FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

At the mall, Hazard finished his called with Sasuga and put his phone in his pocket, sitting along in a cafe table by himself and surrounded with a bunch of shopping bags. A waitress came to his table and brought him the hot beverages he ordered, and as he sipped his tea, he saw Rinami coming out from a female underwear store, with Panja following her closely and carrying a couple of boxes in one arm and some shopping bags in the other. Hazard waved at them and they came over to join him at the table after they saw him.

"Phew, man! I thought we would never get out of there!" Panja breathed out as he slumped down on a chair and dropped the stuff he was carrying on the ground.

"Aww, sorry! They just had so many good items in there, I couldn't decide!" Rinami said, petting Panja's arm apologetically.

"I know, but you didn't have to try them all out!" Panja replied, with a hint of red blush on his face. He spent the whole time inside there resisting the temptation to peek the fox changing and trying the underwear.

"Heh, well, I brought you guys some hot drinks. Coffee for you, and green tea for you, Rina," Hazard offered, much to their delight.

"Thanks, Hazzy! You're my hero!" Panja cheerfully replied and grabbed his big coffee mug.

"Thank you, Hazard! But, how did you know I like green tea?" Rinami asked in wonder.

"Uhh... I dunno, I just guessed?" Hazard awkwardly shrugged.

"Awww, that's so sweet! You subconsciously know me better than you think!" Rinami gleefully exclaimed, leaning to the wolf's side to give a little kiss on his cheek.

"Grah! Cut it out! Not in public!" Hazard grimaced embarrassingly.

"Hehehe, he's so cute when he gets embarrassed, isn't he?" Panja chuckled teasingly.

"Totally cute!" Rinami agreed, as Hazrad glared at the two of them. He started having regrets about those two getting along now; he didn't expect them to team up on him like this.

Just then, Panja glimpsed someone among the mall crowd with the corner of his eye. Someone familiar to him. Someone that was wearing a very similar jacket. He quickly turned his head for a better look, but the figure vanished amidst the crowd.

"What the...?"

"Is something the matter, Panja?" Hazard asked the white lion when he noticed him looking over and around.

"Umm, no, nothing. I was just... looking for the washroom! I think I saw one over there, so be right back!" Panja spontaneously replied.

"Don't take too long, we still have other shops to go to!" Rinami reminded him.

"Man, you gotta be kidding..." Hazard groaned.

"I won't!" Panja answered and quickly excused himself, heading towards the direction he saw that familiar person go to. He found himself at the sport section and surprisingly enough, it didn't take him long to locate his wanted man. The brown colored, big-built bull was admiring a set of heavy lifting weight, as Panja approached him from behind, the word 'Wanderlust' clearly written on the back of the jacket he was wearing. There was no doubt- that was Panja's lost leather jacket.

"Hey, excuse me," Panja called out to the bull, as the latter turned around to face him and Panja immediately recognized him.

"Oh, hey buddy. Fancy meeting you here. It's been a while," Thorn greeted the stunned lion.

"Uhh, yeah, it sure has," Panja said, feeling a bit awkward. "What are you doing here?"

"What? Can't a guy stroll around a mall by himself? I don't spend all my time at bars hooking up with sexy guys, y'know?" Thorn replied with a little grin, increasing Panja's anxiousness.

"I-I didn't mean that..."

"I could be asking you the same thing. Feeling lonely again? Want some company?" Thorn's grin spread across his bovine's muzzle as he placed a hand over Panja's shoulder.

"No, I don't," Panja firmly answered as he brushed the bull's hand off of his shoulder. "Look, I'd really appreciate it if you kept what happened that night just between us. It was just a fun, little mistake, that's it."

"Oh, don't say that, Panja bud. You're breaking my heart. I thought we had something special," Thorn said, clearly in a mocking manner.

"I'm not kidding, Guss! Just forget about that night! It never happened!" Panja glowered and began to lose his patience.

"Alright, alright, easy there, cowboy. No need to get all uppity and prissy. It doesn't look good on a pretty cat like you," Thorn continued to tease the white lion, who had enough of this.

"Whatever, just give me back my jacket and we'll make this the last we see of each other," Panja sternly stated.

"Why? So your dear Hazard won't see it on me?" Thorn then smirked again, stunning Panja.

"Wha-? How would you...?"

"I think it looks better on me than it does on you, anyway. Besides, I wouldn't count on this being the last we see of each other, Panja bud. Not even close," Thorn cut off Panja and continued to confuse him wholly.

"What the hell do you mean by that!?"

"You'll see soon enough. Very soon. Just keep your ears open," the bull cryptically said as he pointed his index finger upward, as Panja looked up and around him in total confusion, feeling of dread overwhelming him.

"Attention everyone in the mall building. I repeat, attention everyone in the mall building. This is a very important announcement, so listen carefully." The speakers from every corner in the mall building then started to speak, catching the attention of every soul within the mall shops and building offices.

"Hazard, that voice..." Rinami said as she heard the voice booming from everyone.

"Jale..." Hazard's ears couldn't mistake it. He'd recogonize that devious voice from anywhere, and it spelled very bad news.

"Everyone's listening? Goooood! Now, my dear sheep, I want you to head over to the center of the mall. Come on, get, get! Atta' boy! Every single one of you poor saps," Jale's voice then instructed everyone who was listening to the announcement speakers, and like a magic spell, every mortal in the premise, from adults to children, fell into a trance, dropping everything that was in their hands and stopping whatever they were doing, and marched towards the center of the mall, obeying Jale's hypnotic words.

"By the way, I know you're listening to this, Millennium Slasher. Yup, I can see you just fine. You screwed up my plan at the circus, but let's see how you're going to save the day this time. Bring it on, oh legendary hero," Jale laughed mockingly, monitoring Hazard and pretty much all of the mall spots from the security cameras.

"What are we going to do, Hazard?" Rinami worriedly said, seeing the mass of people marching on to an unknown danger.

"We have to find Panja first. Let's go," Hazard replied as he picked up his sword bag he had been carrying over his shoulder.

"What the hell?! It's like what Haz said; it must be that Jale bastard!" Panja exclaimed when he saw the people around him walk like mindless zombies past him.

"You got that right," Thorn said, much to Panja's shock, as he saw that the bull wasn't affected by Jale's hypnotism.

"N-No way... You're..." Panja muttered in disbelief.

"Darn, looks like I've been found. Ah well, I guess the gig is up," Thorn leered at Panja, and before the white lion could react, he received a powerful iron punch on the face that sent him smashing through an electronic store some good meters away.

"What was that?" Hazard turned to the sound of the crashing.

"Oh my God! I think it's Panja!" Rinami gasped as she saw Panja's body buried under a wreckage of DVD players and shattered glass. They rushed over to him and helped get him out of the pile. "Are you all right, Panja?" Rinami asked him as soon as they saw that he was up and alive.

"Ow... Owoww... Dammit, that son of a bitch sucker punched me... I didn't see it coming..." Panja grunted in pain, rubbing his sore cheek where he got punched.

"What the hell happened to you? Who did this?" Hazard inquired.

"That would be me," they heard Thorn say and they all looked over at him, seeing him standing smugly and crackling his knuckles. It didn't take Hazard more than a second to know that he was a Bearer of Abaddon's curse; one with malevolence intention at that.

"Who are you?" Hazard faced the brown bull and asked for him to identify himself.

"The name's Thorn, the Skin of Abaddon. A pleasure to finally meet you in person, Hazard, the infamous Millennium Slasher. You're much smaller than I expected," Thorn sniggered in his contemptuous manner. "But, if you wanna know more about me, why don't you ask your long time companion there," the bull then smirked wickedly, gesturing his horns at Panja.

"Panja?" Rinami muttered in confusion, as Panja gritted his fangs in contempt.

"Yup, me and Panja bud know each other pretty well. We had, what you call... an intimate encounter," Thorn said with a sleazy grin, as both of Hazard and Rinami looked back at the white lion, whose face simply paled.

"Don't listen to him, Haz! It's not what you think!" Panja said in protest.

"Don't deny it, Panja bud. It was a fun night, we had. You even gave me your favorite jacket as a symbol of our cherished relationship. See?" Thorn said as he spread his massive arms and showed off the leather jacket he was wearing, facing his back to them for a second and letting them see the 'Wanderlust' logo on it. "How do you explain this?"

"Th-That's..." Panja tried to explain himself, but he couldn't find the words. That jacket was custom made exclusively for him, so it was one of a kind. But he noticed Hazard letting out a sigh. "Haz, I..."

"Hey, hey, don't go sour on each other now. I ain't the kind to get between close friends. If you want your jacket badly, here," Thorn said and took off the black jacket, but before he gave it back, he held it in front of them and without any regard, torn it in half, much to Panja's chagrin. "Now you can both have a piece," the bull sarcastically chuckled as he tossed the torn jacket and it dropped at Hazard's feet.

"You fucking asshole! I'll-" Panja angrily growled and was about to lunge at Thorn.

"Shut up, Panja," Hazard silenced the white lion, who couldn't do anything but comply and stop, as the wolf looked back at Thorn. "I don't care what you two did or didn't do. What matters now is for me to kick your ass," Hazard stated bluntly, walking towards the larger bull.

"Oh, I would love to see you try," Thorn scoffed, crossing his now bare brawny arms, wearing nothing but an open vest over his muscular upper body.

"Rinami, you go with Panja and stop whatever they're planning to do with these people," Hazard called out to the fox without looking back at her, his eyes fixed on his foe.

"Y-Yes, alright, Hazard," Rinami replied.

"But Haz! I won't leave you with..." Panja tried to object.

"Just go!" Hazard glared at the white lion, as Panja shut up and didn't want to cross the golden wolf further.

"Come on, Panja, I need your help," Rinami said as he held Panja's arm, as he unwillingly went off with her. If there was anyone who wanted to square off with Thorn the most, it was Panja, but he left it up to Hazard.

"Hoh, are you telling me that you're gonna take me on all by yourself?" Thorn laughed, underestimating Hazard's strength.

"I've beaten bigger morons. And you know what they say- the bigger they are, the harder they fall. And you're falling down hard," Hazard said as he stood before the towering bovine, pulling out his sword from its bag and unsheathing it, taking a battle stance.

"You're cute, you know that? But I'm a fair guy, so I'm gonna throw you a bone and let you land in the first hit," Thorn grinned and stood tall, spreading his arms and leaving himself wide open for attack. "Go on; give me your best shot. I swear I'm not yanking your tail."

Hazard wasn't sure what Thorn was up to, but he never turned down a challenge and took on the bull's offer, going for a straight on dash at him with a forward stab of his sword. However, he was stunned to see that his sword didn't go through Thorn's body. Instead, the tip of it hit the bull's chest with a loud clank, like it hit a wall of steel. After a closer look, Hazard saw that Thorn's torso had completely changed its form, his muscled pelt turned into some kind of hard ebony colored metal. It was so tough it didn't leave a scratch.

"Heads up," Thorn huffed and followed it with a fast and strong downward fist, trying to pummel Hazard to the ground, but the wolf moved out of the way in time and avoided his falling punch, which was also turned into that hard metal, and it smashed through the ground, leaving a big crack. Hazard took a few steps to the back, still stunned at this overwhelming raw power Thorn possessed. "Oh, did I forget to mention my power? I can turn my skin into the most indestructible matter that isn't even known in this world. So I think your notion that you can beat me is a little too hasty, don'tcha think?" Thorn said with a smugly face, and then turned every part of his body, from the tip of his horns to the bottom of his hooves, into a shiny smooth, incredibly muscled white metal, clanging his two fist together as they created sparks. "Ready to play, Slasher bud?"

"Oh boy..." Hazard sighed under his breath. This fight wasn't going to be easy, was the only thing in the golden wolf's mind.

To be Continued...