FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Vanessa and Sabrina are having a lunch out before the get together that is happening tonight, the skunk wishing to talk to the doe and fill her in a little given the events with the mystic. Sabrina is someone who could practically mingle with almost anyone, so her charisma would definitely help in getting Magnum a little more balanced. The two meet up at a cafe as a passing shower hits, the windows waves giving the water an entertaining illusion, the two sharing some casual banter to start off with, though Vanessa double checks to make sure not that many or if anyone is around in case things take a bit of dark turn.

The skunk looks to her friend "Sabrina, what do you think of Magnum?"

The doe takes a sip of her latte "I think he's kind of cute, a little on the shy and reserved side but there's nothing wrong with that? Why do you ask?"

Vanessa readies her coffee for a swig "Don't take this the wrong way, but Magnum is reclusive for a few reasons. He gets a little nervous when women make advances towards him as he doesn't understand our body language or even things like flirting."

Sabrina blinks "Is he okay?" becoming concerned a little.

"He's fine, it's on me that I forgot to tell you that he has had a bad time with women and it still effects him. I know you were just playing and I talked to him to make sure he understood it a little better, he suffers from a mild form of gynophobia and for the most part he's fine." taking a sip at the end.

The doe gives a sigh of relief "I know, to be fair I did overstep myself as he and I had never met up until a few days ago. I just get a little guy crazy sometimes, that's all."

Vanessa gives a light nod "He's relaxed since then, the sad part is that Magnum doesn't know how to handle his emotions and he can get overwhelmed pretty quickly. I've learned that it's best to take it a little slow with him and let him feel when he can come to you."

The mature doe puts on a thinking look for a moment, she looks to her friend "It sounds a little more then that, it sounds like he's autistic as well."

The mature skunk give a feminine smile "Very astute my gal pal." with a light giggle.

Sabrina lightly smiles "How about I arrive a little early and it'll be just the three of us for a little while? We just hang out and be a little casual."

Vanessa thinks that's a great idea as it would help the wolf and doe get a friendship going, plus they both share some questions when it comes to him. The two ladies finish their meeting and the skunk returns home to see the wolf doing some dusting, she tells the mystic that Sabrina will be over a little early so that they can have some time to themselves as the doe wants to get to know him a little better, the mystic gives a smile and says he's looking forward to it. The two finish getting the house prepared along with a roast in the oven for dinner, a few hours later Sabrina arrives and the three begin to hang out chatting a little while watching some television with the ladies having the mystic sit between them, he tenses at first but he quickly relaxes with Vanessa wraping an arm around him as the two ladies glance to each other, the skunk giving a light nod with a smile.

Sabrina looks to the mystic "Magnum..." earning a glance from him "I want to apologize for being a little obtuse, it's just I got a little taken aback by how handsome you are and I wanted to see if you were into it."

The wolf blinks for a moment, he gives a light nod "Thank you Sabrina, I'm just not use to interacting with women like that." a thought comes to his mind "And uh, my experience with women is kind of mixed."

Sabrina gently offers her hand to him, he eyes it confusingly at first but he carefully takes it which earns a light smile from the doe as Vanessa smiles at the two.

Vanessa looks to him "Magnum, I was wondering... if were looking for a woman to be with, what traits would you look for?"

Sabrina and Magnum look to her, but the doe is also curious about this so she joins in "Actually I'm curious myself, what kind of woman strikes your fancy?"

The wolf glances to both of them, he thinks for a few moments as he thinks back to his preferences "Well...." looking a flustered "Generally I'm more into older women." trying his best to phrase it.

Both women become intrigued by this, the doe makes the notion "Your into women that are our age?"

The mystics cheeks become consumed by a blush and he gives a nod.

Vanessa playfully nuzzles him "You are full of surprises."

Sabrina chimes in "It's a common attraction.", she gently rubs the mystics hand "Guys who have that attraction are looking for stability and a woman with the proper experience."

Stability... that's something Magnum has had to interpret for the past few years, it's taken a lot for him to get to the point of where he was at, with no home to call his own, he nomadically roamed the stars until he became the crusader that he is. Spending time with Vanessa and her kids hits different as it brings him back to a time when things were simpler. The truth is that he wants to stay even after Elvo repairs the ship, that after finishing a crusade he could return and relax... the problem though is that he's not sure if the populations would agree to it if they knew just who or what he was. Maybe he could get the people on this and the two other worlds on his side if the opportunity presents itself to where it can become a reality. He never thought he would be the position he is in now, here he is being between two women in a casual setting and feeling safe that he can be himself, learning social skills has never been his strong point as he's always focused on learning in a read only fashion, instead gathering information from text and learning as he went, he remembers trying to learn how to interact by watching videos or reading articles to see if he could apply it, to see if maybe he could try to show others who or how he was.

The thing is that until he got to space he never got that chance, he remembers how during his trials of becoming a Freeblade, no one ever thought he was inferior because of his looks or how he acted, all they cared about was seeing if he could pass the tests to become a new knight... it was the first real time he felt he could fit in with anyone. Now he's in a situation with two women that don't care how he looks and he's happy that mystics and knights are unknown here, he isn't being barraged by people who wish to worship him, people aren't giving him these stares of awe and fear, it just feels normal.

Magnum takes his free hand and gently grasps Vanessa's that's going around him, Sabrina brings an arm around him too and the two ladies smile as they hold onto him. Vanessa takes the sight of him in as he just looks so relaxed, Sabrina enjoys seeing the younger wolf looking like he's about to fall asleep actually. The skunk gives him another nuzzle, those purple eyes seeing a spark in those blue eyes of his, this is the companionship he's needed and he just looks so happy and Sabrina can see the shine too, the doe seeing a warm tear leave his right eye as he forms a smile of his own. Sabrina gives the wolf a nuzzle of her own, her green eyes scanning him as he gives no resistance, the two ladies keep Magnum in their gentle grasp as they enjoy how comfortable he looks.

Sabrina giggles a little "All we need is a blanket and you'll drift off to sleep in no time."

Vanessa is loving the scene here, both she and her best friend bringing the mystic warmth as he practically melts, she has a feeling that without her, Magnum would never act like this or rather not at first with her friend. Plus to know he's into older women is something she really wasn't expecting and she finds it quite charming actually, she moves a little closer to him and gives a long kiss to his cheek. Magnum snuggles against the skunk as he becomes attracted by the kiss from her, the doe smirks at the sight as she scoots more into the wolf.

Vanessa can feel a warmth in her heart as she looks to him, she thinks back to when they first met, how he beat back that mutt and how the two have been since then as he's been a great person to talk to and seeing how much her support is helping him... it's become far more then a sugar mama supporting a sugar baby in need, the two have formed a friendship and bond, what's more though is that Vanessa has learned a lot and how he felt comfortable opening up to her. Feeling him gently rub his head against her is very telling... thinking about it, her kids are grown and she'll always be their mom when they need her, both of her children and the mystic do get along... maybe it was time to be with someone, maybe Magnum cold be that someone and more importantly maybe she can be the one for him.

The mature skunk whispers to the younger wolf "I love you." and kisses him on the lips.

The mystic slowly opens his eyes as Vanessa pulls away a little, those two sets eyes looking to each other, the wolf presses his lips against hers as some more tears leave his eyes.

Magnum gently breaks his kiss "I... love you... too." feeling all kinds of emotion as he says those words... words he never thought he would say again.

Sabrina gently wipes those tears away and she's keeping from crying too, she knows Vanessa well and seeing her fall for this wolf told her everything she needed to know, the skunks main mission was to be a mom even when growing up and it'll always be her mission, never wanting to see another male after losing her husband... Magnum must've struck a strong cord with her. Magnum notices the doe forming tears of her own and so he slightly tightens the grip on her hand, Sabrina thinks about it for a moment... maybe Magnum would listen to her and her story as well.

Magnum's markings begins to act on their own which catches both of their attention, the blue for a moment glows a pure white, then again and soon it goes to rapid flashes before stopping as a pure glow for a few seconds before slowly returning to their normal state. The doe looks to her friend with confusion and curiosity, it was clearly something she had never seen before.

Vanessa smirks at Sabrina "Can you please keep this a secret? I'll tell you more about it later."

Sabrina nods in understanding "You both have no need to worry, my lips are sealed."

..............................

Elvo is looking over the repairs and the ship will actually be void worth from a structural standpoint soon, the main concerns were the crafts stabilizers and life support now, from there it would just be a case of getting weapons, shields and engines sorted out. Curiously, she decides to check on Magnum's vital sighs given his outburst earlier, one can't be too careful and what she sees is not what she was expecting. The system is detecting stable brainwaves with natural traces of oxytocin, dopamine and vasopressin in his system, part of her wants t see what was taking place, but she didn't want to intrude in case anything was taking place.

The coyote smiles "He's happy and that's what matters."

Her attention goes to the brain scan and she sees something off, she pulls up past brains scans over the past two years for the mystic and she makes an interesting discovery, there seems to be a second set of nerves that are lined with the main nervous system but this second set is smaller and has a slightly different make up and is largely hooked up in the parts of the brain that provide the capacity for emotions, this second set looks healthy and fine at first but has degraded over a span of two years. Elvo blinks as she pulls up the chemical composition for the anti-depressants Magnum had been taking all that time, it looks like the cause of the degradation was indeed the anti-depressant... but what do these nerves do exactly.

The a.i. begins to run several tests based on all the data both Magnum and her have complied over all that time, from social records to combat files... the results are nothing short of amazing... these nerves become active whenever Magnum used his powers, the more focused and powerful the action the more the nerves become active to handle the needed power output. Here it was, the answer for the mystics powers to a degree, these nerves allow them to tap into some form of energy not located in the mystics body itself but it does use up some of the bodies stored energy, like fat and protein.

But it also paints a dark picture, the more degraded the nerves are the more uncontrolled the unleashed power is, the damage looks negligible and the numbers show that there wasn't much deviation overall. Evlo runs a simulation of what would happen if Magnum had been taking the medication over a longer span of time.... 4 years.... 8 years... 20 years... by 25 years these secondary nerves are almost unrecognizable and those emotion centers of the brain showing the same kind of decay, after running simulators with this data, Magnum's powers are still usable but either unwieldy or completely useless.

Elvo puts on a thinking look "It looks like emotion is tied to their powers... the stronger the emotion the more potent the outcome. The chemicals responsible for emotion seem to keep these nerves going regardless of what kind of intention it has, given that the anti-depressants Magnum was taking was shutting these processes down it resulted in this decay, so even without these chemicals a mystic can still use their powers but the nerves seem to basically burn themselves out.", she puts the data into compressed folder and sends it to Magnum so that he can look at it "Avoiding his emotions really hurt him in more ways then one, I hope he learned his lesson."

The a.i. receives an alert when it comes to the decryption, she opens up the files and sees various plans for assaults, most notably from the Fleur Federation which is the most recent intercepted file, Elvo nods to herself and heads to the Howl of Silvers launcher for a prototype vehicle they have been working on, she zips to the launcher system tucked behind the system for launching Magnum's armors and her automata, the vehicle is a large craft which resembles a dropship, it's a computer guided unit called Lunar Geist. The unit is mostly white with massive engines on top, long black wings on the sides, two tail fins at an angle, to the front where the cockpit would be is a large teal dome where the control system and sensors are, just above that is a red section panel which houses the tracking and communication systems and three blue M's that match those on the Howl of Silver. But the most distinguishing feature is on the underside in-between the feet is a section that opens up so that Magnum can become equipped with his power armor in the field.

Elvo sighs "I better get the Albion in place, if an attack does happen we'll need to be ready, in the meantime I'll alert Magnum and let him know what's going on."

...............................................

Kathleen is zooming through the ether, trying to see if she can get an idea of Magnum's location so she can have Circie bring her fleet in, if they can catch the mystic off guard they'll have a better chance of getting rid of him. Suddenly the jackal gets caught in this golden light, she becomes blinded by it so she does her best to cover her eyes, the light stops and she sees that she's in some kind of chamber with a powerful energy field keeping her in place.

Za'vara steps out from around the corner "Ah, Kathleen... we meet face to face." with a smirk.

The jackal growls "What is the meaning of this mystic fox?!"

The vixen doesn't flinch "Save those teeth, I am..."

Kathleen stops her "Za'vara.... I know who you are. You were a fortune teller until Magnum recruited you for his puzzle. Did you bring me here to gloat... or are you just being a..."

Za'vara closes her left hand as her eyes glow gold, energy goes through Kathleen and shocks her which forces her to stop, the pain she's feeling is crazy but nothing she can't handle. Za'vara stops shocking her and Kathleen looks to her with a harsh glare, the red of her eyes blowing a powerful crimson.

Za'vara keeps her smirk "Relax Kathleen, you and I want the same thing. You and I want Magnum destroyed, I think we can help each other. You see, Magnum may pose a sever danger to the mystics and the future as a whole, I propose that we work together to solve this issue."

Kathleen raises an eyebrow as she crosses her arms, she wasn't expecting this at all 'I guess even they have schisms.', she relaxes her teeth "What are your terms of this... confederation?"

The vixen begins to walk around "It's simple, you locate Magnum and together we bring the killing blow, you track, we both trap and kill... you can have his head as payment. I know that you and him have a past, I looked into it... your track record of coercion is interesting indeed even before you were resurrected."

The jackal's features don't flinch "Just trophies, nothing more... Magnum was a wild card I didn't know about.", she shows her claws "But I have always fantasized about having him in my grip once more.", she gives a nod "But you should know that Circie is working with me, the both of you will bring your forces to bare against him."

Za'vara stops her movement "Very well, we'll work with that miserable creature, just let us know where heis and we'll bring him down."

With the deal being struck, the vixen let's the jackal go and heads back to the bridge.

............................................

The Hunter of the Damned and it's armada are moving through the void, the mighty dreadnought brandishing it's cannons, ready for a worthy battle.

Marouge steps about on the bridge as Derra looks over the various systems and Poralla is keeping morale up, the vixen looks to a nearby panel that works as a sensor for the a.i. on the ship, the digital consciousness working alongside them to find Magnum and Elvo has been plotting a course based on the direction the Howl of Silver went as the scanner keeps trying to pick up Magnum's signature.

Poralla moves over to her fiancee "Any sign of them."

The vixen sighs "No, not yet.", she looks to the weasel "But we will."

Poralla looks to the void "It's strange... the mystics are still doing their random search pattern, they must still be in the dark like we are,"

Marouge follows her gaze "The more in the dark they are the better, but it's likely they are observing us in our search as well. It's going to be a tight race no matter what happens."

..................................

After a great evening, Vanessa is cleaning the dishes with Sabrina helping her, the two passing the time with idle chatter.

Vanessa looks to the doe "Thanks for helping me Sabrina, but you didn't have to."

Sabrina glances to her "It's no problem, give Magnum a break, the poor dear was running crazy trying to get dinner ready.", she goes back to drying the dishes "So, when do you think you and him may do it." putting on a teasing smirk.

Vanessa blushes "I don't know, the thing is that he is incredibly self-conscience and when it comes to stuff like that he's a little squeamish, I need to find a way to help him with his confidence."

The doe gives a nod "You'll figure something out."

Magnum is in his room listening to some of his favorite music, some pop songs he grew up with done by Nsync, the Backstreet Boys and a few other artists as his mind goes to Vanessa, he gets off the bed and looks to the night sky, he's nervous about the whole thing with the skunk but he was tired of living with the fear from the past, he needed to figure out a way to let go and to try to move on from the pain. He does have feelings for her, emotions that had developed since a few days after he arrived, he wants to try again... maybe with Vanessa he can love a chance once more. Just then the song called The One by the Backstreet Boys comes on which catches his attention, in a way it sounded like Vanessa was talking to him as the song went on, tears roll off his eyes as he looks over his time with her, how she always did her best to hear him out and to understand, to interact with him and to aid him in finding new friendships and most importantly she was there to support him. He also wants to be there for her too and help her when she needed it...

"Vanessa.... I want to try.... I will try." and he lays down, pausing the song at it's end and he soon falls asleep.

After about an hour Vanessa and Sabrina say their temporary farewells and the skunk goes to check on Magnum, she looks in to see he's asleep, she moves over to him and gives him a kiss on the cheek. So looks and she notices his music player was on, curiously she puts one of the ear buds in and begins to listen to the song, starting it over and the lyrics really hit her, she looks to him and realizes that there tear marks. The skunk listens to the entire song and she puts the player down with the ear bud.

Vanessa places on hand on his shoulder and speaks very softly "It's alright sweetie, I'm right here." as she lays with him.

To be continued...