Megan had kept quiet for the first few days, letting the pony Brimstone gave her wander where it wanted. She took in the scenery; sometimes smiling, sometimes not, not saying much in any case. At night she curled up next to Zelgadis, bundling up in the sleeping bag; sometimes smiling, sometimes not; again not saying much. What was noticeable was that she stayed clear of all signs of civilization, choosing the overgrown, less traveled roads.

            Zel himself felt at home with the journey. He was used to traveling in small groups or alone, and was quite happy with the silence. He had no love of human civilization either. What he needed, and almost cursed himself to admit, was Timothy’s expertise. The psi knew so much more about Megan an probably how to aide in her recovery. Zel had only a wild guess to guide him. Megan had an animalistic side to her, so he figured to take her to a natural setting to let her wounds heal. “We should head eastward,” he suggested. “There’s supposed to be a gigantic waterfall; quite beautiful to behold, I’m told.”

            “Okay,” she consented and turned the pony.

            The falls were indeed quite spectacular, hundreds of meters tall, cascading down over granite rocks before tumbling into the deep pond at the foot of the cliff. She dismounted, draping her tattered maroon cape over the withers of the small beast, then picked her way down the slippery grass slope to the water below. Zel followed, making sure she didn’t wander too far ahead, then sat down next to her as she stripped off her boots and dipped a toe into the water. “Brrr... Cold,” she complained, but she kept her toe in, then slowly submerged the foot. Eventually she got both legs in, and seemed content to just dangle the limbs in the icy liquid, inhaling the mist drifting over the surface of the pool. “That’s nice,” she admitted. “I like it here.”

            The chimera slowly placed his hand on her shoulder, noticing that she didn’t flinch this time, then slowly massaged the joint. “I’m glad you do.”

            She turned to kiss him, but something grabbed her ankle and yanked her into the blue depths. It was strong, and big, and dragged her quickly into the cold, even as she kicked frantically, trying to find some leverage and discovering none.

            “Can’t life ever be easy?” Zel moaned in frustration, then clapped his hands, forming a translucent bubble around himself. A slight gesture lifted the ball into the air. A stronger gesture plunged the orb and its rider into the pond. His intention was to swap places with her, putting her into the airtight bubble while the creature gnawed on him. Being his skin was made of rock, the creature should spit him out and wander away. At least that Was the plan, but as he mumbled his spell, the only change he felt was the air suddenly suck out of his lungs. He hadn’t counted on her mutantingly bad luck. The only transference that occurred was his lungful of air reforming in her lungs, giving her another burst of energy as she punched down at the creature’s singular eye while wedging its jaws open with her hand and her free foot, trying to pull the ensnared ankle free. She began to flail widely as time ran out.

            This seemed to bet the time that little piece of chaos inside her craved for.

            The monster seemed to suddenly expand, then coil in on itself; imploding then exploding, sending its snack and the boy in the bubble flying upwards to the surface.

            She landed hard on the beach, the impact forcing the last of the air out of her. Chunks of monster guts splatted all around her, sprinkling her with streams of snot. She erupted in a coughing fit, half expecting water to rush in, and almost drowning in air. Eventually the fit subsided and she wiped her face on a damp sleeve, slowly looking about at the carnage she wrought. “... a danger to myself and others,” she half sung, then staggered to her feet, feeling a bit light headed, but focused. First priority was to find Zel. Surely he would be going nuts looking for her.

            He was. His landing had been rough, the spell breaking apart on the rock where he landed. he hadn’t been made of sterner stuff, he would have been broken pieces. But since he had survived, his next order of business was to find his girlfriend. He was yelling out her name, though his vocal chords never did carry any depth. His normal speaking voice was a tic above a whisper. His yelling was like normal conversation in volume. She heard him, the water carrying the course voice over the surface to her, and she stumbled over the sword grass to meet him. “I’m here. Are you okay? That thing didn’t hurt you, did it?” As she reached him, she grabbed his hand, yanking him out of the shallows and onto dry land. She didn’t trust the water anymore.

            Now safe, she cupped his stony face in her hands, looking up at him, nearly in tears. “I’m fine,” he insisted, assuaging her fears. “One of these days I will learn to stop relying on magic. Maybe I need to get a new sword. Now.. What about you? It didn’t hurt you , did it?”

            “I....” She looked down at her ankle, seeing black and blue bruises encircling the entire limb. She also sported several cuts where the fists and arms had come in contact with the thing’s teeth. “Man, I swear! Somebody’s got it in for me! I’m safe nowhere!” It was a sight long missing. She was angry; some of the first truly angry emotion she’d shown since the mental attack. But she paused. “You didn’t blow that thing up, did you?”

            “No... no I didn’t.” He could see.. No feel... the new emotions in her. He could barely remember her speaking this many words in succession. But now her anger melted away as a mixture of awe and fear flooded in as she realized what she had done. How Zel felt this, he didn’t know, but her fit of bravado was once again caving into fear.

            “I can’t control it, can I?” she asked. “It.. It could go off just like that. This is what Emily must be going through. No wonder she’s so mad. It’s so... unpredictable.”

            He was already there, determined to swing her mood away from that spiraling path. “There are many things that can kill out there, but I have not lead my life by being restricted by any of them, and I do not plan to start now.”

            The golem enveloped her in a hug. She had started to shiver from the cold, having lost her precious body heat in the pond; so he covered her with his arms. His touch calmed her, perhaps more so than his words, and she melted in his embrace, calm once again. “You’re right. I’m just thinking about it too much. Fine then, no more thinking. Let’s just get away from this place before something else decides it wants a snack.” She gathered her boots, pausing long enough to rinse them clean in the shallows before climbing back up to the trail. She wrapped herself in her cape to stave off the breeze, the climbed into the saddle, trying to keep the weight off the injured foot.

            Zel followed after her. Maybe she would be alright after all. They had, after all, just beaten a sea monster. He shook his head.

            Yep. Life certainly was never easy.

The Egg Hatches

            Gourry wandered in to the Red Dragon Inn and saw Heather by the fireplace and went over to see her. “Shouldn’t you be home with the egg Heather?”

            “ No, it’s ok Gourry, I have a heat spell on it and it should be good for a couple of hours more.” She told Gourry how her brother Daruis’s lifestyle was scaring her. Daruis was a mercenary and she was afraid that one day he wouldn’t come home. He is her only surviving blood relative and she didn’t want to loose him. Gourry told Heather that he had done some mercenary work prior to meeting Lina back home but he was picky about who he worked for. Heather responded that Darius wasn’t picky. She just wished he would give up being a mercenary. Gourry then said that maybe he will find a good woman and settle down. Heather replied that he has a girlfriend but he is just using her and appears to have no interest in settling down. She then proceeded to tell Gourry about the situation. After she finished Gourry said he needs to talk to Darius next time he sees him.

            They continued with some idle chatter about Heather and Darius’s childhood until Heather suddenly sat up to attention as if she was listening to something. “What is it Heather?” She got up and transformed to her dragon form, “Be right back Gourry.” Then she ran out the door, unfurled her wings and flew off.

            Meanwhile the only other patron in the bar stood there dumbfounded about what he saw. “Holy shit! What the hell was that! She looked like a regular human.”

            Gourry replied, “I guess you never saw a dragon transform before.”

            “Dragon!? I didn’t even know they were real!”

            “Oh yeah they are real”, Gourry replied. “Actually I have a few friends that are dragons, most of them are Heather’s relatives.”

            “This is getting too creepy for me, I’m out of here” the stranger said. Just as he said that the inn was shaken to it’s foundations and was accompanied by a loud thud. Outside Heather had just landed with a bundle in her arms. The stranger ran out the door only to be greeted by Heather just as she shrank herself down to human size and wraps her wings around her bundle. “I need a drink,” shouted the stranger and he ran off into the night.

            Heather walked back in and headed over to the fireplace and placed her precious bundle wrapped in blankets on the rug in front of the fireplace. She looked to Gourry with a sparkle in her eyes.

            “What is it Heather?”

            A toothy smile appeared on her draconic jaws. She headed over to the bundle and unwraped it to reveal a large black egg with red stripes.

            Gourry looked in awe at the egg and asked, “Is it ready to hatch?” Heather’s wings twitch and suddenly a crack appeared in the egg. “Oh my god!” shouted Gourry. He watched in amazement as Heather cooed at the egg with her tail swinging to and fro. Another crack appeared on the egg. Heather motioned to Gourry to “come sit here” and pointed to a seat next to her’s. Gourry took the seat and was amazed by the miracle of life he was witnessing. A piece of the shell fell away and a little red finger with a black claw poked out. Heather cooed at the egg in encouragement to the little hatchling trying to come out. The egg suddenly burst open to reveal a little red dragon with black wings, horns, and claws that came tumbling out from the shell and fell to the floor in a heap.

            “Oh my, it’s cute”, Gourry shouted. Heather scooped up the hatchling and brushed away any remaining stray shell fragments and took a closer look. “Is it a boy or a girl?” asked Gourry.

            Heather smiled with tears running down her black scales, “It’s a boy!”

            “Congratulations Heather!”

             The hatchling let out a meep. “Have you and Saarith decided on a name yet?”

             “No we haven’t yet.” She placed her son on the floor and watched him as he unsteadily tried to walk around and ended up tripping on his wings, falling at Gourry’s feet.

             “OOPS! Someone has taken a tumble,” Gourry said. The hatchling let out a little whimper and meeped. Gourry knelt in front of the hatchling as the little one tried to get back to his feet. “Hi there little guy”, Gourry said to the hatchling. He looked at Gourry with eyes so dark blue they were almost black and meeped at him. Gourry gently stroked the top of his head. Heather smiled proudly as she watched the scene between her son and the swordsman. “I take it you are going to have to feed him soon?”

            Heather cooed at her child as he stumbled over his wings to get to her. Heather scooped him up as he reached her and cuddled him. “No Gourry not yet.”

            “Oh ok Heather, I know that most human newborns need to be fed soon after birth, I wasn’t sure about dragon babies.”   Heather responded, “Only when he turns to human form do I feed him that way. While he is in this form I feed him chewed up meat.”

            Gourry responded, “OK” as he received a quick lesson in dragon physiology.

            Heather smiled at her son as he yawned and wrapped himself in his wings. “I wish Saarith was here.”

            “Yeah Heather, I wonder where he is?”

            “He’s probably out mapping more of our world Gourry.” Heather busted out laughing when she heard her son’s tummy rumbling.  

            “It sounds like someone is hungry, Heather.”

            Heather looked up apologetically at Gourry. “I am sorry Gourry but I have to get him home to feed him.”

            “No problem Heather, I understand. I’m honored to have been here to see him hatch.” Heather grabbed the blankets and looked at the shell fragments on the floor, “I had better get rid of these. I am glad that someone was with me Gourry.”

            “Thanks Heather, it was an honor to be here.” Heather looked down at the shell fragments again and they disappeared. “What happened Heather?”

            “I had to get rid of them Gourry, they are worth money to some people.”

            “Oh, Ok Heather.”

            Heather pressed her cheek against Gourry’s in the dragon’s form of a hug. “Thank you Heather.”

            “No thank you Gourry, I didn’t want to be alone when he hatched.”

            “I was glad to be there for you Heather. You have a hungry little man to attend to there.”

            Heather smiled. “Yes I do Gourry.”

             “I hope to see you tomorrow Gourry and hopefully Saarith will be back.”

             “I’ll try to be here Heather.” Heather made her way to the door with her precious bundle. “Bye Heather say hi to everyone at the castle for me.”

            “Ok, bye Gourry.” Heather stepped outside and grew to her full size and unfurlled her wings and with a mighty flap she launched herself and her son into the night sky and disappeared from sight as Gourry watched from the doorway.

            "Danielle!" Brimstone bellowed, wondering were the women folk were. Normally the bar was teeming with them. Finally the tall girl came from the back room, placing a finger over her lips to signal the cyborg to shut up. But he didn't. Instead he held out a thick heavy leather bag filled with coin. "I told you I'd score. Remember those pieces of dragonhide we marinaded? I parlayed those skins into quite a haul. Did a little wheelin' and dealin' under the table. I still have my connections, and since the critter was slain in your basement, it's only fitting that you should have most of the profits." The dark haired

tendress just stared at the pouch, even after he tossed it to her. It bounced off her arm, slid across the counter and landed on the floor behind the bar. She seemed preoccupied. Nervous even. "Those Viper creeps didn't try coming back to shut the place down, did they?"

           His answer came from Odin as the behemoth of a man literally put his foot through the front door. He was livid, his face flushed full red, and he had his sights set on Danielle. Brimstone didn't need to be an empath to feel the anger and rage pour off him; all the tell tale signs of a love betrayed. Danielle was bleached white, but she did her best to put up a front. "Odin! What the hell are you doing to my door!?"

            "I'm not the one selling myself!" he spat, pulling his leg free of the wooden frame. "I gave you and your sister options. I was discarded. And you!" Now the great man swivelled his attention to Brimstone whom had stopped halfway across the room to investigate a grinding squeak in his metallic knee joint.

            BS may have looked like an innocent target, until his arm popped up, the laser gun honed in on the man's chest. "Not now," the cyborg warned calmly. He shook the leg and a small cotter pin fell out. "Ah.. that's better." Now he stood up straight to face Odin's wrath, finding the man had about an inch advantage. "Now, just what is your beef about today, Dude?"

            "Dude this!" and the muscled man threw a right handed punch. Brimstone arched backwards, quietly kicking the cotter pin forward with the same motion, hoping to trip up his attacker. Danielle had grabbed a chunk of the broken door and was hiding it behind her back, knowing it wouldn't protect her in the least. Odin's rage was breathtaking. "Are you Paying her? Answer me, you junkyard reject!"

            Brimstone again drew himself up, this time inside the man's swinging arm, almost nose to nose with the massive fury. "I am NOT sleeping with your woman," he stated through clenched teeth, his own dander rising. "Fact be known, I can't." Now his eyes narrowed. "And if YOU were the proper provider, she wouldn't have had to even Think about degrading herself. Some mate you are."

            Now they slowly backed away and circled, judging each other. Odin's rage was breathtaking. "Are you Paying her? Answer me, you junkyard reject!"

Brimstone again drew himself up, this time inside the man's swinging arm, almost nose to

nose with the massive fury. "I am NOT sleeping with your woman," he stated through clenched

teeth, his own dander rising. "Fact be known, I can't." Now his eyes narrowed. "And if YOU were

the proper provider, she wouldn't have had to even Think about degrading herself. Some mate

you are."

            Now they slowly backed away and circled, judging each other. Odin's hand slowly inched to his back pocket, a suspicious move, but BS had a feeling. Danielle tried to bolt, but Odin shot his free hand out, blocking her escape. Brimstone grabbed his arm. “No hittin’ the frails,” he insisted. The cyborg was rewarded with a head butt that smashed his nose up into his cranium. Such a strike would have killed a normal man, but Brimstone was far from normal. The pain did make his eyes water as he staggered back, his vision somewhat impaired.

           Now Odin turned his wrath on Danielle. “And YOU! You want to sell yourself for money? What is wrong with your screwed up little head!?” He whipped out his other hand, throwing wads of paper money at her. “Ask for help. Don’t degrade yourself and become as low as Renea.”

      Brimstone would have been right in the thick of things if Drac hadn’t grabbed him by the shoulder, already figuring this squabble to a family blowout. “Sit down.” He insisted, shoving the big man into a chair and handing him a bar towel to sop up the blood. “I don’t think he’ll hurt her.

      The metallic man gently pushed to plates that formed the nasal ridge back into place, still keeping an alert eye on the squabbling couple. “This wouldn’t be so bad except for the fact that I’m a ‘path.”

      His opportunity came when the big man stiffened up, his head cocked as listening to something on the wind. Brimstone reached out and grabbed Danielle’s hand, yanking her back as he saw his nemesis distracted. He suspected that Odin was getting an earful from Renea. Though he personally couldn’t discern words, the emotion alone told him volumes. Finally the mammoth of a man turned to glare at Danielle as she hid behind the bulk of the ‘borg and the dragon king. “Perhaps I was a fool to fall in love with you.” He pulled out a chain that held an old Glyph and threw it across the room before storming out. This incensed the tall bartendress and she stormed out after him, not allowing him to leave with the last word, almost running into Renea and her escort McAllen. More argument ensued. Renea, in a roundabout twisted way, defended Danielle’s action as being selfless.

      In either case, Brimstone retread back into the bar, dropping a few coins into the till before fishing through the cabinets, needing something to drive the pounding ache in his head away. “Ah… knew she had a bottle stashed. Care for some?” He waved the bottle of Mama Dragon’s White Lightning at the red dragon king.

      “No thanks.” Dracon looked out to the veranda as the arguments escalated. “That’s a nice little soap opera, isn’t it?”

      “It ain’t over yet. A big oaf like Odin takes breaking up bad. Most likely he’ll trash the bar or set it on fire or something. Fools like him get lost when they fall in love.” The argument finally faded away as the characters carried it further down the road. “Poor kid,” BS sighed. “She’s been trying to hold this bar together for months. If I had known that, I would have started adding to the kitty a long time ago. It ain’t easy supporting mutants.”

      “Who owns the bar exactly?” Drac asked. 

      “Morgaine, since Renea was locked up in the looney bin. At least that was the last change of ownership I know of.”

      Drac looked at his drink. “You know, you guys could have moved into my realm or took up residence in my tavern. You wouldn’t have to be bothered by these humans anymore.”

      Now the cyborg smiled. “Oh you know better than that. Once the women folk pick a spot, you can’t budge ‘em. And I still have this lingering obligation to keep this place solvent till Megan returns.”

      “Well, you can’t say I never offered.”

      “I know, and as kin, I’m flattered, but… well… I’m needed here.”

Uryll hunting

            She walked into the tavern. Humanoid only in shape, she bore definite dragon attributes. Most noticeable were the set of chalky white dragon wings and matching serpentine tail that accented the shocking mop of Day-Glo red hair. She seemed to fancy dyed-blue leather with heavy brass accents, each joint covered with a sharp ended spike of metal that sported some flecks of blood: definitely not just for show. For a female, she had quite the shape and ample roundness, but she seemed ignorant of the fact. In fact she seemed quite pissed. She made her way past the staring crowd of mostly rugged men to stand at the bar, easily catching the tendress’s eye. “You have draft, I assume?”

            “Aye,” the lady responded after giving this strange half-bred creature the once over. “Any particular kind?”

            “Thick. Bitter. The dregs of the barrel. I’m in a foul mood and I wanna stay there.” She snapped her wings to shake the sand and dust from them before folding them flat against her back. She could feel the eyes, sense the attention she was drawing; the ninja at the bar; the tall thick hulking mass of burnt flesh semi-phazed in the corner. But they were not her quarry. Her quarry wasn’t here. She paid the waitress a gold coin for the thick dark brew then drank the draught, but not with any ladylike manner. She easily chugged down the 40 oz brew in six swallows then thunked the heavy glass mug down on the rough wooden countertops. “Another,” she stated.

            “Shall I start a tab for you, M’dear?”

            “May as well.” Deciding she needed to sit, she slid up on one of the stool, wrapping her tail around the base to keep herself from sliding off. All the while she drained the second glass in same manner as the first. She ordered some meat (“any kind” was her preference when asked) with her third drink, but she never got to eat. A scent drifted in from the streets outside.

            She had to go.

            Now.

            Goury had been wandering along the edge of a pretty pond, being filled by a mammoth of a waterfall. Such a beautiful setting, he mused. The only odd point to the scene was a ghostly white creature pacing by the most northern tip of the pool; a sight that caused him to blink several times. A woman, but with dragon traits was snuffling the air, the ground, and the rocks, a slight perplexed look to her face. That’s when Goury saw the family resemblance. This had to be one of Megan’s mutant relatives. “Hi there!” he beamed cheerfully as he walked up behind her.

            His reward was to have this oversized ifrit cold cock him in the jaw. She had her fist coiled back for another punch, but held back as she saw who was at her mercy. “Don’t you Know not to sneak up on people like that?” she spat. She released him then reassumed her hunt, pacing along the water’s edge. “Something was here,” she grumbled. “Something bad.”

            “What do you mean?” Goury asked as he stood up, rubbing his jaw.

            “I mean something bad was here. What? Are you dense? I hunt bad things.”

            “Hey! I didn’t know that!” he protested, falling in line behind her as she shuffled along the shoreline. “I mean I just met you briefly that one time when you popped into Megan’s room, back when you were chasing your husband. All I know about you is that you’re Megan’s cousin or something like that.”

            “Half sister,” she corrected, then pulled up to turn and look directly at him. It was the same drilling gaze Megan had, only creepier. “You? You’re the one with Megan?”

            “I… I’m just a friend. She went with her boyfriend Zelgadis on a trip.”

            She didn’t believe him. “A-hum. ‘Friend’. Sure. Whatever, Stud. Yeah, I know they went on a trip. They came by here. I can smell them.”

            Now the swordsman showed great concern. “I hope they’re okay.”

            He continued to follow the dragon girl around the edge of the lake. She led the way, sniffing, touching, and even licking the rocks and grass as she navigated the rough terrain. None of this held her back, and Goury had to step up to a jog to keep up with her. She suddenly stopped, inhaling heavily. “Kraken,” she growled.

            “I take it that’s not good?”

            “No. Not good.” She continued on her track for another mile, pausing when she cam e across a large chunk of gelatinous goo slowly melting in the afternoon sun. Further along, Uryll picked up on her kindred’s scent. “They got out here and headed back up to the road. They’re alive.”

            “That’s good,” Goury nodded.

            Again the red haired dragon half turned to look down at him from her perch up on a huge moss-covered boulder. “You have a thing for the obvious, don’t you?”

            “I was just worried because Meg wasn’t completely healed when she left.”

            “Well no duh! But anyone that is still breathing after having a psi rip through their head is tough as nails. She’ll heal. We ALL heal, eventually. At least the bodies do.” She now slid down from her perch to stand next to Goury. Even though her wingspan made her look bigger, she was barely five feet tall. Goury almost towered over her, but he still felt small next to this creature. “Besides,” she continued. “Her mental welfare is none of my concern. I’m just making sure that none of the interstellar brood set their sights on her or Emily.”

            “Interstellar Brood? Who are they?”

            “She sighed. “You mean you haven’t seen any of those Riftmasters, or Sphere bearers lurking about? No godlike creatures trying to capture/ torture/ kill Megan dearest?”

            “Only Emily.”

            The dragon girl smiled, baring her eyeteeth in a grin as she shook her mangy hair. “Emily don’t count. She’s blood. I’m talking about gods and demi- gods. Critters with infinite power.” Her wings tucked in tightly around her body, suggesting that maybe she was getting chilled, but Goury figured that offering his coat might not be a healthy move. “You’ve met my kind, and you know how we can really piss people off. Well, we piss off gods too. Lots of them.”

            “Strange. I thought the only one that does that was Tim.”

            “The Rex?” she coughed. “He does it on purpose. No, if you want to see blind banality, you have to see my mother in action; belligerent, unyielding, self-sacrificing bitch she is. It’s because of her that my babies are dead.”

            “Damn,” Goury whispered. It seemed this family had no end of tragedies. “That’s awful. Can I ask what happened?”

            Uryll had to collect herself, almost allowing a tear to escape. Their absence had her heart hurt and being reminded of that horrible even was just painful. “You know of the chaos Megan holds inside, right? Aurora holds the mantle. She’s an avatar, and she also bore the sphere of energy. Overkill, if you ask me. Anyhow, when her husband couldn’t hold his sphere of energy anymore, she asked that my stepbrother Teclis take it up, since he was pretty much already energy. A sort of proto-god as far as we could figure, so it would be natural to him. They let him try it out, reluctantly, but when they decided enough was enough and tried to take it back, it would Go back. It had mutated, which logically is what it would have done hanging around a mutant to begin with. Stupid godlings!” she snapped her tail angrily, then collected herself. “Well that just about split the gang in two. There wee a few sphere bearers that saw something in this change, the others.. they didn’t like it, and they set about to tear it out of Tec. Only my Mother got a head full of steam and said no.” As the dragonling wallowed into the memories, those tears did begin to fall; though she was so caught up in her story that she failed to notice. “We all barricaded ourselves inside Estor’s castle and slammed up every ward we could think of. They couldn’t get in, but we couldn’t get out; and there were a lot of us that were still out there. They plowed through about half of our breed; stacking the bodies in front of us, taking any kindred form any where and any when. My babies were split in two and tossed up on that pile…” Now she turned, facing the waters, taking a few moments to collect herself. When she turned the sadness had been replaced with a seething anger as her memory now played past that anguish. “Took us three days to burn all the bodies.”

            “Oh my,” was all Goury could muster.

            “Yeah, and its still a bad business. Eventually both spheres sort of peeled off Aurora and Teclis, no longer needing a ‘bearer’. They are now free and untethered. I don’t think any of the other bearers could catch them again, but a morsel like Megan or Emily might make a tempting target; especially Megan since her ‘accident’. That’s why I hunt gods and kill them, even though I’ve become one myself.”

            Goury didn’t want to venture on how she’d become a god. All he saw was that same heavy emotion that seemed to hang over all of Megan’s kinfolk. “That is a heavy burden. How do you deal with it?”

            She looked up, some of those cloudy doldrums lifting from her brow. She even had a half smile. “You know, you’re probably the first person I’ve talked to like this in a long time. My husband won’t even stay in the room long enough To talk. ‘Course I’ve tried to kill him too. Not on purpose, well at least not with a lot of intent. Anyhow, I’ve gotta head off. My calling awaits.” That mad twinkle was back in her eye. A quick snap of her wings and she was airborne once again; the fiery red- headed ifrit hell bent on general destruction.

Carolmw, silverblckdragon,

            That walking mass of metal and flesh slowly made his way down the staircase, his attention currently on several spreadsheets. Most of the figures were only what he could glean form Danielle, the inn’s monthly expenses. Some of his draconic kind were fluttering about the bar. Darius had his sights set on some golden hen named Charon as she fidgeted with her hatchling. From what he could deduce, the drake wasn’t making much progress. It was only Renea’s grand entrance that really caught his, as well as everyone else’s attention. She looked like she’d been through a blender, her clothes and skin rendered to strips and shreds, fresh gouges across her face, chest, and arms. Bruises already were welling up on her arms and legs, and she sported one hell of a shiner. “Teeth and Toenails woman!” Brimstone thundered, dropping his paperwork and rushing to her side. “What happened to you? That puny McAllen guy didn’t do this, did he?”

            “Augh, forget it. This be Odin’s work. We’ve ‘ad whah’ I ‘ope t’be our las’ face off eva’.”

            “That Meatloaf did this to you?” Already Brimstone’s dander was up, having failed to protect his people. That damn reptile in him just seemed to have watchdog somewhere in his genes ‘cause the skirmishes these girls got into really didn’t set well with him. Was he turning into a pacifist? Not likely.

            “Dunna fret,” Renea smiled through the black eye. “Now its delt’ wiff. Ee’s off t’ get ‘elp, and peace. As fer me, t’ bed.” She staggered up the stairs only to be waylaid by her sister and her lover. Apparently they had knowledge of the tussle and were relieved to see their vampiric kindred up and functional. They hugged, cried and carried on in that sisterly type of bonding girls do.

            Brimstone felt out of the loop, even when Danielle held up a long fingered hand for a high five from the ‘borg. He obliged, but his heart wasn’t in it. He ended up just pulling the brim of the cowboy hat snugly down over his eyes. “I’ll never understand you girls. Maybe Megan’s madness IS contagious.” As Morgaine led Renea upstairs to the comfort of a soft bed and caring hands, Danielle took up sentry at the bar, the robotic man sitting by her side. “So everything is settled now?” he asked. “Or do you still need help with the bar?”

            Her smile told him volumes, none of them very good for the ‘borg. The tall luscious woman had a new lease on life. It showed in her eyes. “Y’know? I think I can handle it from now on.” Then she turned to look at him as he drummed his heavy kevlar fingers on the wooden counter top. “Brim, you know this Tim person, right?”

            “Tim? Oh yes… very well. That’s Megan’s dad.” He didn’t sound very encouraging as he already caught a hint of what she was mulling on now.

            She nodded. “I think I was terrible rude to him last time we spoke. Can you tell him that I request and audience with him?”

            “ ‘Request and audience?’ That’s some fancy wordage there, but sure. I’ll tell him if I see him.” He slowly straightened up and once again adjusted the suede hat while muttering something about his kindred’s luck. He sauntered out the door into the busy streets….

            Only to rush right back in. The massive metal man proved he could run, and pretty damn fast. Those at the bar caught only a glimpse of his face, drained white in fear as he ran up the stairs and into his room where he slammed the door and locked it. Danielle hurried up the stairs after him, pausing at the barred portal to knock lightly. Suddenly the door whipped open and a hand grabbed Danielle’s wrist and yanked her into the room. Brimstone then slammed the door shut and leaned up against the oak planks as they creaked against his weight. No doubt about it; he was absolutely terrified.

            “What the hell is wrong with you?” she hissed. His effort had spun her across the room and sent her tumbling over the bed.

            He held a finger to his lips. “Shhh… she’ll Hear you!”

            “Who?”

            “The Deh Mahr. I just saw her on the street. She’s not supposed to Be here!”

            A young woman peeked in through the slightly ajar door, casing over the entire establishment before stepping in. She was decked out in green camo field gear and armed with several small firearms strapped to her body. Content with the layout, she opened the door and grabbed the sleeve of a tall gangly looking fellow and dragging him inside. “Looks okay,” she commented.

            For those that knew Megan and her ilk, this girl was a shorter younger version of the mutant, at least in looks. In temperament she seemed quite confident and sure of herself, moving through the bar with her escort and sitting down at the counter like she’d done it hundreds of times. They both wore forest green pattering, but the collar and cuffs of the woman were line in brick red, signifying a rank of some sort. Her companion spoke up as he looked around the place, Obviously in awe of the variety of creatures tending the place. “So. What do you think?”

            “Just as weird as the last three places. Elves. Dwarves. Smurfs. Heck.. even dragons. It’s a hodge- podge of fantasy books come alive.” Her musing were interrupted by her stomach growling loudly. “I suppose the boss man would want us to sample the local cuisine.”

            Danielle didn’t understand. “Whose that?”

            “She Megan’s mom. God help us! She wipe me off the planet if she thinks I’m here!”

            “And why would she do that?”

            He groaned. “The girl doesn’t Need a reason, but with all the crap that’s happened of late? She probably knows about Tristan, and Dusk, and Megan’s mind nearly being wiped out. That would make me pissed if it was My kid.”

            She rested a hand on the ‘borg’s living shoulder, feeling him quake. “Alright. Relax. I’m gonna go downstairs. I have to tend anyway, so just sit tight, okay?” Brimstone didn’t look like he was going anywhere save maybe to hide in the closet. Danielle headed back down, seeing the girl whom really did look like a dwarfed version of Megan, sitting at the bar. “Evenin’ there. Can I get you anything?”

            The girl looked up at her compadre for a second, then back to the tall tendress. “How about a steak? This thick.” She held her fingers a good two inches apart. “With steak sauce... oh and fries.”

            All Danielle could offer was an apologetic smile. “Uhm... I’ve got some peanuts.” She gestured to one of the side windows overlooking a large stream when she saw their confusion. “See? With the river frozen over, boat’s can’t get upstream, so we’re running short of everything.”

            The young woman looked disappointed. “Peanuts it is, I guess.” She took the offered basket and handed it to her friend. “Seems the locals are a bit strapped for grub, Randall.” As he indulged in the legumes, the girl turned back to Danielle. “You got beer?” When the long legged girl replied, the much more petite woman smiled. “Okay, how about this? A big frosty glass of the thickest lager you can muster. Bottom of the barrel stuff. For the both of us.”

            Danielle poured both mugs with a flourish. “That’ll be two gold each, gang.”

            “Gold,” the girl echoed. She started rummaging through her pockets, pulling out credit cards, chits, paper money of various denominations, countries, and planets. Randall drew out a platinum coin and held it up in the filtered light of the bar.

            Danielle shook her head. “I don’t take platinum,” she winked.

            It was the girl that managed to round up some gold, this in a form of a very heavy, very bulky, very gaudy pendant that hung around her neck, the bauble hidden inside her uniform. The plunked the oversized trinket on the counter. “What about this?” she asked.

            The bartendress winced. “Oh God,” she sneered. “What IS that?”

            Yes, it was a very obvious piece. “My title. I don’t think I’m gonna need it here. Not like I’ll be going home any time this century.”

            Danielle lifted the eyesore by the chain, depositing it to the back of the drawer. “That’s heavy enough to keep you in hops for a bit. Drink up.”

            They did, both draining their respective drinks in quick time. “I guess we’ll need to exchange what we have for local currency,” Randall noted.

            “Yeah. That might help. Wonder if they have a recycling center around here. We literally have tons of scrap metal we can salvage from the wreck.” One could imaging smoke churning from her ears as her thinking went into overdrive. “We’ll need horses and a cart. I ain’t hauling all that crap out on my back. And we’ll need someplace to crash. I Hate sleeping out in the open. Damn chigger bites hurt.”

            Randall shuddered. What his cohort had called chiggers were well over a foot long each and took out half-dollar size chunks of flesh when they burrowed up under the sleeping bodies.

            “WE HAVE ROOMS!” This from Danielle whom stopped short and cleared her throat. “I’m sorry,” she continued sweetly. “We do have rooms available.”

            “Oh good,” the girl smiled. “How much?”

            “Depends.. Window or no window?” What she had in mind was the damaged rooms of Megan and Timothy. Despite the construction efforts, they hadn’t been able to complete close off the torn-away wall from Emily’s attack. “No window is five gold a night.”

            “Okay,” she turned back to Randall, counting off their objectives on her fingers. “First we gotta pool resources and sell off what’s solvent, then relocate here, unless we can find a better deal. I just hope we can talk el-Presidente into going along with this.”

            “I don’t see why not, Nine. It’s a good idea.”

            Danielle thought Nine was a strange name for the girl. Maybe she had nine toes or something like that. “I dunno,” Nine grumbled. “Seems like everything I suggest gets batted down. Maybe if You talk to him.”

            “Excuse me, Miss?” This from our blond bombshell of a swordsman Goury, whose curiosity finally gave in and he headed across the room to introduce himself. He slowed down when he saw how nervous the girl got. She pushed Randall behind her and slowly slid her hand down the side of the uniform, reaching for a gun strapped to the thigh. “Excuse me, but you look like a friend of mine.”

            “Really,” she intoned, her hand sliding around the grip of the pistol. Randall was already sliding towards the door, making sure they had room to back out as they slowly maneuvered around the bar. “I find that Very unlikely, sir.” The gun was now drawn, but still at her side, but only because the man’s sword was still strapped to his back. “Whose face Do I resemble?”

            “Her name is Megan Ray Dannon.”

            Goury had hung around Megan long enough to tell when the mutant was lying. The slight facial tick told him that she knew the name. “Sweet,” she finally state. “‘Fraid I don’t know the girl.”

            “Well her uncle Brimstone is upstairs.”

            Danielle winced, but to this fact Nine truly didn’t know. “Brimstone,” the girl nodded. “Yep, seems everyone here’s got cool names. Look, I don’t know your friends. I just got here. You’re mistaken.”

            “Okay, but the resemblance really is uncanny. Sorry to have bothered you.” Goury stepped back. So did Nine, using her rear to push Randall out the front door and back into the crowds. She grabbed Randall’s arm and dragged him into the thick of the market, making sure to lose any trailing problems. Finally they drifted out of the throng and to a park bench well shaded by large full elm trees. “That was strange,” Randall commented, using his tall height to scan the crowds, not seeing anything suspicious.

            “I’ll say. Megan Ray Dannon is my covert OPS name I used in the field. How the hell would he know that?”

            The resident cyborg cautiously made his way down the stairs, his head swiveling about so much he resembled on owl. No one else seemed as alert; not Morgaine tending the bar, nor McAllen reading his newspaper. The man did set his reading down as he watched the metallic man make his way to the bar. “Yer Brim, right? BrimRock? Something like that?”

            “Brimstone,” the tall cowboy corrected, not looking at his questioner, still scanning the crowd.

            McAllen nodded, taking a puff from his cigar before posing his second question. “I’ve always wondered, and it’s been kinda gnawing on my mind. Just what in God’s name are you?”

            “Cyborg,” BS replied again shortly, his neck almost telescoping to catch the farthest corners of the room before finally settling down to look at the man. “Part flesh, part machine.” He waited as the nondescript man covered his mouth and coughed before asking his question. “You haven’t seen some chick casing the joint, have you? Looks like Megan only smaller and… well… meaner?”

            “Renea,” the detective smirked.

            Brimstone let the comment slide as he worried about more pertinent matters. “No. She’s not a vamp. She’s mutant. Waaaaaay mutant. I wouldn’t piss her off any. Which is my worry. Anyone seen Danielle?”

            “She’s upstairs,” Morgaine replied, nodding to Goury as the blond swordsman joined the growing party. “Her mother came by and… it wasn’t a good experience.”

            “She’ll be safer up there,” Brimstone replied them grabbed Goury by the elbow and drew him away from the crowd. “I wanna talk to you about that girl you were talking to yesterday. The one that looks like Megan.”

            The entire conversation was picked up by a lone man seated at the end of the bar. Commander Rooslan had slipped int the bar only half an hour ago, having traded in his military fatigues for a tan trenchcoat and a set of Ray Bans. It seemed many of Rydin’s inhabitants seemed to favor the skulky assasin look. The word “mutant” had cuaght his attention, along with the walking pile of spare parts. Not only did the robot sport several pieces of tech, as Randall had reported; but he had that vibe; that unsteady current that told Rooslan the ‘borg was more than human.

            “I’m telling you, Goury. That was Megan’s mom. I’m sure of it.”

            “Her mom?”

            “Yeah, yeah. I know. She looks way too young to be much more than maybe a sister to our girl. I haven’t figured that out either.”

            The handsome fighter thumbed his chin thoughtfully. “She Did seem a little defensive when I asked if she knew Meg.”

            “Champ, trust me on this one. Don’t piss her off! She’s been known to nuke planets for Teeth’s sake!” He suddenly dropped his voice, realizing it had been rising in pitch and volume. “She was supposed to be on vacation. Now she’s working For the Militants? Somebody got to her.”

            “Is she really That Bad, Brim?”

            “Oh yes. That bad.”

            Rooslan needed more information. He stood up and gently brushed against the cyborg, making the briefest contact with the flesh exposed on the man’s upper left arm; just enough to pull what he needed form the ‘borg’s brain. Perhaps Brimstone hadn’t realized the psi was in the room, or had mistaken the psionic vibe for that of the mutant girl; but once physical contact was made, the cybernetic man Knew. He whipped around, trying to catch the body of the stranger filing through his brain, but there was too much movement in the bar and Rooslan easily slipped back into the milling crowd. Now BS was borderline paranoid. That was a mutant. An unknown Del Marian mutant, and a strong one. He turned and saw that Danielle had emerged from her room and was nibbling lightly on a cracker; a sight that filled him with relief. Now he put the rouge psi on the back burner. “There you are! Are you okay?”

            Rooslan had slipped back against the tavern’s walls. He hadn’t figured the ‘borg to be a talent as well. The Commander was lucky to have slipped past him, and he wouldn’t make that mistake again. He pulled up his right wrist and spoke into the buttoned cuff link. “You tow meet me at the Inn in twenty. I’ve found something.”

            “Sure thing, mon Capitan!” an overly annoying chipper voice responded, making him groan inwardly. At least she was on an upswing. The girl’s emotions were already beginning to fluctuate since she was no longer on the meds. Neither was he. The wreck had destroyed much of their supplies. It would only be a matter of time before he could no longer control her and he dreaded every passing moment.

            Brimstone was shaking his head. He’d caught some of the radio transmission via audio link, but wasn’t able to filter out the static. “Are you okay?” Danielle asked, seeing BS looking a bit more frazzled and weary than normal.

            “Okay, I guess.” But not for long. That girl appeared once again, slipping around the throng to head towards the bar, her buddy Randall being towed along by a sleeve. BS made a soft audible “Eep!” and dropped to the floor, slinking around to the far end of the bar then into the kitchen.

            It was Morgaine that greeted the Military duo. She already noted the family resemblance to her compadre, but she kept mum; especially after hearing Brimstone’s warning. “What can I get you?”

            The petite woman held up a leather pouch in triumph. “Beer!” she crowed. “I’ve got the right currency now!”

            Morgaine took the offered pouch and slipped it into the till and handed the girl her first beer, watching as she chugged it back with gusto. “You’re Aurora, aren’t you?” she finally asked.

            The Soothsayer was rewarded with that patented stare, one of mistrust and intent learning; like the woman was trying to pull information out of her eyeballs. “No,” she finally answered. “My name is Nine.”

            To Morgaine’s trained eye, it was obviously a lie, but she just nodded and moved further down the bar, yet keeping one eye on the duo. There was something very strange about that girl, and not just the fact that she was related to her best friend.

Rooslan now slipped up behind the duo as they imbibed heavily. “You Could be a bit more inconspicuous.”

Randall just looked between the commander and the mutant. He had not talent, but even he could feel the tension between the two growing exponentially. “So,” he started, hoping to break the stalemate before any damage could erupt, “are we setting up here?”

“I dunno,” Nine replied. “Why don’t you ask Cpt. Cupcake here?”

            “Will you stop with the nicknames already?” he sighed, trying to calm himself down. “Now… I’ve just discovered that we are not the only ones from Del Mar on this planet.”

            “I knew that, Colonel Klink,” she snorted. “I felt them the first time I came into this town.” She watched as the furrows in the commander’s brow deepened, knowing that she’d won this match. “I’d just like to know where the hell they came from. They ain’t from the boat.” Funny how only she would refer to their massive spacecraft as a “boat”.

            Randall had been thumbing his chin for a while now. “Could they possibly be relatives of yours, Nine? Or maybe clones?”

            Danielle had finally slipped back into the kitchen to check on Brimstone, but the big ‘borg was nowhere to be found. As she walked past the pantry a hand shot out, encircling her wrist, and yanked her into the closet, clamping a softer human hand over her mouth. “Hush!” he warned,” she can Hear you, you know. If she figures out I’m here, I’m slagged”

            She yanked his hand off her face. “Give me a break, will you?!” she growled back at him; thankfully in an annoyed, but hushed, whisper.

            The Commander now countered his is information. “The man I scanned was not on any of our records. He genuinely thinks that you, A-9, are something markedly different than what our tests indicate.”

            She shrugged, holding her third beer aloft. “Look, Boss. I’m just a kinetic on the company dole. So I can channel some energy. Big fat hairy deal. You’ve got at least for others that can do the same thing and with more finesse than I can muster. I ain’t special. Now if you did happen to brush up against a wild mutie, that might prove to be interesting. Where’d you see him?”

            “In here. In fact he’s hiding and listening to us right now.”

            “Shhhh!” The big man was squinting, one ear to the wall as he held Danielle in his arm, trying to stop her from heading back out to the potential battle zone yet eavesdrop on the conversation. “Damn. They’ve got a psi with them. And I never felt him.” Danielle ignored the robot man’s growing paranoia and twisted free, slipping out of the closet and closing the door before he could stop her. He didn’t dare venture out to chase her.

            “Too bad most of my equipment was destroyed in the crash,” Randall moaned, “I might have been able to detect others.”

            “We’ll sort through the salvage,” Nine insisted. “If we could adapt a basic modulation device and pick up a wavelength, Fearless Leader here can ride with a mental piggy back on the signal. And another thing, we gotta hole up somewhere. Can’t leave that stuff out in the elements or its gonna rust away.”

            “I wasn’t aware our high impact plastics were capable of rusting, but I’ll take your word for it,” Rooslan snidely remarked, his patience wearing thin with the off-the-cuff name-calling. “But this does seem as good a place as any, now that we have some financing. We can keep the combat gear, but we are not going to parade around in standard issue uniforms.”

            Now the short brown haired girl frowned. “But I Like my fatigues! You…. You’re not gonna make me wear a Dress!? I am Not parading about like some flimsy medieval peasant!” She whipped about and slammed the now empty mug on the counter. “Beer,” she demanded, preparing herself, knowing what was coming next.

Randall tried to diffuse the situation. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep these two from a paranormal wrestling match. No matter what the instruction manual said, this tension could not be healthy for either of them. “I just think the Skipper wants us to blend in more,” the scientist tried to reason.

            “I don’t Want to blend in. I Never blend in! I wasn’t born to and I can’t even if I wanted to!” She know leveled her challenging glare at the commander. “Are You gonna make me?”

            Danielle figured maybe a distraction as she flipped the mug hind her back, filled it, them flipped it back, sliding it down the bar where it coasted to a stop right behind the infuriated mutant. “Two gold, Short Round,” she called out.

Nine’s trick was just as amazing as she pulled out the coins and tossed them blindly behind her, yet somehow they landed right in front of the tall tendress. All this without even looking, her hateful countenance still focused on her superior. For Rooslan’s part, he kept his calm. “You do not have to wear a dress,” he answered in a low, but threatening tone. “My recon. Indicates that this place is not entirely in the dark ages, There is an interesting mixture of tech and magic here. And frankly, Nine, from what I’ve seen around here. You’’ fit in just fine. You just will not do it in standard military uniform.”

            The girl’s neck was almost corded out into one tense muscle, her jaw clenched, just burrowing a hateful gaze into the taller officer. Finally she gave a loud sharp snort, whipped about and took up the beer glass, draining it in three swallows. Oh how she so wanted to throw a punch and slug this guy; but not only could she be court- marshaled for such an act, she could be executed. That wouldn’t go over too well. She slammed the glass, somehow managing not to shatter it but put a good size nick in the wooden countertop, then stormed out into the street.

Rooslan watched her storm out, then finished his own drink. “Randall, I want you to find out who this wild mutant is as soon as possible. That is your first priority, even over ship protocals. I will follow A-9.”

            Somehow the cyborg sensed she was gone, like a passing thundercloud, and he slowly emerged from the closet. He peeked out into the bar and saw Danielle standing at the counter, then joined her. “I thought I told you to stay clear of her,” he grumbled, sounding slightly cross with her. “You see how violent she can get.”

            She looked away, first staring at her hands, then folding them under her arms. “That you did, but I’ve got more pressing matters on my mind. Besides, I don’t fear what I can step on.”

            He had to smile at that analogy, but played the image out further. “Just keep in mind, she’s a land mine. I wouldn’t ‘step’ on her. Now…. What other ‘pressing matters’? Is Odin still giving you crap?”

            “No.. no.. I just had a visit from my mother.”

Even though she was tall, she had to look up at the cyborg and he could see her one lip twitching. “And what did she have to say about things?”

Danielle looked away from him. "How about a drink? You can help yourself to whatever you want."

He rested his human hand on her shoulder. "Sure," he replied. "I think a drink would be wonderful." Somewhere along the line he'd already pulled a bottle of average whiskey from the shelving but he deposited several coins in the til. "We went over this. I'm not on the company payroll. I pay my way." He took a swig of the bottle then offered it to her. "I suppose your mother found out about your… contributions… to the Inn's profits."

She bit her bottom lip, but didn't take the drink, only nodding in agreement. "She didn't need any help to hate me.. now it's just that much worse."

"Well, look at it this way. Is your mother contributing to your welfare, or the Inn's profits?"

"Don't try to justify what I did, Brim." She slipped around the cyborg and worker her way down the counter, serving up mostly classes of red wyne while putting some distance between them.

Brimstone turned, finding the military dude to his left. "I'll never fully understand women," he confessed.

Commander Rooslan followed the violent mutant down the street. Yep, she was in a rage, whipped up enough that his teeth were buzzing from the mental feedback; but at least she wasn't venting. Usually her tantrums were displays of kinetic energy as door, tables, and sometimes cars would be flipped over by a mere whim of power. No such tornado followed this time. In fact her only mistake seemed to be that she was heading out into the desert during the hottest part of the day. She'd be hurting more later on, but he wasn't about to stop her. He turned and headed back into town.

"Cyborg," Brimstone answered the unasked question as Randall looked him over intently. "Part man, part machine."

"Interesting work sir," the scientist replied, noting that many components housed in the man's chassis had to be of Militant creation. Was this Brimstone some sort of escaped weapon? He didn't act like a killing machine, and he personally hadn't heard of any projects even closely resembling this kind of result.

"It's piecemealed," the robot man confessed, rolling an arm over so Randall could see the miss- matched materials. "It's hard to find compatible parts so I've had to bypass a majority of the little programs." A slight twitch of the flesh-and-metal head as Brimstone shot a quick look in Danielle's direction. "Just wish sometimes that I could replace the living parts again," he mused. Another quick look, this time in the other direction as a small pale man dressed in black slithered into the room. "Damn," the ‘borg muttered under his breath.

Timothy Rex seemed to ignore the cyborg. Instead he slid up to the bar. "Hey, Gorgeous! Got any of that Eggnog left?"

Danielle snapped her head around and her eyes lit up. "Hey!" she smiled. "I was wondering what happened to you!"

"Oh out and about. Trying not to get killed. Same ol' stuff. How about you?"

Brimstone rolled his eyes, picked up his drink, and headed upstairs to his room, definitely not a happy camper.

"Eh, you know," the tall barmaid replied, trying to remain calm, but wanting to blab about everything. She felt she could tell him Everything and that some how he'd make it all right; but for now just to see his smile was enough. "I'm just dealing with the slow nights, and the cold."

"Cold? I could have come and kept you warm." He parked himself on one of the oaken stools, pouring on that greasy charm. "All you had to do was call." He smiled with a leering tilt. "Now, how about one of those wonderful ales? I've got coin," and he sat a small pile of silver on the deck, watching her work the counter even as he drank his beer; making sure nobody else down the line hassled her.

That's when he caught the scent.

Not so much a scent as a vibe. A very familiar vibe. "Hey Sweetness," he asked of Danielle. "Have you seen a little chick about this high?" He made a gesture that set the subject's height at about chest high to him. "Kind of sort of looks like Megan some?"

"Yeah," she replied, leaning over to tap him playfully on his nose in a light gesture. Flirtatious but fun. "That little knucklehead refers to herself as a number… number Nine."

The Rex's smile seemed to slip a bit. "Really. That's strange. Stranger still that BS didn't mention seeing her." He sipped again at his brew then sat the glass down as he spotted Randall across the bar. The psi's smile had slipped another notch. "How long has that guy been sitting post down there?"

"Most of the morning. He's friends with that Nine chick."

"Really." Tim's charming smugness had left, leaving a sort of twisted creepy remnant that grew as he approached the scientist. "Name and rank, soldier!" he barked, nearly causing the man to jump clean out of his skin.

Randall had watched the shorter man approach. After hearing the commanding tone in his voice, he was positive this man was indeed of Militant high ranking stock. "Excuse me, sir.. but…"

"Don't even Try to snow me," Timothy growled, interrupting Randall's feeble attempt to waylay the problem. "I'm a ‘path; a Militant trained ‘path. I could smell youse guys from miles away. Now.. name and rank!"

It was hard to resist. Randall may have had a full eight inches and a hundred pounds on the black- clad freak, but this man had… presence. "I… I think you have me confused…"

The scientist froze up. Randall could swear that he Felt the man shuffling about in his brain, and there was nothing he could do to stop him. The psi had closed his eyes and was inhaling slowly, then shoved again quite forcefully into Randall's mind. "Scientist," Tim revealed. "Propulsion systems. Not quite military. More of an assigned post." He opened his eyes, he pupil's still somewhat dilated from his efforts. "Want me to continue?" he sneered.

"I have no idea who you are, sir!" Randall spat back, using a chair to hold himself up, feeling nauseous and dizzy.

"That I'll agree with. You have a few guesses, but you really don't know what I am. What I want to know is why you're here with the Deh Mahr."

"Who?"

"Aurora Del Mar. You absolutely reek of her and your brain's filled with her image. My guess is that you've got her mind tied and bent to you all's will or something." Timothy shook his head slowly, smiling. "Boy are you all gonna be in trouble when she blows." Now the gesture quickened as he turned back to the bar for a refill, giggling even. "Some people never learn."

Danielle moved to intercept him, relieved that his discussion hadn't degraded into a free-for-all, "Why does Brimstone get all weak in the sockets when that Nine chick comes around?"

Tim placed a few more coins on the counter. " ‘cause he's a wuss, and he likes living. Frankly I wouldn't want to go toe to toe with her either, but we sort of have an understanding of things. I don't mess with her mind and she doesn't obliterate me."

She slid the coins back; his previous contribution easily covered his current purchase. "Is she really That powerful?"

"Oh yes! Properly pissed she can literally halve a planet. Poor Megan's got a touch of it and you saw how badly she's screwed in the head. Aurora? She's wacked, but then again, I guess you'd have to be to mess with that stuff to begin with."

She kind of smirked, a bit of her pride showing. "We might have a secret weapon if we have to combat her. You remember my ex, Odin?"

"Vividly."

"Well, when we broke up he kinda flipped. And you know he's pretty powerful, and insane. Renea went toe to toe with him to protect me. I've never seen her do anythin' like that."

The smile on Tim's face broadened once again. "So the Tin Can wasn't lying. You really are free again? Hm… strong women must run in the family. That'll be good to know."

"Stop it," Danielle giggled. "You'll make me blush."

"Too late," he schmoozed. "Hrmm. Wonder where else you blush…."