Newton's Cradle - [Preview]
#9 of Patreon Previews
This is a Preview for my February Patreon Story, available in full on my Patreon for Patrons to enjoy!
Ervin and his colleagues at an art museum have been taken hostage by a group of robbers. Thankfully, a superhero specializing in protecting civilians has arrived. He stows them away into a 'special space' for safekeeping. Ervin, after such a stressful encounter, finds it so comfortable that he just drifts off to sleep...
Contains: Gunfire, taken hostage, mortal peril, superhero violence, and a heroic rescue.
Full Story Contains: Quicksand pudge, endosoma, extradimensional plumpness, miscounting hostages, and a very blushy realization.
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Ervin never thought this would happen to him. Certainly the museum he worked at contained a collection valued at a very high price, but he never thought anyone would think it was worth stealing. The paunchy lion was a conservator at the museum, working on maintaining and protecting the paintings. But now he was on his knees in a small storage room with seven of his colleagues, with varied professions from security to tour guide.
Worst of all, one of the crooks stood in the doorway, resting his hand on the gun tucked through his belt. The rat had on a nylon hood to protect his identity, making all of his features smoothed down and distorted beyond the tinting that the fabric itself provided. This criminal had already frisked them down for any way to defend themselves or call for help, and had personally stomped Ervin's smartphone to pieces in front of him.
There was a crashing sound from downstairs that sounded like tempered glass. The lion remembered one of the guards mentioning the ultra-modern doors to the building's main entrance were made of tempered glass for safety.
Gunshots rang out downstairs and the rat guarding them pulled his gun free from his belt, visibly clicking the safety off with his thumb. Incoherent shouting got closer, as well as the gunshots. A dark mass flew past the doorway too fast for the lion to get a clear look at. The gunfire seemed to follow it, as well as the shouting. Though, a good deal of the shouting was cut-off with a low grunt of impact. The gunfire was becoming far less often. The dark mass flew past again the other way, and the gunfire ended abruptly altogether with another grunt and the sound of a body collapsing to the ground.
The rodent in the doorway fidgeted, glancing back at the hostages, then back at the scene outside. He stepped away from the door, looking over the group of people laid prostrate, tail lashing behind him. The rat leveled his gun with Ervin's face, finger clearly resting on the trigger.
The conservator winced, his mane fluffing up as his blood ran cold. Ervin's jaw trembled as he looked down the barrel of the loaded weapon just a muscle twitch away from ending his life.
Suddenly the cuff of the robber's sleeve rose against gravity, taking the arm with it. The rat clenched his fist in surprise, firing a shot into the wall behind the hostages. Before he could right his aim, the clothes on the rest of his body visibly lifted the same way his sleeve had.
Ervin watched in astonishment as the thug was flung to the ceiling, crumpling into an unconscious pile there with a crack of plaster. It was like he had fallen up...
The bulky form he'd seen moving back and forth on the other side of the doorway came through and was finally able to be properly read. A stocky pangolin uncurled from his armored ball configuration, looking over the hostages. Contrasting the dark near-black of his scales, his underside was plush and cream colored. He wore protective goggles and a pair of snug bike shorts that had an N inside a circle. "Fight's not over, but I can't let you all just sit here alone while crooks are unaccounted for." When he turned his head to glance over his shoulder, heavy dreads seeming the same texture as his armored plating swayed with the momentum and back.
Ervin put it all together. He'd heard of this hero on the news: Newton, with powers related to gravity. The lion nervously looked up at the knocked out goon who'd nearly shot him, then to the hero, swallowing.
Newton held out one of his clawed scoop like hands, spreading the claw digits towards the closest hostage. "I'm going to need you all to trust me. I'll keep you safe."
The feline shuddered a bit, and after a moment frozen, he reached out and took the offered hand.