance from my now-urgent opponent, I lifted my shirt off.
Speaker:Thank the gods above for sports bras. The
Speaker:catcalls, confused shouts, and dumbfounded jeers didn’t register.
Speaker:The rhino either didn’t care or had tunnel vision,
Speaker:because he didn’t hesitate to steamroll towards me.
Speaker:I did too, tightly gripping my workout shirt in my left paw.
Speaker:During which, I feigned a right hook,
Speaker:enticing him to lean down and thrust his horn forward like a fencing lance. Twenty
Speaker:-five seconds. The
Speaker:bait was taken.
Speaker:Instead of delivering that right hook,
Speaker:I launched into a slide.
Speaker:My smaller body slinked between his legs, and my elbow collided with the family jewels.
Speaker:He skidded to a halt,
Speaker:hunched over and groaning.
Speaker:So did our watching, sympathetic audience. Twenty
Speaker:seconds. I did not give him a chance to recover.
Speaker:I launched myself onto his back, grasping both ends of my shirt, and started to strangle the rhino.
Speaker:Fifteen seconds. The shouting around us rose in tempo.
Speaker:His attempts to shake me off or blindly backhand me were in vain.
Speaker:Not even as he started shaking his body with rabid motions.
Speaker:Twelve. Eleven. Ten.
Speaker:Nine. Eight. Seven.
Speaker:Six. Five. Four. A gray-skinned hand rose in the air, and I let go,
Speaker:falling backward to the earth.
Speaker:The sounds of cheers and people chanting ‘she-bitch’ registered in my ears.
Speaker:My eyes stared up in disbelief towards the tall,
Speaker:bland ceiling of the construction dome,
Speaker:then the camera drone that hovered away.
Speaker:Presumably to Cayden.
Speaker:Next, I spotted the rhino staring down at me.
Speaker:His frown formed into an amused grin,
Speaker:then extended a bloody-knuckled hand.
Speaker:I accepted the offer and was lifted off the ground.
Speaker:We somehow managed to exchange some small talk.
Speaker:“Good fight,” he said, handing me my dirtied workout shirt.
Speaker:“Good fight.” I nodded.
Speaker:“And thanks. Sorry for that dirty tactic.”
Speaker:A few of Cayden’s men came to me.
Speaker:They grabbed me by my sore arms and shuffled me through the crowd as they started to disperse.
Speaker:It all happened so quickly;
Speaker:they wouldn’t even let me try to resist.
Speaker:I wasn’t able to hear what the rhino’s following words were, but I could guess. ***
Speaker:I was taken to a parked limousine sitting outside the construction dome.
Speaker:A sleek new model resembling a smooth, obsidian stone that hovered off the metal track embedded in the road.
Speaker:A large section of it opened wide for me with a soft hum.
Speaker:The guards didn’t go for their own cars until I entered.
Speaker:They let me put my shirt back on before stepping inside, at least.
Speaker:Then, the passenger side door closed behind me.
Speaker:Everything ached all at once the moment my tail end met the soft velvet cushions.
Speaker:I couldn’t help myself from running a thumb along the heavenly material,
Speaker:then stare in awe at the familiar features on the circular seating. “This looks
Speaker:expensive,” I murmured to myself.
Speaker:“It is, but not enough to worry you’ll ruin the fabric,
Speaker:miss.” My eyes darted to a hunched figure sitting on the other end of the limo.
Speaker:The voice came from him.
Speaker:A tall ani-coded feline, what some would assume was a Siberian tiger,
Speaker:in an expensive business suit as black as his stripes.
Speaker:I could tell from the low-level lighting just bright enough to illuminate the interior without blinding us.
Speaker:His icy blue eyes scrutinized my reaction.
Speaker:“Do you recognize me?”
Speaker:“Yes,” I stumbled with my next words.
Speaker:“You’re…You’re Bowie Tremaine.”
Speaker:The limousine started moving.
Speaker:“Correct,” he said, giving the subtlest of nods and professional smiles.
Speaker:“Congratulations on making it to the final stage, and for
Speaker:not hesitating to do whatever it took to survive. You were
Speaker:impressive, and quite resourceful.” “Th
Speaker:-Thank you, Mr. Tremaine,” I replied.
Speaker:A nervous chill went up my back when I spotted tiny turrets embedded in the ceiling corners.
Speaker:They were security measures, I guessed.
Speaker:“I’m h-happy to hear I impressed you.” “You also
Speaker:followed instructions perfectly.
Speaker:The last time my men held one of these tournaments, the challengers either didn’t fully commit
Speaker:or ignored instructions altogether.” He held up
Speaker:a tablet, then surveyed whatever was onscreen.
Speaker:“My men did an extensive background check on you,
Speaker:and I never got to look over what they found…”
Speaker:Goosebumps formed on my tired arms, and I willed myself not to stare too long.
Speaker:The elite of Twilight City did not venture outside of Elysium Towers,
Speaker:not unless their job descriptions said so.
Speaker:Still, the news channels loved displaying the criminal exploits of dashing criminals.
Speaker:Such as the Terranova syndicate back on Earth,
Speaker:the Alessandros, the dreaded Clouded Leopards Cartel,
Speaker:and speculation about local gang warfare.
Speaker:Whatever made the protected elite feel dangerous.
Speaker:The only time I recalled seeing Bowie Tremaine’s hardened face was in a police mugshot shown during a news segment on black markets across the galaxy.
Speaker:“Your name’s Toby Earhart, yes?”
Speaker:I nodded, but before a reply could be said,
Speaker:the tiger lifted his head from his tablet, examining me like a puzzle.
Speaker:“Is it true that you used
Speaker:to go by a different name:
Speaker:Tobiah Benjamin Kensington? Son of Persephone socialites Jonah and Marie Kensington,
Speaker:and twin brother of their daughter, Chloe Kensington?” I gulped.
Speaker:A cold, dreadful sweat trickled down the side of my neck.
Speaker:Lying would be a fatal option to take, especially after getting so far.
Speaker:Mr. Tremaine examined me.
Speaker:“Well? I expect an answer from potential employees.”
Speaker:My gaze wavered and then grew cold as steel at the older feline.
Speaker:Whatever nervousness I felt went away as I spoke.
Speaker:“Tobiah’s dead,” I said coldly.
Speaker:“He might as well be a different person from another life.
Speaker:But yeah, I went by that name until I went to Kaleidascape’s office and asked for a two-phase procedure.”
Speaker:“Changing species and changing gender,”
Speaker:he mused, not reacting as I firmly nodded across the ten-yard space between us.
Speaker:“Records show that you moved out on your eighteenth birthday,
Speaker:then moved into a small bedroom apartment before becoming a midlevel sales associate at a small M-Way Mart.
Speaker:Quite a dramatic change for the eldest child of human socialites…I
Speaker:take it they didn’t approve of you changing species?”
Speaker:“They didn’t approve of me changing genders either,” I confirmed.
Speaker:Memories began resurfacing, again.
Speaker:“My sperm and egg donors…They
Speaker:wanted the perfect son, but Chloe was their golden child who could do no wrong.
Speaker:I got zero sympathy when I struggled,
Speaker:studied, and suppressed my true self,
Speaker:my real self. When I turned eighteen, at that point, I didn’t fuckin’ care and went to Kaleidascape anyway.
Speaker:I had to. I…I didn’t care what happened.”
Speaker:Of course, I didn’t think my parents would be so brutal though,
Speaker:so callous, in disowning me.
Speaker:I should’ve expected it.
Speaker:Coming home from the procedure to our apartment led me to a shouting match that disturbed the rest of Twilight City,
Speaker:then being given a packed suitcase, a one-way transit ride,
Speaker:and a final allowance to my card that proved they never wanted to see me again.
Speaker:Not in their home,
Speaker:not on the floor where
Speaker:we lived, or even in Elysium Towers, if my
Speaker:rejected applications for the district’s smallest apartments told me anything.
Speaker:So, I gave them their wish.
Speaker:To them, their only son was dead. “I am
Speaker:sorry to hear about that, Toby,”
Speaker:Mr. Tremaine said.
Speaker:“I truly am. No parent should ever discard their own because of who they truly are inside.
Speaker:inside.” A stray thought came to mind.
Speaker:“So, you don’t mind that about me?”
Speaker:For the first time,
Speaker:I saw him appear offended.
Speaker:“What makes you think that?”
Speaker:he asked. “Do you identify as a woman?”
Speaker:“Yes.” The single word flowed out as naturally as oxygen.
Speaker:“Will it interfere with your ability to protect me?”
Speaker:he asked, “Or protect yourself?”
Speaker:I gave him that steely look again. “No.” He inanely shrugged. “Good enough for me.” A sigh held hostage was let free, and my tail wagged. “Now,” Mr. Tremaine told me, “I wish I could say
Speaker:you’ll never meet any such prejudices on the job I’m offering you,
Speaker:but it would be a lie.
Speaker:In the office, at least you’ll be treated with the respect, dignity, and honor that is expected for all my employees.
Speaker:Outside the office though,
Speaker:I can’t make any promises.
Speaker:Some will be disrespectful towards you.
Speaker:My enemies, rivals,
Speaker:punks, and potential allies won’t hesitate to hurt you any way they can.”
Speaker:“I understand,” came my reply.
Speaker:“I hope so,” he retorted.
Speaker:“You may have won this job but consider the next year or so your probation.
Speaker:Now, my current bodyguard’s retiring soon,
Speaker:but he’ll show you the ropes.
Speaker:Full training and knowledge of being a bodyguard outside of the official union.
Speaker:I won’t make you do anything illegal,
Speaker:but I expect you to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Speaker:I will expect nothing but the
Speaker:best from you. Not only are you gonna make sure I’m safe and sound,
Speaker:but so is the Twilight Deliverance group,
Speaker:its employees, and the customers we serve throughout this city.”
Speaker:From a nearby bar, Mr. Tremaine poured a glass of red wine.
Speaker:While sitting back down, he made a motion of his broad feline head towards the seat adjacent to him,
Speaker:and I complied. Even though my body protested getting up from one comfortable spot to another.
Speaker:“Are you up to this next challenge?” he asked, handing me a drink.
Speaker:“Cayden seems to think you’re up for the job.”
Speaker:I stared down at the red liquid sloshing inside my circular glass.
Speaker:It reminded me of blood at first, but thanks to the interior lighting,
Speaker:it started shimmering neon.
Speaker:My bruised reflection stared back,
Speaker:completely different from the scared,
Speaker:helpless she-wolf from the beginning.
Speaker:I wondered if Tobiah Kensington would have predicted the decision I’d ultimately make.
Speaker:A decision that would change my life forever.
Speaker:For better, for worse,
Speaker:and for mine alone.
Speaker:I grinned brightly. “When do I start, and what else do I
Speaker:sign?” Mr. Tremaine looked at me like a proud father,
Speaker:his ears high and tail wagging against the cushion between us.
Speaker:He held out his own filled glass,
Speaker:and we clinked them together.
Speaker:This was the second and final part of
Speaker:“Neon Bruises” by Domus Vocis,
Speaker:read for you by Rhythm Bastard,
Speaker:Swole Raccoon Punk..
Speaker:As always, you can find more stories on the web at thevoice.dog,
Speaker:or find the show wherever you get
Speaker:your podcasts. Happy Pride,
Speaker:and Thank you for listening to The Voice
