FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Fighting Spirit was a VAR (Virtual Alternate Reality) fighting game that took the whole gaming world by storm, it felt similar to every fighting game known to man, but it’s dynamic movements, camera angles, and all the different fighting styles made it a step above others, not to mention the freedom of customization to make a character that isn’t even human if they wished. Even those who don’t play it sang its praises.

Sadly, the company suddenly decided to close their servers, but in their last year, they hosted the biggest and longest tournament they ever made. The first three players to reach one-million points will earn the exclusive title of the ‘Ultimate Triade’, have their name mentioned in the game’s final credits, AND they’ll have a figurine of their character made in their honor and delivered to their house with a real life ‘Style Scroll’ of their favorite fighting style.

It was a long and dangerous road, but Max managed to hit second place just a few days before christmas, with his main character Jiro sitting on his desk doing a dynamic pose with his ultimate skill as he and his friends, as well as all the players held a farewell gathering for the game, inside the game, on christmas night, where the servers are gonna shutdown the next day.

“Well, ladies and gentlemen, it’s been an honor meeting and spending time with you all. This has been quite the journey for all of us, yet here we are, sitting at the top of the world.” He said to his group chat through his mic.

“Hey now, dude! You talking like we’re never going to see each other again.” That was one of his closest friends speaking through his character, called Ricochet.

“We have each others’ contacts in other social media, and we’re friends in other games, too.” The only one of two girls in their group, Dahlia, reminded in her usual, sweet voice.

“True, true. But this… feels different you know? Like… we are never gonna have an experience like that, ever again.”

“True.” That was the bulky, strongman of the group, Brontes, talking while his massive and very muscular character is doing some muscle poses. “Never heard of a game doing this kind of event before shutting down their servers. At least nothing THIS big.”

“I didn’t participate because I thought it was all bogus.” The other girl in the group, Sinistra, said in her regular, ever-so-skeptical tone. “But after seeing your figurine of Jiro sitting on your desk, I’m really disappointed I didn’t participate.”

“Yeah, didn’t they say that there was also a compensation prize for those who simply participated?” Brontes asked again, this time his character doing a ‘thinking’ emote. He always was so animated when he talks, both irl and in-game.

“A lotta in-game currency, which is pretty useless considering the game is shutting down tonight.” Max stated, waving his hand dismissively.

“Well, that’s useless.” Ricochet stated before pausing for a bit. “Alright, I’m afraid this is it for me, fellas. It’s been a good run, let’s hope we can get another masterpiece like this in the near future.” With that, he logged out.

Soon enough, everyone else said their goodbyes and logged off as well, leaving Max all alone. “Eh, might as well.” He decided to take a leisure walk around the main city hub of the game, Neo Batalis, taking in the night sights and flashing lights, the city was something out of a scifi anime, including the building designs. And from the looks of it, he wasn’t the only one who thought of doing so as he saw many other players staying up late, sharing some final moments with each other and the game.

A few minutes later, he found himself walking outside the city towards the forest outskirts, a short distance from the city from the western gate is the player houses, making his way towards his own, it took a lot of grinding for money just to buy the house, then came the decoration, that was a grinding montage in on itself.

The house was simple looking, but pretty fancy, sitting on a small piece of land, almost like the suburbs for rich folk, surrounded by a steel fence that is actually a barrier that prevents other players from coming in without permission. Complete with a spacious backyard and large swimming pool, and behind the house is a small greenhouse where he plants some herb materials for potions and such.

The inside of the house was fancier than the outside, two stories with a basement, the living room, kitchen and a bathroom on the ground floor, while the upper floor had an office, the master bedroom and a few other private rooms, plus a small balcony that was facing the city, complete with a meditating mat and other items to help the character meditate.

He took a nostalgic tour of the whole house, from the basement to the balcony, looking over towards the city from the distance with a soft smile before walking back inside and laying down on his bed. “Well, goodnight Fighting Spirit… and goodbye…” A small tear ran down his face in real life and in-game as he closed his eyes after bidding the game a final farewell.

With that, he finally logged out and took off his VR headset, giving his hair a small shake to smooth it out. He sat at his desk, his heart heavy and genuinely sad the game was shutting down after so many glorious years and adventures. “Well, all good things come to an end.” He said with a sorrowful tone.

After a few minutes of sitting in the dark, he decided to step away, relieve himself in the bathroom before brushing his teeth, then heading to bed, closing his eyes and waiting for sleep to come. “Wish we could stay on for a bit longer…” With that final thought, sleep finally claimed him.

---

The world was completely black around, save for the brief sparks of static flashing all around him. “What the? Where am I?” Max looked down at himself… but didn’t see his own body, but instead he was this glowing, humanoid body, no face and no expression to look at. “What happened to me!?”

“What’s going on!?” He spun around in shock as he heard the scared cry of a young lady.

“Hey! Someone better tell me what’s happening!?” An angry, but equally scared man shouted as well.

Soon enough, this empty void was filled with hundreds, if not millions of similar figures, all like himself, humanoid shaped and glowing, many of them in different colors to his own. “What the hell?” He gasped in shock, looking around as he was on the verge of a panic attack as well.

[FEAR NOT CHILDREN] Suddenly a booming, robotic and monotone voice rang right into their minds, right before this gigantic, robotic eyeball appeared above them out of thin air. [YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN] Chosen? For what? [This world is in dire need. You, our mighty fighters, are its only hope]

“Hope? What world? Earth?” Max asked, more out of frustration than anything.

[Sa-&*^W-ve i-i-i-it-t-t-t] Everyone jumped in shock once the large eye’s voice began staticing and glitching like crazy, the massive iris shooting this way and that. [S-S-Sa-a-ve-save. Ne-eeEEEEeee-d. D-D-D-D-Dire-Dire!]

Then suddenly *BOOM* the eye exploded in a magnificent and blinding flash of light that consumed the entire void, as well as everyone else.

---

“GAH!!!” He jumped out of bed, drenched in sweat as he panted for breath. “God, that was both intriguing and scary.” He rubbed his hand along his face, even his fur was completely matted… “Fur?” He looked down at his hand and himself “WHAT THE FUCK!?” He screamed out as he jumped to his feet on the bed.

He then rushed to the nearest mirror, what looked back at him was not his human self, but this athletic-buff wolf with cyan-blue fur and navy-blue, crescent moon-themed markings over his eyes, facing away from each other, and a Lupus constellation sleeve-tattoo running down his right arm from the shoulder to the wrist.

This was not (#^%) but it was Jiro, his game character from Fighting Spirit… “What the hell?” He then looked at his surroundings, he wasn’t in his one-man apartment in the US, but this was his house in the game too, there is no way he couldn’t know or remember this place. “What is happening?”

“Okay (&%*) calm down, panicking won’t help… also, why can’t I remember my old name!?” He screamed the last part, but then instantly calmed himself back down.

Apparently, that giant eyebot had something to do with this, the way it was glitching almost looked like it was being infected with a virus, possibly the cause of him being unable to remember his old name. “SOMEONE HELP ME!! PLEASE!!” He heard coming from outside, beyond the balcony, quickly racing over toward it and looking over.

At first it was one person, then another, and another, then the streets were filled with panicking men and women from varying species. Looking at them, ($^#), or Jiro rather could tell they are fellow players. 1. No NPC is allowed to come into this little neighborhood and 2. If he focused enough, he can see a small character card appear beside their head.

“Just like in the game.” He concluded as he retreated back to his room, closing the windows to block out the sounds, he needed to think. Seeing the screen from earlier, he decided to try a few things.

A flick of his hand down usually brought out the game’s ‘settings menu’ to allow the player to adjust various things in the game, but now, nothing happened. “Of course, if this is like those isekai anime and mangas, then this is our reality, and you can’t change the ‘settings’ of a whole reality.” Definitely no ‘Log Out’ button either.

But flicking his hand to the right, that brought out the inventory. “Well, glad this still works.” Then a flicking to the left brought out the character screen. “WHAT!?” He noticed something that would break any gamer’s spirit.

All of his stats, including his level and ranking, were completely reset. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?” Literal years of hard work straight down the drain. Checking the inventory again, a lot of his usual gear was now locked because he’s not of the right level. “Oh my GOD!!!!”

He slumped down to the ground, completely in shock. “Years of effort and hard work… gone…” He couldn’t tell if he should cry or laugh at this point, cause so far, everything has been a bad joke after another.

“DAMN YOU GLITCHING EYEBOT!!! AT LEAST TELL US WHAT WE’RE SUPPOSED TO DO!” He screamed out at his ceiling, but got no reply for his angry please. To no one’s surprise. “UGH!! Alright, alright, panicking again, nothing good here…” He made his way to his closet, which conjured multiple screens, three on his sides and back, and a smaller fourth in front of him, to allow him to choose his cosmetic items.

“Huh… at least the cosmetics I bought are still here.” Come to think of it, everything else is still the same. The house, his inventory, his cosmetics collection, possibly his player storage too, the only thing that was taken from him, and possibly from all the players, were his stats and levels. “Well, at least I won’t have to grind like crazy all over again… not as much anyways.” He put on a plain t-shirt, some athletic sweatpants, and a zip-up black and orange hoodie.

And he can’t forget his Cyber Buckle, a versatile gadget that comes in different designs, but its main function is ‘Inventory’ and ‘Bank/Wallet’.

“Sitting around here is not gonna help, whatsoever.” *rrruuummbblle* Suddenly, his stomach rumbled as he felt hungry. “Huh… I did skip dinner last night for the ‘farewell gathering’. But why am I feeling hungry in the ga- Oh, right, this is not a game anymore.”

---

Stepping outside his home, the commotion outside has calmed down considerably, no more screaming maniacs anymore, so that’s good, but the whole place feels like some sort of post-apocalyptic nightmare, with people fighting and punching each other here and there, someone crying in the corner, others sprawled all over the streets, apparently giving up on life already.

He made the trek to the city. “Welp! I’m back, Neo Batalis! Man, last night feels pretty awkward now.” Taking a brief walk around, he noticed that the city is more vibrant, upbeat, and lively. No strange NPCs walking in set routes, no robotic speaking sounds, cars actually driving back and forth on the streets, unlike in the game where they basically didn’t exist, everything felt, well, alive!

But he did notice a few different things… among them was that people were all dressed in more lewd and revealing clothing, walking around pretty casually for all to see, yet no one batted an eye.

The shops were there, he could actually walk into the Golden Era shopping mall, see the interior, and browse for stuff either by looking through the stores himself or by using small screens at the front of the shop to see if they had what he needed. But now, food came first. So he made his way to the upper floor towards the food court, to his favorite ramen shop and made his order, it took him a second, but he figured out that he had to swipe his buckle over a small device beside the cashier to pay. God, the food here always looked so good, time to see what he was missing.

“Oh my god~!” He squeaked in joy from the veryfirst slurp of his noodles. Yep, the food did taste as good as it looked, even smelled pretty heavenly too. So that answers the question about how ‘funcional’ his senses were.

After finishing his bowl, even drinking the soup, he ordered a cold drink to ‘wash it down’. “Hmm… I wonder…” He opened his inventory again and checked his money… “PFFFTTT!!” and did the mightiest spit take of his life. Where the amount of money he had showed, he saw way too many digits, way up in the millions, if not billions. His eyes even crossed a couple of times trying to count how many numbers were there. “Holy shit…” Well, he won’t be struggling for cash in the near future, that’s for sure.

With his belly full, he left the mall and did a small stretch, taking in a deep breath, smelling the clean, fresh air of the city, feeling quite refreshed. Eating and drinking in the game only worked as a stamina-refreshment with some slight and temporary boosts in stats, so actually feeling hungry then satisfied when eating, that felt pretty… refreshing, for a lack of a better word.

“Now, where else?” He looked around for a bit, trying to decide where to go… but then he remembered, smacking himself in the forehead. “Oh, duh!” Then pulled out the other device that all players have on them, which was a Simulum Phone, it was on this device that he saw all of the other options that were missing from the ‘settings menu’, like ‘Map’, ‘Friends’ and ‘Mail’, still no ‘Settings’ or ‘Log Out’ buttons though.

Following the map, he began making his way to one of the big dojos in the game. “Might as well brush up on the main attraction of this whole fiasco.”

---

The dojo of his choice was pretty well-known, as it was the ‘tutorial’ dojo for any new player, starting from the beginning sounds like the most plausible option, considering that all of his stats have been reset. The place was called ‘Dojo of Beginnings’, pretty fitting, located on a hill somewhere in the corner of the city, surrounded by a beautiful bamboo forest.

Stepping inside, the place was pretty empty, not even NPCs were around. “This is way too creepy…”

“Well, this is a surprise.” Jiro jumped and spun around, taking a fighting stance against the person behind him. “Glad to see you’re still quick on your feet.”

Jiro instantly calmed down when he saw that it was the owner of the Dojo of Beginnings, Master Lao Fu. He was a tall and slim, but very ripped and athletic lung dragon. Vibrant blue and green scales, luscious black mane with majestic antlers. He was dressed in his usual brown, red, and golden hanfu with lots of dragon and floral patterns, the chest area a bit too open, revealing a nice, juicy rack that Jiro could not help but gaze at. He was getting hungry again.

He felt a gentle finger lifting his head slightly. “Eyes up here, young man~” His voice was quite different from the game, too. It was still deep and baritone, yet quite gentle and warm, in contrast to the distant and cold stiffness of before.

“S-Sorry, Master Lao. But… where is everybody?” Jiro gestured to empty dojo. So empty that not even cockroaches were around.

“They all left seeking to hone their skills, elsewhere.” Lao said in a disappointed and very sad tone. “My brother opened a new dojo, much bigger than this one, and filled with all those fancy-schmancy gadgets and machines.” He said the last part with a mocking wiggle of his hands, his voice filled with disdain. Yeah, definitely different from the Lao Fu he knew.

Although, this is definitely something that is lore-accurate. Lao Fu is more of a traditionalist in his ways of training new fighters, that’s why his dojo is filled with wooden dolls and punching bags. Meanwhile his twin brother, Lao Shu, embraced modernity building the biggest and fanciest ‘dojo’ in the city, which is mostly a gym than a dojo at this point.

“Well, I am here. And I was hoping you’d train me once again, master.” He added a small, respectful bow to assure the dragon of his intention. Man, actually talking to the characters like this felt weird.

“Of course. Anything for one of my top students.” Lao Shu tried to act all calm and chill, but Jiro can definitely see the excited sparkle in his eyes. He was led to the large arena in the middle of the dojo. “It has been quite some time since we last saw each other, and from what I see, you might have gone a bit rusty.”

That’s putting it lightly. Sure, Jiro did take some martial arts classes back in his old world, but nothing like this. “You can say that.”

“Alright then, show me what you got.” Lao Fu took his stance, standing tall with one hand put out and the other behind his back, and a leg slightly forward, slightly slipping out from under his hanfu, and giving Jiro a peak at a glorious thigh. “Focus, young Jiro!”

“Right! Sorry sir!” And Jiro instantly took a stance, slightly shocking himself as this was one of the ‘Legendary rank’ fighting styles, yet it felt pretty natural to him, way too natural for even simple ‘muscle memory’. His stance was low, with one hand pulled back into a fist and the other stretched down and slightly forward, as if a wolf, ready to charge at his prey.

“Now, come at me!” Lao Fu commanded with authority.

Jiro didn’t need to be asked twice as he basically pounced on the dragon, his movement a bit erratic, yet smooth as his body flowed from one strike to another so easily, yet they were precise and accurate, barely giving Lao Fu a chance to counterattack. “What’s the matter, old man! Age catching up to ya?”

“Ha, you wish, young one!” With a flick of his hand, Lao Fu parried a punch from Jiro before using that same hand to deliver a powerful palm strike, right to the wolf’s nose, sending him flying to the other side of the arena. “My, you really have grown rusty.”

“Ow…” Jiro grumbled as he rubbed his nose. That hurt… that actually HURT! “No surprise there…” He muttered to himself as he stood up, taking his stance once again, this time stalking around the dragon, waiting for the right angle… then charged once again.

They exchanged strikes back and forth, over time, not only Jiro’s body, but also his mind was getting acclimated with his favorite fighting style, now able to use various skills and stringing combos together like he used to when the game was ‘normal’. But what shocked him the most was when he felt this surge of energy building up inside of himself as his ‘power meter’ was filled up to maximum.

“Time to finish this!” His hands and feet were engulfed in a bluish energy. [Full Moon Rush] He delivered a series of kicks and punches to Lao Fu, all accompanied by spiritual silhouettes of feral wolves striking along with him. The dragon master could do nothing but block, but the final three strikes did him in, with two breaking his guard and the final one with Jiro pulling back both fists before sending them crashing into the dragon’s abdomen, a much bigger silhouette of a wolf’s head howling angrily as the burst of energy sent the dragon flying all the way into the wall before falling down to the floor.

“Holy shit…” Jiro felt his hands trembling from the sudden rush of power that has now dissipated, falling to his knees as his whole body felt weak after that. “That was… pretty intense…”

“I’ll say.” Lao Fu stood up and dusted himself off pretty casually. “You sure got your bearings back quickly.”

“I… guess…” Jiro stood up after composing himself, before stepping up to the dragon. “It was an experience, that’s for sure.”

“So, you really have changed…” Lao Fu stated more to himself than to Jiro, but the wolf still heard him, tilting his head in confusion.

---

Eventually things calmed down considerably for the other players like Jiro, over the rest of the day, he saw plenty of them going into the city and experiencing everything first-hand, their fears and worries almost instantly disappearing, some were even in the other dojos sparring with each other, that’s when things truly clicked for everyone. ‘We are here, might as well make the best of it.’

Jiro lay in his bed that night, looking up at the ceiling in thought as he tried to comprehend what Lao Fu told him after their spar. “Something’s wrong here…” He tried to get some sleep, but his mind was way too full for that. “Ugh, fuck it!” He got out of bed, got dressed and headed out into the night.

He always had a habit of taking long, nightly walks when he couldn’t figure something out. Especially during nights with a full moon, now he knows why wolves loved it, it was just soothing and its light helped cleanse all the bad thoughts from his mind.

He found the city center, which had a large fountain in the middle with benches around it. He took a seat and leaned back, letting himself slump down a bit, legs spread wide apart as he did. It was then that he remembered Lao Fu’s words. ‘The world has changed considerably. The people are unaware of it, but myself and some of the other masters felt it. And then you all appeared back in the city after so many years of absence.’

So, the whole thing with Eyebot was not some strange glitch in reality, a greater power was at work here and it is what brought Jiro and the other players here, intentionally. “But who, and why? And the time skip, how long were we sleeping in that void?” He asked himself as he looked up at the clear, starry sky and the full moon above. The more he looked, the more relaxed he felt, almost falling asleep a couple of times. “Ugh, yep, that’s too much thinking for one night.” He rubbed his eyes as he stood up, ready to head back home.

*CRASH* “You wanna say that again, punk?” Jiro’s ears picked up some angry commotion happening in a nearby alleyway, looking over, he saw a group of thugs surrounding a young man, possibly around his own age. The black and grey furred tiger with silver hair was a mess of bruises, cuts, and his clothes were completely torn and tattered.

One of the thugs standing over him was this big and menacing-looking orc, picking the tiger by what remained of his shirt. “I dare you to say that again, you brat.”

“What, that you have a tiny dick?” The tiger mocked with a hoarse laugh, but that only got him a heavy gut punch that caused him to double over in pain.

“Maybe we should teach you a lesson in respecting your betters, slut.” The orc once again picked the tiger up, this time by his hair, winding back his arm for a very strong punch.

“I believe he’s had enough, my dude.” Jiro suddenly appeared in their midst, shocking the thugs around him as he placed a hand on the orc’s fist. “Please put him down, there is no need for violence on such a beautiful night.” He warned with a happy smile, but violence and bloodthirst basically oozed out of him like miasma.

The other thugs stepped away, but the orc was still high on his self importance that he didn’t notice. “How about you step away before you join him?”

“I’m afraid that’s not gonna happen, so be the bigger man and put him down.” Jiro was not backing down, either.

“I warned ya.” The orc dropped the tiger man and turned his attention to the wolf, winding his fist back to deliver his strongest punch to Jiro’s face.

But, Jiro just tilted his head to the side, the punch missing him completely. “I really hate people like you.” Then he pulled back his own fist… then *BOOM* sent it slamming right into the orc thug’s gut, sending him flying all the way from this alley and into the next on the other side of the street. Seeing their leader being beaten so easily, the other thugs turned their terrified gazes towards the wolf, who just gave them that menacing smile of his.

*FWEEEEE* They hightailed it out of there, not wanting to deal with this AT ALL. “Huh, they’re sure so quick on their feet.” Jiro said to himself before turning his attention to the tiger, who was still slumped down against the wall. “You okay there buddy?” He asked as he softly lifted the tiger up by his arm.

But the defeated man just shoved his hand away once he was back on his feet. “Screw you, asshole. I had them where I wanted ‘em.” The tiger growled at his rescuer, Jiro noticing that the lower-left ‘canine’ fang was slightly bigger than the others, slightly poking out from under the tiger’s lip.

“Gee, you’re welcome.”

“Fuck you.” The tiger gave him the middle finger before he started walking away.

“Well, so much for a good deed.” Jiro rubbed the back of his head as he turned away to leave… *THUD* he quickly turned around to see the tiger now face-planted on the ground, limp and unmoving. He scratched his head this time out of slight annoyance… then let out a deep, frustrated sigh. “Man, what am I getting myself into?” He asked no one in particular as he picked the tiger up, slinging the man over his shoulder before pulling out his phone.

“Home.” He commanded out loud, right before he and the tiger were engulfed in a bright light as they were teleported back to the wolf’s home.