FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I wake up to the sound of talking in the living room, and I check the time: five minutes till the alarm goes off.

«Ah, fuck it.» I grumble, shoving the sheets away to get up and wear my slippers.

I open the door, and I find Keiran holding Sheila in his arms as they share gentle kisses, licks, and nibbles in their perceived privacy.

I should probably announce myself.

Their ears swivel collectively as my joints crack while I stretch, reminding me that my 28th birthday is not as far away as I'd like.

They both turn towards me in surprise, their ears now flattening slightly in embarrassment.

«Glad you made up.» I comment with a yawn, trying not to increase their discomfort.

Despite my attempt, the braixen turns away and seeks to escape his embrace while he nods, the only one visibly relieved by my words.

«What did Arceus say? "Stand up and gaze upon the sunlight?" Well, she did!» he jokes, playing with the root of her tail.

«It was "upon all the sun embraces", you dunce..!» Sheila smacks him on the shoulder, still bashful.

«What were you even arguing about in the first place?» I interject, curious as I get the milk out of the fridge while she baits him into grabbing the tip of her fluffy appendage, only to nip at his fingers with a soft, annoyed snarl. «You've been at it for weeks.»

Keiran finally knocks it off, smirking.

«Well, it's kind of a surprise. You might get mad, but-»

His girlfriend swiftly closes her paws around his muzzle, whimpering.

«Don't say anything..! I'm still not ready for this!»

«Now I'm just concerned.» I mutter while I pour myself some cereal, before mixing them with honey in the milk. «What am I supposed to be mad about? What did you buy, Keiran?»

«Nothing! It's not an object as much as an action plan. But you'll like it! I hope..! I'll ask you now to promise not to kill me, regardless..!»

Already done with his antics a minute before 7, I glance towards Sheila, but she avoids my gaze, her ears still meekly lowered as she fiddles nervously with the stick she usually stores in the tufts of her tail.

«Okay... if she really thinks she can't handle my reaction, can you text me after I've gone to work, so I can take it out on the boys?»

«It would be way easier and more appropriate to discuss in person, with all of us present.» Keiran lowers his gaze while thoughtfully crossing his arms, a hint of seriousness in his response.

«Just... give some time, Samuel, please.» she murmurs, wrapping an arm around his chest for comfort. «I'm still coming to terms with many things.»

«Having second thoughts?» he sighs, searching her eyes.

«I've given my word, so we'll try anyway. I just want to go slow from start to finish.» she retorts. «Not everyone is as hardheaded and brash as you.»

«Little wet torchic..!» he teases her, suddenly pinching her flank, getting in return a yelp followed by another smack, starting a brief play-fight between them.

«Tiny, fluffy, and soft!»

«Samuel, can I destroy him?» she asks with a smirking growl, getting her stick ready.

«As long as no blood gets on the floor and no fire on the furniture.» I establish, getting the coffee ready. «Still, I hope you'll provide an explanation ASAP, or I will start deploying worsening guesses-»

«For the hundred and sixty-ninth time: she isn't pregnant, we aren't getting married, and her trainer won't let her live alone until she fully evolves.» he interjects, counting on his digits.

«That won't stop me; it'll just set an higher standard.» I conclude, finally attacking my breakfast as he groans. «Quit grumbling, get those shaggy tufts in order and take her home safely; you both have the afternoon shift today, if I recall correctly.»

Then I remember my own troubles waiting for me at work, and I try futilely to smuggle them out of my mind, but by their smirks, I can tell I was swiftly caught in the act.

«Yeah, yeah, I'm in way deeper shit myself! Now put all those little fangs out of my sight, and follow them there!»

I sigh at the umpteenth angry email in response to the postponement of my other projects as I move to fix Mike's messes.

According to the boys, he apparently took the day off because a new videogame came out during the weekend, and he wanted to grind the launch properly.

To sum it up: Ferretti's lucky because he's a rich fuck, Mike's lucky because my arms can't reach his house from here, and I'm shit out of luck because I exist.

As I get ready to start the work, a chill runs down my spine as a horrible thought comes to mind, and I stand up to go to his computer.

«Pirating stuff from ba.net on his pc?» Eric jokes.

«Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell uncommitted shit from his bum!» I croon for the room to hear, opening his IDE. «And now I see it, too! Kyle!»

He slowly glances over his screen, a mix of curiosity and worry in his eyes, clearly hoping I won't involve him.

«Bobby.» I demand, extending a hand that trembles with the rage of a vengeful god.

«Bobby deployed.» he warns, throwing the green toy across the room, which I catch in mid-air the second I make the program check what Mike stored properly.

The more differences pop up, the harder Bobby stoically endures my wrath, its malleable folds escaping through the gaps of my fingers while I inhale sharply.

«It was nice knowing you, Bobby.» George whispers.

«What's he even doing?» Eric asks them.

«You know the thing Mike was supposed to do last Friday? The one he ended up NOT doing?»

«Ah.» he acknowledges.

«I'm doing it right now, and after I've merged everything properly, I'll need to test the entire thing, since I was told some of the machines he programmed have more bugs in them than a morbidly obese heatmor.»

I get a chuckle from the boys, before I slam Bobby against the desk when the estimated time for the check grows to a whole hour, knocking down a pen holder by turning the little sphere into a flat disk of green goopiness under my palm.

«What the fuck is even running on this thing? It's supposed to be better than mine!» I wonder, checking what the computer's doing, only to find the antivirus merrily siphoning the CPU's attention.

«Motherfucker..! More malware-like than the malware itself!» I grumble, fighting to shut it off, eventually compromising by giving it a single empty folder to scan at its leisure.

Half an hour left to the end of the comparison.

Outstanding.

I take the chance to go ahead and grab myself a coffee, which I drink alone, since Lana seems to be stuck in a meeting.

I wonder how it ended with that insurance claim...

While I wait for the machine to fill my cup, I check my phone, hoping Keiran changed his mind and gave me any semblance of an explanation, but no such luck.

I wonder what I can accuse him of with my next question; the bar has been set quite high.

«Samueeel! The fans calmed down.» I hear George call me surprisingly quickly. «Oh, nevermind, they're blasting off now.»

Dread.

I down the coffee and drop the cup in the sink to rush back to our room, where I find out the antivirus stabbed me in the back alongside the rest of the system.

After choking the pc's cries by holding the power button, I start over and straight up paralyze every service, file, and routine related to the culprit, before finally getting to work again.

«Oh, now it takes ten minutes! Would you look at that!» I say in mock stupor.

Out of spite, I violently flatten Bobby again, feeling the switch under the desk swing around from the impact.

Once I manage to see the full list of changes, I feel the sudden urge to cry.

«Right. All files appear edited because he recompiled every single one of them. Same date for the last edit, too...»

«Check their fingerprints, those will show the real differences regardless of date. I think you can even show and compare them directly from there.» George suggests.

«Arceus bless you, man!» I thank him, quickly letting the program do the calculations.

«Filter by difference, and- fuck me!» I let out as there are still more than forty files in the list.

«Fucking hell, it's like a measles outbreak..!» I murmur, watching the problematic red markers spread across the screen, which I will have to fix manually one by one.

«Should we warn Mike to stay out of your range?» Eric asks, mildly amused by the entire situation.

«Warn him to stay out of the galaxy.» I utter, opening the first file.

It's fucking seven in the evening.

I left my flat with the rising sun behind me, and since I still have six files left, this time I'll probably be facing the dawn.

The boys did their best to help me, but their own Monday problems emerged, and despite George doing some overtime to help me, he had to leave as well.

I groan while tiredly rubbing my eyes, before the metallic ting of my cup hitting the desk startles me.

«Still here? Damn, you're slow.» Lana smirks, crossing her arms.

«You're not going to anger me; you were beaten to it..!» I retort with a low growl.

«By Mike? Is it that bad?» she asks, sitting next to the computer while glancing at the monitor with raised brows.

«Just a few years of poor practices coming together to make my life hell.» I comment, opening the next file.

«Uh. ETA?»

«Depends if the customization is a bitch or not. Meaning, if the problems in these last few files are not too complex, I could get away with just another hour of work.»

She flashes her brows, before pursing her lips.

«Can I help you in any way?»

I tilt my head as I glance at her, surprised by the offer.

«We're coworkers, and you coming in tired tomorrow isn't particularly pleasant for anyone involved. Also, if you make this a habit and burn out, Ferretti will squeeze my nipples, next.»

«Fair enough...» I sigh, focusing on the screen again. «Uh... I guess you could be in charge of the documentation.»

I move the pdf to the display behind her, her body elegantly twisting to follow the window.

«"SteelPunch Conkeldurr Class: CD200 Series Automated Hydraulic Press"...» she reads. «How much nerd-speak should I expect?»

«A lot, but you've got brains, and I'm fluent in nerd-speak.»

«You also have the only mouse. How am I going to read this?»

I drag the mousepad right next to her.

«I can go without.»

«Nerd.» she concludes, scrolling down the manual. «Alright, what am I looking for?»

«Nothing, for now. I'm still pondering the consequences of each edit.»

«Care to share your thoughts?» she asks, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

«Uh, alright...»

She steals a notepad from a drawer as I start to quickly go over what the program does, slowing down to let her take notes.

«Okay.» she concludes, reviewing her own writing. «So, in short: this thing here checks what button the user pressed on the press, and based on that, it can either start working, update the list of jobs, or show the list of stuff it's done on that day.»

«Yep.» I conclude, rubbing my eyes again.

«Hm. And Mike deleted a piece that handles the rotation of the item.»

«It's not that he deleted it, it's that he wrote his own code and replaced it without including my prior work, so now we have to make both live together in peace and harmony. I will be content with the machines not detonating at start-up, though.»

«And this 7000-Sols-worth-of-program you're using isn't capable of fixing that on its own?»

«It's a miracle it still works, being ten years old and end-of-life by four.»

«When I told you to speak up if something needed replacement or repair, software was included.» she scolds me.

«We run on an "if it ain't broke" policy, in this room. Especially because fixing it has always us more overworked than we already are.»

«It shows. So, how do we go about this?»

«Uh... do you know how to draw a flowchart?»

«Kinda. Don't expect me to use university-grade shapes and colors.»

«Yeah, yeah. So...»

Thankfully, through some copy-pasting and trial and error, the test results come out positive.

«Holy fuck, one down..!» I shoot my arms upwards in triumph, startling her for a second.

«Good boy. Now come back down among us mortals and correct that spelling in the final message. And add a comma there.» she orders, annoyingly covering the screen as she points at it.

«But that would send the last word alone to the next line.»

«And?»

«And it'll look like ass!»

«Samuel..!»

I huff, annoyed. «Fine! Because blue collars without a high school diploma will care..!»

«Don't be classist.» she rebukes, picking up her phone. «I swear to Arceus, having a 6- or less in Solian is a hard requirement to learn how to code.»

«Whatever, fine! But I'm fixing the other conflicts, first!»

She sighs, before focusing on scrolling.

«Have it your way. Are those at least easier than that whole mess we just went through, or should I give up on you remembering to correct the spelling later?»

«One error message to update, two... Wait, same problem with conditions here, so I can copy-paste from above... Yeah, no, this one's good now. Now I'll check the rest of the files.»

«Hrm. Looks like tomorrow's going to rain.» she comments nonchalantly, likely worn out. «At least my stocks went marginally up.»

«Such is life.» I give her an upbeat reply, maturing some hope as I realize the remaining work isn't too complex.

«You haven't actually told me who you'll vote for, now that I think about it. I remember you despising the Owners just as much as the rest of us, but I probably didn't let you finish, knowing myself.»

«Er... Solris Center, too.»

A soft smirk escapes her lips as she glances at me.

«Are you aware that I won't throw an umbreon at you if you disagree with my choices?»

«I was 51 percent sure you wouldn't, but better safe than sorry.» I quip back. «Still, I do it for my lucario. I'm sure that at some point he'll want to live on his own, and if Nannini can get the insurance costs down or offer some support for that...»

She purses her lips in acceptance, before going back to her phone.

«Turns out your hero complex can be helpful, at times.»

I glare at her between a fix and the other.

Relax those brows, belly-boy. You know I'm right.» she retorts. «Angela and Cody would definitely agree with me.»

«What exactly have I done to be "hero-complexed"?» I inquire as I focus on an error I just wrote.

«You missed a closing bracket. As for your question: you went out of your way to sleep with an old bird you didn't know without a condom so she wouldn't feel bad about herself; you went to bed with me to try and change my "villainous" ways; you almost committed vehicular manslaughter against a bunch of Owners to bring Cody home safely.

I will leave out Calypso's entire situation, because every time it crosses my mind one a blood vessel there threatens to pop. Hold on, I'll focus on this article about a few feral, blood-thirsty pokémon escaping a rehabilitation center to relax...»

«Not entirely accurate, especially that part about Cody and the Owners. The rest were part of it, but I also wanted to have sex with those mons.»

A shiver runs down my spine after I utter the last sentence, since I remember we're in the office and not at The Swingshot.

«Even with me?» she smirks.

«No, you were more of a pity-fuck.»

She burst into laughter. «Look who's talking..! You were a punishment from Arceus himself in more than one instance, during that ordeal!»

«You fucking poisoned me, you damn witch!»

«Now, now! I'm still your superior..!» she stops me, booping my nose.

«My superior pain in the ass..!» I grumble, starting the final test. «And if this damn thing runs properly, I will get rid of you until morning!»

She giggles, before leaning closer. «Be honest, Sammy... You like me.»

«You're bearable at most!» I retort even as I shiver lightly while her breath caresses my ear.

She is quite attractive.

And she's not even that bad, once you get to know her.

«During regular hours, that is! Right now-»

I blink repeatedly as I pull back, finally considering something I hadn't before.

«Wait, why are you still here..?»

Her smirk widens.

«Easy: I want you to bend me over this desk and pound your gigantic dick into each of my holes, until either your superior human seed takes over my tight lopunny womb, or my ovaries start running for their lives.» she matter-of-factly replies, resting her elbows on her thighs as she props up her head, lips pursed as she awaits my response.

I think I've been staring at her for a solid ten seconds now.

«No, you don't.» I conclude, my eyelids closing into slits.

«Damn, I thought you would have fallen for it. Guess your IQ doubles when you're sitting in front of a computer.» she mutters to herself. «William got stuck with a customer, so I have no way of going back to the hotel without riding a few busses filled with boorish, handsy mons and humans, or selling my liver to a shady taxy driver.»

«And I was being classist.»

Her expression doesn't shift as she keeps staring at me, surprisingly without using attraction.

I groan despite the positive results appearing on the screen.

«Fine! Go get ready, I'll pick up my stuff and we'll close up shop.» I conclude, committing the changes properly and shutting down the system.

Once gathered my things, I meet her at the door.

«I take it you drive that old wheelbarrow parked in the corner?» she smirks. «I thought you more of a city car kind of guy.»

«It runs well enough.» I retort, getting the feeling she's trying to spur me on again.

«Until it's emission class gets banned...» she continues while I lock the door.

«Busses are more ecological... and might just become your only option.» I warn her.

«And you'd leave a poor pretty doe such as myself alone in the hands of strangers?» she murmurs in mock desperation, giving me puppy eyes.

«Plenty of strangers' hands have already gone through the poor pretty doe, so I'm not too worried.» I retort, pocketing the keys and getting a light kick on my calf, followed by a pout.

«I bet that's not what you told Cody when he asked for a lift!»

«I offered, in fact.» I conclude, heading down the stairs.

She furrows her brows as she sizes me up, following me.

«No way he was that good.» she grumbles, leaving me unsure if she's still joking or not.

«His dick was bigger, so I had him to give him a ride.» I sardonically explain while opening the glass door for her. «Them's the rules.»

She raises a brow as she exits. «Really? So the boy is actually "the man", beneath his sweet, cheeky self?»

«Thought you knew that already.»

«As you've gathered, my intel isn't actually infallible, in real time, nor reaching down to the individual "specs" of each member of The Swingshot. Literally, if it makes you giggle. I only know of those I've slept with, and as you most definitely know, Cody and I have far too similar tastes in partners. Even if...»

She trails off mid-sentence.

«...nevermind. Open the car, I'm cold.»

«With all that fur on you?» I banter while I unlock the doors, letting go of the secret she was about to reveal.

«Pacea's climate is warmer, and I'm not that fluffy, outside of my extremities and neck. You've seen that yourself, remember?»

With that, she hops on, before easing herself onto the seat.

«I thought worse. Can you shovel some coal into the engine, so we can warm up?»

I groan again while I sit next to her to twist the keys and turn on the heating.

After that, I put it in reverse and leave the parking spot.

«Of course it's a manual.»

I audibly exhale at the umpteenth mockery of my poor sedan.

«Is that a window crank, on the back door?»

«Lana!» I exclaim in exasperation, making her giggle, before her eyes widen.

«Ah, shit! I think I left my keys on my desk! Give me yours, I have to come in early tomorrow!»

I sigh, before handing them over.

I watch her as her athletic legs make short work of the sidewalk, each stride an elegant hop.

Finally left alone with my thoughts, I let my mind move freely, considering my next moves.

As soon as I'm done taking her to the hotel, I'll get home, shower, and lock Keiran in a chokehold until he drops every single detail of what Sheila and he have been planning behind my back, even if it costs me the bones in my arms.

Once she grows brave enough, I can do my best to feign surprise at whatever it is, as if I actually knew nothing about it.

Would that even work on a psychic type, even if her abilities are still budding?

I should ask Rose if she knows any tricks to help with that.

Wait, that reminds me that Keiran met Sheila there.

Was that a coincidence and they were both first-timers, or was she a regular?

That means they most likely fucked first thing, regardless!

How did that hit me only now?!

That little shit..!

I mean, he was already an adult for his kind, but still!

I cross my arms, the usual rumble of the engine grounding me for a few seconds.

I guess their species also have a different courtship ritual, now that I think about it.

Maybe lucarios are used to mating immediately, in the wild?

I did push back looking that up, back in the day, so I guess now's a good time as any...

Uh. No, apparently they can form small communities on a mountain, but they usually take their time checking if they're compatible, healthy, strong enough..

How has it been ten minutes already?

Is Lana forging each of her keys anew?

I consider calling her, but I spot her phone resting on the seat.

Annoyed, I exit the car, leaving it on to prevent the interior from going cold, and I head back to the entrance myself.

However, the second I'm about to ring the doorbell to the office, a scream makes me jump, and I snap around towards the parking lot, looking for its source.

«Lana?» I try calling, even if it sounded nothing like her.

Growing uneasy, I press the button to get her to speak to me, hoping she's alright.

Nothing changed in my immediate surroundings, so it must have come from...

...from behind the corner.

As I receive no answer from the intercom, I take trembling steps towards the edge, before pulling out my phone to peek behind it with the camera.

Pure darkness.

I swallow hard, trembling, and after turning on the flashlight, I tentatively step forward.

I stop for a second to dial the emergency services number, just in case.

It was a female voice, likely a human's.

Pokémon usually yelp or let out an instinctive cry, regardless of how well they can speak.

Was she knocked unconscious? Gagged?

I freeze on the spot once I see the figure on the floor, right behind the next corner, the light bouncing off the reflective stripes on her high-vis jacket.

That hat... she's the area's waste collector!

I can hear her truck nearby!

«Hey, are you-» I call out as I rush to her aid, my words dying in my mouth once the torch reveals the gap between the two severed halves of her body.

I stare at the slowly expanding pool of blood between her pelvis and ribcage, unable to come to terms with what I'm seeing.

A distant hiss from the abandoned garbage truck startles me, sending me into a panic.

«Fuck..!» I desperately curse, starting the call as I back away from the body with trembling steps. «C'mon..! C'mon..!»

Wait, what's that smell?

And the sound-

A sudden impact in my lower back makes me drop the phone with a chocked gasp, but for some reason, I'm unable to move forward with the hit.

A scorching, iron-scented breath washes over my neck, followed by a giant, glinting claw trailing across my cheek and around my eye, drawing a sharp line across my skin.

A strange tingle is coursing through the area that was just hit, and something is holding me still.

«Young... sweet... tasty...» a gravelly voice grovels in my ear almost drunkenly, its reverb hitting my back as something large presses against it. «Tasty smell... tasty friend...»

Why can't I move?

Is it getting harder to breathe?

Why does it feel warm?

Who's behind me?

«Wh- who-» I mutter, before screaming in agony as I'm lifted off the ground, something tugging at- no, clenching inside my body.

The claw, longer than my forearm, moves to the side of my neck, piercing the skin.

«Bleed..!» the voice mutters gleefully, when a blistering wetness runs beneath the cut, followed by a sound between an appreciative purr and a low feral growl.

I squirm and whimper as the claw is pulled back before stopping slightly deeper, as if mid-slash.

What I finally recognize as a tongue drags across my face, exploring my features as I hear the sound of nostrils drawing air, my senses augmented from adrenaline.

«Smell... taste more sweet friend...»

When the tongue finally stops blocking my vision, now used to the dark, I glimpse its head, as large as my torso.

Its triangular snout, with the yellow star-shaped mark... the rounded horns... and the slitted amber eyes right above that terrifying, heaving maw.

The scent of blood and its own animalistic musk wafts from it, holding true to its fame.

This is a garchomp.

The searing heat I feel in my lower back... it's its claw.

I've been impaled.

My legs give out as my body starts trembling in shock and terror, a sudden nausea crawling up my throat and making me gag despite the emptiness of my stomach.

«Give friend...»

What is it talking about?

I can't think straight, or almost at all.

This can't be real.

It must be a nightmare.

I was just fixing terrible code, so I must have fallen asleep on the desk.

Lana will wake me up and mock me for it.

A sharp pain crosses my chest, making me scare my hopes away with a scream.

«Give... or I cut!» it growls.

«S- Stop..!» I manage to whimper, before it cuts me twice more, down my abdomen and thigh, quick and shallow, but painful.

«Give... small pokémon! Small... soft fur..! Long ears..! Yummy..!»

Lana..?

Did it smell Lana?

Does it think she's my pokémon?

Another cut on my knee, before it goes up, cutting dangerously close to my inner thigh.

Is my leg still attached?

I can't feel anything but my wounds.

My mind is still refusing to process this.

Mum..!

Keiran..!

Please, wake me up..!

Save me..!

A stab under my armpit brings me back just enough to hear its words.

I feel the claw right next to my lung as I heave, and I'm terrified it might get popped like a balloon.

«I break ball..! I take her... later! Dinner now..!»

In a split second, it draws both of its claws from my body to let me collapse on the ground, prone.

My extremities feel cold and numb.

Its breath is hellfire on the back of my neck, in comparison.

Its purrs... they should feel soothing, with the almost innocent joy they carry.

Why is this happening?

Is it my punishment for loving outside my kind?

Am I going to hell?

Am I already there?

A blinding light fills my sight as the purring grows to its loudest, before the scorching air leaves my skin alone.

The burning across my body hasn't stopped, but I can't feel her ripping me to shreds.

Am I dying?

Dead?

The light grows stronger, before a startled roar and the thunder that follows shake me half-awake, allowing me to discern the familiar rumbling of an old engine.

«SAMUEL!!!» a desperate scream gets my muscles to tremble in response, trying to reach for its source. «Arceus! Fuck..!»

This fur... so soft.

«Lana...» I whimper, recognizing her touch and scent as she drags me with all the might her small frame can muster. «Don't... Run... Run...»

I repeat, instinctively wanting her to save herself, and not to be left behind at the same time.

With an almost feral cry, she's able to muster enough strength to shove me inside the car, the smell of old leather cradling me in a vain attempt at comfort.

After she closes the door, I hear her vault over the roof towards the driving seat.

«Reverse! FUCKING REVERSE!!!» she screams, stretching her whole body to reach both the clutch pedal and the stick shift.

A powerful impact pushes the car back, and it's only the sorry state of my body that prevents me from screaming when I see the garchomp snarling at her through the windshield, its claws firmly planted in the hood and its breath fogging up the glass.

«YOU WON'T TAKE ANOTHER ONE, YOU DISGUSTING BITCH!!!»

With that, Lana dives onto the gas pedal, getting the dragon to fall off the front as she reverses, leaving two chasms across its crumpled surface.

The wheels scream for vengeance as she skids us around to face the road, but the engine ends up stalling from the quick release of the clutch when she hurries to shift gears.

«FUCKING MANUAL!!! IT HAS TO BE A FUCKING MANUAL!!!»

In a panic, she restarts the car just as our rear gets rammed, the back window shattering as the predator tries to bite and claw its way into the vehicle, the chassis bending under her feral rage.

The amount of blood she's covered in... how many did she kill?

Lana drives the first gear to its limit, getting her off us once again as we charge into the street.

«Samuel, tell me you're alive!» she cries, terror in her tearful eyes as she glances back at me.

I'm too scared to speak, and I'm feel the car growing colder by the minute.

A deeper instinct tells me its not just because of the shattered glass.

«Shit..!»

She swerves brutally, making me slide across the backseat.

I feel the iron-scented wetness on the leather beneath me, and the nausea comes back, as little as I can perceive it.

«Mark! Get as many ice and fairy types as you can to the Swingshot! And call Evely!» she orders to the phone, before looking back at me, tears welling up in her eyes. «I think Samuel might..!»

She looks up behind us and steps on the gas.

«A garchomp is chasing us! The police station is too far away! I can't take him to a hospital with her following us! I NEED HER GONE!!!»

I hear speaking from the phone as she heaves, before something hits us from the side, pushing the car off course.

«GIVE UP, YOU STUPID WHOOORE!!!» Lana screams, desperately trying to switch to fourth gear while keeping the car on the road and pressing the home button of her phone at the same time. «THE SWINGSHOT!!! DIRECTIONS!!!»

Her voice is... muffled.

It's getting too hard to stay awake...

«SAMUEL, SAY ANYTHING!!! PLEASE!!!» she sobs, swerving as the GPS tries to correct her.

I weakly gasp for air, finding it hard to swallow my own saliva.

«Stay with me..! You deserve so much better..! Please..! Not again..! I can't..!» she continues as horns blare while she runs a red light. «OUT OF MY FUCKING WAAAY!!!»

A thunderous sound shakes the car as she runs through what must have been a bus stop, the windshield shattering on impact.

«FUCK!!!» she yells as she veers violently, before our side bangs against a wall, causing us to spin until we finally crash, and the airbags fire at once.

I choke in pain as I forcefully hit the back of the front seats, before falling in the gap in between.

«No..! Shit..!» I hear her whimper, trying to recover from the collision.

Her fingers close around my own, and she starts dragging me out of the broken door, almost losing her balance as I fall to the ground.

«Mark..! Rose..!» she coughs, her breathing labored. «No..! NO..!»

I barely tremble once I feel her dainty hands put pressure on my wound.

Her smaller form is trying to drag me back while stopping the blood loss.

«C'mon..!» she whimpers. «Please, breathe! BREATHE!!!»

My vision is slowly darkening, and her body feels like its searing my back.

She's so soft, though...

Why should I fight it..?

I'm so tired...

My body stirs at the sound of the garchomp hopping onto the roof of the car, crushing it under her beastly mass while her low growl shakes the air, accompanied by tempered glass cracking and finally shattering.

The glint of her eyes is piercing the layer of death clouding my gaze, the stench of blood and feral musk filling the air as her muscular body coils up, ready to jump us.

«Stop..! Don't do it..!» Lana begs, collapsing with my head on her lap.

She's trembling from fear and exhaustion, her legs squirming weakly to escape my weight.

A deafening shriek of primal terror escapes her as the predator leaps, before freezing in mid-air.

A set of heavy footsteps echoes through the alley, the hulking figure of a machamp racing forward from the darkness and tackling the dragon to the ground with a ferocious cry, his lower arms holding its claws steady while the upper pair steadily pummels her against the concrete floor.

«Mark..!» the lopunny whimpers.

However, the garchomp kicks him off, sending him flying several meters back.

Droplets of blood fall off his chest and stain his uniform due to the contact with her talons, but he's able to land on his feet, likely helped by the gardevoir hidden in the shadows.

Her dress and hair sway furiously despite the fear and strain in her trembling hands as she shares the combative expression of her partner, perhaps even more intense than his.

A few broken teeth fall from the killer's mouth while her full attention shifts to her attacker, waging how to properly dispose of him as her sharp scythes seem to draw a rough butchering chart in the air, thirsting for vengeance.

Mark, on the other hand, keeps his lower hands open and ready to protect his torso while his upper fists stay primed to punish any offense, making him into a statuesque figure of pure martial power.

«If you continue down this path, you will not survive.» he warns, a hint of barely restrained rage as the veins on his flexed muscles twitch dangerously under his grey skin.

As a response, she roars and launches forward, swinging her claws relentlessly to try and hit his limbs without getting intercepted again.

The machamp dodges and weaves while slowly backing away, the natural talent of his species for close combat worthy of its fame.

«Rose!»

A psychic wall of frozen air forms in front of him the second a claw is about to reach his neck, trapping it in place.

He places his hand over Protection, vaulting over it to deliver a kick straight to her damaged teeth, making her yelp.

She slashes towards his leg in revenge, but he manages to lift it back out of the way and retreat behind the barrier, although with a few new wounds on his leg from the sheer impact with her dangerous jaws.

With that, he decides to close his four hands in pairs along her trapped claw, likely to snap it in half.

Quickly understanding his plan, she starts panicking, swiping her free claw against the barrier, growling in distress as she's unable to pierce it.

While I think I can hear the sound of cracking, she strikes unexpectedly low, digging a small trench through the concrete floor and reaching his foot behind the barrier.

Mark gasps in pain, trying to pull away from the hook in his sole, but Rosaline charges forward, lowering her own protection to shove the beast back with Psychic and free her partner.

«My head is killing me..! She's so strong and heavy..!» she whispers after their opponents staggers back, claws scratching the ground as she steadies herself, visibly hesitant to rest on the one Mark just damaged.

The gardevoir brings her hands forward, her skin nearly beginning to glow.

«Take Samuel and Lana and go to Evely. I'll use it as soon as I find an opening. It ends how it must..!»

«Back away, she'll-!»

Rose barely has the time to raise another Protection to stop her charge, before pushing it forward to send her back yet again.

«Let me focus, Mark!» she ends the argument, her stance tense as she keeps her eyes on the predator.

He groans nervously, quickly limping to Lana and me to drag us back as delicately as he can.

«Are you hurt?» he asks her with pain in his tone, trying not to turn back towards Rosaline.

Lana doesn't answer him, desperately clinging to my neck as she wishes this all away.

In the meantime, Rose is trying to pin the garchomp against the wall, her teeth clenched as her hands mimic a strangling motion.

However, the beast's neck muscles barely flex while she growls at the psychic type, before violently shaking the ground by stomping her foot.

The gardevoir's focus breaks for a second, her knees buckling from the shockwave.

Even Mark groans at the impact, but otherwise does not waver.

«Evely!» he calls as he leaves us at a good distance from the fight to go rescue his partner.

Rose looks back up at the charging garchomp a few meters in front of her, the air trembling between them as another Protection is about to be raised.

But in the blink of an eye, the beast clears the distance while the wall is still forming, bursting it like a bubble with just brute strength.

Before the defender can react, she shoots out her claw fast enough to ignite the air for a split second, drawing it through Rose's stomach with a small flash that lights up the alley.

The gardevoir gasps sharply, her form faltering yet unable to fall.

Mark watches in disbelief for a few instants as the garchomp pulls the claw out to direct another strike towards Rose, drooling at the scent of fresh blood as her prey falls forward.

Roaring in rage, he charges forward to intercept the attack, disregarding his own wounds, and he delivers a devastating left hook that would have turned a man to mist.

In a split second, her head gets crushed against the opposite wall with the sound of a gunshot, the shockwave visible with the naked eye as cracks spread through the bricks, which eventually collapse around them.

Just as feral, she jumps him, her movements unsteady from the hit she just received, her nostrils dripping blood and her right eye swollen.

Anticipating her, he immediately grabs her wrists and headbutts her, before targeting her neck with his good hand, since the other upper limb seems to have given out under his own strength.

She ducks, before swinging her tail, which he manages to dodge only to get his injured foot stomped on while he struggles to rest his weight on it.

Mark cries in pain, and she steps forward to overpower him with her superior mass, pinning him to the ground and struggling to hit him as he keeps holding her claws, his healthy leg desperately keeping her jaws back by pushing against the chin.

Sirens echo in the distance, but they'll never make it in time.

«I've got you.» an unknown audino whispers into Rose's ear, holding her up while putting pressure on her wounds.

She has the typical pudgy build of her species, maybe even more so, given her mature age.

The crow's feet adorning her determined gaze and the grey strands of down spread across her body reinforce that, giving her the look of a grizzled soldier rather than a healer's.

The gardevoir clenches her teeth, her hands shaking while the air trembles around her.

«Breathe. From your mind, straight through the nervous fibers in your arms, and into your palms. Hold it there with your fingertips.» the newcomer explains firmly, but patiently, her deep blue eyes focused on the garchomp. «Mark's "guts" is active, so he will survive the grazing blow.»

Small sparks start crackling around the wounded mon, her hair and dress shaking in a storm of her own making.

The ground itself is vibrating, almost as if its atoms were trying to flee.

A high-pitched hum pierces through my vanishing hearing, quickly growing almost painful.

The garchomp pauses her attack on Mark once she finally hears the threat, her eyes wide open with surprise.

«Fire.» the audino utters, before instantly flattening her ears against her averted skull.

The thunder following the sudden flash of the attack shakes the ground, lifting a cloud of debris and blasting the attacker back against the car and to the ground, where she shrieks in agony.

Mark screams as well, his body spasming for a few seconds before going limp, heaving and shuddering.

The former, on the other hand, keeps squirming and contorting for a while, before vomiting blood that must not fully belong to her until she finally stills, her eyes wide open and her form occasionally twitching.

«Well done.» the audino then eases the spent gardevoir to the floor, resting her legs up against the wall. «Hold the wound and don't move; I've slowed down your circulation to limit the blood loss.»

«EVELY!!!» Lana finally finds her voice, hoarse and broken.

«Why is it that you only call me when there's trouble?» she sternly retorts, swiftly moving to gently turn Mark's head to the side. «Clench your jaw for the moment, beefcake. It's going to get better sooner than you think.»

Finally, she rushes towards... my body, which I realize only now I'm seeing from over my own head.

«Any wounds on you?» Evely asks the lopunny as she brings one of her feelers from her ears to my completely numb chest.

«I'm fine, but he's cold..!» she whimpers.

«No surprise there; I could smell human blood from inside the bar. His heart is barely hanging in there; if there's an ambulance among those sirens, we can still save him. Take his phone and dial up the emergency services, just to make sure. I'll do my best to prevent him from leaving us.»

I feel a pulse travel through my very soul, my body visibly shivering.

«He moved! I felt it!» Lana exclaims while on the phone. «Yes! I need help! There are three wounded! Two mons and a human! Moonshiner Street!» she then quickly reports, her fur standing straight. «Yes, a nurse is here! She's an audino!»

Then, she faces Evely. «You should-»

«His heart is already beating; he needs a transfusion. He's an A+. I think his left kidney and his intestines got the brunt of it.» she speaks for her to repeat.

Soon enough, the police is the first to reach the scene, two arcanines with bulletproof armor rapidly securing the alley and surrounding the garchomp with extreme prejudice.

«Suspect is down. Five civilians. Three injured.» one of them finally growls before what looks like a SWAT team joins them, followed by rescuers, made up of a human doctor, a blissey, and another audino.

The former starts instructing the two nurses as they move to assist Mark and Rose, before crouching over me with Evely, I think.

I can barely see anything, at this point.

I'm not even scared anymore.

The air seems to be getting exponentially brighter, too.

Black shapes swirl in the increasing white, switching and binding in a chaotic order of letters and words, singing a silent song that echoes through and around me.

Everywhere around me, I think I can see, or at least perceive, a golden ring, crossed by a four-tipped star.

I feel... bliss, and reverence, along with a sensation of belonging and lightness, as if this were MY place in reality and nothing else mattered anymore.

I guess I didn't make it.

Lana, Mark, Rose...

I already can't recall what they look like; even their names feel like nothing more than a phantom pain on my missing tongue.

I'm not angry or hateful about any of it, either.

Just a lack of needs and wants, traded for something akin to complete closure.

What even am I, right now?

Was I anything in the first place?

Is there a point to the very concept of "I"?

Their prayer echoes through eternity and infinity, narrating them with their whole being as they sing and pray.

POWER, RADIANCE, ABSOLUTION, INFINITY, STABILITY, ENLIGHTENMENT, DESTRUCTION, BEAUTY, ENERGY.

PRAISED BE ARCEUS THE GOLDEN ONE, GLORIOUS AND ETERNAL,

VANQUISHER OF EVIL AND HARBINGER OF ORDER AND LIGHT

BLESSED BE HIS THOUSAND ARMS,

CRADLE FOR THE WORLD AND SHIELD AGAINST OBLIVION

HALLOWED BE HIS JEWEL OF LIFE,

DIVINE SEED OF LOVE, MASTERPIECE OF CREATION

PRAISED BE ARCEUS, ALPHA AND ORIGIN,

FATHER OF STARS AND DAYLIGHT,

PRAISED BE, NOW AND FOREVERMORE

POSSIBILITY, RENEWAL, ALIGNMENT, IMPERMANENCE, STRUCTURE, ETERNITY, DEVOTION, BLISS, ENTANGLEMENT.

This flesh feels like a prison.

Why am I here?

Is this... life?

Every part of my body feels like it's made of lead, and my skin cruelly itches, as if mocking my failed escape, or giving me a disgusting "welcome back".

I have eyes, burning and dry, but I'm compelled to open them.

I must find out where I am.

Bright.

Unknown ceiling.

White sheets, medical monitors.

A hospital, my mind suggests.

Legs on an extended chair.

Familiar trousers and shoes.

Mum.

She's sleeping next to my bed.

I try calling her, but it comes out as a soft whimper, my own voice startling me as it vibrates through my skull after what feels like decades of silence.

Despite that, her eyes slowly open and meet mine, making her straighten up.

It's been months since I've last seen her, but now she looks like her age ran far past her.

«Samuel!» she exclaims as she fully wakes up, standing up to come hug me, but my instinctive squirming gives her pause.

«Doctor!!!» she calls desperately.

A blissey immediately waddles in, her stout build almost making her tip over as she skids to the bed to check on me.

I squirm as they lean over me, feeling suffocated and constricted.

My heartbeat skyrockets, my numb limbs stirring in a panic while the nurse calls for backup as she peppers my lips with a pinch of a strange powder before I can struggle myself out of the bed.

«Back..!» I try to beg for space, my lungs heavy. «Back...»

My lips tingle where the powder hit them, and my body quickly loses its will to fight, returning to its earlier stillness.

I close my eyes, feeling warm, hoping to return to that blissful, ethereal scene that seemed to last and span forever.

When I wake up again, my blurry vision moves by reflex to a patch of blue, red, and yellow to my side, but my body is way too heavy to let me jump away from it.

«Samuel.» a soft, familiar voice calls, a hint of desperation in it. «Don't be afraid. Nobody can hurt you anymore.»

A soft, subtle growl in every spoken word, but not threatening.

The opposite, in fact.

Keiran.

I feel tears well up in my eyes.

I want to hug him.

I want him close to me.

«It... it all feels overwhelming, I can tell. I'm going to reach for your hand, now.»

My fingers twitch temporarily as I feel the smooth, tough skin of his pads encircle my hand without squeezing it.

Someone is sobbing in the background.

«Your mother is scared, but your dad is there to comfort her.» he continues, his thumb massaging my palm. «You're no longer in danger, but you will have to stay here for a little while.»

I feel another chocked sob as the yellow patch next to him shifts, and the lucario pauses.

«Sheila came, too. She wanted to make sure herself that you're alright. Guess I'm not that trustworthy..!»

A second, way warmer paw rests upon my hand, getting a small squirm in return.

Her breath washes over it, broken by sniffles.

«The others that came to your rescue are all alright, although a couple of them did not come out of it unscathed. They will make a full recovery, so don't worry.»

My vision is slowly improving, and I can make out his girlfriend and him, my parents still out of focus a few meters back.

«Keiran...» I grovel, trying to command my fingers to take his paw.

«I'm here, Sammy.» he squeezes my hand, likely reading my need for contact. «We're all here for you.»

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