Nine's kids learned to forage for themselves. Allowed to roam unencumbered, they had raided every cupboard and pantry unlocked in the castle. At least they were eating well. When Emma heard Randall's motorcycle roll into the courtyard, she grabbed her brother by the arm and dragged him to the safety of their room. The scientist walked into the side door service access that lead to the kitchen. He looked a bit road worn and had several days growth on his scraggly chin.

            Jason hadn't moved much from the spot at the top of the stairs, but did so when he saw the bedraggled road warrior enter. Besides he had seen several opportunities to enter the basement abyss, but common sense had told him that he would not be welcome down there. This would be a safer target. He looked Randall over. "It's contagious," he concluded and he plunked himself into the chair next to the scientist..

            "Huh?" was all Randall could manage, his mind still not back from its deep contemplations.

            "This battle damaged look everyone's been sporting. Really odd since there's been no battle."

            Randall sighed. "I needed some time to myself. A couple of things Lyra said sort of make sense now."

            There had been a lot more than words between Lyra and Randall, at least from what Jason could surmise, but Randall was a little slow in seeing those signs. But at least he was listening to her, which was more than any of them had managed. Jason snorted. "Well, you wouldn't have any time to yourself around here lately." He swung his head down the dark staircase. "Three eggs. At least that's what that gilded fairy Estor said."

            Their one sided talk was interrupted as they heard a metallic crunch outside. Jason pulled back the drapes. "I hope you've got a warranty or insurance or something on that bike of yours."

            Randall joined him at the window. Fafnir had come across Randall's bike and began poking at it, curious; but he had poked at it too roughly and broke off several mechanical components from the engine before knocking the heavy vehicle over on its side. "HEY! STOP THAT!" Randall rushed outside with Jason in tow. "What are you doing to my bike?! Do you know how hard it is to find parts for this thing? It took me several weeks to fabricate the parts I couldn't get replacements for! Here! At least help me get it back upright again!"

            Fafnir looked at the pile of metal, then snorted. "I think it looks better that way."

            "Well it doesn't belong that way!"

            Jason watched as Randall wrestled to right the bike. The one time multi-millionaire had so many snide comments bubbling under the surface, but this was much more entertaining. He didn't even have to fuel this fire. But his entertainment was cut short as Megan and her fact- finding search party returned. Drac landed with a heavy thud in the oversized courtyard then allowed Megan to slide down the length of his front leg to terra firma. Whatever the trip had revealed had made her even more sullen, and the ride back had made her quite stiff.

            Melissa had flown back under her own wing power as well, touching down closer to Fafnir and Randall. Perhaps it was her presence that changed Fafnir's attitude, if only slightly. "'Ere, move," he grunted, then lifted up the Hawg and sat it back on its wheels before shuffling to the other side of the courtyard, leaving Randall to putter and whine about the somewhat mangled condition of his baby.

            Brimstone had a bit more grace in his dismount, even managing to slide the bags down with him without smacking his skull against Claw's side. Once he regained his equilibrium, he picked up his bags and headed down to the basement, only to be blocked by a wall of Vashtalian guards. "What gives?" he asked.

            "Lady Aurora has claimed this spot as her own. For your own safety, we've been instructed to not allow anyone, other than Lord Estor."

            "But... but that's My room! I've got all my stuff in there! What's wrong with her room?"

            "Space Requirements," the second guard explained. "Besides, she chose that area herself, and in her condition, no one wanted to get in her way."

            "Like I said," BS replied. "What's wrong with her room? She's only got the biggest room on the third floor. What? Did Estor finally run out of room for all his video hardware?"

            Megan looked to the scene with the motorcycle, then to Brimstone arguing with the law. "No place like home," she grumbled before picking up her gear and dragging it up to her room.

            BS continued to press the guards. "Look, I gotta download all this info. If you will excuse me," and he pushed forward quickly, just getting a shoulder between the duo, then letting the momentum of all the gear he carried pull him down the stairs before the could stop him. The steps became damper and slicker the further he progressed as warm air wafted up to meet him. "Did we break a water main or something," he now asked his escorts as they descended with him, having a difficult time keeping their footing, much less trying to stop his progress, so followed along, determined to at least protect him if need be.

            Mildew grew along the rough brick and tile work towards the bottom of the stairs. Everything was sopping wet. There was no light, no hum of computers or mechanical toys. Not even the blinking 12:00 setting on a VCR. As Brimstone's eyes adjusted to the near pitch black, he finally saw what there was to see. His bed, quilts, comforter, and all his clothes had been piled in the center of the room in a big soft damp nest. Several pails of water were laid out and the heat had been cranked up to an uncomfortable 100 degrees. Three leathery bluish- white eggs nearly three feet in diameter were nestled in the center of the rotting mound of fabric. Aurora herself was snuggled down among the eggs, snoring loudly. Though she had regained her human form, she was thin. Empty. As she would be after having clutched.

            All the fight left BS, allowing the guards to drag him back up the stair with not much fuss. "My... my stuff," he whined. "My clothes. That comforter. I paid good money for that. All that gear. My carpets. How could she? What did I ever do to her?"

            Aerich walked in step with his father as Drac made his way along the great hallway. He gave his sire a slight gesture that would have done Aurora proud, hinting that he wished to speak to Dracon in private. Once ensconced in the library, he felt secure enough to speak. "Something has to be done about Lord Fafnir. Complaints concerning him from the locals are starting to pile up..."

            Fafnir watched Randall croon over his damaged vehicle for a few moments before stepping away, slipping behind one of the courtyard trees. He rummaged through his pockets, then hiked up his sleeve. The needle. The pain. Then the relief. All which were rudely interrupted when Alix, whom had been patrolling the outer perimeter, pounced upon him. "All right, you old fool!"

            Brimstone spent an unsettled night on one of the main couches in the main hall. When he was finally too paranoid to sleep, he picked up his gear and headed up to Randall's quarters and pounded on the man's door with a heavy fist. "Yo. Open up."

            Funny how Dracon seemed to patrol the halls whenever a mutant was up and around. "You know we have plenty of other rooms you can use," he suggested.

            The burly mutant snorted. "I need a second set of eyes. No telling how squirrelly the girls are gonna get now.." He banged louder on the door. "C'mon Dude. Open up. It's me."

            The Vashtalian king just shook his head and continued on his rounds as Randall answered the door. He looked bedraggled to begin with, but being rudely awakened at three in the morning did nothing for his looks. "Yes?" he asked.

            "Thanks," BS replied and shouldered his way into the room, dropping his gear on the floor as he looked about. Randall was maybe a tad neater than his mutant counterpart, but there was plenty of halfway finished projects littering the workbench and floor. None had been touched within the past three weeks though.

            Randall opened his mouth to complain, but he thought better of it. "What's going on?" he asked, dreading the reply.

            BS nestled himself on the floor after punching his duffle bag to make it more comfortable for his head. "Aurora clutched... in my room. She shredded everything soft and dumped tons of water on it. It's all ruined."

            "Well... I guess you need to find some new digs."

            "Which is why I'm here. You're the only other person that has compatible hardware. I need to continue my analysis of all the data we gathered from the tests."

            Randall sighed. "No offense, but I don't think I would be a good roommate at the moment."

            Again BS snorted. "Like I need a roommate as well, but you don't understand something. Aurora has babies, and she can get squirrelly. I don't want to wake up with a two ton furry reptile sitting on my chest. I don't think she'll be as prone to whomp on me if she thinks an innocent might get hurt. For now, you've become my insurance policy."

            "Great. Lucky me," Randall droned.

            "Good!" and the big lug ripped open the duffle and proceeded to install his hardware. So he had to hot wire a few things, and he had to tap the side of the monitor to get a good picture, but he finally had the data uploaded and on screen within 15 minutes. "Here. I wanna show you something."

            Randall assumed he would be getting no more sleep tonight and settled down next to him on the bench. Also joining them was Lynara. The nymph like girl had already been spying on Randall, but was intrigued by Brimstone's machinery and dropped down onto his should to see better. The mutant would have jumped, had he not seem her red prismatic eyes twinkling in the dark. As she perched on his shoulder like a parrot, he began bringing up the schematics of the aura scans.

            Randall leaned in closer. "What am I looking for?" he asked.

            "Here." He pushed a button and the resulting picture made Randall recoil back, covering his eyes. "That's the kid." Even through the lead lining in Megan's stomach. He's one little power source he is, but he's not what I'm concerned about with now. It's hers. Here." He adjusted a few tints to subdue Junior's glow to backlight Megan's. It was weak.. so much so that it seemed to throw a double shadow, like a rainbow. "And here's mine for comparison.. and one of Keliken's since he was human. Even his was brighter." Indeed BS's happy yellow pattern, and Keliken's soft blue hues were much more intense than Megan's ghost pattern."

            "The kid is draining off her energy?"

            "I thought so at first, except the energy pattern itself isn't in junior. Plus, I'm not showing any drain from Megan or spike in Junior. I'm not sure What's going on here."

            "Maybe her body is shifting resource for the pregnancy," Randall suggested.

            "Pretty!" Lynara finally barked out, unable to contain herself anymore. She reached out to touch the monitor, but what was touching in her terms was crushing and destroying to the equipment. In three seconds the monitor became scrap metal.

            BS just rolled his eyes at his growing pile of misfortune.

            The subject of Brimstone's distress slowly made her way up the stairs about an hour later when all was quiet. Wafts of steam drifted off her skin and much of her clothing was molding away, but hunger drove her now. Can't clutch dragon sized eggs without losing some body mass. some which would have to be refilled. She hadn't seen Estor in two days and couldn't wait anymore. She slowly picked her way through the cabinets and fridge in the kitchen, sampling as she went along. It wasn't ravenous. She was looking for a certain flavor, but didn't know what. In fact, she seemed to be in quite a daze, barely recognizing that Drac had entered the room and spoken to her. She jumped at bit, startled, then turned to face him, her movements.

            He kept a distance between them, just in case she did go "squirrelly" as Brimstone had suggested. "How are you feeling?" he asked gently.

            Aurora's head wobbled a bit as she turned and she frowned for a moment. "Lighter?" she asked back. Clearly she was in a daze of some sort, and almost lost his balance twice. She frowned again, as if trying to think. "I.. never clutched.. before," she confessed.

            Drac felt a distinct urge Not to help her, as if any intervention would cause her to be more unbalanced. "If you want, there are some preserves in the pantry to your right."

            It took her a minute of staring at the door before she ventured to grab the doorknob, another 2 minutes to realize she had to turn the knob to open the door. Inside she finally found what she had been craving, but it took her five minutes to figure out how to flip up the release lever on the Italian canning jar holding the pear preserves. From there it was a bit easier as she ate, much of the jelled fruit missing her mouth and sliding down the front of her borrowed shift. With her craving sated, she now turned back to the door to let herself out and realized it was locked. She didn't realized right away that it was locked as she shoved her shoulder against the wood. Another two minutes of her staring at the door before she winced. "Ow," she protested and rubbed the injured shoulder.

            It was Claw that had heard the thunks coming from the storage room. He tried to turn the doorknob, but found it locked. Thankfully he carried a key and unlocked it, finally releasing Aurora from her pantry prison. "Thanks," she replied blandly and walked past him and right down the stairs, back to her eggs.

            Claw furrowed his browed, reached around the door and unlocked it from the side Aurora had been on. He then shook his head and continued on his rounds.

            Aurora had wandered through the kitchen once more, this time in her furry dragon guise. Perhaps she felt more secure with four feet on the floor but she still seemed a bit tipsy. Drinking a 55 gallon drum of old ale probably didn't help matters, but nobody else in the kitchen would dare intervene. Dusk's entrance heightened the tension, but the gothic girl herself seemed to be oblivious of the potential danger. "Whew! Man, you stink!" Dusk protested as she walked past Aurora's backside. "You'd think with all that tech and magic stuff you have floating around that you could at least manage a bath or at least a de-scenting occasionally."

            Aurora turned, her muzzle dripping with beer as she focused first on Randall, then on Dusk. Well, focused probably wasn't the best description. It was nearly three days and the glaze still hadn't lifted from the mutant's eyes, no matter which form she took. She finally managed to back up, turn like backing a delivery truck in a tight turn. As she padded from the room to the patio via the kitchen exit, Megan came in from the hallway entrance. "Dear God, what died?" she coughed.

            "It's Aurora," Randall replied. "She's a bit.. moldy. Been that way since she clutched."

            "Again?" Dusk whined in mock tones, as she had already known. "Isn't think like her 6th brood? Not counting the ones on Del Mahr."

            "Seven," Megan corrected.

            "Plus Estor's" Dusk amended. "I guess that kind of sorta almost counts."

            Megan smirked. "You know, for a species that is supposed to be difficult to breed, she's just bending all the rules. Must be nice to be able to cheat." She patted the ever growing belly on her person. "I think one will be enough for me, provided he doesn't vaporize us upon birth, that is."

            Dusk likewise put a hand gingerly on Megan's belly, almost mesmerized by the bulge. "What is that thing going to be anyway? Though the way things have been of late, it'll probably end up being human."

            Megan shrugged. "Scans show a very high power source. Almost on par with Teclis's."

            "So he'll be human or a god."

            Drac figured to ask the question. They were all thinking it anyhow. "Dusk, have you finished with that thing you were working on?"

            Everyone knew what the thing was. "Yeah.. I have.. just about." Dusk then quickly dropped the subject. She didn't want to talk about it, nor did she want to jinx the results. Her reply may have answered Drac's question, for now, but Dusk didn't give him any time to ask anything further on the subject. "Maybe somebody should be feeding the Big White Menace. Maybe even something healthy and not covered with mold. Maybe even something nutritional, God forbid. Maybe she might stop stumbling about." Even now they can her an occasional soft thud as the mammalian reptile lost her balance and used the stone walls for support as she made her way along the outdoor concourse to the south side of the building to sun herself.

            "I thought Estor was feeding her," Randall coughed, watching as Megan pulled out what looked to be a fruitcake (but probably wasn't) from the fridge and offered it to Dusk, whom shook her head quickly.

            "Estor is nothing but a load," Megan growled. "All he does is play video games. He won't even spar with anyone."

            "Maybe you need to Ask him," Dusk growled a bit, coming to the defense of her pseudo-father. "Besides, I wanna see you go down there and extract him."

            "Oh, no me," Megan retorted. "I've got a Del Marian lineage to produce first. Besides I'm not completely sold on that Used-to-be-a-God routine. I think he's faking about losing his godhood. Besides, I wanna see you go down in that basement and talk him into a fight. My guess is that her high-and-mightiness will have you chewed up into a ball of spit before then. Besides, he had to use some trick to get Emma back from you, right? Or did he just snag the kid and run?"

            Megan expected a reply, but Dusk grew quiet and sullen very quickly. Randall noticed it too and tried to change the subject as everyone seems very ancy about something. "So who's going to head down there and feed Aurora?"

            "We could just pitch it down the stairs," Megan suggested, her gaze still on Dusk as the Goth girl hung her head. "Unless you're feeling game and want to bring her supper?" Randall was already shaking his head but Megan was ignoring him. Instead she took up Dusks' elbow and lead her around the corner, out of earshot of the rest of the gang. "You okay?" she asked the goth spell caster. "What's going on between you and Estor?"

            Dusk sighed, a bit relieved that she could confide in Megan. "It's not him. It's just this whole villain image. I can't tell if I'm a good guy or bad guy these days. It's all very confusing to one's personal image, you know?"

            Megan frowned. "You don't Have to be either. Just be what you are. We were never into alignments. It's too restrictive."

            It took another minute, but Dusk seemed a bit more herself. They returned to the kitchen where Melissa, the winged warrior/angel/dragon had arrived, escorted by BS whom craned his neck in an attempt to look down the dark shaft leading to the basement. "So, has anyone ventured into the dungeon? Is all my crap still waterlogged?"

            Randall snorted. "If Aurora's pelt was any indication, I'd say it's still a swamp down there."

            "Why? What did she look like?"

            "Seaweed," Megan burped, nibbling on the fruitcake that sure didn't taste like fruitcake.

            Randall didn't find it too difficult to live with Brimstone, provided the big man could ever find a cure for snoring. If BS wasn't tinkering away at some odd project into the wee hours of the morning, he was crashed on the low lying cot, his nasal cavities amplifying the sound that seemed to wheeze from his chest. For a creature that was supposed to be stealthy, he sure could make a racket.

            They were sitting at breakfast when Meli slipped into the room. Brimstone hadn't seen her for weeks, assuming that she had left after their last bout. All she had done was move to another section of the castle. This sudden face to face confrontation had the mutant quite shaken, until he saw what she had brought for Randall. A carburetor for his motorcycle. This opened the floor for questioning. No she didn't find it. Yes, she actually had made it. No she wouldn't make any more, especially for him.

            And when it seemed that things were going to be civil, she pulled a knife and threw it at him, then fled from the room

            Randall cried out then ran to where BS had dropped, trying to clamp a hand over the gaping wound in his neck. For most, he would have left the blade in place, but knowing how quickly these mutant's healed, he yanked the knife free, then palmed the gap shut, feeling the skin wiggling under his fingers as it tried to knit itself together.

            Megan was reading the local paper in the main concourse when Meli quickly walked by. She had heard the commotion, and saw the blood splatter on Meli's face, but did nothing to intervene. She just watched as Meli opened the door to BS's room and slipped inside. A minute later and the spell caster emerged from the room and hustled down the hall and out the southern double doors.

            Three minutes later Claw trotted into the room, having heard the commotion as well. "What in the Nine Hells is going on?" he asked her.

            She never even looked up from her newspaper. "Meli attacked Brimstone." When Claw sighed, Megan pressed quietly. "You're gonna have to do something about her."

            It took a few hours, and some assistance between Randall, Claw, and Melissa; but BS finally got his voice back. It would never be the same. Meli's knife had done some serious damage to his vocal chords. They had repaired, but not without developing some substantial scar tissue. The whole incident just made Brimstone that much more paranoid. He had gotten no warning, not even an emotional twitch from Meli, so he assumed it was a premeditated strike. He was angry at her for attacking him out of the blue, and angry at himself for not seeing it coming, so he pouted much like a child. That was how he felt around her, and how she had handled him. Like an inept child.

            He still felt like one days later when he bumped into her in the halls again. He had been muttering to himself. "Stupid psychopathic bitches. One trashes my room. One stabs me in the neck. I'm Supposed ta be the boss here. Nobody listens to me. Think I aught ta eat worms.. big fat gross ones, itty bitty skinny ones.."

            "You really shouldn't sing. It hurts everyone." Meli was perched in one of the bay windows as he made his way down the hall.

            He pulled up, flinching for just a second. "Not as much as a knife to the throat, " he finally retorted. "You Could have just yelled, you know. I can take a hint every now and then."

            "No you don't," she insisted.

            Now he nodded. "Oh, I get in now. You're still pissed at me from before. That whole I-don't-pay-you-enough-mind thing. "Well, trust me. You've got my attention now."

            She sighed. "You put too much stock in thinking you know me."

            "I've figured out that much. First you kiss me, then you kill me. Needless to say, I'm a bit perplexed."

            She smiled at him. "I had to distract you."

            That's when he pulled the taser out from under the coat and shot at her. He had fumbled with the wrist snap, but she still took a healthy hit. "Did that distract you?" he snarled back.

            He was smiling, until she ripped the taser ends out of her flesh. Then he ran. "DRAC! CLAW!" Before any of the castle guards could show up to arrest Meli, she had vaulted out the window and disappeared, teleporting before she hit the ground. BS turned to Drac as he followed up the rear of the cavalcade. "She's trying to 'get me attention' again. I don't think I can survive another one of her life lessons'."

            Drac just rubbed the back of his neck. "First Fafnir, then Meli," he sighed before facing the mutant. "If you wish, I can place extra guards around your quarters."

            Brimstone had to think about it, but finally agreed; especially when they reached his room and saw a large raven perched on the windowsill. BS, lacking any other weaponry, pulled off his boot and heaved it at the bird, sending it away. He hopped across the room to retrieve his footwear, then plunked down on his cot.

            Meanwhile Alix was threading the hallways, trying to shake Jason. She had been in the stockroom, looking for supplies, when she caught the mutants' current scapegoat tailing her. Not wanting to lead him to where Fafnir had holed up, she had meandered throughout the castle to lose him. For a human, he was fairly good at trailing her, but she was not human. A quick step and she teleported away, leaving Jason standing in a blind alley.

            "Damn," he swore softly, then leaned against the brickwork, rolling up a cigarette and lighting it.

            "Why are you following me?" she blurted out, just as she reappeared next to his left shoulder.

            He dropped the lighter, but recovered nicely. "Why are you shop lifting stuff from the castle's stores?" he countered.

            "I didn't shoplift. I borrowed."

            "Oh, so you intend to return it all?"

            Man this guy could be just so smug. "No, I will return what I don't use."

            Jason snorted. "So, what did you lift? Morphine? Who you drying out?"

            "Not morphine, just some drugs to help curb an addiction."

            "Oh great. Another big guy hyped up on drugs. Well at least you can't blame the results on me."

            Alix frowned, but didn't admit that Fafnir was the recipient. Jason was just too good at this deduction thing. Perhaps too good for his own good.

            Jason finally caught up with BS as he looked through the drawers the infirmary to stitch up a small cut on his hand. Normally he wouldn't have bothered, but after Meli's attack, he had become a bit paranoid that cuts wouldn't fully seal and he wanted to make sure it healed clean. Jason pointed at the jagged scar on the mutant's neck. "Lover's quarrel?" he asked, having heard about the attack earlier, but using the scar as an excuse to nag Brimstone.

            The big man curled his lip. "Something like that."

            Jason leaned in a bit closer. "Dude. you really shouldn't be provoking them. You're not armor plated anymore."

            "Tell me something I don't know. I don't suppose you have any insight as to why Meli's trying to kill me this week?"

            Jason had quite the gist of a lot of things. The whole deal with Fafnir wasn't as cut and dry as everyone made it out to be. In fact Alix had been smuggling medications and supplies out of the castle to try to help Fafnir with whatever his addiction was. Serenity also had a hand in his current doctoring, but they kept the details from the rest of the castle; and surprisingly from Dracon himself. The same seemed to be with Meli. Apparently the only person able to communicate with the surly psi-hunter was Janis; and she was even more difficult to locate, much less talk to. Nobody knew if Meli really wanted to kill Brimstone or if she merely loved to torture to poor creature.

            And it wasn't just Meli's side of the family that was getting restless. When Megan overheard Dracon setting up several hunting parties to attack the dragon slayers that had taken his mate Tara captive, Megan eagerly offered up her services as well as her compatriots. When Drac kindly declined, Megan had leaned in close to his ear. "Can't keep us under wraps forever, Drac. It's not healthy."

            Dracon tried to keep the mutants occupied and not just under Megan's behest. It was Tim that had suggested that perhaps he should find niches for his new borders. Well, maybe it wasn't Tim directly. The psi had to communicate through Vanagald to get any information across, and surely trying to convince the sword of Anything he suggested to be valid was trying; but once faced with the facts, Drac had to agree.

            Megan had more or less removed herself to the dragon's library downtown, still searching for answers, and Aurora was still in a foggy state after clutching her eggs. He focused first on Brimstone, asking him for help on retrofitting the castle. Ever since the first unauthorized breach during the lockdown of his boarders, he felt that it was perhaps time to bring in some technology to compliment the magical effects of his kingdom. Brimstone was more than willing to help, jumping at the chance to reinforce his new home from enemy attack. This project naturally extended to offering Brimstone a job in his newly created research and development department, alongside Randall.

            Jason took a bit more cajoling. He seemed to have most of the mutant's welfare in mind, despite what he said against them. More than once Drac had seen Jason pulled Serenity back out of a room that contained both Megan and Aurora. Under normal circumstances, this was a wise move as both women did have a tendency to grind against each other, but with Megan in an uncomfortable bulky state and Aurora in a perpetual haze, neither woman seemed confrontational. Jason still tried to keep the balance even. Perhaps the man had been able to run a country; but alone and with no support, the only resources he had going for him was his ability to rake in intelligence and to wean facts from data. It was subterfuge, but he felt that Jason brought in a fresh angle in the spy business. At first Jason balked at the idea, but after watching BS attacked and almost killed with something akin to a pen knife, he realized that he might need better protection.

            Brimstone took his new task to heart. "Youse guys realize just how wide open you all are to conventional attack?" he asked Drac as he unrolled a scroll with the layout to the castle in fairly fine detail. "The only thing you really have going for you is the high amount of lead in the brick that seems to screw up the radar, but that's all. No shielding. No sensors. No high tech of any sort. It's like youse guys resent it or something."

            "You are thinking of things that have not been introduced into this world," Drac reminded him. Besides the magic has been very effective."

            "Until now. Youse guys keep coming into contact with more technological types. Not just us either. Your friendly mana neighbors to the north have got quite the selection of toys that would quiet easily be converted to some nasty weaponry. I can see why you wanted to do this renovation."

            Aurora had been out in the courtyard in her human phase, staring at the brickwork, when she felt something ripple behind her. She turned to watch a rip in the air slowly tear vertically before spitting out a female figure. The woman was covered in a dark smut, but the color of her tan pants and Kelly green jacket still managed to peek out in spots. The woman pulled back her goggles, taking in the scenery with a set of intelligent brown eyes. It was hard to tell if the purplish hair was natural or dyed. She bore no weaponry, but had a wide assortment of tools on her work belt. Aurora turned and quietly headed into the kitchen and tugged on Saairith's sleeve as they hovered over Brimstone's blueprints. When he turned, she just pointed to the courtyard where the woman, and the dimensional rip were located.

            BS caught the line of sight. "See that?" he gestured. "We're never gonna stop this influx of intruders without putting Something up!" He grabbed his shotgun from it's spot against the wall and rushed out into the concourse, Saarith and his company hot on his heels while more guards poured forth from other doorways.

            Having done her duty for the day, Aurora headed back down into the basement to tend to her nest.

            Dracon had the situation well in hand. The woman was not a threat, that was easy to see, and his guards did not have their weapons drawn. Brimstone, however, was being a paranoid basket case as he kept the shotgun drawn and pointed at the girl's head. He Had to keep his cool, lest the mutant felt threatened. "Milady, as you have entered our realm unexpected, I ask that you identify yourself and your reason for being here."

            The girl didn't seem flustered either, though she cautiously drew out the rag from her tool belt to wipe her face. "This is a mistake I would have to say. I am Echo Nyght. I.. I would tell you where I'm from, but I kind of need to know your current place and time for reference."

            "Well that'll be confusing," Brimstone grumbled, "since that depends on who you talk to around here."

            Dracon ignored the mutant and took another step forward to the woman. He was somewhat pleased to see the mutant leaning into Randall, whom had shown up toting a scanner. On his sleeve was Megan. On her skirts was Emma, making for a strange living train.

Apparently everyone in the castle already knew of the new visitor. "According to our calendar it is after War 45, Day five of the month of Vakil."

            The newcomer frowned. "I afraid that doesn't help me much. All I can tell you is that where I come from it is 3038 and we are in the midst of a war that has lingered for as long as I can remember." She turned watching as the scientist guy shook the scanner, then handed it to the big guy with the gun. He shook it several times, then threw it down and stomped on it , sending fragments of plastic skittering along the cobblestones.

            The leading reptile tried again. "I am Dracon Solen'Cleaveru-Draghkar, Dragon Knight and Fourth King of Vashtalia."

            "Oh wow, I never met a king before."

            Brimstone growled, bringing the gun back up to bear. "You mind disarming please?" he grunted through his teeth.

            "For Teeth's sake!" Megan barked from the back of the pack as she pushed her way forward. "Will you let the man do his job?"

            "You never got hit by a nail gun, Megan, so shut up..."

            She now lunged upwards, grabbing the muzzle of the shot gun. "Give it a rest! She ain't gonna do nuthin' with a room full of guards and enough lizard flesh to drown a rat! Now let it go!"

            Brimstone yanked the gun back. "Let go before you break it!"

            The winged angel Melissa tried to break it up between the duo. Will you two behave and let Lord Dracon do his job?"

            "That's what I'm Trying to do!" Megan growled back and she yanked, regaining control of the shotgun.

            Another wrench and BS regained the weapon. "And I'm making sure that if he Is making a mistake that it won't coast him his life!"

            Echo Nyght, and indeed most of the guards around her, wondered if it would be wrong to take cover.

            It was Melissa that actually saved the day. She grabbed her halberd and hooked it around the grip, jerking upwards just as the weapon exploded. The shot ripped into the overhanging trellis, and not into somebody's hide. Both Megan and BS stared up at the damage, until the chunks of woodwork fell and smacked into Brimstone's upturned face, which broke his nose. As he bent over to pinch off the bleeding, Megan crowed in triumph. "Serves you right, you paranoid snot!" She then clamped a hand down on his shoulder and lead/dragged him to the infirmary.

            Drac sighed, then turned back to the visitor. "Regardless of our paranoid friend here, I will have to ask you to remove that belt if it is not being useful at this moment." Echo looked to see the big injured man being escorted out by his bevy of friends. With that gesture of trust, Dracon smiled warmly. "Now if you'll accompany us inside, you can relate your story and we'll see if we can help you or not."

            She stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets. "Could I possibly get cleaned up first?"

            "Of course. One of the guards will lead you to the baths and I'll see if I can get you a change of clothes."

            Echo bowed slightly. "Thanks you. That would be greatly appreciated.

            As the woman entered the bath shower where she had been escorted, she noticed a small child had followed her inside. It seemed that the majority of the populous gave the waif no notice, either in fear or ignorance, and had let her wander unfettered. The child wore an adult-sized t-shirt which went far below her knees, doing nothing to make her less skinny looking. The t-shirt sported an icon so befitting it had to come from her uncle Brimstone.... Oscar the Grouch. Red shorts peeked out from underneath the shirt, but she went barefoot, allowing her toes to grip the cobbled stonework of the floor. The only jewelry she ware was the half pendant hat had been bestowed upon her by Drac.

            Echo chose to ignore the child and slipped off her gear to slide into the tub. The child saw the long surgical scars that ran down her back and legs, but she kept quiet. Only when Echo had dried herself off and was donning herself with fresh clothing brought by one of the female guards did the waif lift a thin arm. "Ow," she stated as she gestured to one very wicked looking mark that ran down the back of her leg.

            "Ow," Echo agreed, then followed her escort back to the main entrance to discuss her situation with Drac.

            Emma followed along.

            Melissa made the unfortunate mistake of checking on Brimstone's progress in the sick bay. When she peeked in the doorway, she found Megan almost kneeling on his chest, trying to jerk his nose back into alignment for he could heal solid. She couldn't get the leverage needed so she pressed Melissa into service. "Hey.. hold this a sec." Melissa found herself holding two steel rods that were inserted into BS's nostrils. He was gasping for breath and squirming under Megan's grip. "Now," the petite girl instructed. "A quick snap forward and down." She did as instructed, feeling the bones crunch under the effort as Brimstone howled in pain, his spine arching in agony.

            But the deed was done. On closer inspection, she could actually see the man's skin writhe as it mended itself. Bits of metallic light winked softly underneath, as if the cybernetic side of the mutant hadn't been totally crushed. Finally he sat up, rubbing his nose. "Big baby," Megan churred.

            "You try doing that sometime," he grumped back.

            "I'd try not getting my nose broke first," she fired back.

            Megan had been slipping out to visit the dragon's library now for a couple of weeks, though she found little to aide her current cause. She now wandered back through down, not really wanting to return to the madness that was contained within Drac's castle. It was then she stumbled across and old haunt. The Red Dragon Inn. A few memories played through the back of her brain, somewhat faded, but she was sure the Morgaine was still in attendance.

            The Inn's lights were one and the door was propped open for business. The common room inside was empty, save for a couple of solitary patrons. A tall ebony girl was behind the bar, talking with Morgaine as she sat Indian style as they poured over several vanilla envelopes stuffed with paperwork.

            Megan dropped her books loudly on the nearest table. "Teeth and Talons," she muttered softly, seeing if Morg would remember. When her Soothsayer's head snapped upwards at her voice, Megan ran across the room, building up speed before slamming into her friend's outstretched hands, sending them both tumbling over the counter in a flurry of papers. While the girl's squealed in delight, Drac slipped into the bar, having been tailing Megan once again, being the current "babysitter" as Megan insisted on calling his self-appointed task.

            Now the mutant looked around at the decor. "Bar's a bit different, but it's still standing, I see."

            "Yeah, remodeled a bit. It was Renea's idea for the Eastern flair, but it's still the same."

            Megan's eyes widened. "You and her still hitched? Odin didn't put the jimmy on you two?"

            The Raven haired wonder lifted her hand, showing both the engagement and wedding rings. "Still together. Odin's got nothin' on us."

            "You know I still own that man a pounding. If I wasn't in this 'delicate condition', I'd clean his clock just because." Their gossiping was momentarily interrupted by Drac chuckling. He probably was amazed that Megan had become downright sociable and chatty once she found her lost friend, a side rarely seen by any of the others. Megan scowled at the interruption, but she was no where near as irritated. More like bemused. "My personal bodyguard," she nodded the at the Vashtalian reptile. "I don't know if you met his Lord Highness Drac over there."

            "I remember," Morgaine smiled, even as the bulky form of Marek entered the room and joined Drac at his table. "Would you gentlemen care for a drink?"

            "Mead ale," Marek replied cautiously, seeing that Megan once again frowned at his appearance.

            "Mead ale," she echoed, then turned to look at Megan. "And don't even ask. I'm not giving you anything with alcohol in it."

            "You are so not fun," Megan pouted. "You know that it's not the alcohol I crave to begin with, and even if it were, it wouldn't hurt the baby. Trust me Nothing has hurt this baby yet. If anything, he's hurting Me. Junior's got a hard hide." She rolled up part of the t-shirt, showing the extensive black and blue and purple marks on her skin as if she had been scraped along the sidewalk.

            Not only did Morgaine's brow raise, but so did Marek's as he caught a glimpse of what Megan had been hiding for months. "When are you due?" Morgaine asked as Megan dropped the material back into place.

            "Dunno. Nobody knows. Soon, I hope. I ain't got much more room for him. I think we past the 18 month mark a bit back."

            "Wow," Morg mouthed as she leaned back in her chair.

            Marek couldn't keep his tongue any more. "What are yeh, and elephant?"

            Megan just growled back, "Elephants don't have stone hides. I think he's a gargoyle, or a gargoyle/dragon/demon something-or-other. Maybe even a demi-god. He has a strong enough aura."

            The Soothsayer may have been separated from her friend, but it was ever easy to read the signs, especially that the man Marek was getting under her skin; so she changed the subject. "So, how's Zel and BS? I haven't seen any of them in well.. ages.."

            It was an instant later when Morgaine realized she had picked the wrong subject. Megan whole posture and demeanor fell as if her fight had been sucked out of her. "Zel," she snorted softly. "Zel's.. not well. Not since he came back from Del Mar. Tim did something to him and made him forget.. well.. pretty much everything.. including me. All he does now is sleep, a lot, and he's been like that for over a year."

            Now Drac stepped in. "I thought Dusk's idea was supposed to have that fixed?"

            It was pride that made Megan hold those tears back, but it was a losing battle. "She's still working on it," she snuffled as she wiped her nose on her sleeve. "There's like construction tape all over the bed and some sort of cocoon. I don't dare go near it now." Morgaine leaned over and gave Megan's shoulders a sympathetic squeeze. The end result was like she had squeezed the sobbing out of the mutant girl as Megan began to blubber uncontrollably. Drac realized than that it Had been eating at Megan all this time and that the girl really had nobody to commiserate with until now.

            During the blubbering session, Goury slipped into the Inn, begging the question; was there no one that didn't have some sort of tracking devise planted on the pregnant girl?. Morgaine quietly served the blond swordsman, giving Megan a change to gather herself together. The mutant finally mustered a smile. "As you can see, the entourage lineup hasn't changed too much. BS is still around. Drac's got him scrounging for parts.. oh.. you might not recognize him now. Somebody sort of whished away his 'borgish parts. He almost passes for human now. He's even got himself a girlfriend now, though from what I can gather, she's into S&M.. especially the M part. She's cursed him, poisoned him, and just recently stabbed him in the neck."

            "You don't know her." This came from Marek as he clenched his fists.

            "That's right. We Don't know her." Megan had twisted around in her seat as far as her belly would let her. Morgaine could feel the tension building. Heck even Goury could feel the argument escalating. "Nobody knows her! And that Does kind of cause some mistrust, don'tcha think?"

            The Soothsayer grabbed Megan by the back of the shirt and yanked her back into the seat. "Don't start anything," she begged of the mutant. "Renea'll kick me to the couch if she comes back and the place is in shambles."

            Morgaine looked across the room and saw that Drac was attempting to calm the other half, but not making much progress. "You are just like him," Marek hissed back. "A presumptuous fool!"

            "Better than complacent blind sheep!" she snarled back.

            "Both of you! Please calm down," Goury begged, adding his voice to the growing din.

            "If your Uncle hadn't run to the guards like a pussy, she could've apologized to him!"

            "Apologize? She takes away his only means of protection, then attacks him! What did you Want him to do? Die? Again?"

            Now was a time for a desperate act. "Megan, did I mention that Paikia just finished prepping a pie for dessert?"

            Megan paused in mid rant. "Pie?"

            Morgaine smiled, seeing her tactic work. She helped the over loaded mutant into the kitchen, allowing her to nibble on the scraps of dough left over from the pie- prepping. "Jesus, girl, don't you ever eat? Your belly may be a full moon, but the rest of you is skin and bones."

            While Morgaine placated Megan, Drac was giving Marek a dressing down. "For your information, your aunt came very close to being hunted down for breaking a policy that has been set since Vashtalia's founding."

            "Oh like she'd care," Marek grumphed back.

            "Personally I don't care if she'd care or not. Someone being attacked in my own home does not sit well with me, young Marek. I'm not saying Meli is wrong. I know she had her reasons; however, Brimstone did have the right to request aide of the guards after what seemed to be an attempt on his life. That does not make him a coward."

            "Didn't say he was. I just don't take kindly to people bad mouthing my family."

            Drac didn't bother to remind Marek that he had called him a "pussy" just moments ago. "If she tries anything like this again on any member of my population, I will have her head. Pass THAT on to your aunt when you see her. The same goes for anyone who breaks the ancient policies."

            Marek stood slowly and gathered his things to leave, apparently to take the message back to Meli. He paused a moment, then turned to Drac. "You better cut that baby outta her before it kills her," he suggested before moving on

            Megan and her Soothsayer spent the better part of the afternoon updating each other on the comings and goings in their lives. Morgaine's niece and nephew even ventured out from the back rooms to politely introduce themselves to the strange pregnant woman. Megan took great delight in redirecting their attention to Drac, whom entertained the tykes by changing into his red dragon form, much to their delight.

            The moody mutant found the atmosphere in the RDI much more improved over the living conditions at the castle. It wasn't so much the decorum, but the company that was infinitely better. Here she could relax. Here didn't smell like moldy bed sheets rotting in the basement.

            "Have you seen any of the others?" Drac asked of her.

            "They're not at the castle?"

            Drac slid into one of the empty streets across from the mutant. "It's like they're hiding from something."

            Megan turned another page in the tomb propped up on the desk. "Wouldn't have anything to do with that big fluffy dragon sitting on a batch of eggs in your basement now, would it?"

            "Ah," Drac mused, then gestured, teleporting in a puff of black smoke, probably added for emphasis.

            Morgaine had watched the exchange, then slid into the chair that had been previous occupied by the Vashtalian king. Megan didn't even look up. She just answered Morgaine's question before it was spoken. "Stupid lizard thinks that they'll just come running out of the woodwork, just because he's offering them a job. Those eggs are due to hatch any day now. He's gonna find his hands very, very full."

            "Really?" she smirked. Of course that went unnoticed and Megan had her nose buried in the book. Knowing that the mutant would work herself into the grave, Morgaine rolled her hands, all the books snapped shut, nearly clipping Megan's nose off her face as she dropped the tome. "Now, what say we go get some pie? You can tell me more about that egotistical ass you call an ex. I haven't seen him around for some time now."

            "Oh he's around. Hiding if he's got any sense. Would you believe they made him a citizen of the realm? Stupid lizard," she complained, even as the Soothsayer shoved over the first plate full of chocolate cream pie.

            Janis was sitting on the floor, deep in thought as she thumbed through a book of her own. She took a sip from her mug and placed it on the boards next to her. This was too much of a temptation for Aurora to ignore. The great furry reptile had taken to sleeping at the top of the staircase to the basement, finding the heat getting to her. At the top of the staircase she laid her muzzle on the floorboards and took in the fresher air the swept in through the kitchen, making her noggin a formidable speed bump in the hallway. This also put her closer to Janis's refreshment. Her 4 ft tongue snaked out, wrapping around the handle of the cup, then snapped backwards. A quick crunch of the jaws and the ceramic mug and it's contents were gone.

            She sighed and looked over from her book to the furry beast on the floor. "When are they due?" Janis finally asked.

            The great gray monster managed to roll an eye and focus on Janis, if only for a few seconds. "Soon," she managed to slur.

            Drac eventually found Jason digging through Megan's things. The dresser, closet and draws under the bed had been pulled out and gutted, yet he was still searching quite intently for something. "What are you doing?" Drac finally asked.

            Jason spun around, hiding several intimate articles of Megan's behind his back. "I'm looking for something."

            "Like?"

            Again the guilty party rolled his eyes about, looking for something plausible then stamped his foot in a bluff of bravado. "I shouldn't have to explain anything to you! She's my wife, for Teeth's sake!"

            Drac slowly leaned against the door frame and folded his arms up. "First of all, by the laws of this realm, you are not her husband anymore. Second of all, you have no right to search her belongings without her permission..."

            "And how do you know she didn't Give me permission?"

            "I have this distinct feeling she doesn't trust you."

            Jason exhaled, then sat down on Megan's unmade bed. He ventured a glance over at the adjoining room, where Dusk had rolled several strands of "caution... do not cross" tape around Zelgadis's bed. Yep, he'd been replaced by a sleeping rock.

            As he brooded, Drac waved a hand. "Never mind all this, I've got a proposition for you."

            "This doesn't involve me being bait, does it?"

            Drac had to chuckle. "No. I'm merely here to offer your a chance to do your sneaking around professionally for pay."

            "Wait.. wait.. you Want me to spy?"

            When Fafnir entered the RDI, he knew that he had entered the wrong place at the wrong time. Yet something deep within him wouldn't let him back out. Instead he produced a rolled cigarette from somewhere on his person, managed to light it without benefit of lighter or match, then took a seat back away from the bar where Morg was keeping a steady flow of sugar heading towards Megan's way. But no matter how much chocolate she paraded in front of the mutant, Megan still saw Fafnir. That electric basic signal emanated from Megan, one that screamed "Evil! Bad! Danger!". Anyone with any psi sense could hear it. If Megan had hackles, they were at full point when Fafnir ventured a smile at her.

            BS was on the roof of the castle, checking for possible scanner placements when he felt Megan's wave-o-defense bore through him. Unfortunately the poor empath was out on the leading gutter pipe when it hit. He lost his grip, then his footing, then fell. He surely would have been seriously injured from the fall if a hand hadn't shot out and grabbed his wrist at the last moment. Brimstone took the helping hand and crawled back onto the rooftop. "Stupid girl. I hate it when she gets paranoid. Rattles my teeth..."             He paused when he saw who had a hold of him.

            Meli.

            With no where to run and a firm hand on his arm, he just stood there, stunned. Finally, he croaked out a "thanks?" as he wasn't sure where in her good graces he stood.

            "Well that's generally what one says when someone saves their life," she pointed out, releasing him slowly as he regained his balance.

            He shook himself, much like a dog. "Megan's getting ancy. That one caught me off guard. That's all. But thanks for the save. That woulda hurt."

            She snorted. "Well you better watch out. The roof is slick." And as if to belay that thought, she treated the very edge of the gutter, then jumped. Brimstone couldn't help but lurch forward, but he knew she would have disappeared long before she reached the bottom of the drop, and he was right. Confused, but right.

            Morgaine saw trouble brewing and grabbed a hold of Megan before she could charge. Megan didn't fly off the handle, but she dug into Morgaine's arm with such force that it would take weeks for the bruising to fade away. Fafnir could at least take a hint. After one more glance over, he sighed and left, taking a drink with him. Only then did Megan relax her grip. "You can calm down now," Morgaine insisted. "Besides, you're making my brain bleed." Perhaps not literally, but Morgaine was one of those sensitive psi's , like Brimstone, that really felt it when one of the Del Marian mutants had a change in emotion. 'Path or no, Megan projected loudly.

            Megan realized the pain she was causing and did her best to relax, starting by draining the glass handed to her by her second. It was laced with several not-so-good chemicals, but it did the trick. She looked at the empty glass. "I shouldn't have come by here. It seems that trouble follows me everywhere."

            "Nonsense. You will always have a home here."

            The mutant looked up, a wistful grin on her face. "Til death do us part? Or only until the profit margin drops?"

            Brimstone was so caught up in his encounter with his would-be girlfriend that he tripped over Aurora's head as she stretched out across the hall from her abode in the basement. He stumbled and regained his footing, doing no damage to the white furry reptile, save for making her move her head a bit before drifting back to sleep. "Stupid egg-struck lizard."

            Drac had to chuckle at the slapstick humor. Despite BS's gruff manner, Drac could see it was nothing more than lip service. Even now the erstwhile leader looked up to the Vashtalian king. "So help me I'm gonna have to fumigate that room when she's done. I can't Wait for those eggs to hatch so she can more the hell out of there."

            Aurora's reply was to blow a draconic raspberry at him, resulting more in a puddle of drool than anything clearly defiant.

            Drac had a better offer. "I've been going over your paperwork dealing with the refit of the castle, and I've decided to Officially offer you, and Randall, a position in our research and development department."

            The mutant's brow lifted slightly. "Isn't research and development more like trying to make a bigger magic missile?"

            "Yes, some, but what I need you for is the technological roots that are going to be involved. Between our two worlds of knowledge, we should be able to complete the upgrades."

            BS rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, to tell the truth, dude. I don't feel all that technologically advanced anymore. I don't have the capacity I once had. You know. That whole Meli thing." He gestured to the missing metal pieces that have now been again replaced by flesh.

            "As long as you retain the knowledge, that will be enough."

            Again he rubbed the back of his neck, contemplating the offer. "Research and development? Do I get a cool white lab coat? Geeky glasses? An abacus?" Drac rolled his eyes, knowing this to be nothing more than jocular humor, then nodded. BS's thrusted his arm out and took Drac's hand. "You've got yourself a mad scientist."

            There were times when Megan missed her blade Destroyer. The closer she came to term, the more vulnerable she felt without him. It had been for her own good that Estor took the dark blade away but there was nothing to replace him, and the pressures mounted, inside and out. Inside, Junior left purple tread marks across her belly. What would she eventually spawn? A dragon? A demon? A super mutant? Nothing she read or researched came close to her condition or symptoms. Outside she had noticed the distancing. Drac had been kind enough to offer jobs to her kindred, but she was noticeably out of the loop. It was a practical maneuver as she was in no condition to take up another project and it would keep her kindred out of her hair; yet the isolation irked her.

            And adding insult to injury was Fafnir. He must have some how sensed her discomfort and followed her to the RDI. She was currently perusing yet another book chronicling demons of Northern Rydin, and she was finding nothing useful when she saw him enter out of the corner of her eye. At least she didn't totally freak, but tension was palatable. He parked himself across the room, close enough to nag but far enough to evade her punches. "So when you gonna pop that baby out?"

            She kept her nose in the book. "When I'm ready to, that's when."

            Fafnir snorted and grinned, even as Morgaine emerged from the back room, feeling the ruckus brewing. "Man, I don't know when you and that Aurora person have against me..."

            "You mean other than you being a brute and a monster?"

            Morgaine was faced with a fight pending and tried to appeal to Fafnir's common sense. It was useless to try with Megan, in fact to attempt to might escalate things. "Did you have business here, or are you here to annoy my patrons?"

            "Is is any of your business if I have business?" he asked the Soothsayer.

            Megan barked back for her friend. "It IS her business, Dink. She owns the place."

            It took some cajoling, but Morgaine finally managed to convince Megan into a tactical retreat. Not so much to avoid a fight, but to make the girl rest. Megan had already bleached out from the effort of verbal warfare and needed to rest because the time had finally come. Even if Megan didn't realize that fact, Morgaine did. Once in the bed, Megan began to stress, panting hard enough to make the frame shake. She winced every now and then as the baby churned inside her. Realizing this may be more than she was able to handle, Morgaine decided that she needed to contact Megan's relatives. She mentally summoned one of her winged pets, gave the crow a note to carry in his beak, then sent him on his way to deliver the message.

            Brimstone soon found himself trying to bat away a rather pesky black bird as he attempted to install one of the new multi-range security cameras under the eave of the castle. When he climbed back into the parapet window, the crow followed him. It was only then he noticed the note in his beak. He had to read the message several times before it finally sunk in and soon he was running for the bar, babbling his alarm call throughout the castle as he left, which was rather unintelligible due to his excitement.

            BS found a rather burly fellow tending the bar, serving heavy drinks to Echo Nyght. Unbeknownst to the one time 'borg, the fellow was one of Fafnir's acquaintances whom had decided to help himself to the hooch since Morgaine was otherwise engaged. Brimstone gasped, out of breath. "Anyone see a chick out to here?" He pantomimed around his midriff.

            "Not down here," the strange bartender replied, "though there's a crazy person upstairs..."

            "That would be her," and he bounded up the stairs, pausing at the doorway to take in the scene. "Jesus on a stick, Megan. You look like crap."

            "Love you too. Now get this thing outta me!"

            He opened his traveling bag then gently prodded her undulating belly. "Actually I'm not exactly sure how to go about this..."

            "Excuse Me?" she shouted back, eye wide. "How difficult is it to get a blade and cut?"

            "But this isn't quite a normal thing now, is it? I mean we had been bantering about some ideas, but nothing was set in stone. I have nothing that can cut through that uterine wall without nearly halving you. And we really don't want to injure the kid..."

            "Go get Drac!" she interrupted.

            "Waitaminute. Drac never birthed no mutie babies...."

            "Go Get Drac NOW!" she shouted as the next contraction hit.

            BS sighed then pulled out an oversized syringe from the bag. "Morg, hold her down, please."

            It took some struggled, but Megan was quickly out. Once she was under, BS wiped his brow. "She right," he confessed. "I need Drac or Janis or Somebody, or a welding torch..."

            He turned and headed out of the bedroom to got get one of the Vashtalian relations, but needed to get a drink first. Morgaine joined him ten minutes later. "She put my mind on the fritz, "she complained.

            "Yean, she's got my teeth on edge too. Damn this is gonna be messy. Very messy."

            As they nursed their respective poisons, Meli stepped into the bar. The psi-hunter gave the four at the bar a sour once-over before heading up the stairs. Brimstone grabbed Morgaine's shoulder before the girl bounded up afterwards. "It's okay now," he insisted.

            Meli looked at her patient, whom couldn't even focus on being unfocused, then gently placed a hand on her swollen girth. "Overly ripe," she concluded, then administered another round of chemicals. Only when Megan was completely out did she draw out her first scalpel.

            The inn quickly became a waiting room. Morgaine was grumping her displeasure to BS. "You need to tell your little rabble, especially this Meli person, that they need to announce themselves."

            "I know, I know. See this?" BS showed her the rough scar in his neck. "She got me good. Frankly I don't want to be on her bad side. She may be a bit gruff, but she's good to Megan and the rest of them. You'll see."

            "Fine, but if anyone puts one scaled toe out of line I'm kicking everyone out 'cept Megan." She stood up and headed to her office to keep herself occupied.

            BS watched her storm past Drac whom had just arrived. "Well it's about time," he nodded, sliding an ale over to the Vashtalian king. "She's finally in labor. Nothing to worry about now, not with the Big Boss here. It'll be right as rain now."

            Nobody was fooled. Even Echo, whom was not a psi in any sense, could see that this Brimstone fellow mutant, or whatever he was, clearly still was on edge. His jaw was chomping as he ground his teeth. All she could to was toss a stick of gum at him. "Here."

            He easily snatched it from the air. "Thanks," he grunted, then popped it in his mouth, wrapper and all. Now he really did look like the cowboy he dressed up to be, short of spitting tobacco.

            Soon Meli emerged from the bedroom and stood at the top of the stairs. "She's all yours," she announced.

            BS was the first one up the stairs, with Morgaine following a close second. He reached the door and flung it open, then for some unforeseen reason, jerked backwards, grabbing Morgaine by the shoulder and yanking her aside, just as a flog of phlegm flew by, hitting the wall, then beginning to dissolve the woodwork. "What the Hell?" Morgaine gasped as they both peeked slowly through the doorway.

            Sitting on the bed next to a very groggy Megan, was a dragon, for lack of a better description. He was predominately black as the scales glistened like black opal with a metallic overtone. Armoring the top of the head, shoulders, and haunches were larger, courser scales that looked like stone, washed in a light purplish gray. The glowing red eyes betrayed his demonic heritage. From tip to tail he was roughly four feet long; hard to imagine all of that fitting inside Megan's belly. Morgaine couldn't help but grin at the creature, because even though it looked like Satan's spawn, his oversized eyes gave him that sweet cuddly baby sweetness.

            BS was less amused. "Acid. Perfect. He'll get along with Emma famously."

            It was decided that Megan would have to stay at the RDI for at least a week to recoup and heal from the operation before returning to Drac's castle. "Junior" stayed for the most part next to his mama, but soon his curiosity took over. When Morgaine came to check on her charges, Junior focused his attention on her.

            That was when Morgaine discovered that the dragon was a full 'path as well. His "attention" was overbearingly painful, like a halogen bulb searing down on her brain. She had to backpedal in her mind to find better footing, yet broadcast soothing sensations to keep the baby from becoming upset. He wasn't focused, thank the Gods, but such force! She crouched down, remaining as non-threatening as possible. She needn't have worried. Once she scratched the dragon behind one of his mulish ears, he leaned in heavily and started purring, broadcasting on both an audible and mental wavelength. In fact Junior was quite amiable, as long as he wasn't upset or frightened. Serenity agreed when she met the dragon and he nearly curled up in her lap, fawning on her like a Great Dane puppy.... with scales.. and acid breath.

            The kitchen was a great grazing playground for the little dragon. His nose was going full throttle as he sniffed around the cupboards. The refrigerator door proved to be not much of an obstacle as he easily pulled it off the hinges to have at the contents inside. Unlike his other mutant brethren, he kept to the more palatable foods, meats mostly, though he devoured a loaf a bread, wrappings and all.

            Once his hunger was satisfied, he began to examine the rest of the rooms. He opened and closed closet doors, intrigued by how they swing on hinges, until he broke them when he became a little too energetic. He moved onto a sink in one of the bathrooms, spraying himself several times with the nozzle before figuring out how it worked. His paws were quite adept, even though he had no opposable thumb. He overcame this by gripping the handles between the first and second digit and twisting his wrist.

            And everything was going fine, until Brimstone showed up, stumbling into the kitchen access door with an armful of groceries. Junior swiveled his head around and "focused" on him, curious. BS screamed, dropped the bags, then dropped himself, clutching his head with his fists, then vomited. Morgaine had to lead Junior away, coxing him back up the staircase with a hunk of ham, to give Brimstone a chance to recuperate. Once he was able to get his legs back under himself, he put up the groceries, then set about to repairing Junior's handiwork.

            Drac and his entourage were gone to attend some sort of pomp and circumstance fanfare, leaving Aerich in charge of monitoring the mutant brigade. Brimstone had assured him that this would not be a problem. Megan would be tied up tending for her demonic-looking son. He himself was still mired in technological blue prints to install the new hardware into the castle's systems. Aurora's eggs were not due to hatch in well over two weeks, according to Estor.

            Estor lied.

            Two days later Aurora withdrew back into the depths of the basement. Two hours after that, squeaks and pipping like alligator babies drifted up. NOBODY dared to intrude now, leaving Estor to run up and down the staircase, dragging towels, mops, and several large hambones.

            BS took up sentry at the top of the stairs, leaning his chair against the stone worked wall. A baseball bat and a shot gun were in arm's reach.

            It was Randall that first stumbled across the scene. "What gives?" he asked.

            BS nodded for Randall to take up a seat and keep him company. "Moment of truth. Eggs are hatching."

            "Really?" the scientist ooed. "It must be contagious. I remember Goury telling me he was just at the hatching of one of Drac's son's late wives. I forget which one."

            "Wonderful," Brimstone groaned as Aerich joined the growing crowd at the top of the stairs. "We're turning into a reptilian nursery."

            Suddenly Jason joined the growing throng, but not for the current reason. "Aerich! There's this mean nasty sorceress at the front door! She's probably come to get them!" He pointed at Brimstone, whom just shrugged a shoulder. "Quick! You gotta drive her away! She hurts people!" He paused in mid rant as two little dragons peer out from behind Aerich. His new babies. Jason automatically reached out and scratched them just above the eye ridge, much to their delight. Yep, Jason may be a whiney untrustworthy little runt, but he knew his way around dragon kind.

            Aerich left Jason to baby sit the duo as he headed to the front door. Jason not only had rattled the bolt home, but had propped several pieces of furniture against the boards. Once freed, he swung the door open. There stood Morgaine, arms crossed, a bit miffed at having the door slammed in her face. The wolf by her side was not Alanna but one of her cubs, and he also had a disgruntled look on his lupine face. "May I come in?" she asked sourly.

            "Of course. I assume you are here for some of Megan's things?" He had been brought up to speed on Megan's current status and figured she would have sent somebody around to pick up a few items. "I shouldn't have to remind you to please no starting any fights on the capitol grounds."

            The smirk was untrustworthy at best. Oh she wouldn't start anything here. Not out in the open, but if she ever caught that little runt alone and unguarded... "Of course not," she insisted. "I couldn't harm a fly."

            "You can't fool me, Morgaine. Just remember to take it off the immediate property."

            She grinned a bit wider. At least he hadn't forbade her at all. Perhaps she could catch the squirmy scum in a quiet hallway. She headed up to Megan's quarters. At least Megan attempted to fold clothes and put them up, though sometimes they were inside out, or hanging from the wrong holes; but that was two step from Morgaine and Renea's housekeeping habits. Megan kept very little in memorabilia; most of her possessions were of practical value only. It was still a hospital room and it still smelled strongly of iodine and rubbing alcohol. Not very homey at all.

            As Morgaine gathered up the clothes to take back to the bar, she couldn't help but give the next bed a sidelong glance. Reams of caution tape had been strewn liberally , almost mummifying the bed, and it's contents. Zelgadis. Megan had broken down in tears when explaining her boyfriend's current plight; that the man had lost much of his memory and constantly slipped into long stretches of slumber. Not comatose, but nearly so. Dusk had taken up the problem, trying to find a remedy, yet Morgaine couldn't understand why the man was now encased in a purplish cocoon that pulsed with a faint heartbeat. She could feel both light and dark magics at work, interwoven in some strange mystical pattern she couldn't recognize. To have to wake next to that every morning surely didn't improve Megan's mental health as this contradiction of powers set Morgaine's teeth on edge.

            Everyone listened to the growing volume of chirping drifting up from the basement as Aerich returned from the front door, escorted by Alix as she had been drawn by the commotion as well. It was the guardswoman that gave BS a sidelong glance. "What's the bat for?" she finally asked.

            "In case something goes wrong. It has before, you know. I don't need another Tristan on my hands. Besides, you ever have to deal with one of them when they're hungry? You Have to beat them off with a stick before they gnaw an arm off."

            "If you're worried, maybe we should send you down to investigate. You're their blood, after all."

            Brimstone pondered this a moment. "Maybe I should. They could be snacking on her. You all have seen her stumbling around of late, right? We're talking Dead Zone zombified." He stood up and handed the shotgun to Randall. "Here.. just in case..."

            Before he could turn around, a flash of gray suddenly plowed into Brimstone's back, sending him sprawling across the floor. Standing on the mutant's back was a dragon. He bore the markings of the Rydin breed, long and lanky, yet is was not scaled but covered in a metallic silver fur. He was nearly six feet from tip to tail and looked over his victim with swirling blue eyes, the same color of his father's. He sniffed at Brimstone's head, then gave it a lick with a long serpentine tongue, then wagged his tail.

            Aerich's two were already extending their noses, trying to catch a whiff of the new dragon. He couldn't stop them as the stepped forward, met in the center of the room by the furry one as he stepped off Brimstone's back. A flurry of sniffing noses and wagging tails ensured, followed by a fourth as a golden version of the silver one emerged at the top of the stairs and joined his brother.

            Alix edged her way around the drake's to assist BS. "You have a bat in your arm," she observed, then yanked it free from where the spike end had been imbedded in his arm from the fall.

            "I noticed," he replied, allowing Alix to bandage the wound. He looked to the foursome. "They seemed to be okay." He didn't make a fuss when Alix took the bat away. From what he could see, he had no need of it. He turned to the basement. "Shouldn't there be three of them?"

He thought about taking the shotgun with him, but he didn't want to upset Aurora, so he descended the staircase alone.

            After around twenty minutes, Brimstone emerged from the basement without any more scratches or bruises to his hide. "Aurora's out like a light. They must have been chirping for hours down there. And the third egg's a dud. No mistaking that smell. And it's gushy."

            The whole scene at the top of the stairs was like watching dogs greeting each other in an alley, sans butt sniffing. Not only were the dragons investigating each other, but they took turns nuzzling Randall, Aerich, and even Fafnir when he came up to the group. None showed any animosity to the big man, and he had to smile, knowing that this would really put a thorn in Aurora's side. They even took a shining to Morgaine's wolf when she came downstairs with Megan's things and stopped by to say her goodbyes. The Soothsayer took great delight in the furry ones, though the smaller golden one was a bit shy, hiding behind Aerich as he had crouched down on all fours to fondle them.

            Yep, this was going to be interesting, she mused, when Junior decides to join the pack.

            It had taken a few hours for Megan to rise out of the drug-induced coma. The baby was curled up next to his mama, sound asleep. She looked over her new bundle of joy; no wonder she had been in such pain! He had ridges of bone and steel running from his nose, down his neck and spreading over his back, alternating between a shiny opal steel and a course rocky periwinkle blue. She slowly ran her fingers down the crest of his neck and he began to purr. In overall size, he was a good 60 lbs dog, bearing the stocky shape of a Del Marian dragon. The wings were somewhat rudimentary now, but they would grow quickly. Even with his eyes closed, she could see the red glow beneath the lids.

            There was a soft knock at the door, then Janis slipped into the room. The dragon curled on the bed didn't even shift in his sleep. "How do you feel?" she asked softly, taking up a seat closer to the mutant.

            "Like I've been gutted and prepped for dinner; but somehow much better than before." She nodded to her offspring. "Whaddaya think?"

            "He's lovely," Janis smiled, then turned back to Megan. "Can I get you anything? Some water perhaps?"

            "Water would be excellent. I can't get up. I don't want to startle him." She nodded again, this time gesturing to the area where the wall looked to have melted. "Acid."

            "Well you shouldn't be moving around much anyhow." Janis disappeared into the bathroom momentarily, then returned with a large glass. "You should stay in bed for at least the next two days to give your body a chance to equalize. Even if you do heal fast you've been through a major change."

            "I wouldn't worry. I could lie in bed all week. The only thing that is stopping me is that I have to pee, and I hate bedpans."

            "Better than a chamber pot," Janis shrugged.

            Megan thought to tell Janis that a bed pan and a chamber pot were the same thing, but then it would have been lost on her.

            Serenity had taken up the guard duties, planting herself in the main hall of the RDI, but it was a change that didn't phase Brimstone a bit as he swung into the bar, bearing a bouquet of flowers and a huge white teddy bear nearly as tall as himself. "She up yet?" he asked the priestess. When all he got was a shrug, he bounded up the stairs, three at a time, but slowed his pace, opening the door very slowly. He didn't want to wake the living spittoon. Janis seemed to bristle as his entrance, but it looked as he would tolerate him in the room for a bit. He attention swung to his niece. "How ya feelin', Champ?"

            "Like I went a few rounds with Muhammad Ali," she smirked, stretching out the metaphor she started.

            "At least it wasn't Mike Tyson. You'd be missing body parts." He now looked over the drake snoozing at the foot of the bed. "I kind of like this one, but he's gonna need training."

            Megan couldn't resist. "Oh? Like the way you're training Emma and Justin?"

            "Hey, they're not My kids. I don't have to train them."

            Megan paused a moment as Junior stirred in his sleep. "No, but you're the Fearless Leader and they Are your charges."

            "Fearless Leader? Heck, Emma can kick my ass, and this thing can melt it. I wouldn't have a prayer teaching them anything."

            Now they both fell quiet as Junior yawned, rolled over, and fell back into a deep sleep.

            "Is being young so bad?" Janis finally asked.

            BS shook his head. "No, youth is great. It just needs to be properly honed. Unfortunately, these wild children of ours have been roaming free too long. They have no discipline."

            A week later and Megan was almost well enough to relocate back to the castle. It wasn't that she Wanted to return. It was quiet and cozy at the inn, but she wanted Junior to bond with the rest of his mutated family before he developed into another Emily. Already he was beginning to show possessive behavior. Morgaine and Renea had nothing to fear from the metal plated dragon, nor did the two children that also came to visit their aunt; but any and all strangers that came to the tavern got at least a cursory suspicious sniff. Any he didn't like he growled at, scaring them from the inn. Megan often barked at her youngster, keeping him in check lest he spit that nasty bugger of acid at anyone.

            Megan may not have been able to travel, but that did not stop people from visiting. Brimstone made it a point to stop by every day. She always had a Vashtalian escort, whether it was Drac, or Serenity, or one of the guard. But when Fafnir and Goury stopped by at the same time, chaos ensued. Megan froze up when she saw Alix's uncle at the doorway. Junior's head snapped up, sensing his mother's distress, but upon seeing two new faces, he couldn't discern which one was the cause, so he attacked the closest one with fangs and caustic drool.

            Unfortunately he picked Goury.

            Megan darted forward, trying to pull the drake off of her friend, but Junior was no lightweight, easily topping the scales at a dense 200 lbs. As a desperate move, she actually picked up a chair and brought it down on the heavy head. It broke, but Junior didn't. Finally she wrapped her arms around his snout, the acid phlegm burning onto her own flesh. "Goury! Grab his Grumpiness and get the hell out!"

            Fafnir didn't need any prompting. Once both men were out of sight, and Megan had calmed down; Junior was once again in an amiable mood. It only took an apple as a bribe to lure the dragon into a back room, which Megan closed and locked. Goury slipped back into the inn quietly, sans Fafnir. "Is it safe?"

            She nodded as she collapsed into one of the plush chairs. "This totally sucks. I cannot in good conscious introduce him to the rest of the pack if he's gonna go all Bazooka Joe on me every time I have a change of mind."

            Meli popped her head through the doorway. "Is this where everyone is gathering?"

            Megan turned, seeing whom she would forever footnote in her mind as "midwife'. "Well they would be gathering here if Junior wasn't being such a pain," and she relayed his latest antics and how he had been pushing the patrons around.

            "Really," Meli muttered, then relayed the latest murmurings, that Fafnir was preparing to leave the realm. A wave of guilt flooded over Megan and she asked if there was anything she could do to rectify the situation.

            Before they could ponder any sort of plan, they noticed the smoke wafting down the hallway, followed by Junior. Apparently the wayward dragon has slimed the door, causing it to dissolve and allowing him access to the rest of the Inn. Before Megan could stop him, the reptile trotted into the kitchen where Goury had retreated and joined Jason for a bite to eat. Both men frozen as the tyke trotted up to them, giving Goury a cursory sniff before plopping his head into Jason's lap. Jason smiled and scratched the dragon's neck. "Gee Meg, If I had thought the other one would have turned out like this...."

            Jason didn't realize the lapse in his tongue until Junior twisted in his lap them jumped up, checking his bulky weight into the man's chest and tipping the chair backwards. Megan came up quickly behind the drake and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and bodily flung him across the room. Jason thought he had a reprieve, until Megan replaced Junior's weight with her own, latching a hand on her ex-husband's throat. "What Was That?!" she snarled.

            Drac felt Megan's backlash from the other side Rydin. Yes, he had to admit it now, that he was definitely able to feel the mutant's mood and he was on the move before it could explode. Even as he thundered into the kitchen of the RDI, Meli was dragging Goury out of harm's way. Junior was on point, but it was Megan that had Jason pinned against the wall and was currently choking the life out of him. "What in the Nine Hells is going on here!?" he railed.

            Jason tried twisting in her grip, gasping for air, then jerked towards Drac. "I'll I'll take that.. offer... the.. the job.. right .. now.."

            "Too late, Buddy. It won't be in effect until you return to the courthouse to sign the papers." His gaze shifted down to the miffed mutant. "Don't kill him, Megan."

            A grin spread across her face, one that made Jason's blood run cold. "Oh I'm not planning to," she snarled sweetly. "I'll just break each and every bone in his body... It'll heal.. eventually..."

            "No no no no no no" Jason whimpered, falling limp in the grip. "I'll tell... I'll... tell..." He didn't even bother to brace himself when she released him, letting his legs thud hard against the cobbled brickwork as he crumpled into a heap. There was no where to run. Not with Junior on point. "BS told me," he confessed.

            Megan's jaw literally dropped open, then slowly tensed. "Why.. why that back-stabbing son of a...."

            "What's this all about?" Everyone wanted to know, but it took Goury being his blunt self to bring the conversation down to a coherent level.

            "This goes waaay back," Jason sighed, then looked up at Megan. "I can't believe you would dare to pair up with that... thing."

            Jason's bravado was rewarded with a boot to the ribs, cracking one. "Vampire," Megan clarified.

            Even in pain, Jason wouldn't let up. "That... thing.. somehow managed to get her pregnant."

            "Interesting," Goury mused, even while Drac and Meli shot questioning glances at each other, totally lost. The blond swordsman, for once, was two steps ahead of the pack. "But I thought your husband was killed shortly after you got married. What happened to the kid?"

            Drac didn't think Megan could get any colder with anger, but her voice was barely human. "That's because my husband was staked before the child was born. When Sasha died, so did my baby, en vitro."

            Now Jason stirred and pointed an accusing finger, not at her, but at her current draconic spawn. "You would have given birth to something worse than that! A vampire with mutant capabilities? Something had to be done!"

            Megan's brow furrowed further, then a wave of realization swept across her face. "BS hired you, didn't he? He couldn't do anything about it, so he hired a hit man."

            Jason nodded. "And I routed the job out to a professional." He faltered a bit. "Look, I didn't know you then, Megan. It was a business proposition, coupled with a civic sense of duty to protect my people... I'm so sorry..."

            Another boot, this time to Jason's face, breaking his nose. Megan then turned and stomped out the door with JR snarling and barking angrily at her heels.

            BS wandered into the main kitchen of Drac's castle. It seemed to be the congregatorial hub of the place as Randall was already there nursing his first cup of coffee. Meli has just shown up, nibbling on a bagel and glancing around as if expecting something to happen. It was serene. The only item that broke that calm setting was the large metal spike sticking out of the door of the ice box, pinning a hastily scrawled note to it's face. BS ripped the paper from it's mooring and read it slowly. "Damn. She did it again."

            "Did what?" Meli asked.

            The moody mutant slumped into the nearest chair, finding that he suddenly didn't have much energy to deal with it. "Aurora's off again," he grumped as he tossed the note onto the table.

            Meli picked up the paper, and with Randall looking over her shoulder, read the memo:

            "Tin Head

                       Sphere Business

                        Watch the Kids

                                    Aurora (and Estor)"

            Brimstone sighed. "The last time she tangled with them, we lost half our people. We can't afford around round of this crap!" The whine factor was beginning to climb to new levels. "What else can go wrong today?"

            The loud smash at the front door answered that. BS jerked at the sound, then jerked again as if somebody had slapped him hard. The blood then quickly drained from his face and he scrambled backwards out of his chair. He almost made it to the back door when a flash of black and periwinkle slammed into his back. Junior's teeth were bared inches from his neck as acid dripped through the trench coat and ate into his back.

            "Whoa!" Randall stammered as he backed away. "Is That Megan's Kid?"

            "Yeah," Meli muttered, already waving a spell to break up the scene, but found herself shoved aside as Megan came flying up and hauled JR off his victim; only to twist her own fingers around his neck then fling him heartily into the wall. Meli grabbed Randall by the shoulder and pulled him back out of harm's way.

            Drac came rushing in, afraid that he wasn't going to get to BS in time to save him. He grabbed Megan by the shoulder and twisted her around. "What is going on!" he howled at her.

            "This Bastard killed my husband!" she howled right back at him then spun around and round-housed on BS, breaking something in his face, sending the big man crumbling to the ground.

            This rampage clearly had to stop before somebody got seriously hurt. Drac tried weaving a spell to isolate Megan and Brimstone:

            "By the power of the eternal light

            I bid thee

            Isolate those involved..."

            What should have been two distinct shields skittered and crackled in a vortex of red and blue light before fizzling around the combatants. Apparently adrenaline added to the chaotic fields that surround the mutants. Megan continued to pound on her target until Drac pushed forward with Vanagald drawn, forcing her back at sword point. "Megan Del Mahr, I hereby order you to cease this action right now!"

            She looked as if to throw a punch at him, despite the blade touching her chest, but she slowly dropped her arm, then stepped back. "It's Dannon," she corrected, managing to regain some of her decorum. "Megan Ray Dannon. I never took my mother's official title."

            "Nevertheless, you know my rules of conduct."

            Megan continued to scowl, but she did cease her attack. With a final spit of contempt, she turned on her heel and retreated, in tears by the time she reached the back door and stormed out of sight.

            Meli had watched the entire exchange quietly and was now resting her gaze on Brimstone. "Well, this doesn't concern me," she rumbled, the dissipated from view. As she faded away, Melissa and Aerich appeared, apparently answering a telepathic call from Drac.

            The Vashtalian lord stepped back as Randall knelt down to tend to Brimstone's wounds. "I want security tightened and Megan under surveillance," he instructed the duo. "We need to prevent her from doing any more damage." They nodded in synchronous agreement and vanished from view.

            It was Fafnir that stumbled onto the scene and help Randall get BS to his feet. "Up is better," he insisted.

            "Till she knocks you down again," Brimstone replied, his face, nose and eye swelling painfully. "I swear I am so going to beat Jason into a pulp when I see him." His back was still smoldering from where the drake had slobbered on him. Much of his clothing was ruined, barely holding what few stitching remained as it continued to dissolve. Randall had to guess that the same was happening to BS's skin, which would explain the grimace of pain on the man's face. Junior himself seemed oblivious to the damage he had done. With Megan gone, he was too busy sniffing at the floors and corners of the kitchen, caught up in the new territory. Drac feared that the wild child might lift a leg against the furniture, but for the most part JR seemed housebroken.

            Fafnir helped BS remove what remained of his precious rain gear. "Have you no armor?" he asked.

            "I did, but it all sort of went retro thanks to Meli. Besides, do you really think armor's going to stop her?"

            "The right armor can," Fafnir insisted.

            BS sighed as he glanced down, inhaling sharply as the corrosive spit ate through another layer. "Well, I guess I gotta admit that it ain't gonna grow back. Let's go see what's hiding in the armory. I'd wear the enchanted stuff if it didn't sting so bad."

            "I thought the pendant was supposed to protect you from that?" Drac asked, falling in step with Fafnir and Randall. BS just hung between the duo as it was clear that they would have to make a stop in the infirmary first and tend to his wounds.

            "Well I hate to tell you, but 'supposed' and 'actually' are two different words."

            While they tended to his wounds, Jason tiptoed down the hall, only to be discovered by Fafnir and dragged back to the infirmary. BS lunged at him on sight, but Jason was quicker, diving under the surgery table when BS grabbed at him from above. Fafnir grabbed the mutant and forcibly sat him back into his chair. Unable to retaliate physically, BS reverted to verbal abuse. "If you would have kept your Big Mouth shut, none of this would have happened!"

            "I didn't Mean to tell her!" Jason barked back as he hid behind Drac. "It just sort of slipped out."

            "NOTHING 'sort of slips out' with you. You're trying to get rid of me!"

            "I believe him," Drac interrupted, wincing as the volume of the argument had grown to painful levels.

            BS's gaze slowly shifted to the Vashtalian leader. "You believe this worm? Jesus on a stick, he's got you suckered too!" He tossed his hands to the heavens as if gesturing to whatever gods he worshipped that he understood that they were having a great laugh at his expense. "I give up. Not that it will matter much. We're all gonna be dead within the week anyhow."

            Drac's gaze narrowed. "And what makes you say that?"

            "Aurora's gone mucking around with those Sphere guys again. Last time..." and he shook his head slowly, turning to see a gaggle of dragons tumbling down the all. He had to smile when he saw that Junior was part of the pack.

            Drac continued to brood on this point. Aurora had come to him in the wee hours just last night, clearly in a dilemma. She had received word that a friend of hers needed help. Normally this would have been a no-brainer for the mutant, but her friend was involved with a group calling themselves "Sphere-bearers", a small select group of people that are entrusted with various aspect of the world. Limitless access, Aurora had explained. At one time she had been the bearer of Chaos, a natural choice and one that she seemed quite happy with. It had been Estor that had shown her this avatar-type world, him being the bearer of Energy.

            That happiness was short lived. Estor had been injured and was unable to control his Orb. It took much cajoling, but Aurora had convinced the other Sphere bearers to give the globe to her son Teclis since he already was a well of great raw power. When he merged with the orb, something happened. The aspect of the orb changed. The other bearers were convinced that Teclis had somehow corrupted the orb and demanded he give it back. Unfortunately it had merged with him. To take it away would have killed him.

            Of course there was a battle, and Aurora's mutants were on the losing end. Being mortal, many had been killed and left just outside the Blue Dragon Inn where a werewolf have given them sanctuary. It took a great act of sacrifice, and Teclis essentially halved himself, splitting his soul and leaving his body behind for his uncle Eclipse to reside in while he took the sphere of energy and ran. Aurora had made a sacrifice as well, rending her own soul in twain, giving the chaos orb to her saner half, dubbed Clone.

            The bearers had given up torturing the mutants after that. Teclis and Clone had only been spotted once or twice since then, but remained uncaptured by the others. The Sphere bearers had left Aurora alone.

            Until two nights ago.

            Aurora had found then note, saying that the Orb of Time was missing, along with it's bearer. He had been one of the few that had backed her mutant kind when the war broke out. She had always hoped that he would somehow be able to mend the tear she had caused. But with Time missing...

            She had to go.

            Drac didn't bother to stop her. All she had wanted from him was his word that her children, and her clan, would be protected. He gave that willingly enough, along with a set of braces entwined with the psionic linkage with the rest of Vashtalia. If she needed help, he would come.

            By morning's light, she was gone.