FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

H** ello there, dear readers! Before this new chapter begins, I would like to take a moment to say one thing about Net Neutrality. I urge anyone reading this, who cares about free speech, to please, write your local and state representatives about it, all of our voices shouting back NO! made a difference once, and can do so again! Sorry to get political there, but please, this is something that concerns everyone who has an online presence. Please, don't do what I did and just assume everything will be fine. Please, get involved, before it's too late. Together, we can save Net Neutrality!**

With that said, please enjoy the new chapter!

"It's all coming together quite eloquently." A certain armadillo said into his tape recorder as he drove along a highway in the middle of the night in his rental car. He smiled when he say a sign indicating that the turnoff to Bunnyburrow was only two miles away. He looked over in the passenger seat where a black briefcase was buckled in the seat belt.

"If I was a superstitious mammal, I would assume that the paw of fate was in play here. Not only does the backwater rural area that Subject 1 has been taken to offer me numerous places of cover from which to observe him without being noticed, but apparently there is some festival or something tomorrow, at least based on the social media network." Edwin had been surprised that the mammals of such a rustic community even knew what a computer was.

"This is ideal for me, as there will be many witnesses to what the special item I purchased from Mr. Duke Weasleton shall do to the Subject, which in turn will greatly help the spread of mass panic and distrust of these extraterrestrial creatures called humans." Edwin chuckled to himself as he spotted the turnoff and signaled before switching lanes.

Back at Zootopia General...

The sliding automatic door slid open to admit Bogo. The cape buffalo looked around the hospital waiting room, spotting a certain chubby cheetah sitting in a chair, smiling as he watched his phone screen. The cape buffalo strode over, startling the Officer as he looked up.

"Ch-Ch-Chief!" Benjamin said as he snapped to his feet. "What're you doing here...uh...s-sir?"

"I had heard that the newest human to turn up, who was discovered by you, is claiming to be a police officer. So I came by to look into this incident myself." Bogo explained in his deep voice.

"Uh I-I-I-I see sir." Benjamin said, his tail swishing anxiously behind him. "He was wearing a uniform sir...and he had this on him." Clawhauser grabbed a box sitting in the seat next to him with several items in it. There was a wallet, a pair of shoes, and a badge. Bogo reached in and gently picked up the badge, looking at the shield. His eyes traced over the word Sergeant embedded in the gold banner curving across the top in blue lettering. He could smell faint traces of gasoline.

"Los Angeles?" He unknowingly asked aloud.

"Yessir. He said his name was Walter Cruz, and that he was a sergeant of the LAPD...and...uh..." Benjamin looked down at his feet.

"What is it Clawhauser?" Bogo asked.

"He was...well...really beat up..."

"Most of these mammals seem to be, when they arrive."

"Yeah...I asked him who did it..."

"And?"

Benjamin bit his lip, looking very conflicted.

"Clawhauser?"

"He...he said that it was some members of his department. He said that they did it because he found out that they were receiving bribes from some criminal organization...and he...reported it..."

Bogo frowned as his eyes darkened. It was very well known in the department that while Bogo was always willing to defend his officers, he had zero tolerance for any and all forms of corruption.

"I take it that he's still being examined then?"

"He...uh...well sir, he's in surgery right now."

"I see..."

Later at the Hopps farm...

Eli's eyes slowly opened as golden rays of the morning sun shone through the bedroom window. The boy yawned as he stretched, surprised when he heard a few other yawns nearby. Suddenly remembering where he was, Eli looked around to see himself surrounded by a few dozen rabbit kits, of varying colored fur and ages, some waking up themselves while others were continuing to gently snore.

The human boy smiled as he looked around at his new cousins, who last night had insisted that he sleep in the same pile as them, subsequently learning that rabbits like to sleep together in large piles when they are younger. At first he had felt trepidation over the idea, worried about accidentally crushing some of the kits rolling over in his sleep, but they simply wouldn't take no for an answer.

After some begging at around bedtime Eli relented and gently climbed onto a surprisingly large circular bed in the center of this guest bedroom floor. A few of the kits scooted out of Eli's way as he carefully extricated himself from the pile, a few others decided to get up as well and made for the door to the hallway right behind Eli, all with bed-fur.

"Morning squirt." A tan colored teenage rabbit said as he walked by, already dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt. Thomas was too old for the bunny pile, so he had a room to himself.

"H-Hi Thomas." Eli said, still feeling shy around his newly adopted family. Thomas smiled up at the towering mammal that was now his younger cousin.

"Lookin' for the bathroom?"

"Uhm, yes?"

"The closest one available that a larger mammal like yourself can use is the guest bathroom, down the hall and the third door on the right." Thomas said as a steady stream of sleepy kits in their pj's trickled past the two. Eli thanked him and started walking down the hallway, finding the bathroom easily.

After entering through the diminutive front door of the farmhouse, Eli had found out that it was common practice for rabbit families to continually add on to their homes to accommodate for the ever increasing number of occupants, and that they prefer to do so by building down. He had also learned that in addition to the army of rabbits that was at the Hopps family's disposal, they also hired on a number of farmhands based on the season to assist with their crops, and so had some rooms and facilities to accommodate different sized mammals in the maze-like halls.

After using the bathroom and changing out of his pajamas and into his jeans and a red shirt, Eli followed some delicious scents to where he thought the kitchen was. He actually got lost and had to double back a few times before he finally found it. When he did he saw many different stacks of pancakes and waffles all laid out on a massive table that a group of rabbits were seemingly working constantly to keep restocking with plates of breakfast and pitchers of different juices.

"Hi there sweetie!" Eli's new grandma Bonnie said with a wide grin as she set down a few plates, which were quickly snatched up by the river of bunnies. "Did you sleep alright?"

"Yes...uhm...G-Grandma." He said, once again feeling nervous. She walked right up to him and gave his shins a loving hug before turning back to the cooking station she had set up.

"Is there anything specific that you'd like for breakfast sweetie?" She called over her shoulder.

"Can I have some waffles?"

"Sure thing hon! Just take a seat, Luca don't you even think about it, and I'll bring it right to you." Eli saw a kit in all white fur groan in disappointment as he set the open bottle of maple syrup she had been intending on squirting on top of another young rabbit's head down on the table. Eli found a chair large enough for him that was unoccupied and sat down and huff in annoyance.

One chaotic big family breakfast later...

Eli walked out of the kitchen door outside smiling at the crystal clear blue sky and the beautiful rolling hills. He was about to go looking for Judy when Nick approached him carrying two fishing poles, one of which was much larger than the other, and a red tackle box.

"Hey there bud, what d'you say to goin' fishing?" The red fox asked.

"Uhm...I've never been..."

"I had a feeling. Wanna give it a try?" Nick held out the larger pole to Eli, who nodded as he took it.

"Shouldn't I go ask Ju-Mom first?"

"She's already on board with the idea bud." Mick said as he started to lead Eli toward the nearby treeline, where a small burbling creek was visibly running through it. Eli walked quickly to catch up to Nick, a little worried about getting lost in the woods and making Judy worry.

Elsewhere on the Hopps farm...

"Okay Jude, so once the ferris wheel is done being set up, how do you like the table of gifts going right here in front of it?" Stu asked his daughter who was awestruck at how much was being set up. Already there were several rows of game booths gearing up for later in the day.

"Uh Dad," Judy said, her ears drooping, "Isn't this all a little...much?"

"Hehe, don't worry Jude the Dude, we're just making up for all of the holidays and birthdays Eli missed out on before becoming a Hopps." Stu said simply as he went over his check list on a clipboard.

"Oh Dad..." Judy said at a loss for words, a smile spreading on her face.

"I think we can swing a roller coaster for the party, what do you think?"

"I think that the rides are going to stop at the ferris wheel." Judy said.

"Oh, alright." Stu said crossing out a few lines on his list.

Back in Zootopia...

"So Russell, how goes your homeschooling?" The polar bear asked the teen human who sat across from him in a chair.

"Okay...it's different than when I was in school."

"Different how?"

"...It's nicer...I don't feel...ignored...or like a target..."

"That's good Russell. Now, what do you think of the idea of attending school next semester?"

Russell looked away before answering. "A little...nervous..."

"That's perfectly normal Russell, especially given your circumstances. We can come back to that. How are things at the Spitz's?"

"Okay..." Russel smiled a little which Barry picked up on. "Gloria and her brother Mikey, these two giraffe twins, are always asking me to play hide and seek with them. And there's Paul, a zebra boy who's twelve, he's always asking me to help him with his math homework. And....there's the little fox kit...Ethan...he follows me around all the time and always wants to play with me. He's even snuck into my room to crawl into my bed with me." Russell's smile grew a little wider as he described his interactions with his foster siblings.

"It sounds like they really seem to have taken a shine to you. And how do you like the Spitzs'?"

"They're really nice." Russell answered, looking much cheerier than when Barry had first met him.

"Even though they seem to keep pretty busy with the others, they're always asking me how I'm doing, letting me know that I can talk to them about anything."

Barry smiled, happy that Russell was finally coming out of his shell more and more.

Back in the Bunnyburrow woods...

"Alright Eli, now we just bait the hook." Nick said as he showed Eli by sticking a chunk of some ground up beetle bait and carefully stuck his hook through it. Eli repeated the process, feeling excited to get to go fishing. They were standing next to a river that cut through the forest.

"Very good. And now we cast off." Nick said pressing the button on his rod's handle as he gave it a nice flick, sending out his line. Eli followed suit and copied Nick's gentle reeling it in a little.

"And now we wait." Nick said sitting down and leaning up next to a tree. Eli smiled as he sat down too next to Nick, just watching and waiting for a tug on his line.

"Thanks for teaching me how to fish Nick." Eli said quietly. The fox's ear twitched in his direction, and he leaned over to rest a paw on the boy's shoulder, reaching up a little to do so.

"No problemo bud. We can do this again...if you'd like to."

"Sure." Eli said as the two of them sat there. After a few minutes, Eli's line started to dip, and then he could feel a tugging sensation.

"Uh, uh, I think I got something!" Eli said, suddenly nervous.

"Alright, just start reeling it in." Nick said, coaching Eli as the boy slowly reeled in his line. As it got closer and closer, he could see something on the end thrashing around.

"I-I-I got a fish!" Eli said as Nick grabbed the line near the fish and pulled it right out of the water.

"Now that's a good sized rainbow trout Eli, great job bud!" Nick said as he had Eli hold up and smile with his catch so that Nick could snap a picture of him with it.

"Alright now, this is catch and release area, so let's put this little guy back." Nick said and Eli nodded. Nick had just finished baiting Eli's hook again when he noticed his own fishing line tugging.

"Hey there, looks like I'm up next." Nick said as he grabbed his rod and started to reel it in. Eli watched, excited, as Nick seemed to struggle with his catch, which seemed to almost pull him into the water.

"Woah...this has gotta be some kind of giant. Definitely a record breaker." Nick said as he finally started to pull his line in. Finally, with one great tug, Nick pulled his line all the way up...to reveal a fish smaller than Eli's thumb on the end of the hook, wriggling furiously. Eli snickered and then broke down laughing while Nick looked at the tiny fish with an unamused expression, before he started to chuckle. He posed, with his sunglasses on, next to his catch while Eli took a picture. The little fish was then released, and the two continued to fish. The sun slowly crossed the sky as the day drifted into late afternoon.

"Well bud, I think that we need to head on back. Don't want to worry your mom too much." Nick said. Eli nodded and helped to put away their bait and hooks. They walked along the river until they found the creek that marked the edge of the woods. Just as they were about to head out from under the trees, Eli felt a sharp sting on the back of his neck.

"OW!" Eli said, clapping his hand right where it hurt.

"What's wrong?" Nick asked, concerned.

"I think a bug bit me." Eli said as he pulled his hand back and found some bluish-purple goop in his palm, showing it to Nick.

"Ew. Here ya go bud." Nick said, offering a napkin from his pocket. Eli thanked him and took it to wipe off his hand and the back of his neck, stuffing it into a little baggie Nick had brought for any trash to go in, putting it into the tackle box. They then continued on their way heading back towards the farm, when suddenly they came to the farmhouse, with every rabbit in the family standing in front underneath a large banner that read Welcome to the Family!

"Surprise!" All of the kits yelled as they surged forward.

Hidden in the underbrush...

"The subject had just been shot with a Nighthowler serum pellet and is now interacting with the locals." Edwin said as he watched the rabbits leading Eli and Nick around the house and towards what looked like some sort of carnival. He spotted some of the more mature rabbits holding up their phones, filming the festivities.

"Soon, the human creature will feel the full effects of the Nighthowlers, and turn savage. And when footage of that gets leaked online, the public support for these things will surely decrease rapidly, allowing for mammals of science like myself to examine them properly." Edwin switched off his tape recorder and watched through a set of high power binoculars. There was a small rifle sitting next to him that he had fired the pellet from. Edwin gently patted it while saying "Money well spent," gently to himself.

And there you have it folks! Be sure to let me know what you think!