Wolf & Coyote Mercenary Services [Looney Tunes AU]

Episode 16: Of Gods and Chance and Fate

Pepé, after much tossing and turning in his corner bed, succumbs to exhaustion and closes his eyes. But even still, the flood of past horrors continues its havoc.

When he opens his eyes, he finds himself on top of a moonlit building. Above him, stars dot the blackened sky, and below, an empty parking lot. The adjacent structures bear a resemblance to those in the central parts of Acme City–company buildings, conjoined into the amalgamation that is ACME Corporation. He cannot ascertain why he is here, yet he feels oddly calm. Some part of him knows what will happen next.

Behind him, the door slams open. He turns himself partway, spotting a familiar face in his peripheral vision. A gray-furred wolf, dressed sloppily in a T-shirt and jeans, storms towards him. "Oi, what's so important that you had to call me all the way over here?" he asks in a gruff voice. "Shit timing, too-me an' the mate were gonna f–Oh, right, I forgot who I was talkin' to." He lets out a wry laugh.

"You have a mate, eh?" Pepé–or rather, Henri–points out. "Tell me, mon ami, how do you get along with her? Or him. I won't judge."

"Why do you want to know, you smelly weasel?" The wolf hisses, baring his teeth.

"Because, as a newlywed, I have my concerns. How can I please her? How can I be a good husband?" Henri chuckles. "Forgive me, this monogamy stuff is a bit perplexing from a skunk's perspective."

The wolf stops scowling, caught off-guard by the skunk's remark, and his lips curl up into a menacing grin. "Oh, that's all you wanted? You could've asked to meet up somewhere more lively. I know a great place downtown from here... Hey, what's that smell?"

Though he does not immediately sense it, Henri can smell a fresh fragrance emanating from him, fanned by slow, methodical motions of his tail. The scent is light and flowery, invoking an emotion akin to falling in love through unexpected circumstances... the smell of serendipity. He turns and approaches the wolf, staring up with his bubblegum pink eyes. "It's l'amour. Love is in the air. Tell me, how does it feel, being in love?"

The wolf looks down at the skunk, his brown eyes glazed over. "I... I feel like I'm in Heaven." He turns his attention to the horizon. "No... I am in Heaven."

"What do you see?"

"I see a light..."

"What are you waiting for? Go, go forward! Your mate is waiting for you!"

With a soft affirmation, he walks towards the edge of the rooftop, then takes a step past it. Henri watches with sinister satisfaction as the entranced wolf falls over and lands with a thump, a tragic victim of Earth's gravity.

***

Pepé wakes with a jolt, the echoes of the corpse's impact still resonating in his mind. That was no dream, he concludes. That was all my doing.

Gripping his tail, he takes deep breaths to shake off the fright. Once he finds himself capable of rational thought, he recounts the details of the memory. Heaven... Scent of flowers... L'amour... Wasn't there a similar incident written in the journal? Yes, there was. On that night when I–

He stops himself short. Henri La Moufette was responsible for those things, and he is not Henri. Not anymore. He is Pepé Le Pew, and he is going to correct that monster's mistakes, no matter the cause.

He looks down at his tail. The strange smell and its effects, his current inability to spray, and the timing of the events cannot be pure coincidence. Could there be some sort of connection? While he can't guarantee its accuracy, his deductions lead him to the conclusion that his scent glands were mutated by the Illudium potion, and the antidote inhibited their functions as a side effect. Assuming this is true, what sorts of other effects could Illudium have on Sapients? The journal is rather vague on the details, but if those missing pages hold something important, then he'll need to hunt them down ASAP.