The twin tailed purple cat man Lucious insisted on chasing Megan, trying to ply her favor, and found most of the advise he needed came from her father Timothy. The psi himself had enough dealing with Emily and her hot-and-cold attitude towards him. Megan still had the problem of dealing with the chaotic forces slowly churning inside her. Megan also still had to deal with Remaris stalking her as well, though he was quite amiable about it, even after he figured out that she was the daughter of Aurora Del Mar, an creature that had been described to Remaris as being a monster. He revealed his demonic part to her, a patch on his chest showing his misbegotten heritage, and drew no pleasure hearing that his uncle Retyir, and the sword, especially since he was the son of Retur, Aurora's nemesis. Megan care for none of her mother's problems. In fact having the power that her mother once held in check was slowly tearing her apart, and she did her best to hasten her end, even begging Remaris to kill her. Instead he offered her a possible solution.. to hunt down Retyir and try to use his sword to suck the power from her. Getting support from the werewolf Jerrad, the gold mage Kahl, and the very exuberant Emily.

            A portal woven by Remaris brought his dad over, unconscious and barely alive. They stripped the broken sword Destroyer from his body and laid it out for Retyir to hone in on. Megan made the rest of them leave, giving her the blast radius she would need to take out the wanna-be god. Even broken, the blade was already draining her of the chaotic forces. As Retyir brought Defender's edge down, she stepped into the cut, allowing the blade to sink into her skin, just as she shoved Destroyer into her gut. The resulting blast was blinding, but not destructive, as Aurora just happened to hone in on the event and redirected most of the energy into her. The Deh Mahr also managed to talk some sense back into Retyir, whom, in repentance, set his son Kyle loose from his imprisonment. Aurora left, not wanting to tangle with Megan if she awoke, but Retyir bound the two swords together and rested them on Megan's prone body.

            Crystal found Luna still trying to fully understand her new fairy form, and Teclis whom had taken the sphere of power in stride with his good nature. They caught each other up on family maters, figuring that Aurora was indeed the best one off in the lot for now as Eclipse and Willow had broken up, as well as Traveler and Firefly. Crystal had problems with more evil drannixes trying to take over the world and destroy her in the process, a prospect that upset Teclis greatly. They ended up tracking down Aurora to her beachhead hideaway where she had been vacationing for some time. Despite all the talk of going off to save the world, it was Aurora that won the argument that Crystal needed downtime and convinced her to stay at the hotel with her. Even Clone, the newly converted chaos sphere bearer came to visit Aurora, and gave Crystal her first impression of what a sphere bearer was like.. which was pretty much the same when not a sphere bearer.

            Everything was quiet until the horde of 80 ft mechanical spiders showed up. Luna blasted through the hotel to drag as many people as she could to safety with the vortex caused by her tiny wings. Crystal eagerly rose to the challenge, morphing into a rainbow colored form of energy before mowing down the first wave in a surge of power. Aurora soon flanked her, having found her silver dragon armor from somewhere, and she added her two cents worth, mowing down a phalanx of the robotic monsters before suggesting that Crystal fly up and take out the massive mother ship. The chaotic elf did so, finding her power being supplemented by Clone as the sphere bearer amplified the chaotic power with her own. The resulting rift did suck in the advancing force. they returned to the hotel mark, watching as Teclis peeled himself off his mother, having amplified her own talents for her to contend with the attackers. The protectors of the realm then decided to leave since their efforts had tugged so hard on the world that large tsunamis were now threatening to wash back in and destroy the hotel.

            Megan found herself suddenly falling three stories within Jerrad's bar, miraculously still alive and now bearing a strange sword twisted in black and silver, Defender and Destroyer combined she guessed. She also met Goury, a blond swordsman that had also become lost, somehow ending up in Rydin. Morgaine had also tracked Megan back to the bar, knowing that Megan had given her the slip, and only just recently finding out from Jerrad that the mutant went to go kill a god. Morgaine had her own worries. She and Renea had spilt up, shortly after Morgaine had been turned into a vampire. Things settled down. Megan repaired the holes in the wall, but still felt the underpinnings of the chaos within her. It was no where near as strong, but it was there. Morgaine finally patched things with Renea and moved back to the Red Dragon Inn. The blade, which Megan now called Hybrid, had to be locked up otherwise poor Jerrad would suffer from migraines. The blade itself seemed to like to clung to Megan, literally, adhering to her back is if holding on with super glue. Megan seemed to drift closer to her new associate Goury. He wasn't very sharp, but he was cute, and she found him less threatening to deal with than Lucious, or Remaris; and since neither courtier was around, she tried to rope Goury into her clutches. But Megan had no social skills to speak of, and Goury was indeed dense when it came to pretty much anything subtle.

            Morgaine had her own set of problems and it took Megan a few days to figure out that the only human visiting the bar was the problem. McAllen worked for a legal company that wanted Renea to come to justice, and somehow had wiped out her mind in the process. Megan responded, but accidentally stabbed Emily in the process, shorting both women out. Their recuperation was slow and shaky, but they had lots of support. Goury's friend Zelgadis had found him and hung around to see if his spells could help. He did help clear the air between her and Goury, letting the mutant down slowly as he informed her that Goury already sort of kind of had a girlfriend. Megan respected that and left Goury alone, at least romantically.

            Emily's plan had worked. He had actually pressed the misguided attack, wanting Megan to drill the sword into her to have some of the chaotic forces pulled into her body. She wasn't sure if it had worked. In fact she was lucky to survive the encounter. Timothy retrieved her from her convalescence once Megan and company left her alone to sleep. It took about a week, but the effects were strange. Emily was a mesomorph, but now she had non-biological mimicking capabilities.

            Megan healed slowly as well. And butt-kicking she was supposed to do seemed distant as she seemed overly tired all the time. Much of that time was now with Zelgadis as they matched wit for wit, problem for problem. She managed to get him to unwrap his masking, revealing his golem/troll skin. He had considered it a curse. She felt it was more an armored asset. These discussions went along amiably enough until he mentioned that he was a Shaman, and a mage. Then her fear of magic took hold of her and she freaked, running from him. It took several days and lots of talking to convince herself that she was acting stupid and worked up enough courage to go back and apologize. He gave her a choice.. take up a spell breaker so that she would be protected from him, or not. She chose not to, not wanting to lose a potential friend because of her paranoia.

            She slipped away to get to a Twin Fang meeting. It had been a while since she had attended a meeting, but it was clear that the club was becoming very paranoid, sending out spies on rival gangs and finding no good news. Discussions with Zelgadis

turned into light flirting. She was definitely drawn not only to the grey/blue stone hide that was surprisingly warm and smooth to the touch, but the mind the man had. They argued about magic and how it worked, or didn't around her and why, putting forth many a theory. The trio of Goury, Zel and Megan would take day trips; at first taking Megan to the local hot spas for a relaxing soak. While she slumbered, the boys had the pleasure of meeting Timothy, Megan's father, as he stalked his daughter throughout the city, making sure she was alright. This visit was followed up with one by Brimstone whom was just as concerned. In fact it seemed the two mutants had already figured out that Megan was looking for a mate; but they seemed divided about who should be that lucky guy. Tim hounded Goury whenever he could, seeing if the swordsman had any intentions, which Goury loudly proclaimed he did not. Zel seemed a bit more forward, amazed that she found him attractive at all. He also grew protective of her. He saw how much her father's presence angered her and he went out of his way to try to turn the table on the psi.

The Vashtalian lizard king Drac also added his two cents into the mix, always having felt that Megan was like a distant crazy cousin and he worried about her.

            Megan's worries where on Lucious though. She hadn't heard hide nor hair of him since her encounter with Retyir and she asked Emily to find him. In return Megan agreed to choose, somebody as her next consort since her indecision was distracting Timothy away from Emily's charms.

            Halloween came around and Megan, dressed as a devil woman, took Drac, dressed as his little 4 foot version of himself, Zel as a motorcycle biker, and Goury as a knight in real shining armor; out to show them how it was done way back when, going from door to door and asking for treats, and doling out tricks. Drac stealing the front door of on rude non-participant was frowned on, but the door was eventually replaced.

            It was the lone house at the end of the lane that gave them problems. Megan knocked at the door, but was suddenly sucked inside. They boys broke the door down and eventually traced the drag marks to a trap door. It was indeed a trap as thick webbing wrapped around Drac and a monstrous spider bit him. He expanded into his full dragon form while Zel and Goury tried to rescue Megan from the pit below the fighting titans. They managed to escape before the house exploded, but Megan had been bitten badly. It took a combined effort of using Hybrid to channel Drac's magic into Megan without harming her. Once she recovered, her head perched on Zel's lap, did she realize that he somehow had managed to shuck his stony form. On a lark, she leaned up and kissed him.

            Emily, dressed as Lina Inverse; Brimstone donned as the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz, and Timothy, wearing an exact replica of Zel's motorcycle outfit; had watched the entire scenario from a safe distance. The kiss enraged Timothy and he threw a fit, breaking his binoculars in the process.

            The kiss hadn't done much to clear things up between Zel and Megan. It just made things more complicated, especially when Emily revealed that BS had instilled a love spell in the old house, and that she had made a deal with Megan. Megan finally told Zel about her recent confusing past with Lucious and Remaris, and how she wasn't sure about Zel, and how her kinfolk were pressuring her to find a mate. She thought it sounded like she was callous, but Zel could see past to what her family was doing to her. It took a pep speech from Brimstone to straighten the whole thing out for Megan.

            Morgaine was not happy about the spider.

            Megan finally got word about Lucious, not from Emily, but from a very strong psi. The being agreed to meet her in the pantry to talk face to face; the face belonging to a purple prismatic dragon. Lucious was dead, having lost a fight with a flayer. This strange message bearer was verified by Timothy, who came to reassure Megan that everything would be okay. It also became clear Why Timothy had been pushing for her to find somebody else. Megan didn't take this information well. First the chaos within her tried to slag him, nailing the edge of the bed first; the Hybrid flew from her back and managed to sink into his ribcage as he tried to flee the scene. Tim's only option was to drill his mind into the swords, and it took over an hour before the two saw terms eye to eye, at which time the blade retreated, leaving Tim to lick his wounds.

            Two things now bothered Megan. First was the fact that there was a creature able to kill a high level psi. The second problem was resolved quicker. She received a note from Zel. Assuming it was a breakup letter, she followed the directions to a clearing set up with a grand meal. Zel had given it much thought and figured a picnic date out in the open was less dangerous and less likely to leave collateral damage. It was a light point in her day, since they chatted on light subjects and she ended the date with a light kiss on his cheek.

            As to the flayer, that was taken up by Brimstone and Timothy. They may argue, but they fight well together. Tim ventured in first, facing off with the raven haired female beauty, trading quips before flipping up his case and allowing Hybrid a first strike. She deflected the shot, then tried to grab a hold of Tim's mind, but he had dove back into the milling throng of attendants and slave traders. She tried to grab the blade, finding two minds instead of one, and almost had the blade untwisted when Brimstone fired his laser cannon into the throng, giving Tim a chance to retreat. Any that followed him into the thick forest were killed.

            The second wave fare better. The cannon mount laid down a line of fire while the black clothed man ran down the rise, easily taking out the lower minions and he bore down on the flayer. Only after the form vaulted over the last wave and landed into the flayer's lap did she realize it was the 'borg, not the psi.. and the 'borg had a spell on his lips. When the cloud cleared. BS was wearing a red and white pokadotted dress and the flayer had been changed into a cuddly bunny rabbit. Any retaliation the opposing forces thought to do were cut short when they saw what had happened to their mistress and they ran away.

            The mutant men's efforts were not taken will with Megan as she tried first to rip the wiring out of Brimstone, insisting that he was lying. She was still a bit bitter about being deceived and manipulated by Timothy, so she had BS bound up, using him as a hostage to lure Timothy out. When he didn't show, it only took the reappearance of Odin, Renea's old fling and Desiilia's new one, to send her in a tizzy. Renea put her right back in her place, mentioning that she had no right to get all upset when she wasn't even In the bar enough to keep track of what was happening between Morgaine and Renea and the rest of the girls. Thwarted, she turned back to grilling BS, wanting to know where Tim was. Her ire was further pushed since Hybrid hadn't been seen since the day after she had flung him at Timothy. Bs confessed that they had been hiding in a secret tunnel under what used to be Brimstone's bar and grill.

            Zelgadis found the psi first, hiding in a cave down the beach from the fallen establishment, still somewhat green from when some poisonous bats had attacked him in the middle of the flayer fight. He had managed to survive by pumping himself up before the fight by implanting Militant based chemical pumps directly on his body, enhancing his talents. He also admitted that BS had used his curse to win the battle, plainly evident when he showed them the flayer, now in rabbit form. Hybrid anxiously rejoined his mistress, purring happily. Megan took Timothy hostage, but found that Brimstone had made his escape when she returned to the RDI. The rabbit they fed to Morgaine's wolf, but Megan took pity on Timothy, seeing the extent of his injuries, and set him up in a bedroom next to hers to heal.

            The next day Zel woke up with Megan in his bed. He remembered nothing of the night before, and was relieved when she didn't go ballistic. She seemed confused as well, as she was sure she had asked him it if was okay if she joined him if she promised no funny business. Soon suspicion seeped in as they both guessed that Tim had managed to finagle into their minds to coax a union.

            Things grew tumultuous between Renea and her sister Danielle. A fist fight even broke out and the two Amazon sized woman just about trashed the bar as well as any mutant. Odin was even struck a few times trying to break the girls up. Renea was also none too pleased with Megan and her roomies, as it seemed they caused more problems than they were worth. Tim may have been duct-taped to the bed, but he constantly played with their minds, either directly or during his innocuous questioning sessions. Zel had tried to ply secrets from the mutant in an attempt to understand why Megan behaved as she did. All of the bickering drove the red haired vampire crazy enough to kick the lot of them out of the inn, even though Timothy had paid in full for all the rooms used and for the damages. Surprisingly it was Danielle that allowed them to stay, surprising since neither girl liked each other that well.

            Danielle regretted the next day, when Emily arrived in full blown chaotic mode, a sphere of energy ripping into Tim's room and tearing him painfully from the bed before announcing that 1) she was pregnant and 2) she never wanted to see him again. Megan had tried to save her captive, but a flick from Emily's hand had sent Hybrid tumbling backwards and into Megan's shoulder. Zel had tried to hunt down Emily while Megan healed, but found that the mutant's vibrant sister was more than a match for him, and had managed to slag much of his skin. It hurt, like a sunburn, and it took several days for it to heal. The recounting of that tell seemed to infuriate Drac when he heard and he stormed off after Emily. When Megan heard, she made Tim try to track Drac down mentally, a task very great for Tim in his current condition. The Vashtalian kindred seemed happy that Tim was able to pull this off, addressing him by his proper title. Zel stayed glued to Megan's bed as they both recuperated, all the while gently flirting and showing affection for each other by holding hands and kissing when they thought no one was looking.

            She had many visitors while she recouped. When a plethora of people had triggered a fight, Zel tried ending the conflict with a Ra- Tilt spell. Unfortunately the spell ricocheted and hit Timothy, releasing his son Tristan's mind from where he had locked it away eons ago. The evil psionic kinetic didn't make his move until everyone else had left. Once alone, Tristan attacked Megan, digging painfully into her mind and ripping away the many barriers she had placed their to contain painful memories. Once he ripped her mind open a bare, he left to find Emily since she was technically carrying his child.

            Many came to try to help Megan in her terrorized state. Even Vincent and Uryll showed up; in their way, to offer support to their sister. They managed to get the bare minimum of detail, that Timothy was not longer Timothy but Tristan, and that he was going to take Emily. Tristan was foiled by the combined effort of Zelgadis and Brimstone. Zel brought up a cloak of darkness around them, and BS managed to ping Tristan in the darkness using what he called a 'Jedi' trick. Brimstone tired to get close to the lightly wounded Tristan, but the kinetic floated out of range, knowing that BS had to be close in order for the curse to work. He even managed to sense Zelgadis phasing up from the ground below, then took the shaman's gathered spell and rechannelled through his body to shoot BS down. He didn't count of Zel's determination as the golem managed to make contact and force a stone into the kinetic's chest and sucking out his soul, leaving Tim's mind behind. Zel grabbed Tim's body and dragged him back to Megan's bedside, demanding that he fix her and make the pain go away. It was a daunting challenge. The mind was a mess now but he didn't manage to erect a few buffers.

            It was quiet for a time. Megan's recuperation was very slow and she seemed to act like a frightened rabbit. At times she had a valid point as the ghostly apparition of Dusk Del Mar began to haunt Megan and company.. Somehow the spell casting mutant had escaped hell and was now haunting her kindred. BS distrusted her since she had attacked her brethren and thus had to be put down years ago, but Goury asked is she could heal Megan further. She did take the edge off, and Megan was now able to at least talk to her comrades, though still very fearful about everything around her.

            As she recuperated from her ordeal, she became very attached to Zel, physically and mentally; due to some mental twiddling on Tim's effort. Zel and Megan Did like each other's company, but they constantly questioned their relationship, wondering how much of it was Tim's influence, and how much was real love. Goury constantly drilled the psi for information, trying to figure out what Timothy was up to since the mutant wasn't able to accomplish much physically anymore. His body was burned out as well. But he still had his oily charm, content to flirt with every unavailable woman he came across, just to make the boyfriend or husband jealous. It seemed he thrived on this reckless behavior. Only Danielle seems to enjoy Timothy's flirtations, though she never took him fully seriously, content to keep him as just a friend. He helped out as he could, using his ill-gotten wealth to decorate the bar for Xmas and to upgrade the security.

            Life continued on even if Megan's seemed to fluctuate. Saairth, Drac's son married the black dragoness Heather. Morgaine had found herself in love the red headed vampiress Renea and the two of them planned a ceremony as well. Dusk continued to "haunt" Megan, waiting for her to die drift off so weakly that she would be able to take control of the body. Dusk didn't hurry the process but just waited like a vulture. Another guest appearance by Emily heightened the nervousness a notch, even though Tim seemed able to see past Emily's rumbling hatred and tried to bring her back to some sense of normalcy. The chaos she kept inside wouldn't all it. Hybrid wouldn't allow it either, flying down the stairs to kill Emily. Only Timothy jumping in the way of the blade slowed it down. The dragoness Heather healed the stricken psi with a painful spell before he bled to death, but Emily did nothing. She seemed to be an emotionless shell in her pregnant condition.

Megan had her ups and downs, developing seizures as memories that had jostled loose in her ordeal with Tristan bubbled to the surface. If Zel was missing for any length of time, she would quake and regress into the "frightened bunny" stage, hiding from everyone. Danielle would also feel these panic attacks of Megan's, her head suddenly throbbing with the pain of instant migraine whenever Megan tweaked. BS played damage control, not only making sure Megan ate and rested, but started supplying the bar with his own stack, making sure the rest of the Red Dragon Inn's denizens didn't suffer. Some fool recklessly tried to rob the bar while Megan's kinfolk were upstairs. A shout from Renea brought the entire team downstairs to punish the interloper, almost bringing the bar down around them all. Tim continued to try to get through to Emily, but she seemed to wall him off. His search for a new body was just as desperate as it was clear he wouldn't live more longer than a year at the rate the body was burning. Brimstone was unable to find Tim any sort of replacement. It didn't stop him from flirting with Danielle, much to the chagrin of Odin as the oversized ogre had taken up with her.

            Megan healed physically, but it was decided that she and Zel needed to take a trip to get away from the pressures at the bar. Business had slowed down, and it turned out that a lot of that business was not from the bar's booze. Authorities had come by, looking for a certain escaped individual. Unbeknownst to Renea and her ilk, this man had set up a shop in the basement manufacturing drugs, and left a ravenous young dragon to guard his booty. Brimstone, Danielle, and the cop dispatched the beast reluctantly. The viper commando took the evidence, but Brimstone had discovered two more freshly hatched eggs and a long labyrinth of sewer tunnels able to hide such large reptiles. Danielle also figured out that Brimstone had developed a crush on her. At least she had a confidant in him, able to tell him that she had been prostituting herself on the side to make up for the bar's losses. He offered instead that he take what earnings he had left and invest them in the bar since his own venture had slid down the mountain and into the sea.

            The departing chapter show a spaceship in trouble, engines about to explode and a very irate captain about to kill off the source of the power surge when the entire ship suddenly jumped through a rift. What was left of the craft plunged into the deserts to the north of Rydin proper. Only three survivors; the commander, the lead scientist, and a creature that bore a striking resemblance to Aurora del Mar.