FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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The sun was setting, tinting the near skyline in a myriad of different shades of gold and bronze.

Brian loved this view, the soft brazen glow that seemed to wash through the city before nightfall,

it seemed to make everything worth it.

For a few seconds this noisy heap of concrete, steel and people was silent as if to pay respect for another

day on this planet.

A deep breath later and he put on his mask. The rottweiler still didn't know why he really needed it.

Sure, it was supposed to make him look different but it wasn't like there were many people with his physique.

The costume he could get behind, the costume was cool... but the mask?

Maybe he should go public with his identity.

It wasn't the first time he thought about it, when this all had started he knew why he kept his identity a secret.

Nine years ago he only was a nameless mutt starting to discover his powers, his strength and helping out his neighborhood,

keeping the gangs away.

Now?

Now he was someone, most knew him as Hammer, he had liked the name from the start, still liked it.

His hits always were like metal crushing down on an anvil.

But in a way, he didn't like to hide his face.

Sure, he still had people he cared about. His brother was one of them, one of the few who actually knew what Brian did

every night, even at day if he had to because another maniac thought it was smart to attack civilians.

Phillip had even been the one to design the costume, tailored it for him.

Black spandex, a silver, capital H on the chest and his abdomen, a few spots of bronze to look like rivets.

He liked the costume.

His brother wasn't the only one he cared for of course. There was Damien, the lithe skunk had more often than not come

to close to discovering his secret, was one of the reasons he actually considered going public.

Hannah was another person he cared for, not romantically, never that. Not that the pantheress wasn't attractive, right up his alley

actually, but for him she was too much of a confidant.

How often had he talked to her about superhero stuff without saying something that made it clear it was about him.

She might knew already, all the more reason he wanted to keep their relationship as it was.

The people he cared for kept him on the ground, reminded him why he did what he did.

Maybe he would go public tomorrow. Phillip would be furious, probably kill him for it, not literally of course but he knew his brother.

Another deep breath, it was time for his patrol, keeping creeps out of the city...

One would think they'd learn after the first twenty to thirty beatings...but no, they kept coming.

His right hand ran over his chest for a second...

He liked the costume.

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Golden light had shown him the way...

A window made of liquid light, flowing metal... opportunity could be so poetic sometimes.

He looked around a bit, took in the view... where had it taken him?

This world didn't look familiar, not in the slightest, and sure, it didn't have to be, but being so different was just... rude.

Tall buildings were everywhere around him, seemingly trying to touch the sky without getting close enough.

Noise... yes, this world was noisy, or at least, this part was. It came from below him, a single look... there they were, this worlds inhabitants.

Small, insignificant... well, maybe not completely insignificant.

He could make out sparks, sparks with a colour different from the spectrum he was used to see, but they were there and...

Well, they were interesting for sure... not magic, something different, similiar in some forms, but still not the same.

It was hard to point a finger at it.

Slowly he started to levitate upwards, after minutes in the air, right in front of a building of which he had used a window as a doorway

it had dawned on him that maybe, just maybe, the sight was unusual for this world.

Not that he made it less weird just by going upwards, when his feet touched the edge of the roof he still was naked.

The white lion took a deep breath of the unfamiliar air...

It wasn't poisonous at least, not any more than on other worlds.

There was a slight tingle in the air, the faintest trace of magic as he knew it.

"Must have been stronger at some point... ," he mused.

Maybe it was time to learn something about this place. If magic was in the air, even this thready, there should be some kind of history surrounding it.

And of course, there were those sparks he had seen.

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For the unprepared security guard an eternity had passed and yet he felt like he knew what had led to this point as if it were just a few

seconds away.

His feeling was pretty close to the truth, what felt like an eternity to the husky had just been a few hours.

The mutt had taken the job because nothing ever happened in a library. It all was so far away now...yet still clear and sharp in his mind.

One second he was drinking some coffee, looking at his e-reader, and the next the doors opened and in came a naked, floating lion.

Who would have been prepared for that? The sudden appearance was almost enough to make him choke on the last sip.

'I should find something here, let's see,' while he took a look around he didn't even seem to notice the perplexed husky.

-H-hold it!-

At least the guard had found his voice again, tried to put authority into his voice as he grabed his stun gun.

It earned him an irritated look, then a smile. Creepy, it should look warm and inviting, he was sure the lion tried to convey that,

but it looked creepy.

'Oh? I'm sorry, am i not supposed to be here?'

And just like that he closed the distance between them, leaned forward over the desk the guard was still standing behind of,

a strong, warm hand running it's fingers under the chin of the husky in a tantalizing gesture.

The security guard swallowed hard, nothing happened in the library, nothing, maybe he had just fallen asleep.

'You know, i'm here just to read a little, that's what this place is for, right?'

He nodded, still completely taken aback by the surreal situation.

'So, why don't you just relax ... while i do what i came for, hm?'

There was the smile again, that creepy smile. He didn't see the the lions other hand move, the fingers weaving signs in the air

that strangely lingered as if some sort of ink was left behind by his fingertips.

Slowly the intruder pulled back, still a finger pressed upwards against the chin of the husky.

'Just...relax a little.'

And then he saw it...

It, was a glowing crystal, emitting soft, violet light, almost pulsing as if It had a heartbeat.

The guard gasped a little, the sight was strangely breathtaking, his pupils dilating already as his gaze was pulled deeper into the light.

'That's it, you can just look at this, i won't take long friend.'

He didn't even hear it, or rather, he did but the words felt distant, without meaning.

Softly the crystal kept shining, levitating right in front of the spellbound mutt.

His entire body looked almost as if he was only held up by strings, like a puppet as his mind tried to process it all.

But it seemed impossible, everytime he thought he understood something about the light that he saw it pulsated again,

slowly dimmed down before returning to it's full glory, just to leave him puzzled again.

'Now, let's we what we can find,' with that the lion turned his attention from the husky towards the high bookshelfs that

adorned the huge hall.

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Bullets hit the metal door again that he used as a shield. Hammer took a deep breath, moved a little bit further, would it hold?

Maybe.

Sometimes he cursed the fact that the only thing he was good at was hitting hard. Sure, the increased density of his muscles

overall meant that he could move pretty fast if he had to, but he still wasn't a speedster or anything.

And while he had found out quite a while ago that he could take a lot of hits, even some bullets if he had to, his body seemed

to heal faster at least, he didn't want to mesure the extends of how far he could take it.

Not under these circumstances at least.

"You're gonna run out of bullets if you keep this up and you know the police is right outside!," the rottweiler shouted during

a small window of opportunity as the fired died down for a few seconds.

They didn't answer. It was a group of five from what he had seen on the security camera footage the police had shown him when

he arrived.

He could have let them handle it, but he wasn't stupid and from what Brian had seen it was clear that, worst case, there would

be explosives involved.

The rottweiler hadn't seen any on his way in, while this was a situation were time was of the essence he couldn't act too hasty.

Brian had checked every obvious space he could afford, even a few not so obvious, without wasting the time he had.

Honestly, who brought explosives to a bank heist when he had a hacker on his team that was good enough to shut down the

security system.

Most safes were protected via at least one electronic lock and blowing the door up to avoid the trouble of the mechanical

part wasn't really an option without taking the whole building down.

-You're fitting the cliché of a dumb brute way too good Hammer.-

That voice, the crackle of a speaker behind it, slowly Brians eyes went wide.

It dawned on him, this wasn't a bank heist, this wasn't about money.

-Now, you've been a thorn in my side far too long.-

As he tried to turn around, droping the makeshift shield he had, he could already tell that it was probably too late.

There was no way he could get out in time, no way he would be able to leave the buildings cellar.

Hot, burning air suddenly hit his back, his body fueled by adrenalin doubling it's efforts.

The impact of the explosion probably wasn't enough to take him out, his feet already left imprints in the concrete floor

as his muscles received commands purely via instinct.

MOVE! his entire consciousness shouted, MOVE YOU IDIOT!

The explosion wouldn't be enough, but an entire building crushing down on him? A big building built with extra thick walls?

Built with layers of led inbetween to keep it safe from attempts to spy on some of the contents via x-ray?

MOVE! his brain screamed again, he took the first flight of stairs in one jump, almost rammed the wall, tried to use his

movement to turn to the next staircase.

As he leaped he could see the next set of explosions, he hadn't checked the ceiling, the damn ceiling was rigged.

Maniac laughter filled the air, mixed perfectly with the sound of each blast.

He wouldn't make it, the realization didn't stop his body but he knew he wouldn't make it outside.

-Looks like the Hammer... gets crushed by the anvil this time.-

And he would even go out with a lame attempt at a pun.

Before he knew it debris started to fall down on him, chunks of concrete and metal.

He knew he wouldn't make it, yet his arms moved on their own to shield his head before the first chunks hit him worse than any

beating he had ever taken before.

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Flicker was in a rush, he was always in a rush. This time because he had heard about the explosion going down in the middle of

the city.

Once again he cursed his lack when it came to superpowers. He was considered a hero, had taken down a few of those nut jobs calling

themselves villains himself.

But he still had no superpower, self-proclaimed gadgeteer.

While the lemur was agile and knew a thing or two about martial arts, his biggest strength were his invetions.

His costume reflected that, tight leather, many pouches, straps with more pouches. It didn't slow him down, a lot of his inventions

were quite light, built to hinder his enemies with a variety of effects.

Smokebombs, small EMP grenades, flashbangs, glue mines, hell he even had a few little countermeasures for certain superpowers,

the one he was most proud of was a set of four little machines that, in a small area could counter out electrical attacks.

It wasn't enough to drain the few people he knew could use electricity for that purpose but it was good enough to keep them busy while

he figured something else out.

Last but not least there was his mask, a pair of multi-task googles, few different settings in them for varied spectrums, zoom that would make

some binoculars and microscopes blush, even thermography.

While he certainly wasn't prepared for everything, he was prepared for a lot of things and the rest, mostly he could figure out a way to get out

without major injuries.

And since he knew that not only a fellow hero was in danger at the site of the explosion but that any help would be needed to clear out

and find possible civilian victims he tried to be fast, as soon as a few skyscrapers were around he maybe could use his grappling gun, but out here?

If it would have been anyone else, a speedster or even someone who could fly, they may not have seen what Flicker did.

As he rushed over the street, he mostly got around with electric skates, when he wasn't swinging around with ropes or trying to parkour,

he could see that the door to the district library was open.

This was odd, at the moment just that, but it kept nagging at him, before he reached the next corner he was already on his way back.

Now what could this be? There was nothing special in the library, it was full of books, and sure, he had spent a lot of time in here as a kid but

he knew about nothing in here that was worth breaking and entering.

As he slowly moved in his jaw droped, books were floating everywhere, a soft, violet aura around them and the one he could make out as the security

guard was just sitting there with a strange crystal in front of him and a look as if he had done drugs the entire evening.

-What the hell is going on here?-

'Oh, a visitor,' a smooth, almost silky voice came from somewhere between the bookshelfs.

This was just weird, he had seen some crazy stuff during the whole hero business but nothing quite like that. Sure, it wasn't on the scope that some

mutants had presented, but those mutants usually didn't leave a visible aura around stuff they lifted with telekinesis.

Slowly the owner of the voice came into view.

-You've gotta be kidding me....-

He had seen it all so far, but a naked burglar? The lion, leaning on a bookshelf, grinning with selfconfidence, didn't seem to mind as much.

'So, you're on of these superheroes i asume? Ready to safe the day when danger is afoot?'

-What did you do to him?,- Flicker was pointing towards the husky, the mutt still drooling as he watched the crystal.

'He needed a little time-out, nothing dangerous i assure you,' his hands already moved again, slowly weaving signs.

'I could show you,' he was sincerely curious. A superhero, a rare opportunity he assumed, someone with the spark, almost a flame.

He could see it, could see the faint aura surrounding the perplexed lemur.

'Mind telling me what your power is?'

-I'm pretty sure that's none of your business,- he wasn't idle himself, his own hands moving, flicking pouches open as he started to circle around the lion.

'What a pity, here i was hoping we could settle this like civilized people.'

And the spark was moving, dancing as a candles flame would, probably not the most powerful of those so called heroes, but it was remarkable.

Magic looked similiar, but the colour was off, while most magic moved in a spectrum from golden to violet, few exceptions out of that colour range,

this spark seemed to be a constant shift of blue and green.

-Look at the nudist talking,- Flicker tried to sound sarcastic, but he was nervous, something just wasn't right. This wasn't telekinesis, this wasn't a mutant, or

at least none he had ever heard about.

Sure, not every mutant was registered, it was voluntary after all, but white lions were rare as it was already and one showing powers, he would have been

the center of attention right away.

'It didn't seem to bother you so far, i'd say you quite enjoyed the view,' slowly the lion started grinning again as he extended a hand towards Flicker.

Before the lemur could throw something, anything at his adversary a crystal had started to grow in the lions palm, almost blossoming like a flower.

-Wha...-

He didn't come any farther, there was just something about the crystal, it's glow, its intricate structure.

The lion kept his gaze on the lemur, especially his aura, slowly the purple tint of his magic seeped into the spark, but it looked like oil mixing with water,

while for the moment it worked, enchanted the supposed hero, it probably wasn't something that would hold forever.

'Now my friend, why don't we try that again...what's your power,' he reached for the lemurs head with his other hand, gave his ears a little scratch.

• ...dun....dun hava powa...,- Flicker slurred his answer, the tip of his tongue sticking out of his lips a little as he slowly relaxed, murrmurred a bit.

Curious... curious and weird, while he claimed to have no power his spark was almost a flame and definitely far above that feeble minded guard.

'I think we're in for a long talk my friend, but you don't mind that, do you?'

He smiled a bit, gave the lemur another affectionate scratch, this time the answer didn't come immediately, as if the hero was resisting....

Curious.

He had found a really interesting world, and some worthwhile playmates it seemed.

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For hours now people were trying to lift chunks of concrete out of the way, they knew that someone was under there.

It wasn't just the fire department, a lot of civilians helped too.

Sure, the building had been evacuated, but Hammer was still in there, no one wanted to let the hero down.

He had helped a lot of them after all, one way or another.

It wasn't just the fact that the superhero was fighting supervillians, it wasn't just that he was trying to help out the community.

Hammer had been a part of the city for almost a decade now, he was someone from this city, and as he had grown stronger, a lot

of them had too.

Sure, it wasn't always easy, there was collateral damage, this bank for example, but hadn't he tried to help again?

None of the superheroes was perfect, but they were doing their best and at the moment, so was everyone else.

Heavy breathing, darkness, pain and the faint sound of shifting rock and metal.

This day couldn't get worse, could it?

As the rottweiler tried to move he felt something sharp pressing against his abs.

"Nffffuck...can't believe i'm still alive."

Again he tried to move, shift his weight somehow, flex his muscles. He struggled like he always did, he was a fighter after all.

Seconds later though he had to relax, a little at least.

"Damn! Didn't hurt this much since dad beat me up," he almost laughed, regretted it a moment later.

But he couldn't give up, he wouldn't, he had to get out of this.

At least his selfhealing was kicking in, he could feel it, maybe because of the pain, it never had been something that he was actively

aware of, this time he could almost feel the muscle fibres reattaching themselves to another again.

"I swear to God, when i get out of this."

Brian tried to flex again, shift the weight on his back, flex his muscles. Fuck! it hurt even more than before but he gritted his teeth.

It was just one noticing it at first, two, a few more after just seconds. Dust shot up between some of the debris and there was

slight movement, it looked almost coincidental.

But there was a rhythm to it, as if someone was trying to move a weight.

'WE HAVE SOMETHING HERE!'

People tried to get the attention of others, moved some of the concrete already.

It must've been him, nobody wanted to think about the possibility that something had happened to Hammer.

Was it getting lighter? He could just be imagining the sudden weight loss of his burden.

But he tried nonetheless, tried to put in every ounce of strength he had left.

Coughs escaped him as heavy dust and stale air took their toll on him.

Was he hearing voices? He could make something out, muffled, hectic.

"If i get out of this...," he mumbled to himself, gritted his teeth again, trying to move a little higher with the weight on

his back getting a little lighter again.

"If i get out of this, i'll go public."

Maybe he wasn't thinking straight, it was possible that the situation was getting to him, clouding his thoughts, still,

he wanted it, wanted to tell people who he was, what he was risking every day.

Not because he wanted gratification, he wanted to show them that he was one of them, that they too could change something.

He was just another citizen of this town, but he would fight for every one of them just as they should do.

Suddenly light blinded him, he gasped, coughed again as hands grabbed his shoulders and pulled him out of the hole.

For a moment he tried to shield his eyes as paramedics rushed over.

'Are you okay, sir?' 'Give the man some space!' 'Can't believe he survived that.' 'Look dad! It's him!'

All the voices just blended together, his ears rang a little but he still smiled.

Someone handed him water as he, shaky and with help, got up to his feet. People cheered, called his name.

Slowly though his smile disappeared, his mask, still covering up half his face at least, reminded him of what he said.

With some difficulty he cleared his throat, held up a hand as he was trying to get every ones attention, not even aware of

the TV cameras and reporters.

"This... this incident... ," he still had some trouble speaking, looked around a little.

"This incident has shown me... just how vulnerable i am myself, yet i decided to go into the bank, tried to...to resolve it all."

Was he being to cheesy? Possibly. Could this be done any other way?

He didn't know, there wasn't exactly a precedent for this, or a guideline.

"And while i don't want any other person to carry the burden i do, the burden...i chose, i want you to know that... i am one of you."

God, this ... this was sounding worse then he imagined.

"And i want you to know who i am."

Slowly his hands started moving, he could hear surprised gasps, suppressed chatter, as he removed the remains of his mask.

"Most of you know me as Hammer, know me as a hero, but my real name is Brian Collins..."

Seconds after, seconds that people needed to process what had just happened, he was drowned in cheers.

Some called him Hammer, some shouted Brian as if it was a cry of victory, others tried to keep the reporters away.

He had expected as much, this was an uproar. Brian still couldn't remember if there had ever been a hero going public with his

identity, but it wasn't important, he wanted this. Not for gratification but to show every one, not only in this city, that you could be something

more.

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-What in hell were you thinking?! Did you think at all Brian?-

He had to hold the receiver away from his ear as his brother shouted.

"Phillip, please, calm down."

Brian tried to sound calm himself, but his brother got to him, he always did. Sure, the other canine had no superpower, but somehow he always had

the upper hand.

-Stay calm... easy for you to say. You do know why we said a secret identity would be best, right?-

"I... i just didn't feel comfortable with it anymore and... listen, you never would have agreed to -"

-Of course i wouldn't! It puts people close to you in harms way, i'm in danger now!-

"Phillip... you always were in danger. You were in danger when my powers first showed. How often did i break your hands?"

For a few seconds the line went silent, he could hear his brother slide down against a wall as he sat down on the floor of his apartment.

-That was different ... THIS... this is different.-

Was he crying? Brian could have sworn he heard his brother sobbing at least.

Had he... gone too far?

"I'm sorry i didn't talk about it with you first but... ."

There was no but, was there? He had made a decision and while he could try to excuse himself over and over again it wouldn't change the fact that he

did make it.

-I need some time to think... i... i'll call you back later Brian.-

He didn't have time to answer. A split second later and his brother had hung up.

"You're so stupid at times Brian," he only whispered it as he put the receiver away.

He still had done the right thing, he knew he had...just... not for the right reasons, not at the right time.

All he could do now was hope that Phillip could forgive him, or at least talk to him again.

The other canine maybe wasn't one to hold a grudge but then again Brian had never screwed up this much.

While he still tried to think of a way to make things right again he headed for the shower.

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