FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The training of volunteers continued for a few weeks without a problem. Richard has even spent his few extra hours training Trixi. Yet not a single sign of the syndicate ship was spotted near the station. The over-worked staff had been run to exhaustion from the extra duties. They started to voice their complaints about the code blue.

“We can’t keep this up, I have missssed my hatchling callsss, he turned ssseven.”

Richard looked at the lizardman who stood amongst the other volunteers. His own eyes sagged, exposing his years, “You all have been doing well, I understand deeply that juggling this obligation with your actual duties is taxing. I’ll speak with the captain to see if I can lower the hours required for you all. I don’t make the regulations, just enforce them.”

The breakroom was silent. The lizardman nodded and stroked nervously at the back of his scaled neck with a claw. Richard still felt that they were scared to speak up to him. He wondered how the other heads treated the aliens if they were this skittish. He gripped the lizard’s shoulder with his hand, “I’ll speak to the captain first thing in the morning. I have the morning meeting with the other heads. I’ll let your bosses know that you are all doing a fantastic job here and performing beyond the normal line of duty.” The lizardman smiled hearing those words. He and the others filed out of the security department leaving the warden and HoS to themselves.

“I hope you can get them something in return for the extra work.”

“Martinez will allow it, we haven’t had a single sign of the bastards. Nanotrasen doesn’t even believe we have a threat, no point to work ourselves to death before they might show up.”

Richard’s PDA beeped and interrupted their conversation. Jack sipped at his coffee, “Well looks like it’s back to therapy you go.”

Richard sighed and grumbled, “I shouldn’t have told you that at all…”

“Come on, it seems to be doing you wonders. Might do it myself. Your spirits seem higher when you finish. Either the therapy is doing that or your evenings with the clown.” He chuckled and continued his banter, “Maybe the one-on-one comedy routines in the holodeck are relieving some stress.”

Richard wasn’t amused by the joke and glared at him, “First my therapist and now you.”

Jack held his hands up, “It’s just a joke, you always enjoyed teaching. I wouldn’t judge even if it was serious either, she’s cute in her weird way.”

Richard smiled and retorted back at his friend, “Didn’t take you for a xenophile.”

Jack leaned back in his chair and checked around the room nonchalantly, “Not at first, but they grew on me. Maybe the felinid girl from sanitation. Just between us, the small fox girl and you would make a cute couple.” The HoS laughed loudly and made his way to the door.

“Well, I’ll see you later, got my obligations to uphold.”

Just as he stepped through the last security door, he slipped on a banana peel and landed on his ass. As he laid on his back Trixi’s laughter echoed in the empty hallway, followed by a honk of a bike horn. Honk! She jumped to his side and tried to help him up as best her small frame could, “Sorry about that HoS I was trying to get at the warden. I need to get him back for making fun of my height.” He got up brushed himself off and smiled at the vulpes. Trixi quickly noticed the change in attitude. Usually, a standard clown prank would sour his mood, “Are you okay? Did you hit your head?”

“I’ve been feeling quite a bit better actually. I believe you are to blame for that.”

Her maw hung open in shock. A sight that amused him even more.

Richard walked with her down the hallway as they continued their idle conversation. When she heard that the stress from the great looming threat over the station had been alleviated from the head’s shoulders it renewed her energy. The clown honked her horn again. Honk! “That’s a nice change of pace, I’m happy to hear it! Does this mean we won’t have those training sessions anymore?” Her voice wandered as she thought about the implications of ending the extracurricular activity she partook in.

“Maybe.” Her snout tilted to the gunmetal grey floor tiles. Even with squeaking shoes and a painted face he felt awful for the fox. “Don’t be discouraged, it’s not like I can teach you forever.”

The vulpes protested weakly, “I know… I know, I just… I don’t know.”

He thought about how he could make it up to her, “How about instead of the normal training tonight we should do some practice with Skyout. We can link up with some player vs player and put what you learned to use.”

She smiled and jumped around, landing with squeaks, “That sounds amazing! I can’t wait!”

Richard looked over at his PDA, “I’ll see you after I am finished with my session.” The excited fox girl didn’t let up, tail bobbing all directions as she danced around the hallway. Seeing her happy self, improved his spirits. He left her to head to the mime’s room. A custom he grew used to after several sessions. The mime greeted him as he usually did with a firm grip of the hand and a hearty shake. Jacques smiled wide and offered the seat to him again.

Richard sighed laid down on the couch and started to speak about how things have improved. Focused on the good aspects of his situation, “Everything is going smoothly. Everyone is comfortable, there are no threats currently and I’m enjoying my free time now.” The mime pantomimed clapping, a large grin on his painted face.

The session continued to the topic of how he spent his free time. Jacques made pointed ears at the back of his head with cupped hands and batted his eyelashes slowly. “Yes, with Trixi…” The mime smirked and clasped his hands together slowly. Every session his friendship with Trixi always gets brought up, “I told you last time, we're friends.” The mime nodded his head.

The mime dropped to his knees and batted his eyelashes again, then pointed at Richard. A quick hop to his feet he puffed out his chest and looked around the room with a keen eye. He continued looking around then fell to his knees and pretended to be Trixi. A longing view in his eyes as he looked up at where he once stood. He hopped back into his invisible chair sat in the air and made a heart with both of his hands.

“She doesn’t see me like that…” The mime rolled his eyes and placed his hands on his hips. He then acted out with an invisible sword and shield. He slashed away at invisible foes, then dropped to the ground and clutched the leg of the warrior’s spot he was just located at, reenacting those famous barbarian paintings of a scantily clad woman on a muscled warrior. “She didn’t say any of that… did she?” The mime shook his head, face serious. He pointed at himself and then his eyes. “You just see it.”

The mime nodded and gave a wink.

The session ended and Richard stepped back out to the hallway to be greeted by Trixi. She made a habit of that. Her face fur was cleaned of make-up and her natural orange fur and crystal blue eyes stood out in the dullness of the grey station. “How’d it go?” she asked tilting her head. He didn’t get a chance to answer her as she grabbed his hand and pulled him through the hallway, “You can tell me in the holodeck. I already got things started, just waiting for you to log in and step into the position. I wanted to show you something. I think you might like it.”

Being dragged through the hallways by the small vulpes was an interesting sight to the crewmates that shuffled off to their night duties. A glare was shot at them under the brim of his inquisitor hat as they made whispered words about the two of them. During night shifts when he waited in the bar for her, there was a change in the behaviors of the crew. They would occasionally glance back at the weathered security chief. He only imagined what rumors they said behind his back.

The door to the holodeck was sealed behind them. Trixi bounced around the black glass tiles, the tapping of her tiny claws echoed around the cube. “So, how was your appointment?” Then she took another look at him, “What’s wrong?”

The man looked confused and frustrated. He straightened his back, “Have the crew been treating you differently? Have you been getting strange comments?”

She snorted out a laugh, “None that I know of. I did find ‘overloaded’ stickers for the mules and left them on the seats for everyone the other day. The captain had one on his butt the entire shift, that was pretty funny.” She proceeded to chuckle at her prank.

Richard exhaled and relaxed. The last thing he wanted was to have the entertainment of the station be gossip about a relationship between Trixi and himself, “Good, good.” He smiled at the girl and walked over to the control console and inserted his ID, “Session went as well as any other.”

Trixi was giddy, “I’m glad it’s been helping.” She bounced on her springy legs impatiently, “I can’t wait to show off the new outfit I got. I think you will enjoy it.”

The computerized voice blared out, “The simulation will now start, all players get into positions.” Richard started to remove his accessories till he was in his tank top and his coveralls. Trixi’s tail bounced left and right as she stood on the glowing square in the center of the room.

When he stepped into the square the room melted away and a bright light enveloped the two of them. The light dissipated and Richard was now in his full plate armor, complete with a spiked tower shield and black sword. Trixi had a glowing enchanted wooden staff complete with a green crystal ball on the end twisted in vines. Her body was covered with a pink flowing gown and the top of her head had a lacy coif, befitting a noblewoman.

Torches lit up the cavern lobby as she sashayed around with her dress. Her tiny footsteps tapped on the stone floor as she twirled, “How do I look? I remember last time you had a problem with my jester outfit.” He looked her up and down and then she curtsied elegantly. Her orange paws revealed for a moment. The long-sleeved gown clung to her body in all the right places.

He was at a loss for words out sweet she looked. He only managed to spit out, “You look great.”

She frowned and spoke in a small voice, “That’s it… Just great? I worked hard to grind up my crafting to get this.”

He shook his head at her quickly, “No, it looks amazing on you. I’m just not used to women dressing up for my sake.”

She bounced over to him and hugged him, “Well that shouldn’t happen to a guy like you. I would do anything to keep you around.” Richard coughed as she spoke and she jumped back trying to hide the blush on her face, “Forget I said that.”

Richard was thankful his face was obscured by the helm. Her charm started to wear on him, and he started to believe his friend and the mime. He pulled up a menu with his index finger and selected the gladiator area for a destination, “We will be fighting one group, I think that should be enough activity for the both of us don’t you think?”

Trixi held her cheeks to hide her embarrassment and nodded.

A warning lit up the room. It warned the pair they were about to enter a multiplayer zone. All stats and mods are disabled and then the standard affair of potential banning for harassment is scrolled by. Richard confirmed the choice and the room’s torches blew out leaving them in complete darkness.

Light-filled their vision by candlelight from a chandelier above them. They were in a small stone room with a large double door on one side. He opened the door and allowed Trixi through. They were greeted by an artificial sun and a bright blue sky. Large marble-tiered seating towered several stories high. Hundred’s people were in cliques near the lower tiers around the lip of the area’s bowl. Some observers had small windows in front of them of close-ups in the current fight.

Trixi and Richard started to make their way to the arena. She could hardly believe the outfits people wore, they put her clown outfit to shame with how many colors they had on. Some had white powdered wigs and make-up to match her own. Several wore fancy flowing jackets and smoked cigars while they stared into the arena. They laughed hardily at the festivities below as they conversed.

They neared the edge of the arena and Richard peered over. The two men dashed and clashed about using all their class’ abilities to fight. He scoffed at the notion. Children’s games of mashed buttons and watching how things unfolded. Trixi smiled and kept looking at the dressed-up humans. The people in their immediate area slowly became silent.

“Is that an alien?” A human questioned while pointing out Trixi. Groups turned their heads to the couple.

Another man decried, “Nah man. That’s probably a custom mod that got through.”

A woman squinted, “I think that’s a vulpes. How on earth did they get access to a holodeck, their planet is poor as shit.”

Trixi scowled and her muzzle wrinkled at the comment.

A friendlier human stepped forward, he wore a tall, powdered wig and a fancy black and white checkered suit. He offered a white-gloved hand to Richard, “Welcome to the festivities, which clan are you two from. We rarely see aliens come through here, what species are you big guy? another vulpes?” Richard took in the assault of questions and grabbed the hand with a firm shake. The hands passed through each other. The digits of the other man scattered and reformed in white light, “Sorry, I’m used to being around people in the same holodeck I forget we can’t touch out here.”

Richard pulled his hand back, “Well anyway, I’m a human, and I’m not from any clan. I just wanted to play some arena and head off to sleep.”

The man examined up and down, “I see, not used to humans being that large in my field… this close anyway. Well! We are the betting club. I have made quite a bit of credit placing bets. You my friend, look like a signed blank check in my eyes.” A purple crosshair glowed over his right eye.

“Not interested, I just want to play the game and go.”

The man shook his head, “No, you misunderstand. I said credits, not gold, or whatever the in-game premium currency is called now. I’m a software designer for FTL ships, I already won 800,000 credits in just these past few matches off my associates.”

Richard stared through his slotted helmet at the man. He looked like he never lifted a pencil, yet he played with half a year’s salary of Richard’s position. Trixi’s mouth was open with awe.

“I see now I have your attention,” the man suddenly closed the gap between the three of them. “Look, aliens aren’t seen highly by these lot. I want to use that to my advantage. You two do a roulette and I will do the rest. I’ll give you 10% of whatever I win, deal?”

Richard responded shaking his head dismissively, “She can’t do a roulette. It’s too much for her.”

She shot angry eyes back at him, “I can handle it!”

The potential benefactor leaned down next to her and looked up at Richard with pouting lips, “You going to deny a face like that?”

Richard slumped his shoulders toward Trixi, “I done it before, it’s not pleasant. I can’t even imagine what a current PvP version of the event would be.”

The man responded, “It's safe, you don’t need to worry about it. Plus, the other players here are all pathetic, just look at the clowns down there.”

Trixi didn't break her glare at Richard, “I can do it. You said we were here to put my new skills to test.”

Richard threw his hands up defeated, “Fine. But be warned I can’t control what the roulette will debuff us with. From gravity changes to a constant temperature rise. If I see it becomes too much for you, I’m shutting down the holodeck.”

Trixi perked up with a bright smile, “25%.”

“A shrewd businesswoman, it's a deal.”

Richard crossed his arms skeptically, “How do we know you’re not pulling our chains and not cut and run. I played roulette before and know how difficult it can get.”

He pulled a crystal tablet out from his pocket, “Give me your routing details and I will transfer a small starting wage to confirm our deal, a trust payment, if you will.”

Trixi pulled out her PDA and gave her information to the man. After a few seconds, she was left speechless. Richard spied over her head to see her financial situation. A long line of red lines and then a single green line. Her account had quadrupled in wealth with a single transaction of 100,000. She barely trod water. Richard turned his gaze to the man who held his tablet waiting for Richard to produce his PDA, “Just give my half and the winnings to her, I don’t need it.”

The man pushed his tablet a few times and chuckled, “Chivalrous of you.”

Trixi looked up at Richard about to break out in tears, “R-really?” It tore at him how little aliens got from Nanotrasen. He nodded and she wrapped her arms squeezing him tightly, her face clipped through the armor to his shirt. Moisture spread where her face was pressed as the tears were soaked up. The man looked around nervously as the two hugged, while the other rich patrons started to make more comments about the alien.

“Does that thing have fleas?”

“What’s with the big guy, some kind of cyborg?”

“Maybe it’s a sex slave.”

The rich man turned to the crowd, “We have roulette on the way. How about we get things started?!” He walked toward the edge of the arena and made his announcement, “A roulette is about to start! We need some volunteers to beat this alien and human in unaltered combat!”

He started to speak about the bets with his clique. Richard only heard a few of the rules they made with each other. A few glances and chuckling came in their direction. Trixi attempted to step toward them to listen to what they were talking about, but Richard held her back, “We should be headed to the starting zone. They’re getting volunteers of people to fight against us.”

A line of other humans was near the entrance to zone in. Some were clad in full plated armor like Richard, others wore leather, some nearly naked. Trixi felt like she was being sized up like a piece of meat to be chopped and sold. The comments confirmed that feeling as they were far worse than the rich folk.

“Look at that xeno, like a furry sentient hat"… "I wonder if we skin it we can craft something from the pelt"… "How does something like that even get into the game, even lizards aren’t even allowed here”

Trixi was used to verbal abuse on the station, but the unfiltered feelings of humans were entirely different. “Relax, they can’t hurt you. See,” Richard pushed his hand through one of the men and it phased through him in white light. “They can’t touch you outside of the arena and even in the arena it will be very limited to what you can do.” Trixi eased her with a heavy sigh ignoring the more brutal comments they started spouting.

Once they zoned into the arena they were teleported directly to the center of the bowl. The floor was comprised of coarse sand with rocks interspersed around. Four large pillars stood in each quarter of the arena. Trixi relaxed now that she was no longer be near those humans anymore. Richard touched her shoulder to comfort her a little, “Just pull out the crossbow and breath. Our stats will be flatlined so a headshot will take them out just as fast as an NPC.” She opened her inventory menu and selected the crossbow. The weapon felt weightless in her arms.

As they waited for the match to start a floating purple eyeball drifted near them. It spoke with the rich man’s voice, “We got seven sets of fighters for you guys. I had to put up quite a lot of money for this, but I’m sure you can make it. Each set of fighters has multiple bets to see who will win against you as the roulette continues, the final one has the least payout. If you win, we get it all!” The eye drifted and circled once and down to Trixi, “I believe you are aware of the roulette’s random effects.” She stared into the purple orb and nodded. “Good, well things are all set on my end. I am quite sweaty from how much money these dumbasses are willing to throw down on this fight, if you lose the first fight, I’m down 10 million.”

“Is this even legal?”

The well knowledge man of law answered her question, “It’s not against space law. If you file the correct tax record for gambling on blood sport, that is if you even report on it.”

The eyeball titled back as if it was laughing, “No blood here. This doesn’t even qualify as sports thanks to the SFL lobbyists. The combatants should be on their way, after that the first, the wheel will spin. Good luck! I’ll keep an eye out for you!” He laughed and floated up to a swarm of floating eyes of every shade of the rainbow.

Richard stared at the mobile cameras, he felt uncomfortable being watched by so many. Trixi reveled in it, she wished she could point a laser pointer or strobe light at the eyes. “Six, that’s not that bad,” he said to himself.

The comment brought Trixi back, “Six what?”

He buckled his shield to his left arm, “Six roulettes, six effects. Nowhere near as bad as our modded game we played a while back.” His confidence in the fight melted any doubt for her about the matches.

Cheers cried out from above as a pair of armored men walked toward the pair. Chain mail rattled from under their dark, worn armor, they strode confidently to the center. One flipped his helmet visor up revealing cybernetic red dots and a silver plate covered the top of his face, “You got a lot of nerve to show yourself on the server, bad enough we have to deal with you cretins in space, making peace and dirty dealings, now we have to see you in our games too. Filthy fucking mongrel.”

Trixi growled at him and aimed the crossbow dead in his beady little red eyes, “How’d you lose the eyes!? Gangrenous pink eye from eating your boyfriend’s ass all night!?” When she finished the taunt, the bolt was released and hit the man right in the head. His head exploded into pure light. The game’s censorship for player combat. The body fell to the ground and faded out of existence.

His partner roared angrily with a drawn glaive and shouted, “You can’t just start without waiting for us to get into position!”

Richard shouted back in a graveled voice, “The battle starts when you’re in sight!” He unsheathed his black blade, and the crowd was silenced. The armored man charged forward, and Trixi puffed out her chest defiantly as the enemy closed the distance. The bladed tip of the foe's weapon was forced into the sand, he tumbled over onto his back. Richard stood above him holding down the glaive’s handle with a firm step, the legendary sword to the man’s throat.

“Oh, shi-,“ the blade struck home and his body faded away in a splash of flickering light.

The crowd remained quiet as the first combatants were defeated without a sweat. Eyes floated down and started to look closer at the couple. Several inspected the blade Richard held. The purple eye dropped down, “Well that was a very short first match, some of the others already started to try and welch on the bets.” He laughed heartily, “They didn’t expect to see a veteran arena fighter with the alien.”

Richard tried to shoo the eyes away with the legendary blade, halfhearted sways back and forth. They acted like curious fish and swarmed back to inspect the beta blade. Trixi smugly retorted, “Well, let’s get the next combatants out here, I’m just getting warmed up.” The eyes all looked up to a giant wheel that materialized above them, red slices, yellow slices, and a couple of blue slices started to spin.

The circle spun for a moment then landed on a blue slice. Floating text faded in under the wheel, ‘two wounds.’ The crowd booed out their anguish toward the combatants. “What does that mean?”

“It means we can take 2 fatal hits before being dropped. Looks like the crowd isn’t pleased by that news.” Their bodies glowed with a yellow aura for a moment.

Trixi swished her tail and loaded another bolt into her crossbow, “Good, tough crowds are great to knock down a few pegs.”

Two more enemies appeared on the far end of the arena. Leather straps for armor with bare chests and lean with muscles. Their heads were covered by a dark hood. They pulled out a stick with a burning ember on the tip. With a few words, they shot two screaming fireballs toward them.

Richard raised his shield and produced a barrier around himself. He charged into the balls. The resulting explosion nearly blew Trixi to the ground. Richard remained unharmed and the barrier vanished. She taunted the stick-wielding men, “Got anything better than that, maybe some fire puns?” A bolt found its way in the leg of one of the enemies. He was brought down to his knee as he swung his wand again.

Burning ash floated near Trixi’s eye. Soon she found herself surrounded by these embers. Quickly, she dove to the sand as heat passed over her. The feeling of warmth ran up and down her back as a firestorm passed over her. She hastily loaded another bolt while she waited for an opening.

Richard raced closer to the two sorcerers. His breath was steady with his steps, focused on his targets. One peppered his shield with fire shots while the other concentrated on keeping the spell upon Trixi. He swung down on the sorcerer attacking him only for him to blink backward a meter. Sand was flung into the air as the sword collided with the ground.

The sorcerer waved another fireball until a tower shield nailed him in the head. Twang! The shield ricocheted off him and returned to Richard’s arm. Running forward Richard finished him off with a stab through the chest. The other sorcerer broke concentration to turn to his more pressing threat with a dagger in hand. Before he could strike another bolt glided through his throat, a stream of light poured out the exit wound. His body disappeared instantly.

Richard flourished his blade and returned to Trixi who dusted off her dress. “This is fun, I can’t believe I haven’t done this before. Should I use my spells too?”

“Mind magic and effects don’t affect players. Jester is kind of useless in the arena, but the damage spells and buffs still work.”

She pouted, “That sucks. I wanted to toy with them.” They looked up as the wheel spun again.

The crowd cheered at the result with a red result, ‘gravity.’ The crowd cheered at the result. Darkness crept up from where they stood. It engulfed them and then disappeared. Trixi felt like she was carrying a rucksack around her entire body, “Is this how fat people feel?”

Richard shifted his grip up the handle of the sword and adjusted his shield to compensate for the heft, “Now things are getting good.” He gritted his teeth and smiled under the helmet.

“Now you may have bested those two but how do you fare against actual magic users!” Another set of gladiators entered the arena. These two were much flamboyant than the last, “Prepare yourselves, your xenophilic relationship shall be tested!” They wore dark blue wizard robes with long flowing sleeves and tall, pointed hats. Richard laughed at the phony wizards; He believed the wizard federation would get a kick out of these idiots. The wizard spoke defiantly, “You dare mock us; we will control your minds and destroy you.” They both waved their arms and cast a purple wave of light flooding the arena.

The flood vanished with Trixi and Richard looking around perplexed. The two wizards strode toward them confidently, “Now you two are in our complete control.” Richard glanced back at Trixi who had a brow raised. With great conviction, one said, “Lower your weapons!” Richard put his sword near his side, his smile hidden under his helm. The confused Trixi watched in wonder as the other wizard walked near her, “Interesting, a vulpes. Never seen one up close. Don’t move. Let me take a look at you.”

Trixi felt nothing but creepy vibes from him as he inched his face closer to her. She was grateful she couldn’t smell him, probably stank of dried cum and cheese flavored dust. He whispered into her pointed ear, “Take off your clothes, I want to see what you look like.”

She was surprised at the gumption and turned to him, “Not even going to offer me a dinner first?” She fired the crossbow into his head point-blank as the look of shock took hold.

The other wizard watched his partner disappear, “What!” Richard’s sword cleaved him into a light show, vanishing into nothingness.

Trixi laughed hardily at the morons they just dispatched, “I guess they didn’t get the memo.” Richard looked around as the crowd watched quietly as they fought. Eyes buzzed around them once more.

The purple eye floated between them, “Well that was a bit of a letdown… for the people who placed bets with them.”

Richard rolled his shoulders, “Are we going to get real challenges, perverted twigs, pencil pushers, and pirate gangsters the best you got?”

The eyes floated around Trixi more closely, she batted them away with her paw, “I agree this is just another day in the bar for me. Hope you have some real threats.”

The eyeball danced in the air, “That’s why I said you were a blank check. From the moment I saw you two enter with that unique ID, I knew you were from Nanotrasen. Been wanted to work there my whole life. Amazing pay and adventure, you two must live amazing lives.” Trixi pointed her muzzle down kicking sand under her dress.

“It’s not as glamorous as the commercials have you believe. Trust me.”

The eye swayed to a stop, “Sorry to hear that… I also wanted to let you know that the people that bet against you are really unhappy. They picked some winners here. Easy money for me.” His laughter rang out as the eyeball soared away.

The next result on the wheel was again gravity. The same force gripped the two of them. Trixi’s legs shook under her weight. Richard’s knuckles turned white as he held to his weapons he looked over as she regained her footing, holding her crossbow ready, “I’m okay, don’t worry about me.” She gave a forced smile through gritted teeth.

He shouted up at the swarm of eyes, “If that happens once more, I am shutting the system down!” The eyes were indifferent to their plight and cheered for the negative outcome.

A massive lion and tiger entered the arena, dozens of eyes grew brazen, and approached the arena awaiting the masters of the animals. Chants and praise rang out as the next combatants appeared. Two young females clad in bikini mail armor. The eyes drifted around their bodies as they posed. Perky C-cups and a toned stomach. Carefully crafted longbows materialized in their hands, one with dragon talons that held the string of the bow, the other had an ethereal bow with a blue string that glowed faintly.

The dragon bow woman raised her hands and the gawking eyeballs departed, “Shouldn’t send boys to do a woman’s job.” The ghost bow woman pulled the string and freed an arrow. It soared through the air toward Richard and struck him in the shoulder. The shock buzzed him slightly as he was hit, the spot was numbed as white light drifted up from the impact. The arrow vanished soon after. He readied his shield to stop the next arrow.

Trixi had a difficult time steadying her aim, fighting her arms in the higher gravity. The bolt missed the mark, sand sailed up from the impact. She loaded another shot when her ears twisted to hear the roars of the big cats. Looking frantically in the direction, they bounded toward Richard.

With his shield, he confronted the charging cats. Smashing into one with his weak arm and stabbing with the other. The tiger was run through, and the lion was wounded heavily. Blood poured out of the large cat from the spiked shield. The women set their bows aside and picked up whistles that hung gently from their ivory necks.

The bodies of the large predators disappeared, only to reappear fresh for a fight by their side. Richard mumbled, “I fucking hate pet classes.”

“What do we do? I can’t hit them like this.”

“Use your abilities, there is a major ability that allows you to multi-shot.”

The dragon bow woman taunted them, “Looks like our pets are much stronger than your mutt.”

Richard charged forward leaving Trixi in a wake of sand. Arrows hit Richard’s shield as it blocked his view. The sand was much harder to traverse with the extra weight. He listened carefully for the large cats while Trixi fired another shot, nothing came of it other than the sound of soft patters of sand. He lowered his shield a moment only to see two tiger claws leap at him. He toppled to his back pinned. Frantically he tried to stab the white and orange furball, but his arm was being crushed in the jowls of the lion.

The lion gnawed useless at his arm, unable to penetrate the armor while Richard struggled to push the tiger’s claws back. Trixi cried out as she fell to the sand trying to get closer for a better shot. The laughter of the crowd was drowned out from the cackles of the two women. The dragon bow huntress stepped forward, “Looks like your done playing. But I do like to watch a man struggle against me.” The pets kept Richard from reacting as she gently slid off his helm revealing his face. She smirked, “You are human, a good-looking one too. Not bad, not bad at all.”

Eyeballs started to swarm the group getting a closer look at his face. Some eyes were also interested in her body, nearly touching her ass as she leaned over. He gritted his teeth looking toward Trixi who struggled to get back up.

The woman scolded the man, “You would rather look at an ugly furry alien than me?” She stood and drew the string back. Trixi was finally upright on shaky paws when an arrow flew and struck her in the chest. She let out a pained yip and a shower of light poured out of her wound. She vanished as she collapsed back to the ground. “Gone, as all aliens should.” the woman went back to play with her victim as the crowd above applauded.

Richard knew it wasn’t real. She didn’t die but, many times he saw close friends die. To watch her delicate figure fall to the ground fed a wave of primal anger. He yelled out and pulled his arm free of the lion. White light gushed from his wrist as he used both arms to roll on top of the tiger. Roars escaped the tiger as the shield's menacing spikes stabbed it. The huntresses backed away from him as he slashed like a wild animal.

He jumped toward the dragon bow woman who drew her string back. He sliced in a long downward arch, cleaving her in half. The shocked crowd ceased cheering. The lion vanished mid lunge as the dragon bow woman disappeared. The final opponent had her back to a stone pillar, an ephemeral arrow drawn. Richard turned to face her just as the arrow loosed.

The arrow was batted harmless out of the air by his shield. He stared her down and charged. Terror took hold of her as she blew on the whistle again. The tiger jumped around the pillar and bounded toward him. He slammed the sword to the hilt through the tiger without breaking eye contact with the woman. Dropping the weight of the cat with his sword he rushed in on his target. He aimed the spiked shield at her and slammed his weight forward, she was crushed between him and the pillar. Light spilled out the sides of the shield and he finally relaxed.

Some of the crowd of eyeballs and patrons cheered at the gladiator while others lingered in hushed whispers. Trixi pranced up next to Richard and hugged him, “That was amazing! I can’t believe you did all that!”

Richard looked down at the vulpes, grateful it was just a simulation. He wrapped a tired arm around her, “I don’t know what came over me.”

“I never thought I would have that effect on anyone. Did you do that when I got hurt…” Her face blushed, “Thank you.” She happily picked up his sword and handed it to the tired fighter.

“You aren’t staggered by gravity anymore?”

She shook her head, “One wound left, the effects are all gone.”

Richard wiped the sweat from his brow. Grateful he didn’t need to worry about her getting too strained from the game. They gazed up at the wheel again. It spun around and stopped on a blue square; harder weapons appeared in the text below. The crossbow and the black blade shined with a golden shimmer.

Richard grinned wide and twisted around cutting at the stone pillar. The rock shattered at the blade’s edge leaving a large gash in the column. Bits of debris sailed to the sandy ground. Trixi tried her weapon and fired a bolt at another pillar. The impact caused a small crater at the point of impact. There was a mixture of responses from the crowd, most booed while others cheered the duo on.

“I think we just got easy mode now,” Trixi said with another bolt loaded.

Richard heaved, winded, he stretched and grabbed his helm from the sand, “Let's end this.” He slipped the helmet on and waited for the next combatants to enter.

They stood around and waited. And waited. Whispers were heard from above. Richard and Trixi walked to the center of the arena looking around. He asked, “Where’s the next opponent?” The audience peered over the lip looking around as well. Then Trixi’s ear twitched to the sound of shuffling sands. She quickly turned in the direction it originated from. The sound stopped.

“I think it’s rogues. I can hear them faintly.”

Richard faced the same direction, “You can hear them?” She nodded and her ears moved around under the pink coif. Picking up another shuffle of sand she fired a bolt. The bolt struck the side of the arena. The fox loaded another bolt with her pointed ears on alert.

Richard kept his eyes around him for the faintest hints of an attack. Reminded of the real problems he had on the station. Waiting for an unknown assailant to attack. The focus on his surroundings was interrupted by the weight of gravity. It’s been taxing his body, he needed to take a break, but he couldn’t, not now. His breath became ragged.

Trixi fired another shot at a blur she saw, they dashed away, kicking up a small amount of sand as they ran. Richard let out a grunt of pain, a blur of light had struck him with a dagger under the armpit. Light poured out of the wound. He tried to grab at the figure only for the stealthed foe to dash back unseen. The vulpes lost track of the target and then turned to realize her bastion started to show exhaustion, “Are you okay?” He nodded silently and kept his attention on the environment.

The fighter’s sword arm was now numbed from the attack. He switched to a more defensive poise, shield and arms tucked behind a shield. His back was now to his ally. Trixi noticed this and put her back to him to cover his weak point. She stared carefully and listened to the sounds of the sands. She had one trick that might work from her class spells, but she needed a target. They both strained to pick up any evidence of the opponents. Even the crowd hushed to try and pick up what the fox girl was hearing.

A loud splash of sand echoed in the direction to the left. Trixi turned her head in the direction to see a rock bounce. Richard murmured, “They’re tossing stones now. It flew from behind the pillar.” She reassured herself and stayed true to keeping her eyes and ears for the softer noises, and slowly grabbed at her waist. She pulled out a small branch wand and slid it parallel with the stock of the crossbow.

She batted Richard’s inner thigh with her tail, “I have a plan.”

He stilled his body and steadied his breath, prepared to attack. Another splash of sand from a tossed rock. She fired the bolt at the stone. She then pivoted to where she was aiming just as the blurry figure sprinted into view. Her paw pulled the branch away and fired, “fäks ?f?(?)r!” An array of glitter hung in the air around the target and stuck to their form.

The stealth field faded away and a man dressed in complete black garments materialized, only his eyes were exposed as his body was sticky with glowing glitter. He pulled back his charge as he tried to wipe the substance off. Trixi notched another bolt and aimed true. The ninja’s body exploded into light. The glitter in the air started to spread around the arena, it stuck to every crevasse.

The other ninja jumped off a pillar he clung to. His façade was broken. He attempted to throw shuriken at the back of Trixi as he fell. The fighter defended her small body quite easily with the tower shield. The bladed star bounced to the ground as the ninja took a three-point landing. They glared at each other, waiting for the other to act. Trixi stepped tentatively around her protector, crossbow ready. The ninja reached behind his back.

Richard readied his shield, “You know you won’t win now.”

The ninja scowled, “If I can take her out at least I get paid.” He threw two silver balls from behind his back, they collided with the bolt as it flew through the air. The balls explode into a massive white cloud that enveloped the three of them.

The ninja dashed in the mist disturbing the cloud to twin spirals as he passed unseen. Kunai are drawn ready to decapitate the alien fox. He memorized where she stood and made a wide slash to get her throat.

He sliced through nothing. He tried to retreat to get another shot but couldn’t move. Cloud of mist dissipated, and he found himself stabbed through the back, completely impaled to the ground. In the last moment when the ninja dashed forward, Richard scooped up Trixi and thrust the sword where he believed the ninja would strike. Richard mocked, “I warned you.” The opponent vanished like the others.

More of the crowd cheered at the odd couple as they won the match against the most overpowered class in the game. Trixi was dizzy from the quick movement. She was hung over her savior’s left shoulder and was returned to the sandy ground. A blush spread on her face as she pointed her muzzle at Richard, “You know how to handle a woman, huh.”

Richard was amazing how quick the fox was on her feet, “You were fantastic that fight, you had a perfect plan.”

Her face reddened even more, “I-I’m a clown! I always have an ace up my sleeve.”

He smiled under the helmet seeing her flustered like that, “Just two more fights to go.”

The crowd continued to cheer them on as the wheel appeared again. Round and round it went only to stop on a red square. They held their breath for the result ‘broken armor’ appeared. The crowd ‘oohed and the eyeballs swarmed. The purple eyeball laughed, “I hope you both don’t mind fighting in your underwear.” Richard looked at his armored glove as it turned into a liquid and melted away revealing his hand. Soon the rest of his armor started to fall apart. He was standing there in a pair of red boxers.

Trixi’s dress fell away from her body, the eyes were glued to her body unblinking. She decided to pull out her staff and give a little extra of a show for them. She twirled once, her fluffy orange tail caressed her body letting the clothing melt away revealing her purple bra and panties. Once she saw Richard she stopped. He attempted to block the view of himself from the various eyes trying to spy his bulge. He raised his shield to the eyes giving her a fantastic view.

“Are you packing another gun in there? that thing is huge!” She covered her snout quickly as her unfiltered voice escaped. Richard glared at her with a deep scowl. She giggled and looked him over once more, “Did you do an unedited 3-D scan when you started?” Richard didn’t say anything, just tried to block everyone’s view with his shield. The eyes orbited the two of them, chances were high they would be posted on some space African honey enthusiast forum somewhere. “Should have done what I did, this body isn’t mine…” her hands passed through the model and squeezed her body hidden below. Honk! She continued, “A few alterations on the sliders.”

Richard was still agitated, “Alright the peepshow is over folks, let us fight or I’m calling foul play.” The eyes all quickly retreated, the A.I. responsible for maintaining the servers will ban anyone that interferes with the fights.

Richard readied his sword and shield, a roll of the shoulders to loosen them. Trixi swapped her weapon to her crossbow again using her menu then waited next to Richard. She stole a few extras peeks at Richard’s boxers before focusing on the arena. He only hoped that the enemy wasn’t a ranged class. Without armor, he’s just a walking pin-cushion.

Two figures entered the arena, a woman with a perfect hourglass figure wearing a white robe and a man in full plated armor with a matte white finish on it. The woman's face was hidden with a white mask with a hood over her hair. There was a glowing white aura around the knight, a large crown of gold over the metal-plated helm. He pointed a sword out to Richard, “I watched you two fight, you have the heart of a knight… Even if you lost your armor.” The woman stepped with him and raised an ivory staff with her white-gloved hands, channeling light to the warrior. He resumed his monolog, “I’m not like the rest of the people you fought, you have a deep bond with your partner, I can sense it. Expect a real battle.”

Trixi shot a bolt as he finished talking. The bolt shattered into light as it approached his head. Richard bounded forward; it was a strange feeling to see his body but still feel the clothes. The sand felt slippery from his extra weight. He struck his black blade at the ivory knight. The sword clashed with a pure white blade, a weapon of equal beauty. The crowd murmured while they watched the battle. The blade was a similar beta blade given to top performers of the game.

Richard strained as he locked blades, the ivory knight held the blade with both hands to hold off the tremendous weight. Richard gritted his teeth when he heard another bolt sail through the air, aimed at the woman. The knight blinked away, Richard stumbled forward in the sand. The bolt was deflected by a white buckler.

Once the naked fighter got his footing, he targeted the woman. She had been channeling her magic through the staff when he ran up and slashed at her. She vanished before the sword could make contact, the ivory knight took her place. The sword clanged loudly with the buckler causing the knight to skid back a few inches.

The knight grunted and clenched his fists, “You hit like a truck.” Richard proceeded to provide an onslaught of attacks, slashing at him with unrelenting force. The white knight buckled to a knee from the blocked attacks. The white light flowed around his body once more, the female channeled her power through him again. The knight stood and locked swords again with both his hands.

Trixi fired another shot only for the whole series to play out again. The dash, the block, and the dodge. The two of them were synched so well together. She watched Richard struggle to hold up his weight and yet he was continuing to fight. She loaded a bolt and waited for an opportunity to strike.

Sweat poured from Richard’s face, holding pressure on his opponent. A moment of clarity in his mind as they shuffled back and forth for one to press the advantage, he knew the key to his enemy’s defense was the woman. He gritted his teeth, “You are good, a shame I have to beat you.”

The white knight laughed through labored breath, “I’d love to see how you pull that off, lugging around in around 200% gravity is taking its toll.”

He shuffled back a few steps letting his opponent press him, he shifted to the left then the right positioning himself between the woman and the man. The fighter’s one arm pressed to the white knight’s two. He glanced over at Trixi who had her crossbow aimed at the woman. Perfect. With his free arm, he tossed the shield back at the woman, allowing the skill to let the shield fly. The white knight watched as the spiked shield soared into her partner. The impact caused her to step back and stop channeling. Richard pressed the attack grabbing the handle of the sword with both hands and pressing through the white blade. The ivory knight’s weapon started to crack. The warrior’s blazing eyes stared his opponent down.

The woman regained her footing, she pulled the staff forward to cast the defensive magic again. A loud twang interrupted her, she looked down seeing light leak from her body, a bolt to the ribs. She collapsed to the ground and faded.

The white warrior wasn’t left to mourn, as soon as his partner fell his sword shattered. Richard pressed through cutting his opponent down. The warrior laid upon the sand, light emanating from his opened chest, “Heh, we should talk after the fight, win or lose.” He disappeared from the battlefield. The crowd roared with cheers and Richard knelt to catch his breath.

“Are you okay, do you need to sit down?”

He huffed, “I can handle it. Just one more fight.”

She pressed her body to his, “Please don’t push yourself too hard. It’s just a game.”

He could only feel her jumpsuit on his arm, but the sight of her beautiful fur pulled at his heart. He looked into her crystal blue eyes and saw the worry in them. He took several deep breaths and then stood again, “I’m good, I have two wounds. If worse comes to worst, I will die and come back refreshed.”

The wheel spun for the final time. It landed on another red space, ‘Weaponless.’ His shield and sword turned to ash before his eyes, and Trixi grasped at her weapon as the ashes blew away. “How are we going to fight now?” Trixi huffed.

He answered back, “Looks like it’s CQC.” He hid how bad it was, he wondered how he would possibly win against a fresh-faced enemy.

The eyeballs circled closer; the arena silent. The final round. The sound of metal armor clinked, two warriors in full plated armor, shiny steel. One wielded a heavy two-handed ax while the other wielded a heavy maul with vicious spikes. Richard shook his head and whispered out, “Fuck.”

The ax-wielding warrior spoke, “Look at ze little gremlin. I woonder what sound et will make when wee crush et.”

The maul holder laughed heartily, “This will bee fun. I loove crushin’ xenoos.” Richard put up his fists, in a vain attempt to look threatening. They both laughed, “And heere is the nakeed knight, nu weepon ta fight with.” Richard sized them up, tall, but the armor hung on their bodies loosely. He thought up plans to get in close to grapple them.

The two armored enemies laughed amongst themselves speaking in a foreign language. The naked fighter took his chance to try and catch them off guard. He sprinted through the sand to try and end this quickly, muscles burned as he closed the gap to the warriors. The maul wielder picked up his weapon and made a large arch at him sending him flying, bouncing in the sand. He let out a pained grunt as his whole body went numb.

The audience and Trixi gasped in unison. She joined her companion, “Are you okay?”

He coughed, “I’ll be fine…” The adversaries started to meander over to them weapons ready with both hands as he caught his breath.

The vulpes thought quickly about what to do, she sprinted toward the warriors. They braced for a counterattack. The fox passed between them. They weighed their options, attack the downed warrior, or give chase to the alien. She turned and taunted them to help persuade the decision, “Ikea sucks, and your meatballs taste like dog food!”

The ax wielder protested, “Noow that was uncalled foor missy.” He turned to his friend, “Leets geet eer.” The two started to chase the little vulpes around the arena. Her small frame danced on the sands while their lumbered movement kept digging in.

Richard pushed himself up his health waned. He looked over to see Trixi running circles around the two. She continued to goad them as she ran through the sands, “Swedish fish taste like wax!” He tried to spot an opportunity to attack, any straight-on attack would be impossible. He gazed up at the pillars, if the ninja could get up there, he could too.

At the base of the pillar, he placed his hands in cervices between the large carved blocks. With pained muscles, he climbed up high. Higher and higher till he reached the top of the arena. He looked out and saw the crowd murmured, questioning his actions, the eyes flowed like a swarm around him. Then he looked down, two stories below Trixi ran around the arena, always ahead of the winded warriors. He flicked a pebble from the top of the pillar down and timed it, then he waited for his targets to get close.

Richard watched Trixi run in a figure-eight around the pillars, laughing the entire time. The warriors started to slow chasing the little fox. She then ran around the pillar he was occupied on. As soon as the warriors got close, he leaped. The crowd gasped.

After the wind hit their face, he realized his reckless mistake. He was two stories high plummeting to a very hard surface. The game also realized this and slowed his descent to safe levels. The two warriors ran after the fox when behind them a loud thud and a groan of pain. They turned to see their other opponent just landed behind him.

The two looked at the boxer-wearing man and laughed, “Ya almoost had us.” Weapons were drawn they both struck down on him. Trixi looked on as Richard splashed into light and faded away. Her heart raced as she took deep long breaths.

Richard appeared in a small dark cell; a large timer counted down on the wall. He was back in his full armor set with his weapons. He was graciously given a seat to sit his tired body down while he waited. He heard the echoed gasps and cries of the audience. He knew Trixi could hold her own for the short time. Rolling his arms grateful to finally be back to normal gravity while he waited.

Once the timer ticked to zero, he stood and readied his shield and sword. He reappeared back in the center of the arena. He was taken aback by what he saw. Trixi crawled around on one of the warriors, her teeth bare and ears back. she growled and snapped at their hands. Her claws were buried in the armor of the warriors while they tried to grab her. Their weapons were tossed aside while they dealt with the vulpes.

The furious vixen tried to claw her way through the armor but to no avail. Hands grabbed her and she desperately clawed at the armored gauntlets and kicked frantically, “Let me go this instant!”

The opponent sighed with relief, “Caught ya noow, feeral beeastie!” She squirmed helplessly as he held the nearly naked fox at arm’s length under her armpits.

Richard ran forward, he felt like he weightless once the effects fell off from him. Reinvigorated he sprinted through the sands to rescue Trixi. The warriors faced each other perpendicular to Richard’s trajectory, one held Trixi tightly while the other pulled out a dagger to stab the vulnerable vulpes. She continued her protests while her small paws kicked at him. Richard was behind the warrior before he could touch her with the dagger. Trixi fell to the ground as the other warrior opened his mouth to warn his partner. The black sword pierced through the first warrior.

The blade twisted, and he vanished without a word. The other warrior stammered back, the gaze through the slotted dark helmet was more frightening than a screaming fox girl. The black blade dashed forward through the slots of his helm. Light erupted from the wound, and he faded away. The battle was over.

Trixi looked down as her dress was returned to her. “We did it!”

Richard collapsed to the sand with clarity, his chest raised with each deep breath, “I used to go 12 rounds before I got this exhausted, what the fuck happened to me.”

She sat next to him, her tongue hung as she panted. They both stared up to the cheering crowd. “You were amazing out there. Doing all that for me…”

He wheezed, “You fought very well yourself, I have never seen you fight like that before.”

She looked away embarrassed, “I felt like I was cornered…”

Richard comforted her by touching her paw, “You were absolutely amazing, and your aim has improved leaps and bounds. Told you the unmodded crossbow in this game works like the pistol.”

“Thank you… for everything.” He took a deep breath and sat up, the two of them locked eyes for a moment. She reached up and removed his helmet. Sweat beaded from his forehead and dripped into his eyes. He winced and wiped his brow.

She giggled then sat back and watched him silently. Once his heart rate steadied from all the running, jumping, and falling. He stared deep into her eyes and he felt his own face flush. She leaned her head forward and puckered her black lips. He swallowed, wondered if he should interrupt her or press to her. That thought remained where they were, as the game teleported them out of the arena.

They found themselves surrounded by the spectators just at the entrance. The audience cheered the couple on. Trixi was bombarded with praise from the humans. She fought viciously in the battle and handled herself against opponents much larger than herself. She was floored by the compliments. Richard stood up then helped her get to her feet, “Well we won over the crowd, that’s a good thing.”

She beamed and thanked everyone that spoke to her. Her escort smiled and thanked the people that congratulated him as well. The exhausted man winced as his body ached. The vulpes saw his haggard state, “We should sit you down you look like you might collapse.”

“That would be lovely…” Shoulders dipped as they walked toward the balcony edge. Other combatants have already started fighting, they looked small from the lip of the arena. Once he sat down, he leaned back and closed his eyes. Trixi smiled and started to look around the area for the rich man. She instead saw the ivory knight and the woman pair. She got up and waved to them. They waved back and made their way toward her.

“Hello, again vulpes,” the knight said taking a seat in the row behind her.

She stood on the seat to talk to them, “My name’s Trixi and this… this…” She paused for a moment and looked over at Richard who slept on the seat, “He’s Richard.” Her paw pushed him in the shoulder to awaken him gently.

He grumbled in response and then noticed who she was looking at, “Oh, sorry I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“No worries friend, my name is Harvis and this lovely young lady is T’ashi” he motioned to the white-masked woman who giggled at the compliment.

“I’d shake your hand but it would just phase through.”

“I wanted to congratulate you on your victory, you two fight ferociously, and jumping off the pillar with the gravity debuffs, I laughed hard when I saw that you attempted that.”

Richard embarrassingly scratched the back of his head, “Not my finest ideas.”

T’ashi started to speak, “I also wanted to meet Trixi. She had a lot of courage to come here without any disguises, and the crowd’s reaction to you gave me hope that things are starting to change with humans.”

Trixi raised an eyebrow puzzled, “What do you mean?”

She took her gloved hand and pulled back her hood. Small furry pointed ears popped up and she slipped the mask off and revealed she was a white felinid with brown stripes or perhaps a brown felinid with white stripes. Trixi picked her jaw off the ground. T’ashi smiled, “Humans despise aliens, but the way they cheered for you almost brought me to tears, daily I have to deal with so many negative messages and poisonous words.”

Trixi glanced down for a moment, “I know all too well about that. But considering how interested they were in my bra and panties you would think they secretly have a thing for us.” The two of them giggled and then Trixi explained, “But coming here wasn’t my idea, it was Ri- I mean HoS’.”

Richard watched the felinid and then at the white knight, not paying attention to the conversation. The only thing he wanted to do was lie down. The vulpes nudged him. Confused he muttered, “What?” The three of them laughed.

Harvis shook his head while holding his chest, “You two are like a married couple. How long have you two been together?”

Trixi and Richard looked at each other, the thoughts that he left behind in the arena rushed back in. He liked her but didn’t know how it would work out, potential futures played out in his mind, would she like him in a few years when he gets even older, does she think he’s too old now... She smiled and then turned to the other couple, “We aren’t dating…”

T’ashi frowned, “Awww… you two looked like such a cute couple.” Richard shook his head awake. He heard that phrase before, the mime even acted it out.

Trixi’s face reddened from the complement and started to nervously play with her tail, her head full of thoughts. The other two looked at each other and the felinid smiled, “Well I’m sure it’s getting late for you two. He looks like he is going to drop. I’ll send you two friend requests; you can message us, and we can maybe talk again sometime.” Trixi nodded watched the two of them get up and leave.

“Well, that was interesting, glad I caught all that, or else the team will think I’m cheating” the familiar voice spoke up. They turned to see the rich man sitting on the edge of the arena. He pointed to his glass tablet again, “Gonna need those deets again little foxy. You two made me quite the mint, shame I can’t milk that cow again… no-one will bet against you after that performance.” Trixi gave her numbers again and the man smiled, “25% just like I agreed, I have the totals if you want to look at it. I am honorable, even though my mother told me I look like I sell drugs or insurance.”

Richard opened his hand and was promptly handed the device. He looked it over and he managed to get 15 million credits total on the entire fight, “I thought you said 10 million?”

The man smiled smugly, “I didn’t close the bets, they thought they could recoup the losses by betting against you still…” He shrugged, “So I kept them open. You should have seen them bitch and moan when they lost. Priceless.”

Richard chuckled under his breath, “Well that’s a nice chunk of change, Trixi will be very happy.” He handed back the tablet and he finished the transfer. Trixi stared intently at her PDA hitting refresh every second.

Once the transfer went through her eyes watered, “Thank…” She sniffed, “You…”

“I didn’t do anything, I saw a winning team and just put capital on it. You two did the work.”

Richard said, “Well thank you for putting up the capital, and honoring your agreement.” He got up with a grunt, “My age is starting to get the better of me, we should head out Trixi.”

Her eyes were closed tight tears stained the edges as she held her PDA to her chest. Richard looked at the man, “Well goodbye, maybe we will meet each other again.” The wealthy donor smiled and waved farewell. Richard commanded, “Computer end program.” The world faded away and melted back into the cube they started in.

Trixi kept her eyes glued to her account and the 3.7 million that was added to it. She thought it might have disappeared when the program ended, but it didn’t it remained in her account when the world faded back to the glass tiles. She started bawling and embraced Richard, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You have no idea what this means to my sister and me.”

He touched the top of her head and stroked it softly as she cried on his shirt. “It’s nothing, really. I’m already well off, and I know how many credits go on alien worlds.” She squeezed tighter around his waist. He yawned and continued to pet her, “I think it’s time for bed.”

The sobbing furball rubbed her eyes, “You’re right. I’m sorry… I just…”

He looked down at them and smiled, “It’s okay. You have done a lot for me as well; I would still be a sad sack waiting in my bed till I rotted away.”

She stammered, “Y-yeah, but not 3 million worth…”

He bent over to get to eye level with her, “I’m telling you; I am doing just fine, it didn’t bring me any happiness.” Staring in his tired eyes, she moved her muzzle to the side of his face and kissed him. Shocked he popped up and touched where she pecked him. She held her breath and waited for his reaction to the sudden expression. He smirked, “You can call me Richard by the way, you don’t work for me. No need for the formality.”

She beamed with joy then glanced at her PDA again, “Oh! My sister is going to go to sleep! I better message her before she does! Thank you again… Richard.” She pranced out of the holodeck.

He still had his hand on his cheek. Mulling over his thoughts as he got dressed. Hesitant to call her a girlfriend, though at this point the entire station probably called them that. He worried about her job and how much she enjoyed it. They wouldn’t treat her the same at all. She wouldn’t be a clown, the entertainer of the station, she would be seen as the head of security’s girl. Thoughts of what others might think of him being with an alien danced in his mind as well, but no one would dare say that to his face. He wondered if they would give her a trouble. He yawned again as the negative thoughts became too numerous.

He headed back to his quarters to get some well-deserved sleep.