There was a lot of stuff to sift through in the following days, and not just physical wreckage. Brimstone, in dragon form, had taken out three rooms, along withe the main generator and much of the performance platform that Aurora had been strapped to. Her not getting crushed was a miracle, but the psionic generator was totaled.

While the mutants cleared the wreckage, Meli took the boy under her wing. It wasn’t a difficult choice since the boy seemed to fear both Vashtalian and mutant dragon alike. Whenever one approached, he’d let loose with a siren wail. Not a mutant talent, but it made one’s ears ring none the less. He did have the same bottomless pit for a stomach. All she had to do was offer something, anything remotely edible, and he would hone in on it like a big mouth bass, mouth gaping; even if his eyes were focused elsewhere.

What was hard was trying to deal with Randall. Aurora had hoped that the sudden shock of the accident and them scrambling about, looking busy, would put Randall’s questions to bed, at least for a little while. But the man’s curiosity got the better of them all. “Whose kid is that?” Randall asked Aurora as he swished his head towards Meli.

Aurora tossed another chunk of wall and gave Estor a quick look. It Was a touchy subject. “Those are... we...”

“Did you want me to help with those?” Estor asked oh-so-helpfully.

“Yes Please!”

Randall had to wonder what was going on and why they had gotten so quiet. In fact they more or less shrugged him off, taking turns throwing massive chunks of wall into the dumpster. This quickly escalated into a game of who-can-heave-the-heaviest-clump competition. “Well?” he asked again.

Aurora sighed and turned to the scientist. “Those kids? Those are Nine’s.”

She waited for that to sink into Randall’s skull.

It did take about a minute for the full effect. “Annnndddd Who.. Who isss.....the .... father?”

Aurora had set her rocks down and took up a seat next to Randall, trying to explain it as gently as she could, yet judging the distance between his reach and her face, just in case. “We’re guessing.. And this is a pretty thin guess... that they are Pryce’s.” Aurora was already waving her hands, pushing her palms downward, as if the gesture could help calm Randall down. “Look, there was this temporal shift we didn’t account for, and we ended up coming to the party about ten years too late.”

Estor tried to help too. “We’re sorry, man. But she’s like dead now, right? So you really can’t be mad at her...” He stopped short when Aurora gave him That look.

She tried to repair the damages. “From what we could figure, he married her to gain position.”

Aurora let him mull on that idea, and it seemed to take a few minutes. “So, where is Nine?” he asked.

Now she rested her hands on his shoulders. “Randall, when we got there, Nine already had something planned. She requested, Insisted even; that we take her kids back here to safety. She.. She was in full flare when I pulled them back.” She felt his shoulders stoop. Yes, he knew what that meant. “My guess is that she’d been playing tit for tat with Pryce for years and this was   a last gamble on her part. For what it was worth, I Do know that she was happy to have her talent back, if even for just that short amount of time.”

Even Randall looked a bit surprised, even happy at this news. “She was able to get her mutant talent back?”

“Oh yes, and then some.”

Again Estor interrupted. “Kids? You mean there was more than one of them?”

Aurora rolled her eyes. Estor was sometimes a bit slow on the take, but she was sure he played the fool more than being one. “Yes. YOUR daughter Dusk took the girl.”

“Now why would she do that? She’s not much of the motherly type.”

“I don’t know. I guess You’ll have to ask her when you go to bring the girl back.”

“Bring her back? You’re not planning on raising another brood, are you?”

“I guess so. I’m pregnant, Megan’s pregnant. What’s two more kids? I’ll be an instant brood.”

“Estor blinked at her with silvery eyes. “You’re pregnant?”

“Yes dear. Four weeks ago? Remember?”

Meli lead her charge into the kitchen, figuring that if he was like the rest of his ilk, he would be starving. If nothing, it might get him to stop blubbering as he hadn’t really stopped crying since they came through the portal. Not that she could really blame the poor tyke. He had been snatched away from his home to a strange new world and his sister had been kidnaped and taken away from him. He clung to her cape and waddled along side of her, tears in his eyes, staring at the very unfamiliar settings. The banging and clunking from the basement didn’t help matters much. What changed his mind was food. She had found some slices of fruit and held them down to his level. She was almost amazed that he never bit down on her fingers, no matter how viciously he attacked the food. “Lovely,” she grunted. “Let’s see if we can find something substantial for you.” He apparently had a full set of teeth because he could handle the heel of a stale loaf of bread with no problem. In fact Meli could see a defined set of eyeteeth when he opened his mouth. Not quite fangs, but probably could leave a good sized hole in a hand that wasn’t welcome. He took both raw and cooked meats, preferring the prior; but also took veggies and fruits. She couldn’t bring herself to try those moldy snacks the older mutants wrestled over.

Once satiated, the boy toddled around the kitchen, then was drawn in by the noises in the basement. He only peeked inside. Once he saw the mutants, he turned back upwards, taking the stairs one at a time, undaunted by the steepness. He then took to wandering down the hall, peeking into each room, a slight frown to his countenance. That face, Meli could recognize. He bore a lot of the Rex in him. Maybe too much. She crouched down next to him when he paused. “Your sister is not here,” she stated quietly. Whether he understood her language and chose to ignore it, or just didn’t speak she didn’t know, but for now she would keep his secret.

He now turned to look her over, actually looking at her for the first time. He reached out a pudgy hand, brushing her face. She started crooning a lullaby to him. Only when she was through the second verse did she realize she was singing in Del Marian dialect.

“So are we going to try to retrieve Nine?” Randall asked, even as Aurora continued to poke through the rubble.

She paused again. “Randall, she was on the edge of causing an event. There wouldn’t even be a body left to retrieve.”

“Don’t fret,” Estor added. “We can find you an nice new girl. Maybe you could be with Dusk. I don’t think we’ve married her off yet, have we?” He was suddenly cut off as Aurora elbowed him roughly in the ribs.

“An event,” Randall whispered. He had heard of this term. The Event that was proposed would be the result of something so powerful that it would consume itself and everything around it, feeding until there was nothing left. “But.. But You lived through an event. We still have the original co-ordinates..”

“I, at this frame of time did; yes, but I bet there are scores of times I didn’t. Space is not the only thing that gets fractured during these things. Time does to. And if you think I’m going fishing, just hoping to hit a time where it didn’t go all to pot, you are sadly mistaken.”

“But there has to be some way to save her.”

Again Estor tried to cheer him up. “You know Lina could whip up a love potion like that.. It wouldn’t be hard..” Again he got another elbow in his ribs for his efforts. “Ow! You shouldn’t hit people when you’re pregnant. It’s bad for their health!”

“I think Nine has pretty much shown her power enough not to need to be rescued, Randall.” This was offered by Drac as he stood on the sidelines, eating his lunch.

“Finally,” Aurora sighed. “The Voice of Reason. Thank you , Drac. You tell him what you saw.”

“I still want to scan the place.” Randall was nearly pouting.

This set Aurora off as she gestured to the skies unseen. “Morons! The lot of you! She’s dead! There’s probably a big black gaping nothingness in that little corner of the universe by now! Why can’t we just take care of her kids like she asked and call the whole thing off?!” She turned looking at Randall. She bit her lip, then finally caved in. “Okay. Alright. We’ll try. We’re gonna need to clean this mess up, and get a new machine built, new lines established. Don’t know How were gonna do that with no Planet to hone in on, but that’s moot at this point..”

While Aurora’s tone turned itself down as she ran out of steam, Meli entered the room and asked, “Where is the boy’s sister at?”

How she asked it was strange enough, since it was still in the Del Marian dialect, but nobody had caught the slip up. Aurora tossed her head at Estor, as if it was his fault. “Dusk took her. Apparently that was the cost for her help.”

“Well, the boy misses her.”

All Aurora had to do was look at Estor and the winged elf creature sighed and headed out the door, pausing only momentarily to pick up and oversized fighting hammer, muttering about being all fatherly. He returned two hours later, the child kicking and screaming, slung over his shoulder, pounding on his back with her tiny fists. He was sporting a black eye, several bruises, and at least one broken rib. Aurora didn’t ask who had managed to inflict those injuries, but at least he had brought the girl back. Somewhere along the line he had started calling her Emma. Emma, however, didn’t recognize her new name. Instead she flew across the room, grabbing her brother by the arm, and dragging him down the hall until she found a suitable room to hole up in.

Aurora left it at that.

+++++++++

Meli and Drac were sitting, watching Brimstone work on his latest creation, the new and improved psionic generator. Because of the lack of materials, the creation leaned towards the Frankensteinian, but BS continued to assure them that the machine would work.

A glint caught BS’s eye. Meli had been spinning a gem hanging from a leather tie around her neck. When she caught him looking at it, a memory seemed to jar loose. “Oh, that’s right.” She pulled the leather tie up and over her head and handed it to Drac. “That’s for you. Or should I say your sword.”

“What is it?” Drac asked.

“It’s the rest of Tim.” She smiled sheepishly, even as BS dropped his tools and turned towards her. “That’s probably what’s been knocking around in my mind. I’ve had that thing for oh... umm... err... hrm? Oh no matter. I think Tim’s had enough fun for a life time. Perhaps a little rest shall do him good.”

He stared at her. “Dear Lord, it’s contagious!”

“You’re contagious!” she answered back.

BS smiled a bit, then kissed her brow before heading into the back room for more supplies.

Meli’s hand shot up to her brow. She held it there a moment before letting her body relax. “How long was I gone?” she asked Drac.

“Not long.” This was not answered by Drac, but by Jason as he leaned in the doorway.

“And you would know how?” she asked him. She personally didn’t know Jason, but only knew of him; mainly that none of the Del Marian troupe liked him.

Even now he had a smirk that would rival Tim’s. “You psi’s always take a while to mellow out after a jaunt like that. I’ve seen it time and time again. The Rex would be frazzled for weeks; talking to himself. It made him seem more insane than the icon they held him up to be.”

“You know nothing of me!” she barked.

“That may be true, but I don’t have to. You better hope BS doesn’t figure it out. He’s frazzled enough as is.” Jason sighed dramatically. “Stupid worry wort. He should just jump ship and run while he can.

Meli bit. "What does he have to do with anything?"

"Simple," Jason grinned. "He's yours. You're his, whether you like it or not. Can't change that." And with that he slipped from the room.

Meli had to wonder if they could just sense each other, for as soon as Jason left, Megan toddled into the room. "Pain in the ass, isn't he?" she commented.

"Can't I just hit him until he bleeds?" Meli begged.

"Oh he's just pushing buttons. Testing you. Besides, if you hit him, that'll make me have to intervene." She shrugged her shoulders. "I can, however, offer to beat him to a pulp for you. No law says I can't do that."

Meli never did understand the "rules" and wasn't even sure what the game consisted of but she was willing to let Megan manhandle the brute. Drac thought otherwise. "None of you will be beating anyone to a bloody pulp if I can help it! If any of that goes on and I'LL have to intervene."

"Party pooper," Megan complained and took up a seat, having to shuffle herself around a bit to get comfortable. "This is starting to get in the way," she complained as she patted the belly.

Meli likewise patted the bulge, finding that whatever was inside was much firmer than the normal baby. "Maybe I haven't been gone that long, " she mused.

"That's misleading," Megan corrected. "Junior here is taking his sweet old time about it." She smiled a bit then looked up at Meli "We do all know that you don't Belong to him. It's just stuck up there in his head somewhere that he has to protect you. Damn natural instinct, but I have to admit, you fell into that category on your own resolve, I'm afraid."

"Well if I don't come around here he won't feel it much longer."

Megan gave a frown. "Meli, have you ever wondered why I haven't killed Jason? You think that maybe I still love him? No. Maybe because he's one of us? Hardly. No, its just because we've shared some time together. Even if I want to kill him; heck even if we All want to kill him, we won't. Even if you go away, BS will feel a responsibility for you, and that means we all feel that responsibility. You are part of our clan; good, bad, or indifferent. Same as Drac-boy over there."

"Whatever," Meli grumped.

Again Megan shrugged her shoulders. "I just figured you should know the score before you settle it."

"Wonderful." Meli replied in the most unenthusiastic of tones.

"Well, yeah. That's about what I felt when I realized I was mired in it. But they'll come through for when you don't think you need it the most. You'll see," Megan struggled to stand back up, having to push off the arms of the chair with quite a bit of effort and headed to the kitchen.

While she made her snack, the door behind her creaked open a bit. Emma and her brother were peeking in, Obviously having smelled the food but were very untrusting of the person dishing it out. Megan paid them no mind at all, but she did make a few extra sandwiches, then lowered the platter down to their level as she worked at piecing a salad together with her free hand. Emma inched her way over, snatched one sandwich and retreated, biting into it. Once she declared it safe, she handed it to the boy who glommed it down. Emma once again stalked the tray, snagging several more. All the while Megan kept her eyes averted.

            Once they had grabbed all they could carry, the duo headed back out into the main area where Drac and Meli were saying their goodbyes. The boy's face brightened up and he ran, grabbing the edge of Meli's cloak, smudging peanut butter into the fabric as he offered her what was left in his hand.

Emma was mortified. She tried to reach out and snatch her brother away, but she could bring herself to come any closer to Meli. The girl looked wild enough as is. She still sported Dusk's trappings; leather jacket, little silver stud earrings complete with connecting chains, tattoos drawn on with ink marker, and thigh high black boots made to order. Thankfully there were no piercings as of yet. Her temperament more than complimented the goth look she had been trying to project on the child. Meli finally crouched down, trying not to be threatening, mumbling in a soft voice. She managed two sentences when she realized she had slipped into their native tongue once again, but this time she didn't mind. Emma had calmed down, marginally. Meli then turned to the boy. "You need to go to your sister now," she said as she gently disentangled his pudgy fingers from her cloak. "Your sister needs you." He grinned up at her, then turned as bidden and took three steps towards his sister; three steps close enough as she reached out, grabbed her brother by the arm and dragged him down the hall. The boy did look back over his shoulder and waved goodbye to Meli, his face smudged with peanut butter, jelly, and chocolate. Meli waved back at him, smiling herself.

Aurora looked over Drac's shoulder as he watched the scene unfold. "Sure you can stand the pitter patter of mutant feet?" she asked him.

"I've withstood it so far," he answered her softly.

"And that's the key word. Withstood. I think that's what's buggin' BS. He knows we are not the easiest people in the world to deal with, and BS has a ton of guilt to deal with."

"Trust me, Aurora. If any of you were truly a burden on me, I would have kicked you all out a long time ago."

She tussled his hair as if Drac were some oversized kid. "You might wanna mention that to the tin can. I think he's been feeling a bit sheepish showing off his furry side to begin with. Big wuss."

BS made his way up from the basement to see Meli standing in the hallway. She was muttering to herself, then gesturing, then shaking her head as if she'd made a mistake, then repeat the process. "What are you doing?" he asked. "You're not planning on making a trip Back there, are you?"

"I don't wanna go there. They're almost as annoying as those Del Marian creatures. I'm going home."

"Meli!" He dropped his arm load of superfluous metal stuff and grabbed her shoulders. "Honey! Please! You've been through hell. Just rest, for a little while. Please?"

"I'm going home!" she barked back and with a stamp of her foot, she was gone in a puff of smoke.

He broke out in a howl.

Aurora had covered her ears when the clatter of metal echoed down the hall, them clamped her hands down further when Brimstone began wailing. "And round 23 begins," she complained over the din. "Don't they get it yet?"

Drac likewise had his ears covered. "Actually the antics of you all are rather amusing at times, Aurora."

"Oh yeah, you say that now, until your home is demolished. You're just playing with illegal fireworks here, Dude."

            Randall, for all the arguments given, still wanted to see if they could rescue Nine. BS tried working on achieving that goal, even though he had tried, repeatedly, to explain to Randall that there wasn't going to be much left of the planet , much less Nine. In the interim of ordering replacement parts for his machine, BS narrowed his focus on Nine's offspring. His first mistake of the day was trying to get a DNA sample. Bellows from the kitchen brought the gang running to find themselves ducking for cover. BS was tucked in behind the counter as pans and plates, one by one, were being lobbed with great invisible force from within the kitchen. "Aurora!" he shouted again, then ducked as a china plate just missed his head. Most of his techno-armor was gone and it hurt being beaned in the brainpan.

            Aurora watched from the living room but didn't even budge. "No way, Jose. That chick's aim is too good." She continued to read the morning newspaper, mostly a gossip rag about the latest around Vashtalia. She liked the crossword puzzles the best, even though most of the definitions escaped her since she was not up to snuff on the local names and places. When the cookware started flying too close to her chair, she just picked up and moved out of the area, heading back to the relative safety and quiet of her room.

            She didn’t even both to alert her daughter as to the hazards ahead. Megan lumbered into the crossway and almost got beaned. "Whoa!" she shouted out as she snagged the next pot as it sailed by her head. "Whose messing with the gear? Drac'll tan your hide... " She froze, seeing the two tykes in the kitchen. With the image of Emma seething with rage as another pan levitated from the floor, Megan dove for cover, then rounded on Brimstone. "What did you Do to them?!"

            "I was just trying to get some samples and she totally freaked!" BS protested back.

            Randall wandered in bleary eyed, having worked all night on the power converter system. He barely ducked in time as yet another silver platter whizzed by his head. "What the...?" he spat before being yanked out of the line of fire by Megan.

            Meli wandered towards the kitchen, having heard the ruckus and cautiously opened the door. There she saw the two tykes holding back the entire mutant cadre with just several platters. the boy spotted her behind them and grinned, readily letting go of his sisters little leather dress for Meli's softer cloak, staring up at her with trusting eyes. Meli couldn't help herself. She picked him up, chattering softly at him in his native Del Marian language, but the boy didn't seem to have the vocal skills. Instead he pointed at his sister, then at BS as the counter the mutant was hiding behind began to lose integrity at the heavy cookwear slammed into the woodwork. Estor has stumbled onto the scene. The pots and pans now veered in mid arc and bounded off the silvery elf's head. Emma's full attention was on BS and Estor, so she never noticed when Meli slipped into the kitchen behind her to rummage through the cupboards, trying to find something nourishing for both her and the boy.

            This left Megan to try to take command of the situation. "We gotta stop her. Drac's gonna get pissed that we wrecked his place again."

            Estor crawled out from under the pile of platters. "Maybe she liked Dusk better than us?" he ventured.

            "I don't think she likes anyone," Megan replied.

            Emma finally looked back, then paused, seeing Meli carrying her brother about. Her concentration broken, all the remaining flatware floating at her mental command came crashing to the floor. The boy just giggled back at her, waving his pudgy fist clenched with peanut butter. Meli had learned by observation, making no eye contact with the girl, just slowly lowering a plate with sliced fruit down to the girl's level. Emma clearly was torn, but she hesitantly reached out and snagged a chunk of melon. The tentatively tasted it, then swallowed the remainder whole and reached for another.

            Megan peeked around the corner. "Well whadaya know. Auntie Meli has saved the day."

            "I hope so," Estor groaned. "My head hurts. I don't wanna get hit with things anymore, It's not very pleasant."

            "Tell me about it," Brimstone echoed. "Man, I miss the armor plating." He rubbed several bruised points on his arms and head. They were fading fast, but not fast enough.

            Randall also stumbled to his feet, them braced himself so that Megan could stand as well as she seemed to have a hard time shifting her weight while carrying the baby. He then tried to step closer to Meli and company. "Hi!" he smiled.

            Emma just hissed at him.

            As Randall dove back under cover, BS poked his head out. "Hey, Meli? Can you get me a few strands of hair from them? I mean since they seem to like you and all that?"

            "No," she replied flatly. "If you want hair, then collect it from where they sleep."

            BS bopped himself in the forehead. "Why didn't I think of that?" he groaned, then crawled away, keeping out of Emma's line of sight.

            Estor stared at the departing mutant, then realized something. "Hey, when did BS lose his armor plating?"

            Megan slapped Estor upside his thick head. "He's been molting for weeks, Moron! Meli wished him not to be so metal.. and so it came to be.. I guess." She wasn't exactly sure how it all came to pass, but that seemed to be the general consensus.

            "Why would she do that? He's a cyborg. Not having metal with him would be bad, wouldn't it?"

            While Megan tried to explain what was clearly not explainable, Randall had tried to venture forward and make friends with Emma. What he got in return was a telekinetic blast that sent him tumbling from the kitchen, bowling Megan and Estor in a perfect three pointed strike. When they looked back at the girl, all she did was stamp her foot and snort in warning before turning back to Meli and taking another offering of sweets. Meli continued to keep up a soft drone of words, telling Emma that she totally sympathized with the girl's plight, and how thick headed the rest of the lot were. Emma did reply in short words like "bad", "good," and "food" in her own dialect. It was Del Marian in origin, but the accent was strange, signifying that she did come from an alternate plane from the others.

            Megan just stared after them as they wandered down the hall. "Kids' gotta temper," she noted softly.

            "Well the apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Randall replied. "She's Just like Nine."

            "Definitely got Nine in 'em" BS exclaimed as he crawled back from his room, carrying reams of data in his clenched fists. He spread the paper out so that all could see, not that Estor or Randall could fully decipher the writing before them. "They've even got some of Pryce in them, but there's more. I recognize most of these patterns. Yes-sir-ee Bob, they've been genetically engineered. Both of them. Would you believe they carry strands of the Rex in them? Especially the boy. That's probably why Nine wanted them away. She didn't want Pryce to engineer more mutants for his army."

            But Megan seemed shocked by the news. “Are you trying to tell me that Emma there.... is... me?”

            BS stared at her, then blinked, realizing the implications. “That she is of the Deh Mahr and the Rex? Yeah.. I guess she would be you then, wouldn’t she? Actually she would be more than you. Like a super sized you. I figure most of this stuff will activate once she hit puberty.”

            He let her chew on that answer awhile as they watched Meli feeding the kids. Emma had taken several fist fulls, passing several helping to her brother. She even handed a helping back to Meli, insisting with gestures that she partake of their feast. “Seems they finally settled on Somebody,” Megan noted.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

            Estor had slipped away from the group, somewhat dejected that Emma hadn’t warmed up to him. He found his wife in their room, having absconded the video game and was trying to master the many maneuvers of Halo, and not doing well at all. “You know, I even rescued her from the jaws of ultimate evil,” he pouted.

            Aurora sat the controls down and turned giving her hubby and much needed hug. “That’s okay. I appreciate the things you do for this clan, even if they don’t.” She added a peck on his cheek for good measure.

            “Aw thanks Hun.. Er.. Wait.. I just called our other daughter ‘the jaws of ultimate evil’. You know, that probably wasn’t for the best.”

            “No, it probably wasn’t. Why don’t you go talk to Dusk? She can probably use some fatherly good advise about now, or at least a punching bag to vent on. At least you won’t have to worry about a second psi beaning you with a crock pot.”

            Estor thumbed his beardless chin. “Yeah, it probably wasn’t so fatherly hitting her over the head with a big hammer to take back Emma. Maybe I will go talk to her.”

            “You do that, Sunshine. I’ll hold the fort,” and she turned back to the Play station and reset the game.

-----------

            When he did locate his daughter he found something rather odd occurring. She appeared to be doing some sort of ritual. She had picked up her magical life-giving sword Defender and plunged the blade through what looked to be an oversized mis-shapen cat’s skull. Lightning flashed outside the window, though there was no storm brewing when Estor had arrived. Slowly a purplish mist floated up from the fracture in the skull and a vague form began to take shape. Something humanoid in shape, yet sporting two tails. “Let’s see if Megan will be a bit happier with this,” Dusk mumbled under her breath as she gestured feverishly over the skull.

            “Uhm, Honey? What are you doing?”

            Startled that somebody was watching her, Dusk wheeled around, losing control over the ritual. She turned to catch herself, but the half solid spirit whizzed off before she could finish the job. She then spun back around to face Estor. “Dad! I’m so going to kill you!”

^^^^^^^^

            As Megan mulled over Emma parentage, she felt a strange tingle run down her back. Since there was nothing currently going on in the room to warrant such a sensation, Megan passed it off as just “one of those things”.

++++++++++

Arc Cldwalker

            Megan had to get out fo the madhouse, and so one morning managed to slip from the compound and into the nearby town. She hadn't slipped out unnoticed and Goury Gabrieve was soon following her through the crowded streets. He wasn't being stealthy about it, just taking flank to keep an eye on her. Frankly, she didn't mind. "Are you sure you feel up to this?" he asked once he caught up to her as she paused next to a dog-cart.

            "I refuse to be locked up in that insane asylum. Besides, most of the major threats are gone."

            A huge brick building loomed up in front of them, baking in the sun. "Library of the Dragon" had been carefully carved on the hanging board just outside the oaken double doors, though no foot traffic entered or left. She slipped inside, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkened room; old brown paper having been fastened to the high windows. Volumes of books lined the shelves. Everything from ancient leather bound tomes to more modern production paperbacks shared equal footing on the dusty boards.

She found herself wandering up and down the stacks with Goury in tow, until she stumbled across the reference section, mainly the section pertaining to the identification and habits of dragons. She pulled down one book and flipped through the pages. It seemed to be a peterson's guide field identification book but this one was based on dragons, complete with arrows denoting identifying marks, migrations patterns, songs, size, and color variations. "Why is it every reptile I run across ranges near the 100 ft mark?" she complained as she closed the book and replaced it on the shelf.

            "There Are pixie dragons," he reminded her.

            "I guess." She now fished out a pamphlet that had been wedge between to massive encyclopedia volumes. " 'Care of Golden Dragons'? Bah! Like they need pampering," and she stuck the leaflet back into the stacks.

            Goury continued to follow her, watching her thumb through the texts. "Are you sure you're not worried about things?" He had noticed little things; fidgeting, shifting of weight, signs he had learned through his association with the mutants that they were not relaxed. He thought about the threats still at large. "Rooslan is still unaccounted for."

            "Not my problem," she answered back easily enough. "With Nine gone, he's probably wasting away in a corner somewhere. Besides I would be moe worried about Dusk throwing a hissy fit. Did you see that black eye Estor was sporting?"

            Oh he had seen it, along with the plethora of bruises and broken bones. If Estor hadn't had any of that foreign mutant blood in his system, he probably could have died from those injuries, even if he made light of the incident. "I don't totally trust her," he confessed.

            Megan looked at him. "I doesn't take much to piss Dusk off. In fact I think she's perpetually pissed. Course I would be too with the way her mother treated her. I can Totally sympathize.”

            Since Dusk’s mother was also Megan’s, Goury figured that mentioning her mother as a third party person also showed that Megan still didn’t get along with Aurora. He kept his tongue as Megan found another thick volume and struggled with it to pull it from the shelve. She waved off his attempts to help and dropped the book onto the thick boards of a dusty old table then began turning the pages. “Will ya lookit that,” she mused. “Somebody spotted Ashmire.”

            “Ashmire?” This was from Drac whom had slipped into the library behind the duo. Not that he didn’t trust Goury’s judgement, but he knew if Megan wanted to give him the slip, she could.

            He paused and peered over her shoulder to look at the entry. The dragon that Megan had recognized was definitely Del Marian, covered in a short fur from snout to tail, with a longer courser set running from his chin, under his belly and halfway down the length of his tail. This one was calico, blotched red and black on a field of white, with bluish white eyes.

            “Yeah. He sort of linked up with Brimstone for a while there, but they didn’t quite get along all the time. Much of the damage at the cave was done by those two taking pot shots at each other. Megan slipped to the front of the book to scan the indica. “This issue came out last year, so this is a relatively new sighting. I always did wonder what happened to the twit.” She flipped back to the page her kindred was on and began reading through the descriptions, then began giggling. “Oh this is rich. Says here that he’s a cross between a dragon and a horse. Poor guy!”

            “So he’s related to you?”

            “In a way. We’re all related, but we were never sure who birthed him. Some rumors point to Timothy being the father.”

            As Drac gave that sour look she knew the answer would bring, a movement from deep in the shadows caught her eye. A big shadow, which now slowly advanced into the light. A dragon. A great big, massive, metallic, silver dragon unfolded his frame from the corner in which he had been snoozing. He peered down at her with catlike yellow eyes that just seemed to burn right though her. “Drac,” she warned in a short bark and moved, putting the Vashtalian lord between her and the great beast. She was currently defenseless since Estor still had Destroyer, and being off-balanced and uncomfortable pregnant did nothing to belie her nervousness.

            The beast snorted softly, though soft wasn’t quite the description Megan would have used as it blew her hair back in a puff. “Well, it seems I’ve been sleeping through some guests’ stay.” He slowly advanced to the table, reaching forward and taking one of the massive book easily in one of his paws and reared up, replacing it on the top shelf some thirty tiers up.

            Drac held his composure. He would have ribbed the girl for fearing the one thing she normally would have pushed around like a puppy, but something in her demeanor told him to take care. “I wouldn’t fret about him,” he replied in a soothing tone.

            “Famous last words,” she murmured back. “Go tell him I didn’t mean to ruffle his books around.”

            The great reptile bent back down to take up another book, then paused and dipped his head low in common greeting. “I can hear you fine, Milady. My books have their own defenses. Do not worry.”

            Megan bowed her head as well, almost thankful that the great scaled creature spoke a common language. “My apologies. I thought this a public library.”

            Again another dip from the larger creature. “I am Arcturious, eldest of the Clan Cloudwalker of the realm of Avalon. I allow the public to use my place.”

            Drac likewise bowed. “I am Dracon, fourth ruler of Vashtalia, ancient realm of Dragons. The lady behind me is Megan, the man beside her Goury.”

            Megan rolled her eyes at the droning of Drac’s title, but she was thankful that he hadn’t gone off and rattled her title as well. As she reached for another tome, she found herself once again staring eye to eye and teeth to teeth with the silver monster as he peered down at her. She knew the smile was actually a friendly greeting, but it was still unnerving to have 18 inch canines inches from her face. In response, she likewise bared her own human teeth back at him. This caused the great reptile to chuckle. “She is not familiar with dragon humor, is she?” he asked Drac.

            The short-tempered mutant ratcheted up a notch. “Oh I’ve got plenty of humor. It’s just hard to dig it up when the object of that humor has the size advantage. No thank you, I’ll keep my head in tact.” She turned back to the shelf and finally managed to pull out a heavily weighted volume, plunking it heavily on the table with a “Bam!”, then a wince knowing that wasn’t the most kindest way she could have treated the book, but she was quickly losing strength with all the activity. In fact she had to sit to peruse through the next one, having to pause every few pages and Goury and Drac oohed and awed at each picture. She finally gave up and left the book with them and once again perused the shelves, still wary of the watchful eye of Arc.

            Goury once again looked over Megan’s shoulder , seeing that her reading subject had changed from dragons to demons. Stone ones in particular. It wasn’t even that difficult for the short-witted swordsman to know what was on her mind. “Has Zel regained his memory?” he asked.

            It was still a tender subject and he regretted it the instant he mentioned it as any sort of happy thoughts melted from her face. “No,” she replied through bitter teeth. “All he does is sleep. A lot.” Her bottom lip curled and she suddenly slammed her fist down into the table with a bark. “Damn Tim!” she howled, then brought her hand up to her chest, having broken the pinkie upon impact.

            The silver dragon snorted, then began to uncoil. “Allow me,” he coughed as he began to chant a healing spell.

            Massive panic broke out. Megan scooted backwards, toppling over one of the wooden chairs and falling to the floor. Drac tried waving his arms in warning. “MILORD!” he cried out.

            But it was too late. At the muttering of “Lord Paladin, grant this lass your healing touch...” the spell began to chew on Megan’s arm, sending a shower of golden sparks flying everywhere, yet not igniting any of the worn pages. She screamed out in pain as she shook the limb, trying to get the pins and needles feeling off her hand. Finally the effects subsided. The spell hadn’t done any lasting damage; in fact it had healed the pinkie, though it was crooked.

            Megan finally found her voice. “Doesn’t anyone Ask before whipping out the magic?!”

            “Calm down, Megan!” Drac insisted as he watched the great serpent melt back into the shadows, seeing the ill his magic had done.

            “Well Jesus-on-a-Stick! It seems to be the whole friggin cure all!” She managed to get to her feet with Goury’s assistance, only to shake him off her once she had her balance. Then, with a snort breath, she whipped out her hand, and with a quick strike brought the crooked finger down sharply on the edge of the table, rebreaking the appendage.

            Drac winced. “Must you do that Right now?”

            “It’ll just set firmer the longer I wait,” she grunted back while she wrapped a pencil alongside the finger, splinting it with a strip ripped from her smock.

            He shuddered. “I swear, I’ll never get over how you mutants just rebreak bones right there in front of everyone....” The Vashtalian King paused, seeing Megan tense up, then realized what he had said. His gaze shifted back to the owner of the library, but the great reptile had backed into a darkened corner, only his golden almond eyes peering out with a light of their own. Drac had called her a mutant in front of mixed company, but thankfully the company didn’t seem to mind. In fact, Arcturious seemed quite down. He leaned into Megan a little. “I think you hurt his feelings.”

            “Yeah, yeah,” she disgruntledly agreed as she finished her mendings, then turned to the silver drake. She was still wary of the beast, but he didn’t seem put out by her parentage, so she tried to make amends. “Look, I’m sorry, but Magic doesn’t work well on my, as you can see.”

            The sadness in the great beast’s eyes seemed old, but he nodded slowly. “It was my fault... but what I used wasn’t magic. It was a touch of a god. I was a paladin for the God of Good Dragons, Bahamut.”

            Drac’s eyes rolled back to Megan. Gods were not high on the mutants’ favorite list, but she didn’t seem disgruntled by that fact. “Figures,” she snorted as she rubbed her arm, trying to get some sort of normal feeling back in the skin. “Just.. Consider me the negative charge of everything, looking for a reason. Besides, Estor Claims to be a relative to this Bahamut guy, so things are cool by me. Course Estor doesn’t have all his marbles.” Her voice dropped into a mutter, saying something under her breath about how anyone marrying her mother couldn’t have all his marbles to begin with.

            “Ah,” the dragon replied, much relieved that the girl’s ire seemed short lived. “My grandmother was a consort to the great Lord Bahamut.”

            Megan snorted, then turned to Drac. “See? ‘Consort’. You don’t Have to be married to have a decent title.

            Drac just rolled his eyes.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

            Supplies were in short demand for the repairs to be done on the machine. Even though BS apparently had his black market up and running, he just didn’t seem able to procure the necessary components. Currently he was working with what was available, but set up a stream of cusswords as something heavy slipped from his hands and crashed to the ground with a loud thud.

            “You okay?” Randall asked form his position on top of the infernal machine.

            “Friggin’ wrench. Man I miss my gear.” An arm reached down from somewhere near the center of the massive machine to pick up the tool. BS had wedged himself within panel to bolt the frame together.

            “Well just take it easy. We want this to work correctly when we fire it up. It should with all the new upgrades."

            “I’m just making sure everything is tightened down. I didn’t want her to shred this thing to bits if she sneezes. I have to admit though...” He extracted himself from the paneling and fell to the floor. “I was surprised at how well it held together the last time. Nine’s specs must’ve been real close to Aurora’s.”

            Claw made his way into the basement and into the constructions site. “You two need any help with anything?”

            “A new soldering gun would be nice,” Brimstone suggested. “And a new backup generator. The old one’s failing again.”

            “We’ll need thicker gauge wire,” Randall added. “The stage two upgrade will increase the power output. It’ll melt this wiring for sure.”

            “And I wanna put more buffers along the conduit. A lot of it leaked out when the shouldered that pulse. And we’ll need more reinforcement here and here.”

             Both men now scrambled over the machine, voicing out all the things they found wrong with it. Claw had to wonder if it would be functional at all with all the faults they found. “Well, make me a list and I will check with the Northern realms.”

            BS nodded. “Maybe you should go down by the wharf first. There are a few interstellar travelers that are on ’vacation’ along there.” He now climbed back under the device. “I swear, IF we get this hunk of junk up and running, and If there’s something left over on the other side, I’m gonna do some Major shopping.” He began hammering on a bent pipe. “Damn Pryce. I want my stone back, for starters. We can’t afford to lose another generator..”

...................................

            Aurora watched the sparring with Emma standing a few feet to her right, the younger girl also watching with great interest. This was a good thing as Drac suddenly found himself flying backwards into the shrubbery. Emma scooted out of the way just in time. Aurora coughed out towards the child and the two now found themselves staring at each other. To the untrained eye, they seemed frozen, but Drac could see the subtle body language between them, a shift of weight, a slight turn of the head. All this spoke volumes he knew, but he just didn’t know what it said. This went on for almost five minutes before the child relented and once again stood near her surrogate mother.

            When Saarith made a rare entrance to watch the spar, Aurora nodded and grunted a greeting. Emma mimicked both gesture and sound. Saarith smiled and gave the duo a little wave. Aurora waved back. Emma just stared. She Had made a little progress as she didn’t immediately attack him as had been her trait for the past few weeks. Instead she continued to stare at the heir apparent, then she slowly circled him like he was an exhibit on display. He knelt down slowly to her level. “Hello there, Little one,” he spoke softly. She neither retreated, nor advanced, and Saarith could see that she was still forming an opinion of him. Finally she darted out and poked Saarith in the arm with a finger, then jumped back as if bitten by a snake. Saarith smiled, then reached out and lightly poked Emma in the arm, very lightly of course. She clutched her arm as if he’d hit her with acid. It took her a minute to realize that he hadn’t as she examined the spot where he’d touched her, then her gaze rolled back onto him. He ignored her at this point, keeping his eyes on the spar as Drac and Melissa continued to pummel each other. He could feel her staring, and he knew he’d given her something to think about. After a few more minutes she sat down next to him. Not quite Next to him as more like 6 feet from him, but mimicking his positioning and movements as well.

            Aurora would have intervened if just to cut the tension, but she had her own problems to contend with as Dusk had slipped out from the shadows. The greeting between these two was even stranger. Dusk nearly walked sideways as she approached her mother, her hands laced behind her back, her eyes averted to the ground. Aurora mimicked this action until they were within arms reach. “Came back to get the kid?” Aurora asked bluntly, even as she stared at the ground.

            “No,” Dusk replied, her head bowed as well as she shuffled her toes in the sand. “That didn’t work out all too well last time. No.. What I need is.. Urm.. ‘advise’.”

            The kinetic matriarch chewed on the request a bit knowing it had been difficult to ask. “Advice I can give, for what it’s worth.”

            Dusk inhaled. “Well I sort of.... summonedMegansoldboyfriendbackfromthedeadandlosttrackof himandnowhe’swanderingaroundonlyI’mnotsureherealizesthathe’sreallydead..” She inhaled sharply. “...orthatMeganisnowwithZel..”

            She had thought that if she had said it fast enough it wouldn’t have sounded so bad. It didn’t help. Aurora stood there for a moment, then grabbed the girl by the elbow and dragged her behind the building, away from Saarith and his young admirer. “You did What?” she finally asked her, not as a chastising mother, but as a concerned fellow mutant. “What possessed you to do such a thing? Are you Trying to piss her off? I mean she’s the only person here that really likes you!” Aurora wasn’t even yelling. All of this was in a harsh whisper as if she expected Megan to overhear them.

            “I did it because I thought it would make her happy to see him again. Of course Someone just had to come by and ruin the ritual.”

            Aurora rubbed the back of her neck as she mulled over the implications as she shuffled her weight and sat down on the soft soil. “And you lost the soul? So he’s like what? A ghost?”

            Dusk sat as well, crossing her legs Indian style. “Well, that’s what would normally have happened, but .. Well.. I didn’t know he was a psi. Maybe he’s able to ectoplasmically project himself.”

            “Hrm.” Again Aurora was deep in thought. “This old flame of Megan’s, what’s he like? He’s not another egomaniac like your father, is he? Wait, I mean your bodily father.. I mean.. Oh, I mean Timothy..” She paused again. “You Haven’t told Megan, have you? That this guy is floating around here....”

            “What happened now?” Drac had walked around the corner, toweling himself off after his rigorous exercise session.

            Aurora looked up at him. “It’s nothing major. I mean the guy’s not gonna come over here and try to burn the place down, right?” She looked to Dusk. “It IS nothing major, right?”

            “Uhm.. Define ‘major’.” Dusk replied sheepishly.

            Drac rolled his eyes. “I can normally deal with spirits around my home, but I do not wish for anything to go wrong. The next anniversary of this realm’s settling is soon. You have two weeks to find this spirit and make sure he’s not going to do anything. I don’t want him interfering with the peace of this realm.”

            Aurora now snorted. “Drac, Honey, we ALL interfere with the peace of this realm. What’s one more? Though I would feel a bit better if we knew the guy’s temperament and intentions.”

            “What guy?” Brimstone had finished with his repairs for now and was standing behind the group, wiping his hands clean on an old torn tunic.

            Dusk couldn’t help herself. “Oh someone I summoned back from beyond.. Purple, furry, two tails, kinda cute...”

            BS’s jaw dropped. “Lucious? You brought back Lucious?”

            “SHHH!” Aurora warned. “Do you want Her to hear?”

            “Hear what?” This from Megan as she rounded the corner. She had finished the breakfast dishes and was in a hurry to head back over to the library as she so wanted to continue her research in Arcturious’s collections. Only this meeting on the pathway barred her exit.

            Funny how that crowd almost melted back, leaving Dusk to stand in the middle of the circle. Dusk tried to teleport, but thanks to the proximity of mutants, the spell just succeeded in making her a little faded. “Damn,” she cussed.

            “Okay,” Megan grumbled, crossing her arms just over the growing bulge in her midriff. “What’s going on?”

            “Uhm.... well.... I’m not quite sure how to explain this very well.. But you know how sometimes people make bad decisions...?”

            Those arms seemed to arc higher. “What did you do?”

            “.......megan.....?” The voice was soft, but very familiar to Megan’s ears. She turned around slowly, following the source back to a shimmering image of the two tailed purple cat man Lucious. She started, hiccupped, gasped, then passed out, falling to the ground in a rounded pile.

            Aurora looked down at the prone body. “Well, you’ve done it now, Dusk. She’s dead.”

>>>>>>>>>

            The state of things at Drac’s castle were at status quo. Brimstone and Randall spent most of their waking hours trying to rebuild the structure that had channeled Aurora’s energy to open the gateway back to Nine’s home world. Aurora herself spent most of her days relaxing in the last warm rays of sunlight before it got too cold to endure. Nine’s offspring kept to themselves, playing outdoors in a makeshift sandbox not too far away from Aurora. Willow’s twins, now calling themselves Taran and Lyra, spent much of their time around their grandmother as well, bugging her with simple inane questions until she had to shoo them away. When not keeping their grandmother company, they were buzzing all over Brimstone’s creation, again barraging him with questions.

             Once his machine was finished, he sent the twins to fetch Aurora. Once Aurora had been lead to the site of Brimstone’s megalithic machine she turned to him. “You’re gonna fry me, aren’t you?”

            “What gives you that idea?” Randall replied.

            “Well.. Frankly? It looks like crap. Where’d you get the hardware; Bargain- Bins- Be- Us?”

            BS took her criticisms to heart. “Hey, it might not look pretty but it’ll get the job done, provided you don’t tear it up first.

            A great sigh escaped her. "Oh , very well. I guess it's time to test it out.." and she climbed back into the padded kitchen chair that served as the cat-bird seat for the whole apparatus.

            Lyra stared wide eyed as BS began strapping her grandmother into the machine. "Will it be safe?" she whispered.

            "It will be," Randall insisted. "I trust my engineering.

            "Nothing's safe," Aurora corrected him," but it's safer with me at the helm.. we hope... I can handle it if it breaks, which it better not."

            "Uhm, yeah." BS rubbed the back of his head once Aurora was snug and tight. "I would kind of like to mention now that everyone else Might want to move it over to the observation room?" He gestured to the well- padded, well reinforced, heavily monitored station opposite the "launchpad".

            The gang did that. Though crowded, it was well ventilated and allowed even Emma and her brother a view of the chamber. The room vibrated as Randall started up the main generators. "Please don't fry my grandmother," Lyra begged softly. She covered her face, but ended up splitting her fingers so she could watch through the gaps in her hand with one eye.

            "She's safe," Randall insisted.

            Aurora was checking her own monitoring system built into one of the arms of the chair but she had to do little adjusting. "Damn, Randall. You got this thing right on target. My teeth don't even ache this time!"

            "Hey!" BS protested, even as he leveled off the main power couplings. "I built some of this too, you know." With the final monitors in place, he grabbed Randall by the collar and dragged him into the observation booth. "Okay, we're online.

            The psionic mutant reached out, grabbing into the generators, sucking in the power needed to force open the portal once again. A smile crept over her face as she felt the surge. "Okay, let's punt this ball!" and she threw that generating mass of power forward. Lyra squeaked as the surge seemed to disappear as the portal was rendered open.

            Now BS tapped away at the console and a basketball sized orb levitated from a table to Aurora's right. "Probe's online and functional. Got picture, sound, and sensors. Go for it."

            The ball now wavered, then was swept up in the chaotic current and sucked through the portal. Even from their vantage point they could see that the landscape had changed to the point that there wasn't any landscape left. All that was visible was chunks of land and debris floating in the void of space. "Man, she nuked it," Brimstone whispered, clearly stunned by the amount of devastation.

            Randall also gawked, but quickly was back to work on his panel. "Do we have the nano tracker on line?" he asked BS.

            It took some effort to look away, but the mutant was soon back at his station. "Yeah, its up, but it ain't pickin' up no finite signal. Her signature's all over the place, but she's not there.. at least not in one piece. There's no path. No trail. She must've took herself out with the terrain." He sighed then punched one of the panels. "Aurora, bring it back."

            "No," Randall insisted. "Take the probe out further. There has to be something." Aurora did so, but the signals only got weaker, not stronger. "It can't be," he muttered weakly.

            "'Fraid so, kid." BS turned back to the mike. "Aurora? You sensing anything?"

            "You mean other than the vicious carnage drifting around out there? No, not a thing. This was a last ditch effort all right. And believe me, I would know." She turned a bit in her chair to catch Randall's eye. "Sorry."

            As BS turned to comfort the crestfallen man, Aurora tugged on the probe to bring it back into dock. But it was coming in too quickly and it careened off the edge of the portal. Something snapped inside the machine as Aurora tried to correct the path. Metal began to groan under the stress. “Uhm.. Boys?”

            “Something is wrong!” Taran snapped, unable to see how to stop it.

            “Hit the emergency shutdown!” Randall barked. BS slapped the big red button, but it did nothing to stop the grinding noise as the edge of the rift began to fold in on itself, twisting the energy flow askew. Aurora strained, trying to pull the massive flow back into alignment but as she did, more of the machinery bent, then snapped under the stress. Lyra screamed as Taran was flung against the wall. BS began yanking wires, trying to divert the flow away from the main generators, attempting to avoid a bigger disaster than the one that was quickly unfolding.

            Then it all went abruptly dark. Seconds later emergency lights kicked on. The machine, and Aurora , were now buried under a massive pile of rubble, the portal having convected and pulling much of the room inward. The basement was filled with dust and debris and the structural integrity of the castle was questionable at this point. This fact didn’t stop those involved. “Grandmother!” Lyra shouted out as she bounded forward, morphing into a massive white tiger as she began to dig through the mess, trying to dig Aurora out. BS was quickly at her side, but since he was no longer more machine than man, he couldn’t lift nearly the mass needed to excavate her. Randall had paused only momentarily when the catlike woman had shifted shapes, but not for long as he too threw mortar and stone aside to get to the mutant power source.

            Drac had just stepped through the main gates when he felt the first shudder through his castle. It didn’t take him that much longer to find the crew trying to excavate their leader from the wreckage. “Out of the way!” he barked as he transformed into his scalier version, allowing his red dragon form to expand, until he was large enough to move the slabs of granite and brick to unearth Aurora.

            She was still alive and breathing. Battered and bruised and several bones broken, but alive. She nearly didn’t survive when Lyra ran forward and gave her grandmother a massive hug, relieved to find her alive. “Grandmother! Please! You need help!”

            Aurora snorted, then winced at the pain. “ ‘grandmother’.. That makes... me... sound... old.”

            Drac now surveyed the damages as Aurora was carted off to the infirmary by Randall. “What happened?” he finally asked in a sour tone.

            BS was picking through the rubble, trying to find pieces of his demolished machine, trying to fathom what had gone wrong. “Something snapped. I think one of the main power couplings. It snowballed from there. But we did get confirmation. No Nine. Not anymore.”

            The Vashtalian king nodded. “Then there will be no more attempts. Scrap the machine and keep what is usable.”

            “Yes sir! Finally. Someone with some sense.” He kicked at a pile of twisted metal and wires. “Damn third rate crap... I know I set that coupling right...”

            Meanwhile Randall was getting Aurora settled in the infirmary. Her broken arm had already green-set. Thankfully he had pulled it into alignment beforehand otherwise he would have had to break and rest it. The bruises were beginning to fade, but having tried to contain that much wild energy had sapped a lot of her strength. “Now you are going to stay here,” he insisted. “And I’m sure Lyra is not going to let you go anywhere.”

            “That’s right Grandma. You need rest,” Lyra added with a set jaw.

            “Besides,” Taran added as he hung over his sister’s shoulder. “If we need another portal, I can make one.” He folded the one he had made moments earlier to bring Aurora up to the infirmary. It had been a smaller one than the one Aurora had conjured, and the distance was much shorter, but it also was much neater and confined and controlled.

            Aurora had to smile. “That’s okay.... no more tripping for me today... not for a while, actually.”

            Randall was running through the scans again, noting that everything was healing quite well, and that the baby wasn’t hurt.... he paused.... baby? He looked up at Aurora. “You’re pregnant?”

            “Well, yeah. I thought everyone knew?”

            Serenity found her way to the emergency ward, having heard the commotion and saw how pale Aurora looked. She knew this was not a normal state for these mutant creatures and wove a healing spell, bringing a rosy color to the misplace matriarch's cheeks.

            "How did she do that?" Lyra gaped. "Mutants and magic to not mix. This we know!"

            The draconic sorceress had to smile a bit. The girl had recited that line as if it were rote. "Could it be that we've been around each other for so long that we've gotten used to each other?"

            "Or maybe your just dumb." Dusk spat back, betraying some of the worry she felt. Nothing like near- death experiences that seemed to draw her out of the woodwork.

            "Whatever you think, Little One," Serenity snorted. "It's only by our good graces that you are even allowed to remain in this realm."

            That set Dusk off. "You don't really think that I even Pretend to give a damn about your ridiculously over-magicked kingdom, do you? You just happen to have my family here."

            Apparently Serenity was just as put off. "If my father hadn't worked out that deal with you long ago, your soul would have been in his sword with your father's!"

            "Your Dad can suck it!" Dusk was never exactly the most diplomatic of mutants, and that was saying something.

            Aurora tried to get up, even with Randall's threats to sedate her. "Kids. Please. Can we Not start World War III just yet?"

            Serenity left, not wanting to upset Aurora further. The twins followed after they were satisfied that she would come to no more harm. This left Dusk brooding over her bed and Randall pacing, waiting for the tranquilizers he had injected in the mighty mutant to take effect. "I want no pissing contests between you two," he warned.

            Aurora chucked. "Can't have a pissing contest when your bladder's been pancaked." She turned to eye her daughter and curiosity finally overcame her. "Dusk. You've had quite a few shots at me these past few weeks and you've passed them all up. What gives?"

            Dusk had grown calmer, now that the crowd was gone. She found herself just shrugging her shoulders. "I guess I feel distant about all that business. Besides, I've earned a new appreciation for family, and I've got more important things to do."

            "Like?"

            "Like finding a mate." This was growled out, showing her frustration. "This body is Very annoying in that regard. My old body never cared, but this one has all kinds of chemicals and hormones and it's really messing with my mind."

            Aurora had to smile as he turned to Randall, seeing him blush. "Oh they grow up so fast." She now turned back to Dusk. "I'm quite sure we can find you a willing drake here somewhere...."

            "No way! I don't want any God-damned freak of a dragon!" She continued to rant about her discontents, making it painfully clear why she didn't have a mate to begin with.

            It was while BS was sorting through the wreckage with Drac that Megan made her way down to the basement, coughing as the dust still hadn’t settled. It didn’t soften her mood though. “What in the Wide World of Golf is going On down here?” She paused a moment, then looked at the wreckage in the room. “My God, what did you blow up?” Brimstone tried to answer, but Megan’s quick eye had given her the answers before he could explain, and she rounded on him. “You tried to go back, didn’t you? You Moron! What if it imploded? We would be all floating around in space, until we imploded in 36 seconds under the lack of pressure. Are you Insane?!”

            “Megan. Calm down.” This from Drac as he found himself once again trying to command himself over her to stop her tirade.

            Apparently she was just warming up. “Calm down?! How can I calm down when they’re trying to bring the whole friggin’ building down on top of me?”

            “I gave them the okay to attempt it, so if you have a ‘beef’ with anyone, it is me.” Again he tried being assertive but calm in the face of her tirade. “And I have ordered this project scrapped since it has proven to be dangerous.”

            Megan just rolled her eyes. “Fine. When they bring the Rest of the castle down, don’t go crying to me!” she turned to storm up the staircase.

            The darkness seemed to bend in a corner and Dusk stepped into the limelight. She was never far from the injured and the nearly dead, mainly because she was creepy in that regard. “She’s as angry as ever, isn’t she?” she snorted

            BS looked back at Drac, seeing that the reptilian leader was just as miffed, but was able to control himself. “Maybe we Will take up that offer of relocation,” he noted.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

            As Megan mounted the stairs she found her way blocked by the ghostly image of the two tailed psionic purple cat man. At least she didn't pass out this time, though she felt her knees try to buckle. "Ain't you supposed to be dead?" she snarled at him.

            "Yeah, I thought so too." He blinked as if she couldn't believe she was standing there. "Megan? Is that you?"

            "Well yeah it's me you fleabag! Who'd you Think it was? You're the one that's supposed to be doing the stalking here!"

            He drew back as if physically stricken. He'd forgotten how he brought out the "best" in her. "If you wish, I will go away..."

            "What? And let me worry all over again? I didn’t think so. You are going to escort me to my room and then tell me what in the bloody blue blazes is going on!" She grabbed him by the arm, and finding him substantial enough, yanked him up the stairs.

            "EEP!" he yelped as he was dragged along.

            They finally reached her room and she kicked the door open then fling him inside, sending him stumbling into the chair next to her bed. But the stomp up the stairs had taken the anger out of her and she collapsed on the bed, panting hard, finding it difficult to breath around "junior". Once she caught her breath, she turned to look at him. "Well?" she asked.

            Lucious drew his long bandy legs up, his knees tucked under his chin as he wrapped his arms around his ankles. "You look sick," he observed.

            "I'm well enough now," she barked back sourly. "I'm just recovering from a bad wound. But never you mind me. I wanna know how come you're up and walking around. The last I heard was from that purple prismatic dragon friend of yours and he said you'd be discombobulated."

            The furry cat man squinted his almond eye in thought. "I I don't know... really... I just Remember everything going dark; then soft and warm with a soft light; then everything went dark and cold again. Then I was here."

            "So you have No idea how you came back?" Now her brow furrowed as she slipped into that pensive pout. "That means somebody else brought you back, but who? and more importantly, why?"

            He shook his head again, finding it painful to recall anything before his arrival at Drac's castle. "I... I just don't remember." Suddenly his body began to fade and before Megan could move, Lucious had faded from view.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Goury and Drac found Megan once gain buried in the books at the Dragon's library. There were several volumes sprawled about on the tables and floors, covering subject of dragons, troll, golems, demons and combinations thereof. Their questioning eyes made her reply. "BS has been having problems of late with Junior here." She patted the bulging belly with rare affection. "He can't get a clear picture. It's getting fuzzier with each shot. He suspects the uterine wall is filling up with lead. That would explain the craving for arsenic," she mused as she continued to peruse the stacks. She located an encyclopedia of chimeras as she continued her diatribe, not even bothering to look over her shoulder at the duo. "He doesn't wanna poke a needle in there if he can't get a good idea as to where everything is."

Drac snorted. "You know, we Could check on your child's condition with other methods."

She gave him a hard look. "Can we NOT try to use magic? It doesn't tickle, you know."

            "But is has proven effective of late."

            "It's just luck, Drac. Luck won't hold out for long... oh... wait. This looks promising. Maybe chimera's are naturally lead lined." She thumbed through the text, examining the pictures of a flayed creature, a golem pieces open like a science class cat. "God I wish this were in Latin. I'd have at least a decent shot in deciphering this. I think all this stuff is in Elvish." She sighed and returned the book to it's shelf. "I'm gonna have to get somebody at your court to give me a crash course in Elvin languages. This is embarrassing being this illiterate."

            The two men set about to help her locate anything that might be able to help her condition. They bandied many theories about. Though Zelgadis had stone golem in his genetic makeup, they couldn't understand why the baby would be picking up metal. Megan postulated that the metal may have been extracted from the foods she ate.

            The mention of a possible magical influence brought Dusk from the shadows. "Need help curing something?" she asked.

            "Not this time." Megan frowned at the idea, even though she never looked up from reading the text. "I just need a good Elvin dictionary."

            Dusk wasn't even daunted. "I can use my crystal ball, ya know."

            Megan sighed as she handed a book to Goury, knowing that he at least had a smattering of Elfin language under his belt. "I really, REALLY would like to keep magic out of this...." She then handed Dusk a thick dusty black volume. "Here. This looks creepy enough. Do some translations for me."

            The foursome continued to sift through pages, postulating when an Idea seemed to pan out, but between them they could find nothing firm. Megan had to stop twice as she because exhausted or queasy. Once she didn't make it to the public restrooms in time and Drac found himself mopping the floor, wonder just how corrosive mutant vomit was as it steamed.

            Drac did finally stumble across a yellowed log journal that he skimmed through, "Chimeric creations," he called out. "DNA manipulation. Technologically advanced stage of reproductive states. This sounds like your cup of tea, Megan. Most of this was one in the North in Kelinkia. They note the appearance of heavy metals in the blood of some of the crosses, especially anything crossed with Golem...." He furrowed his brow..”Hrm.. Material scanning, X-rays, ultrasound, all reported to be ineffective in scanning the fetus during the later half of incubation.”

            Megan looked over his shoulder but found she couldn’t read the Elvin script. “Sounds like we’ve got a road trip to plan.”