FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Thursday, December 21st 2017, 9:23 PM, Seattle Washington, The Dhole's Den, Green Room

"Boss? Hey, Boss! I got a problem here! You there, Yuri?!" Yuri looked up from the guitar he was tuning at the walkie-talkie on the nearby desk that began to shout for him. The human carefully set aside the instrument in his hands before grabbing hold of the device. "What's the issue, Garret?" he asked, fiddling with the guitar pick between his fingers.

"I'm at the main bar, and-"

"Oh god, don't tell me Erin snuck off to hold another pre-show party," Yuri interrupted, rubbing his eyelids in annoyance.

"No sir, it's not her," Garret replied, sounding annoyed himself. "One of the customers got into an argument with the bartender and... well, quite honestly it's a little hard to explain."

"What, suddenly you can't toss out one belligerent drunk?" Yuri demanded.

"It's - well, he's not drunk, sir," Garret said. "...I think."

"You 'think'?" Yuri questioned.

"Like I said, it's hard to explain," Garret repeated. "I just need you to come here as fast as possible, you're better at dealing with these sort of things."

"Alright, fine," Yuri said with an exasperated sigh. "But if this isn't good I'm docking your pay."

"Aww, boss-" Garret started to say, but Yuri quickly turned the walkie-talkie off, stifling Garret's protests with little effort.

"Fuck me, Yuri whined as he clipped the walkie-talkie to the belt loop of his jeans. "Hey Radha, let Carter know what's up if he gets back before me, alright?" Yuri looked over at the other person in the room, a female Dhole seated in a chair next to his own, who looked back at him with bright green eyes.

"Okay," the canine said, smiling as she got up and walked over to Yuri, an obvious sway in her step that caused her elegant violet dress to swirl and flow around her lower body. Once she was close enough, she leaned over Yuri's pulled him into a deep kiss, one that he quickly and gladly returned. He lovingly cupped the side of her cheek with one hand, lightly brushing his thumb against her rustic red fur as he ran his other hand through her platinum blonde hair. "Be back soon, okay Lily?" Radha added once the kiss ended and they pulled away.

"Don't worry Princess, this'll be quick," Yuri reassured her, his fingers fondling one of the jade charms woven into her hair affectionately before he stood up. A sudden flash of bright white light radiated from Yuri's body before quickly fading away, an open black jacket with the word 'security' stitched into the back with yellow letters suddenly appearing over his dark blue sleeveless shirt. Another light quickly flashed in his hand, becoming a similarly decorated cap that he quickly put on over his short brown hair.

"Alright, time to find out what's got Garret's fur in a knot," Yuri grumbled, walking out of the green room as Radha gave one last good-bye. He immediately headed for the bar at the spectator's entrance of the concert building, avoiding the crowd as best as possible. He did at one point have to cut through the enormous masses of humans and furs alike clamoring in anticipation for the upcoming concert that would be starting soon. It was fairly difficult to get through, even with his security uniform getting most people to move aside. Fortunately, the crowd began to thin as he approached his destination, and by the time the bar was in sight there was hardly anyone in his way. He immediately spotted Garret near the bar stools, the gray wolf arguing with what looked like a reptilian patron while the bartender glared at both of them from behind the counter. Once Yuri got close enough to see the prominent red headphones around the reptile's neck, he began glaring at the both of them as well. "I thought you said Erin wasn't the problem, Garret."

Both Garret and the Komodo dragon that was Erin turned to look at Yuri, shocked by his sudden appearance. "B-boss!" Garret exclaimed.

"Ehehehe... hi Yuri," Erin said sheepishly, nervously running a clawed hand through the red feathers on her head that acted as hair. "So, uh, nice going on finding your uniform. Where was it?" Yuri ignored her, instead looking to Garret for an explanation.

"Sir, Erin isn't the reason I called you," Garret said as he quickly regained his composure. "She simply showed up a minute ago, and tried to order herself a drink while I was distracted."

"I see," Yuri said dryly, looking back at the Komodo dragon and staring straight into her yellow-tinged red eyes. "You know you're not supposed to drink before a show, Erin."

"I didn't!" Erin protested, folding her arms in indignation. "Your mutt stopped me from even getting a seat," she added under her breath.

"Don't be rude," Yuri said, stepping close to the lizard and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Look, I know you're excited, but you can't get yourself drunk before the show starts, unless you _want_to have to sit by yourself in the green room again."

"But I- ...no," Erin said, abruptly changing her tune as she turned her head away from Yuri, who cupped a finger under her chin and turned it back.

"I didn't think so. Look, by all means, get as drunk as you want after the show. For now though, you need to go back to doing whatever you were doing before you decided it was a good idea to come here, which I believe was helping Tufan set up the stage."

"Okay, I'll get going," Erin said disappointedly, though she quickly perked up as she wrapped an arm around Yuri's waist, and another around his neck, pulling herself in close. "Can I at least get a quick kiss?" She asked, punctuating her words by sticking her long, yellow tongue out to lick Yuri's cheek; Yuri responded by placing his finger along her tongue's underside and curling his finger until the tongue was trapped between it and the top of her snout.

"You're still in trouble for trying to sneak booze again, Red," Yuri said flatly, letting her squirm in his grasp for a bit before releasing her tongue. "And as much as I love your kisses, I've got work of my own to do right now."

"Awww," Erin whined as she slowly slid off of Yuri's chest - before suddenly jumping up and mashing her muzzle against his lips, surprising him and taking advantage of it by slipping her tongue into his mouth. Once over his shock, Yuri placed his hands on Erin's shoulders, and for a moment it appeared as though he would push her off. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and began kissing back with muted enthusiasm.

Eventually they broke the kiss, and Erin's tongue was visible running between both their mouths like a long, thick noodle before it was pulled back into its owner's mouth. "Alright, Red, you got your kiss," Yuri said. "Now get."

"Hehe, see ya later Yuri!" Erin exclaimed, jumping off of him and running back in the direction of the stage doors, and nearly running into a couple of people as she glanced back at Yuri to give a big, audacious grin. "She is such a handful," Yuri said to himself as he gave a small sigh, though a smile formed on his face as he watched her leave.

The sound of crinkling paper caught his attention, and he turned back towards the bar where two male humans - scratch that, one was a werewolf - were in the middle of trading dollar bills. "Told you he's dating Erin," Yuri heard the werewolf mutter as he received several twenties from the human.

"Garret, who are these clowns?" Yuri asked, examining them both more closely. The human was Yuri's about height, with blonde hair that was far longer than hair had any right to be, its length stretching down to his hips. He also had incredibly tan skin that almost bordered on an olive coloration - or at least his face did, though Yuri didn't have any reason to believe the rest of his body didn't despite being hidden beneath a large leather trench coat, long leather pants, and an orange undershirt.

By contrast, the werewolf wore very little, limiting his wardrobe to a mere white t-shirt and blue shorts that tightly clung to his tall, muscular frame - though at least he had the sense to keep his black hair short, if unkempt. He also had the air of an alpha about him, an aura of dominance created through a mix of his posture, confidence, and a potent musky scent that even a human like Yuri could pick up on.

Oddly, both characters seemed familiar to Yuri, though he was having difficulty determining where he'd seen either of them. This was especially grating when it came to the werewolf because Yuri was absolutely convinced that he'd actually met the man before, despite being unable to place his face - the human just made him feel an unusual yet familiar irritation. "Garret?" He called again, deciding that figuring out where he'd seen them wasn't worth the hassle.

"Sir, this man here is the reason I called you," Garret said, indicating the human. "As I told you earlier, he and the barkeep got into an argument, over... well, you should probably just hear it for yourself."

"Ugh, why can't you just tell me?" Yuri complained, before immediately turning towards the mouse behind the counter. "Alright Jack, spill. What the hell is the problem here?"

"It's very simple," Jack said. "This man, ever since sitting down, has been ordering bottles of vodka one after the other. Whole bottles of vodka. Non-stop. And he never showed any signs of being drunk either, so I didn't even realize he was going through my whole stock until I pulled a bottle from the back row." The bartender pointed up to his shelf of drinks, where a row of vodka bottles were indeed limited to the back row, even though there was clearly room for more.

"Okay, first, I don't see how you couldn't explain this," Yuri said to Garret, shooting him an irritated look before turning back to Jack. "Second, I don't see any problem in the first place. He's been paying you for the booze, right?"

"He's had more than far too much!" Jack exclaimed. "I'm shocked he isn't dead already! I'm not going to risk his life, or my career, by letting him drink himself to death!"

"For the thousandth time, I'm fine," the human spoke up, sounding almost as irritated as Yuri as he glared at the bartender from underneath his shades. "I'm not barfing up my lunch, I'm not belligerent, I'm not even mildly impaired. Can't I just-"

"You shut up," Yuri interrupted, pointing a finger at the man before turning back to the bar and looking at the row of bottles again, counting out how many there were left and inferring how many bottles the human had had. "You know I don't know much about alcohol, but I'm assuming five bottles of vodka is a lot?"

"Five shots of vodka is a lot," Jack clarified. "Five _bottles_should be impossible."

"I'd bet the Russians would disagree," Yuri said with a slight smirk before turning to face the human. "You don't look Russian, but you seem well enough. I'm guessing the reason this turned into an argument is because you want to keep drinking, right?"

"Duh," the human said, his tone matching Yuri's exactly. "Like you said, I'm fine, so I don't see why-" Suddenly Yuri shoved his hand forward, pushing against the human with enough force to put him off-balance without actually hurting him. When the human caught himself before he could topple over, Yuri gave a low whistle. "What was that for?!" The human demanded.

"Not even tipsy," Yuri commented, both ignoring and answering the question. "Hmm... Garret, do you have a breathalyzer on you?"

"No sir," Garret said, shaking his head. "I'll call for Alex to get us one."

"Hold on," the werewolf suddenly spoke up with all the authority being an alpha provided him, causing Garret to freeze up. "As fun as this has been to watch, there's no need to give Jude a breathalyzer test. As you can see, he's perfectly fine, and I can promise he won't be having any more vodka, or anything else at this bar." "Oh come on, boss-" Jude protested, but a quick glare from the werewolf quickly stifled him. "Sorry sir," Jude said in a surprisingly meek tone. "Jude will leave with me," the werewolf continued, directly addressing Yuri, "and this whole messy situation will be over with. I would assume this is an acceptable resolution, yes?"

Yuri didn't say anything, instead opting to fold his arms and look straight into the werewolf's yellow eyes as a subtle challenge to the alpha's authority. The werewolf took the bait; no sooner had he begun glaring back at Yuri that the human whipped his head to the side, cutting off their line of sight. "Garret, what's the werewolf doing here again?"

"You can tell?" the werewolf muttered, though surprisingly he didn't seem very upset by Yuri's insult to his alpha status. Yuri ignored him.

"U-uh, I-I don't know sir," Garret said, forcing himself out of both the stupor the alpha's order had put him in and the shock of Yuri's brazen disregard of said alpha. "He arrived around the same time as Erin and I haven't had a chance to talk to him."

"I see," Yuri said, turning back to the werewolf in annoyance. "Alright then, I'll ask you. What are you doing here?"

"Well, Mr. Scifo, my name is-"

"Don't care," Yuri quickly interrupted, preventing the werewolf from giving his name and thus once again disrespecting his status as an alpha. "Just tell me what you're doing here. And what your relationship with this guy is, while you're at it," he added, thumbing over towards Jude.

This time the werewolf became subtly upset at Yuri's continued disrespect, his fingers digging into his arms while his teeth clenched together and his brow became slightly furrowed. He easily regained his composure, however, a light smirk gracing his lips as the signs of his irritation quickly faded away. "Very well, just the important things. Actually, I came here to pull Jude away from the bar anyways, so I could talk with him a bit before your concert begins. As for my relationship to Jude, I am simply his employer, his stepfather, of sorts, and his ride for tonight."

Yuri opened his mouth again, about to make a comment on what kind of 'ride' the werewolf was going to be, when Jack suddenly spoke up. "Wait, so then this man is a part of your family?"

"Yes, he is," The werewolf responded, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

"And you said he's a werewolf, yes?" The mouse asked Yuri, indicating the werewolf.

"You can't tell?" Yuri asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's really more of a surprise that you could," the werewolf said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Outside of normal wolves and fellow werewolves, most people aren't capable of noticing the subtle differences in a werewolf's untransformed body."

"As if there's anything 'subtle' about a werewolf," Yuri mocked. "Most people just can't be bothered to pay attention for more than two seconds."

"Anyways, I can confirm that this man is indeed a werewolf," Garret interjected before Yuri could continue, looking over at the bartender. "I assume you had a reason for asking?"

"Yes, well, it's just that I've always heard that werewolf families are made of werewolves only." Jack looked nervous as he spoke, constantly glancing back at Jude and the werewolf. "So, I thought, if Jude there is a werewolf, then it might explain how he could drink as much as he did, since werewolves have a greater tolerance for it."

"What you say is true," the werewolf replied, nodding his head in affirmation. "With just two exceptions that I know of, only werewolves have ever been a part of a werewolf pack."

"Two? I wonder if that includes..." Yuri muttered to himself before trailing off, looking over Jude once more. "Hmm..." Unfortunately, all the physical signs that Yuri could have used to determine Jude's species were covered up by his clothing. The long sleeves of his coat fell past his fingers, while the coat itself obscured his physique and posture. In addition, his pants were long enough to cover most of his feet, with the exception of pointed gold plates at the tips of his boots. Finally, Jude wore a pair of sunglasses that completely obscured his eyes. "Garret, what's your take on him?" Yuri asked, though the question sounded more like an order.

"Uh, well, I'm not quite sure," Garret responded. "On the one hand, his clothes reek of a thoroughly human scent, and I can smell traces of that same scent coming from him. But, on the other hand, that's just one scent of many on him. It's not unusual for new werewolves to still have remnants of their old scent lingering around, and considering how many werewolf scents are emanating from him, including his alpha, I wouldn't be surprised if his own werewolf scent is mixed in somewhere. And then there's this whole business with the vodka... If I had to guess, I'd say that yes, he is a werewolf."

"Interesting..." Yuri simply replied, looking over Jude once more as he invaded the latter's personal space.

"What?" Jude said, unflinching as he stared back at Yuri from behind his shades - before they were suddenly snatched off his face. "Hey!" he shouted indignantly, backing up as he narrowed his now-exposed golden eyes. Whelp, Yuri thought, that explained the irritation.

"Well, that settles that," Garret said. "He's definitely a werewolf, which would explain his unusual alcohol tolerance. Though I'm still surprised he doesn't look even remotely drunk."

"Wait, what? How does that tell you anything?" Jack asked, confused. "...Oh, whatever, I don't care as long as he doesn't keel over. You said you were going to take him away now, right?" He added, looking at the alpha werewolf.

"Yes, I did," the alpha werewolf said. "I apologize for the trouble he has caused you all; I'll make sure he doesn't do so again. Now, if you would be so kind as to return his sunglasses," the alpha added, looking at Yuri.

"Sure thing," Yuri said, folding the sunglasses up in one hand and holding them out for Jude, who didn't bother to roll up his coat sleeve as he reached for them carefully - when Yuri suddenly clasped their hands together and pulled Jude close, ignoring the expected protests and the sunglasses mashed between their palms.

"Lucky for you no one else can make the distinction between yellow and gold, Sunshine," Yuri whispered into Jude's ear, whose protests immediately fell silent. Yuri then patted Jude's arm with his free hand, letting go of Jude and the undamaged sunglasses before he turned back to the alpha werewolf. "Alright, get him out of here," he demanded.

"O-of course," the alpha replied, looking confused as he placed a hand on Jude's shoulder. They both turned to walk away, but after a few steps the alpha turned back. "Oh, there was one more thing I wanted to ask of you, if it's alright."

"Don't ask for permission to ask something," Yuri irritably snapped. "Just ask."

"Very well," the alpha said. "May I have your autograph?"

Yuri was stunned silent by the request, the seconds ticking away as he stared at the alpha with wide eyes. "S-sure," he eventually croaked out, just as the werewolf was beginning to look dejected. "You got something for me to sign?"

A few moments later, Yuri and Garret watched as the alpha and Jude walked away and into the thick of the crowd, the latter putting the former's autograph book into the deep pockets of his coat. "I can't believe you, boss," Garret said, looking at Yuri with an exasperated expression. "You know, sometimes I think you have a death wish."

"Not anymore, I don't," Yuri said absently, watching the alpha's receding back contemplatively.

"Something wrong?" Garret asked.

"...Nah," Yuri replied after a moment. "I'm just impressed that the alpha was still willing to get an autograph from me after I pretty much dragged his status through the dirt."

"Y-you knew he was an alpha?!" Garret nearly shouted. "And you still - boss, are you insane?!"

"Mildly," Yuri answered. "Now, you can deal with anything else that crops up, right? I gotta go back and finish getting ready for the show."

"But-" Garret started to protest, before deciding it wasn't worth the stress and relenting. "Yes sir, I can."

"Good man," Yuri said, patting the wolf on his back before beginning his trek back to the green room. "And try not to be so tense, you'll make the audience nervous," He added over his shoulder.

9:35 PM, The Dhole's Den, Green Room

After Yuri had left, Radha had recovered one of her favorite books from her suitcase to read, as a way of passing the time until the show was about to start. Sitting back down to read, she let the time pass in silence, occasionally taking the time to adjust the golden bangles on her right wrist and the turquoise gemstone hanging from her silver necklace whenever they became uncomfortable.

Suddenly, a loud thump on the green room door caused her to jump. Her defensive instincts immediately kicked in, her hand already reaching for the gun hidden beneath her dress as she slowly set her book aside. The green room door opened - and a half-naked avian stepped through the door before hurriedly shutting it.

"Carter!" Radha exclaimed, her hand immediately going from her gun to her muzzle as she tried to contain her laughter. The golden eagle, normally covered in an absolutely beautiful golden-brown plumage, had been plucked almost entirely clean of his feathers to the point that the only remains were a few askew tail-feathers. "What happened to you?" She asked, standing up and tossing her book into her seat.

"Ran into a group of fans after I parked the van," Carter said, looking himself over with an expression that was half amused and half devastated. "They all wanted a piece of me, you see."

"You need to learn how to say 'no', silly," Radha said, barely containing her giggles as she looked him up and down. "You want me to fix you up?" She asked.

"Yes please," Carter said quickly, nodding hard.

"Any requests?"

"No, just... quickly, please.."

"Okay then," Radha said, before humming a fairly upbeat and catchy tune. Her humming had an immediate effect on Carter, feathers growing from his body at a rapid pace to replace the ones that had been pulled from him, the bent ones falling out as the new ones grew in. "That better?" Radha asked once the feathers had stopped growing back a few seconds later.

"Yeah, loads," Carter replied, preening a couple feathers to test them before moving to give Radha a big hug, which she returned immediately. "You're a life saver girl, you really are," Carter added as he rubbed his beak against her cheek, which was as close to a kiss as the bird could get.

"I didn't do that much," Radha protested as she kissed the side of Carter's beak. "They would have grown back soon enough on their own anyways."

"Not that soon," Carter said, placing a yellow-scaled hand on the back of Radha's head and shoving her face into his feathered chest, being mindful of his clawed fingers. "Not soon enough for the concert, anyways."

"Oh yeah, I guess it does take longer when you've lost more of them," Radha said, her voice muffled by Carter's feathery chest as she struggled to get out.

"Yup," Carter said, chuckling a little at Radha's efforts to escape as he looked around the room. "...Hey, where's Yuri?" Carter asked, letting Radha go.

"Garret called Yuri away for something," she told him.

"Ah, okay then," Carter said, walking over to where his guitar sat. "I don't suppose Yuri finished tuning this thing before he was called away?"

"Sorry, but I don't think he did," Radha replied.

"Well, I guess I'll have to check," Carter said, shrugging as he sat down in Yuri's seat and picked up the guitar. For a moment his chest feathers became hard and rigid, their colors fading to a steely grey as they began to chink against each other with every movement he made. Then he plucked one of them out, and the rest returned to their natural coloration as the metallic clinking faded away; only the feather in his hand retained its metal composition, which he began to use as a pick for his guitar as he tested it. "Nope, still out of tune," Carter sighed.

"Oh well, that's not too big a prob-" Radha started to say, when suddenly the door opened up again. "Oh, hi Erin!" she said.

"Heya sweetie!" Erin happily, throwing her arms around Radha in a large hug. "Hiya Carter," she added.

"Hey crazy," Carter replied absently, still focusing on his guitar.

"So, can one of you two come with me?" Erin asked, looking between the two expectantly. "My hologram-maker-thingy is acting up and I need a third pair of hands to fix it."

"Sorry, I'm out," Carter said. "Gotta finish tuning this thing first."

"Guess that means you!" Erin said exuberantly as she looked at Radha expectantly.

"Alright, you silly lizard," Radha said with a chuckle, taking hold of Erin's hand and walking with her to the door. "Bye Carter," she added over her shoulder.

"See you girls soon," Carter called as the two left the room before returning to his guitar.

"Okay, so spill," Radha said, her tone becoming more serious as she looked back at Erin. "Why aren't you getting Yuri to do this like usual?"

"I tried," Erin said, "But he was kind of busy when I saw him."

"At the bar, right?" Radha pressed. "Where you weren't supposed to be?"

"I didn't go there to get a drink!" Erin protested. "Well, that wasn't my intention anyways. I just went there because I knew he'd be called down! ...I mean yeah, I did try to get a drink once I got there," she admitted with a sheepish expression, "but Garret kept me away. I didn't even get to ask Yuri for help."

"Why not?" Radha asked.

"He was too busy chewing me out for being there," Erin said, looking down. "And it sounded like he was busy with something else anyways. You're not mad I asked you, are you?"

Radha looked at Erin with a raised eyebrow. "You know I can't get mad at you, ever," Radha replied - before suddenly pulling Erin into a deep kiss, one she immediately melted into and was quite happy to return. When they broke the kiss, Radha took a moment to admire Erin's scales, the majority of which were a dark grey color with spots of a dusty brown peppered throughout, with a few dull green spots on her snout. "And I know you're worrying about Yuri too," Radha added as she pulled the komodo into a tight hug. "Don't. You know he's just looking out for you."

"Yeah, I know," Erin said, licking Radha's cheek affectionately. "I just hate how I can never, ever tell what he's thinking when he's all serious. Seriously, I can never ever tell. Ever. Never ever. Ever never. Never ever ever never never ever-"

"Okay, enough," Radha interrupted. "You said you and Tufan needed me, right?"

"Oh, right!" Erin said, taking hold of Radha's hand and dragging her towards the area backstage. Radha had to fight to prevent herself from falling over, but soon enough she managed to regain her balance as she quickened her pace to match Erin's. Soon enough they arrived backstage, where a tall white tiger in jeans and a large grey coat was leaning against the wall. "Took you long enough," He said as Erin approached. "I thought you said you were going to go get Yuri. Where is he?"

"Sorry Tufan, he's busy right now," Erin told the tiger. "And Carter can't help either 'cause he's still tuning his guitar, so I got Radha to help us out instead."

"Hi Tufan," Radha added with a smile.

"Hey Radha," the tiger mumbled with a small smile of his own, before pushing himself off the wall and moving towards a large apparatus on the ground, which Radha knew was Erin's hologram projector. "Thanks for coming to help," He added as he kneeled beside the construct.

"You don't need to thank me for that," Radha said as she kneeled next to Tufan and lightly stroked the top of his short grey hair. "You know I'm always willing to help out."

"Yeah, but I still appreciate it," Tufan said. "Anyways, Erin, you want to give me a hand so we can get started here?"

"Sure thing!" Erin said, before putting her headphones on over her tympanums and striking the side, causing the design located there to sink in. There was a quick burst of light that quickly faded away - revealing Erin to have changed into a mostly red super sentai-esque uniform, with white gloves and boots over her claws, a cyan visor resting on top of her exposed muzzle, a long pink scarf trailing from her neck, and a silver v-pattern on the front of the helmet that extended into a pair of horns protruding out the back.

"What do you need your suit for?" Radha asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"We need to take off the underside in order to figure out why this thing is on the fritz, and it's way too heavy to lift without either heavy machinery or the strength boost that suit gives," Tufan informed her as Erin lifted up the apparatus with ease. "The only way to get at the inside from the top is to dismantle it, and we don't have the time for that. Of course, it wouldn't be such a hassle if we could just pry it open from the top, right Erin?"

"Yeah yeah, I'm already working on a better model, so shut it," Erin shot back. "Anyways, it's your turn now Radha. I don't want Tufan touching this thing in case he accidentally shorts it out or something, so I need you to unscrew the plate here."

"Okay," Radha nodded. "Um, where's the-"

"Right here," Tufan interrupted, handing Radha a screwdriver.

"Oh, thank you," she said, giving Tufan a quick kiss on the cheek before turning back to the device. The screws were quickly removed, and the plate fell away to reveal a mass of wires, computer chips, mother boards, and other technological devices that were too complex for Radha to fully understand.

"Alright, now let's take a looksee..." Erin mumbled, trailing off as she removed one hand from the emitter to poke around the insides with. Carefully she moved the wires aside in her search, being careful to not miss anything during her examination.

"Aha!" She eventually said, moving aside one set of wires to reveal a particular piece of equipment. "The wires here were getting in the way of the fans, and the power converter's been overheating because of it." Radha could kind of see what Erin meant, as the part looked more severely worn than the others inside, and it was even slightly melted.

"Can you fix it?" Radha asked, looking at Erin expectantly.

"Not without more time than we have," Erin said, and though Radha couldn't see it, she knew the lizard was frowning. "I didn't bring a spare part either, and there's no way in hell I'm taking the converter out of my suit to fix this thing..."

Erin looked at the piece for another minute or two in deliberation, contemplating her options. "...Crap, I guess there's nothing else I can do," she finally said before letting the wires fall back in place. "Okay Radha, I'm gonna need your help again. I need you to pull out all the lose cables with thick glass vials attached to the end - don't rip them out, I just need them visible - and then hand them to Tufan."

"What about-"

"Don't worry, Tufan won't short it out from this," Erin said before Radha could finish. "Oh, and there's five in total, so... you know, hop to it girl. I'll keep the thing from falling on you."

"Yeah, that would probably kill the rest of the night, wouldn't it?" Radha dryly quipped in response before getting on with her task. Though they were spread out a bit, it didn't take her long at all to find all the specified cables, and once she did she handed them to Tufan with a bit of trepidation. "You're sure Tufan won't be able to short it out with these wires, right?" She asked.

"Like I said, don't worry about it," Erin said, flipping her wrist lazily. "This is something I came up to get this thing working in the event it died for no reason and we needed it ASAP. Basically, Tufan's gonna give it a super-charge, and the thing will be able to run for the rest of the concert no sweat. Of course, it'll break down after a while and turn all the parts into scrap, but we don't really have a choice now," Erin added with a displeased tone. "Maybe if I'm lucky I'll be able to salvage something. Anyways, Tufan, if you would be so kind."

"Right," Tufan said, holding the cables in one hand as he held the other over the glass ends, his claws outstretched. Glowing blue electricity suddenly began to arc between his fingers, his hand becoming awash in crackling electric energy before it was directed towards and fed into the tips of the cables. The effect was almost instantaneous as the machine whirred to life, the mechanical parts briefly lurching in response to being powered on.

Another minute passed as Tufan continued to feed electricity to the machine, the flow becoming steadily weaker until it reached a point where he couldn't give any more and the flow simply cut out. Tufan nearly collapsed at this point, dropping the now-glowing cables so he could support himself with both hands. "You okay Tufan?" Radha asked with concern, wrapping her arms around his chest in an effort to support him.

"Yeah," Tufan panted out slowly, his eyes having faded from their vibrant electric blue to a simple dull grey. "Just a little drained, that's all. I just need a small juice box and I'll be good."

"Juice box?" Radha asked, before seeing that Tufan's gaze was directed at the power box on the back wall. "Oooh. Funny."

"Good to know," Tufan said, slowly standing upright. "Alright, you two put this thing back together, and I'll get myself a spark." Tufan started walking over to the power box, Radha and Erin looking at him with a bit of concern. "Okay," Radha said softly, before returning her attention to the hologram projector.

She and Erin quickly screwed the back of the machine back into place, and Erin slowly and carefully lowered it back onto the ground until it was completely flat. "There we go," Erin said, looking at the machine's top as it glowed lightly. "That should be enough to get us through the concert. I guess we should have one of Yuri's guys stay back here though, in case it decides to spontaneously combust or something."

"Fuck, let's hope not," Radha said with concern, watching as Erin hit the side of her helmet, which caused the sentai suit to disappear in a second flash of light and return the komodo dragon to her previous attire. Suddenly the lights cut out, plunging the backstage area into darkness, with only the faint glow of the projector to keep them company. There was a bit of concerned chatter coming from the other side of the curtains, which probably meant that the audience had also been subjected to the loss of lights, but before either of the girls could do more than look at each other, the power came back on.

"Sorry!" Tufan shouted as he ran back to the girls, his eyes once more a vibrant electric blue. "Sorry," he apologized again once he was closer. "I might have taken a little too much. I hope that doesn't increase the electric bill for this place."

"Eh, we can spare some expenses," Erin said with a grin, before leaping up into Tufan's arms and drawing him into a deeply passionate kiss. Tufan immediately began kissing her back with similar passion, as Radha snuck behind him and wrapped her arms around both feline and lizard. As Tufan and Erin continued their make-out session, Radha lapped her tongue against the nape of Tufan's neck and occasionally nibbling at the skin. Eventually Erin broke the kiss, pulling away from Tufan as her long tongue snaked out of his maw.

"My turn," Radha said immediately, barely giving Tufan enough time to catch his breath before spinning him around and pulling him into another kiss while Erin rubbed his shoulders tenderly. This kiss was shorter this time, but no less passionate as both of their tongues grappled for dominance before Tufan's need to breathe pushed them away.

"You know," Tufan said as he wrapped an arm around each girl and pulled them both into a tight hug, "Most guys could only dream of a having a pair like you in their arms."

"Hehe," Erin giggled. "So you're saying we've made your dreams come true?"

"Something like that," Tufan said, nuzzling Erin with his cheek. "And not just me, Carter and Yuri would both agree that you two are something special."

"Speaking of those two, where are they?" Radha asked, looking around. "It's almost time for the concert to start."

"I'll bet they're already on their way," Erin said, elbowing Tufan lightly in the ribs. "Yuri's probably gonna come in glaring and scowling and demanding an explanation for the lights going out again."

"Hehe, probably," Radha chuckled.

9:42 PM, The Dhole's Den, Green Room

After Radha left, Carter had continued wordlessly finishing the job Yuri had started, adjusting the knobs at the top of the guitar while strumming it with his metal feather until his instrument purred like it was supposed to. Carter nodded in approval before reaching down to the small speaker under the chair to unplug the guitar, but before he could wrap his hand around the plug end, the door opened up and a very irritated-looking Yuri walked in the door. "Hey Feathers," he said, looking around the room. "Where's Radha?"

"Erin pulled her away to help her and Tufan with something," Carter said, setting his guitar and feather-pick aside. "Nice job on finding your security outfit, by the way. Where was it?"

"Oh, Radha found it mixed in with her things," Yuri said, slipping off the jacket and cap and setting them on the coat hanger beside the door. "That's weird, about Erin though," Yuri added with a frown as he turned back to Carter. "I wonder why she didn't just ask me for help. It's not like I would have said no."

"Yeah, but you probably would've moaned and groaned about it while making her feel sorry for asking," Carter pointed out, beckoning Yuri to come closer.

"Oh, yeah, I guess so," Yuri said, closing the distance between himself and the bird rather quickly before collapsing in the latter's lap with a sigh. "It probably didn't help that I was reprimanding her for going to the bar again," Yuri added, pressing his face into the soft downy feathers of Carter's chest.

"Oh no, don't tell me she's drunk again," Carter moaned.

"Nah, Garret kept her away," Yuri said, digging his fingers into the bird's plumage and pulling himself up until his face was just under Carter's curved beak. "Not that you get to complain about that, though. How much time do we have left 'till the show?"

"About 15 minutes," Carter said, pressing his beak against Yuri's forehead as he wrapped his arms around the human, his large wings covering most of Yuri's body as the two of them sat there.

"Damn, and here I was hoping for some stress relief," Yuri sighed in disappointment.

"Don't worry about it," Carter reassured Yuri as he began rubbing his beak against the latter's neck. "You can have all the relief you need and more later tonight."

"Mmm, that sounds wonderful," Yuri murmured into Carter's shoulder. Carter chuckled as Yuri began to kiss and rub against his body, returning the affections himself by rubbing Yuri's back with his wings. Then all the lights in the room suddenly went out.

"The fuck?" Yuri said as both he and Carter froze, looking around the room in confusion. Then, just as quickly, the lights came back on. "Aw hell, that better have been Tufan again," Yuri moaned.

"Let's go find out," Carter said as he stood up, forcing Yuri out of the seat as well. "We need to get moving anyways, concert's about to start."

"Yeah yeah, gimme a minute," Yuri said, unclasping his walkie-talkie. "Garret, get everyone moving, I want a full sweep of the building now."

"Already on it," came Garret's sharp reply.

"Good man. The power-outage was probably just Tufan again, but you know the drill."

"Right, boss."

"Alright, I'm set," Yuri said to Carter as he clipped the device back in place.

"Let's go then," Carter said, grabbing his guitar as Yuri opened the door for him. "Erin said that she and Tufan were backstage fixing her hologram projector."

"Ah, so that's what it was," Yuri said as he followed Carter out the door, frowning a bit as he folded his arms in thought. "Yeah, she usually asks me to help her with that. I guess I upset her more than I thought I did... goddamn it."

"Well, you can make up with her before we start performing," Carter said reassuringly. "I know how much she loves your kisses."

The pair of them made their way to the backstage area fairly quickly, being greeted by Radha, Erin and Tufan as soon as they arrived.

"Hey you three," Carter said, setting his guitar off to the side when he saw that Tufan was approaching.

"Welcome to the party," Tufan quipped, drawing the bird into a giant bear hug that left Carter breathless. "You two are just in time; we were worried we'd have to start without you."

"N-no chance of that," Carter said, wincing in the tiger's grip.

"Tufan, are you the reason the lights cut out earlier?" Yuri asked, his walkie-talkie already at the ready.

"Yeah, that was my fault," Tufan said with a nod, easing up his grip on Carter but not letting go.

"Alright," Yuri said, turning to the radio. "It was Tufan after all, so have everyone finish their search and get back to me quick."

"You got it, Yuri" Garret replied. Yuri made a grunt of approval before once again clipping the walkie-talkie to his pants. "And now," he mumbled, turning to Erin and walking slowly towards her.

"So," Tufan said, turning Carter's beak and attention back towards himself, "you all set for the show?"

"Aren't I always?" Carter asked, tracing a claw along the lightning-patterned metal inlays that ran inside and out Tufan's jacket. "Did you and the girls fix up the projector?"

"Yeah, it was pretty simple," Tufan said, running a claw through the feathers on Carter's head affectionately. "But it's gonna fry after the show, so expect a trip to the electronics store within the week."

"Or an after-Christmas run," Carter said with a chuckle, looking back over at Erin as she was threading her fingers through Yuri's hair while Radha whispered into his ear. "Think I can convince our pet human to go instead?"

"Considering how much he hates electronics, I doubt it," Tufan said with a smirk. "Radha would probably be easier to convince."

"Yeah, but then we run the risk of those two going on a shopping spree. Don't tell me you want our bank account to take that kind of hit again."

"Not particularly... maybe we could get Yuri to go with them to regulate their spending," Tufan suggested.

"I'll bet we could," Carter said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "How many nights of sex do you think it'd take?"

"Sorry to break up the pillow talk, you two," Radha suddenly interjected, "but it's almost time for the show. Are we all ready?"

"I am," Tufan said as he let go of Carter and pulled a pair of drum sticks out from his coat.

"Same here," Carter said, picking up his guitar and pulling out another metal feather to use as a pick.

Yuri and Erin didn't say anything, as they were locked in a deep kiss, but Erin gave the others a thumbs up, and Yuri pulled a guitar pick from his pants to show to everyone.

""Looks good to me," Carter said, slinging the instrument's strap over his shoulder. "Shall we get going then?"

"Uh-huh!" Erin said, breaking away from Yuri and dashing out past the curtains and onto the stage proper.

"Slow down Erin, you'll crash into something!" Tufan shouted, chasing after the lizard.

"Well, shall we?" Radha asked, looking over at Yuri and Carter before walking onto the stage herself.

"Garret says we're all good," Yuri said with an aside glance at Carter, before making to catch up with the others. "Oh, and I heard that 'pet human' bit, so expect payback tonight," he added over his shoulder.

"Worth it!" Carter called as he began walking towards the stage himself. "Especially if you break out the toys..."

9:50 PM, The Dhole's Den, Auditorium

Jude could feel the audience around him growing restless as the time crept closer and closer to the concert's beginning, their murmurs and excited whispers becoming louder and more fervent with each passing second. Up on the stage, he and everyone else could see several instruments already laid out and prepared to go: a keyboard synthesizer, a bass guitar, a large drum set, and a microphone. On each instrument except the mike Jude could see a special design depicting five four-point stars arranged in a cross pattern, each star a different color and each color positioned differently depending on the instrument in question, likely to represent who owned what instrument.

But Jude didn't particularly care about that, instead opting to look around the rowdy crowd for his companion once more. "Ugh, the hell is taking that bastard so long?" He asked aloud. "I swear, if Donnell is doing this on purpose, I'll..." Jude trailed off, not actually willing to threaten his boss like that.

"Go on," A voice suddenly whispered behind him.

"Gah!" Jude shouted, jumping a little as he turned to look around. "Don't do that!" He said, glaring up at Donnell. "How the hell did you even sneak up on me anyways? Even in your human form you reek like a wet dog."

"You just don't pay attention," the alpha werewolf said with a grin, holding up a bottle of beer for Jude. "Here you go, last drink of the night."

"Ugh, you had to get the cheep swill, didn't you?" Jude complained irritably, even as he snatched the bottle out of Donnell's hand and began pulling the cap off with his bare fingers.

"Well, you didn't give me much money to buy anything with," the werewolf said as he watched Jude work.

"Yeah, 'cause you took the rest of it with that stupid bet," Jude snarled, tugging at the bottle cap with a sudden jerky motion. "Gah, damn it!" Jude hissed as his fingers slipped from the cap and he clenched them into a tight fist.

"Are you okay?" Donnell asked with concern.

"Of course I'm fine, it's just a couple of cuts," Jude snapped, opening up his hand and looking at it with Donnell. "You know how fast I heal. Look, my blood didn't even escape." And indeed his hand was clean and flawless, as if he hadn't even been cut in the first place.

"Alright then," Donnell said, holding out his hand. "Here, give it to me, I'll open it up."

"I got it," Jude said, holding up his forearm and letting his sleeve fall away. He then suddenly clenched his fist again and tensed the rest of his arm, which suddenly burst into flame for the briefest of moments. When the fire faded, Jude was wearing golden gauntlet on his hand, a sun pattern inlayed into the back of the fist. Jude immediately went back to pulling off the bottle cap.

"Woah, watch it," Donnell said, looking at the gauntlet with concern. "Don't be pulling that out here and now, of all times and places."

"I'm not going to set anything on fire," Jude said, catching the cap on the joints of the gauntlet. "That only happens if I want it to. Finally," he added, pulling the bottle cap off with ease and flinging it into a nearby trashcan.

"I'm not worried about that," Donnell said angrily, glaring at Jude as he began to guzzle down the beer. "This is a public place, you could cause a panic by pulling those things out like that." Donnell looked around for signs that someone had noticed Jude's stunt, but fortunately it seemed no one had. Jude finished draining the last of the beer from the bottle, before returning his attention to Donnell. "You need to stop being so reckless, Jude. I mean it."

"...I'm sorry sir," Jude said after a moment. "You're right, I am too reckless. I just..." Jude trailed off, not sure himself why he did such stupid, risky things.

"...It's alright," Donnell said, patting Jude on the back, "just try to be more careful in the future. For now, we have a show to watch. You ready for your first Ordinary Citizens concert?"

"Gah, that's such a stupid name," Jude said, chucking the empty bottle into a nearby bin. "I mean for fuck's sake, the bird and the tiger both have superpowers, and that lizard Erin practically made some for herself."

"I like it," Donnell said with a smile. "It's an interesting irony when you consider how Carter, Tufan and Erin are all public superheroes; I bet it was intentional."

"It's still stupid," Jude said with a huff. "The play might work with those three, but what about the other two, the fox and that... Yuri guy?"

"Radha is a Dhole, actually," Donnell corrected. "And even those two are quite extraordinary themselves, despite not being heroes. Radha's singing voice is one of the most amazing voices you'll ever hear; her songs are capable of moving people's hearts any way she pleases."

"Yes, and you've been singing her praises ever since this whole thing got started," Jude said irritably. "And Yuri?"

"Yuri... hmm... to be honest, I'm not entirely certain myself," Donnell said with a frown. "I know he runs one of the best private security firms in the business, but that's about it. He never participates in public interviews and refuses to answer fan questions that relate to himself - he hardly even gives out his autograph. I'm honestly surprised he obliged when I asked."

"Why did you bother?" Jude asked. "The way he kept snubbing you, intentionally I might add, I was sure you were going to rip his throat out."

"I won't deny the thought crossed my mind at one point," Donnell admitted. "But looking back, I think I kind of admire his courage in taunting me in the way he did. I... I have to admit, it reminded me a little of the way your brother acted during the brief time he was part of my pack. You know, before..."

"Yeah, I know," Jude said curtly. "Let's not talk about that."

"Sorry," Donnell said. "Anyways, that's all I know about Yuri. At the very least, he's certainly not ordinary, so the band's name is still a play to him as well."

"Yeah, he's definitely not ordinary," Jude agreed, folding his arms in thought. "You remember how he leaned in close when he gave me back my shades, just before we left the bar?"

"Yes, I do," Donnell affirmed. "But he kept it quiet enough so that even I couldn't hear it. What did he say?"

"He said my eyes are gold, not yellow," Jude replied. "I didn't even know there was a difference. And then called me 'Sunshine'. I'm not positive, but I think he figured out my secret identity."

"You think so?" Donnell said, his eyebrow rising in surprise before he put a hand under his chin. "Then maybe... yes, he even patted your arm before he let you go, like he knew about your gauntlets... Hmm, Now I'm intrigued. Able to discern all that with just one passing meeting... who is he?"

"I don't know or care," Jude said with a huff. "I just know I need another fucking drink."

Suddenly, the crowd around them went wild, and a quick glance upward was enough to see why. Erin had run out onstage, expertly dodging around the drum set before settling up next to the synthesizer, waving out towards the many fans. "Hi everybody!" She shouted over the din. Tufan came out next, walking up to the drum set and sitting down without a word, though he did raise a hand to the air that briefly sparked with electricity. Radha and Yuri were next to exit, their hands clasped up to the point where Yuri went to pick up the bass guitar, and Radha made her way over to the microphone.

"Wait, shouldn't Yuri have been clasping hands with Erin?" Jude asked, looking at Donnell suspiciously as Carter made his own exit from the curtains and caused uproarious applause among the fans.

"I... I would think so," Donnell said, clasping his ears tightly to block out the crowd. "It's probably just a friendly gesture between them."

"It didn't look-" Jude began, but before he could say more Radha began to speak into the microphone.

"Hello everybody!" She said enthusiastically, giving a large bow before continuing, the crowd going nearly silent. "It's good to see so many faces in the crowd tonight. I hope you're all doing well!"

"Come on girl, they're not here for best wishes," Carter suddenly spoke up, his feathers flashing like metal for a brief instant. "They're here for our music, right everyone?!" The crowed gave a loud cheer of approval.

"Well, they might be here for our song titled 'Best Wishes'," Erin spoke up with a giggle. "I know I would be if I were in the audience. Oh hey, can we play that song tonight?! I mean, I know it's not on the schedule tonight, but I really love that song! Please, can we? Can we, can we, canwecanwecanwe-"

"Maybe if there's time at the end of the show," Yuri interjected, "But if you keep this up we won't even have time for the actual program." Much of the audience gave a short bark of laughter at this, as Erin began to blush a little in embarrassment.

"Oh, fine," she said. "Then let's get started already!"

"Hehe, alright then," Radha said, to a cry of applause from the audience.

"Do they always do that before a show?" Jude asked as Tufan began playing his drums.

"Sometimes," Donnell answered as Yuri began to strum his bass. "Not always. But I really like it when they do... it's a small thing, but to me it almost makes them seem like a family, instead of just a band."

"Uh-huh," Jude simply replied, looking back to the stage as Erin and Carter added their notes to the melody, and Radha finally began to sing. "Ten bucks says they're dysfunctional."

"Done, now shut up."