FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Day 1, 10 minutes before the invasion...

It could have been any other ordinary day. People hustled to work, shuffled aimlessly onto the trains and buses and battled through city traffic, on their way to partake in soul-crushing labor of some sort. Desmond was no exception; office work was practically designed to suck the life out of people, but at least he could pay his bills. Sure, he was just another guy in a cubicle running numbers, a cog in the money machine paying for his boss's second yacht, but hey... he had a window cubicle. He had that going for him, eh?

The zebra half-scoffed, half-laughed at that thought as he idly scanned through the data sheet presented to him, checking for errors and inconsistencies. It was enough to make him go cross-eyed. He withdrew from his assigned task for a moment to shut his eyes, straining under the fluorescent lights (weren't those things proven to cause headaches?), and stretched out in his office chair, looking down at his upper body with a quick little sigh. He'd never been a musclebound stud, but man, he'd really let himself thin out. Overtime rarely left him opportunities to pump any iron, leaving him far more slender than he'd been at the end of high school, running track and generally being able to flex his muscles and have something to show for it.

Desmond downed half his coffee in quick gulps and slapped his cheeks. Time to wake up and check those numbers. He'd just about gotten half-way down the list when his supervisor stopped by and knocked on his cubicle divider. The zebra looked up and was relieved to see the black and white flash of a skunk tail before anything else. As far as managers went, Aiden wasn't a bad guy. He just had to play one every now and then to keep the higher-ups happy. It helped that he was around Desmond's age, friendly, and kind of cute besides.

"Sup broham?" the slightly shorter man yawned into an open hand.

"Ah you know. What brings you to this little corner of purgatory?"

The skunk grinned and sauntered into the cube, peeking over Des's shoulder at the report he was finishing. "Just doing my rounds. Whatcha doin' after work?"

"Fraternizing, if your tone is any indication." Desmond matched Aiden's smile for a moment. "What're ya thinkin'?"

"That cute kittyboi maid cafe that just opened up a few blocks over?"

The zebra snorted a laugh. Even had it not been for his voice, his walk, the way he carried himself, or the various other things that painted Aiden a bright shade of gay, he sure had no problem letting people know it. Not that Desmond minded, of course--there had always been a little friendly sexual tension between them. Nothing ever came of it... at least not thus far. "I'm game, nya."

Aiden snickered and playfully punched the zebra's shoulder. "Good man! Can't promise I won't try to bring one home with me, Dezzy. Some of the guys they hire in these places are-..."

Desmond furrowed his brow in confusion as Aiden's gaze turned to the window, eyes wide in perplexed terror. Just as the zebra turned, a loud rumbling BOOM shook the building. Windows shattered, spraying office workers with fragmented glass. Thankfully no one seemed badly hurt when Des finally opened his eyes to look. A terrorist attack? Natural disaster? If only it'd been that simple.

Aiden stood by the broken window, and as Desmond went over to pull his friend back from the ledge, he finally saw what had drawn the skunk's gaze. His mind spun at the sight of an absolutely massive... well, it could have only been a starship. A mile long at least--maybe bigger, but he couldn't possibly guess at that moment. All smooth edges and dark metal, vaguely disc-shaped with semicircular 'wings' on either side. The sound must have been a sonic boom from it entering the atmosphere or... warping in or... something..? His mind raced with the possibilities, not the least of which was "dear god I'm about to die."

"Get back from there." he barely even managed to murmur the words as he dragged Aiden away from the now empty window frame.

"What the fuck, man..." the skunk stammered, immediately clinging to Dezzy once he realized just how close he was to an eighteen floor freefall. People were shouting and screaming, cell phone cameras rolling. Some had dropped to their knees in prayer, others ducked under their desks, while many had already made for the emergency exits. "What the--What the FUCK, is that a--"

"I don't know man, it could be anything!" Desmond shook Aiden's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Focus! Help me get everyone to the ground floor, alright? Every single sci-fi movie has told me that high-rise buildings are exactly where you DON'T want to be in this scenario!"

Aiden stared, dumbstruck, for several moments before it all seemed to click in his head. "R... Right, right! Fuck me." He hurried over to a group of gawkers and started barking orders, panic still evident in his voice. But at least he was moving. It seemed to give him enough purpose to quell that deer in the headlights instinct he apparently possessed.

Desmond took one look up at the ship hanging in the sky. It hadn't moved, nor had any laser beams cut swathes through the city or nuclear bombs leveled them to atomic dust... yet. He sure didn't mean to stick around here and find out what this thing had in store. "Come on, let's get downstairs!" he shouted to another group of onlookers. The zebra yanked people from under their desks and off the floor, and ushered his coworkers toward the stairs. "Come on, come on, calmly! Yes, I know, it's fucked up--we can talk about it when we get down--"

"Oh my god, look!" a vulpine woman he recognized from another department shouted, pointing out the shattered window. "There's something coming out!"

Sure enough, something was indeed emerging from the vessel. A lot of somethings, as a matter of fact. Small things they were, only appearing like streamers falling from the sky at first, until they floated closer. Squirming, squiggling, slithering things, gliding through the air on what looked like slightly elongated cobra hoods. Six to seven feet long each, descending from the ship were... snakes?

The strange serpents circled through the air as they descended and, as they came upon the skyline, changed direction and made their way inside the neighboring buildings. Dezzy watched as a snake wrapped itself around someone in the next building, and he had just enough time to yell for everyone to run before an airborne squadron of gliding snakes turned toward their office and dove in!

Everything devolved immediately into chaos. People screamed and scrambled away as snakes, strangely colorful and incredibly strong, began to dive at them, wrapping their powerful bodies around the fleeing office workers! Desmond ducked between panicking coworkers and under lunging snakes, running for the hallway. It was every man for himself now. He wasn't about to die a hero! The hall was just as chaotic as the office--snakes had already made their way in, coiling around anyone they cound reach. Strangely, once their prey was caught and subdued, the snakes would lock eyes with their victims, who would then... stop struggling. Dezzy ran past several immobilized and seemingly transfixed victims, unwilling to stop and see just what was happening to them. There would be time for questions later!

His frantic sprint apparently caught the eye of an unoccupied snake; a long yellow serpent like a cross between a Burmese python and a cobra. It quickly proved that these things were as agile on land as they were in the air, slithering swiftly over crumpled heaps of coiled bodies as it dashed for Desmond! The zebra took off toward the fire exit stairwell door, already opened, the fire alarm blaring obnoxiously.

He barely had time to think about where his hooves would land as he leapt down the stairs and landed hard at the bottom, his knees crying out in protest. God, how he wished he'd kept running after high school. The serpent leapt down the stairs after him, its hood open wide to allow it to gracefully and yet swiftly glide after him. Thinking quickly, Dezzy crashed through the door at the first landing and flung it shut behind him, the serpent's face bonking the door with a muted thud. He stumbled into the first room he could find--a janitor's closet--and ducked inside, shutting the door behind him.

Out of breath and dazed from the sheer insanity of it all, it took Desmond a moment to realize the closet had already been occupied.

"He... heeeh... heeelp..." came a soft, dreamy voice in the corner, causing the zebra to jump in terror! Fear turned to dread, however, when he realized whose pleas they were. Aiden, once so full of energy, had a bright blue snake coiled around his chest and shoulders, its eyes illuminating the skunk's face with a maelstrom of colored, pulsing rings. Said colors mirrored in Aiden's eyes as he stared, dumbfounded, his face contorted in an unsettling mix of bliss and terror. "D... Dez... help... meeee..."

"Ooh, a visitor." the serpent purred in a soft, sultry tone. They could speak... and he could understand them! Clearly that was the least concerning part of this. What was it doing to Aiden? "Don't worry, boy. You'll get your turn."

"Get off my friend, you slimy little--!" Dezzy had no idea where he found his nerve in the haze of horror swirling around his head, but before he'd even realized it, he'd lunged forward and grabbed for the snake's throat! He squeezed as hard as he could, but the damn thing's muscular neck was just so... firm!

"Tsk tsk." the serpent tutted gently. "Eager, are we? Very well..."

Desmond didn't even think to look away when its head turned, and he was suddenly staring down a tunnel of pure prismatic bliss. Every bit of terror melted from his mind, and an overwhelming sense of relaxation threatened to immediately overtake him. Those beautiful colors... so vivid and deep. The serpent hissed seductively as it swayed its head, and Dezzy couldn't help but follow.

"Relaxssss little one. Sssit tight while I finish with your friend. I'll be sure to make you feel jusssst as nicssse..."

It would have been so easy to just slip away, to fall into those colors and relax, to listen to those soft hissing tones and... obey. So easy to end up just like Aiden...

Aiden...

Oh god, Aiden..! Desmond held tight to that thought. Aiden needed his help. Whatever this snake was doing, it had no good intentions for either of them! Dredging up what remained of his terror and using it as his one last bit of strength, Desmond swung his fist in a clumsy but firm right hook! It connected with the snake's head, sending it reeling, a pained yelp issuing from its lips before it dizzily swayed and flopped to the floor, dazed but still conscious.

The zebra struggled to regain control. Those beautiful, mind-melting colors were gone, but they still swirled around in his head, and Aiden was deeper in it than he was. He scrambled to his feet and all but toppled right back over onto his skunk friend, jostling him clumsily and shaking him by the shirt collar. "Aid... Aiden..! Wake up, man!"

"Wuuuhhh..." the bedazzled skunk's eyes flickered with colored rings, which continued to swirl lightly until one last good shake dismissed the rainbow affliction entirely. "What the... Oh man, what WAS that..?"

"Run now, questions later. Come on." Dezzy made damn sure the snake wasn't getting up as he guided his friend and coworker out of its coils and back into the hallway... back into the fray.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god..." Aiden whimpered as the scene unfolded: There were still people in the hallway, but none of them were running. They all had snakes wrapped around them--some of them with two or more, and all of the invading serpents' eyes gleamed and glowed with those hypnotizing colored rings. They all hissed and hummed seductively to their victims, whose expressions ranged from struggling and resistant to blank and blissful. Some had even risen, snakes still coiled around their bodies, and begun to walk calmly toward the exit staircase, entranced and following the whims of their serpentine captors.

Desmond blushed in spite of his terror when he realized most of these people had been relieved of some--or even all--of their clothes, and those snakes' dexterous tails were sneaking into some rather personal spaces... Gah, he couldn't think about it, though! Aiden was freaking out, and they were the only two in this hallway not currently captured. There was no saving the people already being taken, so the next obvious step was escape.

"The stairs are gonna be packed."

"E-Elevator?" Aiden whimpered, hugging his zebra friend's arm as if his life depended on it.

"We'd be stuffing ourselves into a tin can just waiting to be opened." the zebra mumbled, averting his eyes from a couple of entranced workers passing closeby. The snakes coiled around them appeared too distracted to bother with them. "How about the fire escape?"

"Ooooh no." Aiden whimpered. "No way. I'll die if I so much as think about looking down."

"Dammit. Alright." Des finally conceded. It was that or lay low in the closet, which hadn't turned out well for Aiden. Furthermore, flying through the air was how the snakes preferred to travel to begin with, and going outside would expose them immediately.

For want of a better option, they slowly maneuvered around the coiled piles of moaning, squirming bodies. Multiple people reached out to them in passing, murmuring pleas for help--Desmond's heart ached for them, but his sympathies quickly dissipated when some of the snakes turned their bewitching eyes to the pair as they drew near, attempting to slow their escape. Many times, flashes of those colors dazzled Dezzy's already addled mind, but the pair covered for one another, shielding the other's eyes with their hands if they dared to stare too long. With some careful maneuvering, they passed the already busy serpents and made it into the elevator.

The doors slid shut, and the two slumped against the back wall, the day's events finally catching up to them. Desmond tried to calm his thundering heart, and Aiden half-cried, half-rambled. "W-W-What the hell is this, man?! What are these things doing to them? To US?!"

"Quiet, they might hear you..!"

The skunk clapped a hand over his mouth, tears streaming down his cheeks. Desmond sighed, drew his friend into a hug, and kept an ear out for anything potentially slithering in. Aiden had always been such a low-stress guy. Just how he'd made his way to management was beyond Desmond. The poor skunk wasn't made for this kind of excitement.

"G-G-Guess we... we'll have to put off the maid cafe, huh?" Aiden laughed humorlessly, trembling against Desmond's chest.

"Guess so, buddy. Maybe next week."

Aiden swallowed hard. The pair went silent for a while--the elevator continued its descent to the ground floor, making no stops along the way. Either no one else had considered this option, or... well, Desmond didn't want to think about it. So many people captured in the span of... how long had it even been? Under an hour, surely. Everything had escalated so quickly. Maybe that was why he wasn't hearing fighter jets or explosions. God, he hoped that was why.

"It felt... so good." Aiden spoke up, his trembling having died down a little, a mysterious tone of longing and fear in his voice.

"What?"

"The... the snake's... whatever it was doing." the skunk shuddered, his eyes far-off. "I didn't... It isn't even that I couldn't think about how scary it all was. I didn't WANT to. So I... DIDN'T. The snake told me I wanted to be... happy and peaceful... and I almost was..!"

Desmond held the skunk a little tigher and ran his fingers through his soft hair. "Hey buddy, I know. It was... weird."

"And then I--and then I saw you and I saw your face, and I remembered what was happening..!" Another fit of sobs shook Aiden, and he buried his face in Desmond's chest. "I love you, man... Don't leave me alone in all this..!"

He wanted to say something comforting. "It'll be okay," or "I'll never leave you." How was he going to convince his friend if he couldn't even convince himself? The dinging of the elevator and slow whirr of the doors opening brought on a wave of dread, which wound up being perfectly justified.

The snakes had been waiting for them. They were clearly smart enough to understand what elevators were--they could speak, after all--and it wouldn't be hard to divine their intent. For all Desmond knew, these things were telepathic and the serpents upstairs had relayed their position to the ones waiting at the bottom. Aiden screamed, and Desmond mashed the door close button, but the snakes slithering in triggered the safety mechanism, and the door slid right back open.

"Fuck!" Desmond squeezed his eyes shut and blindly swung his fists at the four serpents now slithering in with them. Somehow, even as their powerful scaly bodies wrapped around his waist, he managed to keep them from finding purchase, slipping out of their scaly grasp each time. He positioned himself between the snakes and Aiden as best as he could--dammit, if only he'd gone to the gym more and bulked up! But the skunk remained mostly untouched, whimpering and pleading for the snakes to just leave them alone.

"Why do you resissst, Earthlings?" one of them crooned into Desmond's ear. "We offer you sssalvation from this underdeveloped sssociety you call home."

They continued to hiss and flick their tongues over his fur, tickling and teasing, their tails groping between his legs and squeezing his firm backside. Aiden faired no better, the skunk swatting at the snakes who drew too close and holding his big fluffy tail out to shield him from their advances.

"Fuck you... fuck you... Fuck you..!" Dezzy groaned, trying so hard to drown them out. Even their voices were so soothing, so tantalizing.

"Open your eyessss."

"Look at me."

"Trusssst usssss..."

A stolen peek was all it took. He tried to convince himself that he'd merely looked to find an opening and escape... but somewhere in his foggy mind, he knew he'd been tempted. He knew he'd given in to that urge, and he met two pairs of bright, shining, colorful eyes. His eyes opened wide, and he struggled to fill his mind with thoughts of resistance. Brick walls, stop signs--anything with that connotation of halting those pretty colors' advance into his head! Nothing worked. The longer he was made to stare, the harder it was to look away...

"A-Aiden... run..." the zebra groaned, hoping he could at least distract the serpents and help his friend escape.

"Nuhhh..." came the skunk's response. He, too, had given in to curiosity, his eyes pulsing with rings of color as he was treated to a similar double dose of hypnotic ecstasy. The snakes entwined around Aiden's torso and slithered under his shirt, tugging helpless moans from his lips as they teased his nipples and tickled his soft tummy. "Noo... nooooo..."

"Yessssss." the snakes hissed right back, brightening their eyes to drill in their response, and Aiden murmured it back to them.

"R-Resist Aiden..!" Desmond strained himself trying to pry the snakes off of his own body, but his strength soon began to wane. The intense relaxation poured over him like a warm bath, and he was running out of reasons to say no..!

"Ssssubmit."

"Give in."

"It'll feel ssssooooo good."

"Here, let us help..."

A coil slipped into Desmond's pants, snapping the button and undoing his zipper. It looped around his cock--oh god, when had he gotten so HARD?--and began to rhythmically slither up and down, stroking him slowly. "We know how this affectssss you."

The snakes giggled playfully as their ministrations turned naughty, with Aiden receiving the same lewd treatment. He moaned loudly, compared to Desmond's muffled and restrained grunts of pleasure. Still, neither gave in. Dezzy held tight to the thought of saving his friend, and Aiden... well, Aiden was probably screaming internally.

It seemed like Desmond might break himself free of their control if he could just stay angry enough, and one of the snakes' heads ducked out of view, making it that much easier to resist the one pair of eyes! His celebration came far too early, however; the other head had gone straight for his crotch, powerful coils shredding his pants and underwear. The serpent's mouth yawned wide, slid itself over that fat zebra cock, and gulped him all the way down to the hilt. The sensation was unlike any other--no Earthly being could even DREAM to suck that good..!

"Ghhh... haaahhhh..!!" Dezzy howled in pleasure, and he was joined by the equally addled Aiden's blissful moans as he was double-zonked and treated to a slickened tail sliding up his needy tailhole. Both boys doubled over in pleasure, writhing in the powerful coils which proceeded to relieve them of the rest of their clothing.

"Mmm, I knew you'd be more agreeable if we showed you that particular skill." the snake still at eye-level with Desmond giggled, swaying its head back and forth and humming a soothing tune. "Give yourssself to ussss."

"N... No..! Hahh... f-fuck..."

"Still you fight? What a remarkable will you have! It'll be fun to finally sssee it broken."

Aiden, for his part, was not so resistant anymore. The tail pumping in and out of his ass was apparently too much, and the attention to his cock had him leaking so much. He stared longingly into the serpents' eyes, his tongue lolling, posture loosened as he swiftly lost himself in the hypnotic haze.

Desmond had to save his friend... They were going to get out of this, dammit! Alive and... unmolested. Mostly. Oh, but Aiden looked so happy... so blissed out, so horny, so deeply pleasured. And it felt so fucking good, feeling that snake's throat squeeze around his throbbing cock, those colors tickling him in places he didn't realize could be tickled...!

"Ai...den..." he managed to squeak out as his thoughts began to turn back toward the blissful ecstasy threatening to overwhelm him.

"Des... Desmond..?" Aiden moaned back to the zebra. His voice was so far-off, so dreamy...

"He's fine." one of the serpents hissed to Aiden, while the other aligned itself with his ear and whispered the magic words:

"Give in to us... and you can cum."

Desmond watched as Aiden, finally broken, went rigid, a wide smile forming on his lips as he creamed himself, spilling load after hot, sticky load onto those stroking snake scales. He moaned aloud, eyes crossing momentarily, then looking straight forward, wide and attentive, perfectly mirroring the colored rings that had swallowed his mind.

"Good boy!" the snakes praised him, giggling as the skunk continued to squirm lightly in the aftershocks of his rather intense orgasm.

"N-No... Aiden..!" Desmond's thoughts hit a wall when one of the snakes wrapped around his friend turned its intense stare his way, and he was once again at the mercy of four pulsing eyes, in addition to the snake throat milking his cock.

"Give in."

"N... no..."

"Sssubmit to ussss."

"I c... can't...!"

"Cum. Cum. Cum." the snakes hissed the command into his ears, their eyes blazing with hypnotic power. Desmond became aware of a strange tone rising up in his... no, not his ears. His mind. A low sound rising in pitch as his climax drew near, and his thoughts began to drain away. Aiden... Aiden looked so happy. He could be happy, too. He could... he could...

PING!

The sound reached its apex and rang throughout his mind, silencing... everything. He was empty. He was blank. He was... cumming his fucking brains out. That horsecock pulsed powerfully, feeding the living flesh light that was his serpentine tormentor a torrent of zebra seed, so much so that it pulled its head back and took in a ragged gasp. "So much!"

The snakes giggled around him, their tails caressing that spurting zebra shaft until not a dribble of seed remained to be milked. Desmond sat there, smiling mindlessly as all his worries melted away. Everything was just... wonderful...

"Good horsey!" one snake chirped, and the praise alone was enough to make his cock twitch.

"Okay, boys. Up, up! Time to go home!"

The pair hardly had time to recover from their ordeal, rising up on shaky legs and standing at attention. At the snakes' urging, they started out of the elevator, heedless of their nudity. Desmond never figured he'd ever see Aiden naked, despite how well they got along. The thought had made him squirm more than a few times! Now that he saw his cute skunk friend all spent and half-flacid after his hypnosis-induced climax, all he could think of was how happy he looked. And how happy he, too, must have looked!

As they proceeded to the exit, they were joined by others, snakes entwined around their bodies, clothing completely discarded, colored rings dominating their eyes and smiles wide and gormless. Desmond recognized some of them. Coworkers, either directly from his office or just faces he'd seen in passing for several months. All wore the same blissful, vacant expression, and all were accompanied by hissing, crooning snakes. They were marched out onto the streets, which appeared quite clean, considering the alien invasion and all. A few cars had flipped, and there was broken glass all over (the snakes made sure to steer them clear of it), but there was very little evidence of resistance.

Some people ran out of a nearby building, shouting for those gathered in the street to resist, to flee, to break free of the serpents' control. A few looked their way, perhaps a tiny hint of concern in their expressions, but the snakes soon took care of that, renewing the colored haze in their minds and dispatching others to pursue the now fleeing stragglers.

Neither Desmond nor Aiden managed to dredge up any resistance. They blissfully walked along, following a long line of hypnotized thralls toward the underbelly of the ship hanging in the sky above the city. The snakes around their bodies continued to croon into their ears, keeping them lulled and docile, reminding them of just how good they were to follow their commands, and how greater pleasures awaited them in their new home.

They turned a corner and beheld their destination: A pillar of light shone beneath the ship, and the faint image of people being pulled into the air met Desmond's gaze. They were... taking people. Of course they were--the snakes kept talking about this new home, of a new life, of... more pleasures...

He furrowed his brow. Something wasn't right. He had people on this planet he cared about. His family... Oh no, were they okay? The zebra nudged Aiden, marching along beside him, and the skunk blinked a couple times in response. His smile faded, and his eyes flicked in Desmond's direction. Perhaps there was still a chance to run..?

Pulsing colors dominated the zebra's vision, and in seconds that thought was extinguished. What thought? What... thought..?

"Don't worry." the snake around his shoulders hissed as she beamed pure, unfiltered bliss into his mind. "It'll all make sense soon."

"Oh... okay..." he couldn't help but believe her! Her voice was so soft, so utterly convincing, and those eyes were just... so... beautiful...

Everything shook as a massive BOOM rocked the area. Desmond awoke immediately, dazed and confused but definitely aware! He turned around frantically, swinging the snake about his shoulders too quickly for it to hold on, sending it flying off to the side! A tank had rolled through a parking garage and fired a shell up at the ship overhead, causing much of the crowd to snap out of their trances and begin to struggle against their captors. Chaos broke out in the street, another loud bang reporting from the tank's cannon as it fired again. Every round seemed to disintegrate before ever making contact with the ship, some sort of energy shield protecting it from attack.

The snakes immediately set upon the tank, and they, too, proved impervious to even small arms fire. Personal shields harmlessly deflected anything fired their way, and the tank's machine gunner fled into the turret, closing the hatch tightly behind him. The tank managed to roll forward all of twenty feet before something large, fast, and metallic slithered out from behind another building and pounced upon it.

The nightmarish image of a huge, sleek, robotic snake had coiled around the tank before Desmond even realized it was there. Metal screeched as it was bent and crushed under the metal serpent's coils, and its powerful jaws yanked open the hatch. Intensely powerful beams of colored light poured down from its eyes, undoubtedly instantly entrancing the men within, whom slowly began to crawl out of the tank, toward the metal monstrosity.

With its prey emerged, the robotic snake took its time mesmerizing them, focusing one eye-beam upon each as the men emerged in pairs. It then unhinged its massive jaws, lowered its head, and slowly pulled each member of the tank crew into its mouth, swallowing them into its metallic body.

"Oh FUCK..." Desmond couldn't think of any more appropriate words. The snake still coiled around his body tried to bring itself to his front, but a quick bap to the nose had it crumpling to the floor, dizzy. Apparently their shields only responded to things moving at certain speeds.

Aiden, on the other hand, hadn't fared as well, his eyes once again filled with colored rings as his snakey captors attempted to subdue him again. Some of the other people in the crowd had fled or started fighting back, with mixed results. Dezzy wasn't going to waste this chance--he ran to his friend's side and pried one snake off, though it quickly wrapped itself around him in response. "Aiden! Wake up!"

The skunk blinked several times, his expression contorting and twisting as he appeared to struggle... to fight! "G... Get off..!" He pushed a hand against his attacker's face, blocking the sight of those bewitching eyes. A quick glance at Desmond showed the skunk that the zebra had now become victim to the other snake's stare, which he struggled against as hard as he could.

"You have a lot of fight in you." the serpent hugging Dezzy's chest hissed softly, those colored rings pulsing so fast... so deep... "But you really must cease this pointless struggle. You've nowhere left to run..."

"Des, fight it! Fi... fi... nnhh..." Aiden's words died on his tongue as those colorful eyes returned in full force.

Seeing his friend begin to succumb drove Desmond's righteous fury, and he dislodged the snake from around him, hurling it into the crowd! He turned again to try and help the dazzled Aiden, but a loud metallic shuffling sound sent a chill up his spine. The synthetic snake had finished swallowing the tank crew and was now making its way over to the crowd, clearly intent on applying more vigorous means of subdual.

"D... Dezzy..." Aiden moaned as the pleasurable mindlessness began to win him over once more, fighting back the inevitable empty smile trying to creep its way back into his lips. "Run...! Run, man..!"

"Aiden, I--!" Desmond's heart ached, but he knew. There wasn't time, and it wouldn't do for them to both be caught. His legs were as iron weights, but he ran all the same, muttering breathless apologies to his friend as he sprinted through the crowd, putting as many bodies between him and the metal serpent as possible. He didn't dare look back, lest his regret compel him to return to Aiden's side, but the sound of the struggle dying down behind him was all he needed to confirm his thoughts: Those people were lost, and he had to hide.

God, but where? Where in this serpent-crawling city was left for him to hide? Spying a stairwell into the subway, he cut his losses and ran down the stairs, hopefully into salvation. He kept the thought of rescuing Aiden at the back of his mind. Seeing these invaders, their level of technology, and their means of capture, he knew there was no saving him. No saving anyone.

No saving himself, should he be caught...