FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Warning: This story contains transformation, macro, growth, muscle expansion, hourglass expansion and so much silliness.

---

Thunderstruck, by DragonMasterX.

Eight months ago.

It wasn't rare to hear about great scientific breakthroughs in the city of Boulder, Colorado, with its national laboratories working towards research, development and measurement of techniques and technology focused on the betterment of American life-style. Science buffs and big-time investors were gathered at the expo where the new technologies and prospective ideas would be unveiled this year.

Francine and her team of electromagnetism experts had already swept the crowd. Based on the fundaments of bioelectrogenesis, project Galvanika promised a source of clean, renewable energy. The projected image of an electric eel assisted the explanation with greater detail. Francine laid out every point without skimming over any specifics as the clients and her peers listened on. They were never distracted by her rich French accent as her eloquent voice ensnared their collective attention.

"Can you believe she's only 17?"

"You're shitting me. Two teenage prodigies in the same expo?"

"From the same labs, too. What do they feed kids these days anyway, brain salad?"

"Seems like LeFleur got extra helpings of it, too. Girl's been keeping everyone quiet since she opened her mouth. It's like they forgot all about Hooper's Robotics Work-Force!"

"More like Who-Per if you ask me. Boy had been the talk of every lab in this city for the last year, and then LeFleur's uncle flies her in from France. Hear they've been competing for funding since then, but now it looks like..."

Dexter Hooper was tense, he couldn't stop his ears from listening to the insignificant rabble of poor-man investigators spitting absolute nonsense around him; and standing beside them while listening to her rival Francine did little to stop the idiots from running their mouths afoul. But Hooper had no wishes to involve himself with old people beneath him and his brain; he was fixed on the defeat he was clearly suffering. What he could not believe was how it had come to be! He had outdone himself with his presentation on robotics; he had tacked on both domestic and basic work-force, and even militaristic applications! "LeFleur's project is nothing more than a wishy-washy theory based on limited existing research. Why can't they see it?" he thought, "She'll crash and burn all their money at once!"

But a round of applause drowned those thoughts out, again bringing Hooper's hopes down to a crushing flatness. And this wasn't all he felt. "This means the lab will cancel my research in favor of LeFleur's! I'll have to work under her, impossible!" he groaned while holding his right hand by his forehead. Hooper couldn't take it anymore and left the expo.

Galvanika's team would be formed on the next day.

---

Six months ago.

After two months of intensive research, project Galvanika had hit wall. "Subject B12's biology won't make it. The electrocyte count rapidly drops once the extractor begins collection."

Francine could see B12's long body produce sparks within the nutrient batch, electricity flowing from the electrodes on its body through the cables. No matter how much they treated them, every knife fish shriveled up and died; she was sure of her calculations, but for some reason, each and every treatment since the start of the project had ended in failure. "Dr. LeFleur," one of her assistants raised his voice, "Maybe we should call this one off and revise the formulas again."

But Francine couldn't call it back. Her goggles refracted the light as she pressed the palm of her hand against her specimen's container. Calling it back would mean she had failed yet again. But she hated what would happen if she didn't, "Shut it down." She finally said.

The machinery hummed down to a complete stop. B12 wriggled slightly, its bioelectricity wasn't being harvested and recycled anymore. Unfortunately, its nerves had suffered short-circuit due to the irregularity in its electric organs. "Well hey, if the investors ask, we at least got a great machine to kills eels." Hooper passed by Francine with his F1D0 prototype transporting boxes of spare parts to put away, "Never know when they'll rise against mankind, huh?" he teased.

Francine had been competing with Hooper for nearly a year, she already was well aware about his baiting methods. She ignored him. "Kessler, please help me move B12 to the storage room, we'll tend to its deficiencies. It might be helpful to gain insight as to what's going wrong with our manipulations."

Kessler quietly nodded and headed out into the holding area with Francine after their test subject had been safely deposited into a transportable container. As the rest of the team scattered for recalibrations, Hooper stayed behind to help F1D0 with the workload. "I've to tweak your tail with a good sorting algorithm, boy." He patted the dog-like construct on its head, waiting for the rest of the team to disappear from sight before chuckling, "Not that you're not the best at scrambling data already, F1."

F1D0's USB tipped tail wagged.

---

"This is the third failure this month." Kessler sighed as he wheeled B12 in, looking at the electric eel in disdain.

Francine quietly mused to herself, half disappointed and half suspicious. "B12 was in perfect condition."

"So were the last six eels. Peak condition too."

"You don't understand, the extractor isn't meant to accelerate ATP consumption for the ion-gating process, which is clearly what is happening here."

Kessler perked up from his slumped down position, "You mean the eels' are being forced to cannibalize their own cells to generate energy, instead of using the feedback loop?"

"No. They're specifically consuming the electrocytes, only damaging their electric organs. It's not a random occurrence, it's a targeted anomaly."

"Sabotage?" Kessler was outraged, "You don't think Hooper- I mean, it's no secret he hates you, but..."

"Most likely," Francine tilted her glasses over her nose, "But if he's perpetrating the system, he's erasing the tracks as he operates."

"I don't get it, why did they get him working with us? His project might have been turned down, but there are still other teams that could use him, and there he wouldn't get nearly as dickish."

"He asked to be put in the team."

"Well now we know why, ugh." Kessler grumbled as he used the carrier to hoist B12's container up and store it.

"I don't really have the time to ponder about whether or not that odieux brat is behind the recent sabotages. The projections might be wrong," Francine thought out loud as she stood began typing on her tablet, "We're taking into account that the eels' electric organs can sustain themselves during the process. But the process' dynamics prevents the target organ from overloading or shorting out, it should."

Kessler silently watched Francine work with unabated passion, but his expression softened at the realization that she still was a kid. He decided to pick up the slack as well. "It's true, the process has failed before, even without Hooper messing things up. Those cases were all due to an irregularity in the subject's electric organs."

"As we already know," Francine continued, "Electric eels have three electric organs where bioelectrogenesis works. If they all are put to work together during treatment, we can sustain them in the nutrient vat."

"But at one point, one of the organs fails to keep up with the other two, the feedback loop is interrupted, and we get eel barbecue."

Francine bit her lip and murmured, "This is the reason no one's tackled this kind of experiment before. Even if I can work to repurpose the organs' response to outside stimuli, the voltage becomes too great for the insufficient amount of electrocytes at work..."

"If only they had a fourth electric organ..." Kessler's words trailed off before Francine turned to stare at him, making Kessler sharpen up, "Uh, I mean, I know it's silly but..."

"No, actually," Francine interjected, "If we had a way to multiply them, the eels would have the redundant organs to work the feedback loop without there being any shorts. The question is, how do we improve on mother nature's very own work?"

Kessler looked at Francine as she spoke, then something clicked in his mind. "That's right! Hey, I think I know what we can do about this. Have you heard of the Masters Xteria?"

"Hmm, that's a controversial subject, even in France. The introduction of that recombination agent in the Black Market has been no end of problems for R&D around the world. The last I heard of it, some wealthy oil tycoon had won the only sample at an auction in Mid-Asia."

Kessler nodded, "Yeah, that's what the news said. But a friend of a friend that works in another lab here in Boulder says they'd been improving on the salamander genome by using the Xteria. I thought it was odd, but apparently there was more than one sample."

"Salamanders?" Francine blinked in disbelief, then shook her head, "If they're using the Xteria..."

"Yeah!" Kessler perked up with a smile, "It's what we've been waiting for, Dr. LeFleur. And it so happens that friend of a friend owes my friend a favor- and me, by extension," he grinned.

But Francine couldn't be too careful, "Hold on, that agent isn't sanctioned. If anything, we should report your friend's friend for using an improperly distributed compound."

"But doctor! Imagine what we could do with a recombinant that powerful. We could make stronger, better test subjects!" The prospect sounded sweet as a melody, and Francine was really considering it, but she couldn't allow temptation to force her hand into a potential mistake.

"Kessler..." Francine paused. She wanted results. Stronger test subjects would enable that instead of having to constantly doubt her theory. It only had been two months, and Project Galvanika had at least another four more to present their prototype, let alone enter Beta stages. They could attempt to use the Xteria in one test subject and if it wasn't satisfactory, they could try something else. "Arrange for it."

Kessler smiled and fished his pockets for his non-corporative cell-phone, "I know we're right in doing this, Dr. LeFleur. You'll see! After all, what's the worst that could happen?"

---

Presently.

"STINGER! Come out come out WHEREVER you are!" a cackling voice startled Charlie as she tried to avoid being spotted.

"That maniac shouldn't be here, why is he here?!" the scorpion metamorph grunted as she squeezed through S.W.O.R.D.'s ventilation system to head in the direction of captain Roger's emergency room. "Ugh, cheap Samson and his small shaft." Using the grates to peer below, Charlie made sure the murderous raptor wasn't in sight before she quietly removed and slid one of the panels off. "Betas occupied every sector, Fire Cracker's sealing exits with raging fires... Slaughter's being, well, Slaughter...!" she quietly spoke as she crawled out onto the emergency room's ceiling. "Jim!"

Rogers was sat down in front of his laptop on the desk, "Jim, where are the reinforcements? Where Queen and Shade?! This isn't the time to hang on to a computer, it's Omega, Slaughter, everyone! Jim I'm talking to you Goddamnit!" impatient, the scorpion girl reached for Rogers's shoulder rest and spun him around but then she instantly startled and fell on her butt.

Charlie felt paralyzed from the neck down. She couldn't stop shaking, her black eyes bulging out to the verge of popping. Rogers was sat down, bloodied from the neck to his lap, a slash to the jugular having taken his life. "No. No!" forcing herself back up to her feet, the metamorph heroine almost tackled Rogers's corpse, shaking the lifeless body as if to convince herself. "Jim, this isn't funny. This isn't funny!" Her squeezing arms held the dead captain dearly as Charlie became unable to hold her tears down. Charlie's eyes once again opened and what she saw next made her blood boil.

"happy thoughts stinger" read the open document on the computer's monitor. She let go of the corpse, summoning her pincers and snapping her mandibles together as her mask guard covered her face. "I have a no-kill rule." Charlie reminded herself before every notion of self-preservation left her, then she kicked the door to the room down. "SLAUGHTER!" she snapped her pincers together, rushing out while one of her arms tore a crack on the wall to make more noise. "Come out you sick bastard!" she yelled, stopping at a corner when suddenly a rising wall of fire forced the female scorpion to back-flip to safety. "I don't have time for has-beens, FireCracker, get outta my sight!"

"Outta your sight? But I just got you in mine!" The fire iguana hurled fireballs over the flaming wall, but avoiding the volley was a cinch thanks to her scorpion agility. "I got plenty to pay you back for, Stinger! And I plan to cancel my debt with interest!" he laughed.

Charlie was beyond angered at the recent development. She could take care of FireCracker at any time, but knowing Slaughter was still running around the base after what he had done did horrible things to her patience. "Shut up!" she screamed, jumping at a wall before kicking herself above the firewall and against the reptile. Caught off guard, FireCracker got slugged in the face by Charlie's pincer, delivered like a metric-ton-heavy punch. The super-powered metamorph was sent reeling and only stopped when he crashed against a wall, rendered unconscious by the shock to his system.

Panting heavily, Charlie's mandibles snapped together loudly as she angrily stared at the defeated FireCracker. "I'll deal with you later." The scorpion softly said. Suddenly, the flames died out and Charlie turned around with a glare. Several bat metamorphs, the Betas, poured into the hallway turning a corner, making Charlie jump up before she began to bound on each of the swooping bats' head like stepping stones.

As if they were a rushing stream of water, the Betas flowed past Charlie, who used her tail and pincers to deflect their incoming blows. Fighting against the barrage of attacks got her step by step closer to her goal. If all these frenzied Betas were on this side, it could only mean one thing to her. "If I can't find Slaughter, then you're the next best metamorph to punch, Lexine!" But Charlie never expected to find what she did shortly after turning the last corner.

Two unseen blurs of speed charged Charlie, who found herself on her knees after two beings with strength on par with her arachnid power forced her down. Feeling her arms seized, Charlie yelped and bent down in pain as her arms were twisted behind her.

"Voz'mi. And to think I once held you in high regard, my little scorpion," Charlie instantly became irritated at the thick Russian voice taunting her. The scorpion's rage being the only thing fueling her, Charlie tried to stand up, but her super-strong captors held her in place.

"Lexine!!" Charlie grunted out, "What do you think you're doing?! What happened to your beliefs?! You sent Slaughter to kill Jim!"

"A pity," Omega sighed, resting her cheek on her knuckles. "But he could not see the bigger picture, and I couldn't risk him making a recall."

"You don't get it, Lexine! You're a murderer, nothing more, nothing less, and I will hunt you for this!" Charlie snarled, trying her best to fight against her binding captors, but only managed to drain her strength instead.

"So full of energy, my precious davushka. But I'm afraid your threats are hollow. I only eliminate threats to my new world, and those unfit to join it. Unfortunately, you fall in the second category now."

"Thank you for the compliment, now come here, I want to THANK YOU for it!" Charlie snapped her pincers together hard. Lexine softly smiled and closed her eyes as mad laughter began to fill the room.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Charlie couldn't look back, but she heard Slaughter making his entrance. He was dripping blood, covered head to toe in fresh red coat. "That FRIEND of yours was so CUTE, Stinger! Who KNEW chameleons screamed so BEAUTIFULLY while being forced to SHED?! KYAHAHAHA!"

Charlie winced, shutting her eyes as the bloodied killer stood by Lexine. "Kimberly..." she hiccupped silently. "Where's Beth?!" she demanded. "Let her go, she isn't a fighter! She's..."

"BEE BEE Q!" Slaughter madly, holding by his head at his own joke while Charlie's eyes bulged out in shock, "I didn't know that KID had it in him to mix HUMOR with DEATH! GAH-HAHAHA!"

"Y-you monster, you're all fucking monsters!" Charlie cried out, tears coming out of her eyes, "You had no right to take their lives, you're all sick...!"

"Oh miliy, is that any way to speak?" Lexine reopened her eyes and leaned forwards slightly, "Especially in front of one's parents?" Charlie could suddenly feel her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach. Her eyes became paralyzed with fear and so too did the rest of her body as searing pain spread from her neck. Two stingers had suddenly embedded themselves on her skin, pumping her full of venom. All Charlie could do was slightly crane her head to the side as she finally noticed her captors: Two scorpion metamorphs like herself; one female and one male.

"Mama, papa..." thought a distressed Charlie. Their features like hers, only vacant stares remained in their eyes. Unfeeling grips told Charlie they had at least been brainwashed. "Mom, dad, stop this! Don't listen to her, it's me, Charlotte!" All those words that Charlie was trying to convey just did not come out of her mouth, as it too was paralyzed by her parents' unique neurotoxin. Rage once again took hold and she glared in Lexine's general direction, "What have you done?!" she wanted to scream.

"Your stare full of hatred is easy to read, miliy," Omega giggled, "Dah, these are none other than Montgomery and Consuelo Richards. But don't be sad- I've improved them! Youthful, strong, and willing to obey. They are the reason you've lost all your worth to me, Charlie. Now that I have the two biologic links to your genetic code, I can make you again, and remake you as many times as I need to until you finally submit to me."

Charlie was left speechless, not that she could talk anymore. "You're crazy, you're sick, you're a goddamn freak!" she thought, tears streaming down her cheek pouches.

"Slaughter, please execute Stinger." Omega ordered, the raptor hybrid happily closing in on Charlie. Brandishing talons clanked like razor-sharp metal as Slaughter got within point-blank range. The murderous reptile seized Charlie by the neck as his other arm retracted.

"Oh WOE is me. I PERSONALLY wanted to take my TIME doing this!"

Charlie couldn't stop crying. She could only emit muffled moans. "Mom, let me go! Dad! Let me help you! I'm sorry I risked your lives. This is all my fault!" she sobbed, "I'm sorry... I'm..."

"Dasvidania, my love..." Omega waved and stepped to the side, revealing a second Charlie with wings under her arms. The creature had a striking resemblance to the one who had taken off with Slaughter back at Minerva Labs. Omega left, being followed obediently by the winged scorpion.

To Be Continued...