FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A soft breeze swept through the city of Jinsoku, running through its streets and flowing through the enormous windmill that towered above all the other buildings. A pair of eyes watched from afar as its blades slowly turned in the wind. The silent watcher curled her spotted tail around her legs and shifted a bit to find a more comfortable spot on the window to lean against. Just when she found the right spot, her phone began to ring from her pocket. The snow leopardess slipped the device out and answered the call with a swipe of her thumb.

"Hello?" she greeted the caller.

"Hello, this is Alpha," came the caller, "is this Erika Mori I am speaking to?"

"The one and only," she replied with a smile, "Is there something you need?"

"No, no," said Alpha, "I am simply calling to let you know that my husband and I are set to arrive soon."

"Good to know. We've already completed preparations on our end," she raised a paw to idly play with her snow-white hair, "We'll be ready for the two of you once you're here."

"...Also," Alpha went on, "we have reason to believe that the fugitive is likely close to arriving as well, if not already within your vicinity."

"Don't worry; we're well prepared for her as well. On behalf of all of Amnesia, I assure you that we will bring her to justice."

"That is very good to hear."

"Also..." Erika continued, "I just...I want to thank you for all of the support the two of you have given us as well. The advancements in technology you have shared with us has really improved our lives, especially for...well...you know."

"...I do. You're very welcome. I speak from experience when I say I know what it's like to constantly fear losing someone close to you. I am glad we were able to help you in that regard, Ms. Mori."

"...Yeah..." After a moment, Erika shook her head and cleared her throat, "We'll see you soon. And who knows? Maybe by the time you arrive, we'll have already caught her for you!"

"That would be a nice surprise indeed. Till we next meet." With that, the call came to an end. Erika sighed through her nose as she switched off her phone and pocketed it. Her tail swished behind her as she stood up from the window and walked over to the nearby hospital bed.

"Alright, Arata; I'm heading out to work," she said gently, tenderly placing her paw atop the black-furred paw of the bed's occupant, "I promise I'll be back soon. You behave yourself, alright?" No answer came, not that she was expecting one. Still, it didn't take much of the sting away. Lowering herself to knees, she breathed in deeply and planted a soft kiss on his paw before standing back up and heading for the door. She paused upon reaching it and turned around to look upon the panther once more. He was the same as he'd always been for the past seven years; breathing, alive, yet hauntingly still. The only signs of life he possessed came from the humming of his respirator and the rhythmic tones of his heart monitor. Erika bit her lip as tears began to well at the corners of her eyes. With a heavy heart, she tore her gaze away from him and finally began to walk down the hall. "I'll talk to you soon...partner."

Kamen Rider Wild

CHAPTER 19

A school of fish frantically scattered as a large mass slithered towards them. Despite being acclimated to it for so long, Felicia found herself shivering as the dull electrical senses they produced danced across her snout. She'd remained in her shark form through this entire trip, as she needed its strength to help her safely get to her destination. And that destination was close; she could feel it. She didn't know how, but her instincts were telling her it wasn't too far off. She gripped the strap of Dr. Kagami's bag, which was now filled with nothing but ocean water and all of her remaining vials. She didn't know how long she'd been swimming for by now, but it was long. She'd had to get in tune with her current body to hunt down and capture enough fish for her to feed herself. It was enough to keep her energy up, but just barely.

She suddenly perked up upon noticing something in the distance. She wasn't sure, but it looked like...the makings of a dock? Carefully, she aimed her snout upwards and swam towards the surface. The fin on her head broke the water first before the rest of her head followed. Her heart leapt; she'd made it! She hoped anyways. Truth be told, she'd been relying purely on gut feeling and current riding to get here. Thankfully, one look at the city's giant windmill set her doubts to rest. She'd made it to Jinsoku City. With that in mind, she lowered herself back down so that only her shark fin remained above water and slithered towards the dock. She could see a ladder that she could climb up after changing to a species more fitting for land. All she had to do was swim over to it and...

She paused; something didn't feel right. She furrowed her brow and tried to focus. Across her side, she could feel strong pulses of electricity. It was the kind of signal strength she'd felt from--

She whirled around to see a dark, aquatic android emerging from the ocean floor. Its eyes locked onto her before flashing brightly. With her mind racing, she barreled towards it and tore it apart with her jaws and claws. She didn't even spend time wondering if she'd got it in time. Instead, she bolted the rest of the way over to the ladder and swapped out vials.

D-N-ANALYZE!

TIGER!

D-N-ASSIMILATION!

The second she burst out of the water and hit the ground running, mob androids began to flood out of the streets and chased after her. Overhead, a loud siren began to wail out through the city. Everywhere she looked, she saw furs scatter and rush into the nearest building, where doors and windows were immediately shut. This left only her and her mechanical pursuers. At least, that's what she thought until a heavily armored vehicle came racing around the corner. It screeched to a halt, and out of it poured out a squad of tactically-armed figures. They wore black, segmented armor on their limbs and a tactical vest. Strapped to the belt on their waists were large, red buckles with segments sticking out to the side, and upon their heads were purple, dome-like helmets.

"THIS IS AMNESIA!" shouted their leader as they all took aim at her with their guns, "STOP RUNNING AND UNDO YOUR TRANSFORMATION! OTHERWISE WE WILL BE FORCED TO SHOOT!" But Felicia had no intentions of stopping anytime soon. Instead, she continued to run at full speed, with nowhere to go but _towards_them. "FIRE AT WILL!" their leader shouted before a hellfire of bullets was unleashed. Felicia shielded herself with her gauntlet and grit her teeth as bullets peppered her form. Sparks exploded off of her like fireworks and rained down onto the street floor.

As soon as she was close enough, she shot down to all fours and _vaulted_over the Amnesia Troopers, landing in a sloppy roll before taking off down the street again. "Don't let her get away!" shouted their leader before leaping back into the armored vehicle, "This is 2 to B team! We are in pursuit of the target! Cut her off at the cross-street!" Once the others were in, the vehicle screeched its tires on the pavement and rushed after her, the mob androids following not too far behind.

Felicia saw them coming from behind and growled in distress. Not even a minute after reaching the city was she already on the run. She dug her claws into the street as she ran as fast as she could. So focused on the street ahead of her was she that she failed to notice a pair of motorcycle-riding troopers come in from the side. They slammed into her and knocked her into a tumble down the road. She hissed at them and crawled to all fours as they dismounted and leveled their guns at her. "A team, this is 6," said one of them, "We've got her on the defensive."

"We copy, 6," came 2's voice through their comms, "We have a visual and we're almost there." Felicia suddenly turned to run the other way, but a new crowd of mob androids came running in. She snapped her claws open and began to tear through them all one by one. "OPEN FIRE!" 6 shouted before she and her partner began firing upon them Felicia. The armored tigress cried out as bullets exploded against her leg. She quickly grabbed onto one of the androids and threw it into the line of fire.

Needing to reduce the pressure on her, she tried to force her way towards the alleyways between the nearby buildings. As soon as she got close enough, she leapt onto the face of one of the androids and vaulted the rest of the way over. She ran down it as fast as she could, but before she could make it to the other side, more androids came running in from where she was headed. She glanced back and forth between the two entryways before flexing her claws and bracing for another frantic tango.

With all of them now only coming from two ends, Felicia had a much easier time dealing with them all. She tore and slashed at each of them as they came in two or three at a time at most. She ran up a wall to come crashing back down on a group of them, rolling between one's legs after landing before grabbing the android and swinging it against its allies.

D-N-ANNIHILATION!

With a roar, she swept her arm upwards and unleashed a razor-sharp shockwave that obliterated all of the androids unfortunate enough to be standing on the side she'd aimed for. They were reduced to metal confetti and cleared the way for Felicia's escape. But as soon as she emerged, gunfire exploded at her feet. She immediately dove behind a nearby car and pressed herself up against it. "Surround her!" barked the leader. They all kept their guns leveled as they rushed over to the vehicle. The first one that came around was greeted with a ferocious swing across the chest. In the middle of their spark-filled stagger, Felicia used them as a ramp to leap over the rest of the team.

D-N-ANNIHILATION!

Mid-leap, she unleashed a powerful shockwave that plowed _directly_into the troopers. They cried out and tumbled across the pavement before their helmets and armor faded in a flash of light, leaving behind a group of unconscious furs. Felicia fought off the urge to celebrate before dashing down the road once more. As the leftover androids emerged from the alleyway to chase after her, one of the troopers grit her teeth and raised a finger to her ear. "This is 6 to base," she growled, "We're calling it in; you're up, 00."

***

Irritated with how far they were willing to chase her, Felicia finally whirled around to claw apart the last of the mob androids. She took the last one's head off with a wide swing before her need for more air in her system caught up to her. She fell to her knees with heaving shoulders and a head that felt light enough to float away. With how silent the city had fallen, she finally felt safe enough to at least catch her breath. She sat back on her haunches and raised her necklace up to eye level to double-check the vials she'd clipped to it. It had been tough resisting the urge to switch forms in the middle of that fight, but with how dangerously low her vial count now was, 8 for shark, 2 for cheetah, 5 for wolf and 3 for tiger, she could no longer afford to be wasteful.

She hung her head back and sighed after letting the necklace drop. She no doubt had only seconds before the next wave of pursuers would arrive, so she clawed her way back to her feet. She glanced back at the bag and double-checked it for any bullet holes. Thankfully there were none, but...

She paused. She could hear something in the distance; the sounds of a motorcycle engine. She tensed her legs and braced herself for another run, but after listening in closer, she realized that it was only a single engine coming towards her. Her heart began to race. She had a feeling she knew who was coming. The person she'd come here for in the first place, her only hope left of putting a stop to the humans' plans, and her only chance left at saving everyone on the planet from an untimely demise...

She breathed in deeply and hid her backpack in a trashcan before stepping out into the middle of the road to greet her approaching visitor. Out in the distance, she caught sight of a single fur riding a motorbike. Her face was hidden behind a helmet, but other than that, she wore nothing that would denote her as "battle ready." Black dress pants, and vest over a purple sleeveless shirt? Not exactly the type of outfit she expected someone to be confronting a fugitive to wear. She pulled to a stop and kicked out her bike stand before dismounting and removing her helmet, revealing the spotted snow leopardess beneath it.

"Hey there, Felicia!" she shouted to her in an _unsettlingly_casual manner, "You sure had a memorable welcome party to greet you with, huh?"

"I..." The poor girl couldn't even find the words to respond to that with. Erika let out a disarming laugh.

"Hey, relax. I'm not here to hurt you. I just wanna talk." The leopardess made no move forward. Instead, she casually leaned against her bike and continued, "Tell me about yourself; where are you from? What do you like to do?" When Felicia didn't respond (mostly out of suddenly losing her voice), the leopardess didn't even miss a beat. She simply continued, "I hear you swam all the way out here. All by yourself too! If everyone were as dedicated as you to just swim where they wanted to go, the airplane travel industry would be run out of business! Must've taken a bit toll on you though... Are you hungry? I can get you some food if you'd like."

Felicia hesitated before shaking her head in response. Erika tilted her head at her. "Are you sure? Now's a great chance to try out some authentic Japanese cuisine. I can even take you to my favorite place if you'd like..." When she shook her head again, Erika let out a disappointed sigh. "Well, if you insist. Do you need anything else? Water? Medicine?" Felicia shook her head again, and Erika offered her a warm smile. "It really is okay, y'know. You can talk to me. You can trust me. If you come with me, then I can prove it."

Felicia stepped back, suddenly tensing up. Though trembling, she managed to recover her voice to reply, "I-I can't do that. I'm being framed for a crime I didn't commit!"

"I want to believe, you, Felicia," Erika took her first step forward, paws held up, "but until you face trial, I can't take your word for it. Don't worry though; I promise you that you'll be judged fairly. Maybe I can even help work things out with the judge."

The tigress shook her head firmly. "No, you don't understand! You're all being deceived by the humans! They're planning on wiping out all life on the planet!" A very shocked and confused look spread across Erika's features. With her heart pounding in her chest, she went on to say, "They've been traveling around the world to secretly build these stations that change the atmosphere to one only they can survive in! My friend and I came across one of them, and they've framed me for her murder ever since! Th-they're trying to save the rest of humanity, but to do that they have to wipe all of us out in the process!" She stopped. Erika only continued to look more and more concerned. "Y-you have to believe me! PLEASE! You're my only hope left! I came all this way just to meet you and tell you!"

"I..." Erika seemed to hesitate. She shook her head before continuing, "Look, I can't just take your word for something like this either. What you're saying is insane! If you really think this is the truth, then you NEED to come with me and testify!"

"N-NO!" Felicia shook her head furiously, "If I'm taken in, they'll find some way to get me!"

"They won't! I promise!" Erika shouted, borderline pleaded, "You'll be safe with us! All you have to do is trust in us!" She took another step forward, and this time Felicia backpedaled. Seeing this, the leopardess flattened her ears and let out a sigh. "Well, I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave us with no choice..." She reached back and pulled out a device similar to the one she'd seen the Amnesia Troopers wear on their belts.

"...Us?" Felicia breathed.

She slapped the device against her stomach, causing a silver belt to snake around and secure it to her waist. As she reached into her vest pocket, she shouted, "It's go time, Arata! Let's do this!" Felicia glanced around the area, but couldn't find a single other person around. Her attention snapped back to the leopardess as a loud voice rang through the air.

JOKER!

It came from a sleek, black USB memory stick she now held. She flipped it in her fingers before jamming it into the left slot on her buckle. Something suddenly appeared in the other that she slammed down on as well. Then, with focus in her eyes, and a swift gesture of her paws, she split the buckle open and shouted out at the top of her lungs, "HENSHIN!"

CYCLONE! ||| JOKER!

A powerful gust of wind suddenly swept through the area that kicked up enough dust to obscure Felicia's vision. She dug her claws into the ground and shielded her face with her arms as the freak windstorm raged on. Just when she thought she was going to be swept away, a loud CLAP in the air banished the wind and blew away all of the dust, revealing the new figure that now stood where Erika once had.

She was dressed in armor not too dissimilar to her own. It was sleek and segmented, form-fitting enough without being skin-tight. Her colors were split asymmetrically down the middle, with the left side taking on a mysterious black, and the right taking on a bright green. Her helmet was no different, with the only variations being the sharp, bright red eyes that glowed beneath the silver crest on her forehead. And behind her, fluttering in the wind was a long, silver scarf.

This was Kamen Rider 00.

"Now," Erika shouted, her voice joined by another as she thrust her paw forward and pointed straight at her, "it's time to count up your crimes!" Felicia crouched low, planting a paw on the ground and lashing her tail around behind her. Erika huffed and turned her paw to flick a finger towards herself. "Come on then, give us your best shot!"

"We'll let you take the first move!" came a different voice, causing the eye of 00's green side to light up.

Felicia straightened up a little. "W-wait, who is--"

"Oh, right," said Erika, "this is my partner, Arata Sakurai. Say hi, Arata."

"It's nice to meet you, Felicia," said Arata, once again lighting up 00's eye. With her heart racing and her muscles tensed, Felicia kicked herself off the ground and bolted towards the half-and-half hero on all fours. She let out a roar before leaping into the air with her claws spread. 00 waited until the last second before knocking Felicia's arms aside and side-stepping out of the way.

"Points for not running away!" Erika quipped before landing a kick on Felicia's back. With a flick of her wrist, she ran after the armored tigress and leapt into the air to deliver a wind-swept spin kick. Felicia barely got up in time to block her face, the force of the impact blowing her right off of her feet. She grunted upon hitting the pavement rolling and hastily scrambled back to her feet. 00's kicks came one after the other, raging on like a furious typhoon. Powerful gusts of wind swept past Felicia every time her arms blocked one of 00's attacks. "Not bad! Not bad!" Erika shouted, "But we're just getting WARMED UP!"

The wind funneled upwards and blew Felicia off her feet again once 00 swept their leg up in a high-kick. As Felicia fell back down, the twin-colored combatant performed an acrobatic forward flip and plowed both of their feet into her stomach. Lights danced in her eyes and air left her lungs. When she finally stopped rolling, she craned her neck up to see 00 pulling out the two Memories in their belt. They were quickly replaced by two others, which were jammed into her belt before the buckle was split.

HEAT! ||| METAL!

A fire was ignited that engulfed 00's body. When it fizzled out, the green and black was replaced by red and silver respectively. Bandages were now wrapped over their torso and forehead that fluttered from the sheer heat emanating from their body. They grabbed a rod strapped to their back and spun it over their head, causing the ends to extend outwards and form a long pole before planting it on the ground with a resounding metal clang. Erika reached out and flicked her fingers again in a cocky taunt.

Felicia raked her claws across the pavement before charging again. She swiftly closed the distance between them and swung at them hard. 00 blocked it with a silver arm, but Felicia just grabbed onto it for leverage and flung herself up to deliver a jump-kick directly into their face. But when the blow landed, the metalized warrior didn't even move an inch. Sparks flew off her feet as she ended up flinging herself away from them. She flinched upon landing; it was as if she'd kicked a statue of solid steel.

"Our turn!" Erika shouted, kicking their pole into a spin before gripping it in both hands. The ground shook with every step the silver side took. They twirled the pole over their head before swinging at Felicia, who hastily ducked beneath the attack. She dove in to strike again, but her claws merely bounced off their sturdy exterior. A blunt pain exploded against her gauntleted arm upon blocking 00's next swing. She ducked and weaved through the rest of their attacks before leaping out of the way and yanking a vial off of her necklace. 00 kept a wary eye on her as she swapped it out for the one in her belt.

D-N-ANALYZE!

WOLF!

She charged forward again and struck the right side of her buckle.

D-N-ASSIMILATION!

Her orange, striped suit was swiftly replaced with the gray of her wolf form. As she ran, her two pack mates emerged from her back to run alongside her. The three of them leapt into action and ran all around 00, who simply stood there and observed. "Duplicates, huh?" said Arata, lighting up the eye of the red side, "Well this sure takes me back. Doesn't this bring back memories?"

"Not good ones," Erika shuddered, strapping the pole onto their back again and yanking out the Memories in their belt, "Shall we?"

"We shall," Arata replied before pulling out another set of Memories. Felicia continued to dash around them as they crammed the devices in and split the buckle once more.

LUNA! ||| TRIGGER!

A light washed over them this time. Once it faded, the red and silver was replaced with yellow and blue. The bandages they once wore were now replaced with a star-shaped poncho and a very cowboy-like hat, both of which were similarly split down the middle in color. 00 reached down and drew out the twin pistols holstered to their belt before opening fire. Felicia's pack mates yowled out as bullets exploded against their sides.

Felicia tried to pounce on 00's back, but the yellow side fired a bullet that somehow curved in the air to explode against her side as well. The marksman twirled their pistols around their fingers as she crashed into the ground. "Afraid a trick like that won't work on us, Felicia," said Erika, "We're well experienced with being outnumbered." Felicia growled through her teeth before grabbing another vial and swapping it out.

D-N-ANALYZE!

CHEETAH!

Felicia charged again, only this time it was away.

D-N-ASSIMILATION!

As soon as the gray was replaced with a black-spotted yellow, she raced down the street at top speed. 00 tried to fire upon her, but she was too quick on her feet. "Trying to run?!" Erika shouted as she swapped out the yellow Memory with a green one.

CYCLONE! ||| TRIGGER!

The yellow of her suit was changed to green as they ran back to their bike. They hopped on with a gust of wind before taking off with a roar of their engine. Their right side maintained control of the vehicle whilst the left side continued to fire. Powerful gusts of wind swept past Felicia every time a bullet exploded nearby. She swerved and turned as sharply as she could, but no matter how hard she tried, 00 was always on her tail. Even as she ran down a narrow alleyway, the two-shaded sharp shooter remained on hot pursuit, with Erika shooting apart all of the trashcans and empty crates in the way of their bike.

Right as Felicia emerged from the other side of the alleyway, a bullet exploded against her back and sent her rolling across the pavement. 00's bike screeched to a halt as they too emerged from the alleyway, from which they leapt up into the air and swapped out Memories in their belt.

HEAT! ||| JOKER!

Felicia hastily rolled out of the way before 00's flaming foot was driven down into the pavement. The second she was back up, she blocked a flaming punch aimed right at her face. Tongues of fire danced around their feet as 00 continued their relentless assault on her. Punch after punch, kick after kick, they all came at her one after the other with deadly precision. It was much different from fighting the mindless androids Felicia had grown accustomed to; this was a seasoned veteran in combat, and they were not afraid to demonstrate that fact. It made her heart race, and by extension made her moves sloppy.

Such was the case when she tried to capitalize on what she thought was an opening. She was punished for taking the bait with a swift kick to the stomach. Once she hunched over in pain, 00 rammed her fist into her chin with a flaming uppercut. The armored cheetah crashed back down onto the ground with stars in her eyes. 00 dusted their hands before Erika shouted, "Come on, is that all you've got?! What happened to the 'raging beast' that dominated the news?!" Felicia grit her teeth and clawed back to her feet. She reached for one of her vials, one filled with her blood, only to hesitate.

Though she had no memory of what she had done in her chimerical form, she remembered the damage she'd left behind. The forest that battle had taken place in was damaged beyond recognition, and the thought of doing that in a city filled with innocent bystanders stopped her from yanking that vial off of her necklace. Instead, she reached over and plucked a different one off, swapping it out with the one in her belt.

D-N-ANALYZE!

TIGER!

D-N-ASSIMILATION!

With her stripes donned and strength renewed, Felicia decided to take her turn on the offensive. What she lacked in the precision and technique 00 had, she made up for it in sheer, raw power. Every swing she threw was either parried, side-stepped or ducked beneath, but she was keeping them on the back foot! "Well _someone's_gettin' confident!" said Erika with a grunt upon blocking another swing, "What do you think, Arata?"

"Eh, six outta' ten," he replied, lighting up the red side's eye, "Points for effort, but she's kind of just attacking us wildly." Before he could go on, Felicia spun with the momentum of one of her swings to launch herself upwards and plow her feet into 00's chest. They grunted out as they were blown all the way back against a nearby wall. "...Okay maybe seven out of ten." Once Felicia landed, she reached over and slammed a fist against the left side of the DNAnalyzer.

D-N-ANNIHILATION!

She threw her arm way back before swinging wide across the air, unleashing a razor-sharp shockwave straight at 00. Their foot ignited in flames as they leapt, boosting their jump and clearing them over the attack. Their fist was the next to ignite upon landing, which was rammed right into Felicia's chest. They ran after her as she tumbled across the pavement, only to stop dead in their tracks. Screams had rang out from behind them. 00 turned around to find that the attack they'd leapt over had torn through the building behind them, which was now threatening to crush the people trapped inside. The family was huddled close together and screaming in terror.

"CRAP!" Erika shouted. Almost as though Felicia was completely forgotten, 00 ran straight towards the collapsing building and dove into the opening. Once they were inside, they planted their feet and held up the building with one of their arms. "ARATA!" Erika screamed through strained gasps, "SWITCH THE MEMORY!"

"On it!" The red arm reached over and yanked out the black Memory from the left side before jamming the silver one back in and splitting the buckle.

HEAT! ||| METAL!

The black was replaced with silver once more, and the bandages once again wrapped around 00's torso and head. Metal creaked as they struggled against the sheer weight of the building, the tile floor beneath their feet cracking and forming craters. "HURRY AND GET TO SAFETY!" Erika shouted at the family. But they didn't move; only frantically looked around them.

"W-we can't! There's no way out! There's too much rubble in the way!"

"Damn it!" 00 was nearly on their knees now. Desperately, Erika shouted, "Arata! We need to prop the building up with our Metal Branders!"

"I can't reach them!" Arata shouted back, the red arm desperately trying to grab the un-extended rod off of their back, "We need more room and leverage!"

"There must be SOMETHING we can--" Erika stopped as she heard crumbling from behind them. The family yelped as an opening was blown into the walls. Suddenly, the building began to feel lighter and lighter. Nearby, she could hear strained cries of effort ring out. "F-Felicia?! Is that you?!" The tigress didn't have it in her to answer her. Instead, she focused on channeling as much strength as she could. Her body trembled as she pushed up against the building with all of her might, letting out a feral roar that rallied herself onwards. Slowly but surely, the amount of room left for everyone was steadily increasing. Light poured in from behind them, almost as though showing the way.

"Everyone hurry out!" Arata shouted, "Quickly now! GO!" The call to action was enough to rouse the family out of their fear. They scrambled for the exit as fast as they could, thanking the three of them as they ran past. "Okay! They're safe now!"

"That just leaves us then!" Erika shouted back, "Felicia! You're doing great! Just keep holding it!" She didn't answer back, not that she really had the breath for it. Erika and Arata let out rallying cries of their own as they pushed themselves just a little bit harder. The building began to rise more and more, and with one final push, it was lifted just high enough for Arata to grab the rod off of their back. A terrifying rumble sounded out as the building landed on the pole right as it extended. Both 00 and Felicia dove out of the building as soon as they could, just in time for it to finally collapse in on itself.

The resulting dust cloud was enough to knock Felicia over, whose legs had already been on the verge of giving out upon escaping the building. She grit her teeth and hastily rolled onto all fours, lashing her tail anxiously behind her as she turned to face 00. The metallic hero was on their knees, shoulders heaving in heavy breaths. They only stared at her as she warily backed away and bolted in the other direction, disappearing into another block.

"00?!" shouted a voice through their helmet, "00! Erika!"

The leopardess was snapped out of her thoughts. "R-right! Sorry! I'm on it!"

CYCLONE! ||| JOKER!

Donning their green and black once more, 00 rushed down the street and turned the corner, only to stop upon running across a fur huddled in the corner and trembling uncontrollably. "H-hey are you alright?" The spotted canine only continued to shiver. 00 knelt down and carefully brought her up to her feet. "She must've came out of that building... Listen, you need to get out of here; it's dangerous." They urged her in the other direction before patting her on the back. "Get to safety as soon as you can, alright?! We're on the case!" At that, the two-toned hero rushed down the rest of the street, allowing Felicia to finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Penny," the spotted canine muttered to herself with an empty vial in paw before heading in the other direction.

***

Sometime later, after the lockdown was lifted, the unarmored Erika walked through the automated doors of the Amnesia base. Scattered about were the various members of the team, with the majority of them in the process of "licking their wounds" from the last bout. While a handful of them looked up to offer her a silent greeting, it was the two cybernetic figures that walked up to her and actually greeted her with words.

"Hello, Ms. Mori," Alpha greeted her, offering her hand, "It's good to finally meet you in person."

"And the same to you," Erika replied with a smile, happily accepting the offered handshake, "I'm sorry you had to arrive with such disappointing news. We tried the best we could, I promise. But when it came down to it, I couldn't ignore our city goers being put in immediate danger."

"No, please, I understand," Alpha replied with a dismissive wave of her hand before clasping it behind her back, "I'm simply happy to have finally arrived. My husband and I are more than willing to offer our help if you are in need."

This time Erika waved her paw dismissively. "I appreciate the offer very much, but I certainly hope that the help won't be necessary. My team and I are very experienced in dealing with super powered individuals, and we intend to prove it."

An amused laugh left Alpha's throat. "I'm excited to see you do so."

Erika smiled at her. "Well, I have a bit of research to do, so I'll leave you two to it." With a polite bow, the snow leopard excused herself and left to attend to other things. That's when Omega's voice entered Alpha's head.

"'NexUs,'" he began, silently stepping up next to his fellow human, "'I need a status update on station building progress.'"

"'A lot has been made,'" they replied, "'At this rate, the final set of stations will have been completed within the next two days.'"

"'Very good,'" Omega replied, "'Continue to oversee these operations. Alpha and I will remain here until Felicia has been dealt with.'"

"'Understood.'"

"'Over and out.'" With the call ended, Omega turned to her and said, "'So then...what's the plan?'"

It took a moment for her to answer. "'...The same as it's always been; we must capture and subdue Felicia before she can bring a stop to our plans.'"

"'Just capture?'"

Alpha paused. "'I...will leave the killing to the stations, and I will not stop you if you must do so yourself. However, I have drawn enough blood as it is. If anything, I would like to send Felicia home. To grant her one final chance before her world comes to an end...'"

***

Meanwhile, Felicia carefully removed her bag from the trashcan she'd hidden it in. Her mind began to drift as she slung the bag over her shoulder. It was times like these where Dr. Kagami would have offered her his support. It hadn't been until now, with her holding his bag, that she realized how used to it she had grown. She had understood that she was completely alone now, but what that meant for her hadn't settled in on her until now. The thought made her tremble, weakening her legs to the point of near collapse. She leaned against the brick wall and pressed her fist against her chest.

She didn't know what to do; the one person left who could help her was now her enemy. What could she do now?! Who could help her? She was alone! But everyone's lives were at stake. She couldn't afford to give up now. But how could she save everyone if the world itself was against her now? It was all so hard... It seemed impossible. She fell to the ground. She missed him...so much... She missed the way he always reassured her, and she missed the ways he comforted her. And with him gone, she was forced to face all of her rampant emotions on her own, without a shoulder to cry on.

But she shook her head and wiped her tears away. At times like this, Felicia was sure he would have reminded her that she wasn't alone. She had her friends and family behind her. They supported her and believed in her, and she didn't want to let them down. With grit teeth, she pulled herself back to her feet. She couldn't give in, not if she wanted to fulfill the promise she'd made. To do that, she would protect everyone's tomorrow by fighting today. That way, everyone around the world would be able to keep that promise as well...

With that in mind, Felicia adjusted the strap of her bag and went on her way.