FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Cast

Clint: Me.

Jake: Me.

Jenna: Dash.

Skunk: Me.

Various NPCs: Both of us.

Art by Dash and used with permission.

The anthro golden retriever sat on his couch, his brow knitted and his soft and friendly brown eyes focused in deep thought. He was thinking about Jenna, his lioness girlfriend of quite some time now, and where he wanted to take their relationship next. He'd been thinking about him and her as a couple for weeks and he had promised himself that he'd come to a conclusion tonight, the second anniversary of their first outing (they didn't consider it a real date at the time). He let out a deep breath he didn't know he had been holding in and nodded, a bit of a smile on his muzzle. He picked up the phone and dialed a number he could never forget.

Hearing the insistent ringing, the young lioness smiled and set down the book she had been reading, reaching over to pick up the nearby phone. Tonight was the second anniversary of their first "outing," so she had been expecting something sweet from Jake all day. "Hello?" she asked into the receiver, trying to keep the anticipation out of her voice. Starting with "Hey honey, how are you?" would be awkward if it just happened to be a wrong number.

"Hey kitty, it's Jake. How're you this fine evening?" Jake asked in a playful and flirty tone.

Jenna giggled quietly. "I'm doing fine, honey," she said coyly, inviting him on.

He chuckled. "Heh heh, good. Say, how'd you like to come on over? I got a nice dinner, some candles, a little music...it'll be nice," he murmured in as smooth a tone as he could muster, which he knew sounded a bit silly considering he was hardly the seductive type.

Jenna giggled again at Jake trying to sound that way. "Sounds like it'll be a nice time," she said. "I'll be right over!"

"Excellent. See you soon, gorgeous," he quipped as he waited for her to hang up.

Jenna grinned. "See you soon, handsome," she said alluringly, then softly set the phone back into the cradle. She slipped out of her relaxing clothes (just an old t-shirt and some shorts) and into something a little more impressive. After all, she wanted to look good for her boyfriend.

She stepped outside her home and started walking toward Jake's place, not minding the fact that it was already dark out. It wasn't too far away, and it was a nice enough night out.

As Jenna was walking in a more empty part of town, she passed a gray van with a flat tire pulled over on the side of the road, a male brown bat anthro in casual clothing standing next to it and looking helplessly at the vehicle. He looked over at the lioness and waved. "Excuse me, ma'am, but my jack's kind of busted and I need someone to hold it steady while I change this tire...can ya give a guy a hand?"

Jenna turned as the man spoke to her. "Sure! After all, what are random strangers for, right?" she replied with a big smile, crouching down next to him.

"What are they for, indeed," the bat echoed. He handed her the aforementioned jack and gave a discreet nod at no one in particular...or so it seemed.

A Doberman walking down the sidewalk spun to face the two when she was right behind Jenna, wrapping a strong bicep around Jenna's neck and grabbing one of her wrists. "Quiet," she growled as the bat went about changing the tire on his own.

Jenna was surprised by the sudden attack, but quickly recovered. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" she growled indignantly, trying to shake herself free. She took a breath to call for help.

The Doberman moved her arm from Jenna's neck and used its hand to clamp Jenna's muzzle shut. "I said quiet!" she hissed, starting to move the struggling lioness to the back of the van.

The back door opened and a tank of scales stepped out: a male gila monster. He moved up to Jenna and started to roughly poke various parts of her body with his claws and look her over as if he were inspecting a piece of meat. "She'll do nicely. Put her in," he said in a condescending tone.

Jenna's eyes widened as she was moved to the van, and she redoubled her struggles, trying to get away. She kicked out, catching her reptilian captor in the ribs with a clawed foot. The gila monster was only knocked back a step, letting out a slight "oof" from Jenna's kick. He gave her a toothy snarl and crouched down to be more level with her before he pulled a fist back and punched her square in the gut. The reptile's punch knocked the wind out of her, and she went limp, gasping for air. The Doberman muscled the lioness into the van and closed the door as the huge reptile helped the bat finish changing the tire.

Jenna lay on the floor, curled up and gasping. "What...what are you doing?" she breathed. The Doberman glared at Jenna as the gila monster got in the back of the van with them (having to hunch over a lot) and the bat got in the driver's seat, starting the engine. Her eyes widened again as she heard the engine. She gathered her strength, lunging for the door in one last bid for freedom.

The gila monster easily stopped her and pulled her to his torso, covering her mouth with a chloroformed cloth. "You belong to us now, girl." Jenna was reaching for the door, but then her hand slowly fell to her side and her eyes fluttered shut, the reptile's words being the last thing she heard. The reptile removed the cloth from her face and smiled at his cohorts, the Doberman smiling back. "Today we earn our pay, lady and gentlefur," he remarked.

The bat chuckled. "Heh, yep, they might give us a bonus for such a fine specimen."

The Doberman nodded. "Remember, we need her as unmolested as possible, so keep your hands offa her, Clint," she admonished the gila monster.

"Heh heh, I'll do my best."

* * *

Jenna swam back up from the darkness. The ground under her felt hard, and she was very cold. Her head felt heavy, and something was tugging on her wrists and ankles. She lifted her head up slowly, and opened her eyes. She was in a dark room, on hard concrete. There was some sort of mirror or window in a nearby wall, but her head was still swimming, and she couldn't make out too many details. Something was still tugging on her wrists and ankles, and she looked back, realizing that she was tied up, and on her knees. She shook her head, trying to clear it.

"And how long will it take the device to be ready?" a feminine voice asked.

The sound of papers shuffling was then heard, followed by a male voice responding, "Um...about two hours."

"Two hours?! Too long! Have it ready within the hour!" the female voice snapped.

"Err, yes, ma'am!"

Jenna looked around, then perked an ear as she thought she heard a couple low voices.... She looked around the room, still feeling muzzy, then recoiled slightly as she noticed a feral tiger next to her, then she noticed that it was tied up too. "What's going on?" she muttered with a shiver.

"Good answer. Now go get them ready," the female voice said.

"Yes, ma'am. You, with me."

The door to the room opened and a pair of anthro men stepped in, one the burly gila monster from earlier and the other a white rabbit man rabbit wearing a white lab coat. The gila monster went up to Jenna and held her still as the rabbit started to prep a syringe filled with clear fluid.

Jenna flinched as they came near her with the syringe, but couldn't get far with the gila monster holding her. "W-what are you doing?" she asked.

The rabbit tapped the syringe a couple of times with a fingernail before he knelt next to her and injected the fluid into her bicep. "Nothing much, really. Just prepping you to be our test subject. Now relax."

"Test subject?!" she exclaimed, not relaxing in the slightest. "What are you talking about? You can't do this!" Despite the shock, she suddenly felt herself going limper, suddenly unable to struggle any more.

"That's where you're wrong, miss. You should feel honored to be a participant in research like this." The rabbit covered the needle and put it in his coat pocket before moving over to the tiger and pulling out another syringe, the gila monster moving to hold the huge cat down.

"Not as if you have a choice anyway, so shut up," the gila monster added.

She just sat there weakly, her muscles relaxed, but not of her own volition. The only thing keeping her from slumping onto the floor was the fact that her wrists were still tied.

The rabbit injected the tiger with the liquid in the syringe (a good bit more than with Jenna) and the tiger soon relaxed. "Right. Get the stretcher for the girl," he said to his reptilian companion, who nodded and left the room. The rabbit leaned down and patted the top of Jenna's head a bit roughly. "Don't worry, this might feel kina funny but you'll be on your feet in no time...well, sort of," he remarked.

An anthro wolf walked in with a cart, moving the tiger onto it with a nod to the rabbit.

Jenna looked at the rabbit, her thoughts getting a little woozier too. "W-why...?"

Neither anthro answered as the gila monster returned with another cart. He untied Jenna, set her on the cart and started to wheel her out of the room with the others behind him. Jenna hardly moved while she was manhandled onto the cart by the reptile.

Soon joining them was a short anthro skunk woman wearing a white coat like the rabbit's and thin-rimmed glasses. She was the picture of a woman who was probably a nerd in school and then grew up to become a successful scientist of some sort, but her sharp gaze and the air of impatience about her made clear that she intended to get what she wanted from the two felines, no matter the risk or the cost, especially to the potential victims. She smirked a bit at Jenna. "You're a pretty thing. No wonder they picked you," she quipped in the same female voice Jenna had heard while tied up.

As the skunk joined them, Jenna looked up, then closed her eyes, a small tear running down her cheek.

The skunk's smirk widened as she chuckled at Jenna's fear. "Aww, don't be scared, hun. You'll get a lollipop once we're done," she remarked before laughing openly, her companions joining her (except for the rabbit, who seemed somewhat disinterested in her). Jenna just closed her eyes and looked away from the skunk, unable to do more.

The rest of their walk (and brief elevator ride) was peppered with mean remarks and the occasional reference to something or another in scientific terms Jenna (and most likely the gila monster and wolf) couldn't understand. There wasn't much Jenna could do over the trip; whatever drug they had injected her with, it wasn't letting her move very much.

After a short while they came to a pair of heavy steel doors with a keypad next to them and the rabbit punched in a number. The loud click of the door unlocking resounded through the hallway. She looked up as she heard the click, wondering what they were going to do next.

The doors opened to reveal a room containing a dozen assorted furs, nine of them wearing clothes suggesting they were scientists or technicians of some sort and the other three probably just there for muscle and brute labor.

At the end of the room was a pair of enclosed steel cylinders some ten feet tall and wide enough to hold perhaps half a dozen standing furs each. Each cylinder had a door leading into it with a light overhead: both lights were currently yellow. The cylinders were connected by a thick steel tube on each side. The scientists/technicians were typing away at a multitude of computers at varying distances of the machine. Jenna's eyes widened as she saw the strange machinery, then she sagged down; whatever they were going to do, she couldn't stop it....

The skunk walked up to an anthro tabby at the computers. "Well?" she asked in a tone that suggested the tabby had better say what she wanted to hear.

The cat studied the screen and nervously shook his head. "It's not ready yet, we need more time to fix-"

He didn't finish his sentence as the skunk slapped the back of his head. "You've had all the time in the world! Now unless you want to be the next subject, make this work!" she snapped. He nodded nervously and shrunk before her disapproval. The skunk turned to the gila monster and wolf. "Put 'em in." The two furs nodded and started to wheel their captives to the cylinders, one for each cylinder. The burly wolf rolled his eyes to his gila monster companion, then moved the tiger's cart up to the cylinder, unceremoniously dumping the beast in. Jenna "oof"ed as she got a similar treatment.

The pair of well-muscled transporters closed the doors, a "kssshhhunk" of hydraulics sealing the doors with a distinct sense of dread and finality, before moving away.

The skunk nodded. "Begin phase one."

The anthros at the computers started typing away, suddenly very focused on what they were doing. The machine started to hum, the lights over the doors turning red.

The poor lioness felt fear grip her heart as the doors to the strange metal chamber shut. It was pitch black, until some red lights started strobing inside. She looked around, some movement finally starting to return to her. Nothing seemed to be happening, but suddenly....

"Neural transmitter powering up...transmitter ready," an anthro said.

"Start the transmitter," the skunk responded, keeping her stare on the machine.

"Transmitter activating, data conversion commencing."

The strobing lights sped up, and suddenly, she felt something like a headache, building up behind her eyes. She weakly put a hand to her head, but it kept getting worse.... Great...all this and a headache, she mouthed silently. Then she realized that the headache wasn't staying in her head, but extending slowly down to the rest of her body, a dull ache that was quickly becoming sharper.

The rabbit looked at a nearby monitor. "We're receiving the transmission na-...what the...?"

"What?!" the skunk snapped.

"There's...way too much data coming in."

The edges of Jenna's vision began to gray out as the pain coursed through her. "Ngh...agh..." she moaned, unable to do much more. She slumped back down, her consciousness stolen by a stream of data.

The skunk stomped over to the rabbit's monitor and studied the rapidly scrolling data. The cat from a few minutes ago moved to a bigger computer and looked over the data, his eyes widening. "Oh hell...it's not just converting their my-"

"Their minds into data, it's doing the same with their entire bodies; I can read this, you know," the skunk interrupted. "In other words, teleport each of them into the opposite pod. This device wasn't meant to handle that much data at once...they'll completely corrupt each other and we'll have to get them out with scrapers and shovels at this rate."

The other anthros started looking pretty nervous, a few of them moving as far away from the machine as they could but unable to leave the room without the proper code. The cat looked over at the skunk, trembling. "Ma'am, don't you think now is a good time to lea-"

"Shut up, idiot," the skunk hissed as she moved over and shoved the cat roughly out of his chair, sitting down and starting to type faster than most of the anthros in the room could see, her gaze flitting about the data on the screen and her fur starting to become sweaty from how intense her focus was.

She was completely silent and absolutely focused on her task until, a few minutes later, the machine started to quiet down and the skunk's typing stopped. She let out a long sigh and stood up as the lights over the doors started to turn yellow and then green. "And that's that. Now let's see what we've wrought," she said simply as she cleaned her glasses.

She walked over to the cylinder in which the tiger was deposited and snapped her fingers, the burly wolf walking over and opening the door. The cylinder was empty. Almost completely nonchalant, the skunk walked to Jenna's cylinder and had the door opened. Her eyes widened and a very wide grin crossed her muzzle. "I...am...a genius," she said self-assuredly.

* * *

Jenna moaned gently, slowly swimming out of the darkness. Everything seemed to hurt; her head, her arms, her tail...she hurt in places she didn't know she had. She opened her eyes slowly, wincing at the light, looking around. She was in some small room, with concrete walls and...bars? Where was she? She tried to scramble to her feet but...something was wrong...she looked down at her legs, and gasped in horror. Instead of her legs, she had the lower body of a feral tiger! The fur was the same color as hers, but she was covered in dark brown stripes, and she realized that her upper body had them too. She felt the tiger body frantically with one hand. "W...what...?" she stammered. It was real, all right...she slowly moved one of her forelegs. It felt so strange.... She hugged her sides. "What h-happened t-to me?" Her tail flicked nervously, and she started crying at the whole useless futility of the situation.

The gila monster that had helped kidnap and then move Jenna stepped into her view, grinning. "Ah, you're awake. Good," he said. He pulled out what looked like a walkie-talkie and spoke into it, "The girl's awake. Send her down."

"*krsht* Roger," a voice responded.

Jenna looked up as she heard the reptile speaking. "You again," she muttered, looking back down with a sigh. She clumsily rolled her lower body to be lying on her lower belly, to try to be a little more comfortable.

The gila monster just crossed his arms and kept grinning. "Yep, me again. You're going to be seeing a lot more of me, so get used to it."

Jenna looked back up at him. "Somehow, I didn't think you guys would be letting me go after all this," she said with a resigned sigh.

"You're not even leaving this place in a casket. You belong to us now and we plan to make use of you," he remarked, narrowing his eyes and chuckling knowingly.

Jenna looked at him again, then closed her eyes and laid her upper body down, resting her head in her arms.

The reptile was quiet as he leaned against the wall opposite the cell's door, watching the creature before him. After a short wait, the door to the containment area buzzed and opened, the skunk woman and rabbit man walking in. The rabbit started looking over a chart next to Jenna's cell as the skunk regarded Jenna. "Good morning, dear. I trust you slept well, since you've been out for the last two and a half days," she said.

Jenna looked up again, at the newcomers, but didn't get up. "What do you want?" she asked curtly.

The skunk snorted, her gaze becoming disdainful. "How rude. You should thank me for turning you into the world's first known ligertaur. As for what I want, it's simple. I want your body and I'm going to get it." She nodded at the gila monster, who returned the nod and pulled out what looked like a handgun, taking aim at Jenna.

Jenna glowered into her arms during the skunk's speech, a few more tears falling onto them. She looked up to retort, then recoiled as she noticed the gun-like object. The red dot of a laser sight showed up on Jenna's body for just a few moments, moving up to her neck before the reptile fired. A small dart with a short needle pierced the side of her neck, immediately emptying its contents into her bloodstream. Jenna clapped her hand to her neck as she felt something sting, and felt the small dart. She looked helplessly up at her captors, and he shoulders slumped down, her strength starting to leave her.

"That's a bit more like it," the skunk remarked before she and the rabbit stepped away, the gila monster waiting a few moments before bringing over a cart long and wide enough to carry the very big fur. Watchful for signs of aggression, he opened Jenna's cell door and started to move the cart in. Jenna tried to take a swing at the gila monster, but her arm sank back down before it connected. The gila tensed up at Jenna's attempted attack, then hissed at her and after a momentary windup brought his clenched fist across Jenna's face. "Clint!" the skunk shouted too late. Jenna fell back at the powerful blow, sinking back to the floor as darkness overcame her again. "Shit!" the skunk hissed. She stomped over to the gila monster as he turned around to look at her. She grabbed his tank top and pulled down; of course, she was much too small to actually pull him to her level, but she had enough influence over him to cause him to suddenly compose himself as he leaned down to be snout-to-muzzle with her. "Do that again and I'll dissect you! Understand?!" He nodded hastily. "Good. Now get her on and bring her to the lab," she snapped before leaving the room, her rabbit flunky in tow. The gila turned to Jenna and growled at her before dragging her on the cart. Jenna groaned lightly, but didn't move as she was hauled onto the cart.

Clint wheeled Jenna out of the containment area and toward the laboratories, having to stop and open keyed doors every so often. He reached his destination and wheeled her into the middle of a laboratory strewn with machines and surgical tools, leaving the room.

The seemingly omnipresent skunk was there with a group of furs, all of them dressed in surgical gear. She patted Jenna on her feral flanks. "I am a genius indeed. The world's first known ligertaur...and I have her all to myself."

A fox standing nearby rubbed the back of his neck. "So...now what do we do with her?" he asked her. Several others moved slightly away from him.

The skunk gave him a "duh" look as she sanitized her hands. "What do you think? We use her for tests."

One of the others, a canine, was surprised enough by the lack of an explosion that he said, "Well yeah. But some of the stuff might, y'know, damage her. And she's the only one we've got, so...."

The skunk sighed. "Yes yes, she's the only one of her kind. That's why we're going to make more of her."

"Ohhh, make more....make more? But wasn't this one a complete accident?"

The skunk was starting to get impatient with the furs. "Yes, but a very opportune accident, the results of which we can't let slip through our fingers."

The fox looked around. "Um...but if she's the only one, how do we breed her?" he asked.

A few veins on the skunk's temples throbbed as she clenched her fist and snarled for a few seconds before she spun and bellowed at the top of her lungs, "DO I NEED TO WRITE THIS ON A CHALKBOARD FOR YOU?! WE'RE GOING TO CLONE HER!!!" She took a few hissing breaths before she continued, "Can you remind me why I actually do pay you to think?!"

The fox recoiled, holding his hands up between him and her. "All right, sorry, sorry," he said placatingly. "I'm an engineer, not a geneticist. This isn't my specialty. Sorry."

The skunk let out a deep breath and nodded at him. "Fine, fine...just, whatever, do what you do." She walked over to a nearby chair and sat down, crossing her arms and watching them.

The fox tried not to sigh in relief as he got off easily, then turned back to the others. "So, anyone here specialize in that stuff?"

The fox received a chorus of negative responses before everyone looked to the skunk. She pointed at something or someone behind the group. As they turned around, they saw another reptile, this one much darker than the gila monster thug, leaning against a nearby table. He looked up as he heard the conversation. "Guess that's me," he remarked.

The fox cocked his head. "So, um...you're new here?" he asked.

He looked at the fox and grinned toothily. "Yup. Your boss there," he said, indicating the skunk with a nod, "needed someone who could handle something like this. She went to the right guy."

The skunk met his smile with her own knowing grin. "Now how about you show me that I'm going to get my money's worth?"

The lizard stood up and cracked his knuckles. "Glad to," he said, walking over to Jenna's limp form. "Definitely a unique specimen, can see why you'd want more. Now if you'll excuse me, a little space," he said, shooing the others away a step.

The other furs gave him his space as the skunk's grin widened. "Ah, it's fun to watch a craftsman at work," she mentally quipped.

* * *

Jenna slowly woke up again. The last thing she could remember...talking to that skunk, and the lizard pulling a gun on her. She shook her head, pushing her upper body up. "Upper body," she thought. She looked back, running her hand along her quadrupedal lower body. It felt strong and muscular, and also her upper body. She lifted up one of her new forelegs and took it in her hand softly. It looked like an animal paw, but she realized that the dewclaw was actually placed down with the rest of the toes. She flexed them, and realized that the paw could actually be used like a rudimentary hand, if she needed to pick something up with it. "Well, maybe this isn't all bad," she mused, then remembered her situation. "Just the vast majority," she corrected herself, lying down and putting her head in her arms again.

"Rise n' shine, honey," the voice of Clint came to Jenna's ears. The gila stood in front of her cell, arms crossed and smirking at her. He used his tail to push a large tray of food to a small gap in the bottom of the bars of Jenna's cell. The food was pretty simple: rice, some syrupy fruits and vegetables, and some kind of meat. "Eat up. You're going to need it."

She winced, hearing that voice again. She looked up at him, then put her head back on her arms, ignoring the food.

The gila just grumbled and sat down on the floor against the wall, still watching her. "I'm thinking we're going to be getting to be seeing a lot of each other over the rest of your life, so let's get to know each other, hm? Got any family, friends, et cetera?"

She looked back up at him, surprised enough by his question to respond. "You kidnap me, drug me, force me into some experiment, and change me into something else, then want to have a conversation about my personal life?" she asked incredulously.

Clint shrugged. "I suggest you adopt a more respectful attitude. We control the supply of your food, water, medical care and so on now, don't forget that. In fact, we control your safety." He pulled out the gun again and loaded a dart into it.

She sighed and put her head down again. "Haven't you guys done enough to me already?" she asked.

"We can and plan to do a lot more to you, and I don't have to be so nice." He pointed the gun at her. "I could shoot you with another dart, come right on in that cell and, as long as I don't do any permanent harm or touch your hindquarters, do just about anything I want to you." He smirked and licked his lips a bit lewdly.

She retained her pose, a few small tears staining her cheekfur. "Well, thank you for not doing it," she said, sounding even more dejected.

He chuckled and put the gun away. "That's a bit more like it, but you're boring like this." He stood up. "I'll come back to check on you later," he finished as he turned to leave.

An ear twitched toward him as she heard him leave. After his footsteps faded away, she looked over at the food he had left. Truth be told, she was starving, and it felt as if she hadn't eaten in days. She ate slowly, resisting the urge to just wolf it down, and soon finished it all off.

* * *

Jenna stirred and opened her eyes, lying on the floor of her cell again. She groaned and levered herself up, rolling back to her upright position again. She noticed that it felt a little more uncomfortable than usual, but she dismissed it. It was almost a week after she had been made into the ligertaur, and they had constantly been knocking her out for some reason unknown to her...probably tests or something like that. She noticed that her gila monster guard was sitting there again, as usual. "Why do you people keep knocking me out like this?" she asked, crossing her arms. "It gets kind of tiresome after a few days."

He shrugged. "I'm just a porter. I drag things around that need to be dragged around."

"I can give you a better answer," the voice of the skunk the name of whom Jenna still hadn't caught answered as she walked into Jenna's view. "We knock you out because you won't be a good slave and willingly submit to our tests."

Jenna bristled as she heard the skunk, her ears going back against her head. She had never liked anything about this person, and she didn't think she would start soon. "So you're doing tests on me when I'm unconscious?" she asked, suppressing a growl.

"Well what did you think we were doing, taking you outside for some air? We need to make sure our clone is healthy," the skunk remarked.

Jenna's ears remained back, but her demeanor changed. "C-clone?" she asked.

The skunk nodded, smiling her knowing smile. "Yeah, our clone. We cloned you! Doesn't that make you feel great?!" she asked sarcastically.

She glowered at the extraordinarily egotistical skunk. "So if you've got another of me, why do you keep doing stuff to me? Can't you do it on your new little clone?" she asked shortly.

She kept grinning. "Because it's still under construction, you silly girl." She rubbed her chin, suddenly looking contemplative. "I wonder...does this make you a mother, a sister, or something else?"

Jenna just looked perplexed. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

The skunk chuckled and looked at Jenna as if she were a teacher explaining something simple to a young student. "Well, c'mon, honey, haven't you noticed something odd about your body lately? You've been getting hungrier, you've been having dizzy spells, you've had cramps...put two and two together," she said, squinting one eye and widening the other in a maniacal smile.

Jenna blinked, then her eyes widened. "What? You don't mean...?" she asked, one of her hands subconsciously going to her tummy.

"You're getting warmer...warmer...keep going," the skunk said as Jenna's hand moved, "and why can't I mean it? Why should I pay to have some big test tube built to hold your clone when the perfect environment's already available?"

"You...you got me pregnant...with me?" Jenna asked, hardly believing it. This skunk was truly a vile witch but...as she said, put two and two together.

The skunk nodded cheerfully. "Well, technically it was someone we hired who got you pregnant with yourself, but eh, details, who needs 'em? Oh, and it's intentionally not a perfect copy of you: it won't have any of your memories or personality and is for most intents and purposes a new person. That way it'll be easier to train and control," she said simply.

Jenna looked from her upper belly (where her hand had been), to her lower one, her ears pressing back again. Well, it sure explained a lot.... Her tail swished a little, showing her feelings.

The skunk chuckled again. "Well, maybe you can pass time by thinking up names or something," she quipped before she broke into laughter and walked out of the containment area.

The gila just kept smiling at her, as he had been doing the whole time she and the skunk had been talking.

She watched as the skunk left, her news still sinking in. She looked at her guard and wanted to say something snide at him, but she just couldn't, and settled back into her laying position. "I'm...I'm pregnant," she thought.

Clint spoke up then, "Hope you aren't expecting a baby shower."

"Oh go away," she muttered into her arms, not expecting it to actually matter any. After all, what else had they done for her?

"Aww, I was hoping I could give you a belly rub. I thought girls are supposed to like that," he said in mock sympathy.

She looked up and glared at him. "Not from people like you," she said, suppressing another growl.

"'People like me'?" Clint echoed. "So-called people like me are the only people you're going to see for the rest of your life, so take what you can get."

Jenna put her head back on her arms. "Like I needed someone to remind me," she thought to herself.

* * *

The next three weeks passed much as the earlier ones did, but after Jenna was told that she was pregnant with her clone, she noticed a lot more changes in her body. Within a couple of days, she could feel a lump in her non-anthro belly when she lay down on her front. A little while after that, she could feel the lump with her hand no matter her posture, and before she knew it, her non-anthro belly started to show her pregnancy. Her captors (especially the skunk woman and Clint) continued to belittle her for not being able to do anything to change her situation, the skunk making a point to remind her that things were only going to get worse.

Four weeks after they had given her the pregnancy, and three after she had discovered it, her belly had gotten big enough that she had to lay down on her lower body's side. Whatever they were drugging her with, it must not be bad for her baby, since they continued to sedate her before they tested her. She never got much chance to move around, and she just spent her time lying in her cell, wishing she wasn't there. She rubbed the bulge in her lower body gently with a forepaw, looking down at it as well.

At that moment, the rabbit who seemed to be the skunk's main lackey entered the containment area and looked over a clipboard next to Jenna's cell, nodding and murmuring to himself. The gila was gone at the moment...must've been watching her from a security room or something.

Jenna noticed the man coming, and stood up shakily, holding the bars with one hand for support. She looked at him, tears in her eyes. "Please...why are you doing this to me?" she begged.

The rabbit met her eyes for a second, and then went back to looking at whatever was attached to the clipboard.

"Please..." she repeated quietly, and then shook her head sadly, moving to lie down again. They never listened...how could so many people be so heartless, truly not a shred of compassion to be found? Jenna looked at him once more, and then closed her eyes, trying to get a little sleep that didn't come from a dart gun for once.

The rabbit let out a quiet sigh and looked back over to Jenna surreptitiously. "Do you have-." He was interrupted by the sound of the door opening, quickly whispering, "You're asleep," as he nodded and turned to leave.

Jenna's eyes snapped open as he started talking to her, and she picked up her head. Her ear twitched as she heard the door. She blinked as he left, then did what he asked, lying down and shutting her eyes again.

Entering the containment area were the skunk and the lizard who had cloned Jenna. They leaned over to see what Jenna was doing before they started talking. "Well, things are going exactly as planned," the skunk began.

Jenna surreptitiously moved an ear to hear them better. "Planned, huh?" she thought sarcastically. "Thought I was one big accident."

"Yeah, the clone's growing perfectly. At this rate it'll be ready to be removed in another four weeks," the lizard continued.

Jenna snorted, but managed to turn it into a light snore. "Removed, like I'm only some box or something," she thought, a frown creasing her brow.

The skunk looked in the direction of Jenna's cell for a moment but dismissed the sound. "Well, get ready to make more; we're going to need them."

"Huh? Well, okay, but we can have the girl produce breeder offspring," the lizard responded.

"We'll do that next, this one's more of a test," the skunk answered.

"A...test? So they're going to, what, just use me for some sort of breeding vessel?" She had to work hard to keep the snarl off her lips.

They both looked at the clipboard next to Jenna's cell, the skunk scribbling a few notes onto it (mostly reminders to increase her food supply). They then started to leave.

"Um...so what are we going to do with the one she's carrying?" the lizard asked.

"Dissect it, of course. That way we know full well what they can do and if they'll still fit into the plan."

"...Hm. Kay," came the lizard's voice as the door closed.

Jenna's eyes snapped open, the hair on her back standing up straight. "Di-dissected?!" she squeaked, looking down at her gravid belly. She rubbed it gently with a forepaw again. She thought about what they had put inside that belly...and what they intended to do with it. She had spent a lot of time thinking about it, trying to figure out if she was a mother or just a carrier, but this tipped the scales. "I...I didn't ask for you to be there...I didn't even ask for a there for you to be, but...you're my child," she whispered, "and I've got to do what I can to protect you." She looked up at the door. "I've got to get out of here...."

A little while later the door opened again and Clint stepped inside, taking his usual position of sitting against the wall. His grin seemed to be particularly malicious this time. "You weren't really asleep, were you? You just faked it like he told you to and now you know what's up," he said knowingly.

Jenna wasn't even listening. She was focusing on trying to figure out how to get out. Her decision had given her something she had lacked this whole time: resolve. She was going to protect her cub, period. She had hardly even noticed Clint come in, much less what he said.

Clint continued, "I saw the whole thing from the security room. I thought that rabbit was being too nice to you and now I know for sure why: he wants to help you. Don't get your hopes up; I'll straighten him out but good and then you'll lose the last friend you had."

Jenna realized her gila monster guard was talking at her, but she paid him no mind, all he did was taunt her anyway, so why should she listen to him?

The gila's eye twitched a little as his grin turned into a scowl. "Aren't you listening to me, girl? Nothing's stopping me from roughing you up first as a warm-up."

Jenna's feline tail flicked in front of him, seeming an almost deliberate taunt to the worked-up reptile. In fact, it was just an incidental byproduct of Jenna's attempted scheming.

Clint growled loudly and tensed up, standing and all but throwing the cell's door open, not even bothering to tranquilize Jenna. He cracked his knuckles and gave her a toothy snarl. That got her attention. Jenna's head spun around, and she jumped, albeit a bit clumsily, to her four feet. The reptile advanced on her, and she backed up a step, then her face set as her newfound resolve flooded back into her system. "Leave us alone!" she hissed, pushing him hard in the chest. Clint was taken completely off guard by Jenna's vigor as well as the strength that came from her resolution, falling backwards and hitting his head on the cell bars, groaning quietly and holding his head.

Jenna looked at the guard sitting on the floor in utter shock. "Did I just...?" She shook it off, then realized.... "The door! Now's my chance!" She walked shakily to the door, then hurried through the halls, trying to find an exit. Over all these weeks, she'd never gotten a chance to practice walking with her new body, so the going was slow and wobbly.

The halls were surprisingly empty: one would think that this operation was being run by only a couple dozen people...or they were just too busy with whatever they were doing. An exit, however, was nowhere to be seen: the halls were pretty uniform and it seemed as if Jenna were going in circles.

As Jenna passed the containment area for perhaps the third time, the rabbit who had tried to speak to her earlier leaned out of a nearby room, giving her a "Psst!" and a wave of his hand for her to come to him. She spun toward the rabbit as she heard him, then looked around and hurried into the room in which he was.

The room was apparently just a supply closet and now a bit cramped with the room Jenna's long body took up. The rabbit quickly closed the door and turned to Jenna. "All right, you don't have much time before they realize you're gone. I don't know why nobody's sounded the alarm yet, but if someone does, the only exit will be locked and there'll be nothing else I can do." He handed her a piece of paper with typed instructions. "That'll tell you how to get out and the code you'll need to leave. If you don't make it...you didn't get that from me, right?"

She looked between him and the bit of paper with some surprise, meeting someone who did show genuine concern for her wellbeing here. "A...all right," she said, moving for the door. "Thank you."

The rabbit rested his hand on her flank to signal that he had more to say. "One other thing. Your pregnancy was accelerated by drugs in your food. You're about halfway now and I think without the drugs it'll slow down to its normal rate, which means you probably have about six months before you reach term." He moved to pat her back comfortingly. "Good luck."

She looked at her belly, then back to him, and nodded. "Thank you for helping me," she said, hugging him quickly before opening the door and walking out. The rabbit blinked in surprise at Jenna hugging him, but his surprise was soon drowned out by the satisfaction of helping someone who needed him.

Jenna walked down the hallways, looking to the rabbit's information several times as she made her way toward the exit. The going was fairly slow, unfortunately, since she still wasn't used to walking on four legs, and kept stumbling. Still, she persevered, and slowly made her way down the list, toward the door. She turned the corner around which, according to the instructions, the door to freedom lay.

"Where are you going?" Clint's hissing voice came to her, the very angry gila standing right in front of it with his arms crossed and a fierce scowl aimed right at Jenna on his face.

Jenna skidded to a halt, nearly falling down in the process, and she was suddenly flooded with fear. "Oh no...."

The reptilian tank tapped an index finger against one bicep in irritation. "Trying to escape? Not a chance. You belong to us, and now it's time for you to learn that the hard way." He started advancing on her.

She took a step back, and shook her head defiantly. "N-no! You may have kidnapped me, but I don't belong to you!" Escape was so close she could reach out and touch it....

His snarl turned into a menacing smile at seeing her take a step back as he cracked his knuckles. "Bullshit. Look at you, you're a freak with a clone you don't know what to do with. There's nowhere for you but here."

She stared him down, though still looking scared. "So what if you turned me into a freak? I'm still not yours!"

He raised an eyebrow. "But you are ours, and thus so is each and every one of your clones. Too bad this first one is just practice; I wouldn't mind keeping and training one, but that's okay since we can make all we want...wonder what they're gonna do to this one even though they're just gonna chop it up like a hunk of meat at a butcher's shop," he remarked with a snicker. He was right in front of her now, leering down at her.

The fear in Jenna's eyes suddenly evaporated, being replaced by pure rage. The anger powered through her clumsiness, and she reared back, lifting up a huge paw, claws extended. "I won't let you touch my baby!" she snarled, bringing the paw down on the reptilian bully's head. She felt her claws tear roughly through his scaled hide, and he dropped like a sack of potatoes.

Clint clutched his face and roared in pain as his vision was clouded over by his blood. "Gyaaahh! You bitch! I'll kill you!" he howled.

Jenna put one paw on her old tormentor's throat, lifting the other one up for a strike. "No. You. Won't!!!" she cried, swinging her upraised paw down, slapping the side of his head with all her might. There was a loud snap as the gila's throat was crushed. He coughed up a gout of blood and went limp, his eyes going dead. Jenna lifted her paws off him and back to solid ground. She glared down at him, and then her look softened to one of surprise, and a little horror, as she realized what she just did. She shook her head, her face hardening a little again as she remembered to whom she just did it. She gave the body one last kick, and then ran to the door.

* * *

Jake was alone on the covered bridge. It was a place very few people knew about and to which even fewer people regularly went, which was good because he had a lot on his mind. He sat on the bridge, leaning against the railing and staring into space. Jenna had been missing for almost a month now, with no trace of where she had gone. He was becoming increasingly worried that he'd never see his dear lioness girlfriend again. Well..."girlfriend" may not have been the appropriate word.

He twirled a little black velvet box in one hand; after Jenna had disappeared on the night he planned to present it to her, he always kept the box on his person in case he ever saw her again. Then they could start making up for lost time. He heaved a sigh as he opened the box and looked at the ring inside. "Jenna...I don't know how much more I can take. I need you to come back, kitty," he murmured out loud, a tear rolling down his cheekfur.

Jenna stumbled along the forest, making a physical effort not to crane her head over her shoulder. After escaping the lab, she had been a little lost, but had noticed a familiar skyline in the distance. She had run toward it as far as she could, then ducked into this forest, since it would probably make it harder for them to track her once they realized she had escaped. She had been expecting that van to show up every second of her trip, though she had not been caught yet. Well, if anything, the trip certainly had gotten her a little more practiced at walking on four legs. She pushed a branch aside, then one of her ears twitched. Was that a voice?

The golden retriever closed the box and put it back in his pocket, standing up and walking off of the bridge in Jenna's direction. He heard the rustling in the bushes and jumped back a little, gasping in surprise. "Hello?" he asked whoever or whatever was there.

She blinked, her ears perking for the first time in a looong time. Her step picked up, and she suddenly started recognizing some of the scenery. She broke through the foliage, into the little path in front of the covered bridge she and Jake used to.... "Jake!" she breathed, almost speechless at finally seeing her boyfriend.

Jake's ears pinned back and his tail tucked itself between his legs as he whined and stepped away. "P-Please don't hurt me! I mean you no harm!" he whimpered.

Jenna's heart almost broke, seeing him react like that. "No, please," she pleaded, stepping towards him. "Jake...it's me!" She caught his hand and held it to her heart, looking into his eyes.

Jake yelped loudly at having this strange being grab him, but he knew he couldn't get away from her and let her do what she wanted. He still whimpered but settled down a bit once he saw that she didn't seem to want to hurt him...and something about her was familiar...especially those eyes.... "Do...do I know you?" he asked nervously.

"Of...of course you do..." she said, her voice cracking a little, her eyes sparkling with tears. "It's me...Jenna...."

The dog gasped and visibly flinched. He slowly leaned in to look more deeply into the taur's eyes. Yep...he couldn't possibly mistake it...those were Jenna's eyes. "Jeh...Jenna?"

The ligertaur threw her arms around him as a whoosh of relief flooded through her. "Oh, Jake..." she said with a small sob, just leaning into him.

Jake held his transformed girlfriend as best he could, noticing that she was looking a little heavy in her taur belly. "Oh god, Jenna...you've been gone for a month...what happened?" he asked as he nuzzled the side of her face.

Jenna sobbed quietly. "Please, they might be after me...I got kidnapped but I managed to escape..." she breathed, leaning heavily into him.

The dog nodded and patted her back. "Shh, it's okay, Jenna, let's get you somewhere safe." He could tell she was in no state of mind or body to hold a conversation.

Jenna sagged in his arms, suddenly feeling the whole trip weigh down on her, unimaginably weary. "Yeah..." she mumbled. "Just...be careful."

Jake rubbed her back and nuzzled the side of her face softly as he took her hand in his. "Just take a few deep breaths and go at your own pace, I'm not in any hurry," he said quietly. He looked back and noticed her taur belly was drooping a little. "I see they fed you well," he remarked, trying to get a smile out of her.

Jenna tried not to glare too hard at him. "No...they...they got me pregnant," she said quietly.

That was the last straw: Jake suddenly felt as if his brain were spinning. He gawked yet again and this time had to sit down on the ground, holding his head and staring into space. He tried to speak but nothing came out.

Jenna watched her boyfriend, then sat down and looked away, crying softly. They did this to her, and now even her own Jake....

Jake looked over at his girlfriend and shook his head, going over to her and sniffling a little himself. "I'm sorry, kitty...I'm just really scared for us...."

Jenna nodded. "Let's just go home," she said. "Somewhere safe."

Jake returned her nod and led her through the forest, trying to watch for cues that she was no longer upset with him, at least for the moment, ashamed of himself that he had upset her.

They soon arrived back at his home and he led her inside. "Um...my bed's open, but there's probably more room in the basement."

"I've been sleeping on concrete for so long...just carpeting feels so nice," she said earnestly. "And I don't think I could handle stairs too well yet...." She seemed very shaky on her feet, and it was perfectly obvious that even if she knew how to handle stairs, she was just too tired.

The dog led her into his bedroom (which, thankfully for Jenna, was on the same floor) and let her get comfortable on the bed. He sat down next to her and took one of her hands in his. "Now...do you want to tell me what happened or just go to sleep, hon?" he asked softly.

With his help, Jenna climbed up and lay down on the bed, looking her body over. "I'm tired... but I think I ought to tell you what's been going on," she said. She looked up at him. "And I'm sure you've been worried sick."

Jake nodded and petted her hand. "Just tell me what you want: I'm not going anywhere."

"Well...back when you called me to come over, I stopped to help someone along the way. Instead, some thugs grabbed me and knocked me out," she said, a few tears glistening in her eyes again. She took a deep breath needing a second before she could continue.

The dog nodded and petted her hand again, reaching up to wipe her tears off carefully with the backs of his fingers.

Jenna smiled at Jake again, and then continued with her story. "After they kidnapped me, I woke up in a big room. I'm not sure what they were doing, but it was some experiment with me and a tiger. They threw us into some machine, and I blacked out again. When I woke up, I was...like this," she said, gesturing with one of her forepaws.

Jake looked down at her new body and studied it for a few seconds. "Did you wake up pregnant?" he asked.

Jenna shook her head, and then reached up to try to brush a loose strand of hair out of the way. She tried again, then gave up and let it hang there. "No, but I was...well, one of them called me a 'ligertaur,'" she said, "so I guess that's what I am now." She felt one of the stripes on her arms. "They kept knocking me out to do little tests on me. Eventually, they decided that, since I was the only one they had, they were going to clone me and then...then do tests on it...."

Jake moaned disgustedly and flinched, feeling as if his heart were being squeezed. He spoke with actions and words as he rested a palm on the bulge in Jenna's lower belly and said assuredly, "Don't you worry, Jenna, I'm never letting them near you again...either of you."

Jenna smiled a little as she felt his hand on her belly. "Thank you, Jake..." she said, resting a hand on his arm. Her face fell a little as she went back to her story. "When I heard what they were going to do...I knew I had to escape, for my sake and my...my cub's," she told him. "I managed to get out, but I k...killed one of the guards, too."

Jake's eyes widened again at hearing Jenna's little confession, but he rubbed her belly softly. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. You protected the cub from people who wanted to hurt it. There's no excuse for what they wanted to do."

Jenna nodded. "I know...and he was a creep too," she said, the corner of her lip twitching up. "But..." she sighed. "I just...I'm scared..." she said.

Jake scooted up a little and took Jenna in a gentle hug. "You're safe now, Jenna. They're not going to take you back, not if I can help it."

Jenna leaned into him, needing the comfort desperately. A tear ran down her already-wet cheek, and she looked up at him. "I'm so scared of them...I don't think they'd hesitate to hurt you," she whimpered. "The only reason they didn't hurt me was...well...." She looked down to her belly, touching it gently with a forepaw.

Jake stroked her hair and wiped the tear from her face. "Shh, it's okay, Jenna. I'm not leaving you or the cub. We'll find a way through this together," he whispered softly.

Jenna cringed and curled up her lower body, the one tear being followed by more. "But...but...." She sobbed again, louder this time. "What if they...they did s-something to me while...w-while I was asleep?" She looked up at him through the tears, then down at herself again. "And...m-my c-cub...? What if th-they did something t-to it too? Or...or...." Her eyes widened, then she curled up more, shaking almost violently. "W-what if they d-did something to my m-mind...? What if I'm n-not...me anymore?"

Jake was starting to become even more fearful for Jenna's safety; he could protect her from people looking for her, and he was sure he had time to figure out how to keep her and the cub healthy, but protecting her from herself.... He turned her up to look at him, cupping her cheek and smiling softly. "Jenna, I thought you'd know by now that I love you and I'm here for you no matter what," he said quietly as he leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips.

Jenna looked into his eyes as he talked to her, and then blinked in surprise as he kissed her. Her eyes slowly shut, as she lost herself a little in the gentle passion of their kiss. She snuggled into his arms a bit, still crying, but seeming a little bit more confident, and less fearful.

The golden retriever petted her hair and kept her cheek cupped as he continued to kiss the ligertaur. He kept the kiss gentle and soft, just a loving connection of their lips, breathing slowly. He broke slowly the kiss and kept his face in front of hers as he opened his eyes, smiling. "So no more worrying about what ifs, because I'm never leaving you or the cub. Okay, kitty?" he asked.

Jenna nodded carefully. "Mmhmm..." she intoned quietly, looking up at him, and then leaned into his chest. "...Thank you...." she said quietly, her lips curling a little into a gentle smile.

Jake rubbed her back and held her to him. "Now try to get some sleep; you've had a long day," he said, relaxing his body.

Jenna nodded again. She had stopped crying, but her voice still sounded a bit watery. "Yes...it's been a very long day," she murmured. She shifted to lie in his lap, her lower body curling up almost instinctively, this time in a relaxed instead of defensive way. "Sleep sounds good...."

The dog planted a kiss on the top of her head before he started to drift off, letting out a contented sigh as he rested a hand comfortingly on her belly. He felt a dull but distinct warmth start to kindle in his heart at this act, so close to the woman he loved and the child he hoped to raise with her, no matter what.

Jenna smiled and hugged him gently, as se felt his hand rest on her lower belly. She was afraid of what might happen to her, yes, but...those problems didn't seem as big right now. She blinked as she suddenly felt something inside her. "Oh!" she piped quietly, eyes popping open as she felt a small thump from her lower belly. "Jake, did you...?"

Jake's eyes opened wide as well, his hand frozen in place. He looked at her belly and then at her eyes. "Was that what I think it was?" he asked.

Jenna nodded. "I think it was," she said expectantly. She looked down at her belly, her previously content smile blossoming into something a little more.

Jake rubbed the spot a little bit, speaking softly, "C'mon, say hi to us again, sweetie."

Jenna reached down, setting one of her forepaws over his. Their eyes met for a second, and they both looked back down with a smile, just in time to feel the next little kick. Jenna could practically feel her heart melting. "Awwww," she cooed quietly.

Jake patted the bulge of her belly and smiled happily. "Hey there, little one. I'm gonna be your dad."

Jenna giggled at him. "And I'm your mom," she said, rubbing her swollen stomach gently with her forepaw.

Jake kissed Jenna on the cheek and lay on his back again, keeping a hand on Jenna's tummy and feeling the occasional stirrings of the cub within. He let out another happy sigh, whispering, "I love you, Jenna."

"I love you too, Jake," she said, then yawned hugely. She curled up to lay her head on his chest, soon falling asleep, a warm smile on her face.