FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

[b][u][center]Out of the Vortex

Chapter 2: The Lion and the Ringmaster

Sponsored by Studley_Destiny

By Draconicon[/center][/u][/b]

Soaring from my crappy apartment to downtown Tacoma has never gone faster or more heart-poundingly. Being on the back of a dragon is something that I've always thought about trying, but never thought about some of the downsides. Such as the wind-scarring. Such as the wind-chill. Such as the fact that I can't see a god-damn thing and I feel like I left my stomach about two miles behind us.

Despite that, I can vaguely make out the skyline, such as it is, and I point down towards where the buildings drop and the giant M of the Hotel Murano fades away.

“I think he's down there. Looked like it on the news."

“...know...lucky...of hearing...you…"

“Can't hear you!"

Draconicon doesn't answer, and instead swings down towards the streets. I pull up my legs in a hurry, barely avoiding a power-line, and hope that the various cameras on the street corners aren't snapping too many pictures of this dragon. He's running a lot of red lights, and I know that there's enough assholes in the transportation department to try billing a dragon the same way that they would a car.

We come in for a landing in a hurry, hitting the street hard enough to send me stutter-stepping forward. Draconicon, of course, lands without the slightest issue, his robe fluttering up around his ankles before he furls his wings. Me, on the other hand…

WHAM!

Right into the theater building. I groan, checking my glasses to make sure that they're alright, and then slowly poke my head around the side of the building.

“Yep...yep, that's Nemean."

I've written about the guy often enough to know him when I see him. A haughty looking lion, almost like a certain someone drew influence from Scar when creating him - I think a small apology Taiko's way for the comparison - but with a great deal more muscle and a much more devastating capability. The lion stomps around the middle of an intersection, not even bothering to move out of the way when cars come shooting towards him. He just stands there, and they go sheering off to the side, instead, often with part of the metal sides taken off with them.

Trying to remember what I wrote about this guy is harder than usual. Often, I'm just trying to remember notes for a new story. Now, I'm trying to figure out what the hell we do to take him down before he hurts someone...well, hurts them seriously.

Draconicon comes up beside me, his black robes not exactly hidden against the yellow building I'm hiding behind.

“So, what do we do?"

“Well, I was hoping you had some spell for stopping someone in their tracks."

“Quite a few, actually. I could swallow him up in the road."

“...Can we do something that [i]doesn't[/i] make it even harder to drive around here?"

“Since when do you care?"

“Since I apparently have a dragon around who can warp things. I'd prefer to warp them for the better, not the -"

BOOM!"

We both duck at the sudden explosion, and I turn my eyes back to Nemean. The dark-furred lion is shaking his head at a police car that had run head-long into him, and is now stopped in mid-air, split in two. I gulp at the sight.

“...Okay, yeah, swallow him up."

“Happily."

Draconicon takes a step around the building, lifting his hand. The usual black fire of his magic comes bursting out of his fingers, whipping over his shoulder before getting flung towards the intersection. I watch it hit the ground, and smile as the lion's attention is immediately taken off of the broken-up car. His eyes drift over to the dragon, and he cocks his head to the side slightly.

“Wait...I know you…"

I blink at that. As far as I know, there's not been any shared continuity between the two characters. Did Taiko write something that I'm not familiar with?

I shake my head. Time for that later.

Draconicon's magic has already warped the pavement, pulling it up in a swirl around the lion's legs. Nemean looks down at it, and then up again with a smile.

“That's a nice trick. I'll look forward to taking it from you later."

“Let's talk about that if you can get out of it."

“Fine."

And the lion just...steps out of it. I facepalm at the sight, remembering the way that the lion's telekinetic abilities work. It forms a barrier around him that doesn't just deflect things, but adds power to any particular blow he makes. Considering his already prodigious strength…

[i]Why did Taiko have to design a version of the Juggernaut? And why the hell do I have to deal with this now?[/i]

By the time I pull my hand off my face, the lion's jumped forward and engaged my companion in combat. Draconicon is dodging and weaving around the lion's blows, but I can see the little after-images of Nemean's punches. Each one is getting closer than I'd like, and I still don't know the rules of what happens to a character that gets beaten down. Or, for that matter, destroyed. Do they go away? Do they get killed off in their own continuity? Do they just disappear for a while?

So many rules that I just don't know yet.

“Any more suggestions back there, Spencer?"

I blink as Draconicon sweeps the floor out from beneath the lion, sending Nemean sliding back on a segment of mud, or something similar. It doesn't last long, only giving him a few seconds, but it seems to be enough to sweep a dome of stone around the villainous feline.

“Seriously, Spencer, I'm guessing this isn't gonna stop him. What do we need here?"

“You know, I'm still trying to figure that out! You try keeping your head on straight when this is happening."

I can hear the sounds of police sirens in the distance, and know that there's going to be even more problems, soon. I know the cops here are better than they are in some parts of the country, but they'll still have guns, and they'll still be ready to start shooting. Particularly considering what Nemean and Drac are.

[i]Come on, come on, I need an idea here.[/i]

“Uh, uh...WIND!"

“What are you talking about?"

“It's...kind of a cheat, but see if you can suck his air away. We can knock him out and deal with this later!"

“Didn't think you'd pull an - SINCE WHEN DO I KNOW ABOUT LEGEND OF KORRA?!"

“Later! Just -"

BANG! Part of the stone and concrete dome collapses, and the lion is back at it. He lunges forward as Draconicon starts spinning his fingers around, creating a circle of black fire as he dodges back and forth, in and out around the lion's blows. I'm surprised that the dragon can keep up with that, but then again, his original character design did include a fair bit of combat training. Looks like whatever continuity he was ripped from maintained that.

Nemean finally lands a blow on the dragon, however, and sends him flying backwards into the middle of the three theaters on the street. A dragon-shaped hole appears in the wall, and about four different people look out as the sound of a piano breaking fills the air. The lion chuckles, shaking his head.

“He's not as fast as he looks, is he?"

I...don't move. I don't really want to get his attention, and there's not anything I can do at this point. But if he goes after Drac now…

Buy some time. That's all I can do.

I get out from behind my corner, and wave at the lion.

“Hey! Hey! You got a minute for an interview? I wanna talk about that time you were stuck in Tatyana's lab!"

[i]That[/i] gets his attention real quick. The lion rounds on me without the slightest bit of hesitation, pulling at his coat a bit before stalking towards me. I still remember writing that story. Considering that Nemean got beaten up by Olag, and then got tied up and anally fucked by a bunch of hard-light projectors, I'm pretty sure that he remembers it clearly enough. Clearly enough to not want anyone to remind him of it.

I don't have a chance to really move before he grabs me by the neck and pulls me off of my feet, leaving me dangling as he glares at me.

“How do you know about that?"

“...Wrote it…"

“What are you talking about?"

“You...don't know…"

“Right now, I know I'm not in my hometown, and that you're keeping me from taking some powers from a dragon that doesn't know how to fight. Hurry up and tell me what you're talking about, or...What are you looking at?"

That's a question I'm asking myself. I see a blur in the distance, spinning over the buildings that surround the intersection like a little black UFO. It even has the little doot, doot, doot circles underneath it as it floats downwards. I keep staring at it as it floats just behind Nemean's head.

It's the point where a big, white rabbit's foot drops out and kicks Nemean in the back of his head that I finally get a chance to breathe. Mostly because that's when he drops me.

The lion whips around, but Draconicon has pulled himself out through the hole in the theater again, and this time the magic is cast. The lion grabs at his neck as the black fire surrounds his face, forming a bubble that pulls all the air around his head out of the area. Nemean struggles to stay on his feet, wobbling side to side several times before falling down.

By the time the lion is unconscious, the white rabbit's foot is joined by the rest of the rabbit, dressed in nothing but a latex speedo and a cape. He taps the top-hat that he fell out of onto his head, setting it between his ears, and spins a dime-store magic wand around.

“Well, well, looks like I got here in a nick of time. Wherever...here...is. What - Oh, oh, you're Spencer, aren't you?"

I slowly nod, recognizing another one of my characters. Cornelius, a rabbit 'magician,' though with a recent revamp towards something that's closer to a time-lord knock-off. The idea that two of my characters have come to life in one day is starting to scare me a little bit.

Draconicon joins us, and by now, the sirens of the cops are louder than ever. Probably less than half a block away. I shake my head, looking down at Nemean before sweeping Cornelius's hat off of his head, despite his protests. It should work this way, if I remember right.

Thankfully, it does, and with a sweep of my hand, the lion villain disappears into the hat. I toss it back to the scantily clad rabbit, who grumps at me.

“What's that for? You know he's going to mess up the interior."

“From what I remember, you already messed it up."

“Hey, that's the result of about twenty different companions over five years, thank you very much."

“Whatever." I shake my head. “Look, we gotta get out of here. Drac, since you've been here and the apartment -"

“Yeah, I can teleport us."

“Do it."

“Hey, wait, what about seeing the -"

POOF!

“Sights…"

Cornelius slowly looks around the living room of my apartment, the rabbit shaking his head a few times before flopping himself down on the couch, big rabbit feet resting on the only cushions that's not on the couch. He tilts his hat one way, and I see an angry fist punch it back to the other side from inside. He just shifts it the other way again.

“So, where am I?"

“The fact that [i]you[/i] are asking…"

I shake my head and sit down, giving him as much information as I can. Considering that he's something of a time and dimension traveler, much like some of my other characters, it goes over much easier. Draconicon probably would have asked the same questions, if he wasn't so used to falling from one dimension to another. Basically, I tell him about my world, a brief history of the current age, and tell him that -

“I have no idea why you're here. Do you?"

“Beats me. I was just riding HAT to another time when we got pulled through some giant hole."

“Great...And nothing from you, Drac?"

“Not really. Just another portal, as far as I was concerned."

I shake my head and sit back, trying to pull my brain together. Not the easiest thing to do when I have two people that are supposed to be fictional sitting on either side of me. Nor does Nemean's occasional roar through the hat help.

Thinking about it, I pull out my phone, intending on sending Taiko a message. As soon as I open Skype, however -

Bee-be-bee-bee-bee-be-beep!

So many messages that the thing can't count them all. Old friends, commissioners, RP partners, who knows what else have started messaging me, probably me and a lot of others. Mick is there, again, probably talking about someone else. Taiko's there, and…

“So many…"

If everyone's characters are coming through like this, and so fast, we could have a serious problem. I'm still trying to decide who to answer first when my phone does something that it's never done before.

It turns rainbow, followed by a wolf's face taking up the screen. I recognize him, too.

“Great...well, when chaos comes…"

“Call the chaos god. Hello, there."

“Hi yourself, Studley…"

[b][u][center]The End[/center][/u][/b]