FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 17

I was in my own bed. It was warm and comfortable. I could smell the coffee downstairs. I was still a little sore, but as I walked down the stairs, it seemed to repair itself. I quickly picked up speed because I wanted to know where Rusty was.

"Clayton, good of you to join us this morning," my mother said while she was making the last preparations her famous and incredibly delicious quiche.

Sitting at the table was Rusty, shirt off, wearing an ace bandage around his heavy set torso. He smiled at me as I walked into the room. As we talked over breakfast, I had been out for the last three days. As far as anyone could figure, I had driven the car all the way back here and passed out. I didn't remember a thing. I could barely remember what had happened in that short burst of time between when I had blacked out and waking up.

They came to the conclusion that when I became so pumped full of energy, that my subconscious took over so that I wouldn't have to deal with the shock of exploding.

"Your father had said he had vision when things started getting really rough for him. Like a person inside of him was waiting for when it would have to take over," mother said wistfully, "You know, I spent a lot of time bandaging his wounds before he learned how to use blood to regenerate. Those were the days."

"Perhaps," Rusty thought out loud, "Perhaps, super powered people have more going on in their lower brain, some sort of advanced fight or flight mechanism."

"There's a possibility," my mom considered, "They don't get to examine too many bodies of people with powers, most of them go out in a way that the body was irrecoverable, or they were revered too much to be given an autopsy."

"I can't say it's on my top priority to donate my body to science," I hastily replied.

"Do you think our powers still work when we're dead?"

Images of the ocelot reaching for help came to my head, what if he had been trying to continue to attack me inside of ask for help? He had such sorrow in his eyes though. I wished that he hadn't died. Maybe we could have convinced him to, I don't know, not be an arsonist? If I had only knew what would have happened, I could have thrown him away from me and prevented the whole thing.

Rusty looked at me, and it must have been very evident what I was thinking, "They found him, and identified him."

Mother put a manila envelope on the table between the three of us. There was a picture of him from a happier time. He was definitely happier; you could see it in the way his eyes lit up. He worked at Boeing, before the collapse of the economy, and couldn't find a job for quite some time after that. He served a small stint in prison for a very small robbery. That was the last time he showed up on the "grid" as Rusty called it.

Mother said that it was likely that he discovered his powers sometime before the robbery, perhaps the police never found him using his powers. Prison was just a meeting ground for bad people, and to turn decent people into bad people. She had heard a colleague try to go undercover to see if they had henchmen recruiters positioned in prisons.

Rusty added, "Which means he made some contacts while he was in prison."

"So you did hear him say that he had to tell his friends that he had killed Blackout?"

"No," he sighed, "As soon as he had started his fire attack, I figured I could around and use a taser on him."

"A taser?" Mother asked. "Oh, that's a wonderful idea if you can pull off invisibility!"

"I'm getting there Sandra."

"Oh, and you boys will absolutely love this," she dropped off a list of numbers, phone numbers, addresses, names.

"What's this?" Rusty asked as he picked it up.

She sat back down, "I found this in Clayton's hand when I found him in your car," she placed a cell phone that had looked like it had seen better days.

"Doesn't explain the reverse addresses and names," Rusty said, his eyes still engaged to the pages.

"Don't tell me that you don't think I know some people from when my husband was a big shot super hero."

"Such as?"

"What? You two are just going to have to find contacts of your own. These are all mine." She smiled, but still put her footpaw firmly down. She had given us quite a lot of information, more than enough to go off of. Though, she'd remind me that when I'm old enough, she gets exclusive rights to a biography.

* * *

We were alone in my room, Rusty lying next to me. "So I guess I need to be careful when I'm fucking you silly, otherwise you might literally explode?"

He laughed, then he cringed as his broken ribs had yet to heal.

"Shut up," I laughed a little, but it was killed by the image of someone who died because of me. We talked that it wasn't really my fault, who would have known that was going to happen? That I would release all of the stored kinetic energy out at once like that? Nobody knew. Rusty also pointed out that the guy was charging me up. He didn't say it, but we both knew that we would have to watch it if we were anywhere that other people might have been.

I flipped open the phone. I didn't work. The explosion must have crushed something important. Rusty took it out of my paw, "The most important part of this is still intact," he drew out the SIM card. "All the contact information is stored in this little chip. That's where Sandra pulled the numbers."

"Sorry, I don't know this stuff."

"It's cute when you're all innocent and unspoiled by technology and the real world," he smiled, "I'd roll over and kiss you if it didn't hurt."

We laid there and I gently stroked his stately stomach.

"So we going to start hunting these guys down?"

"We just need to be careful, these guys might have powers too, we are going to have to do our research from here on out."

Silenced was draw across the room.

"You also need a new shirt."

* * *

"What, you don't like me without a shirt?"

He placed a paw upon my chest and rubbed slowly across my pecs. He moved his paw down along the curves of my abdominal muscles, every second engorging my cock with blood until it was hardened like steel. It had been a little while since we had sex, and my hormones were driving me to a whole new level of lust. I wanted to get off, and I wanted to get him off.

The broken ribs were going to be the major concern, so he silently urged me to jerk him off. My paw went down into his crotch, to feel his own dick, chubby from the notion of wicked things to come. I played with it a little as it started to stand at full attention. His firm cock was beautiful, the shape of it was not unlike mine, but there were difference, a subtle curve to it, the head was smaller than the shaft, but made it streamlined for when he slipped it into me, starting small and then bulging out. Then there was the thick piercing along the tip of it, glistening shiny metal that ended in two silver balls at each end.

"It's not going to suck itself, you know?" He said mildly as he noticed my attention to his manhood.

I did as he suggested, as my maw drew closer to it, a small drop of pre-cum emerged from the tip and slowly oozed down the metal piercing. I licked it up, and then wrapped my muzzle around his soft head, slowly lowering my mouth down along the hard pulsating shaft.

He took in a deep breath as the tip of my nose touched the root of his prick. His musk was fragrant, and I felt that I simply couldn't wait until I sucked out every last drop of sperm from his heavy orbs. I took a paw and wrapped them around his tender balls and gave them a gentle squeeze as my maw worked his hard-on.

I could feel my own pre-cum roll off the tip of my own cock and onto my inner thigh. He reached over and slowly jacked the tip of my cock ever so slowly, making sure to rub my own lubrication against my glans.

We did this for quite a while, he would hold his breath to let me know he was close, and I would gently lap at his balls to coerce them away from his body and into my willing mouth. It was well over an hour, with several intense moments where we both should have blown our loads over each other, but managed to back away from the edge in time.

He moved his paw to press against the slit of my pisshole, rubbing against it lengthwise, I could feel it get slicker as pre-cum worked itself out in small jets. I began to moan as I felt my climax rush from my balls and into Rusty's paw, his thumb still over it, causing it to shoot out like a geyser. My moaning reverberated against the cylinder of flesh in my mouth. He let it just flow out into my muzzle, splashing against my tongue. The scent peaking my own orgasm and driving my lust into a frenzy. I worked my mouth down along his shaft as I tried not to let a single sacred sperm out of my hot salty maw. As I sucked more furious than before, he couldn't help but want to drive it further into me, I gagged a little, but he started to grunt as I realized now his orgasm was a blend of ecstasy and pain for his broken ribs. He continued to buck despite it, or because of it. He was on his fifth powerful blast, I swallowed what I could, but it started to leak out of the corners of my mouth.

By the time I had finished licking off every last drop, Rusty was asleep, halfway through telling me how much he loved me.

Chapter 18

We were at a gravel pit a few miles north of Woodinville, having followed a jackrabbit we suspected of demolishing several factory buildings. He was alone when dusk set in. He was destroying some of the cranes with massive boulders he had unearthed from the ground. They were the size of massive wrecking balls. He would somehow gather them from beneath his feet and shoot them out at high velocities.

"This should be easy," I said to Rusty in the car as we put on our new masks and hoodies.

"Just be careful he doesn't hit you with too many of those rocks."

"I won't," I gave him a kiss. "Going to cover me?"

"Yea, just make sure you're looking away from the sun."

I leapt out of the car, and landed a hundred yards from the assailant. He stopped what he was doing and turned to me.

"Who the fuck are you?" he asked me with a tough and gruff voice. He was much bigger than me, for now.

"I'm the one who's taking you back to jail."

I felt a rumble beneath my footpaws as he stared me down. I jumped into the air and as he watched me, the sky lit up with a bright blinding light. I could see my shadow being cast down upon the ground. I landed close to him and gave him a punch that sent him to the ground. He was having difficulties seeing as he got to his footpaws and searched around blindly for me. I circled him and shoved him back down to the ground.

He didn't like this, and I could feel something change in his stance as he got back onto his footpaws.

"So what if I can't see?" he smirked, in the evil villainous smirk. The earth started to rumble, he obviously needed to see me in order to hit me with one of those rocks, but instead, the gravel along the ground started to vibrate. Dust started to pick up as it formed a swirling cloud around him. I was being belted by small little rocks, each one of them giving me energy. I had to find him quickly before I gained too much. Even with the practicing we've been doing, there was still a limit that I could hit, and there was no way to contain the overflow of energy.

There was no way to see through the storm. It was looking bad. My muscles were expanding quickly as each of the pebbles of the maelstrom struck against me. Perhaps I needed armor for future battles.

Something struck me in the jaw and hard. I went to the ground immediately. The storm died down. I could feel that my suit was nearly as tight as it could go, having quickly filled it with the bulk of muscles. I don't know if I could stand to get hit a few more times like that. I could make out his shape, and his fist was covered with a stone gauntlet. He shot it out at me, and I managed to roll out of the way as it slammed into the dirt.

I quickly pulled myself up, his vision had improved, and at this point, my speed was unparalleled. He quickly formed another gauntlet from the debris still floating in the air. I rushed him and grabbed him by the same arm. I spun around and with my strength threw him at a bulldozer forty yards away.

He slammed into it and fell into the ground. I could feel some of the tightness of the cloth release as I spent some of my energy to throw him. Thankfully, he didn't splatter against the vehicle, but he wasn't done yet either. He gathered himself, as we stood off. I regretted it as he threw a massive wave of rocks in my direction.

I ran out of the way, concerned that it might cause me to overcharge. I tried to charge him, but he sent another wave in my general direction. I got to the edge and juked it the way I had done in some of the football games. I wasn't making much headway, perhaps he will tire out soon? There was a little more lag between each wave, but suddenly I heard the waves of rocks strike against something. Something that sounded a lot like a car. I turned around, the glass had shattered and the side of it was dented. Had he known what he was doing? Was he that smart?

My concentration lingered on Rusty and his car far too long. The earth shifted beneath me as a boulder struck into me and carried me into the sky. The velocity was fast, but it strengthened what my dodging had drained. I steadied myself against the rock, and gave it a hard punch, further energizing myself. I started to plummet to the ground quickly. The shock from hitting the ground would probably push me too far. There was nothing that I could do with it. This had gone terribly wrong, and too quickly. I was going to land on the car.

I hit the car and quickly collapsed the roof. Rusty wasn't inside as I gathered myself. I had yet to explode, but I could feel the straining of my body as it ached at the upper limits of my ability to hold all the energy inside. This needed to end, quickly.

Several large rocks were heading in my direction as I pulled myself free of the wreck of Rusty's car. I would miss the long drives through the country we shared inside of it. I couldn't let that get to me, I dodge and leapt over most of the rocks and they went into the walls of the pit.

I charged, perhaps I just needed to get close enough to him when I detonate, and far enough from where Rusty would be.

Instead of the waves of rocks, he went with smaller faster rocks. He was tired by the looks of it. They were too easy to avoid now that I was on the verge of my limit. I was on him quickly. I grabbed him by the collar and lifted him into the air. I steadied myself for a punch.

* * *

Something was different about him as I held him with one paw. He braced as though I was going to punch him in the face. He was scared for his life. What was different? He seemed a lot weaker.

"He draws his power through the earth," Rusty's shroud shimmered a little as he broke his concentration from his invisibility.

The guy was too scared to have noticed the invisible cougar standing next to me. I thought about it, his gauntlets had crumbled away when I threw him. And now here he was, suspended in air, with no powers so to speak. I guess I was going to have to do a better study of my enemies so I don't make any more serious mistakes. Where had I heard that before?

I hoisted myself up and dragged him several feet off the ground and using the metal bars, twisted it around him so that he couldn't escape.

Rusty was waiting for me by his wreck of a car. I peeled back what remained of the roof of the car, and we tried to get it started. The frame was bent quite severely, but at least it could run. There was no way we could drive it back to my house. Miraculously, the engine still ran, so we drove it into the outskirts of the nearby town. We found a ditch somewhere and we buried it.

"I'll have to call my insurance and say it was stolen," Rusty frowned. It was then that I noticed him start to limp away as we walked into the town. He hadn't made a clean break from the car the first assault. We ate at a place called the China Clipper, and he explained that he just got out of the car when a second wave caught him. He was mostly just bruised. The welts were pretty bad under his fur.

We looked at each other, knowing that neither one of us could have done anything about it.

* * *

"Regeneration would have been a much nicer power," as he soaked in the large jacuzzi style bathtub in his house. I sat on the edge of the tub, letting the aromatic soaps relax my body. "I mean, if anything else, I could always bounce right back up. None of this waiting around stuff."

Rusty was getting down on himself for his powers not being as useful. It was hard to convince him that what he had was utility. Part of him wanted to be where I was, help out more when I needed help. It just couldn't be that way.

Earlier, the insurance company had written off Rusty's car, and he bought a truck with the new money. It took a while before the Woodinville police had found the crashed and beaten up car. They thought it peculiar that the thing had drove into a ditch at nearly a hundred miles per hour. The truck was a lot more heavy duty, and Rusty planned to take it into a special shop to have it armored.

Who knew that these services were around?

"But you heal faster than most people," I encouraged, "My mom did an article on that. It was one of the core things that separate people with powers from others, better stamina, faster healing, and all that jazz."

"Still. I can manipulate light. It's not like I can focus it into a laser or something powerful like that. You know something more than occasionally blinding someone when they look the right way. I can't even fucking get dry kindling to light on fire."

"We have to do what we can with what we've got."

"That's easy for you to say," he grumbled. I knew what he meant, and I regret having said it.

We sat in silence a little longer in the tub, letting the sound of water wash over use before we went back to his bed and turned in for the night. A rough fuck laid in wait for me. His hot seed burning buried somewhere deep down inside of me. He had to get his aggression out somewhere.

Chapter 19

Winter quarter was nearly upon me. I had several classes that were online, so I was going to need Rusty's help with setting all of that up. He was much obliged to be of service, it helped his confidence to remind him how un-tech savvy I am.

While we sat in the kitchen with my laptop, discussing how the course is handled through a website, my mother approached us about our plans for the New Years.

"You two fine gentleman have any plans for New Years?"

"Not at the moment, mom," I responded, "We could spend time here, watch some TV or something."

"Russell? You guys just going to rot your brains on the boob tube?"

"No, ma'am," he answered dutifully. "I intend to take your son out to Lake Union to watch the Space Needle try to take off into space."

Mother approved. She told us that she would be traveling to Florida to cover an article about a rising super hero team that wanted to prove that they didn't need to be in the League of Defenders in order to serve justice for society. She took her leave to get ready for her flight.

"We're going into Seattle?" I asked.

"Well, it's hard to get to Lake Union without going to Seattle."

"Do you suppose we could visit the Swedish Hospital?"

"That won't be a problem, but it will have to be the day afterward, I have to make sure to clear the cobwebs out of the yacht before we try to spend the night there."

"Yacht?"

"It's my father's, he never uses it. He gets sea sick very easily. Never could convince anyone to buy something that expensive afterward."

"Should I get packed?"

"Well, I don't expect you should be wearing too many clothes for most of the time we're there." He grinned.

* * *

His new truck also had the engine replaced; there was now a whole lot of horsepower and some serious punch if he were going to tear down I-90. He did a few times, and the speedometer was no longer to able keep up with his speed. Of course, he had a radar detector installed, and he told me to take over the steering should we need to turn invisible when they tried to catch us.

The armor that they installed was not only lightweight but had enough flexibility that I could always pop the pieces back into place.

We had passed through Bellevue and Mercer Island with much haste, Rusty mentioning that he didn't much care for the area and its denizens. Saying that their minds were trapped in a hollow existence, and therefore lacked any culture. He could have gone on and on about the yuppie trash that was ruining society.

Seattle was large and there were things going on all the time. I didn't come out here very often, but I was always impressed by the incredible architecture and the city living in general. I felt it probably would be too much for me if I were to move out here. Though, I probably wouldn't ever run out of super hero business. Not that Super heroes were paid, save for the ones at the League of Defenders. Most Super Heroes have their mild-mannered identities with ordinary jobs that paid their ordinary bills and super hero expenses.

It certainly made the League of Defenders a great place to be, room and board, as well as a salary. At least I thought it was a salary, maybe my mom said it was a commission style payment. She also mentioned something about options and a 401K or something like that. On the opposite spectrum, using one's super powers for villainy was a get rich quick sort of way, as long as you weren't caught. Then there's the majority, who perhaps use their powers to enhance their lives, but would otherwise never use their abilities to affect the world.

Mother also mentioned that some people with abilities went into the movie making business, but it would be phased out as computer graphics got better and cheaper. The need for super powered stuntmen or people who have some pretty impressive looking powers, was slowly dying. Hollywood had a major office for the League of Defenders, showing off their super heroic deeds on the silver screen. There were other offices from the League of Defenders not as recruiters or Public Representation, they were there to police the people with abilities should they lose their way.

As far as their recruiting went, mother had mentioned that they go through a rigorous regiment in order to figure out who's qualified. They of course recruited people who could prove to be a great nemesis, and turn them in their favor. It seemed weird that they might have brought in the likes of Kinetika, or the Phantom Asp.

* * *

The sky was clear in Seattle, which Rusty was sure to point out that it hardly was ever like this. The clear skies meant it would be cold tonight, but we were sure to bring jackets. Jackets and snuggle up to keep each other warm.

He took me to Pikes Place Market, where we found all sorts of places to eat. I was surprised at how much he knew about seemingly everything. It made me love him even more. We had a lot of baked goods, we had gyros, there were some noodle places that he took me to, and it was all amazing. He pointed out that this was a wonderful place for all sorts of cultures. He took me to watch them throw fish that were caught some days ago.

The evening was going well. I was slightly concerned about the trip we would be taking to the Swedish, and having to see Corey just lying like a vegetable. Rusty did everything he could to keep my mind off of it.

"This is the bow of the boat," he said from where he was standing. We had set up a folding chair that we could both sit on as the night had rolled in quite early. He sat down and I parked myself next to him. We sat and discussed what life would be like when he goes to live in Seattle so he could be closer to the university.

"Well, I could always come back and see you on the weekends," he rested his arm around my shoulders and drew me in for a kiss.

"I guess," I said, slightly more depressed than I really felt.

"Don't pout," he said giving me a squeeze, "We knew it was going to be like this. But keep your chin up, it's not like you won't ever see me again."

It made me think of Corey. We kissed as the fireworks started at the Space Needle and all along the horizon.

* * *

Even as I lay in bed, the warmth of Rusty and the rapture of an afterglow encompassing me. The musty smell of passion and sex trying to lull me into sleep, in the back of my mind, I was still able to resist the call of sleep.

The rhythm of Rusty's snores normally helped me, but I was awake, and I felt nervous about tomorrow's visit.

When I finally did fall asleep, I dreamt I was on top of the Space Needle again, looking down over the edge as the fireworks spilled forth from the legs of the Space Needle. There were three of us up there, me, the Crimson Wolf and someone else who I couldn't define through the dream veil.

They were discussing whether or not I should know something. The Crimson Wolf approached me, "Son, there is something I would like you to know--"

His words tapered off, and I woke up. It was barely light out. I forced myself to go to sleep, but it was futile. Rusty rolled over onto his stomach, "You awake?" he asked from the haziness of sleep.

"Yea," I admitted quietly. He rolled back onto his side and I felt his penis slide in between the cheeks of my ass. With a certain deftness, he slide it into me, his last load still lubricating my hole. He was a lot sloppier when he wasn't fully awake, but it still felt good. I let him fuck me with his erratic thrusts. Sometimes he struck my prostate, causing me to spurt a little pre-cum every time that piercing brushed against it.

I could feel his breathe against my neck as he thrust his manhood into me. I shivered as his paw reached around and jacked me uncoordinatedly. I took over for him and let him concentrate on unloading a new deposit of sperm into my cavity. I could feel myself tighten up as I peaked, covering my own paws, and getting the sheets warm with a second batch semen. I heard him groan a little, but he was already passed out, his hard fat prick still inside of me.

I felt safe in his arms, and it helped carry me off into sleep, this time I didn't dream.

Chapter 20

The Swedish Hospital was a lot of class windows and it looked very modern. It was very beautiful for a place where lots of people die. Of course, lots of people are born here too. Rusty had to point out the dichotomy.

When we arrived at the front desk, we were greeted by a young busty rhino. She gave us an overly friendly smile, though there was a bit of malice behind it, or perhaps she had those kinds of eyes. Her name was Stephani. She asked us who we were here to see.

"I'm here to see Corey Keller," I said trying to be friendly, and not show my nervousness to see him.

She looked down at her computer and typed in some information. She looked down on of the adjacent hallways, and her eyes came back to us, "And your relation to Mr. Keller?"

"Well, I'm his best friend, and--" I stopped myself from saying boyfriend, "and this is a friend of mine."

"I'm sorry, sir," she said with some amount of disdain, "only family members may visit."

"But his only family is dying of cancer in his house hours away."

"I'm sorry, sir," she used the word as though it were offensive, "but we cannot allow you to see someone that you have no relation to."

"I'm known him his whole life, and I can't see him while he lies there in his death bed?"

"Sir, if you persist with that tone, I will have to have you escorted out of the building."

She smiled at me, as though to add more insult to injury and flaunting her power over me. I felt something snap inside my head, I could take this damn counter and beat her over the head with it. Then I could take down the security that came around to stopping me. I could feel tears putting pressure against my eyeballs.

Rusty put a hand on my shoulder, "Hey, don't worry, we'll figure something out."

We walked away. I wanted to kill her. I wanted to throw her through a wall. I didn't even start to realize that we were walking further into the hospital.

"Rusty?"

"Shh, I can't block out sound," he whispered back. We were slowly walking past people. Nobody seemed to even look at us. Was this what it was like to be invisible? It didn't seem to be any different from normal light. We were down by the elevator when he told me that he bent the light around from her computer monitor in order to see what she was looking at. He had the exact room number that we needed to go to.

I hugged him through the veil of invisibility.

We travelled up to the room where Corey lay lifeless. The room shared the same lifelessness. It was depressing to be here. Gloom clung to the wall and radiated in all directions. It sapped what little hope I had to him alive and well.

His mane had grown out, and it was a bit raggedy from not being kept properly. He didn't look like he was in pain, and it would probably be best that he didn't know that he had lost everyone he's ever loved. I would bear the pain for the two of us.

* * *

I looked around, and I couldn't feel tears. I sighed with resolution that he was at least at peace right now.

I reached out, and just before I touched his paw, there was a shock of static that arced across from me to him. It was nearly simultaneous but alarms started to sound off.

Oh shit, we were in trouble. Maybe they caught us.

There were panicked people running down the hall, I could hear screaming. We both quietly stuck our head out of the room and saw that the lights further down the hallway were completely out. People running away from there. Rusty made the light return in the corridor. There were giant spiders that could barely fit in the hallway skittering down toward us, chasing after people. They leapt and brought down one of the nurses. His screams were muffled out by the spider's chittering.

"What, the, fuck?" was about all we could say.

"I think I liked the hallway better without lights," I mentioned.

We hid back in the room. Was I immune to venomous spiders? We guessed that I could regenerate the venom out of my system, but it was also possible that I would metabolize it quicker, and if it was a neurotoxin, it could render me useless. It was hectic not knowing what we were up against, all the variables. It made football look like single-digit addition.

"Did you bring the outfits?"

He reached into his messenger bag and produced two of them.

We changed, as so we don't accidently give away our identity. We walked into the corridor silently. The place had quickly quieted down. We listened but could barely hear anything around. It was eerily silent. We walked back toward the lobby. It had quickly changed. It must have been the first place that the spiders went. The doors were sealed off with webbing. There was nobody in sight when we came down.

We could hear someone breathing heavy and running hard. It was Stephani, there were two spiders on her tail, but they were just too fast for her, one leapt on her and we watched in horror as it sunk its fangs into her neck. She collapsed and slid across the lobby floor and stopped at our feet. I quickly kicked the spider off of her and it splattered on my boot and left a rather nasty green pattern against the opposite wall. The other two charged at me. As one was flying through the air, I swatted it to the ground, as it struggled to recover from a daze I smashed it with my slimy boot.

Her eyes were wide, and panicked, and yet her breathing was normal, well, normal and quickly slowing.

"I don't want to die," she rasped with the last of her last breath.

I turned to the door and gave it a swift kick. It didn't budge. I gave it a harder kick, picking up some energy as it made impact. I did this four or five times when I realized that it barely even shook.

"They say that a single strand of spider web is sixty times stronger than a steel I-beam," Rusty commented.

"We're on our own then?"

"Why'd it have to be spiders? I hate spiders."

We both frowned as the spider that I had just stomped on tried to walk it off when its legs finally curled in on itself.

* * *

We explored the hospital; we came across a few dozen more spiders on the first floor. They left us alone.

There was no explanation for it.

"Perhaps something is controlling them?" I suggested.

"I don't know, it doesn't seem likely, unlike ants or bees, spiders aren't a social creature. Lots of them eat their own mothers."

"Why couldn't it have been ants instead? They're a lot less creepy."

We got to the elevators, but Rusty suggested we use the stairs, since elevators would be a death trap. When we got to the stairs, most of it was covered in webbing that went up the entire length of the stair well. We explored for what felt like hours, and we were up to the fifteenth floor when we found a lot of activity.

"It's like an Alien movie," Rusty said quietly. There were smaller spiders running about the whole floor. They all seemed to make way for us as we approached. It was dark and dank, warm and humid. This was what nightmares must have been made of. It became apparent to us that the small spiders were all gone. We were all alone on the floor.

"I think we need a little more light," I told Rusty.

As he lit the room slowly, we noticed there were mummified bodies hanging off the ceiling. They seemed to all convulse and squirm as they realized that there was light in the room. We could hear their muffled cries behind their imprisoning webs. They were all entombed head to toe in webs.

"Their muzzles are sealed shut, but they were still allowed to breathe through their noses," I pointed out.

"Someone wants them alive."

I heard the elevator ding.

"Shh, hide," I whispered. Rusty took a few steps back as he stepped into his cloak of invisibility.

I walked over toward the elevator as its doors opened, but no light from the inside. From what little light remained from flickering bulbs, I knew it was a vixen. She was a black fox. She smiled at me. She was gorgeous, and very naked. Her body was what models and actresses strove to be. She wore it well.

"Who are you?"

"You may call me Spiderfox, young wolf."

"Did you do this?"

"Isn't it amazing?"

It was just a little, this happened very quickly from what I could tell. "What are you doing?"

"Oh precious me, I'm too embarrassed to tell you."

"It's just you and me," I lied, "We can keep it between you and me."

"Well then," she smiled wider, I could see her mandibles, "If this is just between you and me. I want more kids. Nobody will provide me with them."

Did that mean that all these mummies were male?

"Of course, that's probably because I like to snack on them after we have sex. That's just technicalities. A girl's got to eat, right?" She moved like silk.

Okay, I was very disgusted right now.

"How about you, young wolf, how virile are you? You certainly look tasty."

"I'm sorry, lady, I don't swing that way." I leapt toward her and readied myself to punch her. Her arms came around from her back. Four of them grabbed me and held me in the air. I struggled, but she was a lot stronger than I expected. I could barely move.

"That's a shame," she smiled, leaning in closer to me, her mouth dripping with saliva, her mandibles playfully moving as her hot breath upon my face. "What about your friend?"

How did she know? "W-What friend?"

"The invisible fat one." She tugged at my arms as though she were going to tear me apart. "You're both in my web. I know exactly where you are."

"Clayton!" I heard him yell. Light around me started to glow brightly. I shut my eyes to anticipate the flash of light. I could see the light from behind my eyelids.

She hissed and dropped me on the ground while her arms defended her face from the light. I scrambled to my footpaws and I went to punch her again, but one of her arms reached out and blocked mine. She spun around and slapped my arm with her tail. Something was very wrong. She spun the other direction and quickly spider webs started to form on my forearms. She swept my legs with her tail and it was getting difficult to move. I felt somebody shove me off to the side, it was Rusty. She quickly struck him with a free arm before he could hit her.

He fell to the ground.

She laughed, "Your little trick with light was a minor inconvenience. I can still see without my eyes. I can feel your heartbeat."

The shove and the force from hitting the ground, gave me some strength to pull the webs off of me, but they were sticky and stuck to my paws. She hurried over to me and painted more webs on my chest, I swung at her and felt contact made. It empowered me, not only from the impact of the strike, but the confidence that I was slightly faster and stronger now. She recoiled, her arms grabbing my arms. Suddenly she was a lot stronger than me again. She held me in the air and started to web me down again.

I was pressed up against the ceiling and quickly losing any upper hand that I had. Rusty was on the ground, unconscious from her powerful hit. I was stuck, and there wasn't much I could do about it. This was probably going to be the end. Even if she started getting on about her life story, I wouldn't be able to do anything until she decided she'd have me for dinner.

"You'll never get away with--" she sealed my muzzle with a brush of her tail.

"I already have. Soon, the police will come storming in here, hot sexy policemen. I'll get them too, and I will have an army of children."

I was going to try to say that her children could easily turn on her and eat her, as Rusty had pointed out earlier.

"You have another friend?" She cackled, "The more the merrier, is what I say. Is he as cute as you?"

She suddenly became rigid.

"What's going on?" She sounded panicked. "What's happening?" She started to scream, "What are you doing to me?!"

I watched. I watched as her green blood started to spill out from under her eyes, her ears bled and it gushed forth from her nose and her mouth. She convulsed as her insides forced their way out. She collapsed to the ground. What had just happened? I tried to look around. I was able to move part of my head. I wasn't strong enough to get out of her webbing. There was something I could do. I hit my head against the ceiling. Then I did it again. I hit harder and harder, feeling small concussions before my regeneration fixed it. I must have spent ten minutes doing it until the ceiling was missing from the spot behind my head and I managed to emerge from the webs.

I picked up Rusty, and broke out the glass window that wasn't completely webbed over. I was able to leap with the both of us to a nearby rooftop. The impact was enough to give me plenty of strength to get us away from here. We made it out in time as I saw a League of Defender jet flying around the hospital.

Chapter 21

On what should have been my first day of college, I stayed with Rusty to make sure he was okay. He didn't feel much like talking, he didn't feel much like eating. The thing that worried me more than that was the fact that he didn't want to have sex.

My mother called, and I picked up the phone.

"I read the news article," she said while flipping through some papers, "I do think it does sound like something Crimson Wolf can do."

"Do you think he came back?" I asked.

"No, honey, I don't think he can come back. If he could, it would have been many years ago. His regeneration was a lot better than over the span decade."

"I don't know, ooh, what about amnesia?"

"Honey, his amnesia only lasts for days. I would know, it's happened before. Probably more than I cared for."

"Then how can you explain it?"

"Listen honey, I can't explain it. I thought about it, and it would seem very likely that perhaps under very traumatic situations you gained more powers. It's been known to happen in the past. Heroes can develop a secondary set."

There was no way I could have done that, even if it were a reflex of some sort, I didn't feel it that I would or could do that to a living person..

"Honey, I will be home in a few days, please just take care of yourself and take care of Russell. I love you."

"Love you too, mom."

I hung up the phone. I turned around and Rusty was waiting behind me.

"We need to talk," Rusty was solemn as the grave we narrowly avoided.

* * *

"I'm not cut out for this," he started, "Before you say anything, just please, hear me out."

"But--"

"No, just hold on." I had to be patient, "Listen, we've had a good run these past months. I really enjoyed the time we spent together. I think we need to part ways."

I made to speak but he held firmly onto the control of the conversation.

"I nearly died up there, and I was helpless. I am simply not cut out for this. Had I the power, I would have been able to save us. Luckily we're still alive at the moment. I don't ever want to be in that situation again."

"But we can learn from--"

"No, I'm sorry Clayton, I can't learn from this. I can't grow the way you can at this sort of thing. I was destined to live a life a little more ordinary."

"Do we have to break up?"

"We do. I'm leaving pretty soon to go to college. I want to live a full life. I can't do that by risking my life for everyone else. I will try my best to help people, but being a super hero, I can't do it. I won't do it." He started to cry, "You, you were meant to great things, I wasn't meant for this."

"Rusty."

"I'm sorry Clayton."

He got up and left me. I didn't know what to do. I felt more useless than every time I thought about Corey lying in his bed. The world I knew seemed to collapse around me. Time moved on, but I was stuck in some bubble. My body registered that I was crying, and it hurt. It hurt so much, that I never thought anything could hurt more.

That night, I cried myself to sleep. I felt so alone. All I could think about was why my heart didn't regenerate.

* * *

I found it difficult to concentrate on my assignments for class. It was easier when Rusty was around to explain it to me. Now he wasn't, and it drew forth more tears like a reopened wound.

I didn't know what to say so that I could get him back. What it was that I could do to get him back. All I knew, and all I cared about was having him in my life again. Seeing him smile, make witty remarks that made me laugh; drive out into the middle of nowhere for no reason but to stare at stars.

I felt hollow. There was nothing that I could do. I started to wish that I had died there in the hospital. It would have been more merciful to have had Spiderfox rape me and devour my body. I just wanted to die.

Maybe Lester could talk some sense into Rusty. I knew he would be getting out of school, so I took my mother's car out to his place. But there was something else to be found at his house. It was surrounded by police and yellow tape. There were others gathered outside, presumably the neighbors.

I went into the crowd and asked what had happened. Someone told me that a gang had come in and killed the whole family last night or the night before last. Someone else heard that one of the kids had betrayed the gang by having them ambushed. One of them mentioned that one or two of the surviving members hired a hit on the family responsible for their incarceration.

There were bullets in the side of the house.

"It's a shame that they all came back together for New Year's..." I heard another voice say.

* * *

I ran to Rusty's place, letting my energy gather with every footpaw fall. When I got there, the truck wasn't even there. There was only a sign that Rusty had written and left on the door.

"I'm sorry Clayton, I never wanted to break your heart, please let me go."

I sat down even though I wasn't tired, but what energy I had was drained from me instantly. I waited on the porch for what seemed like forever. Eventually it came to me, what I had to do. I would find vengeance for Lester's family, and it would take my mind off the pain that I felt right now.