FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Almost ready... We have fuel..." Lilith quickly combed through the controls of the orbiter, firing up all the basic startup systems. "Ma'am, the engines are giving me some warnings."

"No time. We're launching anyway." Ilaria jogged over to the rear bay and slapped Ex on the leg while Carbon scrambled inside. "You done here? We need to make a damn good distraction."

"Well I'd prefer more power reserves, but this should do for now." The cockpit to the walking mech shut, sealing Carbon inside and forcing him to use external speakers Ari couldn't physically spot. "Ready. I'm opening the back, so anyone that doesn't like falling out without a parachute should get in the main cabin."

"I'm staying here. I can lock myself down."

"Like you did your ship? Is it really a good idea to leave your kids in charge?"

"In case they need to dive away, they would know what's best." Ari checked around, finding Iolvin and Zoë looped through some wall straps with Adrian doing the same on the opposite wall. "I'd leave things to these guys, but we need all the firepower we can get."

"Speaking of..." Sydney clambered up the back of Carbon's mech and held on tightly with one paw, her other waving about her pistol. "Ready to do some ~work~."

Ari lashed herself to a cargo security bar with a nanite tendril as the orbiter started moving. "You sure you're alright?"

"Never better. Give me a horizon and I'm fine. Eve's girls fixed up the rest pretty well."

The cockpit cracked open with a hiss, revealing Carbon again as he replaced his gas mask. "Told you those electrolytes would work. Now get in before you fall off."

"I know I'm small, but..." Cid slipped inside, finding herself having to spoon Carbon from behind. "It's a snuggle-tank. Huh, not sure how I feel about that."

"Well it'll save you from going splat if we fall out the boat. Besides, I could use the extra set of eyes from you and those kids in you."

"Am I missing something here?" Ari let loose just enough slack to hang out the back of the orbiter on the tailgate. "What's this about Eve and kids?"

"Oh, right." Carbon sealed the cockpit again and repositioned Ex in a similar manner with a large cannon hanging our the rear. "When your own children did this to Cid, they implanted Evelyn's children in him. Well, they... I guess they invented the concept of children for her kind, actually."

"Well that's cool, especially if they're mature enough to help here." The orbiter cleared the Starbreeze's rear cargo doors, then the larger ship veered upward sharply and cued Ari to click her radio. "Keep them safe, Alex. I'm trusting you here."

"We'll have to hope orbit's still clear. That said, we're not leaving you to the wolves just yet..." The Starbreeze angled back down with its probe launcher extended, firing a small cargo crate into one of the enemy walkers at supersonic speed. "That should help! We're outta here. Fly safe, Ari."

"We'll try." The other approaching walker decided to make its presence known even though it was still just a tad out of range, pelting the orbiter with a few light spits of plasma. "Lilly, can you do any evasive stuff?"

"I can try. Carbon would be better at it though."

"Well he's our turret right now. Make it work, please." The orbiter curved to port and high, barely allowing the rear to gain a firing solution. "Carbon, do it."

"I can't lock, but here goes..." Ex adjusted the cannon in its arm and fired, the large slug soon crushing into a puff of dust as it took a hole out of a building instead of the enemy. "I don't know if we can do this moving so fast. Get me another shot, Lilly."

"I'll try. The other one's firing rockets now so we're a bit limited."

One such rocket barely missed the rear gate by a meter, sending Ari reeling back inside the loading bay. "Keep us out of that thing's range! One at a time!"

"Got it." Another shudder of plasma fire on the hull sent the orbiter off angle for a moment. "Or not. Shit... Backing off."

Ari's eyes practically popped out her head as the rear fully faced the enemies, revealing a wall of return fire that somehow hadn't hit them yet. "Lilly, we're exposed back here!"

Just as another rocket was about to impact the orbiter, a portal opened up to swallow it whole. A moment later the enemy rocketeer exploded under it's own friendly fire, the exit portal erected right next to it. The portals started veering off course, then closed as they were sucked into the larger enemy one.

"Thank you, girls! I don't think they can do that again. Looked like there was interference from the big portal." Ari whacked Ex in the knee and Carbon got the hint. "Keep firing! Lilly, bring us about and through the portal. We're making this crazy plan ~work~."

"I just ~knew~ they weren't good enough to track a smaller target." Carbon used the last remaining seconds of firing time to place two rounds towards the remaining walker, the second damaging one of its legs enough to drop it to a knee. "Great correction, Cid. I think that's the best we're getting, ladies. Now or never."

"Full power." Lilly tilted the shuttle and the lateral speed cranked up enough for everyone to hold onto something to keep from falling over. "At least that portal's big enough we can go on through at top speed."

"If you're comfortable with it, have at it. You're doing great, Lilly." Ari checked out a side porthole window and cringed at the sea of ant-like soldiers below. "I hope there's less on the other side. A few dozen bad guys is already--"

"We're through. Let's see... Shit!" One of the engine pods made a disheartening pop, then the whole orbiter began to slew to the left. "Hold on tight!"

Ilaria slammed into the port-side wall as the orbiter started spinning on its yaw axis. "Lilly!? You got this!?"

"Fuck you, engine! I-I think I can--"

The orbiter skimmed over a rooftop in the rather densely-populated, grimy world they'd crossed into. Lilith tried her best to limit the impact of the blow, but the tail of the vessel shook wildly. A second quick impact sent the final blow, righting the ship just enough that any corrective balancing of her inhabitants was nullified. Ilaria was the first casualty, loosing her footing and tumbling out the back. When Ex's weight played against him, quickly Carbon and Sydney followed as the mech skid free. Unfortunately the walking tank's attempts to grab the side walls of the bay only ended up pulling the remaining three occupants free of their death grip on safety bars.

As the orbiter shifted and became easier to control with the sudden drop in payload, Lilith obliviously smiled and brought the rest of the squad to safety. "Aha! Who needs eight engines anyway? Right guys?" The fluff drake craned her head back with the lack of response, only to find the small crater Ex made in a rooftop through a spotting mirror. "Oh, you did. Fu~uck."

---

"Wakey-wakey, big boy." A familiar voice nearly roused Iolvin from sleep, but the sudden realization that there was a tongue on his cock shocked the otter into alertness. "Mmph... Ah, sorry. I just wanted to wake you up in a nice way."

Yoyo stared as a petite red fox gobbled down what she could manage of his manhood--amounting mostly to just the tip--while she simultaneously ground her exposed bottom into Adrian's hips. "What the hell?..."

"Is this not alright?" The vixen slowed all her movement to a stop until Dee started thrusting into her. "Oh! I uh... Your mate said it was okay..."

"He likes to surprise me." Yoyo brought a paw to the back of the fox's head and guided her back down, then slid her paws lower to grip his knot. "I'm always game for a free blowjob if he's alright with it. Your idea, Adri?"

"Hers, actually. She woke me up the same way a minute ago." Dee really started getting into a rhythm, then froze with embarrassment all of a sudden. "Oh, uh... I... I'm..."

"It's alright, mister. To be honest, you lasted longer than a good deal of our clients." The vixen's eyes rolled back a bit as she relished the feeling of warmth pooling inside her, then slowly returned to her meal before her. "A... A bit of warning would have been... uh, nice. I said to... to finish outside... Gods that's good though..."

"I know! I'm so sorry!" Dee pulled himself free in a poor attempt at damage control, shooting the last half of his load into the fox's bushy tail and over her back. "I can clean it up. I'll do whatever you want."

"Shh..." The fox gave Yoyo a few strong sucks over his whole tip, then audibly popped her muzzle free. "I'm pretty sure I can't be bred by otters. Even so... My wife and I are thinking of more kids anyway."

Yoyo stopped the vixen's efforts. "Your ~wife~? Does she know you're doing this?"

"Of course. It's our business, isn't it?"

Dee signaled for his baffled husband to look around so he would notice the dozens of stalls and beds nearby, each emanating moans and the odd flailing limb. "We're in a brothel, honey. ~Her~ brothel, actually."

"Oh, look at my manners. I'm a horrid host today." The fox repositioned herself to straddle Iolvin's manhood, then sank him a few inches deep into her sloppy folds. "I never introduced myself. I am Madam Lara Trotter and you've been brought to my humble establishment, the Hair Raiser."

"'Brought' here? What happened?" Yoyo groaned as the small vixen reached the back of her love tunnel merely a third of the way down his fleshy spire. "L-Last I remembered, we fell out of our ship."

"That amazing contraption on my roof? Indeed." Lara pumped her hips quickly while squeezing Yoyo's knot with her paws, easily proving experience in making a man cum as quickly as possible. "Gods you're big... Ah, right. A few of you fell into the street, and that other machine of yours broke a hole in my roof. I can forgive that with recent events transpiring, however."

"Oh ~shit~. Where's Zoë? Is she alright? And Lulu?"

Lara grinned at mention of a name. "Lulu? Now ~that's~ a coincidence."

Dee snuggled against his husband to calm his nerves. "They're alright." He nudged over to a pile of blankets that appeared to be breathing. "It's cold here, so we wrapped Zoë up. We should probably discourage her going around nude on away missions in the future, too."

"I was surprised to hear that was her choice. Bold for a human. Ah, and your Lulu is behind the partition there, I presume. We didn't know how to handle her... Or him?" Lara yiffed lightly as she really started getting into her task, but groaned when one of the other girls interrupted her. "Hmm? Oh, what now?"

"Madam, the Marquis..." The opossum girl froze when she realized her company and what she was disturbing. "Sorry! Um... The Marquis is requesting you by name, Madam. He says he wants to discuss the attacks personally."

"Fuck me... It's fine Milly. I'll go see him." Lara took a deep breath and reluctantly stood upright. "My apologies. To be honest I was looking forward to feeling your ~essence~ inside me, but between just us the Marquis' a spoiled brat. Just came into his inheritance, you see."

"That's alright. Do what you need to do; I have my husband here, after all."

"Hmm... No, that will not do for the people that saved our lives." Lara quickly adjusted her short skirt and pulled up her lacy panties. "I know... Royal protocol. Milly, our new guests are to be treated akin to royalty. Go fetch anyfur that's free to assist you--unless you would like to try both these gentlemen yourself?"

"Like royalty?"

"Anything they desire within reason is to be theirs during their stay. In fact, they should receive more than they ask for. I'll get the others." Lara scurried away, but paused to add another note. "And I do mean ~anything~. If they wish you to bear a child, so be it."

"But--"

"You wouldn't be alive to complain if not for them. Do whatever it takes to make their rest pleasant."

Milly stood silently for a few seconds, then nervously removed the panties solely covering her womanhood. "I--I'm Milly, and I'd be honored to s-serve you tonight."

Yoyo smirked as he commented to the girl's posture. "Gotta be a virgin."

"Yoyo! Manners!" Dee took his retort to heart, attempting to hide his reinvigorated manhood between his thighs. "I'm sorry, Milly. My husband sometimes doesn't have a filter between his head and his muzzle. He does have a point though... Are you a virgin?"

Again Yoyo slyly remarked, "So you ~are~ interested."

"I'm willing to share my husband, yes. He pretty obviously needs the relief in any case." Dee rubbed a paw up and down his mate's chest, playing with his abs and nipples alternately. "I just don't like the idea of taking someone's first time like this is all. If you're not comfortable we can always do things ourselves or wait for others."

"I... I just started a week ago. It is true that I have very little experience, and my maidenhood is still intact. Madam Trotter says she would sell it at a high price though."

"And she just said otherwise a moment ago." Yoyo took a glare from his husband in stride, incorporating it into his response. "If you wish to keep your virginity, we won't force you though. It's up to you."

"Then I'll give it to you, my lord."

"No you won't." Yet another familiar voice surfaced, this time quickly backing its identity as a bushy-tailed squirrel resurfaced from the dead. "He's mine. You can have the other one."

"Madam Winchester! I, uh...! Your wife said--"

"I heard her. Let the smaller one mate you, yeah? I'm taking this one and you can't fight that." Without so much as a greeting, the local Robyn pulled her panties completely off and sank down on Yoyo's cock. "Oh bugger... Gods, I needed this."

"R-Robyn...?" Yoyo barely managed the squirrel's name before not one, but two pairs of soaked-through panties landed on his face. "Ooh... Yeah, Robyn..."

"Have we met? Sorry if I don't remember, mate." Robyn ground her hips down until Yoyo's tip barely nudged her womb, enticing a squeak from the flustered squirrel. "I'm in heat an' you're packing, so she'll be fine."

"In heat?" Dee grabbed one of the two-ply, sloppy panties and took a whiff, the pheromones both dazing him just like his mate and sending all blood available between his legs. "Nn... Can I fuck her too?"

"Sorry, love. My cooch only has room for the one, and I'd rather play with the home team." Robyn started moving her hips wildly, desperate for release. "Between the lot of us, you remind me far too much of my Lara's brother." She ground against her cervix and leaned forward to kiss the otter, whispering a secret, "And she'll never know our kits are his. Now give me another pair, handsome."

As if the thick scent of heated rodent wasn't enough for Yoyo, the sultry request drove the final nail in his conscience's coffin. "You got it, babe." With that, Yoyo drove his own nail deep into Robyn's coffin, spearing her inflamed cervix and tapping his knot against her lower lips. "Gods, you're so hot and tight."

"Don't sweet talk me. Rut me. Fill me." The squirrel grinned as she felt between them and rested a paw on the otter's odd knot. "Even better, _ tie _ me."

Iolvin growled and chirruped as he ground his knot raw, but try as he might it was too late to get it in the squirrel. "Ah, fuck... I'm cumming, Robby! Take it all!" He shoved in as hard as he could manage and let loose a torrent of magenta to seek every crevice inside Robyn's snatch. "Fucking ~gods~, Robby!"

"Mm, yes! Breed me!" Robyn swooshed her tail and rocked her hips for a moment, but when her body reported the gift she was being given it did so like lightning coursing through her whole body. "C-Cum-m-ming-g!"

"And he says ~I'm~ quick..." Adrian guided his own partner down slowly, pressed his tip against her folds, and then laid back completely. "Milly, I'll leave it all to you. Take all the time you need."

"How... generous of you, mister. I'll... try to make it normal then."

"Anything we do is normal compared to these two, haha." Dee gripped his husbands knot and gave it a hard squeeze, causing a resurgence in the rate he emptied his pulsing balls. "I'm not as hard to tackle as someone with a knot. It's easy enough--just slide down, then up, then repeat until you can't see straight."

"I-I see... Then down--" Milly sat down with all her weight, instantly taking all of the smaller otter's disproportionately long cock and barely spearing into her womb. "Guh... Ah... I-Is... Is this s-supposed...?"

"Milly, you poor girl. I didn't mean that fast." Dee pulled the opossum forward so she laid flat atop him, then embraced her in a soothing hug. "Just give it a moment. I'm sure it'll stop hurting soon."

"Y-Yes mister."

"Gods..." Upon regaining his rational mind, Yoyo did the same with Robyn to help her ride out what was perhaps her eighth consecutive orgasm if the pulsing grips on his manhood were accurate. "Wow. You were really suffering, weren't you? Just let it all go, Robby..."

"B-Bes-st ri-ide ~ever-r~..."

Dee gave his man a kiss on the cheek. "Always nice to have a second opinion."

"Thanks for being cool with this, babe." Yoyo turned his head to complete that smooch lip-toLip, then gave Robyn a kiss atop her head. "You don't know how much I miss her. This isn't perfect, but it does help."

"You really seemed to need that--both of you, actually. I can't deny my husband something that powerful. And for what? Jealousy?" Dee kissed his man deeply, slipping his tongue in his muzzle for good measure. "Our happiness wins against that."

"You two... are quite... envious." Robyn barely attempted to pull herself off of Yoyo's draining cock, hitting another small tremor of an orgasm in the process and requiring her partner's assistance as a result. "Ah... Th-Thank you."

Yoyo pulled the squirrel to eye level on his side and rolled to cuddle her from behind. "My pleasure, Robby."

"Hers too." Dee idly stroked Yoyo's failing erection, smearing it with cum as it fought to stay strong. "She took that much out of you? Wow, you go just as crazy from a girl in heat as she does."

"Her in heat. If there's one woman I'd have fallen for, it would have likely been her." Yoyo reached around and tried to start Milly moving with a paw. "I've known her all my life, same as Lulu. There's a connection there, even if I never cared to act upon it."

Robyn looked back curiously "You don't mean me, yeah?"

"Uh... You remind us of someone we knew."

Dee gasped as Milly started moving her hips up and down. "You know, most furs wouldn't tell their mates about that."

"But you deserve to know everything. We ~share~ everything." Yoyo took a deep breath as he tried to clear his mind, but a huge whiff of those panties inadvertently sent renewed life to his cock and a haze to his head. "Gods... Those things are dangerous..."

"Ya' that partial to my scent?" Robyn giggled and reached for the offending garments, offering them to the otter. "Keep 'em, love. Call it a gift for aiding my itch."

"Uh, thanks?" Yoyo chuckled himself as he passed along the panties to his husband. "So I take it you feel better then?"

"Much, aye. I think that might have done it, too. First time in a year a man's touched me inside and he probably knocked me up..."

"Wait, fuck. What the fuck do we do? I can't--"

"It's fine, love. I wanted this, not you. It's all on me and my wife." Robyn placed a paw to her belly and smiled. "I do hope I have another little one. Our girls are beautiful, but I'm sure they'd love a brother too."

"Ah... Oh, that's right. You mentioned something about other kids before, when we..."

"Shagged? Yeah, I... probably shouldn't have said that. Hormones, see?" Robby spun around to face her recent partner, staring into his eyes. "You really do look like their father. You even act the same."

"Really? You mean Lara's brother, right?" Yoyo reached forward to idly grope Robyn's large tits, more in a playful manner than anything sexual. "What was he like?"

"Exactly like Lara, honestly. The two were twins." The squirrel sighed lightly as she looked into her memories. "They both loved hunting, exploring... and gods, those accents before they learned proper English. We grew up together, did everything together..."

"Past tense? The kids start a fight or something?"

"Our kits are wonderful, and I just said I chose a nice tod that looked like Lara as their dad. She didn't say anything else. The girls more than made up for the surprise." Again Robyn sighed, this time with more emotion fueling her lungs. "No, Iolvin died. He was taken from us when we crashed one of those fancy automobiles. Poor bloke..."

"Iol...vin...?" For a moment the otter went silent at the sound of his own name, allowing the squelches and slaps of his mate behind him to shine through. "Iolvin, huh? That... That definitely sounds..."

"Love, you look like you've seen a ghost. What's the matter?"

"Lara... Ilaria...?" Yoyo mumbled to himself some more as he figured out what was happening. "So... you went on a drive and he died. And the girls were his? Did he know?"

"I didn't even know until after the crash. The only reason I found out was my trip to hospital." Robyn unclipped a garter belt and kicked off not only her left stocking, but the whole of her lower leg. "The men around here know about it as I'm sure you've heard. I haven't had one request since. At least I have time to care for our kits, in any case."

"Wow... I didn't know at all, I swear. My own sister has the same sort of handicap."

"Oh, that gorgeous woman in the next stall? If she had a cock I'd have jumped her bones first." Robyn carefully reattached her wooden prosthesis with a smile. "I was wondering why she reminded me of Lara, too. Are you duo actually twins as well?"

"We are, as a matter of fact. She--"

A gasp sounded from nearby, followed by a needy chirrup as Ilaria fell to her knees next to the group. "Pillow... Gods, what you do to me, Pillow..."

"Lulu? Wait, you're not acting right." Yoyo barely caught his sister by an odd corset she was wearing and held her back, preventing her very conspicuous boner from going anywhere near the heated squirrel. "Woah, sis. Hold on a minute. This isn't who you think it is."

"But it's my Pillow--"

"What? She has a... She's part man?" Robyn flipped and pressed backwards cautiously into Yoyo. "Is your sister really a woman?"

Ari snapped out of her pheromone driven stupor when it became obvious this wasn't her wife before her. "I'm... I'm so sorry..."

"Oi, hey... Ah, don't be. I'm the one questioning you." Robyn loosened up a bit as Ari calmed down. "So... Lulu, I presume? I'm Robyn."

"Yeah, that's what my brother calls me. Actually I'm--" Ari quickly reset when her brother began emanating a very negative aura both in gesture and telepathically. "I'm Lucy. You can call me Lulu though if you prefer it."

"Well met, Lucy. Are you--?"

"What the hell is going on here?" Ari stared as Adrian spasmed into the opossum atop him, reaching his peak silently to the side. "Yoyo, you just let him do that with strangers now? And... gods, you two..."

"Do you... not approve of our establishment? Is it not to your liking?" Robyn sat upright and pulled one of Zoë's blankets over her bare fur. "Do you maybe desire a man instead? I will fetch more suitable company if you desire."

"I... Uh, no..." Ari finally noticed the double set of saturated panties and knowingly rolled her eyes. "You're in season, aren't you?"

"Oh, so you ~do~ fancy women?" The squirrel dropped her makeshift coverings and found Ari's manhood still pointing right at her direction. "Oh right straight, if you have one of those. I'm fairly knackered from comforting your brother, but I can always find someone fresh and clean for you."

"Oh, I get it now. This is a whorehouse." Ari slowly panned her gaze and took in the environment, noticing gas lamps and candles rather than electric lighting as well as some very traditional English architecture that appeared rather new. "Victorian Era, maybe? That's different."

"Victorian? The King would hang you for reminding of those times." The squirrel eased herself back down and cuddled with Yoyo once more. "Pardon me, but the lot of you are odd to say the least. At the minimum we found you some basic clothing, though. Oh, but we still haven't come across even a costume fitting that human."

Ilaria looked down at herself and adjusted the tight, lacy corset she was given. "I'm still basically running around in nothing at all. I think I'd rather my sirat, though."

"You mean those wrappings? We ~had~ to rid you of those before furs assumed we allowed street urchins into the building."

"Where did you put it!? You didn't throw that out, did you!?" Ari's heart threatened to shred its way out of her chest. "Oh gods, my wedding dress!"

"Ah, hold onto your knickers. I didn't know what you wanted of them so I asked them to be cleaned." Again Robyn sat upright, this time to place her paws on Ari's shoulders and steady her. "I'd never destroy a client's belongings, much less if I knew they were that important. Though, I'd have never guessed those rags were a wedding dress..."

"I guess... clean is better than gone. The scents though... Pillow's scent..." Ari slumped down to the soft ground and stared into her brother's eyes. "Maybe it's for the best. I still feel... a bit sad about that, though."

"I didn't... Well, we assumed it was in need of cleaning..." Robyn climbed over Ari and slid in behind her for a spooning hug as a makeshift apology. "I'm sorry, poor ottah. How might I make it up to you?"

"Just... stay like this." Ilaria took a deep breath, venting her frustrations over the recently exhumed memories of her late wife. "Actually, can we flip? I just need to hold someone right now."

"Well... Aye, if that's all you want I'll go for it." Robyn slipped over her new cuddle buddy and got into position, taking a moment to giggle as her false leg snagged on Ari's own. "That's a beaut of a clockwork piece you've got there. Only other bloke I've seen with one of those was a prince--from Nigeria, if memory serves."

Ari wrapped her arms around the ghost of her wife and tried to cheer herself up. "Oh, so I'm like ~royalty~ now?"

"You are, miss." Milly huffed and puffed atop Adrian, her deed long done by now. "Madam Trotter made it so. We are to treat you like royalty for your stay in thanks for saving us."

"'Trotter', like grandpa? Oh..." Ari dug her snout down into Robyn's sweaty sex hair and basked in familiarity as she thought. "Wait, we saved you? I thought it was the other way around."

"Why yes. That amazing automaton and your men have pushed back some sort of invaders a few times now." The opossum slipped off her panting client and joined the trend of lying on her back. "They have to be from the Nazi party. Ever since the Germans made those horrible atomic rockets, they've been trying to get their paws on all the glowstone they can find."

"Which doesn't play nice with the stockpile in our basement," commented Robyn.

"Sounds like we found out what the Sect is up to, Lulu." Iolvin groaned as he thought about the near future. "They have some oxydium here and we're all that's stopping them from taking it home."

"Yeah, sounds about right. We'll need to get ready to fight." Ilaria joined her brother in frustratingly huffing at the thought. "We might have to arm these women, too."

"Oh! Good one... One girl against the world... different from the rest..." Robyn reached down into a cavity in her false leg and produced a memo book, a perfect replica of the one Ari had on the Starbreeze. "She... took her licks... and made her picks... thinking... No, ah... hoping for the best."

Yoyo smiled at the little piece of a poem. "That's nice. You're a poet then, when you're free?" He grinned as the squirrel reminded him again of his memory's version, but lost the fire in his eyes upon seeing and feeling the state of his twin. "Lulu, what's wrong?"

"I... I don't know. Something just doesn't feel right." Something ethereal drew Ari's attention to a close wall, the chill across her spine that followed driving her to fear. "We're not safe. I... Yoyo, shield! We need a--"

Beyond all explanation, the spot Ilaria focused upon exploded inward. Iolvin thankfully had already begun forming a compressed air shield over the group, but being only partial density it barely deflected the shockwave of the blast. Debris still fell through, the more massive chunks miraculously landing between bodies rather than atop them. A slight yelp sounded from Adrian as a shard of wood pierced his hide, but flesh wound aside everyone came out intact, if shaken.

"Holy shit!" What the fuck, sis!?"

"I just..."

"Was anybody injured?" Robyn was on her hindpaws immediately, confirming that nobody else was inside the blast radius. "Gods, the twins. Please, help me find them and get them deeper inside!"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'll help." Ari groaned as she got herself upright. "Yoyo, is Dee alright?"

"Hrg... I've done worse in the lab. You know that." Dee hissed as he pulled the shrapnel out his thigh. "It looks worse than it is. Go help her find her kids."

"Yeah, I'll help Adri clean up." Yoyo cleared away some of the larger debris and helped Milly off his husband, spotting his rifle against a dresser by chance. "You might want to get a weapon before you go, sis."

"Yeah, I'll grab something. Robyn, where were my things?"

"I placed them in the top of a dresser..." The squirrel held her train of thought as she jogged over to the other 'room', pointing just past the partition. "Your weapons are in there, and I put that bow, um..."

"Oh, alright." Ari slid open the top drawer and found Mjolnir's holster and belt, both immediately heading for her waist. "Good... Not even a scratch."

"Aha! The wardrobe." Robby walked over and threw open the doors of the cabinet. "Here we go. Can you truly wield this with that arm?"

Ilaria took Gungnir and pulled her string back dry to confirm her readiness. "Absolutely." She carefully released the tension on the bowstring and picked up her quiver. "Well, I ~think~ I can use her. I had to re-learn after losing the arm."

"Let's you and I hope the spark is still present." Another shudder of a nearby explosion shook the squirrel back into action. "We should start moving. I don't know which of the girls has my kits right now."

"~Which~ has them?"

"I run the books for this place, and with my needs of late... Well, a squirrel in heat is not safe for year-old kits."

Ari took a silent moment while fastening her quiver to realize that Robyn's children probably didn't grow any faster than normal in this universe. "Yeah, a few little girls would probably be best kept away from that side of their mother until they could understand it. They're like sponges when they're young, right?"

"My precious sponges. They are girls, too: great guess." Robyn pounced upon one of the other women as she tried to scurry past. "Ah! Lyn, have you seen my little ones?"

"Oh, um... Yes, madam. Your wife has them near the front of the building."

"Thank you!" The squirrel let the woman free to find safety and started heading for the front door. "Come on, Lulu. We need to hurry in case there's more explosions."

Something about this Robyn being quick on her hindpaws for the sakes of her children inspired awe in Ilaria. "We'll get them safe. Don't worry." Ari groaned when she looked down at the mere corset, spats, and thigh-high leather boots she was wearing when she started following. "I really hope we don't have to dodge bullets or anything like this, though."

"No bullets so far, in the few hours we've been defending ourselves anyhow. We barely kept off bitin' the big one and I can't see my girls faring as well should they suffer a bomb." Robyn slowed a bit and raised her head for a better view, finding her wife and children just aside from the heavy, barricaded front doors. "Lara! Come this way before another one--"

The warning came just late, the doors snapping and splintering inward and encased by a thick billow of smoke and dust. Ilaria braced herself a tad better than the others, allowing her to sprint into the dense cloud of destruction first. She started pulling away debris blindly and quite deafly until the dust and ear-ringing settled enough to determine the location of her vixen self. By then she realized too late the futility of her efforts, raising half of a once-sturdy door and freezing in place.

"Lara!" Robyn slid across the remaining distance and against her crushed family, tears streaming at the notion of the impossible for her. "Lara!? Ilaria!?"

"I don't..." Ari's stomach wrenched as the smell of fresh blood flooded her nostrils. "Oh, gods..."

"No! Bloody gods, no!" The squirrel merely quivered as she pet her dead wife's head. "Lara... Michelle... Mikahila... My--"

A wail from beneath the slumped fox drove Ilaria's efforts into full gear. "I'll lift this up! Pull when I do!"

"I... A-Aye!" Robyn waited the excruciating half-second it took for Ari to lift the door panel, then pulled her wife free to reveal the two healthy baby girls underneath. "My kits! Gods, thank you! Thank you!"

Ari nearly lost her breakfast when she saw the damage done to her other self's lower half, prevented only as her brother swooped in to help. "...lu! Lulu! Get ahold of yourself! They're not done!"

"I don't..." Ari stared as a walking mech that apparently caused the destruction around her charged up another bolt of plasma. "I'm scared! I-I need Rhyme!"

"Fuck, sis." Yoyo hurled his twin over his shoulder to run while Dee aided Robyn, but they weren't quick enough to dodge the next plasma bolt. "Get down!"

Before the slow projectile managed to make it all the way to its destination, Ex fell in the plasma's path from the roof by Carbon's control. "I've got this. Get everyone further inside, like the basement--and if you're feeling brave, help Cid with the infantry."

Yoyo braced as more plasma hit Ex and feathered heat around its sides. "Right. Adri, help keep everyone safe. I'm going on the roof to provide cover."

"What about Ari?"

"Shit, I don't know--"

"Damn, that's a big bada-boom! Great shot, Carbon!" Cid swung in from a small breach in the ceiling, kicking off Ex to land softly on the ground floor. "Hah... Wow, I haven't run around breathless like this... in fucking ~ages~. Oh, hey guys... Wait..."

Yoyo groaned as he hefted his sniper atop his sister. "Are you fucking having fun, Cid? This is serious."

"Sorry. I haven't seen what's happened in here." The meerkat walked over to help, tossing a small rifle over her shoulder as she reached the twins. "Where am I needed most? I could use a break from killing bad guys and my team's doing alright."

"I need to get my rifle somewhere it'll be useful, but I have to get Lulu where she can help, too. Somewhere safe until she shakes this off..." Yoyo shouldered his sniper securely and then hoisted his sister over the other shoulder to distribute the load. "Where's the orbiter?"

"On the rooftop opposite the enemy." Considering the smaller confines of the building, Cid swapped to her pistol for better maneuverability. "I'll get your back. That way."

"Thanks, Cid. I'll pay you back with a few emptied skulls. Deal?"

Cid spotted a glass of water and snatched it, chugging as she walked. "Gwah! Damn, I needed that. Just keep me from running so much and that'll help a ton. Four hours of climbing and shooting really get to you fast."

"Four hours? They aren't pulling any punches, are they?" Yoyo picked up the pace, following silent paw signals from his meerkat guide. "We need to find an end to this. Lulu will come up with something, I'm sure of it."

"I sure hope so, because I already lost a wager." Cid whistled sharply as she set down her glass and jogged ahead a bit. "I bet Carbon we'd only last two hours with our manpower and supplies. He guessed three."

"Call me an optimist, but I think we can do ~a lot~ better than that." Iolvin sighed as he checked his sister and found the same dazed, quivering mess on his shoulder. "All bets are off until Lulu snaps out of this."

The trio hustled through the surprisingly large building, the only sounds between them and their destination being muffled explosions and Ari's soft, repeated muttering of, "...Rhyme..."