FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Well, that's not what I expected." Dylan turned around slowly and took in their surroundings. He and the alien females stood in the middle of a street with a set of vehicles in front of them. Wheeled vehicles, but none of them familiar to him. They were all about the size of a four-door sedan, but ranged from sleek lozenge shapes to something that looked like a cross between a sports car and a SWAT tank.

The city itself was unlike anything Dylan had seen on Earth, but reminded him of any number of futuristic cityscapes he'd seen in movies, video games, and TV shows. Lots of gleaming metal, concrete, and glass, bridges and overpasses and skyscrapers. In the distance, vehicles zipped around and equally sci-fi aircraft traced paths across the sky here and there.

I wonder if we're still on the same planet as the place we were killed a while ago? The sky looked different and the air felt different. If the assholes who abducted us can teleport us to other planets, what fucking chance do we have of ever escaping?

"I know how this works," Syala clopped over to one of the cars, her mouth hanging open and her glowing eyes opening wide. "I've never seen any of these before, but I know how to drive them."

"So do I." Ayastal leaned over the nearest car, placed her hand on its roof, and peered in through the windshield. "The knowledge simply...appeared in my mind. But I can't fit into any of these."

"How is this happening?" Syala drew in several ragged breaths and glanced around until her terrified gaze locked onto Dylan. "How do I suddenly know things I could never have even _imagined_before?"

"I don't know." He hurried over to her and held her hands. "Maybe we'll find out sooner or later, or maybe we'll never know. Right now, all that matters is that we get through this."

She took a few more breaths, pulled herself together, and nodded.

Cora walked over to them and rested a hand on each of their shoulders. "Whoever is doing this to us, we can't let them break us. Don't give them the satisfaction."

Syala nodded again, smiled, and took in another long breath to help calm herself.

"I also know what we must do," Zilaka muttered, turning to stare in shock at the others. "Just like the cars--I didn't know a moment ago, and now I do."

"Same here." Dylan nodded slowly. "There's a package we have to pick up and take somewhere."

"And there will be someone trying to stop us." Nishara turned to gaze out over the city, and shivered. "Someone trying to _kill_us."

"Again." Grishnag sighed. "No matter why our captors are doing this--to test us, or just for their entertainment--I don't want to submit to it."

"You know what'll happen if we don't." Dylan tried to give her a reassuring smile, but couldn't hold it for more than a second. "The longer we survive, the longer we have to figure out what's going on and how to stop it."

"True enough." A smile tugged at the corner of Grishnag's mouth. "Well, I guess we should get this over with."

Nishara cupped Dylan's face in her upper hands and held his hands with her lower ones.

"For luck, and in hopes of reaching the end alive." She leaned in and kissed him.

_Uh...wow._He shrugged mentally, let the kiss continue until she pulled back, looked into his eyes, and smiled.

"I hope so, too. Let's all try to get through this in one piece." He stroked her cheek and she gave his hands and shoulders a gentle squeeze before turning to slither over to one of the cars.

Another hand brushed his arm and he turned to the left and found Syala leaning toward him. He met her halfway, thinking she wanted to say something to him without the others overhearing.

Instead, she slid her right hand behind his neck, pulled him gently closer, and kissed him.

_Seriously?_His heart began to pound, but he went along with it. When Syala finally pulled back, she smiled and glanced away.

"For luck," she mumbled.

"Thanks." His face turned hot and he glanced around and caught Grishnag grinning and chuckling in the corner of his eye.

He cleared his throat and tugged on his shirt collar.

"So. Uh. Anybody else want a good-luck kiss?"

After everyone flicked a few glances at each other, Cora shrugged and walked over to him.

"What the hell. I don't believe it'll tilt the odds in our favor, but I'm all for finding a moment of pleasure in this mess we're all in." She pressed her cool metal lips gently against his and the faint smell of mechanical lubricants and polish filled his nose. Neither the kiss nor the smell were at all unpleasant.

When they parted, the other females approached him. Before he could get his brain around what was happening, each of them kissed him--and, in the corner of his eye, he found several of them kissing each other.

Finally, Grishnag was the only one who hadn't kissed him or any of the others. She shrugged and put her arms around him.

"I suppose I shouldn't buck the trend," she said softly, chuckling. Her breath brushed across his lips and his heartbeat revved up again. "It has been a while since I've done this, so I suppose it's about time, anyway."

Their mouths met and he closed his eyes and lost himself in the moment. It was a little odd, with those big fangs sticking up from her lower teeth, but no more so than Ayastal's reptilian muzzle or Zilaka's bovine/equine lips.

When they parted, they looked into each other's eyes for a moment, smiled, and then Grishnag walked off to choose a vehicle. She picked one of the sporty-SWAT tank-looking things, opened the door and settled into the seat. Her eyes flicked over its control panel and she pushed a button. The engine started--not the familiar sound of the car engines Dylan had heard all his life, but more of a throbbing hum.

The others chose their cars, except Ayastal. Grishnag glanced over at her, smiled, and pointed a thumb at the roof of her vehicle.

"This one looks sturdy enough for you to ride on top. You won't have any protection, but at least you'll be able to participate. I mean, if you want."

"Thank you. After seeing what they did to you when you refused to play their games, I'm probably better off not looking as if I'm also refusing." Ayastal crouched on top of the car, bracing her feet on the rear end and finding handholds on the roof.

Dylan picked another hotrod-tank, got in, and glanced around. There were no pedals on the floor; all the controls were on the dashboard. At least that meant Nishara could drive one despite having no legs. He glanced over at her in time to watch her try to enter one of the lozenge-shaped cars. She ducked in through the driver's side-door, pulled back out, entered again, extracted herself again. She grumbled something, opened the back door, slid in and between the front seats, took her position awkwardly at the controls, and pulled the rest of her body in.

Syala closed the back door for her.

"Thank you." Nishara spent the next few moments trying to coil her body around the interior and find a comfortable position.

Dylan smiled and started his engine as Syala and Zilaka picked out their cars and started them.

Grishnag's voice came from a speaker in the dashboard. "Okay. Let's do this."

---

"Almost there." Grishnag glanced at the mini-map on her dashboard and noted the position of the waypoint. She returned her attention to the road ahead and slowed as they passed through a gate and entered an area filled with what appeared to be warehouses.

As they approached the waypoint, a dozen red blips appeared around it. Grishnag noted their positions on her mini-map and grumbled.

"Well, here we go." Dylan's voice quivered slightly.

Before Grishnag could offer any reassuring words, she eased around the corner of a large, rectangular building and found a dozen males and females of varying species spinning toward her and snapping their guns up.

"What the hell?" Dylan said. "I was expecting more of the goons we fought last time."

"So was I." Grishnag steered toward the nearest three and accelerated. "No matter. Just focus on getting through this."

"R-right." Dylan's vehicle surged forward, plowed into two more "enemies," and sent them tumbling across the pavement.

"Nice." Grishnag flashed a feral grin. "Ayastal, you may want to--"

"Dismounting." The huge reptile woman leaped off the top of Grishnag's vehicle and plowed into a pair of humans who'd opened fire a split-second before. The impact knocked them flat and she made sure they stayed put with a solid punch to each of their faces. She rolled off them, crouched, and sprang over the head of a pig-ogre as he tried to target her. She hit the ground, rolled forward, and came to a halt with her legs braced under her, ready to launch at another enemy.

The pig-ogre whipped his rifle around and lined up a shot at her chest.

Dylan's tank-car shot into Grishnag's view. He turned sharply to the left and the car began to skid. The rear end swung around and slammed into the pig-ogre like a bat knocking a baseball out of the park. He rocketed into the side of a parked cargo truck, then crumpled to the ground and came to a stop with his neck twisted at an unnatural angle.

"Nice moves, kid," Grishnag said with an arched eyebrow.

"Thanks. I just now realized this reminds me of a game I played a lot back home. This was one of the moves I used on opposing players."

"This reminds you of a game?" Nishara steered her car around the back of a nearby warehouse and flinched as four enemies concentrated their fire on her.

"Yeah, a video game. It's a--actually, never mind. I'll try to explain it later." Dylan whipped his car to the right and shoved his rifle through his open window. He pulled the trigger and perforated the human and three bovine males. They twitched and collapsed, fingers convulsing on their triggers and firing random shots until the life finished draining from them.

"Video games," Cora muttered. "I'm familiar with them. They're sort of like simulations."

"Yeah, kind of. You okay, Nishara?"

"For now." Nishara changed course again and accelerated. "I'm near the...whatever we're here to take. I'm going for it."

"I'll cover you," Dylan said.

"As will I," Syala added.

"Simulations. Hmm." Cora veered off to join the other three.

"What?" Grishnag caught up with them, glanced at the waypoint, and followed them toward a building that appeared to be an aircraft hangar.

"Just a suspicion I have. I don't want to distract everyone with it now."

"Sounds good." Dylan mowed down another opponent with his car and continued on to the hangar. "You can tell us after we finish this. Or after the next time we wake up dead." He chuckled.

Hah. He has my kind of sense of humor. Grishnag grinned and parked in front of the hangar's massive open door. "Make a barricade with your vehicles while Nishara picks up the package."

Dylan backed his car up until his rear bumper nudged her front. The others followed suit, keeping their driver-side doors facing into the hangar. Everyone except Nishara jumped out and aimed their guns at the remaining enemies, using their vehicles as cover. Nishara extracted herself from her car and surged forward, slithering deeper into the building so fast she became a blur.

Dylan and Syala charged after her, flicking their wide eyes all around the interior, searching for more enemies.

Grishnag glanced at the mini-map on her dashboard. Only three enemies remained.

Ten more red blips appeared at the edge of the map and approached her team's position with alarming speed.

Grishnag snarled. "More enemies incoming."

"That's what I was afraid of," Dylan grumbled. "It works the same way in that game I mentioned. No matter how many bad guys we take out, more keep teleporting in."

"It's hopeless," Syala whimpered.

"No, it's not." Grishnag drilled a beam through the forehead of each of the three approaching them. "It'll end when we complete our task."

"Yeah." Dylan tried to smile at Syala. "Maybe then we'll get to sit out the next round of fighting. Y'know, as a reward."

Grishnag glanced at her mini-map again. The new red blips were almost on top of her and the others. She frowned, realizing a hissing sound had been growing louder over the last few moments.

That's inside the hangar. But-- She gasped and whipped her gun around to aim at the ceiling.

"They're above us!"

Thumps of multiple feet hitting the roof echoed through the cavernous room.

Cora spun and snapped her gun up toward the ceiling. "I see their heat signatures." She opened fire, burning dozens of holes through the metal. Several voices cried out, and then a guttural roar overwhelmed them.

More thumps echoed from the ceiling--the sound of bodies rolling down the angled roof.

"I've got the pilots," Ayastal snarled before opening fire.

The hissing sound revved, sputtered, and turned into a rattling whine. A stubby aircraft with two huge, ducted fans spun into view, a dozen holes melted through the canopy and a mixture of red and blue blood splattered all over the cockpit. The aircraft continued its spin, tipped to the left, and crashed into the ground. It continued sliding and shedding parts, then finally rolled over and ground to a stop upside-down.

"Good work, Ayastal," Grishnag said.

A deafening, sharp bang of a grenade slammed into the side of the building, almost drowning out a truncated scream. Grishnag staggered, shook her head, and a cold sensation rose up in her chest. "Ayastal?"

Nishara, Dylan, and Syala stopped in their tracks. Nishara fumbled and nearly dropped the brick-shaped, crystalline object in her hands.

"Ayastal!" Grishnag rushed to the rear of her car, peeked around the doorway, and found her sprawled on the ground with her chest blasted open.

Past her, two more large vehicles rumbled toward the hangar.

Grishnag winced and turned away. She met the others' gazes and shook her head.

Syala sobbed and covered her mouth with her hand.

"She'll be okay," Dylan whispered, reaching out to rub her back.

"How do we know?"

"She'll probably wake up in the same room we found ourselves in after the first time we were killed."

"He's right." Grishnag took a deep breath and waved a hand around the inside of the hangar. "Take a quick look around. Maybe we can find something useful. Bigger guns, or armor."

"On it." Cora nodded and rushed over to the wall to inspect the shelves and crates.

Nishara handed the golden crystal brick to Dylan. "Take this. You seem to know what you're doing."

Grishnag glanced over her shoulder at the mini-map on her dashboard. A new waypoint had appeared at the northern edge.

"We have a new destination."

"Good." Dylan carried the faintly glowing crystal back to his car. "Let's get the hell out of here."

---

"Oh, look what we have here." Cora had just opened one of the metal crates in a corner behind a shuttle and grinned at what she'd found. "Grenades, sticky bombs, and rocket launchers."

"I don't know what those are," Zilaka muttered, "but if they help keep us alive, I'll be happy with them."

"They should definitely give us a chance." Cora passed the grenades and sticky bombs to the others, grabbed two rocket launchers, and handed one to Grishnag. "You seem to know how to use stuff like this more than the others. I think we'll have a better chance of holding the goons off while the others escape."

Dylan whipped his head around to stare at her and Grishnag.

"Don't worry." Cora strode toward the space between the door frame and Grishnag's car. "I'm planning on both of us catching up with you. Now, get moving."

Dylan sighed, nodded, and started his engine. Syala, Zilaka, and Nishara returned to their vehicles.

Cora peeked around the corner, found the two vehicles still fifty meters away but approaching rapidly, and nodded at Grishnag. Cora lined up a shot on the nearer van and fired. A fist-size rocket streaked toward her target. The second van veered off and accelerated, while three people bailed out of the first. Cora's rocket struck the front of the van, ripped it apart in a split-second, and the shrapnel shredded the three who'd tried to escape.

Grishnag stepped around Cora and took her own shot while Cora reloaded. The van swerved, but couldn't avoid the rocket. Shrapnel and body parts scattered in every direction. Grishnag smirked, turned toward her car, and stopped suddenly.

"Cora told you to take off."

Cora turned and found the others waiting with their engines running. "Yeah. What she said."

"We're not leaving you here." Syala aimed a stern stare at her, couldn't hold it, and faced forward again. "We finish this together."

Cora almost rolled her optics, canceled the action, and ran to her vehicle. "Fine. Let's all get the hell out of here before anyone else starts shooting at us."

"Dylan," Grishnag said as she climbed into her car, "we'll surround you and escort you to the next waypoint. Stay in the center."

"I'll do my best." He gripped the controls and waited.

"I'll take the lead. Cora, bring up the rear." Grishnag moved her car into position.

Four red, car-shaped icons appeared on Cora's mini-map, approaching rapidly from the rear. She leaned out the window, glanced around, and zoomed in on a distant motion.

"Guys, we've got more--"

"I see them on my map," Syala said, almost whimpering. "Let's go!"

Cora grabbed her rocket launcher, climbed through her window, and perched her ass on the lower edge. She lined up a shot and squeezed the trigger. The rocket streaked away and she zoomed in to watch the impact.

One of the four vans exploded and the shockwave knocked two others off course.

What the hell was that? Cora pulled the last few seconds from her optics' buffer and replayed it in slow motion. Parts of the van flickered and broke into tiny cube shapes for a split second as it exploded, as did the air around the shockwave. She scowled and lined up another shot.

Voxels. Damn, I was right.

"Cora!"

"Dylan, what?" Her proximity sensors picked up a sudden movement to her left before he could respond. She snapped her head around in time to catch a glimpse of a rocket before it drilled into the side of her car.

The roar of the explosion overwhelmed her auditory sensors and the flash overloaded her optics for a few seconds. When her sight returned, the entire world was spinning around her--until the pavement slammed into her back. She glanced around, found parts of her legs and other debris scattered all around her, and her internal sensors detected various lubricants and other fluids spraying out of what was left of her torso.

"Cora!" Dylan shrieked again.

"Keep going! I'll do what I can from here." She found her rifle several meters away and dragged herself toward it while running a diagnostic. Primary systems failing, main power cell breached and heading for a critical overload. Whatever I do, I have to do it soon.

"But--"

"Go!" She clamped onto the rifle and tried to line up a shot on the approaching vans, but her targeting system was offline. "I'll see you all on the next go-around."

"Shit," Dylan moaned before accelerating away.

The others hesitated another few seconds, but finally followed him.

The remaining three vans reached Cora.

Fuck it. She rolled onto her back, jammed her rifle's barrel against her exposed power cell, and pulled the trigger.

Fortunately, the power cell's detonation tore her body apart too quickly for her sensors to detect any damage.

---

The blast was enormous--far bigger than anything Nishara had ever experienced. It deafened her and shook her vehicle. Both hearts pounded as she glanced over her shoulder and found parts of Cora's body and two of the vans raining down.

The remaining van swerved around the debris and continued its pursuit.

"Oh, fuck," Dylan groaned. "Shit! Fuck!"

"Take it easy," Grishnag said, clearly straining to remain calm, herself. "She'll be okay. She's probably in that same room we woke up in before, with Ayastal."

"I hope so." Dylan took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's get this done." He accelerated.

Six more blips appeared on Nishara's mini-map, directly ahead. "No..."

"Where are they coming from?" Syala's voice quivered.

"Stay focused," Grishnag said.

A beam from one of the van's occupants drilled Nishara's rear window, the passenger-side headrest, and the windshield. She twitched and her hearts beat even faster.

_Must try something. Must do something before we're all killed again._She took several deep breaths. "I...I have an idea."

She twisted her tail into position, gripped her weapon, and slid through her window. She kept her lower-left hand on the controls, kept the accelerator pressed down with the tip of her tail, and held on to the roof with her upper-left hand. With her two rights hands, she raised the gun awkwardly and tried to aim it at the approaching van.

A male that appeared to be Zilaka's species leaned out one of the van's windows with his own rifle.

Nishara clamped her mouth shut to prevent a horrified whimper from escaping, and fired her weapon. Half of her shots struck the ground or pierced empty air, but the rest punched into the front of the van.

The male fired and a searing pain lanced through Nishara's upper-right shoulder. The gun almost slipped from her hands, but she managed to keep her grip on it and continue shooting.

Finally, one of her beams drilled through the van's windshield and vaporized part of the driver's head. He flopped over and the van swerved off to the right and crashed into a stack of red metal barrels. Nishara shifted her aim to the barrels without understanding how she knew what was about to happen, and continued firing.

Whatever was in the barrels ignited violently, and engulfed the van in flames.

Nishara sighed, turned to face forward, and grimaced at the pain spreading out from her wounded shoulder.

Grishnag veered off to a curving ramp leading to an overpass that wove its wave among dozens of gleaming metal skyscrapers. The rest followed her. Wincing and trying not to cry out, Nishara steered her vehicle in the same direction.

Three more enemy vans appeared directly ahead, swerving through the oncoming traffic.

"Shit," Grishnag snarled. "Too many innocent people are in the way."

"There's nothing we can do about that," Dylan said with a sigh. "We'll just have to do the best we can to avoid hitting any of them."

A human leaned out of the lead van and began firing. Nishara groaned, shifted her grip on her weapon, and returned fire.

A beam pierced her upper-left arm, and another hit her chest, just below her lower heart. She screamed and dropped her gun.

"Nishara!" Syala shrieked. "Oh, no!"

Another shot burned through Nishara's abdomen, and yet another drilled her upper heart. She flailed, screamed again, and her car began to turn sideways and skid.

"Fuck!" Dylan bellowed.

Nishara caught a glimpse of a hail of enemy shots slamming through his windshield and multiple bursts of red blood filling the inside of his car, and suddenly she turned cold inside.

"No--" She coughed as everything around her began to fade away. "Dyl...Dylan..."

Her car struck the divider between lanes and rolled. The last thing Nishara saw was the road rushing up toward her, and the last things she felt were her body twisting and the car crushing her beneath it.

---

Dylan woke with a sudden, coughing gasp. He bolted upright and several pairs of hands reached out to prevent him from falling off the table. He blinked, shook his head, and took a few more breaths until his heartbeat began to return to normal. Once he'd regained control of himself, he looked around and found Nishara, Cora, and Ayastal in front of him, and the bodies of Grishnag, Syala, and Zilaka resting on tables to either side. Eyes closed, bodies dormant. Still in the game, he figured.

Same room as before. At least we were right about that.

Nishara sobbed and tears ran down her cheeks. Ayastal and Cora put their hands on her shoulders and back, trying to comfort her. Dylan scooted off the table, took a moment to regain his balance, and reached out to touch one of her arms.

"Hey..."

She slithered forward, embraced him, and wept with sobs that shook both of them.

"You will be alright now," Ayastal said softly. "It's over, for now."

Dylan rubbed Nishara's back slowly. "She's right. You're okay now."

"It..." Nishara took several more sobbing breaths before she could continue. "It hurt!"

"I know. I'm sorry. I wish I could stop this." He cupped her cheek in his left hand and tried to smile. "As long as we're alive, there's a chance we can figure this out and find a way to escape."

"It has to happen soon. I don't know how much longer I can do this." She burst into tears again.

Dylan held her and just waited for her to let it all out. The other females kept their hands on her shoulders, trying to offer what little comfort they could.

Finally, her weeping subsided. She clung to Dylan for a few more minutes, and he kept his arms around her until she pulled back a few inches and gazed into his eyes. She managed a shaky smile and stroked his cheek.

"Thank you." She kissed him. His heart revved up again and he let it continue as long as she wanted. When they finally parted, he blushed and grinned. She smiled and her face turned a slightly darker shade of brown. She patted the other females' hands and gave each of them a brief kiss. "Thank you."

"Any time." Cora smiled and gave her shoulder one more gentle squeeze. Then she leaned forward and spoke in a soft tone, almost a whisper. "I think I've worked out at least part of what's going on here. I want to wait until the other three are back with us before I say anything more, just in case."

Dylan nodded. "Well, while we're waiting, maybe we could get to know each other a little better. Maybe get our minds off all this craziness for a few minutes."

"I would like that," Ayastal said with a heavy sigh. "I doubt it would work, but I very much want to try."

Grishnag's body jerked, her eyes snapped open, and she gasped. She glanced around, propped herself up on one arm, grunted and rubbed her chest.

"_Fucking_hell," she finally growled.

The others rushed over to her.

"You okay?" Dylan reached out to touch her shoulder.

She nodded while taking a few more deep breaths. "Now, yes." She looked into his eyes for a moment, then leaned forward and kissed him.

He raised an eyebrow, but didn't try to pull back. Before he realized what he was doing, he raised his hands to her cheeks and leaned in slightly. When they parted, both of them were slightly out of breath. Grishnag's face turned darker green and she looked away.

"Uh...sorry."

"_I'm_not." He managed to chuckle and Grishnag's blush darkened even more.

Nishara slid forward and gave her a hug. "I hope your death wasn't slow or painful."

"That part happened pretty quickly." Grishnag held Nishara's lower-right hand for a moment. "The moments leading up to it, however..."

"What happened out there?"

"Well, I found the...whatever the hell that thing was...in the wreckage of Dylan's car. Grabbed it and jumped back into mine, and hauled ass." Grishnag glanced at Dylan. "Made it to the destination and placed the...thing...in a glowing receptacle. I don't know how I knew where to put it. I just...did." She shrugged. "Anyway--"

Syala and Zilaka began breathing, but this time there was no spasming or screaming. Both of them opened their eyes, glanced around, and pushed themselves upright.

"Are you alright?" Cora said as everyone walked over to them.

"Fine, I think." Syala let out a relieved sigh. "Grishnag delivered the glowing crystal thing, and then there was a light that washed over us, the same as when we entered that...place. Then we woke up here."

"So," Dylan muttered, "if one of us completes the objective, the survivors are all sent back here."

"Looks that way." Grishnag winced again. "Would've been nice if I'd gotten here the same way. But I'd been shot nine or ten times after I got out of my car. I made it to the receptacle, barely. I died only a second or two after I delivered the 'package.'"

"So severely wounded, yet she was able to complete our task." Syala smiled at Grishnag. "She was amazing."

Grishnag shrugged and blushed again. "Well, by that point, I was pissed-off."

"Badass." Dylan grinned. "I'm sorry I missed it."

"Heh. Me, too." She caressed his cheek.

"I may have some good news," Cora whispered after giving them another moment. She glanced at the others and they leaned in closer. "I think I've figured out a piece of the puzzle."

The door at the end of the room slid open and a half-dozen of the nine-foot, armored and helmeted goons marched in. Cora glanced at them, sneered, and shook her head.

"Ah, fuck me." She glanced around at the others before whispering, "Not in front of the assholes. I'll explain it when we're away from them."

Everyone nodded, stood, and faced the aliens.

One of them pointed at the open door.

"Not again," Syala moaned.

"Not_already_," Zilaka added. "We just finished the last one."

"Well...we know what'll happen if we don't." Dylan sighed and trudged toward the door. He glanced around and noted the absence of the crate of weapons they'd been given before the last fight. "Huh. They're not arming us, this time."

"Not surprising, after what you did to one of them with the very weapon they gave you." Grishnag smirked as she stood beside him. "Which was...badass...by the way."

He blushed, but grinned. "Well, by that point, I was pissed-off."

She laughed, clapped a hand to his shoulder, then faced forward and sighed.

"Alright, let's find out what kind of hell they're going to put us through _this_time."