FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It was just another beautiful day in Los Angeles.

The sun was beating down with insufferable intensity, the pungent smell of sun-baked garbage was carried along by a slight ocean breeze, the smog was thick enough to cut with a knife, and an armada of cop cars could be heard off in the distance. Yet another day in paradise.

Behind a perfectly non-descript Kroger in southern LA, two employees were enjoying their last smoke break of the day; a wiry coyote no older than twenty, and a similarly aged stocky hispanic kid.

In a roundabout way, the two of them looked like a shitty fan cosplay of Jay and Silent Bob. The coyote leaned against the wall, one foot against the bricks with his hat turned backwards and a cigarette drooping from his lip. The human stood with both of his hands stuffed into his pockets, squinting through the metropolitan haze and shimmering heat, a cigarette similarly drooping from the corner of his lips.

After several long minutes of silence between the two, the human would be the first to speak up.

“You worried about the show friday?" He asked, the cigarette between his lips bobbing up and down as he spoke, a shower of ashes falling to the ground below.

There was a pause as the coyote thought about it for a minute. “No, why?" He asked, quipping a brow and looking towards his companion. The human offered a shrug. “It's a big venue, you know? Its the fucking Grid Iron. We've never done a show this big before."

A frown formed across the coyote's features. “This is about Rebecca, isn't it?"

“What? No, of course it ain't about Rebecca." The man said, offering a dismissive wave of his hand. “I'm just telling you, man, this might be our big chance. You know that Larissa Haile and the Crowes both got signed after playing at the Grid Iron? We might get lucky too."

“Oh for fucks sake, you're the worst liar I've ever met. This is about Rebecca, isn't it?"

“No, no. No it absolutely is not." The man said, holding his hands up defensively.

“Like hell it is! She shows up to one show, one! And talks to you, and now the only thing you've been talking about for the last week is Rebecca. Do you have some petty school yard crush thing going on?"

“No...I mean, well, maybe a little. She was coming onto me pretty strong though, bro. You saw it just as well as I did!"

“Oh please you horny bastard she was coming on strong to everyone! That girl gets around. Did you see her in the crowd? She was all over at least three other dudes, and that's just what I saw. Fuck knows how many dicks she sucked in the alleyway afterwards!"

The human's expression soured and he shook his head. “Nah, it ain't like that. She even gave me her snapchat and everything. I think she might really be into me. You saw her at the merch table, all up in my shit, tits ready to pop out the top of her crop top. I think she wants the D bro. Tell me I'm wrong."

“Okay, okay, okay, let's just say you're right. What makes you think she'd have anything to do with you?"

“What do you mean?" The human asked, taking a long and drawn out pull off his cigarette. Off in the distance, a chorus of gunshots could be heard ringing out.

“I mean come on, look at you. You're fucking Sebastian Gomez! You're a twenty year old nobody that works at Krogers, still lives with his parents, and you play in a nobody metal band. What business does Rebecca motha-fuckin Brecht have with someone like you? She lives in Beverly Hills of all places, her dad owns the biggest law firm in the county, and she has more money than she knows what to do with. What makes you think she'd even give someone like you the time of day?" The Coyote said, venom practically dripping from every word.

“You got a real way with words, you know that, Eric? Instead of letting me down gently, you gotta just really get in there and drive the knife deep."

“I mean I ain't wrong, am I?" Eric shot back, a smirk curling up at the corners of his lips.

Off in the distance, another chorus of gunshots could be heard cracking out, followed shortly by a broken chorus of panicked screams. In just a few moments, more gunshots would sound off, followed by more screams and more pandemonium.

“What do you think it is this time? Turf war? Bank heist gone wrong? Another anomaly?" Eric asked, standing on his tippy toes to see if he could see anything.

“Fuck if I know, dude." Sebastian shrugged, flicking his cigarette down the storm drain. “Take your pick, they're all equally likely in this shit hole." He paused, looking towards the sounds of the chaos. If he wasn't mistaken...that sounded like it was coming from the general area around his house. A little bit of worry would start to gnaw away at him as more gunfire, and more screams erupted. What if his parents were down there? What if they got hurt?

Pushing those thoughts to the side, Sebastian turned and started to open the door to head back inside. “Alright, the public spectacle's over. Lets take out this trash so we can go the fuck home already." He grumbled, holding the door open for Eric.

“Hmmm...yeah, we got like……." Eric paused, looking down at his phone. “Five minutes until we're out of this shit hole, and I don't want to stay here a minute longer than I have to. Besides, I need to get ready for my date tonight." Eric said, taking one last drag off his cigarette before chucking it down the storm drain.

Overhead, a news helicopter came flying low and fast towards the scene of the commotion, shaking the buildings below.

“Man you really are trying to suck every dick in this county, ain't you?"

“Oh fuck you Sebastian." Eric huffed, storming past his friend as he made his way inside. “You're just mad that I pointed out how batshit crazy your little school yard crush thing you have going on with Rebecca is, and now you're taking it out on me because you can't form meaningful relationships."

“Oh, is that so? How about that time you called me at 4 in the morning because your date blew out your ass and left you in a sleazy motel 30 miles away? And yet you've got the audacity to tell me that I'm the one who can't form a meaningful relationship? " Sebestian smirked, turning on the TV and flipping it over to the news.

“Hey man, fuck you! That was a one off thing, alright? I made some bad decisions, and I learned from my mistakes." Eric grumbled, pulling his trash bag out of the bin, before tying it off and putting a new bag in.

“Hey man, you uh, you going to grab your trash bag or what?" Eric asked, looking over his shoulder to see Sebastain just standing there in front of the TV, not so much as moving a muscle.

“Heellooo space cowboy. You there?" Eric asked, A look of concern washing over his features.

“Hey man you good? What's the ma-"

“Shh..shh..look man, look." Sebastian said in little more than a whisper, pointing at the TV. Eric frowned and stepped up beside him.

“Breaking news coming out of Southern LA, reports are coming in about a possible anomalous entity on the loose in the residential district of Southern LA. For more information, we're switching over to Jessica Winters, our reporter on the scene."

“Thank you Justine. As you can see just out the window here, there is what appears to be an anomalous entity going on a rampage here in Southern LA. So far the LAPD has been unable to stop the entity, but they are acting to contain the entity to as small an area as possible. Until such time that the Civil Defense Agency can take over the situation, the LAPD is strongly advising all citizens in the greater South Los Angeles region to shelter in place and wait for the all clear. “ The report practically shouted into her microphone, the roar of the helicopter's blades and engine threatening to drown out her voice.

The cameraman turned to look out the side of the helicopter, bringing into focus a large swathe of destruction. Windows were smashed. Cars were overturned. Lifeless bodies lay scattered across the street. The scene looked like it had been pulled straight out of an apocalypse movie.

Sebastian could feel his stomach turn and bend into knots. A feeling of both dread and anger began to rise up within him, the conflicting emotions vying for control. Anomalies seemingly appearing out of thin air and proceeding to tear the city apart wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence. This happened at least once, maybe twice a month here in the city. But this time, for Sebastian, things were much, much different. It wasn't as if he was watching the footage of some monstrosity tearing apart a neighborhood clear on the other end of the city, knowing that both himself, and his parents were more than safe. This time, it was his neighborhood that was being destroyed and his loved ones being put in danger.

Something deep and primal within him began to stir. The sudden, inexplicable compulsion to take matters into his own hands. Every rational part of his brain screamed out its protest against this urge.

Letting the world see his own anomalous capabilities was a dangerous prospect. The days of the superhero had long since passed. This was the era of government agencies and the public shunning of anything and everything anomalous in nature.

The feelings of fear and anger soon subsided, giving way to an overall sensation of numbness and detachment as he watched the live feed. The camera zoomed in on a police barricade, showing the officers firing away in blind desperation as the entity barreled towards them. This massive, roughly humanoid creature seemed entirely unphased by the gunfire as it lunged for the first group of police. Before the cameraman could turn away from the scene, sensing that what was about to happen would be anything but family friendly, the entity seized the first officer in its massive hands, proceeding to pull and tear until the officer's top and bottom halves were pulled apart.

Sebastian felt a wave of nausea wash over him and his knees start to tremble ever so slightly. Sure, he had seen plenty of shock videos and gore images on the internet before, but this, this was something real and visceral. This was happening no more than a few miles away at this very instant, and it was happening in real time.

The camera turned away from the scene of the slaughter as the gunshots died off one at a time. The cameraman focused on some of the wrecked cars on the street, before the feed cut off and the station went to commercial break.

At that moment something in Sebastian clicked. Maybe it was a desire to protect his parents, Maybe it was some sense of machismo ego. Maybe he just wanted to prove himself and see what he was actually capable of. Whatever it was, Sebastian couldn't put a finger on it, but he knew in an instant that he had to do something about it. This was his time to shine at last.

“Oh...fuck man." Eric said numbly, rubbing at his face.

“Yeah. Yeah." Sebastian added, finally pulling himself away from the TV.

“That's like what, three miles away from here?"

“Yeah, sounds about right." Sebastian muttered, taking his apron off and hanging it on his hook. “I need you to clock out for me. I gotta go." He said, making his way to the door.

“Excuse me, what?!" Eric practically shrieked, storming over to grab Sebastian by the arm. “What the hell's the matter with you? Are you TRYING to get killed out there?"

“Nah. I'm just trying to get home." Sebastian said plainly, pulling his arm away from Eric and reaching for the door.

“No, No no no no no. What are you trying to do, huh? You gotta drive right through that shit show to get home! You're not some fucking super hero, Sebastian! You're going to get yourself fucking killed!"

Sebastian shrugged and again reached for the door. “I guess I'll just take a detour then."

Eric squeezed even harder on Sebastian's arm, pulling himself between him and the door. “Are you okay? Did you get hit in the head or something? Is there something you aren't understanding? If you go out there you will die. Or fuck, even if you don't get hurt what'll happen then, huh? Your ass is going to get arrested and thrown in jail for disobeying a shelter in place order! And look, Sebastian, I don't know about you, but I cannot afford to post bail for your dumb ass because you wanted to go home to mommy and daddy. Sebastian, please. Just sit down, we'll wait it out. Ain't the first time we've had to do this."

Sebastian grit his teeth and sighed. “It's not like that, Eric. You don't understand. I have to go home." He pleaded, looking to Eric.

“No man, no you don't. Just sit here with me and we'll ride this thing out. There's nothing out there worth getting killed over! This is for your own good."

The more Eric pleaded with him to stay, the more Sebastian's resolve strengthened. “For my own good huh? That fucking freak is destroying my god damned neighborhood! That's my street that it's tearing apart! I don't give a rats ass what the Agency or the LAPD or anyone has to say. I'm going home to be with my folks, come hell or high water."

“Sebastian, no, please man…Let the Agency take care of it like they always do. Let them do their job. Please man. Don't be a hero."

Sebastian flinched at that, his hand reaching for the door faltering for only just a moment. He took a breath and steadied himself. “No. Fuck that. I'm going, whether you want me to or not."

“No." Eric said defiantly, looking up to meet Sebastian's gaze.

“Excuse me?"

“No. I ain't going to let my best friend go out there and get himself fucking hurt or killed over some stupid macho bullshit! I won't let you go Sebastian. If you want to leave so bad, you're going to have to go through me!" Eric shouted, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes as he threw himself between Sebastian and the door.

Sebastian sighed. “Alright then, fuck it. Have it your way." He said as he seized Eric up by the collar.

The scrawny coyote thrashed within Sebastian's grip, fangs bared and hairs standing on end. His little legs kicked wildly at the air, attempting to get Sebastain to drop him to no avail.

The much larger Sebastian manhandled Eric out of the way, setting him off to the side before pushing his way outside.

With a shuddering breath he looked out over the horizon to see where the fighting was. Several plumes of smoke rose up over the rooftops, and the occasional rip of gunfire tore through the sounds of screaming. The epicenter of the chaos seemed to be slightly north west of the store. If he pushed himself as hard as he could, he could make it there in only a matter of a few minutes. But first, he needed to get out of his work clothes and into something that'd better conceal his identity.

This was the same kind of mental scenario that he had gone over time and time again in his mind. First and foremost, before he could worry about going out there and saving others, he needed to protect himself.

Given that both he and his parents were unregistered anomalies, the threat of being discovered by the Agency carried particularly dire consequences. At a minimum, they'd each be looking at fifteen years in the Tennehesse anomalous containment facility, and that was if the judge was feeling generous.

Taking off at a dead sprint, Sebastian covered the distance of the parking lot and made it to his car in only a matter of seconds.

Coming to a sliding stop, he hurriedly fumbled his car keys out of his pocket and slid it into the lock, practically diving into the backseat.

Sebastian's mind raced at a mile a minute as he frantically searched for something to wear. Beneath the heaps of empty coke cans and stacks of papers he had been meaning to throw away for months now, he found a crumpled hoodie that reeked of beer and a musty red bandana stuffed between the seats. Although it wasn't much of a super hero get-up, it'd do.

Throwing the hoodie on, he bumped the door shut with his hip and took off at a dead sprint towards the sound of the chaos. As his legs pumped and as his feet dug into the pavement below, he could feel his anomalous abilities start to kick in.

With each bounding stride he moved faster and faster. Starting off at an average sprinting speed, in only the matter of a few seconds he was moving far faster than what any normal human could ever hope to achieve. From his best guestimation, he had to have been moving in excess of thirty miles an hour.

He leaned into it and pushed himself harder. Small flakes of concrete gave way beneath his feet and went flying high into the air. His powerful muscles tensed and strained as they propelled him down the now desolate streets.

By this point, he had almost entirely reverted to autopilot. Whatever conscious objections or second guesses he might've had were shoved aside as that primal part of him took control of his actions.

Here he was, putting himself in grave danger to defend an ungrateful population that downright despised him and his kin. In the eyes of most, he was a freak, a monster. Someone deserving of little more than a life kept under lock and key because he was 'too powerful for his own good'; and yet here he was throwing himself headlong at some unspeakable hellspawn to defend these people. Maybe it was some sense of 'young man invincibility' that drove him to make the split second decision to do this. Maybe it was some part of him wanting to fulfill his childhood fantasies of living up to his parents' legacy. Whatever it was, this primal urge to protect and defend had now put him on an irrevertible collision course with this aldrich horror.

In only a matter of a minute or two, Sebastian had made the two-ish mile journey, and was rounding the last bend in the road. Even from here, he could see just how bad the situation had become.

At the other end of the street, he could see where a police barricade had been completely obliterated by the creature. Cop cars had been up-ended and thrown onto their sides as if they were little more than toys. Bodies and viscera littered the roadway like some crude interpretation of a Jackson Pollock painting. From somewhere down the street, a fire raged unabated, its flames consuming an apartment building.

Sebastian took a deep breath and continued onwards at a much slower speed. As he approached the remnants of the roadblock, he could feel his stomach churn and his knees grow weak. These bodies had been completely mutilated beyond recognition. Large gouges of flesh were torn away, Hands, arms, and legs had been torn clean off, and the body of the officer who had been torn in half on TV lay scattered across the hoods and roofs of several squad cars. The overwhelming sight and stench of it all was enough to make him feel sick.

The sound of a scream from down the street was enough to snap him out of his sickened stupor. Pushing his attention away from the scene of the massacre, he gingerly stepped over the scattered remains of one of the officers and stepped into the intersection proper.

To both his left and his right, he could see nothing aside from a swathe of destruction. Just the same as the roadblock, overturned cars littered the streets, bodies and parts of bodies were scattered among the wreckage of the cars, and several small engine fires licked up from beneath the hoods of cars, threatening to explode into a fiery inferno at any minute.

Standing in the middle of such carnage, he wasn't so sure he could do this any more. This thing had just torn through twenty, maybe thirty people as if they were little more than tissue paper. Sure, his skin might be as hard as diamonds, and he might've been able to flip a car over or run real fast, but this? This looked as if it was well and truly beyond him.

Those feelings of dread and unease only continued to grow worse and worse. The overbearing sensation that he had just made a dire mistake began to wash over him. His foolhardy desire to eagerly throw himself into the lion's den for some stupid macho bullshit reason now seemed like the worst mistake he had ever made in his life.

He was snapped out of his stupor by a panicked scream from down the street. Turning to look, he caught just the briefest glimpse of the massive creature skittering across the street on all fours, covering the distance in no more than a half second.

The screaming grew more desperate for a split second, before coming to a sudden stop. Sebastian back pedaled a few steps as his heart beat out of his chest. In his fearful panic he stepped into a wet, sticky substance. Swallowing away the lump of ice in his throat, he mustered up the courage to look down. To his horror, his foot was standing in a pile of what had once been the top of someone's head, now reduced to little more than a slurry of bits of brain and chunks of bone. His converse was completely soaked through in a matter of seconds.

“OH FUCK!" Sebastian screamed, bringing a hand to cover his mouth. A rush of stingingly hot bile rushed up his throat and into his mouth. He blindly backpedaled away from the desecrated remains. His eyes were transfixed on the terrifying scene. He could see where the tread of his chucks had left a perfect imprint in the pile of gore.

Unable to contain himself any longer, he yanked his mask down and proceeded to puke his guts up. His stomach churned, his eyes watered, and his knees threatened to give way beneath him altogether. Unspeakable panic gripped at his very being. He needed to get out of here in this very instant. He couldn't do this.

The full realization of what he had gotten himself into only dawned on him once he heard the unmistakable groan of metal grinding against pavement. Turning to look, he caught his first true glimpse at this creature.

It stood over an overturned SUV, staring directly at him. Well...it could only be assumed that it was staring since it didn't have eyes. This thing, this unspeakable abomination, looked as if it had been torn straight out of a Francis Bacon painting. Long and slender arms held its thin and emaciated body upright. Ribs poked through its taut, ashen grey skin. The vertebrae of its neck could be seen poking through the sides of its impossibly thin neck, leading up to a perfectly smooth, ovoid shaped head with a single perpendicular slit running down it. Smears of thick red blood were caked across its face, and a steady trickle of blood could be seen dribbling from the underside of its chin.

The creature 'eyed' him intensely, the gaunt muscles across its entire body tensing and untensing spasmodically like pistons in an engine all firing out of sync. Maybe this thing could tell that he was no normal human, or maybe it was just best deciding on how it wanted to mutilate him. Either way, their little stand off wouldn't last for long.

The slit on the creature's head opened like a flower, revealing row after row of long, needle-like teeth lining its maw as it let out a blood curdling screech. In the blink of an eye, the creature hurdled over the SUV like some freakish olympian and barreled down on Sebastian like a speeding bullet. His breath caught in his throat and his eyes shrunk to pin pricks. This was it.

In an instant, all of the inhibitions, anxiety, and terror that had welled up within him were gone. Any second thoughts or misgivings about his purpose here were washed away the instant the creature leapt for him. A switch had been flipped in his brain, and his body resorted to fight or flight mode. That primal, caveman part of his brain flicked on and pushed aside all higher thought. He was in a life or death situation, and his caveman brain decided it was time to fight.

From the bottom of his diaphragm rose a deep and bellowing war cry as he charged forwards to meet his adversary like a man possessed. With fist cocked back and muscles tensed he leapt into the oncoming behemoth's path. But this wasn't a comic book. This was real life, and he was about to get his first taste of a reality check.

As soon as he let his fist fly forwards in anticipation of making contact with the beast's head, the creature took a wide and blisteringly fast swipe at Sebastian. Hardly had he even registered what was about to happen before he was hit with the force of a speeding semi truck. His body crumpled beneath the tremendous blow and he was sent flying across the street as if he was little more than a rag doll.

The force of the strike easily threw him though the front windows of a coffee shop, completely obliterating everything in his path as he came to a violent and rolling stop. Chairs, tables, and display cases alike were turned into a hail of wood splinters as he went flying through the shop like a human cannon ball.

Only upon smashing into the back wall of the store did he finally come to a stop.

With a sputtering cough, he shakily got to his feet just in time to see the beast barreling down on him again. Thinking fast, he attempted to leap out of the way, but once more the creature proved that it was far, far faster than he could ever hope to be.

In an instant the beast was upon him once more. The entire weight of its massive frame hit him dead on, sending the both of them crashing through the brick wall as if it was little more than tissue paper.

The creature bellowed out another shrill screech as it set upon him, pinning him to the ground with its much larger frame. The creature began to frantically scratch, claw, and pummel away at Sebastian as he desperately tried to defend himself. Time and time again the creature's massive black claws scored direct blows against his body. His clothes were reduced to little more than ribbons in only a matter of a few seconds, but he sustained not so much as a scratch.

The beast reared back with its fist poised high to strike. Thinking fast, Sebastian reached up and seized at the fist before it could make contact, wrapping both his hands around two of the creature's massive fingers.

The beast wretched and tried to pull away for all it was worth, but Sebastian wasn't letting go. Instead, he grit his teeth and let out a straining grunt, squeezing and twisting for all he was worth. The creature similarly screeched as the long bones of its fingers began to crack beneath the force. With a sickeningly audible 'CRUNCH!' the finger bones shattered into pieces in his hands. The beast wailed with the resonance of ten thousand church bells chiming all at once, enough to make Sebastian's ears ring and his head swim.

The creature yanked its hand free from his vice-like grip and only became more agitated, repeatedly slamming both its hands against his chest and head, before grabbing him by the throat and throwing him like a frisbee straight through the wall and right down into the channel of the LA River.

Sebastian's body landed in a jumbled and confused tangle of limbs at the bottom of the channel. He lay there for several long moments, a small, barely audible groan escaping his lips as he did so. While his skin might've been harder than diamonds, he could still very much feel pain, and right about now, he was feeling pain all over his body.

Overhead he could hear the 'woosh' of helicopter rotors, and off in the distance, the furious and throaty roar of several vehicles heading their way. More likely than not, that was the agency. He needed to wrap this up and get out of dodge before they showed up, lest he find himself being a captive at a CDA black site.

As he began to rise to his feet, the creature squeezed through the hole in the wall and scrambled down the banks of the canal after him. True to form, as soon as the beast got close enough it drew back on his haunches and lunged directly at him. With little time to react, Sebastian ducked as low as he could at the last possible second. By nothing but sheer and total luck, the beast went careening straight over his head and hit the ground some feet behind him.

The both of them turned to face one another at the same time, and they both lunged at one another. The creature swung its massive, gankly arms forwards in an attempt to grab at Sebastian, but its hands were only greeted with empty air as he stepped into the oncoming creature's path, cocking back his fist and letting a tremendous undercut go flying.

Sebastian's fist made solid contact with the underside of the creature's chin and its head snapped back violently from the blow, but the momentum of its lunge had it on a collision course with his body. The creature easily barreled Sebastian over from the tremendous inertia of the collision, and the two would come to a sliding stop some ten feet away.

Hardly had they even come to a stop and they were already vying for control. The creature tried to rear up onto its haunches to use its arms to pummel Sebastian, but he seized at the creature's throat before it could do so, delivering a punishing flurry of blows one right after the other.

Squeezing for all he was worth, Sebastian could feel the vertebrae in the creature's neck start to crunch and give way. This, coupled with the devastating series of blows to its head had the creature screeching and wailing with the unbearable intensity of nails on a chalkboard. It didn't take long for the skin on the creature's head to start to split and tear, with streams of thick black blood pouring from the open wounds.

For its part the creature spasmed and thrashed violently in his grip, trying to pull away for all its worth. It tried to use its hands to push away, but Sebastain wasn't letting go for the life of him, continuing to batter the creature's oblong head.

After trying several more times to break free from his unbreakable grip, the creature decided to change tact. Right as he came in for another blow, the creature opened its maw and swallowed his hand. At the same time, the creature grabbed at his arm and started to wretch and pull away at it.

A strained grunt of pain escaped through his tightly grit teeth as he tried to pull his hand free, only this time, it was the creature that had an unbreakable grip around his arm.

With his hand and half of his arm fully in its maw, the creature tried for all its worth to tear the offending appendage clean off his body. No matter how hard it bit down, and no matter how much it violently thrashed its head from side to side, it could not even so much as pierce Sebastian's diamond-like skin. For its efforts, all it had done was shatter innumerable teeth and get blood and drool over both itself, and it would be prey.

“You having fun yet you prick?" Sebastian gritted, pulling back as hard as he could. “You're.....nghhh…..gonna break your teeth well before you break my skin." He smirked assuredly, feeling the unmistakable sensation of bone crunching and shattering against his skin all up and down his arm.

The creature rocked back on its haunches and tried to pull away his arm. While his skin might've been near impervious, everything beneath it was decidedly less so, and he was on the very cusp of having his arm ripped out of socket.

Spots danced across his eyes as pain raidated from his arm through the rest of his body. He was exhausted, in extreme pain, and was just about at his threshold for how long he could keep his abilities going. He needed to finish this fight right here and right now, since the Agency was no doubt only a few minutes away. What he needed was a sure fire way to end this fight once and for all.

His chance to do just that would come as the creature opened up its maw even further, trying to swallow up even more of his arm. Thinking fast, Sebastian plunged his arm straight down the creature's gullet with a surprise burst of speed.

The beast let out a muffled and panicked screech as it attempted to recoil away from the sudden intrusion, but by then, it was already too late.

Sebastian's hand tore through the squishy, membranous tissue of the creature's internals with a sickeningly wet sound. The creature's entire frame jerked and spasmed as his hand continued to plunge further and further into its internal cavity, and its attempts to resist very suddenly became more and more diminished.

He had no idea what the internal anatomy of this thing was like, but as far as he figured, this thing must've had a heart, and by god he was going to do his damndest to rip it out.

After sinking almost elbow-deep into the creature's throat, his fingers finally brushed against a squishy, rapidly pulsating mass of tissue. It had to have been the creature's heart, or at least, he hoped as much.

Pushing just as far as he could manage, Sebastian coiled his fingers around the spasming mass, and, with a sickening grin, he began to rip and tear away at it for all he was worth.

The creature's continuous, incoherent string of muffled screeches only rose in intensity. In its blind panic to not have its insides become its outsides, the creature gave one last heaving pull backwards. Rather than pulling away from the offending appendage shoved down its maw, the force of the creature pulling back only assisted Sebastian's efforts.

With an audible pop, the organ finally gave way, and Sebastian's hand came reeling out of the creature's maw, organ in tow.

With its heart having been torn clean out of its body, the beast's entire body spasmed and jerked fiercely. A veritable fountain of viscous black blood came seeping from the creature's maw, spilling all over Sebastian as it convulsed. Grimacing, Sebastian discarded the creature's heart and gave it a rough shove, sending its writhing body crashing to the ground. It was finally over. He, an absolute nobody, had just kicked an anomaly's ass.

As he lay on the ground, trying to steady his breathing and stop his head from swimming, he pondered if this was what his parents felt like back in the day, back when the world still believed that the anomalous could do good. It was a sublime feeling of triumph and pride that welled up deep within him. It was a rush unlike anything he had ever experienced before.

This state of euphoric revelry wouldn't last for long. The throaty roar of the engines was now little more than a few hundred feet away. The Agency was finally here, and he needed to get the hell out of dodge.

Rolling out from beneath the enormous weight of the beast, Sebastian scrambled to his feet. In an instant all those feelings of triumph and euphoria were gone, replaced by the overwhelming desire to escape.

On all sides he was flanked by the canal. To both his left and right ran a tight array of residential buildings and stores, and to his front and rear was nothing aside from long open stretches of canal, where he'd be little more than a fish in a barrel for the CDA to pick off. As he squinted against the sunlight, he thought that he spotted two outlet pipes a little ways down the canal. Maybe, just maybe, if he could get to the pipes in time, he might be able to give the Agency the slip.

The sounds of numerous car doors slamming shut all around him only hastened his decision. Even if it was a longshot, he was going to give it his all.

Throwing himself forwards with all the strength he had left, Sebastian went tearing down the canal like a bat out of hell. His lungs burned with the fire of ten thousand suns, and his muscles screamed out their aching protest to the rigorous movement, but he didn't stop. He couldn't stop.

In only a matter of a few moments he had managed to cover the near half mile stretch, running faster than he had on his way here. As his heart thrummed away at his chest with the fury of a war drum, he closed to within the last three or four hundred feet of the pipes. He was on the homestretch, just a few more seconds and he'd be home free.

Just as his spirits began to rise at the prospect of a timely escape, they were very shortly thereafter crushed. To his right he could see the silhouettes of several CDA agents dressed in full military gear sliding down the banks of the canal to cut off his path of retreat.

Sebastian just grit his teeth and pushed himself to the absolute breaking point. It'd be a close one, but if he pushed himself for all he was worth he might still be able to give them the slip. As it would turn out, this was not at all to be the case.

With only a hundred or so feet left between him and freedom, the group of agents beat him to the bottom of the canal, hastily forming up between him and the pipes.

“OH SHIT, SHIT!" Sebastian cried as he realized there was no way he was plowing through that many agents. Gritting his teeth, he shifted trajectory and started to take off down the canal once more. Maybe there'd be another outlet pipe or overpass or anything really that he could use to shake the Agency off his tail. Unluckily for him, however, this wouldn't come to be.

Without so much as a verbal warning to stop, one of the agents stepped forwards with an odd, tubular contraption and leveled it at Sebastian. Before he could so much as wonder to himself what in the hell that thing was, the agent squeezed the trigger, and sent Sebastian crashing into the ground in an instant.

The most intense, god awful pain tore through his body. His muscles strained and twitched of their own accord. His breathing stopped altogether. Flashes of blinding white light danced across his field of vision. It felt as if trillions upon trillions of needles were tearing through every single cell in his body.

Once he hit the ground, his perception of everything going on around him fell into a haze of uncertainty and confusion. At some point after hitting the ground, the direct effects of the weapon stopped. Maybe it was a second, maybe it was five, or maybe it was even ten seconds after he hit the ground. Every moment he was exposed to the weapon's crippling effects felt like an imperceptible eternity.

Shortly thereafter, the group of agents approached him, shouting all manner of insults and commands, none of which he could even begin to comprehend. For all it was worth, they could have been speaking an alien language and he would have been none the wiser, with his train of thoughts being as confused and all over the place as it was.

One of the agents came to a stop directly in front of him, their brilliantly radiant, spit shined boots only mere inches away from his face.

Pulling himself together just long enough to form a coherent thought, he slowly, painfully craned his neck upwards, following the boots upwards to the legs, chest, and eventually the head. Through the spots of light that danced through his vision and his complete inability to focus on anything, he could only just begin to make out the features of an equine of some sort.

The figure towering over him said something to one of the other agents, and then, with little in the way of fanfare, raised their boot, preparing to stomp on Sebastian's head.

A small, almost completely inaudible “please" escaped between his lips as he watched on in terror. The equine almost seemed to….revel in his plea for mercy, a wicked grin spreading across their features.

Sebastian could only watch on in horror as the boot was sent hurtling down across his face, and his world was plunged into darkness.