FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Author's notes - Serious delay in the story, I know. Sorry. :/ I wanted to kinda get back into the spirit of writing by practicing... and I think I did a little better. Let me know what you think in the comments!

A constant, gentle breeze was blowing through the green, flourishing valley. The sun was just peaking over the horizon, moving out of sight. A purplish-pink glow had consumed the sky ever so slowly, pushing the boring and never-changing blue away.

"Ahh," a sharp, masculine tone emitted. "These are the times that make my job worth doing." A single, still-as-a-statue figure was kneeling on top of the subtle ring that surrounded the "hole," its gaze scanning the small village that thrived inside the Valley of the Sacred. A humble village, built out of cobblestone and wood, with tiny one or two story buildings and dirt roads. The valley itself is in the middle of Thailand, a forgotten and almost completely unknown area. Despite the tiny population that lived there, it never seemed to sleep, with people and caravans always moving through the dirt roads.

"Well," the tone began again, "Back to work."

Justin thumped his cigarette away and pulled over his blue hood, which was attached to an equally blue cloak, concealing his entire body except for his brown casual sneakers. Underneath the cloak, he wore a yellow blank short-sleeve shirt, clearly showing off his muscular body, simple white trousers that ended at his ankles, and an equipment belt. Clipped onto the belt, were two holsters with fully loaded M9 Berrettas and twelve spare clips. It's all Justin needed in a conflict.

Beginning a slow descent into the village down a rocky dirt road, Justin pulled out his phone. He flipped to his messages and clicked one with a subject titled "Target 3094." A smile played across his muzzle as he read it. The number was how many missions Justin had completed. Soon, it would be his 4000th mission anniversary.

He tapped his claw on the message, opening it. The target's name was Mikael, a Russian military scientist. The picture showed a brown Grizzly Bear, a species rarely found in the village, making this mission easy.

Almost. As Justin read on, the idea that this would be a simple assasination quickly faded halfway through reading it.

Mikael was said to be working on a project that not even the Russian Czar knew about: Project Tresario. The project's details stated, in a more complicated manner, about transferring simple thoughts to physical actions. To describe all in one word: Telepathy. This made him a prime target for assasination by the U.S. military. If the Russian Army got his hands on this, then the rules of war would change drastically. Bullets and men would fly back in the directions they came from, and a single soldier would be able to take on an entire platoon with such an ability. If developed on a much larger scale, missiles and WMDs could be halted. Russian forces could not get their hands on such a weapon.

By the time Justin finished reading the files, he had reached the village. Better hope he's here, Justin thought to himself. It had been said that Mikael had taken a vacation to the area, unguarded and unprotected. Such an egotistical fool.

People and buildings passed as Justin did a scan of the village, aware of any large bears. There were a few, but none fit the description or size of his target. By the time he had reached the final street, however... target spotted.

The large Grizzly was seen taking a casual stroll through the street in a crowd of people, quite obviously comfortable and oblivious to any danger. From the quick glance that Justin had before being shoved by a pedestrian, he was able to tell Mikael was wearing a simple black trenchcoat, a brown turtle-neck, and green trousers. He didn't dwell on the image though. Justin hurried and hid himself inside the same group a few meters behind Mikael. Now all we need is a dark alley.

Just as soon as he had thought it, his target made a sharp turn down an alley that was larger than most. Perfect _ . _

Justin followed Mikael into the alley, which was open on the other side about 10 meters away. He let the grizzly stroll a little longer before yelling, "Mikael!" The bear turned slightly just as soon as Justin pulled out both of his pistols. "Your time has come!" He pulled the triggers...

Only to have both shots miss completely. "What the..." but was quickly hit by a large force of air that sent him flying back into the street he came from.

"Fuck!" He exclaimed as soon as he steadied himself on one knee. His cloak was blown off of him, his chiseled features showing under his shirt, but he held onto his firearms firmly. He heard chuckling come from the alley and looked up. "Fool!" shouted the bear, in a deep Russian accent. "You thought you could catch me off guard, did you? I detected your presence before you even stepped into the alley!" The bear laughed a bit before continuing, "Big mistake trying to attack me, little American. Did you really think I would be unprepared for an assasination? If I can develop, perfect, and master the use of telepathy, I can certainly see past your pathetic attempts. And now, you will die for your impudence!"

Mikael pulled a knife from his long coat pocket and threw it with deadly accuracy toward Justin, who had barely enough time to dodge it and hop back on his feet, Berettas at the ready. "So," Mikael observed, "you are more skilled than I suspected. You get a, how you say, an "A" for effort. But that will not pass in my class, my friend!" He drew a curved dagger from the same pocket and charged Justin. By instinct, Justin fired several rounds at Mikael, but as expected, he completely missed. Aw, hell, this ain't gonna be easy.

Mikael was on the poor, tiny wolf in mere seconds, his size not slowing him down at all. The dagger swooshed through the air with Justin barely dodging each slice. After several swings, Justin caught the paw and shoved it, with all his strengh, back into Mikael's empty-handed arm. He was instantly thrown back a moment later, the large Grizzly swearing in Russian.

"Bastard!" he finally said in English. "You'll pay for that." And Justin could've sworn he was delusional for a second as he saw a blue ball surround Mikael, dust and air being collected into it. A moment later, it shrunk and moved into the Grizzly's paws, all the energy being focused between a few centimeters of space. "I'll see you in Hell!" the Russian accent exclaimed, and the blue ball started flying towards Justin. "Aww Shhh-!" but Justin's voice was cut off by the sound of an explosion and an intense, burning pain. A final scream emitted from the would-be assasin, and then everything went black.

Justin woke up with a start, a gasp coming from his mouth. He breathed heavily for a few seconds before recognizing his room in SIO headquarters. He threw off the covers to find that he was covered in sweat. Calm, Justin. It was just a memory acting as a dream. He wiped his forehead and held out his right palm in front of his eyes. Electricity sparked and danced in his hand as Justin barely strained. He smiled. Distant memories...

His thoughts and electricity were interrupted by the tired and raspy voice of Ben. "You alright, Justin?"

He blinked, "Oh, y-yeah. Just a bad dream. Did I wake you up?" Ben's head poked into Justin's sight, the fox's eyes observing Justin's every move. "Kinda," Ben answered with a tone of amusement. "It almost sounded like you were having a sexual fantasy."

Justin laughed. Ben always knew how to cheer him up. "Far from it, my friend," he said, "just go back to sleep." Ben nodded and his head disappeared.

Justin sighed to himself. That was close. If he ever found out about my abilities, I'm more fucked than a rabbit by a bull. He sat his head back down on the pillow and got back under the covers, and a funny thought came to his head. Didn't Ben wake up like I did? He looked... disturbed. Was that how I looked to him? Was he haunted by his past just as I am? The thought was soon washed away by the coming sleep.