FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 1

School-grounds, both unbelievably boring parts to any great story.

It all started with a yawn. Timmy Raxwell sat idle in a small, dimly lit, boring classroom that to everyone's surprise wasn't as old as it looked. The windows some six feet away displayed a gorgeous view of the schoolyard with all of it's colorful constructions and spinning things, and trees, all of which would be fun to climb on. If one looked at the window hard enough, you could even pretend to see the higher wall all the way across our PD, but that would have been silly. A single pane of glass however, visible rather than clear thanks to a lax janitor combined with grubby kid palms strove to make sure the distinction was clear, however dirty the glass. 'It was between you and all of this fun, playful equipment' it seemed to scream at any child with an adventurous side.

Samantha sat to the far right of the classroom and was, as per her usual self, absorbed in the teachers lectures. Though they drove on and on and on, she seemed almost delighted to absorb every factoid and sliver of knowledge that came her way. Her red hair stayed perfectly still across her back and shoulders, long and strait with no adornments or decorations. Her eyes were a deep, bright yellow that matched a few of the colorful toys just outside the window. She had glasses, thick, dark blue, and pulsing in black and white, but those were just expensive scanners and data processors that made all manner of calculations easier. They were worth the price only because they were portable.

"As we all know a single PD is roughly 7,926.41 square miles, and that the same length extends beneath your feet until you reach the outer membrane as detailed on the hallow screen. Beyond that you reach the icy cold blackness of space in whi-..."

She kept on talking, but only those paying attention could have repeated the words back at her. 'who cares what our realm is made of? So long as I know where not to walk!' Timmy would think to himself while staring over at Samantha in a mix of disgust and awe. When he felt he might throw up he'd turn his head to stare at something else, his desk, wood colored with a black trim that was actually a soft seamless steal painted to look as if it were cheaper, the dull red door with it's brass colored knob, both of which were sadly too far away to offer any hope of escape. There were plenty of other kids to stare at, but all 10 of the people here seemed to be at least feigning interest.

"It took a grand total of 41 intergalactic wars with 25 loosely held organizations of species with the intent of halting our mass collection scheme, blah scaptoas blah blah at which point the megalostructure was nearing fifty percent completion-"

She just went on and on, the screen behind her kept changing scenes to portray what her words were describing, but most of it was just too fast and uninteresting. So Timmy Raxwell sat in his chair trying to stop himself from groaning, or hurling, or anything else that might get him kicked out of school while simultaneously fulfilling his wish to leave that room as soon as possible. That very moment would have been good, but he could last for a few more seconds. 'How many were left anyway?' he'd wonder while looking up to the clock, only to sigh as he remembers that he forgot what time it was when he came in.

Hearing the sigh, the tall, lanky, puffy haired female teacher turned her attention away from galactic history and the reconstruction of earth and on towards her laziest, crudest, simplest student who seemed to lower his attention span every time he came into the room. Her disdain for anyone that could utterly ignore a history/science lesson was contained, but still noticeable.

"Timothy, as much as you'd stand to gain from reneging a proper education in favor of a genetic overall or cybernetic enhancements, lets stick to what's offered here which your family might actually afford."

Having been thus snapped out of his little bubble of misery, the smallest human say up strait and looked at the teacher with a downcast face showing resentment over the fact he was caught. Among much else.

But the teacher continued "Now as we are only five minutes away from the school beam, lets see which one of us can describe in detail the various attempts at foolish aliens at ending human domination? A show of hands perhaps?" she'd scan through the rows of kids, three kids in the front and six kids in two rows behind the first, ending with one odd chair sticking out at the far back. Four hands raised, the second to first row, Samantha of course, that kid in the far back, and a scrawny nerd looking kid right at the front. As it seems she often does, the teacher pointed at Samantha.

The young red haired girl rose and took a deep breath, just before starting into a speech as dull and uninteresting as anything the teacher might say. And (of course!) she seemed to be enjoying it even as semi-silent groans fill the classroom.

"First there was the war with the Chillraslm, a twenty foot tall crab-like like life form of minimal intelligence but powerful weapons and transportation technology. After ten years of fighting hand to hand with them in individual solar systems the Earth force employed a- ..."

Timmy could never have been able to fallow, not that he even tried. Hoping no one was looking his way at that particular moment he'd reach a hand up towards his nose, made a brief effort to pick at it, then pulled out as quickly as he could. 'I wish this would all just end ... if a random meteor explodes out from under our feet, will we be expelled from this Fell-Hole?'

"After defeating the mulliotons in what was largely space bound conflicts, the scattered remains of their civilizations fled to the outer reaches of the milky way in search of any addition forces that might turn the tide. Their efforts, though it took them nearly a century, yielded fantastic results as quite suddenly Earth-Force had to face a military and industrial power to rival blah, blah blah blah- ..."

'When will it end? Just how long is five minutes, and are those five minutes almost over?' the short haired boy thought to himself, before trying to distract his adventurous mind by thinking of what he himself looked like. At the moment he donned a thick pair of blue-jeans and a white, stained tea-shirt, but a bright red hoodie was tied around his waist like a wayward scarf. Almost girl-fashion, the sleeves wrapped around him and tied in an exaggerated knot above his groin. He had light brown hair that was kept short and strait, almost flat on top in military fashion, but this was so he would never have to bother washing it rather than any affiliation with what made such a hairstyle famous. His eyes were a dark blue, but it was hard to focus on the color of his pupils when there was so much dark, almost black skin above and bellow each eye. It was a genetic deformity, but it made him look like he was dead tired every waking moment of his life.

"And so, in conclusion, we finally grav-beamed the last of the polar regions into place thus ending the need for further confli- ... Brrririiinnnng!" Samantha had just finished, delighting Timmy with her use of the words "in conclusion" but she'd been cut off by the curt screeching of the school bell. The doorway opened automatically, but half of the class simply beamed out in bright flashes of light rather than waste the effort of walking. The teacher was smiling, wide and bright, over at Samantha, but it turned to a frown as the red headed girl left the room while Timmy remained seated.

"Well?" She asked just as three other students now had room to get up and exit for themselves.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it" was his dull response.

"Class is over, you might as well get your bratty as-" she started to comment, but was cut off.

"And thank the gods almighty for that, I can't think of anything more boring."

"grrr, and what makes you think it's safe to ignore all this, people who don't know-"

"People who don't know don't come crawling for your speeches"

A small child butt in before it became an all out argument, all three of the previous students were slowly inching their way to the door so they might see where our conversation leads. "Um, I think she's right you know, what do you think will happen if you fall off the edge?" and by this point Timmy decided to stand up, now his expression determined and calculating, if only for the few seconds it took to come up with an entertaining plan.

"I can assume you'd just fall and go splat, not hard to miss a chasm the size of a planet is it?"

"It's just not that simple Timmy" the teacher began to explain with a highly condescending voice "There are rules and bylaws stating: ...

"GAH! No more teachings!"

"Timmy! Do not shout in the classroom, you could ..."

"I could get out of here before we start into the next sentence, that's what I could do." the young, tired looking child said as he broke into a run ... oddly, he was aiming towards the window rather than the door. He took a running leap, landing foot first onto a solid pane of glass with a resounding thud, but kicked off rather than kicked through. The glass wasn't nearly as fragile as it looked, and was the perfect springboard for a higher jump in the other direction. The teacher gasped in shock as Timmy easily cleared the space between the wall and her desk without slowing down, tromping on old papers as he ran to make another leap. Two of the kids ducked out of the way while the third stood there dumbly as Timmy gripped the door frame, swung himself forward without smashing anyone in the face, and let himself drop into a neat slide near the rows of metal lockers on each side of the hallway. His shoes screeched as he hit the floor, the other three schoolchildren looked out the door at him in amazement, and the teacher was stunned speechless.

"I should have tried that years ago" Timmy called out as he rushed through the hall in a frenzied, effortless run. Turning corners and ducking around random people walking by with a practiced ease that made it look as if he ran for a living.

"H-hey! Watch it!" what looked like a human with a lions mane and a small, fluffy, bunny tail exclaimed as the child almost spilled his colorful beakers. But the moment he finally reached those big, double, metal doors and pushed hard to make his way into the bright, golden sunlight, it was empty space with no people to bump into for miles. He steered away from the forest and took off to the city at a full run. Finally out of that wretched school he could feel a glimmer of hope and joy, he no longer felt his brain was about to implode on him or that the universe ending would be a hopeful blessing. Not that there was a whole lot he actually wanted to do, but that was in many ways the point of freedom. As soon as the wide, dull grey building he'd spent an entire day in was completely out of sight he slowed down to more of a jog than a run, it no longer felt as urgent to escape.

"Haha! That bad huh?"

At the deep, almost growling voice Timmy jumped to a halt and turned to face whoever he might have stumbled across, answering.

"If your talking about school then ... YES! Oh Zeus it was horrible!"

A grey, fuzz covered body revealed itself, it was clearly male given the voice and lack of mammary glands, but for some reason donned a pair of pink shorts. And after having his question answered broke out into a more lasting fit of laughter.

"Hahahaha! Well I guess that's to be expected" a slight pause as the two looked each over, Timmy just now realizing this thing had a wolf-like muzzle, blood-red eyes, and a height of over twelve feet tall. Those pink shorts were a rather effective way to distract someone from the more terrifying physical aspects.

"Names Timmy, just heading over to ... no idea where really. Yourself?"

"Well, I um ... my names Kronk and I'm trying to find a restroom, know where the closest one is?"

"Oh, head down that road and make a right. There should be a small building with a blue sign on it with human useable restrooms. Can your race handle ..."

"But of course! I'm just a werewolf after all, not like were really that different"

"Riiiiiight ... well, best of luck"

"Likewise, oh! And before I go, can I ask what exactly you are? I'd think 'human' on your first impression, perhaps a bit moody or 'goth' but then I see all that black around your eyes. I know humans come in three basic colors, white, brown and black, but don't they, I don't know, have the same color on every part of their skin?"

"I'm human, yeah ... I think ... well, almost. I'm a mutation and I think that black skin on an otherwise white body is either a genetic deformity or just the end result of not sleeping. Similarly awkward question, if you were looking for a restroom why were you behind those bushes?"

The werewolf just stared, wondering how anyone would be dumb enough to ask that. It only took a few moments for Timmy's tired mind to catch up with him.

"On second thought, scratch that question ... why do you still /need/ a restroom if you were behind those bushes?"

"Haha, well the thing about hubs is that you can never tell what's intelligent and what's part of the scenery. This is ... um ... the first PD I've ever been on in which the trees respond violently to being watered.

"Huh ... sounds like that could have been an entertaining experience. I wont keep you any longer Kronk, good luck finding your way around here"

"Will do" were the giant fluffy grey furred thing's last words before bounding off down the street in an obvious frenzy. If Timmy hadn't known just how comical the situation was, or perhaps if the wolf-man's shorts weren't pink, he would have assumed it was a monster hunting something down. Unless ...

"Man, I hope that all wasn't some cleaver disguise or something. I'd hate to think I was tricked by a predatory wolf. So lets see, what all do I still have"

The young child checked over all his pockets, making sure he still had all his clothing, that everything was where it belonged, that there wasn't something added in. Everything seemed fine, he still had his credit cards (which were about all he had on him) and there weren't any cuts. He almost felt he was being overly paranoid. Not that it distracted him from continuing towards the city. An uneventful ten minute walk through what could pass for unspoiled wilderness, or at the very least an overgrown park, he made it to the bustling town center where all the interesting things were. Hundreds of large, square buildings of random colors and patterns were littered in between the black streets. The usual markings of yellow and white for the roads were present, as were interconnecting, large, white side walks for those who traveled by foot. And everything in sight seemed to have a sign indicating it's designated purpose. Stop signs, no flying zones, vehicle only areas, then there were the shops, restaurants, public loitering areas where random people just stood around to kill time.

A video game shop with a bright neon sign hoping to attract customers was just to the left and closest to the woodland areas, but oddly there were more people attracted to the sign than anything inside. Plenty of humans, harpies, geliofads and nerdlings were browsing through the wares as indicated by a quick glance through the windows. But there were at least twice as many winged insectoids fluttering around the sign just to stare at the light. It didn't matter if they had fluffy moth wings, scaled butterfly wings, or the gossamer wings of a dragonfly ... they were all noisy.

Just past the game shop was an Italian restaurant emanating the smells of meat and pasta in an attempt to lure in human customers. But as one walked past, if they happened to turn their heads, they might notice the opposite side of the restaurant was charging credit to insects, mice, and other vermin who preferred their food a tad aged. The whole place looked dingy and littered, garbage and rotting food that would normally have gone out as material waste from the restaurant itself was decomposing in large, locked metal boxes with various signs indicating the price of the contents. One even had "All you can eat" in large bold letters. To most natural humans the place looked so horrid, yet was surrounded by so much normalcy, it seemed unnatural that the smell of decomposition and mold weren't wafting through the streets. But that's what magic is for, now isn't it?

'At least the humanoid rodents are clothed here, odd how few normal sized rats are in this side of town' Timmy thought to himself as he gave the dining group a passing glance. A swarm of gnats, or at least gnat-like creatures were gorging themselves noisily on a peace of rotting meat. A four foot tall, male, rat faced person in blue jeans and a T-shirt with "Bite Me" on the front was enjoying his spaghetti. Odd that the noodles were somehow as stiff as the man's whiskers, yet about as fuzzy as his skin. But at least his fur was brown while whatever covered the aging pasta was greenish-white

A rather intimidating creature who stood eight feet tall but looked too much like a cockroach for any non-specialist or scent using organism to discern it's gender was at the far end the alleyway/restaurant. It looked odd in a black, latex suit with only parts of it's exoskeleton showing, but a number of establishments had regulations on when and where one's reproductive organs can be shown, which in general was not in public establishments. Then again, it might not even be a cockroach at all, but instead some other obscure life form that evolved the same standards of decency. It might even be insulted if one were to compare it to a cockroach! Such are the hazards of acting on first glance in a hub world.

There were two rodents near the metal trash boxes sliding a card in to pick through the options, both apparently male, one a mere two feet tall and possibly a child, while the other was rather tall at five feet. They might have been different species, as indicated by how the tall rodent's tail was significantly thicker and longer than the shorter one, perhaps it was a rat on the right and a mouse on the left. But so long as they had pants and a shirt on, there was no need to bother them while they looked for a meal.

Timmy glanced across to the other side of the street to see a large, red brick store with the title "Books" over the door, and a small sign in the window saying "No insects allowed" before turning to look back at the crowds in the alleyway while he walked past.

'They might loose business over that discriminatory sign' he thought to himself before catching sight of an adorable female rodent walking up to the backdoor of the restaurant with a green plastic card, presumably aiming to pay for a recent meal. What struck the fourteen year old boy about her was, naturally, her appearance. She had large round ears poking out the side of her head with pink, fluffy insides. There was no hair on top of her skull, but the poofy, soft fur covering her skin in a golden brown coat. She donned a short pair of blue cut-off jeans that revealed quite a bit of her legs while emphasizing the fact her slim, three toed paws didn't have any shoes covering them. There was a pink tank-top clung tightly around her chest and shoulders but leaving her belly button and most of her back exposed. She had her face turned so it was hard to see the front of her clearly, but most of the white in her left eye could be seen, hinting at truly massive eyes in proportion to her head. The last thing he noted, was her height ... almost as tall as him, but just almost, meaning she had to be either three or three and a half feet tall. About the height of a child, which Timmy was. You might say she was a little bit taller than him if you counted her eats in the measurement and she happened to point them strait up. Each one was the size of a dinner plate, about the same size as her eyes. The overall appeal it must be noted wasn't quite sexual nature, or even physical attraction, but rather the response a human might make after looking at a baby bunny rabbit, playful kittens or even the feral rodents of this girl's ancestry. She was: "Adorable" to the point Timmy said:

"Awwwww" out-loud just as his walking put her out of view. A spoken word that greatly confused a passing group of what looked like humans.

Lowering his head slightly in embarrassment, he looked strait down at the sidewalk and kept walking.

'It won't cost me anything to get distracted in thought now, I have nowhere I actually need to be. That's good, that is definitely a good thing.' he thought to himself. He would be walking for a while, and staring at random strangers on a hub world can be dangerous if their race happens to take a passing expression as a challenge to the death. So Timmy ignored the robots, Taurs, harpies, insectoids, and the increasing ratio of human to non-human crowds as he went further into the city.

'It's not like anything I learn at school is useless per say, it's just boring to ridiculous levels. But then, is it really? Other students seem to be handling that dinky room just fine. A few even excel in the classroom, so what am I doing wrong? It's not like I'm never curious about how things work, I just hate it when I'm being forced into learning something. Yeah, yeah that's it ... is it? Of course it is. When I want information I ask for it, and so far the vast majority seem only too eager to oblige. I know what a Traveler is, someone who walks from one Planetary Diameter to another for the sake of exploring, or tainting, or simply to right whatever wrongs he or she encounters, but I learned that by asking a Traveler not by looking at a Holoscreen in school. I know that most Planetary Diameters have a filter that warps those who enter to conform to whatever standard that PD has set, then changes them back to normal as they leave. But only because I happened to talk to an intergalactic overlord who was mad about having his Omnipotence removed before eating at a McDonalds. I know what a PD is, but anyone with eyes can figure that out, It's not like a cliff some eight thousand miles long is inconspicuous. The entire Skylar solar system is surrounded by planets that were squared off, pieced together and at least one side Terraformed so humans could live on them, effectively providing 2,756,902,000 * 3.148000 miles of real estate depending on if you choose to include subterranean species who'd want to be under the surface. Along with a good layer of air and plenty (this isn't an understatement) PLENTY of empty space between here and the now artificial sun each PD revolves around.'

He kept on walking until he almost stepped into the street, not really paying attention to where he was going. The nearby stop-sign, with it's nearly undetectable optical scanners predicting a high enough chance for this young child to end up splattered across the road to take action, bend at an angle to intercept him. He looked up to see the road and the red octagonal sign as a momentary distraction, then turned to the left and started walking down a different sidewalk. With this new street there were plenty of signs, plenty of unfamiliar faces, and more and more humans everywhere one turned, but he didn't let any of that cut into his thinking.

'But just because I know what the Skylar system megelostructure is doesn't mean I need to see a diagram of it. Similarly, I don't need to know the equations for how to measure the total landmass and astronomic coordinates when my brain isn't physically geared to handle such massive numbers. What the fell does anyone think forcing it on me without some of intelligence enhancement going to do?'

Timmy yawned loudly, covering his mouth by reflex so as not to startle any organism who might think showing so many teeth is a death-threat. Feeling mildly sleepy for the first time in weeks, he took a quick glance around and in front of himself to plot out a course before closing his eyes completely and walking ahead on memory. With his legs and balance operating on default, he figured he go back to silent contemplation.

'All this time and I haven't even thought about what's important, just where am I going? I have a decent amount of credit, nothing special but I'm not broke. I have enough acquaintances that I can ask to hang out, or even ask for favors without forcing anyone. I'm not quite hungry yet, but I feel I will be a few hours from now so I don't want to spend all the cred on fun or silly things. Just where do I /like/ going, can I even remember that? Well let's see, I could head over to Able's place and watch a gladiator tournament, but they sometimes splash blood into the stands. I could check in on Harry to see how his girlfriend is doing, and while we chat I can even scope for comic books at his store. I think these are still his working hours, yeah. I might check on ...!!!

"Excuse me?" a high pitched, clearly feminine voice called up from just slightly bellow him while a padded hand simultaneously gripped his shoulder. Timmy was surprised that someone interrupted his thoughts to ask something, could it be because he'd gone somewhere inappropriate while not looking? Had he wandered into a girls bathroom for the sixth time this week? Eep! Best not to look then. Keeping his eyes closed just in case there was something he'd rather not see, Timmy oriented his head towards what might be a little girl, a ghost, a chipmunk or some poor human sap who inhaled one of those helium farts Risahpsirs are known for.

"Y-yes, can I ... OPFH!"

"EEEEEEEEEEK!"

Timmy felt a hard shove to the chest and toppled over backwards, opening his eyes in pain now that the back of his skull was numb. The think about brick walls is that they are not fun to land on. His collar bone was aching, his elbows were scraped, and with that constant high pitched girly scream just a few feet away from him he felt his eardrums were under assault as well.

"Wha-, hey! What was that for?" Timmy asked as his vision cleared, only now realizing the girl who approached him, pushed him, and screamed in terror for some reason was the same short, female, humanoid rodent he'd found so adorable earlier.

"No-no-no, g- ... ghya!" was her response. Though now that he could see her face five things were apparent, her eyes really were massive. They covered almost half her face, her pupils alone (a bright blue) were bigger than both of Timmy's eyes put together. There was a pink triangle on top of a small bulge in her face right where he nose should be, and it was surrounded by the cutest, petit little whiskers that couldn't seem to stop twitching up and down. Her ears, while they looked rounded when he'd first seen them were now flat along her skull in an expression of fear, her thin tail curling around her stomach so that it'd be harder to grab onto if she ran. The fur just under her chin and on parts of her cheeks were stained with some sort of muck, presumably whatever she'd been eating earlier that just hadn't been wiped of her fur out yet. Then the last thing to sink in to the human youth, was that she had breasts. Large ones ... he had no idea what a cup size was and never took much interest in the attractiveness of others so he could not even begin to measure, but it would be extremely difficult for even a novice at mammary growth patterns to question her physical maturity. She was short as a child, shorter in fact than some ten year olds, but clearly either an adult already or fast approaching it.

"L-look, will you just stop screaming already? What's wrong now?" Timmy asked while sitting up for a better look around. She wasn't running and there weren't any explosions or fireballs tossed around so it probably wasn't an attack. In a hub world with hundreds upon hundreds of Travelers all looking for someone to protect you didn't have to wait long to find help against abuse of any kind.

"I-I'm sorry sir, I won't eat you mister undead, sir. I'll leave you alone, I'll, I'll ..."

"Mister? ... sir? ... UNDEAD?" Timmy blinked up at the rodent in surprise. "I'm just a human, still alive ... I think. How hard did you throw me again? I think I might want to double-check that"

"Oh! I-I-I, I'm s-so s-sorr ..." she tried to say, still obviously in shock but the way her ears perked up and angled forward indicated she was now more worried that she'd hurt someone rather than fearful of imminent attack. So I dusted myself off, propped myself up with my hands and folded my legs in under me in preparation to stand, only to find out it was my turn to cringe in panic. Nothing was broken, there wasn't any damage done that wouldn't heal if given enough time, but I'd just been pushed aside by a terrified, screaming little girl in a hub world. A HUB WORLD! Only now does the severity of Timmy's situation sink in to the point the notices the warning signs. A white man with a well trimmed beard, high drown boots with spurs on the heals, and some sort of cowhide outfit was slowly reaching for an ancient style six shooter while staring directly at Timmy. A thin man in a white robe far too large for him eyed Timmy distrustfully as he drew a long katana. Some form of combat Mech aimed at the child with pulse grade concussion blasters, it's wide optical receiver turning red as a symbol of it's intentions. Timmy looked up to a see glowing thing with a halo and bright golden wings arch it's hands back as if preparing a spell, he'd assume it was angle and that the glowing meant some electric or light based attack would soon incinerate him and a section of the wall behind him.

In short, Timmy's eyes which were usually half closed with boredom were quite suddenly as wide as they could be. Halfway through the process of standing up every one of his muscles did the smart thing and froze.

"S-so um ... you may or may not be from around here, but when you have this many well seasoned Travers around screaming for help tends to get results. Do you actually think I'm terrifying enough to end me right here and now, or can you please tell everyone it's a misunderstanding and that there's no need to jump in. Because, you know ... getting random death sentences from mouse people is something I planned on today."

The girl tilted her head a little bit before looking around herself. At which point both of her hands reached up to cover her mouth in yet another expression of shock.

"No-no wait!" She started to call out, looking at each battle hardened 'hero' to see all of what had made Timmy so scared. She decided to wave her arms for a little more attention.

"D-don't attack! It was ... it was a misunderstanding! I'm not in danger, he's not attacking me, please! Don't do any-anything rash!"

As soon as she seemed to be more worried about the welfare of the dark eyed child than of her own safety everyone who had been preparing to leap to the aid of a "maiden in distress" sheathed their weapons and continued on whatever path they'd been fallowing before the rodent girl screamed. Timmy and the girl waited until every sign of danger had passed before he finished standing up and she offered a nervous, clearly apologetic smile.

"H-hey um ... I'm not sure how to make it up to you after that"

"No worries" Timmy responded, his eyelids finally drooping to their proper, half closed position. "Just what did you grab my shoulder for?"

"Well, I ... you see? I was going to ask for directions, I'm new in town ... well, actually I come from a few Planetary Diameters over and, I'm currently trying to find H-harry's shop."

"Wait, so you just wanted directions?"

"W-well, yes ... I probably shouldn't be asking you now, it was ... I'm sorry again, I'll just leave"

"No-no, it's fine. I was actually" he paused for a moment to think it over "Just about to head over to Harry's shop myself, he's an old friend of mine I'd thought I'd check up on. I'll even take you there myself so long as you don't shove me again"

The rodent girl blinked up at him with those massive eyes on an adorably sculpted face, she looked more like a plush doll than a girl.

"You mean ... oh! Well, I wouldn't want to impose I mean, I almost: ..." but this time Timmy cut her off.

"Tell you what, all is forgiven if you tell me why you were so scared as we walk over. If your going to impose on me we might as well make it a fair exchange" to which she blinked at him again.

"I ... suppose that could work." she answered. And so both of them started walking.

"So ..."

"So what?"

"Forgot the deal already, have you? Just why did you get so scared and knock me over after looking me in the face. I'm not that ugly am I?"

"Well no, your actually really cute ... I think. I mean I don't know human standards but your adorable for my race. Just so cute we could eat you right up!"

"Oh ... that's flattering. I'd say the same about you, minus the eating part. You look more like a power puff toy with human proportions than a filthy rat." He'd pause for a moment, taking a sniff to see if the food stains still in the fur on her face smelled bad or not "But then, that doesn't really answer my question"

"Er, true ... well you see, you looked like you were undead"

Timmy blinked "Wait, undead? That's in serious conflict with your earlier words "adorable" and "cute enough to eat" you know" he was teasing, but the boy knew how easy it was for people to make that mistake.

"Well, yeah ... sort of." she looked down to the cement as they walked, staying silent for less than a minute before asking "I'm a mouse actually, is there something that makes you think 'filthy rat' when you look at me?"

Timmy looked down and to the right, from the way her eyes watered slightly and how her ears flattened down he could tell he hurt her feelings with that comment and she was trying not to let it get to her. Heck, it seemed she wanted to know what it was just in case it was a problem she could fix. So the boy answered honestly:

"Well, about the rat part I really can't tell the difference between a tall mouse and a short rat. Your both rodents and rat just happens to be faster to say, so please don't think it was any form of stereotyping involving the longstanding differences and potential wars between those two races, species, genus's, or whatever the differences might be. I don't know enough about you, or enough about the hundreds upon hundreds of variations in rodent behavior, pride, society, ect, ect ... if anything I'd rather ask and be informed. As for the word Filthy, I meant what I said in that your just plain cute. The only thing that makes me think 'filthy' is the fact you are filthy, you still have some sort of grime stuck to your face from a recent meal."

The rodent girl blinked at such a long explanation, and all the while he looked and sounded bored. Or tired. It was hard to tell the difference between the two of them.

"S-so ... OH!" she immediately began wiping her face with her arm, her whiskers twitching back. "By the way, my names Roda. Thanks for pointing the stains out before they got all dry and crusty" Upon realizing that her forearms weren't doing the job, she opened her mouth incredibly wide, three times as wide as any human possibly could, stuck her petit little paws up to lick them both at the same time, then rubbed her dripping paws over her face repeatedly in a mouse-like attempt to clean up.

'amazing how similar rodent cleaning methods are to cat cleaning methods' Timmy thought to himself. Choosing to say aloud "Hello then Roda, my name's Timmy. Its um ... a pleasure to meet you?"

Roda smiled, her whiskers and ears perking up visibly, but she couldn't talk thanks to having stuffed her paws back into her mouth. This time she was making sure to lick all the way down to the fold in her arm for maximum surface area. She was getting as much drool and slobber on her face, ears, cheeks and neck as she was on her arms. But at the very least it was working, the stains in her fur were swiftly disappearing.

"All of a sudden I wish I had a beard or something to store food in, because now I'm curious. Do you get to re-taste whatever gar- ... whatever you happened to eat before?" Timmy asked, trying to do anything but stare at such an alien display but finding that it was impossible to look away. She was just too cute! And doing that it was a mix between the grotesque and the mind bogglingly cute she might as well have been a human baby playing in mud. It's not supposed to look cute, and on any normal person it would be repulsive, but on a face like that the cute still shone through.

"MHhshgh?" Roda started to answer, a small bit of spittle flying out before she wiped her arms across her face once more. Now focusing on her whiskers so she could answer while cleaning "Actually yes, some maggot soup with a side of tomatoes and fuzzy carrots. Delicious!" Her smile brightened and her ears tightened until completely strait. But then they lowered again and her expression switched to curiosity as she turned to ask "I've been curious about humans as well though, is it true you can eat almost anything but hate the taste of insects and rotting food?"

Timmy nodded "We are pretty hard core omnivores, just not as diverse as some TerraSquids or Rodents. I don't personally like the taste of insects and I think I have a few insectoids acquaintances that might throw up if they saw me eating one of their kin, but there is a small number that find it an acquired taste. And um ... about rotting food? We find everything about it repulsive, it's an instinctual thing you know? On the old earth we scavengers who had to switch from eating nice safe fruits to rotting, insect ridden carcasses and grass. Bacteria are what causes things to rot, and in general the bacteria that eat away flesh aren't too good to have in your intestines. Too many of those who weren't repelled by rotting things died, and so most of the ones who were repelled passed on that trait to the next generation."

"Oh. It sounds like you know a lot about humans then. Are you an Anthropologist?"

"No I'm not, and actually all I know about humans is what one learns from being one ... I am still a human remember? But what I'd like right now is to learn more about whatever your race happens to be"

"W-well um ... As I said before I'm a mouse, not a rat. And my specific race is informally called the "Maggot" Mice, given our tastes."

Timmy blinks "Your tastes ... so you just like eating maggots then?"

"Er, that too ... we actually eat undead, but maggots are a close second and a favorite topping" she says with a cheerful smile, ears folded back and whiskers fully extended. Not that a gleeful expression would prevent Timmy from stopping dead in his tracks

'gah! Dead in my tracks? Bad thought! Bad thought!' went through his mind as he flinched through an actual response "So I, er ... if I look like a: ..." flashing back to previous sections of the conversation he catches she called him cute enough to eat, then said he looked like an undead. As soon as his frazzled mind put two and two together the young child slowly backed away from Roda.

Roda however just looked annoyed "Er, s-sorry there, I said wasn't going to eat you when I first saw you didn't I?"

Thinking back on it, Timmy remembered something along those lines "Well, yes I guess that's true, but ..."

"Nothing has changed Timmy, I still think your cute by mouse standards and your still human. I'm not going to jump all over you or something, and even if I was I just ate. You saw me cleaning up"

The boy nodded, reluctantly stepping forward to resume their walk. "T-true. Fear isn't always rational with humans, and having anyone hint you might be their next snack is unnerving in general."

"Well of course" Roda agreed, pausing a moment before adding with some degree of timidity "that's why I tried to avoid the question for so long"

"Hmm ... and so are you still avoiding it? Or was there something more you wanted to tell me?"

"Maybe" she leaned her head to the side so that only one of her giant round eyes was facing him, her tail curled into the shape of half a heart with it's tip poking into her shoulder-blades, and she offered a cheerful wink. If she was blushing or something, Timmy couldn't see it under her fur.

"So then, wait a minute ... if your kind eats undead, why were so afraid when you thought I was one?" Timmy's expression never seemed to change. He always looked half bored and half tired, at least during this conversation.

"Uh ..." Roda's eyes widened in surprise, though Timmy could only see one of them from this angle.

"That's sort of the disgusting part that I'm trying to avoid, I don't think you'd really enjoy listening to it"

"On the way over I spoke to a werewolf more than twice my size, in nothing but a too small pair of pink shorts, ask me directions to a restroom while stating the local bushes don't take kindly to being watered. I really don't think I'll be caught too off guard even if it is nasty or sickly for my tastes, so long as your upfront about it and not trying to be sneaky or persuasive." he responded. Adding at the last second "And considering it /is/ the undead were talking about here, it's highly unlikely any human would find what you have to say enjoyable."

Roda turned to stare at him a moment, before nodding in agreement "Fair enough, as I was going to say my race, my subspecies really, is called a Maggot-Mouse. We aren't part maggot or anything, it's just like how that plant that werewolves don't like is called wolfs-bane. We are strongly associated with maggots and rotting, putrid flesh."

"May I ask how word like that got around?"

"Sure. You know how it's very, very hard to kill an undead through normal means? Magical ones with defenses to un-normal means of eliminating them are hard to come by. The long upheld method for dealing with them is cremation, burn the bodies to ash so that nothing can form, but that just makes some of the more magic or spiritual oriented ones stronger once they learn how to use the ash that spread through the air as part of their body and cast spells with it. Not to mention that with human undead, well, carbon based and calcium using undead in general, it takes a long time or an insanely hot flame to get rid of the bones. If you just take the flesh off they go skeletal and are still as dangerous as when they were fleshy. Not to mention what happens if a fire mage turns himself into a Lich and happens to be constantly encased in flames. Burrying them doesn't really work because they eventually dig out. Covering them in liquid cement doesn't always work if they ever learn how to spirit cast ... long story short when the average undead became intelligent, sentient, and magical authorities were fast running out of ways to deal with the bad ones."

Timmy nodded as he listened to the whole bit, blinking as he catches the last sentence

"Wait, so not all undead are bad? How does that work?"

Roda giggled playfully "Weren't you paying attention? Most undead are flesh eaters, but so are several living organisms. Humans included, seeing as chickens and pigs have flesh. I said that it only because bothersome to kill undead when they turned magical, intelligent, and sentient. With intelligence and sentience comes the ability to choose morals and make decisions, and in death a good number of people are just as decent as they were in life. They simply gain the ability to turn other people into undead if they can get the infection to spread. Some take pains to avoid spreading it, while some ..." Roda paused at that one.

"Ah! I get it, have too many undead turning everyone into undead and eventually undead are all that's left. So what you want is a population control, make sure that turnings aren't random and that the homicidal maniacs who kill and revive people for fun are eliminated."

"Exactly!"

"So what does that have to do with the Maggot-Mice?"

"I'd tell you if you stopped interrupting me!" Roda answered while sticking her tongue out. A feat that Timmy would not have thought possible.

"Sorry"

"Now where wer- ... ah yes! You see some wizard and a scientist got together to make either a machine or a spell that would counter undead with ease, all types of undead, by they Viral, magical, mystical, mechanical, spiritual, or whatever type. Something that would strike terror into the shriveled up hearts of those walking flesh bags, something to keep the walking dead in line and aware of their mortality."

"So ... you're a magical android?" Timmy asked with complete shock. To which Roda busted out laughing, her bosom bouncing and giggling in tune with her movements.

"No silly, that may have been the plan, but while they were busy arguing over just what all the recommendations were a lost, starving child from a nearby forest glen knocked on their castle door and asked politely for some food and directions. He was two years old, or at least that's how the legend goes, and a normal half human mouse. Your basic bipedal rodent. Well it was really dark out and both the wizard and the scientist felt they couldn't let him risk getting killed by some wild thing, or tripping and hurting himself in the dark, so they asked him in and showed him to a room while they looked for a map. They said they didn't have any food available and that he'd have to make due till morning when the wizard could have more teleported in, but the child had spent days without a meal and was on the verge of collapse. The wizard and the scientist apologized that they couldn't do more and left him alone while they tried to find a way home, so he took to exploring the castle."

"What happened after that?" Asked Timmy in a somewhat eager voice.

"You see, they had a few dead corpses laying around to experiment on just to make sure whatever they built together worked to perfection, and they kept all the bodies under lock and key in the castle dungeon. But a notorious undead serial killer sneaked in pretending to be a regular corpse and broke out of the room. Loose in the castle, trying to find the wizard and the scientist, it's said that he came across the little mouse child in the hallway. He smiled evilly at the opportunity to kill something so small and helpless and slashed his hand forward to attack."

Timmy continued walking, waiting for her to finish.

Roda extended the pause on purpose as if to mess with him.

"So then what happened?"

"According to legend, the wizard and the scientist heard a scream and went to investigate, but by the time they'd gotten their the little mouse child was smiling, giggling, covered in puss filled gore and molding intestines while patting a rounded tummy. When the two intellectuals looked over the mangled corpse and tooth marks on all the crunched bones, seeing that one of the arms was still moving, the body looked like it had been trying to make a break for the nearest window, they asked the mouse what happened. According to legend he just burped and said I found enough food myself."

Timmy thought that over for a moment before stating

"Sounds like an amusing back-story, but that doesn't exactly explain why your afraid of undead."

"No, it doesn't. But I'm not done yet, it's the story of my kind's origin and I want to make sure I don't leave out any of the important stuff."

"Oh, well carry on then."

"Humph ..." she paused just long enough to stick her tongue out "The two workers got an idea after seeing how easy it was for a mere child to send a deranged serial killer fleeing the opposite direction, so they kept the child in their castle for study as a messenger was sent to inform the boy's family. They kept feeding him undead bodies, generally criminals who thought rating out their accomplices would save them, and watched the results. Because the worst possible thing you can do to an undead is to take them apart and prevent the pieces from coming back together, the fact that a two year old child could eat half the body one day, leave that undead staggering around in a cold room, then come back to finish eating the next day made it the ideal situation for messing with them. The scientist and the wizard also found out that everything, bones, flesh, brains, eyes, everything ... was turned into neat little mouse pellets after it came out"

"Ewwww ..."

"We spend this whole time talking about dismembered undead and it's the thing every carbon based life form does that grosses you out?"

"When it comes to what comes out of people, I prefer not to think about it"

"Still want me to finish the story then?"

"Might as well" Timmy responded

"Just don't say ew every time I mention a pellet. Ours are a lot cleaner than the mushy logs you people leave in our otherwise nice clean sewers."

"Ewww- ... er, I mean ... so true. I completely agree"

Roda blinked, then giggled "Hehe, Nice to see you have some expressions other than boredom. Now where was- ... oh yes! The eating thing. They tried using a temporary paralysis spell on a notorious lich who would always magically reassemble his body from whatever scraps were left for him. He could be burned, liquefied, melted in acid, crushed to a pulp, and no matter how many years it took the guy he'd just keep coming back after painfully reassembling each and every body part. After he was eaten by a mouse and turned into mouse droppings, he found that his body didn't fit together nearly as well. And it wasn't especially comfortable having a body made of excrement ... the wizard and the scientist put his *cough* remains *cough* into a small jar, then furthered his torment by shipping it to a delighted family of dung beetles."

Timmy blinked at all the images going through his head "Do all the parts concerning poop keep going like this? Or are we almost through?"

"Is it bothering you? Sorry, it's out of technicalities and into generalizations now so yes. After the mouse child worked so well in eliminating undead entirely, even the ones who did somehow manage to come back could always be re-eaten after the body was formed, rather than try to build anything they just went from village to village trying to sell the idea of eating undead as a means of punishment. The child's tribe thought it could work and it'd save time on harvest, even though the taste, to them, left something to be desired. Over the centuries that small village of mice spread and evolved, I'm sure we branched off somewhere but the line of Maggot-Mice were those who preferred the taste of rotting food and long dead bodies to stuff that's fresh and clean. Some undead tried to fight back by dealing with poisons and bacteria of all sorts, but were rodents. We just developed immunities to most everything after a few generations, and some have even grown to love the taste and effects of certain toxins the same way ancient humans enjoyed the taste of alcoholic beverages. It can mess you up for a short time, but it adds flavor they say"

"Do you like poison then?"

"Depends on the type" Roda responded "I like rat poison sure, viper venom and such. But I don't drink or sniff often ever sense I woke up one night flushed halfway down the sink."

"Haha-... wait, wha?"

"Apparently I thought I was a bottle, I wrote a note and ate it, then tried to float my way to sea."

"I can see why you don't do it often then, be terrifying if that sink had a garbage disposal"

"And even worse if someone turned it one, I know ... I've heard that one before" Roda responded sarcastically.

"Er, my apologies then"

"Don't apologize, I'd rather you try to make jokes cutesy."

"Cutesy?"

Roda blinked "Er, never mind ... back to the story, my kind is almost 8000 years old, that's how long we've had to evolve from a normal mouse to this current subspecies. And in that time we've grown a reputation among undead as the bane of their very existence, the monsters that lurk under their bed and haunt their dreams."

"Ironic though isn't it?"

Roda smiled "Oh what, that such a small, helpless, adorable little thing could terrify the monsters so? Yeah ... and a lot of us Maggot-Mice take pride in our heritage as the armies of permanent death."

"But their's still more to it than that right, all that makes me think you'd love to attack any random undead off the street. It makes me wonder why you leap at me and shove my head in your mouth, I'm pretty sure it'd fit"

"Hehe, oh yes I'm sure it would." Roda agreed, opening her mouth halve the diameter of her skull to reveal dangerously sharp buck teeth in front, a mix of cutting and grinding omnivore teeth in back, and a pulsing, dark, fleshy pink throat. Timmy wasn't sure what he was supposed to be thinking, but his mind got bored and started psychoanalyzing his failure in school before he'd worked out what his next sentence would be.

"So, do you think we could finish expla-"

"EEEEEEEEP!" Roda cut off his sentence with a gleeful, girly scream. "Where here! Harry's shop! I can't believe I've actually made it!"

Timmy blinked, looked strait ahead at his friends shop filled with comic books and assorted electronics.

"You sure seem happy to be here, I take you want to go ins- ...!"

" Yeeeeessss! Oh please, lets go, I just have to see if it's really in there! Oh come on, you were going this way too weren't you?" Roda was literally bouncing up and down, a smile plastered on her face, her tail and whiskers twitching in every which direction, her well developed bosom naturally fallowed her movements. And every last bit of it was very distracting.

"Well, yes but what about- ..." once again he failed to finish his sentence. Little Timmy just stood there dumbly for a moment as Roda bounded off into the store. "Roda, don't forget to- ...!"

When he watched her run into the store, that was literally. An audible splat was quickelly fallowed by "M- I'm fine, I'll ju-just remember to use the door this time."

Timmy sighed to himself, for one of the few times in his life he wasn't bored, he almost didn't even look bored (almost) because it usually is the bubbly people who were the most interesting.

'I don't think I'll ever be bored of this, and I must the know the end of that story!' he thought to himself. The young child shook his head slightly as he walked into the store himself. Timmy made certain to open the door before walking through it. The dinging of bells rang through the air to indicate a new customer.

"Oh, hey there! Timmy? How's school going for you?" called a friendly voice from the far back and to the right of the store, past several shelves of assorted comics.

"Doing ... horrible. Horrible as always, I still have no idea what the Fell anyone is doing their and I don't give a Spoon about being force-fed history" but at the back of his mind he wondered 'so then why do I crave the history of some Mouse I barely even know?'

Laughter rang outwards, and with it a golden light. "You here to talk about stuff or buy stuff this time? Last I checked you weren't especially interested in comic books"

'or anything else for that matter, so why do I want to listen to Roda?' he thought in private, aloud he opted to say "Oh, helping a new friend who almost killed me and figuring I'd check up on an old buddy of mine."

"Tried to kill you huh, so how far did she get? Are you undead, a ghost, an angel? *gasp!* A demon!" the voice called out in a mockingly sarcastic tone as Timmy walked past the rows of books. As soon as he neared the receptionists desk he star Harry, and had to close his eyes lest the light of a happy go lucky angel blind him.

"Well, she didn't try to d- ...!"

"GYAHHH!" Harry yelped as soon as Timmy's eyes closed.

"Harry, if there isn't some spider on your back or some giant monster trashing your store, I will punch you" Timmy stated matter-of-factly.

"Sorry man, but you shouldn't close your eyes like that. It's just freaky."

"Better than being blinded oh great and mighty light bulb" Timmy retorted.

"I have told you for the last time, I am NOT that bright"

Timmy normally would have disagreed, he had never even been able to see Harry past that white/golden glow, just the outline of his robe, halo and wings. But this time he felt a zing would be fun

"You know, I got to look at your I.Q. scores, and I agree. Your not that bright"

Harry raised a finger to object, but he couldn't think of a snappy comeback so all that came out was a mumble. Timmy gave him a minute to clear his throat before Harry finally decided he'd have better luck if he changed the subject.

"What are you here to talk about dude, money? The existence of floating gum monsters on other planets? The meaning of chocolate?"

"How's your girlfriend holding up with the new wings?"

"Decent enough" Harry stated. Timmy was choosing not to see anything, but he could hear the angel leaning onto his counter. "She started to love the idea of flying last weakened during that war on that PD on over, we flew up to the outer atmosphere and got to watch all the explosions and laser fire as if they were fireworks. Not to mention the cliff boundary itself is a stunning view."

"Oh wow, that sounds like a great way to get her interested in flying. Now, sense we are on the subject of girls, have you seen a little mouse come in recently?"

Timmy could detect Harry's glow dimming then brightening through his eyelids. "You mean the Maggot rat thingy who ran face first into the door twenty seconds before you came in? Short girl, large breasts, revealing clothing, an overall cute but slutty attitude?"

"Um ... I have no idea what a breast is or what 'slutty' is supposed to mean, but she's a Maggot-MOUSE who hit the door just before I came in. What's she up to?"

Harry was quite for a moment, before answering in a whispered tone "She tried to read a comic without paying for it, so I blasted her into one of the books themselves. If you head down to the "M" section you might find a- ... Gyah!" but he was cut off as Timmy reached forward blindly and started jerking on the soft metal thing his hands gripped onto. "Ow, ouch ... h-hey, YOW! That's my halo let go dude, that stings!"

"Uh-huh ..." was Timmy's bored response as he continued to tug in random directions.

"Ok, ok, she's down at the "Z" section in the far back looking for a Zowma-man Comic. I read her mind on the way over and told her she'd find what she's looking for, so she went off like a ferret on steroids breezing past every comic that isn't what she wanted. Happy now? GOOD! You can let go of my halo"

"Thank you, it's such a pleasure doing business with you Harry" Timmy said as sweetly as he knew how. But it just came out as bored.

"So now will you tell me a little about this almost killing you thing? You don't look like a grub or a piece of cheese so I can't see any reason she'd ..."

"She saw me with my eyes closed, screamed for help, shoved me to the ground, and then had to explain to the hundred or so Travelers that it was all a misunderstanding before someone evaporated the water under my skin."

"Ah, that old over-reaction bit, gets to people every time out here I say, every time."

Timmy finally decided to let go of Harry's halo and slump onto the nearest shelf, leaning on the thing for support. 'and now I can't even hear the end of it. And Harry if your reading my thoughts I am going to throw the nearest book at you.' he thought to himself.

"Hey! How did you know I was rea- ... oomph!" He tried to get out before a comic book was jammed into his mouth "thou thre thaying thor tha" Harry tried to say with his usual flair for dignity and grace. Failing miserably thanks to the fact he hasn't taken the book out yet.

"Call it an insurance claim on my end, reading minds isn't exactly legal you know." Timmy retorted.

"Ooooh, if your suuuuure you want to be that way we can. I know exactly what your craving to know, that Maggot-Rat chick isn't exactly quiet about her past. I can see the entire story about why undead scare her to life unfolding before my eyes."

"I hate you ..."

"What's the matter, not going to beg for it? Er, wait, you did just say mind reading was illegal so I guess it would be hypocritical of you to ask now wou- ..." Harry never got to finish

" AAAIIIIIEEEEEKKK!" A massive, high pitched, girlish scream emanated from the back of the store.

"Roda!" Timmy shouted, rushing blindly through the isles while not daring to open his eyes for fear that Harry was fallowing behind him. His right hand brushed across something hard and wooden ... a bookshelf? No time for questions, the human youth gripped as high as he could with one hand and vaulted himself over rather than waste time going around. His left knee jabbed into a box of paper, no ... it was a comic book store so it only makes since they'd be comic books. These he worked his way around, still fallowing the scream.

"Roda! What's wrong?" He asked in a panic fit, only opening his eyes when he was sure no one glowy was around and that he was at the back of the store. "Roda!"

" AAAIIIIIEEEEEKKK!" Was the initial reply, before she tackle hugged Timmy to the floor, making sure her cleavage pressed against his neck before she leaned her head down to kiss his cheek "I finally found it! Thanks to you this whole trip has been worth it! Thanks Timmy!" And then she was up and gone again, leaving a rather confused teenager laying on the floor and wondering what had just happened to him.

'Let's count out the possible events then, she's starting to get hungry and wanted a taste? No that can't be it. She's found some really important comic book and is now all overly emotional and affectionate to the first moving thing she see's? That's actually rather likely. Perhaps she's just insane and likes yelling at the top of her lungs? No, she didn't really seem insane. Is she part banshee?"

Timmy paused to ponder on that for a minute or two before getting up.

"Part banshee, definitely banshee." he agreed to himself before making the slow, blind trip back to the cash register. This time it was much faster to navigate with his eyes closed, he just had to fallow the sound of happiness.

"Ok, and that will be a hundred cred, are you sure of your purchase miss?" Harry's voice asked politely as Timmy rounded the corner. The child kept his eyes closed, but it was still impossible to not tell how Roda felt about whatever book she was getting. One could practically hear her squirming in a faltering effort to keep from squealing again.

'Or is that squeaking?' Timmy wondered.

"I'm sure this will cover it" Roda handed across the same small green card Timmy saw her use before, which Harry slid through a small scanner that made a beeping noise as it finished.

"That's good to ... Woa, this is interesting. So do you want to pay with cred or with goodwill? Says here you just racked up a few hundreds points recently. Or are you planning to save that for immortality?" Harry asked.

"Goodwill, but I haven't done anything to earn that. Are you sure it's not just some mistake?"

Timmy tilted his head curiously at this, walking towards both voices asking "What's 'goodwill' and what do you mean by saving it?"

Roda and Harry silently stared at Timmy as if he'd just grown a second head, not that Timmy would be able to tell what their expressions were. Nor that such silence would last long.

"Gyhaaa!" Roda yelped "Open your eyes already please, you look like your casting a spell or something!"

"No ... not with light-bulb at the counter there, I always get headaches if I stare into glowing things for too long." Timmy responded.

"Um ... what? Harry's not glowing, save for that halo"

"SEE!" Harry called. "No one else is too scared to look!"

"Come to think of it, your wings are glowing a little bit" Roda stated while thinking it over.

"I'm not looking at flashy pants and there's nothing you can say that will make me. But I can turn my head if the way my face looks is such a bother" Timmy retorted with his usual bored sounding voice "Now before we loose track again, just what were you talking about? I've heard of goodwill as an ideology but you can't pay for a book with ideas right?"

"Oh, well goodwill points are a part of the ... er, wait, so you mean you really don't know?" Roda asked with obvious confusion.

"No ... and if no one tells me then- ..." Harry cut him off.

"So that explains how it's so recent, just what have you been doing with my pall Timmy here Ma'am?"

Roda just stood there blinking to collect her thoughts before could she could adequately respond. "S-so then ... how could you not know?"

Harry answered smugly "Timmy doesn't pay much attention in school, though you know ... you could try keeping him in the dark and taking advantage of the situation"

"Oh Ha Ha, if your going to keep messing with me I'll just leave"

"So ... wait, Timmy your still in school? I thought, wow you must be a scholar! It all makes sense that's why you'd want to ... no wait, if you were a scholar then you'd have known what goodwill is"

Harry snickered slightly "Lets just say Timmy and school don't get along too well, he spends all his time trying to find ways to ignore the teacher. But you know he's not a- ...!"

Roda cut him off with her own comment. "So that's why your so interested in my race! I'm more interesting than the teacher! I really don't want to take advantage of the situation, but then again I do owe you the rest of the story don't I"

By now Timmy was really starting to get annoyed, and it was evident in his voice. "That's it, if I have to work this hard th- ...!"

He never got to finish his sentence as Roda interrupted with "Oh I know! Are you hungry Timmy?"

Timmy blinked, and immediately regretted the blinding glow that assaulted his eyes. Even with his head turned away from Harry he felt the need to close them again "Wh- ... what?"

"I asked if your hungry, I know this little pizza place to the south that offers a massive variety of toppings specifically so omnivores of different preferences can dine in each other's company. I have plenty of cred and still owe you the rest of my story, how about we keep talking about it over dinner?" she asked in the sweetest voice she could muster.

"Uh ... I um ..." Timmy was too flustered to think for some reason 'why is that?' he'd wonder in frustration

"I can't tell you about goodwill yet, but it's a really useful trick for travelers if you can spot the opportunities. And I'm spotting one right now, so what do you say? I'm not keeping you from anywhere you need to be am I? Can you spare the time for a delicious pizza with whatever you can think of on it?"

Timmy kept his eyes closed and started thinking of chocolate and melted marshmallows on a pizza. He somehow failed to say a word before his stomach grumbled loudly, effectively answering the question.

"Eeek! Wonderful, I'll go find a payphone and reserve a seat, see you outside where you can open your eyes" she rushed over, gave him a quick, short, and very overbalancing hug from behind, her breasts pressed tightly into his shoulder blades for just a moment before she scurried out the doorway. "It's a date!"

Timmy stood there dazed, unthinking "Um ... now I'm afraid to ask, but what just happened?"

Harry answered with a satisfied grin that went completely unseen "You my friend, have just got a date"

"Oh well if that's ... what is a "date" exactly?"

"You mean you don't ... oh wow, you do have trouble in school. Just think of it as a chance to spend more time with a pleasant girl. And don't think that annoyed look in your eye is fooling anyone, I can read your mind. I know you think she's adorable. Heck, if you'd open your eyes to look I'd even show you plush dolls behind the counter here that look as if they might have been modeled after her."

"No thanks, but a pleasant time huh ... I do have nowhere else to go, might as well eat"

"You enjoy her company and you know it"

"If you say so ... I could just be after a free meal" Timmy smiled, keeping his eyes shut tight as he started to walk out.

Harry just laughed "Haha! Yeah that too, good luck bro" He waited until Timmy was out of sight before relaxing and going over the days profits. And as soon as he heard that "Ding" of the door opening and closing he said to himself:

"You know, I really should have told her that fourteen years old is still a child in human years. Hmm ... I could have told Timmy that he's on a date with a ten year old who's ironically three times his age, however you want to figure the lifespan here. But you know, as perverse as it sounds what I wish for most is a video camera so I can see the look on their faces when they find out on their own" How an angel's smile can look evil and sadistic the world may never know.