FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Sorry about the wait, I got caught up in shit and forgot to post. 4 hours of math a night will do that to you.

"Maka!" A shriek sounded across the war-torn city street. My eyes immediately darted to where Jeri, Kazu, and Kenta were standing. Makuramon dashed by them, ripping Calumon from Jeri's arms and launching high into the air. As he rose, he pitched his orb at the vortex forming above that was tearing the sky in half. Somehow or another, it caused the Juggernaut to back fire, freeing us of the effect quickly, leaving me to solve our other current problems, like Vikaralamon making a WarGrowlmon X pancake. "Maka!" Makuramon sounded off again, entering the rip high above. A thunderous crack sounded off and the heavy rain which had persisted the fight began to turn red. Oh, you have got to be kidding me.

"Heh, first they crack the skye, and now it's raining blood? Well, it's sad but true; I have to thank that shit pitcher for saving our asses." Taomon, Raia, and Rapidmon left the shield and re-focused on Vikaralamon, knowing they needed to save WarGrowlmon X's ass. "Takato? You need to do something, man." Takato had been caught up in the whole spectacle as much as I had, but I needed to get him to focus.

"Huh? Oh, right!" He shook his head, his focus returning to his partner. "What should I do?"

"Scan a card for strength, but you're gonna have to help him out." I tapped my skull. "Mental link, remember? Gotta use it from time to time." Takato nodded, searching through his deck for a sufficient card. Meanwhile, knowing the girls were doing fine for a moment, I decided to take stock of our surroundings. The skyline was drawn by crushed and shattered buildings, which had been lost in the fight, the street was covered in spidering cracks from Vikaralamon's every step, and the sky was a dark color, dominated by the clouds which continued their seemingly bloody rain. Rapidmon was moving slower, losing energy from extended form maintenance, but then everyone was suffering from that. I looked to my own partners, finding that Taomon was nursing an arm, although she was trying to hide the injury, while Raia was exhausted from maintaining the shield on Rapidmon. Neither of them made the weaknesses obvious, but they were dead giveaways to me, and I knew this had to end soon. Vikaralamon, despite his tank-like nature, was being worn down, albeit slowly, but he was getting close. Much more punishment and he would be done for. All we needed was for WarGrowlmon X to get back into the fight and it could end soon.

"Alright." I analyzed the beast and decided we'd have to play a little dirty to give Takato a hand. "Go for the eyes!" I called out. Raia stared at me, confused, I guess, but Taomon understood and flew at Vikaralamon and drove the handle of her brush deep into his left eye. He reared up out of pain and WarGrowlmon X rolled out from beneath him. I looked to Takato and his posture told me he was synced up with his partner. I normally would have grinned, glad to have the advantage again, but this really just put us back on par, equalizing the playing field. The fight began to stall again, calling for someone to make a move. Out of balls or stupidity, I'm never sure which when it comes to me, I reached through my mental link and began to guide Raia's movements, drawing a symbol with her brush.

What the hell are you doing? Raia asked mentally, attracting the attention of Taomon, who was also included in the link. I tossed a brainwave her way, telling her to withdraw her brush and fall back, then returning my focus to Raia's brush work.You'll see. I pinged back, finishing the kanji I'd begun drawing. The symbol burned into the boar's thick hide, revealing itself as the kanji of fire, one of the few I actually knew. The massive digimon began to buck and roar in pain as the drawing continued to sear his skin. I scanned a power card of some sort, Hyper-speed or Strength, one of the like, signaling the beginning of the next wave of assault.

"Strike while he's weak!" I roared in an almost inhuman voice, which would have scared me, had I not been focusing on the fight. Taomon resumed her prior tactics while Raia drew Talismans of Light, one after another, to counter the black muck that Vikaralamon began to spew out of desperation. She began this after Rapidmon was captured by it once and continued it, seeing as Vikaralamon was still spitting up the bog. Rapidmon, speaking of which, began to pepper his target with rockets and projectiles of all sorts, hoping to cause some damage. All of this, however, was a distraction, and we all knew it. We weren't doing shit, that became very clear quite quickly. Takato, as and linked to WarGrowlmon X, sauntered up to the beast and began laying down heavy hits. Slash after slash hit the monster, but it was obvious that his standard attacks wouldn't be enough. Takato began to roar in his own voice, which began to distort, as his partner's blended with it. The dual tones echoed beside me and I could tell a big attack was coming. Although I was unsure, I decided to motion to fall back over the mental link. Taomon ceased her scroll barrage and Raia spun her brush, excess ink flying from the tip, and brought it to her side before both retreated, although they didn't turn, their eyes never left the enemy, in case he were to try to strike them down. Either Herny did the same as me or Rapidmon wasn't dense enough to ignore the fact that he was out there alone now. Whichever it was, he fell back as well, returning to his tamer's side, as my partners did. As they approached, both degraded to their rookie forms, and I saw that Terriermon had done the same. I sighed inwardly, knowing they couldn't last any longer. I looked to WarGrowlmon X, knowing he was our single hope here, and the knowledge that he would soon fold as the others had hung over my head, like a lethal weight, just waiting to drop. WarGrowlmon X primed himself for an attack, but Vikaralamon did as well, looking as if he were about to spray another load of Boar Bog.

Just as both seemed ready to strike, another roar echoed across the barren and decimated street, it's origin being the young boy next to me, possessing a voice unlike any human ever had or should. The cannon in his partner's chest was fully primed and a red bloom began to shoot from it as he shot, just as Vikaralamon released his bog all over the red dragon. The bloom cut through it, though, piercing the darkness and spearing the immense beast, draining all expression from the face as black slime dripped from his maw. After the blast subsided, WarGrowlmon X collapsed, his from disappearing into the bog. Takato shook himself from the mental link which had dominated him and ran to his partner. I looked pleadingly at both my partners, but found that neither was in the condition to be able to reassume their ultimate forms to disperse the bog. Renamon's arm was not just injured, but borderline on a compound fracture, and Raia wasn't simple exhausted, her right leg had been bashed, swelling heavily around the knee. I would've been surprised if I didn't have to carry them home, but damn if they hadn't soldiered through the fight.

"Jesus Christ," I said, unsure of just what to do, "What did I let happen to you two!?" I did the first thing which came to my mind and gently pulled Renamon into an embrace, but a wince of pain and a faint whine, a noise I never thought I'd hear out of her, told me to release her.

"Ribs." She said, her voice breathy and weak. "Fractured, or broken." I fell to the ground, utterly at a loss. How could I have let them get this hurt? What the hell had been going through my mind that caused me to ignore this? This is my fault.

I must have uttered the last thought as Raia tried to kneel, but inevitably fell to the ground beside me, bringing new waves of guilt over me. My mind wracked by self-accusations of fault, I was pulled back to reality by the embrace of a pained creature. Raia was hugging me, ignoring the pain which she was obviously enduring. "Not your fault." She said, her eyes telling me truth laid in her words. "We'd have stopped if there was another way. Sacrifices must be made." She looked up to Renamon who nodded.

"You shouldn't be the ones to sacrifice." I said, my eyes to the ground, unable to meet theirs despite the lack of blame being thrust at me. "You've both already given up for me, when comes the time I sacrifice for you?" My arms lay useless at my sides, ignoring Raia's careful embrace pressing on them.

"That time will come," Renamon said, wisdom her primary tone. "But we are partners, and we wouldn't stick around if it wasn't worth it, right? We aren't stupid." I nodded, my conscience not cleared, but partially cleansed at least. I stood slowly, pulling Raia onto my shoulder so I could carry her. She began to pound on my back, throwing a fit.

"Let me down!" She cried. "I want to walk!"

"Are you fucking crazy? That leg isn't gonna sustain a pound of your weight, you'll collapse after a step!" Raia was undeterred, continuing to pound on my back until I was forced to release her. I leaned and gently let her to the ground, my reluctance hardly concealed.

"Thank you." She said. "I don't need to be carried through life, I can support my own weight."

I sighed. "Raia, I love both you and Renamon. I'd carry you from the depths of hell with lead shoes on if it meant I could save you from unhappiness. I don't see 'carrying you through life' as a burden, whether that's metaphorical or not. You, both of you, are worth it." I placed an arm lightly around each of their necks, kissing both of them on the cheek. "I can honestly say I'd die for you both, and I've never said that about anyone."

"Anyone?" Raia asked, somewhat bashful at the sudden emotion of the moment. "You haven't ever felt that way before?"

"Are you kidding me?" I replied. "No one from my universe is worth a damn, that's for sure. You two are the only thing I've ever had that hasn't had some Faustian twist to it." My mind wandered to all of the downright stupid things I'd had to endure in the name of caring for a person. "Naw, you two... You two are worth all the bullshit I've dealt with combined."

"We should get home... it's getting late and we need to recover." Renamon said, stuttering slightly. I grinned and nodded.

"Did I get the iron-willed fox all bashful too?" I teased. "Yeah, we'll get home in a minute, but I need to check on the others first, alright?" They nodded briskly and I left to briefly check on the status of the troops. Takato had recovered Guilmon X from the bog, and although he was still coated in the black muck, he was in decent enough shape. I told them goodbye for the night and headed over to Henry. Terriermon was pretty bruised up, but Henry assured me he'd live, so I bid them a good night as well, instructing Henry to inform me if any of them discovered a way for us to track down Makuramon and, by extension, Calumon. He nodded, replying he'd call me as soon as he had an answer.

I returned to my partners and pulled Raia's arm over my shoulder to support her weight, despite her protests. We returned home and I put them in the bed and insisted that I sleep on the couch so they could rest properly, since a crowded bed and two injured didn't sound like it'd mix well. They caved after I ordered them to do it, as their tamer, a move which I despised pulling, but found a necessary measure this time. From the looks of them, it looked as if I'd spend the next day playing the roles of doctor and servant bitch. Wonderful, I thought, just how having a girlfriend used to be, me serving at beck and call. I smiled as I lay on the couch, falling asleep knowing they wouldn't abuse the privilege.