FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Year: 2080, May 14th.

Time: 21:50pm

Location: Vega City, South-East District, Apartments.

I was sitting in a car just outside the South-Eastern set of apartments; including me, there were only two others inside the vehicle; the first was my adoptive father, Fawx, and our driver, who stayed silent throughout the drive, focusing solely on the road ahead. I checked my weapons one more time before I set out to take care of whoever had a part in blackmailing our 'client'. I was holstering two seven-barrel revolvers; one strapped to each thigh with three more clips next them. I handled one in my left claw, admiring how it fit into my claw easily, with barely two inches of the nozzle pointing out from my grasp.

"So what are you planning to do with the sods who blackmailed our client?" The Red-Avian asked, turning to me as I holstered my handgun, now checking the two blades I had strapped to me; one on my left boot, the other on my upper-right arm.

"That depends on how much money I steal back." I replied, looking just outside the one-way window at the entrance into the tall building. "If I find five to six grand, no harm done; less than five grand, I kill one of them as a fair warning...probably one who deserves it the most..."

"Good to hear you're keeping things in perspective." Fawx smiled as I opened the door on my side, preparing to get out. "We had a couple of Seekers do a quick sweep of the building from the outside; it looks like your guys are holed up on the top floor - probably so they could get a good signal. My bet is they got a hold of Artsua's information by tapping into his phone or computer; this goes beyond what I'm paid for. Just make sure you trash any technology they have in there."

"Anything else?" I asked, looking up as far as I could to the top of the building; it had to be just over twelve floors high, much like the rest of the buildings in the city; built to house as much people, in as little space, and reinforced to prevent the city falling down like a set of dominoes.

"Just one more thing." Fawx replied, leaning over to see me; "most of the building is empty at the moment, so it's going to be a clear run from here to the top; but the top floor is crawling with at least six people, waiting for you to try something."

I nodded once at him just before closing the car door, watching the vehicle speed off, leaving just me and my targets; the only trick was getting up there with as little noise as possible. I made a start and stepped through the double doors of the building and into the reception area, with no one waiting to greet me what so ever; I slowly withdrew one of my handguns, turning the safety off as I walked through into the large corridor ahead of me. From what I saw on the ground floor, the building wasn't very high quality; every corridor I saw had at least one flickering light, the brown carpet underneath my feet looked torn up around the edges; there were even one or two leaks coming from the ceiling.

Luckily enough, I had already noticed a working elevator by the sixth corridor; even if the blackmailers were waiting for me up there, this would at least save some time. Fortunately, I was only half-right in guessing that they were waiting for me up on the top floor; as I took a few long strides forwards to the elevator, I saw it begin to creak open, revealing a single figure inside; one large white feline, only wearing a pair of baggy jeans and a shirt that didn't cover his arms whatsoever.

We immediately noticed each other as he raised his large handgun to try and take me down there and then; by that time, I was barely several feet from him. I lunged forwards, covering the remaining distance in a split second as I drew out the knife strapped to my right arm and impaled it firmly in the Feline's right wrist, making him drop the handgun before he even got the chance to fire. Before the Feline could scream in pain, I wrapped my other claw around his muzzle, now only capable of letting out a quiet whine as we stood there, motionless for a few seconds.

I eventually managed to find a good balance as I pressed the Feline up against the far wall of the elevator, keeping both of my front claws in place whilst I lifted up one of my foot-claws slowly, reaching back to press the button on the panel that would send me straight up to the top floor. I heard the insufferable screech of the elevator doors as it closed, and I finally let go of the Feline and pulled out my blade from his wrist, watching as he passed out from suffocation beneath my foot-claws; as the elevator was sending me up, I reached behind me, pulling out a small reel of bandages and wrapping up the wound I caused the Feline; no sense in letting him die if he was already incapacitated...

I pulled out one of my two handguns from its holster, now pressing myself up against the side-wall of the elevator and masking my presence from anyone waiting for me up there; one Seeker had already fallen to these people, and there was no sense in having another one do the same. My breathing was now silent; not even my re-breather was making any noise as the elevator slowly crept upwards. I finally heard the elevator doors screech as they opened; after the screeching stopped, I began to listen closely to the sound of footsteps coming closer towards me...and the clicking of guns as they were being loaded.

In one swift motion, I had managed to take down another two targets; the first had somewhat rushed into the elevator, giving me the opportunity to drive my knife into the space between two of his ribs, piercing his heart and instantly rendering him useless and, in a few minutes, dead. The second target was waiting for me to lunge out at the first, but I had already anticipated that strategy; my handgun was now pointed straight at the second target with my other claw; I pulled the trigger, piercing the second target's neck as soon as my knife ended up inside the first.

"Three down..." I muttered underneath my breath, sheathing my blade and pulling out my second revolver, looking at the two targets I had already removed; both Feline; one with black fur, and the other a mixture of black, white and brown. "Not much diversity here...shame..." I sighed as I unlocked the barrel of my first revolver, pulling out an empty bullet and quickly replacing it so I wouldn't have to at a more inconvenient time.

I slowly crept along one side of the corridor, keeping one revolver pointed at the doors adjacent to me whilst the other was facing the way in which I was moving, ensuring that I gave no openings away. I eventually reached the dead end of the corridor, the wall replaced with one large window; rain was now crashing against the window, most likely drowning out any noises that I was making at the time. The final door adjacent to me was open - not fully, but just enough so that I noticed it was open; from the white glow I saw coming from the gap in the doorway, I immediately assumed this was my target...so far so good, I thought.

I immediately spun around, holding both handguns up to chest level as I pressed myself against the adjacent wall, now right next to the entrance; I could now hear my heart pounding in my chest as I reached out with one claw, slowly pushing the door open and watching as the white light started to grow. My body immediately reacted upon seeing the light move slightly, and a shadow started to form; I immediately forced the door open the rest of the way, twisting around and holding both handguns up to the next target. Of course, I didn't expect him to be carrying a shotgun...

My fear kicked in a split second, forcing my body to twist around again and press itself against the wall, almost completely avoiding the shot; but I felt a sudden jolt of pain hit my right shoulder. I looked to my right and saw a small tear in my suit, no larger than a knife-wound; a further inspection revealed a small metal pellet, barely half a centimetre in diameter, which had barely pierced my scales, making it easy to dig out with one clawed finger. I ignored the wound and let it bleed out for the moment whilst I dealt with my fourth target.

As soon as I saw the nozzle of the shotgun poke out from the doorway, I twisted back around and lifted the end of the weapon up with my left claw, the second shot hitting the ceiling and sending a shock down my left arm; both my arms were now rendered useless, leaving me with only my legs. I forced my left foot-claw into the fourth target's chest, sending him back by a couple of feet as he let go of the shotgun; I immediately dropped the weapon and hooked my right foot-claw across the target's side, slamming him into the inner door frame and piercing his side with my sharp claws in the process, making him double-over from the pain.

"This is why you don't blackmail our clients." I grunted, retrieving both of my revolvers from the floor as soon as my left arm recovered; my right was still hanging limp, blood now starting to drip down my suit. "You should be thankful; two of your boys weren't as lucky as you..."

A closer inspection revealed that my fourth target was a Fox, not a Feline; the parts of his fur that weren't covered in blood was obviously dyed crimson, giving him a what-would-be intimidating look - that is, if he wasn't bleeding and cradling his stomach and head on the floor. I carried on into the apartment, bandaging myself up along the way to stop any more blood from exiting my body. There were only four rooms in the apartment in all; first was the living room, which would look larger if it weren't for the amount of cardboard boxes, computers and monitors taking up the majority of the space; the next two rooms were simply a bathroom and kitchen, but I only had a fraction of a second to observe each room; my only concern was to take out every computer in the apartment and come out with at least five-grand.

I entered the fifth and final room, quickly opening the door and keeping one revolver out as I entered; as far as I could see, the room was empty and scarcely decorated. The only furniture I could see in the room was a double bed; the window was boarded up and the curtains were removed, with only a dangling light bulb illuminating the room. I looked around the room once more, slowly analysing every detail until I came across a large rucksack tucked underneath the bed; I didn't bother to bend down to get it, but instead pulled it out with my right foot-claw, noticing that it was open, and more importantly, containing money...the same money these blackmailers stole from our client...

I immediately lifted the bag up and hauled it over my left shoulder, not caring how much was inside so long as it covered how much was stolen; now all I had to do was make sure my client's 'information' didn't fall into the wrong hands. As I stepped out of the bedroom and back into the living room, I noticed that the Fox was still curled up, blood soaking into the carpet beneath him; I paid almost no attention to him as I drew my second handgun, now directing both of them in the direction of the living room and unloading both clips into every computer I saw. Two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen shots were let off in the end, leaving both handguns empty as sparks and smoke were now forming on the remains of whatever technology was present in the room.

I smiled beneath my face-mask as I left, stepping over the Fox carefully and making a quick exit before anyone decided to phone the local law-enforcement...

*********************************************************

I made it back down to the ground floor easily (if you discounted my right shoulder), finding a car waiting for me just outside; I wasted no time and immediately stepped outside, feeling the rain pattering against my body for a brief moment just before I opened the car door, chucking the bag I was holding inside just before stepping inside. Fawx was still sitting in the same seat as when I left; the only difference now was that a large Canine was sitting next to him; Orion Artsua, to be exact. I quickly shut the door behind me as the vehicle sped off.

"One...two...three...four..." Artsua unzipped the bag and counted the money carefully, checking to see how much I had stolen back; "...that's everything, plus and extra one-point-five grand for the trouble." He quickly zipped the bag back up and turned to me, his eyes a little less red now that he could sleep soundly; "not bad, kid. I owe you one."

"I told you he was good." Fawx smiled, though his smile was short-lived as he noticed the wound on my right shoulder; "you're hurt...are you alright?"

"Fine..." I said bluntly, looking at the blood-stained bandages on my shoulder, then back to Fawx; "they just took me by surprise, that's all."

"They took you by surprise?" Fawx said, astonished at the thought that I had been shot because of a surprise attack; "how many of them were there?"

"Four of them." I replied, wincing slightly at the throbbing pain coming from my arm; "they had guns though...big guns...the last guy had a shotgun in his hands."

"So what happened to them?" Fawx asked, only receiving a stare from me; it was the kind of stare that asked 'what do you think'. Fawx simply smiled and turned away. "Remind me never to let you hug me with those claws again..."