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Vincent pulled the Arachno HM into a parking lot, putting the kickstand off, the repetitive click of the massive V8 block occurring as it cooled off. “This should be the place” He mentioned as he hopped off the bike.
Viktor looked up at the sign. Sure enough it read “Pacific Current Auto” The shop almost seemed out of place in this part of town which wasn’t in the best condition. The shop itself was pretty large, with a massive garage which looked like it could hold 6 cars, although a lot of that space was likely used for working on the actual cars. One of the garage doors was open, revealing a sleek, modified, sliver 71’ dodge challenger with black stripes.
    “Well… This certainly has to be the place” Viktor muttered. It seemed like an expensive property to own, even with it being directly outside the city.
“Well let’s head up there then” Vincent Dorang said, already walking towards the doorway of the garage.
    “Whoa! Hang on a sec Vincent,” Viktor called. “We can’t just walk up there and say we’ve been sent by a few dragons to save the world. They’ll look at us like were smoking something. We gotta ease ‘em into it somehow.”
    “And just how do we do that?” Vincent inquired
“Simple. We do the same thing I did with you. We get on the subject of something they like, and then bring up what we need to talk about.” Viktor responded
“Wait… So did you or did you not actually like my bike then.” Vincent spoke, looking a bit annoyed.
“Of course I liked your damn bike. I’m not even big on auto but that thing was impressive.” Viktor said
“Hmm. Clever.” Chase said sarcastically
Vincent nodded, feeling a bit satisfied that his effort over the years has paid off a bit.
    “So, considering they’re mechanics, maybe we could get them to take a look at your bike Vincent.” Viktor suggested.
Vincent’s eyes widened at the thought. “No. Hell no. No one is touching my bike” He said angrily.
“But it’s just so we can talk to them!” Viktor shouted.
“I don’t care! No one is touching my bike! No one touches it except for me!”
“It’s just a bike! Who’s to say they’re even going to touch it!”
“NO! It is not just a bike! That baby is my pride and joy! I’ve put too much into it to let a few fish get their slimy hands over it!”
“Would you just chill out! Seriously, we need to be able to talk to them!”
“How about you just shut your yap 4-legs!”
Viktor’s eyes narrowed at the racist insult “Well screw you too, scales!”
“More of that bullshit out of your muzzle and I’ll put you back on all fours like the dumb dog you are!”
“Hey! I get enough racist shit from people as is! I don’t need you adding to it!”
“Neither do I! Maybe I still should’ve knocked you out back at the bar!”

Then their argument was interrupted by an unfamiliar female voice.
“Hey! You guys need something?”
The three of them turned their heads to see a grey and white anthropomorphic shark leaning against the edge of the garage door. She had light blue eyes, long blond hair that was dyed purple at the bangs, and was wearing a long sleeved, oil-stained, dark blue shirt and jeans. She had a goldring piercing on one of her long, fin-like ears and another one on her tailfin.
“Like... I don’t know. Maybe a nice warm cup of shut the hell up?” She offered, resuming her sentence. She had a somewhat sweet young voice, but there was a clear tone of annoyance in it.
Before Viktor could respond, Vincent stepped forward and spoke “You’re Maria Rezark, right?” He said, getting straight to the point.
“Damnit Vince...” Viktor muttered.
“That would be me” Maria responded.
“How long have you been standing there?” Viktor asked nervously.
“Oh. Just enough to realize you three aren’t just some happy trio.” She replied smugly. “So. Just who exactly are you guys and why are you here? Sure doesn’t sound like you’re looking for my auto services” She said, giving an angry glare at Vincent in particular.
Viktor spoke up “Well… It’s hard to explain really and I guess considering where we are right now, it would be best if we just jumped to the point. Except for my friend Chase over here, me and Vincent have been having the same dreams as you.”
Chase nervously waved hi, blushing a bit. “Hi… You’re um, really nice looking” He blushed harder, facepalming at what he just said. “Why did I say that” He muttered behind his hand.
Maria blushed a bit herself at the compliment. “Oh… Oh no, it’s okay really.” She said, reassuring Chase. “It’s been kind of a long day for me, so I really appreciate the compliment.” She smiled cheerfully, her fin-like ears perking up a bit afterward.
Chase’s own ears perked up, realizing he hadn’t completely embarrassed himself.
Maria seemed to be in a much better mode after Chase’s compliment. “So Viktor? You mentioned the dreams. So what dreams exactly?”
“We’ve had the dreams where you’re constantly following an endless trail, everytime you go to sleep.”
Maria’s eyes widened a bit in surprise. “Oh… Well, how did you know to find me then?” She inquired, feeling a bit bewildered.
Viktor went on to explain the dragons and what they told him. Maria seemed to take a bit of an interest actually. Perhaps meeting a few dragons would be pretty cool.
“So basically what you’re telling me is, we have all been chosen by a few dragons called the elementals to fulfill some prophecy or something of that nature?” Maria inquired.
“Well yeah…. Or atleast thats to the farthest extent that I know.” Viktor said. “Say shouldn’t your brother, Shiv be out here listening to this.”
Maria’s smile faded at the mention of her brother. “Ughh…. Well he’s kind of a buttwipe sometimes. And he’s inside doing paperwork. I doubt he’d be willing to listen to what you guys have to say for even a-” Then her voice was cut off by a male voice from inside the garage.
“Maria? Is everything okay out there?” The voice called.
Maria sighed in exasperation. “And that would be him now… Always on my ass about everything I’m doing.” She muttered. “Yes Shiv! Everything is fine!” She yelled back at the garage.
“I heard yelling, so clearly it isn’t! I’m coming out there to take a look!” The voice yelled back.
Maria groaned at the response. “That stubborn sack of shit…”
Moments later, a tan, male, anthropomorphic tiger shark, with green eyes, and a dark green, long sleeved shirt, brown pants, and some dog tags on a chain around his neck, appeared from the inside of the garage, eyeing Viktor, Vincent, and Chase.
“So. Who the hell are these three?” He said, turning to his sister.
“Their just a couple of guys with some important news, Sean.” Maria said in a irritable tone of voice.
     “Don’t call me Sean, Maria. You know the name I prefer, use it.” Shiv said, accusingly.
    Maria rolled her eyes. Then Shiv spoke again. “So, just what important news do these three misfits have to offer.” Shiv gestured towards the fox, wolf, and dragon.
    “Shiv, would you stop being such a jerk?”
    “Tell me Maria. What did they tell you?”
    Viktor, Vincent and Chase continued to watch the siblings argue, giving each other confused glances.
    “You know what Shiv? I’m so fed up with you! I’m sick of your shit!” Maria snapped.“Could you possibly stand to stop being an asshole for once in your life! You can’t keep this up! And you need to stop treating me like I’m a 5 year old! I may be your younger sister, BUT I’M 26!” She yelled louder at her brother, who actually seemed a bit stunned at Maria’s sudden outburst.
“But, Maria.” He stuttered.
    “NO! DON’T BUT MARIA ME! COULD YOU LAY OFF MY ASS?!! YOU’RE JUST SO OVERPROTECTIVE!!! PLEASE! JUST GIVE ME A DAMN BREAK!” Maria yelled more, then took a deep breath. A slight tear was noticeable, running down her cheek. “I’m just so sick of you… Controlling everything I do and everywhere I go…” She murmured.
    The other three continued to watch this awkwardly. “Talk about sibling rivalry...” Chase whispered, then Viktor elbowed him in the side in response to his obnoxious remark.
    Shiv sat there, surprised, he actually seemed a bit upset himself and brushed the tear off Maria’s cheek, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Maria… I… I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you felt that way… I just… I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
    Maria leaned against Shiv and hugged him, still sniffling a bit, Shiv hugged her back. “I just want a break Shiv.” Maria murmured. “Could you just cut your sister some slack.” She hugged him harder.
    Shiv faintly smiled a bit. “Sure… If that’s how you feel. Sure.”
    The two of them sat there for a while, hugging it out. The other three still just watched, not sure what to say.
    Finally Maria spoke again “Thank you.” and the two separated. Maria let out a long sigh of relief and looked at her brother appreciatively. Shiv seemed to feel a bit uncomfortable hugging his sister for that long in front of others.
    “Okay…” Shiv sighed “That… Yeah. So now that that’s over with, Maria? What was it these guys had to say?” He asked, glancing over at the other three as he did.
    “Right” Maria said. “Say um… I didn’t get your name wolf.” She said, pointing to Viktor.
Viktor sat there for a moment, breaking out of a daydream. “Oh. Uh. It’s Viktor DeCane.”
“So Shiv. Thats Vincent, Viktor, and Chase. Viktor? I think you can explain to Shiv what’s going on.
Viktor shrugged. “Sure.” And he went ahead and told Shiv about what he had learned, Maria poking in here and there to help reassure her brother. “So basically that’s what I know.” Viktor said. “And I’m hoping you two are willing to join. They did say apparently that we would all see each other in the next dream. Except for Chase anyways.”
Chase sighed, feeling a bit like a fifth wheel at the moment.
Maria and Shiv looked at eachother a bit. Then Shiv spoke “Well. If what you’re saying is true, then hopefully we will see eachother in these… Dreams. I’ve been following the trail as well, but seeing you guys tonight in my dream will certainly be convincing.”
“Yeah. Hopefully. And I’m pretty sure that they’re not dreams as well.” Viktor said.
“Well. You two are welcome to stay here overnight then, it’s getting late anyways.” Maria said, taking note of the sky which was ripening orange and red at sunset. “Besides, even here on the outskirts, traffic is pretty painful, and if we truly are all going to be involved in this prophecy together, well, we might as well spend some time together to get to know each other.” She said cheerfully.
“Sounds like a good deal” Viktor said.
“I’m up for it.” Vincent spoke. “It is a saturday anyways.”
Shiv sighed “Fine… But they stay in the living room. We still aren’t 100% sure anyways.”
“Thank you for actually offering hospitality Shiv” Maria said to her brother. Shiv rolled his eyes.
“Say Maria?” Chase said, and Maria turned to him. “I could actually use your help with my car. The brakes seem to be acting really funky on it.”
Viktor thought about it and did recall Chase’s Toyota acting a bit klunky at stops.
“Like how so?” Maria asked
“They act really… Um… Touchy? It’s really jerky when coming to a stop.”
“I’ll take a look at it for ya” Maria answered
“Thanks.” Chase said.

Maria had Chase pull the Toyota Supra into the garage onto a lift. Meanwhile Shiv went ahead and showed Viktor and Vincent inside their house which was actually the back of the garage. They basically did everything here so there was no travelling to work really.

“So you guys can just camp out here overnight. I think Maria’s just grabbing a pizza or something later.” Shiv told them.
“Well I’m glad you can trust us a it” Viktor told him “I’m not even completely on board with this whole thing myself. I mean try and put yourself in front of 5 dragons.”
Shiv snickered a bit “Yeah. I don’t suppose I’d believe it much myself if I was you”

Maria had unbolted the wheels of Chase’s car and was taking a look at the brakes. “Hmm…” She examined them carefully and took them off “Yeah. The brake pads are a bit worn out. Also the disc on your rear right one is a bit uneven which would cause the brake to act pretty jerky. That’s probably why the brakes act so funky.” She explained to Chase.
“Oh. How much would it cost to replace them? I haven’t ever needed to replace them yet until they started acting up a month ago.” Chase told her.
“Well. I for a full axle set it would be 250.”
“Oh. Well that’s not too bad…” Chase spoke, although it wasn’t hard to tell he felt otherwise. “I’ve got my wallet on me and I can pay ya now if you have the parts.”
     “That I do. And I’ll go ahead and install them for ya free as long as you pay for the pieces.” Maria offered.
    “Sweet! I’d appreciate that.” Chase smiled a bit as he pulled his checkbook out.

Shiv popped his head in through the doorway “Hey Maria? Weren’t we going to order a pizza? Probably should make it three, right?...”
“Oh yeah. Ask Viktor and Vincent if they’re okay with pep and cheese. then go ahead and order one. I’m just gonna install some new brakes for Chase.” Maria told him.
Shiv nodded and disappeared back through the doorway to ask Viktor and Vincent, then went ahead and ordered a pizza.
Maria went ahead and got the proper brake pieces out of some storage bins and installed them on Chase’s car. “This is a nice car by the way. I’m not big on tuners but Supra’s aren’t half bad. And yours is in overall pretty great condition aside from the brakes.” She told Chase as she finished installing them and moved on to reinstall the wheels.
“Well thanks” Chase told her “Is that Challenger your’s?”
“Yup. It’s my pride and joy. Has been for 6 years.”
“It’s really sweet. I like the black decals.”
“Thanks!” Maria responded as she put on the last wheel.
“So how long have you been living with your brother?”
“Since I was 17.”
“Oh… How old is Shiv now then?”
“32”
“And… I’m assuming you know nothing before the age of 17?”
Maria dropped her wrench at the question, making a loud metallic clattering noise that echoed through the garage. She faced him, looking a bit freaked out. Her ears angled down a bit.
    “Y-yeah… How… How d-did you know?” She stuttered
“Well… Sorry if I just scared you but that’s how Viktor is too. Apparently, according to him anyways, he knows nothing about who he was before the age of... “ Chase had to do some quick math in his head and remember what Viktor said earlier. “Before he was 24. No parents or anything but there were documents like he had been born and had lived a full life.”
Maria sat there for a while, leaned up against her dodge, thinking deeply. She sighed and looked up at Chase, a mixture of both hope and fear in her bright blue eyes. “Yeah… That’s exactly how it is… Shiv doesn’t know anything since he was 23… He has those dog tags and the only clue on them is that his first name is Sean… But the last name is scratched out on the dog tag. And it says he was drafted in June 1968 or something like that… It stresses him out and that’s why he hates it when I call him Sean…* Maria brushed back her blond hair with her hands “I just… I don’t understand any of it…. No childhood or anything, but apparently you were in fact existing. It’s just so… so…” She sighed, shaking her head and didn’t finish her sentence.
“Stressful?” Chase offered, finishing her sentence for her.
“Yeah… And confusing.” She smiled at him a bit
“Well… At least you’re not alone. You’ve got your brother. Viktor didn’t have anyone to look up too.”
Maria nodded her head slowly “I suppose I am a bit luckier then him. How long have you known Viktor?”
“8 years. So apparently shortly after he… Um… Knew anything... He definitely seemed lost when I met him… Leaning against a wall at a street corner, looking down, keeping to himself. He was certainly an unsocial dickhole. So I let him be. But I saw him back at the same spot, multiple times. So eventually I walked up and talked to him one day, asked him what was up. He tried to brush me off, saying I was just another anthro who had no idea what he was dealing with. I guess I kinda was persistent enough as I passed him each day I went to work and tried to start a conversation with him. Eventually we finally had a decent thorough chat and became good friends and it only escalated from there. Sounds like I’m one of the best friends he has though. And the only one too.”
“Damn.” Maria responded. “Sounds a lot like how Shiv used to be. And how he still is… Kind of anyway. Well glad he had you to talk to.”
“Yup. But he kinda disappeared at one point for about a year. I literally just met him again for the first time in awhile yesterday. However he forgot to mention something to you that the dragons told him.”
“What’s that?”
“Well apparently they told Viktor he used to have different life in the past.”
Maria gaped at Chase. “I… Really? That… That makes so much sense though… Holy shit… That explains so much… For me as well! Does that like mean me and Viktor are like reincarnations or something?”
“No idea” Chase said
“Wow… Shiv’s dog tags… The loss of memory… Even already existing with some of the skills and knowledge we have… I didn’t tell you this but Shiv has PTSD. But… For no known reason...”
“I’m guessing that has something to do with the dog tags? What was the date on those again?”
“1968” she answered shortly.
“Wait a minute…. That was during fricking vietnam… You don’t think…”
Maria slowly nodded her head, eyes widening. “I do… So Shiv used to be like… A soldier or something… Damn.. That explains his nightmares and everything.”
“Nightmares?” Chase inquired
“He has these like… Bad vivid dreams sometimes. Of just war, people dying around him. As if he was in fact in a war.”
“Wow…. Well we should probably tell them about this though.” Chase said, one of his ears slightly drooping.
“I’ll bring it up. You’re not even really involved in this as much as we are anyways.”

Then Shiv interrupted them. “Hey Maria? Pizza is probably gonna be here in one or two minutes. You and Chase wanna come inside now? Garage gets kinda cold at night. and Vincent and Viktor seem to be settling in just fine…” He said as Viktor and Vincent could be heard arguing inside behind him.
Maria shook her head “What the hell could they be arguing about now?”
“I don’t know… Something stupid probably like who sleeps on the couch and on the floor.” Shiv responded
“Well then get out the air mattress! And make sure Viktor sleeps on that. Vincent’s got those horns. He can sleep on the fold-out couch bed. I can only imagine how annoying those horns must be in everyday life.” Maria muttered, thinking about her own dorsal fin, and turned to Chase “Well. Sounds like we should head inside and help out. I’ve got another air mattress somewhere in storage. Glad we got plenty of space around here.”
“It is a pretty big place you guys own. How do you manage to pay for it? Especially being anthros in New York.” Chase asked.
“Well, me and Shiv have managed to build up a good reputation around here actually. There’s been a lot of times where other mechanics said they couldn’t help people so those people came to us and 99 percent of the time we were able to fix the problem and help out. So people put in a good word for us and we expanded a bit.” Maria answered.
“Sounds pretty great. Seems like you’re more of the expert mechanic around here?”
“That would be correct. Shiv handles more of the paperwork and heavy labor around here.” Maria said as they walked inside.
“How’d you get to be as good as you are?” Chase asked her.
“Honestly it just feels kinda natural really. I already had a great knack for mechanics when I was 17 and quickly made way from that so now it seems I’m one of the best auto technicians here in New York. Hell, I’ve won a few mentions in newspapers and a few plaques.” She said as she pointed to a gold plaque hanging on a wall that read “Voted best family-owned autoshop of the USA, May 1st 2024. Pacific Current Auto. Awarded by the National Automotive Association.”
Chase stared at the plaque. “Best in New York? Best in the fricking US! That’s a really damn impressive achievement right there! How the heck do you manage this place by yourselves?”
Maria laughed “Oh no. We don’t. We’ve got hired help of course.”
“Who and where are they?” Chase asked
“Eh just some other auto enthusiasts and people that know their way around cars and tools that we trust, regardless of whether their anthro or human. Not all humans are assholes anyways. I’m certainly good friends with them. And it’s the weekend and it’s late so none of them have work right now.”
“Oh... “ Chase murmured. Then there was a knock at the front door.
“That must be the pizza.” Maria said and headed towards the front door, grabbing her wallet off the counter as she did so.
Maria really struck Chase as sort of a tomboy. She was a mechanic. She acted pretty tough, didn’t put up with much crap, and certainly didn’t act girly in the slightest. Yet she still seemed like a really nice person. Chase kind of appreciated that deep down. She didn’t even have a purse. Her wallet was a simple black fold up. It was almost alien to him in a sense, her personality compared to so many other girls he’d seen or met.
“Guys! Pizza’s here” Maria shouted after paying the delivery guy at the front door and walked into the living room holding two pizza boxes.
“Alright!” Shiv said and helped Maria with some paper plates and set up the pizza boxes.
Everyone dug in and Maria asked everyone if they wanted anything to drink. Chase and Viktor both just asked for a water and Vincent kindly turned down the offer, saying he wasn’t thirsty. Maria went ahead and grabbed the drinks, getting herself and Shiv a cola in the process.
“Here you guys go.” She said, handing them the drinks.
“Thanks.” Viktor told her as he took a sip of his water.
“Welcome. So… Um… Chase told me about how you don’t remember anything before you were 24.” Maria told him nervously.
Viktor almost gagged on his water and at the same time Vincent and Shiv all looked at Maria.
“What?!” Shiv gasped.
Viktor sighed. “That’s the way it is… Don’t know anything about it… Except for what the dragons told me anyways.
“Wait a second.” Vincent interrupted. “That’s how it is for me to. Before I was 27.”
“Same thing here.” Shiv spoke. “I don’t remember anything before age 23.”
All of them kinda just exchanged nervous confused looks in silence. Then Vincent interrupted the silence.”So… I suppose Viktor has this right. Were all facing the same problem and we’ve all been having the same dreams. That’s not coincidence right there.”
Shiv and Maria nodded.
Then Viktor spoke. “But guys. There’s another thing the dragons told me that was directed towards me specifically. Apparently I used to have a different life where I was named Viktor Kiradoschev instead of DeCane.”
Vincent and Shiv stared. Shiv held up his dog tags and stared at them.
Then Maria spoke. “I’m thinking that must be the case for all of us. Shiv. Me and Chase discussed it. You’ve probably got the biggest lead out of any of us. We agreed because of your dog tags and PTSD that you were a soldier in Vietnam.”
Shiv sat there for a while, looking down, then rubbed his face in stress. “That’s it… That has to be it… Nothing else makes more sense then that… Wow… I-I’m gonna... Go lay down for a while.” Shiv said and sat up and clumsily made his way to his room, placing his hand on the wall for support.
“Is… He going to be okay?” Vincent asked.
“I don’t know...” Maria responded “Shiv?” She walked towards Shiv before he shut the door to his room. “Shiv, are you okay?”
A muffled “I’m fine. Go away.” Could be heard from his room.
Maria stood by the door for a while, sighed, and made her way back to Chase, Vincent, and Viktor.
“I imagine it’s probably a lot he’s taking in right now…” Viktor commented
“Yeah…” Maria mumbled “You’re right about that.”
“So Vincent, how old are you right now?” Viktor asked
“36. And yes, I don’t remember anything before I was 27. So just like all of you I remember nothing before 2016.” Vincent answered
“Well… Let’s try and get some sleep then guys. Sounds like whatever is coming our way is going to be important.” Maria told the three of them. “I’m gonna go head to my own bedroom. Night.” And she closed the door to the living room.
Viktor laid on the air mattress for a while, trying to fall asleep, but anxiety kept him awake. Seemed he was too anxious about falling asleep to actually fall asleep. The thought made him smirk a bit. But he still wanted to go to sleep. He could clearly hear Chase snoring Not that that was keeping him up though. He looked over at Vincent who was sleeping on the couch bed. He seemed to be asleep but he couldn’t tell very well as his back was faced to Viktor. Viktor sighed and waited. And finally blacked out.

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Eyyyyyy I managed to get another page done :'D Cuz I'm doing a good job keeping up with making these for sure...

Anyway hope you guys enjoyed this next part of the story. Imma try and be more on top of these things. also I know this is a much larger section of writing then the others but... There weren't as many notable scenes worth illustrating.

Description

Vincent pulled the Arachno HM into a parking lot, putting the kickstand off, the repetitive click of the massive V8 block occurring as it cooled off. “This should be the place” He mentioned as he hopped off the bike.
Viktor looked up at the sign. Sure enough it read “Pacific Current Auto” The shop almost seemed out of place in this part of town which wasn’t in the best condition. The shop itself was pretty large, with a massive garage which looked like it could hold 6 cars, although a lot of that space was likely used for working on the actual cars. One of the garage doors was open, revealing a sleek, modified, sliver 71’ dodge challenger with black stripes.
    “Well… This certainly has to be the place” Viktor muttered. It seemed like an expensive property to own, even with it being directly outside the city.
“Well let’s head up there then” Vincent Dorang said, already walking towards the doorway of the garage.
    “Whoa! Hang on a sec Vincent,” Viktor called. “We can’t just walk up there and say we’ve been sent by a few dragons to save the world. They’ll look at us like were smoking something. We gotta ease ‘em into it somehow.”
    “And just how do we do that?” Vincent inquired
“Simple. We do the same thing I did with you. We get on the subject of something they like, and then bring up what we need to talk about.” Viktor responded
“Wait… So did you or did you not actually like my bike then.” Vincent spoke, looking a bit annoyed.
“Of course I liked your damn bike. I’m not even big on auto but that thing was impressive.” Viktor said
“Hmm. Clever.” Chase said sarcastically
Vincent nodded, feeling a bit satisfied that his effort over the years has paid off a bit.
    “So, considering they’re mechanics, maybe we could get them to take a look at your bike Vincent.” Viktor suggested.
Vincent’s eyes widened at the thought. “No. Hell no. No one is touching my bike” He said angrily.
“But it’s just so we can talk to them!” Viktor shouted.
“I don’t care! No one is touching my bike! No one touches it except for me!”
“It’s just a bike! Who’s to say they’re even going to touch it!”
“NO! It is not just a bike! That baby is my pride and joy! I’ve put too much into it to let a few fish get their slimy hands over it!”
“Would you just chill out! Seriously, we need to be able to talk to them!”
“How about you just shut your yap 4-legs!”
Viktor’s eyes narrowed at the racist insult “Well screw you too, scales!”
“More of that bullshit out of your muzzle and I’ll put you back on all fours like the dumb dog you are!”
“Hey! I get enough racist shit from people as is! I don’t need you adding to it!”
“Neither do I! Maybe I still should’ve knocked you out back at the bar!”

Then their argument was interrupted by an unfamiliar female voice.
“Hey! You guys need something?”
The three of them turned their heads to see a grey and white anthropomorphic shark leaning against the edge of the garage door. She had light blue eyes, long blond hair that was dyed purple at the bangs, and was wearing a long sleeved, oil-stained, dark blue shirt and jeans. She had a goldring piercing on one of her long, fin-like ears and another one on her tailfin.
“Like... I don’t know. Maybe a nice warm cup of shut the hell up?” She offered, resuming her sentence. She had a somewhat sweet young voice, but there was a clear tone of annoyance in it.
Before Viktor could respond, Vincent stepped forward and spoke “You’re Maria Rezark, right?” He said, getting straight to the point.
“Damnit Vince...” Viktor muttered.
“That would be me” Maria responded.
“How long have you been standing there?” Viktor asked nervously.
“Oh. Just enough to realize you three aren’t just some happy trio.” She replied smugly. “So. Just who exactly are you guys and why are you here? Sure doesn’t sound like you’re looking for my auto services” She said, giving an angry glare at Vincent in particular.
Viktor spoke up “Well… It’s hard to explain really and I guess considering where we are right now, it would be best if we just jumped to the point. Except for my friend Chase over here, me and Vincent have been having the same dreams as you.”
Chase nervously waved hi, blushing a bit. “Hi… You’re um, really nice looking” He blushed harder, facepalming at what he just said. “Why did I say that” He muttered behind his hand.
Maria blushed a bit herself at the compliment. “Oh… Oh no, it’s okay really.” She said, reassuring Chase. “It’s been kind of a long day for me, so I really appreciate the compliment.” She smiled cheerfully, her fin-like ears perking up a bit afterward.
Chase’s own ears perked up, realizing he hadn’t completely embarrassed himself.
Maria seemed to be in a much better mode after Chase’s compliment. “So Viktor? You mentioned the dreams. So what dreams exactly?”
“We’ve had the dreams where you’re constantly following an endless trail, everytime you go to sleep.”
Maria’s eyes widened a bit in surprise. “Oh… Well, how did you know to find me then?” She inquired, feeling a bit bewildered.
Viktor went on to explain the dragons and what they told him. Maria seemed to take a bit of an interest actually. Perhaps meeting a few dragons would be pretty cool.
“So basically what you’re telling me is, we have all been chosen by a few dragons called the elementals to fulfill some prophecy or something of that nature?” Maria inquired.
“Well yeah…. Or atleast thats to the farthest extent that I know.” Viktor said. “Say shouldn’t your brother, Shiv be out here listening to this.”
Maria’s smile faded at the mention of her brother. “Ughh…. Well he’s kind of a buttwipe sometimes. And he’s inside doing paperwork. I doubt he’d be willing to listen to what you guys have to say for even a-” Then her voice was cut off by a male voice from inside the garage.
“Maria? Is everything okay out there?” The voice called.
Maria sighed in exasperation. “And that would be him now… Always on my ass about everything I’m doing.” She muttered. “Yes Shiv! Everything is fine!” She yelled back at the garage.
“I heard yelling, so clearly it isn’t! I’m coming out there to take a look!” The voice yelled back.
Maria groaned at the response. “That stubborn sack of shit…”
Moments later, a tan, male, anthropomorphic tiger shark, with green eyes, and a dark green, long sleeved shirt, brown pants, and some dog tags on a chain around his neck, appeared from the inside of the garage, eyeing Viktor, Vincent, and Chase.
“So. Who the hell are these three?” He said, turning to his sister.
“Their just a couple of guys with some important news, Sean.” Maria said in a irritable tone of voice.
     “Don’t call me Sean, Maria. You know the name I prefer, use it.” Shiv said, accusingly.
    Maria rolled her eyes. Then Shiv spoke again. “So, just what important news do these three misfits have to offer.” Shiv gestured towards the fox, wolf, and dragon.
    “Shiv, would you stop being such a jerk?”
    “Tell me Maria. What did they tell you?”
    Viktor, Vincent and Chase continued to watch the siblings argue, giving each other confused glances.
    “You know what Shiv? I’m so fed up with you! I’m sick of your shit!” Maria snapped.“Could you possibly stand to stop being an asshole for once in your life! You can’t keep this up! And you need to stop treating me like I’m a 5 year old! I may be your younger sister, BUT I’M 26!” She yelled louder at her brother, who actually seemed a bit stunned at Maria’s sudden outburst.
“But, Maria.” He stuttered.
    “NO! DON’T BUT MARIA ME! COULD YOU LAY OFF MY ASS?!! YOU’RE JUST SO OVERPROTECTIVE!!! PLEASE! JUST GIVE ME A DAMN BREAK!” Maria yelled more, then took a deep breath. A slight tear was noticeable, running down her cheek. “I’m just so sick of you… Controlling everything I do and everywhere I go…” She murmured.
    The other three continued to watch this awkwardly. “Talk about sibling rivalry...” Chase whispered, then Viktor elbowed him in the side in response to his obnoxious remark.
    Shiv sat there, surprised, he actually seemed a bit upset himself and brushed the tear off Maria’s cheek, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Maria… I… I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you felt that way… I just… I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
    Maria leaned against Shiv and hugged him, still sniffling a bit, Shiv hugged her back. “I just want a break Shiv.” Maria murmured. “Could you just cut your sister some slack.” She hugged him harder.
    Shiv faintly smiled a bit. “Sure… If that’s how you feel. Sure.”
    The two of them sat there for a while, hugging it out. The other three still just watched, not sure what to say.
    Finally Maria spoke again “Thank you.” and the two separated. Maria let out a long sigh of relief and looked at her brother appreciatively. Shiv seemed to feel a bit uncomfortable hugging his sister for that long in front of others.
    “Okay…” Shiv sighed “That… Yeah. So now that that’s over with, Maria? What was it these guys had to say?” He asked, glancing over at the other three as he did.
    “Right” Maria said. “Say um… I didn’t get your name wolf.” She said, pointing to Viktor.
Viktor sat there for a moment, breaking out of a daydream. “Oh. Uh. It’s Viktor DeCane.”
“So Shiv. Thats Vincent, Viktor, and Chase. Viktor? I think you can explain to Shiv what’s going on.
Viktor shrugged. “Sure.” And he went ahead and told Shiv about what he had learned, Maria poking in here and there to help reassure her brother. “So basically that’s what I know.” Viktor said. “And I’m hoping you two are willing to join. They did say apparently that we would all see each other in the next dream. Except for Chase anyways.”
Chase sighed, feeling a bit like a fifth wheel at the moment.
Maria and Shiv looked at eachother a bit. Then Shiv spoke “Well. If what you’re saying is true, then hopefully we will see eachother in these… Dreams. I’ve been following the trail as well, but seeing you guys tonight in my dream will certainly be convincing.”
“Yeah. Hopefully. And I’m pretty sure that they’re not dreams as well.” Viktor said.
“Well. You two are welcome to stay here overnight then, it’s getting late anyways.” Maria said, taking note of the sky which was ripening orange and red at sunset. “Besides, even here on the outskirts, traffic is pretty painful, and if we truly are all going to be involved in this prophecy together, well, we might as well spend some time together to get to know each other.” She said cheerfully.
“Sounds like a good deal” Viktor said.
“I’m up for it.” Vincent spoke. “It is a saturday anyways.”
Shiv sighed “Fine… But they stay in the living room. We still aren’t 100% sure anyways.”
“Thank you for actually offering hospitality Shiv” Maria said to her brother. Shiv rolled his eyes.
“Say Maria?” Chase said, and Maria turned to him. “I could actually use your help with my car. The brakes seem to be acting really funky on it.”
Viktor thought about it and did recall Chase’s Toyota acting a bit klunky at stops.
“Like how so?” Maria asked
“They act really… Um… Touchy? It’s really jerky when coming to a stop.”
“I’ll take a look at it for ya” Maria answered
“Thanks.” Chase said.

Maria had Chase pull the Toyota Supra into the garage onto a lift. Meanwhile Shiv went ahead and showed Viktor and Vincent inside their house which was actually the back of the garage. They basically did everything here so there was no travelling to work really.

“So you guys can just camp out here overnight. I think Maria’s just grabbing a pizza or something later.” Shiv told them.
“Well I’m glad you can trust us a it” Viktor told him “I’m not even completely on board with this whole thing myself. I mean try and put yourself in front of 5 dragons.”
Shiv snickered a bit “Yeah. I don’t suppose I’d believe it much myself if I was you”

Maria had unbolted the wheels of Chase’s car and was taking a look at the brakes. “Hmm…” She examined them carefully and took them off “Yeah. The brake pads are a bit worn out. Also the disc on your rear right one is a bit uneven which would cause the brake to act pretty jerky. That’s probably why the brakes act so funky.” She explained to Chase.
“Oh. How much would it cost to replace them? I haven’t ever needed to replace them yet until they started acting up a month ago.” Chase told her.
“Well. I for a full axle set it would be 250.”
“Oh. Well that’s not too bad…” Chase spoke, although it wasn’t hard to tell he felt otherwise. “I’ve got my wallet on me and I can pay ya now if you have the parts.”
     “That I do. And I’ll go ahead and install them for ya free as long as you pay for the pieces.” Maria offered.
    “Sweet! I’d appreciate that.” Chase smiled a bit as he pulled his checkbook out.

Shiv popped his head in through the doorway “Hey Maria? Weren’t we going to order a pizza? Probably should make it three, right?...”
“Oh yeah. Ask Viktor and Vincent if they’re okay with pep and cheese. then go ahead and order one. I’m just gonna install some new brakes for Chase.” Maria told him.
Shiv nodded and disappeared back through the doorway to ask Viktor and Vincent, then went ahead and ordered a pizza.
Maria went ahead and got the proper brake pieces out of some storage bins and installed them on Chase’s car. “This is a nice car by the way. I’m not big on tuners but Supra’s aren’t half bad. And yours is in overall pretty great condition aside from the brakes.” She told Chase as she finished installing them and moved on to reinstall the wheels.
“Well thanks” Chase told her “Is that Challenger your’s?”
“Yup. It’s my pride and joy. Has been for 6 years.”
“It’s really sweet. I like the black decals.”
“Thanks!” Maria responded as she put on the last wheel.
“So how long have you been living with your brother?”
“Since I was 17.”
“Oh… How old is Shiv now then?”
“32”
“And… I’m assuming you know nothing before the age of 17?”
Maria dropped her wrench at the question, making a loud metallic clattering noise that echoed through the garage. She faced him, looking a bit freaked out. Her ears angled down a bit.
    “Y-yeah… How… How d-did you know?” She stuttered
“Well… Sorry if I just scared you but that’s how Viktor is too. Apparently, according to him anyways, he knows nothing about who he was before the age of... “ Chase had to do some quick math in his head and remember what Viktor said earlier. “Before he was 24. No parents or anything but there were documents like he had been born and had lived a full life.”
Maria sat there for a while, leaned up against her dodge, thinking deeply. She sighed and looked up at Chase, a mixture of both hope and fear in her bright blue eyes. “Yeah… That’s exactly how it is… Shiv doesn’t know anything since he was 23… He has those dog tags and the only clue on them is that his first name is Sean… But the last name is scratched out on the dog tag. And it says he was drafted in June 1968 or something like that… It stresses him out and that’s why he hates it when I call him Sean…* Maria brushed back her blond hair with her hands “I just… I don’t understand any of it…. No childhood or anything, but apparently you were in fact existing. It’s just so… so…” She sighed, shaking her head and didn’t finish her sentence.
“Stressful?” Chase offered, finishing her sentence for her.
“Yeah… And confusing.” She smiled at him a bit
“Well… At least you’re not alone. You’ve got your brother. Viktor didn’t have anyone to look up too.”
Maria nodded her head slowly “I suppose I am a bit luckier then him. How long have you known Viktor?”
“8 years. So apparently shortly after he… Um… Knew anything... He definitely seemed lost when I met him… Leaning against a wall at a street corner, looking down, keeping to himself. He was certainly an unsocial dickhole. So I let him be. But I saw him back at the same spot, multiple times. So eventually I walked up and talked to him one day, asked him what was up. He tried to brush me off, saying I was just another anthro who had no idea what he was dealing with. I guess I kinda was persistent enough as I passed him each day I went to work and tried to start a conversation with him. Eventually we finally had a decent thorough chat and became good friends and it only escalated from there. Sounds like I’m one of the best friends he has though. And the only one too.”
“Damn.” Maria responded. “Sounds a lot like how Shiv used to be. And how he still is… Kind of anyway. Well glad he had you to talk to.”
“Yup. But he kinda disappeared at one point for about a year. I literally just met him again for the first time in awhile yesterday. However he forgot to mention something to you that the dragons told him.”
“What’s that?”
“Well apparently they told Viktor he used to have different life in the past.”
Maria gaped at Chase. “I… Really? That… That makes so much sense though… Holy shit… That explains so much… For me as well! Does that like mean me and Viktor are like reincarnations or something?”
“No idea” Chase said
“Wow… Shiv’s dog tags… The loss of memory… Even already existing with some of the skills and knowledge we have… I didn’t tell you this but Shiv has PTSD. But… For no known reason...”
“I’m guessing that has something to do with the dog tags? What was the date on those again?”
“1968” she answered shortly.
“Wait a minute…. That was during fricking vietnam… You don’t think…”
Maria slowly nodded her head, eyes widening. “I do… So Shiv used to be like… A soldier or something… Damn.. That explains his nightmares and everything.”
“Nightmares?” Chase inquired
“He has these like… Bad vivid dreams sometimes. Of just war, people dying around him. As if he was in fact in a war.”
“Wow…. Well we should probably tell them about this though.” Chase said, one of his ears slightly drooping.
“I’ll bring it up. You’re not even really involved in this as much as we are anyways.”

Then Shiv interrupted them. “Hey Maria? Pizza is probably gonna be here in one or two minutes. You and Chase wanna come inside now? Garage gets kinda cold at night. and Vincent and Viktor seem to be settling in just fine…” He said as Viktor and Vincent could be heard arguing inside behind him.
Maria shook her head “What the hell could they be arguing about now?”
“I don’t know… Something stupid probably like who sleeps on the couch and on the floor.” Shiv responded
“Well then get out the air mattress! And make sure Viktor sleeps on that. Vincent’s got those horns. He can sleep on the fold-out couch bed. I can only imagine how annoying those horns must be in everyday life.” Maria muttered, thinking about her own dorsal fin, and turned to Chase “Well. Sounds like we should head inside and help out. I’ve got another air mattress somewhere in storage. Glad we got plenty of space around here.”
“It is a pretty big place you guys own. How do you manage to pay for it? Especially being anthros in New York.” Chase asked.
“Well, me and Shiv have managed to build up a good reputation around here actually. There’s been a lot of times where other mechanics said they couldn’t help people so those people came to us and 99 percent of the time we were able to fix the problem and help out. So people put in a good word for us and we expanded a bit.” Maria answered.
“Sounds pretty great. Seems like you’re more of the expert mechanic around here?”
“That would be correct. Shiv handles more of the paperwork and heavy labor around here.” Maria said as they walked inside.
“How’d you get to be as good as you are?” Chase asked her.
“Honestly it just feels kinda natural really. I already had a great knack for mechanics when I was 17 and quickly made way from that so now it seems I’m one of the best auto technicians here in New York. Hell, I’ve won a few mentions in newspapers and a few plaques.” She said as she pointed to a gold plaque hanging on a wall that read “Voted best family-owned autoshop of the USA, May 1st 2024. Pacific Current Auto. Awarded by the National Automotive Association.”
Chase stared at the plaque. “Best in New York? Best in the fricking US! That’s a really damn impressive achievement right there! How the heck do you manage this place by yourselves?”
Maria laughed “Oh no. We don’t. We’ve got hired help of course.”
“Who and where are they?” Chase asked
“Eh just some other auto enthusiasts and people that know their way around cars and tools that we trust, regardless of whether their anthro or human. Not all humans are assholes anyways. I’m certainly good friends with them. And it’s the weekend and it’s late so none of them have work right now.”
“Oh... “ Chase murmured. Then there was a knock at the front door.
“That must be the pizza.” Maria said and headed towards the front door, grabbing her wallet off the counter as she did so.
Maria really struck Chase as sort of a tomboy. She was a mechanic. She acted pretty tough, didn’t put up with much crap, and certainly didn’t act girly in the slightest. Yet she still seemed like a really nice person. Chase kind of appreciated that deep down. She didn’t even have a purse. Her wallet was a simple black fold up. It was almost alien to him in a sense, her personality compared to so many other girls he’d seen or met.
“Guys! Pizza’s here” Maria shouted after paying the delivery guy at the front door and walked into the living room holding two pizza boxes.
“Alright!” Shiv said and helped Maria with some paper plates and set up the pizza boxes.
Everyone dug in and Maria asked everyone if they wanted anything to drink. Chase and Viktor both just asked for a water and Vincent kindly turned down the offer, saying he wasn’t thirsty. Maria went ahead and grabbed the drinks, getting herself and Shiv a cola in the process.
“Here you guys go.” She said, handing them the drinks.
“Thanks.” Viktor told her as he took a sip of his water.
“Welcome. So… Um… Chase told me about how you don’t remember anything before you were 24.” Maria told him nervously.
Viktor almost gagged on his water and at the same time Vincent and Shiv all looked at Maria.
“What?!” Shiv gasped.
Viktor sighed. “That’s the way it is… Don’t know anything about it… Except for what the dragons told me anyways.
“Wait a second.” Vincent interrupted. “That’s how it is for me to. Before I was 27.”
“Same thing here.” Shiv spoke. “I don’t remember anything before age 23.”
All of them kinda just exchanged nervous confused looks in silence. Then Vincent interrupted the silence.”So… I suppose Viktor has this right. Were all facing the same problem and we’ve all been having the same dreams. That’s not coincidence right there.”
Shiv and Maria nodded.
Then Viktor spoke. “But guys. There’s another thing the dragons told me that was directed towards me specifically. Apparently I used to have a different life where I was named Viktor Kiradoschev instead of DeCane.”
Vincent and Shiv stared. Shiv held up his dog tags and stared at them.
Then Maria spoke. “I’m thinking that must be the case for all of us. Shiv. Me and Chase discussed it. You’ve probably got the biggest lead out of any of us. We agreed because of your dog tags and PTSD that you were a soldier in Vietnam.”
Shiv sat there for a while, looking down, then rubbed his face in stress. “That’s it… That has to be it… Nothing else makes more sense then that… Wow… I-I’m gonna... Go lay down for a while.” Shiv said and sat up and clumsily made his way to his room, placing his hand on the wall for support.
“Is… He going to be okay?” Vincent asked.
“I don’t know...” Maria responded “Shiv?” She walked towards Shiv before he shut the door to his room. “Shiv, are you okay?”
A muffled “I’m fine. Go away.” Could be heard from his room.
Maria stood by the door for a while, sighed, and made her way back to Chase, Vincent, and Viktor.
“I imagine it’s probably a lot he’s taking in right now…” Viktor commented
“Yeah…” Maria mumbled “You’re right about that.”
“So Vincent, how old are you right now?” Viktor asked
“36. And yes, I don’t remember anything before I was 27. So just like all of you I remember nothing before 2016.” Vincent answered
“Well… Let’s try and get some sleep then guys. Sounds like whatever is coming our way is going to be important.” Maria told the three of them. “I’m gonna go head to my own bedroom. Night.” And she closed the door to the living room.
Viktor laid on the air mattress for a while, trying to fall asleep, but anxiety kept him awake. Seemed he was too anxious about falling asleep to actually fall asleep. The thought made him smirk a bit. But he still wanted to go to sleep. He could clearly hear Chase snoring Not that that was keeping him up though. He looked over at Vincent who was sleeping on the couch bed. He seemed to be asleep but he couldn’t tell very well as his back was faced to Viktor. Viktor sighed and waited. And finally blacked out.

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Eyyyyyy I managed to get another page done :'D Cuz I'm doing a good job keeping up with making these for sure...

Anyway hope you guys enjoyed this next part of the story. Imma try and be more on top of these things. also I know this is a much larger section of writing then the others but... There weren't as many notable scenes worth illustrating.