Brimstone easily caught up to his kinsman as Tim tore through the countryside, walking at a ground eating stride. He fell in beside the psi keeping pace, giving him a few minutes to calm down enough to express his concerns. "You know what happened, don't you?" 

            "Gleaned it from her mind. Rooslan didn't take the serum."

            The 'borg stopped in his tracks. "Then how the hell did he find her?"

            "He was tipped off. He Had to be tipped off. Somebody who would have known not only that the Vashtalian lizards had pulled their support, but that I was off planet for just an hour, and the new location of that cardboard box of hers. We have a spy... even worse, a traitor."

            The bionic man trotted to catch back up to Timothy as he hadn't even hesitated in his stride. "So what Are you up to?"

            "If that Militant bastard wants a kinetic That bad, I'm gonna give him one."

            Brimstone knew exactly of whom the psi was referring to. "Not Aurora."

            "She's been on vacation far too long," Tim snorted, his effort finally starting to show on him. He still was pale, almost jaundice yellow, but his spirit was strong.

            Now the metal man skirted to in front of the Rex's path, grabbing his shoulders and making the smaller man stop. "Hold on there. Have you lost it? You bring her back here and a world wide war will break out. Remember the Last planet?"

            The smile Tim gave was not settling at all. "It's about time we shook things up here. Give all these folks here a reason to respect us instead of using us any time they damn well please. How many more do we have to lose before we Do something? I'm bringing in the big guns." and he walked around the cyborg and continued his trek.

            Which was quickly cut short as BS picked up a rock and clipped the back of Tim's head, knocking him out cold. "I don't think so," he grumbled then picked up the body and dragged it out of the path and sunlight, into the shade of a large ash tree just shedding its leaves. "I think we can handle this without shredding reality any further." He sat down and lit a cigar. He had his bait. Now he had to just wait and see what would crawl out of the woodwork to take a nibble.

            Nine slept in a drug- induced coma for a couple of days with Randall standing an uneasy vigil at her side. The cyborg nor the psi had returned since they stormed out. Only the two drakes kept him company as they jostled for the best position to rest their chins on his feet. Finally she began to stir, the first sign of any conscious effort the scientist had seen from her. Her wounds had finally stopped oozing, but these were cuts that should have healed in minutes, not days. Even normal humans healed at a faster rate. Her eyes slowly opening was the first improvement he'd seen. The focus flitted from the walls to the bed, then finally settled on him. "Hi there," he smiled softly. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

            She paused in her gazing, but then continued to slowly take in the room before closing her eyes once more. "Why?" she asked.

            That all- encompassing question could have taken days to explain fully so Randall opted for the shortened cleaner but vague version. "We almost lost you two days ago. You were in pretty bad shape."

            The head slowly shook from side to side, causing her to wince. Obviously that was not the correct answer. "Why?" she asked again. 

            "Take it easy," he insisted, resting his hand very gently on her arm, not wanting the slashes to open up again. "Your body is still healing itself."

            That was a lie. It wasn't healing. She could feel that all too well. "Rooslan," she breathed.

            "Yeah," Randall concurred. "Looks like he tried to harvest all your viable DNA."

            "I didn't hear him," she whispered. It seemed that talking was a great effort for her, yet she had to tell him, warn him. "Didn't feel him. He.. he didn't use the samples he got from Tim. He's still human." She was now trying to turn in the bed, but Randall had the foresight of strapping her down in the bed for her own safety. He figured that she would feel those bonds a begin to struggle, but after a few tugs, she just flopped back down on the pillow with no further fight. That sight was more unsettling. She continued. "He's not using it himself. He's gonna make a chimera... a super mutant.. using my DNA.. and Tristan's." She now relaxed, having forced what she knew out, and furthermore seeing what needed to be done next. "Have to get rid of the stock," she muttered.

            Randall definitely didn't like the way she was acting. She had no fight. This kind of news would have had her wound up tight and spinning in the bed. It was as if she was defeated. But he didn't have time to ponder. Suddenly both drakes lifted their heads and cocked them slightly as they listened beyond the doorway. Quickly they scrambled to their feet and scurried down the hall, their combined bulk filling the room as they bounded up to the secret door, tails wagging in earnest. Randall followed, opening the portal to see a sullen Marek at the door, the huge man filling up a fair amount of space as well. He could have looked better as his clothes were quite tattered, a result of exposure to rugged winds and salt water. "What brings you here, my friend?" the scientist asked even as he shooed the fawning drakes away.

            "Oh my dad popped up in the middle of a hurricane to tell me that I should apologize. I'm not sure about what, possibly for thinking about killing her; maybe for being gruff. I dunno."

            "Well, she's in the other room," Randall gestured.

            Marek hadn't expected this scene. Nine was a small thin wiry thing to begin with. Now she looked as if about a third of that weight had been squeezed out. Long surgical cuts ran down her arms, legs, and torso; and all those looked as if they were not healing at all. "Rooslan is building more of me," Nine answered his questioning glances. The dragon man could hear the flat tone and lack of spirit in her voice.

            Randall pulled Marek back from the scene. "She's in rough shape. We think the DNA he took is being used to build a chimera."

            Marek had to wonder why this Rooslan character would need so much mass material when it should be easy enough to duplicate a pattern with just a few cells. He only pondered this briefly as Nine slowly looked between the whispering men, focusing her gaze on the dragon in disguise. "You need to get rid of me. You've got to destroy his stock. Burn my body. Then find his lab and torch it."

            The coldness in her tone was more shocking than the suggestion. Whatever Rooslan had done to her must have torn her down to the core. Only her logical mind seemed engaged, leaving all her spirit and fight behind. He turned to Randall. "Is Tim in this kind of shape?"

            "Not that I can tell. He stormed off about two days ago with Brimstone in tow." Randall stepped back next to the bed. "I won't lose you," he insisted. "I care too much about you."

            "If you care, you have to do this," she insisted, void of any passion. "Besides, it's not just Rooslan. Somebody tipped him off... told him I was defenseless."

            "Then I guess we have to root out who this person is," Randall replied matter-of-factly. "If I have to, I will take out the Skipper myself to protect you."

            Seeing no support from Doc, Nine rolled her head to look up at Marek. "Use me as bait. Me and Tim, if you can find him."

            "My sentiments exactly," the big man agreed. "But you're staying here. Lots of broth and stew in your future. Besides, I've got the perfect huntress for tracking that psion; my aunt Meli."

            The woman that seemed to appear at the big man's side was covered with rolls of black cloth that seemed to move on its own. "This place is filthy!" she commented. The dragon cubs seemed downright friendly to the strange woman. In fact, the gangly duo didn't seem to be guarding much of anything, despite BS's claim that they were trained watchdogs. The big reptiles just fawned all over her, then turned and likewise greeted the dragon mage Claw as he stepped in through his portal of red light. The "hunting party" as a whole seemed to bicker as to how the track the Rex, but it was Meli that easily picked up his mental vibe scarcely five miles north of their location. That was suspicious in itself as the all knew Tim was too sneaky to be ferreted out so quickly. Only Nine remained silent during all the squabbling and postulating. Finally Meli struck out on her own, her nephew trailing her as Claw hung back to look over Nine, plainly upset with what his sloppiness had caused his charge.

            Meli came across a man's body lying face up under an oak tree, the carcass semi covered in early falling leaves. As she knelt down to rest her hand on the man's brow, a click brought her attention around. A strange man, made of both metal and flesh pointed a long metal stick at her. "Excuse me," he stated, his red eye looking down at her.

            She stood up slowly, sensing that the metal stick was quite dangerous. "You are quite excused, young man," she replied, nonplussed.

            He stood up as well. "Hm. Thought it would have been somebody I knew. Okay, how'd you do it, Lady? Piggy backed on his brain? Remote device? Or maybe he told you to do it." Now his gun swung to the left, gesturing to Marek standing just behind her.

            "Listen, I have no idea what you think I have done...."

            "Oh I know what you did. I ain't blind. You came back here to finish the job and keep things quiet. You almost made him go back, you know, and that would have killed him. If I hadn't clubbed him with a rock..." and the cyborg flipped the hefty stone in his other palm.

            "Go back where?" the robed woman asked calmly.

            "Del Mar. He actually thought he could bring her back here. 'Something for Rooslan to chew on' I think were his exact words."

            "Indeed," the woman replied, then turned to the towering man behind her. "Marek, hoist this man."

            Brimstone shifted his aim to the big man's chest. "I don't think so. Your boy there threatened to kill Nine."

            Meli shook her head and crouched down again, resting her fingers against Timothy’s brow. "Matters of the heart are not to be meddled with," was all the explanation she would offer on that scenario. She frowned as she rattled around in Tim's unconscious mind, surprised to find it still guarded even with the owner out. "Scummish," was her general determination. "And it's very weak, but he does fit the profile."

            BS pulled up his gun at this point, using it to support himself as he crouched down next to her. "He's not in the best frame of mind. He's been running on battery power for quite some time. Look under the vest and you'll see how hopped up he is."

            She lifted the vest and saw several black and silver thin plastic packs attached to his skin with small tubes running into his veins. She didn't understand the specifics, but caught the gist of the matter. "Do you have any rope?" she asked her new ally.

             Tim was trussed up in several lengths of rope and sporting a new lump on his head, Obviously a combined effort by the two men to keep him subdued. Meli glared at the ‘borg. “You know there won’t be much left of his mind if you keep hitting him in the head.”

            “Oh he’ll be okay. He needed the rest anyhow. If we didn’t keep him under wraps, he’d gone and jumped to Del Mar, and probably get killed in the process. That damn portal he build sucks so much power from him to generate the wave I’m surprised he can still use that infernal device. Poor guy can’t travel unassisted anymore. ‘Course I wouldn’t dare try using that contraption of his.”

            “What kind of creature is Tim anyhow?” Meli asked, finding the talk of energy and scientific things confusing.

            “Tim... well, he’s a mutant, like me. You didn’t know this?”

            The woman shook her head, still lost as she didn’t know what criteria defined being a mutant. She still stared down at the unconscious psi, seeing how pale he was. “Does he not take care of himself?”

            “No,” Brimstone replied. “He’s one of those over-achiever types. Mutants as a rule don’t do anything easy to begin with.”

            The spell caster sighed. “I know so little of mutants.”

            “I pity you. We’re not an easy group to deal with.” Brimstone offered his steady arms and Meli seemed to grow weak on the trek back to the hideout.

            “You seem easier than most.”

            She thought she saw him blush a bit, but wasn’t sure. “Well, we Can be a little rough, more so when we’re paranoid, which we are most of the time.”

            Already the could hear Nine’s protests echoing from the sewers. “Paranoid?” Meli continued. “Very interesting. Did you know there are souls in the afterlife that refuse to believe they are dead?”

            The big machine-man sighed. “There are days I wish I was dead, but I think in the long run we’re all just a little too stubborn to die. I wouldn’t be surprised if your souls are mutants.” he smiled a bit at this prospect. “Not like we die readily. We cheat. Tim just swaps bodies. I get upgrades....”

            “‘Upgrades’? What’s that?”

            He pulled up his sleeve, exposing the robotic arm and flashing LDL lights. “New machine parts. Makes me runs faster, better, more efficiently.”

            As BS and Marek's mother exchanged witty banter under arms, Randall and Claw pondered Nine's future. "I'm afraid that she may not fully recover," the scientist confided quietly to the dragon mage. "Rooslan managed to strip Nine of almost all her power. We think he is going to combine her DNA with what he stole from Timothy. We were going to use Tim as a lure to try to draw out Skipper's co-conspirator."

            "And who would that be?"

            "We don't know."

            "Well, the only one who could really sense a weakened state would be a psi, right? Could Tim be the conspirator. Or maybe Brimstone?"

            "I don't know," Randall had to concede.

            But Nine, overhearing the conversation, put forth her two cents. “I was not weakened. I was unguarded. Rooslan never took the serum. That’s why none of us could feel him coming. No mutant did this.”

            It was at this time that Meli returned with her prize. Marek unceremoniously dumped the psi to the floor and stepped back for all to see. Bound in several lengths of rope and wire and sporting two more lumps on his head, he didn’t seem the threat that most knew him to be. "Well I hope this fledgling can shed some light on the subject." Claw turned and poked at the bound psi with the crystal end of his staff.

            "You should kill him now," Nine muttered, not with any hate. In fact she was staring up at the ceiling.

            The crystal began to glow softly but suddenly Tim's eyes popped open. How he managed to slip from the coils of rope and twist, grabbing the end of the staff before rolling to his feet. confused them all.

He had moved with such speed, even as they were all watching him, that none could truly see how he pulled it off. Claw grabbed his sword and drew, but kept back not wanting to frighten the psi further. "Calm down, young one. All I desire is information."

            The glow for the staff had faded as Tim held the staff in a fighter's stance, obviously using the pole as a physical instrument and ignoring its magical attributes. "Who hit me?" he demanded.

            "That would be me," BS announced as he pushed his way past Claw. "Now put that down before you hurt someone."

            Tim looked for his kinsman to the others, some looking as if they would step forward the second he let his guard down. He slowly backed towards the hospital wing, venturing a backwards glance at Nine. Only when he saw she was safe and sound did he stand up straight and toss the staff back to Claw. "I gathered nobody went back to get her then?"

            "Get who?" Claw asked.

            BS grumbled. "The psionic nutcase there wants to bring Aurora back."

            "Who?" Meli asked, even as Claw rolled his eyes.

            "That would be Nine's evil twin, sort of , kind of." Brimstone grumbled further. He really didn't want to worry the Vashtalian lizards, nor anyone else. Dealing with Aurora could be a full time occupation itself.

            "She's the only one that can put Rooslan in his place. None of us here are up to that task." Timothy leveled a cold glare at Claw, waiting to see if the dragon mage would truly challenge that statement.

            Throughout the night they argued, but come morning, they were no further ahead in their quest than before.

            Megan Ray Dannon sat quietly in the Red Dragon Inn. It was very early in the morning, long before any of the other tenants or owners would stir. She was sure that they thought she had left by now, and frankly she didn’t want to get involved in the constant bickering and making up that flowed and ebbed like the tide. She was unsettled herself. An uneasiness had perched over her being and she didn’t know why. Perhaps it was because she rarely saw any of her family. Zelgadis would only venture a visit about once a week as he spent most of his time stalking her father. Brimstone likewise was absent, probably chasing down a myriad of profitable events as the ‘borg had to be hurting for money since the bar fell down the mountain. Even Goury was no where to be found, though that was probably due to her own habits. There was a good chance the sword swinging hero was showing up during peak business hours; a time when Megan preferred the quiet of the forests to the north of the city.

            As she sat nursing her first cup of coffee, she felt a ripple. That in itself was odd. Even though she bore half of a chaotic talent, it normally wouldn’t tip her off to any singular event. This “tip” told her that whatever it was, it was coming in fast, but before she could find something to shield herself, the swinging doors slammed inwards and something smashed into her chest, sending her flying off the stool and into the plaster wall. Hybrid was now glued to her chest, vibrating so badly it made her voice shake. “Hy!” she croaked second before he mind was flooded with flashes of imagery. At first it was too fast and too frantic for her to follow. “Whoah.. Hold on.. What? Wait... Nine? Something happened to Nine?” It was hard to follow the thought processes of a sword, especially one like Hybrid that was almost dual in thought as well as in nature. Finally she was able to piece out what had happened, and how it had felt as Hybrid directly projected Nine’s thoughts and pains into Megan’s mind, making her soul shiver. She knew full well how that must have felt, totally vulnerable to such power.

            But even as Megan absorbed the events, Hybrid seemed to stumble onto something about Megan, something that Megan hadn’t even fathomed. The wave of Nine memories were now replaced with questioning pictures of various men in Megan’s life, circling around views of Zelgadis, Timothy, and even a few snapshots of Lucious. Only when Hybrid added images of baby dragons and eggs did Megan finally understand what Hybrid was hinting at. “You don’t tell anyone!” she hissed, making the blade wince a bit as if slapped. If it was true it was possibly THE wrong time to be in such a way.

            Cursing her infernal luck, she pushed Hybrid around to his normal perch and reached for a bottle of beer, pausing for a second before replacing the flask without taking a sip. Another exasperated sigh and Megan headed out into the town, unsure of what she could do, or how to do it if there was a need to do it.

            A very large figure darkened the hall of the tavern as a lone red baleful light searched every inch of the establishment. He ducked his head to enter, seeming very out of place since he was dressed in cowboy garb, from the tan Stetson perched back on his brow to the leather duster and dark snake hide boots.

            The man dressed in white tending he bar watched this hulking monster make his way to the bar. "Can I help you?"

            "Yeah, I'm looking for...." He paused and lifted up his right arm and pulled the sleeve back to expose a fully mechanized limb. He gave a few taps to the back of his hand and a square flap folded back. "Zigg Zagg?" he asked.

            Now the tender could see that this "man" was almost only half a man with all the metal gadgetry running through his body and face. "My name's Ethan, but I've been called 'Zigg' before."

            The face this metal man gave him seemed strangely familiar, but Zigg clicked only after the robot man's next question. "You know Nine?" Zigg nodded, watching as the big fellow sighed and typed something into the tiny control panel protruding from his arm. "How long you been relocated here?"

            "A few weeks."

            "A hum..." a few more taps. "You used to hang out at the... erm.. 'Pirate Tavern'?"

            "Yes."

            "Soooooo.. you were a pirate then?"

            "Yes." Zigg had some concerns, but he felt it best just to play along for now. He had the weirdest impression that the metal man was testing him on a variety of levels.

            "And you knew that Nine's a pirate then, right?"

            "Yeah. I was around when my boss told me she was first hired."

            Now the cybernetic cowboy raised a brow. "You used the past tense. Do you know something about Nine then?"

            The tender was now growing impatiently concerned. "If ya got a point ta make, I suggest ya get to it."

            The 'borg sighed and dropped his arm, dispensing with his charade. "Do you know what happened to her about a week ago just outside the pirate tavern, right across the street in the ally?"

            "No," he answered, now truly concerned. "Didn't even know she was in the ally."

            "Yeah, she slept there in a cardboard box. She was so paranoid about you all getting hurt..." some of the metal man's frustrations were beginning to show. "Rooslan found her. I assume you know who HE is, right?"

            "Yeah. Heard he's a bit of an asshole."

            "Well he did a hell of a number on her. She still may not make it." The big man made long slicing gestures along his body, hinting that the girl had been almost flayed alive.

            Ethan was on his feet. "Where is she? Maybe I can help."

            But the 'borg blocked his way. "Can't. There's a problem. Seems Rooslan had some help in determining when and where to strike. Somebody not only knew that our resident psi was off-planet and the reptilian guard had resigned, but also that not one pirate was close enough to intervene... or just didn't want to help."

            The innuendo was strong enough. Zigg waved a finger at the larger man. "Listen, Sparky. I don't know anything about psis or dragons, but if Nine's in a bad way, I'll help anyway I can."

            "Good," the mechanical man beamed, taking an abrupt turn of tone. "Tell me. Just how well did Nine fit into the pirate scheme of things? Did she get along with everyone okay? Didn't start any trouble? No grudges?"

            "None that I saw, though what do I know? I just quit the bastards myself."

            "Really? Now Brimstone pulled up a barstool and sat. "You didn't get along with them?"

            "I got along with them fine. Just some of them didn't get along with me."

            "So you and Nine got along okay?"

            "Sure. I even offered ta teach her how ta fight with that sword of hers."

            "Ah... the sword. You... uhm... haven't seen him around, have you? He turned up missing after the fight."

            Strange how this man referred to the weapon as a "he". Stranger still, Zigg took the sword in the same vein. "Nah. Trust me. If Nine wasn't around, that thing'd be lodged in my chest. It didn't like me too much."

            "Well he didn't like Rooslan either, so I doubt he has it. Oh.. whose is this?" He reached under the tan duster to draw out a strange but familiar looking hatchet. "She must've tried using this on Rooslan and missed. found it stuck in the door in the alleyway. Knew it didn't belong to her. Not quite her style."

            "Yeah. That looks like Weston's blade. He had ta get a new one cause he gave that one to Nine."

            The cybernetic cowboy slid the weapon across the counter. “I assume you can return it to its owner?” Zigg nodded, grabbing the piece and setting it under the counter, holding down his copy of “Blade”. Brimstone stood once more, taking several coins from a breast pocket and sliding them towards Zigg as well. “So you don’t think any of you’re ex- pirate associates would have anything to do with this attack?”

            “Not that I know of.”

            “‘Kay then.” He reset the Stetson on his brow, gave a half hearted salute and meandered out the door.

            Some of Zigg’s words seemed to ring true, especially after he stumbled across one of their private affairs, a wedding held along the bay side. He watched as the grumblings and cursings were mixed in with the merriment normally associated with such event. There was a rift in this happy family, he could feel that without having to employ his talents, yet none seemed to carry a guilty or loathing that could be directly attributed to Nine, or towards any mutant kind. The only creature that caught his red lensed eye was Crow as he strode about, proudly puffing away on a stogie. He’d heard Nine grumble enough about the man to recognize him, but after studying the pirate, he could guess why Nine had been in such a tiff about him. His mannerisms were very much like Rooslan’s.

            Finding nothing more to reconnoiter, he left the pirates in their relative peace and headed back to base.

            The small red Lamborgini Diablo revved through the walled- in sewers, its driver completely lost. How he managed to end up in these endless tunnels was a complete mystery to him. Finally he squealed to a halt, having see some sort of break long the brickwork. A door? The hefty Japanese man quieted the engine and got out, grumbling as the mucky water stained the black slacks of his suit, much less ruined his Oxford shoes. He pulled up the purple tinted glasses, trying to examine the wall more clearly. Yes... a door! He tugged on the recessed handle and the portal swung wide.

            Only to reveal two very large reptiles staring down at him.

            Lu Bu had encountered this kind of monster before and drew his service pistol. The larger of the two, not quite black but more of a charcoal hue, lunged forwards and bit into his gun and shook his head, trying to wrest it free from Lu’s grip. The large Asian man yanked it free from the muscular jaws and shot low, making the bullet tear into the left forelimb of the critter. The gunshot sent both dragons skittering away down some sort of roughly hewn corridor. He followed slowly. He wasn’t sure where they retreated to, but he was sure he had heard a woman’s panicked voice over the din.

            After walking by several rooms decorated with a wide assortment of items from medieval to mundane, he found her. She was literally strapped down on a hospital bed, several IVs inserted into her veins. Despite all the medical treatment, the mouse brown haired woman seemed half dead. The other half had fear in her eyes as she stared up at his approach. He still had his gun and he kept it forward as the two dragons were cowering on the other side of her bed. “How do I get out of here?” he asked, his voice more demanding than pleading.

            She didn’t have a chance to reply as Randall stumbled into the scene. He drew the laser pistol Nine had insisted he train with and poked it into the man’s back. “What are you doing to her?” he demanded of the black suited stranger.

            Lu Bu turned to face the new threat, but the actual attack came from the girl in the bed. “Randall!” she shouted out in a sudden surge of frantic energy. “No! Get away!” She twisted in the bindings and managed to pull one arm free of the restraints and swung her fist around, aiming for the man’s unprotected kidney. She missed, and because of her exertions, the slashes lining her arm reopened. Lu Bu turned as she yelped in pain only to be nearly trampled by the pair of dragons. They had seen a brief opening and chose that moment to make good their escape, but in the process they upended the gurney. The whole bed flipped over, and like buttered toast, landed on the wrong side, pinning the woman under the bed. Lu Bu decided to make a tactical retreat and the Randall guy bolted forward and tried to free the girl from the twisted furniture. He found his way out easily enough but the sight of claw marks etched into his beautiful car sent the burly Japanese man into a fit. He reached into the car and pulled a larger gun out and proceeded to walk down the drainage side of the sewer, looking for the reptiles.

            He found several denizens of the sewers, criminals and such, hiding from authorities or more predatory creatures. He paused to ask a strange looking fellow in a tan trenchcoat if he had seen the lizards. The man shook his head as one of his eyes, replaced with a red lensed camera, whirled in and out, trying to focus in the dim light. Lu took several more steps then turned back to look the man over once more, only to be clipped squarely in the face with a rock. The sharp pain indicated that his nose had broken, but that didn’t stop him from opening fire on his mechanical assailant.. The ‘borg sprinted down the tunnel with amazingly light speed, then much to Lu Bu’s dismay, jumped and slid across the hood of his scratched car. Unfortunately the bionic man’s butt added a few more dents to the chassis of the muscle car before he dived into the opened doorway and slammed it shut. Lu Bu used his sizeable bulk as well, slamming his shoulder into the door, causing it to pop open and send the robotic man skittering across the floor on his backside. A hail of bullets came from both sides, but the cybernetic cowboy took most of the damage.

            Lu Bu made sure he stayed down as he emptied his entire clip into the mechanical man’s hide. He then turned to finish off Randall, but found himself looking down the barrel of the fallen cyborg’s gun. Wielding the weapon was the injured girl. She had somehow crawled across the floor and managed to get a grip on the handle. She was shaking from the effort, but it was clear that she meant to protect the foolish man whom had tried to out flank him earlier. He should have fired, but something in the girl’s eyes, or maybe it was the lack of something, made him retreat. The whole seen had just unnerved him somehow, but he made sure not to show it. Instead he made his way back to his car.

            Again fate seemed to toy with him. The engine tried to turn over, but wouldn’t roar to life. As Lu Bu continued to fiddle with the knobs, another strange person came up the damp waterway. Unlike all the other dreary residents, this man was whistling a happy little tune; the Andy Griffith theme show, Lu thought. The pale, thin, darkly clad man paused, giving the scene a curious look-over. “Problems?”

            “Yeah problems!” the big man spat back. “These dragons wrecked my car, some gung-ho chick and a dorky looking dude are sparring for a fight, and I just got into a shootout with the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz! On top of all that, I can’t get my ride started!”

            The fallow- looking fellow just lifted an eyebrow. “Oh. I’m sorry about that. Seems you’ve picked the wrong time to visit. I apologize for my kinsmen. In fact, I will pay for any and all damages.” He reached into a breast pocket, slowly as Lu Bu had swung his weapon around on him, and drew out a rather bulky purse and tossed it to the muscular asian man. “If there are any further damages discovered, just come back and I will gladly see that you are rightfully compensated. Now, if you will excuse me.” The unbelievably calm man edged around the car to the door, giving it a couple of shoves to open it, then stepped inside.

            Lu Bu should have left, but there was something nagging him, tugging at him, making him want to go back inside. He did fish out his Desert Eagle from the glove compartment, along with a new clip, before following the man inside. Despite the carnage, the scrawny stranger didn’t seem upset at all as he first knelt down next to the injured girl, helping the Randall guy as he tried to stem the flow of blood and keep her conscious.. No, that girl sure didn’t look good at all. The black clad guy saw there was little he could do immediately and he turned to the inanimate pile of metal man. He poked and prodded the carcass, poking his long fingers into several crevasses before a front panel popped open on the ‘borg’s chest. The man turned, looking up at Lu Bu, not at all surprised to see him standing in the doorway. “I hate to be a bother, but I need some help. You know how to jump start a car?”

            “Sure.” Guessing what the skinny man in black had in mind, he crouched down as he handed Lu Bu a set of cables hooked up to a generator and placed them on the exposed posts. As Lu primed the charge, the friendly little fellow turned back to the girl on the floor, rolling up his sleeve. “We need to do a transfusion, Doc. Her system needs a kick start.”

            “No way, Tim,” the goofy looking doctor argued. “You’re too weak.”

            “Nine’ll bleed to death otherwise,” Tim countered.

            Randall reluctantly prepped both patients as Tim took a seat on the floor next to Nine. Lu Bu saw a resemblance between the two. Brother and sister perhaps, he assumed as they had the same general build, but even Tim’s blood, whatever its special properties, didn’t seem to be helping.

            More help literally materialized as a white clad mage suddenly appeared in the bullet-ridden living room/ infirmary. The dragon mage looked about for a moment, then crouched down next to the woman, his golden eyes filled with concern. Lu Bu watched as the wizard tried weaving a spell, the light sending the Timothy person skittering out of range. The first attempt backfired, as if something in the air clogged the spell’s power to form and the girl flatlined. Randall began to pound frantically on her chest, yelling “Nine!” at the top of his lungs. Strange name, Lu Bu thought. As the doctor tried to revive his patient, the mage attempted a different spell. This one at least stabilized her, but she showed no signs of consciousness.

            He turned back to his own problem of starting up the robot and flipped the switch. An arc, a spark, but nothing transferred to the body. Frustrated, Lu kicked the prone figure. Suddenly all the LDL light indicators flickered on and the sound of several generators indicated that the metal man was once again on line. Even now something was fervently repairing the holes in his metal hide, spitting out the spent bullets. If only Lu Bu had something akin to a kick start for the girl. Then he remembered the first aide kit and the experimental drug his friend had stocked inside it.

            He headed out to the car and retrieved the box and pulled out the loaded syringe before pushing his way through the concerned throng of creatures. Nobody objected as he slid the needle into the established IV. The reaction was instantaneous. She inhaled sharply as the cuts suddenly sealed and bound, soon showing barely any blood, just the long red welts of four days worth of healing. Remarkable as that was, none of the other people seemed amazed by the result. Relieved, but not shocked. In fact Tim was downright grateful as he escorted the bulky man away from the fawning milling throng around the cot. "You really came through. Thanks. I owe you one." As cavalier and off-the-cuff as the man sounded, Lu Bu got the distinct impression that the man did indeed plan to make good of his word.

            It took just a little tinkering on both Tim's and Brimstone behalf to bring the souped up race car back to life. As the duo returned to the mildew- drenched domicile, Randall slipped out and sheepishly approached. "Sorry," he apologized softly wiping his hands on a white towel, trying to rid himself of Nine's blood. "I just saw the gun, and I got carried away. It's been quite an ordeal. So much has happened to her so quickly."

            Lu Bu reluctantly nodded. "I'll come back in a few days to check on her and make sure there weren't any unforeseen side effects. In fact my friend will probably want a few words with her." He gave another short nod, cutting off any further embarrassment on both sides and slipped behind the steering wheel. The car roared to life and Lu carefully navigated his way down the damp tunnel.

            A few days later still found Nine strapped to her bed, and still barely reactive to the world around her. Between the Vashtalian reptiles and the Del Marian mutants, the had been able to keep a fair vigil over her. Currently it was Randall's turn, smiling down at her when she finally opened her eyes. "How are you feeling today?"

            Nine just shrugged her shoulders. She was healing, though no where near the rapid initial burst the serum had given her, or at any normal mutant pace. Meli pushed her way to the bed, along with another strange man and a dark trench coat bearing only an embroidered white dragon over the pocket as any identification. "SIS!" this stranger beamed, unconcerned with the fact she was bedridden. "It took a while to find you."

            She squinted a bit as she looked the man over. "I don't know you," she concluded.

            "Sure you do! Last time you saw me..... " He thumbed his chin, the blond stubble just starting to push its way through. "I had white armor and a big ass sword. Ring any bells?"

            "I think you may have her confused with someone else, Sir," Randall replied.

            "Oh nonsense. Her aura may be a little off, but it's still her," He leaned in closer to study her as well, then frowned a bit. "No furry white dragon?"

            "I don't own any dragons," she replied.

            Brimstone had walked by the room, trying to straighten up after his houseguests when he paused, counting an extra head in the infirmary. "Retyir?" he asked, quite surprized.

            Even as Meli felt unnerved by the stranger and moved to the relative safety of Brimstone's side, the man smiled pleasantly back at her before turning to beam at the cybernetic man. "Hello again, Metalhead.”

            "Nice to see you," the 'borg replied, then added. “That’s not Aurora.”

            “Ah,” Retyir nodded as if the cyborg’s statement explained all. “So what happened now?”

            BS gestured for the long missing house guest to join him in the “den” area, a larger cave decorated with mismatched, and contra-timed, furniture. “Oh you know us. Long sordid story.” As the automated man began to recount some of the major highlights of the past year, a knock at the door brought Randall to the secret entrance. Lu Bu had returned, this time with a paisley thin sidekick. “This is Dr. Zhang. He needs to do some research on the girl.”

            Randall gestured for the duo to enter, finding Lu Bu’s confidant bulked frame further amplified by the comparison to the effeminate steps of the doctor. Nine didn’t seem happy to once again be under a doctor’s care, and even further disgruntled as Lu Bu kept one hand on the pistol holstered at his waist. Only with Randall staying by her side did she even seem willing enough to deal with Zhang’s examination. “Well!” the doctor beamed. “I’m glade to see it didn’t cause any harm.”

            “No,” Nine replied. “Worked like a charm.” She obviously wasn’t in the spirit of recouperating.

            “Now, now, young lady. All I want to do is ask you a few questions.”

            “Fire away.” She returned her gaze to the wall but answered his questions which consisted mostly of symptoms before and after the administration of the drug.

            The question- and- answer session in the den was a bit vague in comparison. “What happened to Hybrid?” Reytir whispered, even though Meli was sitting right there listening in.

            “I dunno,” the ‘borg whispered back. “He was gone when we found Nine in the alleyway. Apparently he ran away. Maybe he went to get help.”

            Meli’s curiosity got the best of her as she leaned in, whispering as well. “What’s a Hybrid?”

            “A sword,” BS replied. “It’s sort of kind of sentient, we thing. Come to think of it, it’s actually two swords that merged into one. It took a liking to Nine.”

            “Do you think that her assailant could have taken it?” Meli asked, finding that the most logical reason for its disapearance.

            “Don’t think so. Hybrid tried to kill Rooslan once. He wouldn’t go quietly.”

            “So what happened to Sis?” Retyir interrupted.

            The ‘borg sighed. “ ‘Sis’ has been on vacation on Del Mar in a military camp last we heard. Tim knows where.” The robotic man seemed very vexed with the psi on this matter.

            Retyir seemed to smile at some unspoken inside joke. “I always wondered why I ever said ‘hi’ to her when I fist saw her at the Red Dragon. Chaos always follows in her wake.”

            Zhang was still deep in cross examinations. “Any fluctuations in temper?”

            “Not lately,” Nine murmured, turning to look at Lu Bu,” only when he tried to hurt Randall.”

            The bulky Japanese fellow still seemed a bit disgruntled. “You are pressing your luck. One more strike and could put a big hole in you.”

            “You would probably be doing me a favor if you did,” she replied calmly. “Though I think you’re friend might be a bit miffed that his experiment was ruined.”

            Zhang interrupted the exchange. “Lu, I need the portable data storage device from the car. Randall has offered what information he has recorded from his devices. Please. Can you go get it?”

            Grumbling Lu Bu lumbered out to the car, where he would be in for a grand surprise. As he tried to lug the box from the car, a huge dark form winged along the dim corridors and landed right beside his car. The thick black wings extended to well over sixteen feet, accentuated by the long spined tail whipping about. It may have had humanoid features, but Lu knew a black dragon when he faced one and he was in no mood. He focused the business end of the Desert Eagle .50 at the beast, the laser sight forming a small red dot on the creature’s mid-section. As the beast flexed its claws, Lu fired, the report sounding more like a cannon as the sound echoed off the walls.

            Nine jumped. Randall snapped his head up. Retyir just groaned. “Not again,” he whined.

            Zhang patted Nine’s shoulder. “Don’t worry,” he insisted. “That’s just Lu. He probably saw a rat or something.”

            But Brimstone seemed to take a more aggressive action as he likewise patted Meli’s shoulder, seeing the girl shaken a bit. “Well I’ve got neighbors to watch out for. Besides it took me a whole day to talk the kids back inside. Not again.” He walked over to a closet and withdrew and oversized shoulder cannon, swinging it up to lock it into position. “Besides, I’m tired of stitching and taping people back together.” He swung the main portal open only to see the dragon/man/beast towering over Lu Bu as they swung at each other. “Holy shit on a shingle!” he shouted as the terrific battle send blood squirting all over the place. The rocket just went off and missed both targets, careening down the tunnel to explode some distance away, shaking the walls with the impact.

            With Brimstone no longer at her side, Meli made her way next to the infirmary, seeing Nine trying to twist in the bindings to see around the corner where the action was. “There’s a bit of a squabble,” the darkly clad woman explained.

            Zhang gave a sigh and daintily sat his clipboard down. “Excuse me. Lu goes a bit overboard. I should go help calm him down.” The doctor paused, then reached into his case, pulling out an oversized tranquillizer gun and slipped out into the mucky sewer.

            “Insanity,” Meli insisted. “We will be lucky if this place does not collapse upon us.”

            Nine’s gaze now turned to look the woman over. Despite her seemingly frail state, the girl could have been no more than twenty years old. She was build small, much like Nine. Her only adornment other than the endless changing length of black cloth was a myriad of tattoos that covered most of her body. “You have strong magic,” Nine noted. “Can you go out there and stop them?”

            “I can try,“ and the girl opened the door to the tunnels, leaving Randall to guard over Nine.

            It was a mess out there. The dragon man and Lu Bu bore the brunt of the battle, both marred, shot, and slashed. The kind doctor obviously thought the beast was the worst of the two evils and has shot it twice with the tranks. Brimstone was frantically trying to reload the cannon, pausing only when Meli walked bast him. She first cast a hold spell on Zhang as he was reloading, then another on the reptilian man. Brimstone needed no spell as he watched from a distance with a mix of fascination and horror. “Damn,” he breathed at Meli’s impressive abilities. He inched closer to the dragon man, finding even the exposed skin tougher than most hides. How two trank darts had found purchase was perplexing, but the hybrid was not going anywhere. The ‘borg began working on the wounds, using slim wire to close the more vicious slashes together.

            As he stitched away, Meli knelt down next to the creature and placed her hands on his arm to release the holding spell. Brimstone just caught the flash of magic forming from the corner of his eye, but before he could warn her, the spell went horribly wrong. The dragon creature’s body convulsed as blood spurted from his mouth and his eyes bulged in acute pain. Brimstone grabbed Meli by the shoulder and yanked her back, ignoring the painful tingling as the spell came in contact with what little flesh was still left on his left hand. “That ain’t gonna cut it, sister. Lemme try.”

            Meli stood up, stumbling away from the ‘borg. She did not like being manhandled so, but since the metal man was frantically trying to keep the beast live by more conventional means that seemed to work better than her magic, she turned to watch Zhang and Lu Bu. The notably shorter, slimmer man had his hand out. “Give me the guns, Lu.”

            The burly soldier grumbled in protest but began to fork over his artillery: the Desert Eagle .50, the Glock 17, the Glock 20, and the Pathfinder .22 revolver. After a bit more conjolling by the doctor, Lu also handed over the MAC Ingram SMG. It must have looked quite silly, this limp wristed, dainty, delicate, manicured man trying to sling the various weapons over his shoulders. The weight of the guns alone were crushing, yet he managed to waddle over the trunk of the car and heave them in. “Now leave them in there,” he insisted.

            All the while Randall was sitting quietly with Nine, wondering if he should tell her what they had discovered while patching her up. Nine still looked at the wall since most of the activity was out of sight, and she seemed to mellow out some as no more gunshots rang out. “Nine... I have to tell you something.” She neither turned her head or spoke to him, so he continued. “It seems that Rooslan also.. took one of your ovaries.”

            “I know,” she spoke, again with none of that vim or vigor. “I saw the scar.”

            Randall forged on. “I’m not sure if you were planning on having children, but this would definitely make if more difficult.”

            She still didn’t face him. “I had planned on about five more years of field service before I fell back on the breeding circuit. Now I don’t think we’ll ever see home again.”

            The scientist shuffled a bit. “To be totally honest, I am not a fan of the enforced mutant breeding program.”

            “It’s only for genetic variation. They’ve yet to totally conquer the DXB gene.” She sighed again, still gazing at the granite walls. “It’s not a bad life for me, Doc. I get fed, paid, and more or less protected. I am an endangered species after all.”

            He wanted to continue the subject, but Brimstone bellowed from the sewer. “Randall! I need a medic here!” Thwarted, he gave Nine’s hand a comforting gentle squeeze then grabbed his med kit.

            The monster was barely functional. Brimstone kept up a long stream of chatter as he tried once again to start an IV, only to bend the thin metal in the monster’s hide. “We need to flush his systems. Get me a four gauge,” he demanded as he handed Randall the bent eight gauge over for disposal.

            The dragon man was barely coherent. “That.. Shot... it hurt!” he gurbled, somewhat surprised as he fought the tranquilizer’s effects.

            “Steady fella,” Brimstone droned, his eyes closing as he took the needle and finally found a vein. He hooked up the saline solution quickly. “We’ll just thin down that nasty stuff inside ya. Don’t panic.” The ‘borg ventured a looked behind the creature, seeing Lu Bu facing off with Meli, harsh words having been exchanged. Zhang surprisingly seemed to have that scene under his control as he now pointed his tranquilizer gun at the big asian man, keeping him at bay.

            Through all this carnage came Tim, sporting a third lump on his head yet whistling as he made his way up the sewer. He made it a point to stand next to the mechanical man and observing his stitching technique before dropping several lengths of cord and chain at the ‘borg’s side. “I missed a good one I see.” He watched as a thin, expressionate man in a lab coat headed inside the hideout with Meli and Lu Bu in tow and followed suit. He paused at the infirmary doorway. “Oh!” he exclaimed loudly enough to make everyone turn and look at him. “I see you’re entertaining Nine. Nevermind. I’ll come bug you later,” and that smug bastard headed up to his room, whistling a happy little tune.”

            Nine just rolled her eyes and turned back to the wall as Meli shuddered. “He’s in a good mood,” the tattooed woman commented as she took up the padded chair next to the bed. “Are you okay, Miss Nine? I stopped the fight for you.”

            Zhang drifted back outside, curious as to the creature Brimstone and Randall were attending. “What kind of beast are you?” he asked.

            The “beast” thrashed and tore into the ground, making the duo’s triage attempts difficult. “I’m not animal,” he huffed, drooling uncontrollably. “I’m a mixbreed.”

            “A mutt,” Brimstone simplified. “They’re coming out of the woodwork. They’ve been migrating to the sewers in droves. It’s like there’s something buried here that draws them.”

            “I’m not mutt!” he snarled. “I am Demon Dragon Human Hybrid!”

            Brimstone threw up his hands as the dragon cross’s thrashings had yanked the wire from his hands again. “Welcome to the club. I’m human/dragon/dog. Now...” He stood back two steps, the arm cannon raising into firing position and aimed it at his patient. “... Sit still or I’ll Have to have steak tonight. Understand?”

            The beast reluctantly settled down.

            Brimstone continued his tender care, threading the upholstery needle once more. "And we apologize for Hollywood Harry over there. He's a bit trigger happy."

            Lu Bu, whom was leaning against one of the tunnel walls, sulking, gave the demon the finger, whom did likewise in turn. Zhang stepped forward before the gestures escalated. "I am sorry for the actions of my associate." The doctor then extended a limp- wristed hand forward. "My name is Zhang."

            The dragon man paused, then slowly extended his hand to grip the delicate one offered. "Bane." He then gestured to the 'borg stitching away. "I am lucky I am not dead, thanks to him."

            "Just hold still a moment," Brimstone complained. "This hide is tough!" He gave a final tug then sat back to admire his handiwork. "That should hold for a while."

            Zhang looked the reptilian man over, even as Lu Bu continued to pout since his toys had been taken away. "Perhaps I could try my serum to help him. It worked on the young woman inside."

            "Dear Lord," Brimstone complained as the doctor once again prepped one of his oversized needles. "The wonder drug. Dude, you do know that you last guinea pig was a mutant, right?"

            "But I feel this is partly my fault this poor creature was injured. I'm sure Lu Bu would not have been here had I not needed to come back and check on the woman. I'm just looking for a way to help."

            At this the metallic man strangely smiled. "Nah. It ain't all your fault. In fact this actually happens pretty much all the time, just maybe not all at once."

            Nine had noticed that the self proclaimed blood brother of her alter ego was gone, replaced by the better known form of Claw as he leaned against the doorway. "Whaddaya want?" she asked. "Haven't you Not done enough?"

            "Exactly what is there for me to do right how?" he retorted.

            "Oh I dunno. Find Rooslan perhaps? Or is your promise of killing him just as hollow as the one you made to guard over me?" Even though the words were venemous, she had no emotion behind them.

            He tried to keep his temper at bay, knowing the girl was going through a very rough time. "It's not like I even know where to begin to look. If I had a direction then maybe I can catch up to him in a day or two. I just can't cast a locator spell without information."

            Nine turned her head slowly back to the wall. "How about looking? Following leads? Crap like that? Or are you pretty much useless now?"

            "I HAVE no leads!" he spat back, exasperated. "If I cast about blindly, it might take me hears to find him. By that time the true damage would be done and it would be too late to do anything. Now, unless you have any useful information, I'll be Glad to hear it."

            Tim meandered up behind Claw, tapping the mage on the shoulder while he chewed on some sort of cold cut sandwich. "She still being a bitch?"

            A sour situation was tactically avoided as Claw chuckled. Tim sure knew how to play the crowd. "I guess you could say that. She's telling me to go look for Rooslan when I don't even have a soluble lead."

            Tim rubbed his hand gingerly over the bruised spots on his head. "Can't help you there. He's not on my radar either. He probably knows we're hunting him big time. Of course if Somebody would quit Clubbing me over the Head, I Might be able to find him!" Most of this was shouted loud enough for Brimstone to hear outside. "But I think I have a solution. Doc over there says he's got some sort of gadget to track his energy pattern or something like that. Maybe you two should get together."

            It took several tries to get the needle into Bane's veins as the skin seemed quite puncture proof. Brimstone shook his head after throwing the third bent needle away. "I'm tellin' ya. You gotta be a mutie to appreciate the finer qualities of high potency drugs."

The serum itself didn't kill the dragon man. As Zhang went through his question and answer routine with Bane, Brimstone noticed that Meli had retreated inside. He found her slumped in a corner, her eyes rolled back. "Easy there, girl," he crooned, even as her body twitched as he made her lean against him.

She was quite distant, wherever her mind was. "Please don't hurt me," she cringed and tried to push away from the metallic man. Sensing her mind was not quite all there, he carefully scooped her up and placed the frail body on one of the overstuffed couches. Whatever she was tracking had her shaken, and fearful emotions washed through her. All he could thing of was how it sucked being an empath as he gritted his teeth, trying not to be swept along. "I hear him," Meli whispered softly. He leaned n further, providing as much of a mental anchor as he could. "He knows... someone's with him..... he's coming!" Suddenly she bolted straight up, her eyes popping open, wide in fear. "The mole! The traitor! He's on the ship!"

            As her body collapsed once again, having exerted itself beyond measure, BS's face seemed to grow dark. "I knew it. One of those pirates." He stood up and turned to push his way into the throng surrounding Nine, catching Timothy's face. "Ready for round two?"

            "Not even," the psi groaned as he moved, knowing that was not going to be a good enough answer. 

            Nine was still in bed, though there was evidence that she'd managed to slip the straps and walk about the place a few times. A lamp had been knocked over during the night as she was sporting a few new bruises from stumbling around in the strange lair. Randall took this as a good sign but she was still too calm and quiet.. and cold, both in body and mind, as if her spirit had been turned off or stripped away with the flesh. Still he managed a happy greeting even if she insisted on staring at the wall. "How are you feeling?" he ventured.

She just shrugged her shoulders.

"How are those injuries healing?" he tried again.

She shrugged again.

            He had to choke back a second as he was about to shout, and he knew that wasn't the right venue. "Talk to me," he pleaded.

            "About what?" She continued to keep her head turned towards the wall.

            "You have been brooding for the last week now. What's eating you?"

            "I'm not brooding," she insisted. In fact she didn't sound the least bit annoyed or upset. "I just know that Rooslan's not gonna take the bait, and I'm done. No more. He got what he wanted. He won. Plain as that."

            "He hasn't won," Randall insisted. "The gang is still trying to flush him out." He paused a second. "What do you mean 'done'?"

            She sighed. "I can't get you off this rock and back home. He took all that from me. I can't get the ship to respond to me anymore, so we're stuck here. It's over."

            So that's where she had disappeared to. Randall wondered how she managed such a trek as the wharf where the Ethier ship was docked at was quite a distance away. "Maybe we can find an alternative," he insisted, trying to buoy his own spirits as well as hers. "Don't lose hope. There is always another option."

            "Maybe, but I'm not holding my breath. I've been knocked back to human status. Heck, even worse than that. I can't take care of myself. I gotta rely on Them to keep me ticking." She tossed her head down the hall to where the mutants seemed to congregate the most. "I guess that makes me a parasite."

            "Nonsense! Once you finally heal I know you'll be back to your old self. I think you are selling yourself short."

            Now she turned. Even though she portrayed no emotion, the lack of it was even more haunting. "I was bred to be a kinetic, doc. Nothing more. Take that away and I'm just taking up space." She snorted then turned back to the wall. "Just a bloated sack of flesh."

            "Nine, you are the toughest woman I have ever met. You've bounced back from some really bad situations."

            "No, Doc. I'm done. I don't wanna play no more," and she stood up. She was still wearing the cotton hospital styled smock as her dress had been cut off her during the emergency. She headed down the passageway to the main room, finding herself momentarily flanked by the pair of resident dragons. They had to be the worse guard dogs BS had ever invested in as they wagged their tails slowly, only dropping off when they saw she carried no treats for them.

            Randall followed her as she wove through the network of tunnels and room to reach the cliff face that opened up to the sea, what was left of the original bar's foundation. The height alone gave the scientist vertigo, but didn't seem to phase the one- time mutant as she sat on the ledge, letting her feet dangle over the edge. "Some view," he whispered.

            "They tell me this is what Seadragon looked like before they bombed it."

            His gaze was on her. "Pity. Must have been a beautiful sight to see."

            She shrugged her shoulders. "Hey, it's the Militant way. Yield or get run over. Why did you think I joined? 'Course they won't want me now either. I guess it's just as well that I can't go home." From there, she spiraled. "I am of no use to anyone, save for genetic baggage for Rooslan when he runs out of stuff."

            "Boy, you are Such a whiner!" Timothy stepped out from behind a jutting escarpment, making the duo jump. "I thought Aurora got melodramatic, but you, Sweet Cheeks, take the cake!" He turned to look Randall over. "And you, you stupid lug... TELL her already!”

            “What?” Randall stammered, feeling the psi had ruined the moment more than helped.

            But Timothy grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him away from the escarpment to growl in a whisper in the scientist’s ear. “You better piss or get off the pot real soon, Doc boy. I would have made my move long ago, but she clearly doesn’t like me. Get it? Don’t screw this up!”

            Nine couldn’t quite hear what Tim was upset about as she looked from the psi to the scientist. “Am I missing something here?”

            “Oh no! Everything’s just peachy! I’ll.. I’ll just go make us some lunch. Carry on! Enjoy the fresh air.” The psi then abruptly retreated inside.

            “What was That all about?” Nine asked.

            “It’s just Tim being obnoxious,” Randall insisted as he settled down next to her.

            “Maybe Brimstone needs to pop him with a rock again and knock some sense into him.”

            The white clad vampire walked slowly through the sewers, the weight of his miserable half-life handing heavily on his shoulders. He was deep in his doldrums, so hadn’t hear the first footfall behind him until he was almost in the pitch black of the underground network. When Zigg did stop, he heard the distinct padding of two four-footed creatures following him. He waited for the attack, having no where to run and looking for a reason to vent, but what stepped out into the twilight of the cave was barely worth fighting. It ws a dragon, a very young one by Rydin standards, only eight foot at the shoulder. It was injured, holding a paw clear of the septic water. Somebody had tried to treat its injuries, but the bandaged wrapping were already untwining and dragging behind him. “Looks like ya met the business end of somethin’ mighty mean,” he commented as he reached down to rebind the foot.

              As Zigg stepped closer a second shadow moved. A second dragon, smaller but similar in build, probably a sibling, watched with wide eyes. They had no fear of the man, but were cautious, but soon were churring and purring as Zigg stroked their soft, scaley hides. He found solace in this. For once a creature was not mad or fearful of him.

            As Tim was setting up a serving plate, Claw meandered his way into the caves. “Care for a snack?” Tim offered, beaming his most polite face as he held out a baloney sandwich. That face slid out of view as the mage ignored him and headed up the passageway to the lookout with business on his mind. The psi shrugged and ate the offering himself, then paused as he saw the entrance door from the sewers had been left open. He went to close the door but hear the familiar content rumbling from Brimstone’s draconic bodyguards. He ventured a peek out in the hallway to see a stranger giving them the attention they seemed to crave so much. “Hey! Boys! Leave the neighbors alone.” He walked out into the muck of the sewers. Not that he felt any responsibility for the ‘borg’s pets, but that somebody was puttering with magic perhaps a bit too close to the mutant domain.

            He almost got sucked in as Zigg’s second healing spell seemed to pop into overdrive. Only by gripping the slippery masonry was the psi able to keep back far enough as the black dragon’s foot finally healed. “Hello,” he ventured, making sure not to startle the man by giving him plenty of warning. He made his way up to the pair of dragons, patting them much like the vampiric man was doing in kind.

            The fellow didn’t seem nearly as nasty as most vampires Tim had come across. “Ya know, ya gots some pretty beat up dragons around here.”

            “Yeah, I know.” The Rex patted the darker one’s hide once more before swinging around to face the stranger proper. “We had a yahoo blow through here. Kind of roughed the kids up a bit.” Tim squinted a bit, seeing that the man’s pallid complexion rivaled his own and sought to remedy that situation. “Hey, you need a cup of coffee and to get out of this muck. C’mon. I’ll fix ya a pot.” He gestured for the man to follow him back to the lair, opening the rock hewn door wide enough to allow the pair of reptiles to tromp through first.

            Zigg nodded, trying to pound most of the dirt off his boots before entering. “Yeah, I couldn’t stand ta see the little guys injured. I had ta try to heal them.”

            “I saw. BS adopted the little buggers. We can’t seem to turn away the strays around here.”

            Claw finally found his charge sitting uncomfortably too close to the edge. Randall was sitting by her side, and he couldn’t help but notice that there was “something” between the duo. “I’m sorry. I did not mean to interrupt.”

            “Interrupt what?” Nine asked. “Did you find Rooslan?”

            The dragon mage almost laughed, wondering how she could be so dim witted when it was plain as day on Randall’s face. “I received a report that he was spotted somewhere to the north, but I have not been able to verify it. I’m still digging into that lead.”

            “Sounds promising,” Randall noted, anxiously trying to break up the trio so he could tell Nine his true feelings; but somehow the conversation, nor Claw, would go away. Perhaps it was a good think, he thought. “What about Marek? Is he also on the hunt?”

            As the two men talked of rumors, speculation, and strategy, Nine continued to sit, looking out over the great expanse of water. It was so vast, so great, making her feel every so small and insignificant. She stood up slowly as a stray thought crossed her mind.

            Tim paused in the middle of his search for some blood wine for the vamp. “Uhm.. Excuse me a second, would you?” and he bolted up the passageway to the lookout.

            Randall saw her standing by the wind swept edge. “Nine, be careful. It’s a long way down if you slip and fall.”

            As Claw looked up hearing Randall’s warning, Nine turned to face them then let herself fall backwards off the ledge.

            “NO!” Randall cried out and tried to snag her, but his arm was just fractions too late. Suddenly he was pushed aside as Timothy literally launched himself off the cliff after her. He wrapped his arms tightly around the girl, Nine offering no fight at all. He then swallowed hard, knowing his next trick could very well kill him. It was Claw that save him from doing a very foolish thing. The mage had teleported below them, transforming into his very large golden dragon form, flipped on his back with his wings splayed out to control the rate of decent.

            Brimstone entered the underground domicile carrying his latest score and nodding his greeting at Zigg. “I see you finally came to visit. That was nice of you.”

            “I told you I had to come help her...” he started, only to be cut off as the entire mountain quaked violently.

            “What the...?” the ‘borg stammered, then paused as if he heard something in the stale, mucky air. “Teeth and Talons!” he breathed, dropping his groceries and rushing up the passageway the psi had taken moment before. Zigg followed suit, figuring something bad had happened.

            It should have been a clean rescue, save for one thing. Claw had not given himself enough braking room. Just before he grabbed both mutants, he slammed into the beachhead, thwapping the back of his skull on a rock. Tim and Nine hit his belly area. Even though it was the softest part of his body, it still didn’t shield them from all the damage. Timothy broke almost all the ribs on his left side. Nine’s right side was equally crushed.

            Randall was trying to scurry down the cliff face trail, almost pitching forward several times as his body was running strictly on adrenaline. The vampire tired to conjure a spell to teleport them all down to the crash site, but his magic fizzled right as it left his hands. Brimstone gave an apologetic shrugged. “Magic and mutants don’t mix,” he explained before jumping off the cliff himself. At least the metal man had rocket boosters to slow his decent, but even one of his knees seemed to bend and buckle as he landed in haste, making him limp up to the injured. With super strength help from the vampire, he was able to roll Claw onto his chest and into a more natural position for the reptile, giving the lungs the weight needed to expand.

            The mutant bodies rolled off Claw’s expansive mid-rift. Nine was a mess and Brimstone didn’t have any of his crash tech supplies on hand. He tired to stop the vampire from waving his spells, but several strange things happened. One, the magic didn’t fade this time; and two, it worked. The color began to flow in the girl’s cheeks and she was breathing much better as most of the ribs knitted themselves. BS could do no more than stare at what in his eyes was a miracle. Magic working unhindered on a mutant. Then the ‘borg’s face began to scowl as he realized exactly what had happened to allow that miracle To happen. Nine had lost the thing that made her Del Marian. She was no longer out of phase with the rest of the world.

            Zigg was not happy with the end result and held his arm over the still visible wounds. A quick slash of his wrist and he allowed his blood to flow into the open breaks in her skin, praying that she wouldn’t turn into the same detestable creature he’d become. Brimstone nodded and rested a hand on the vamps shoulder. “She won’t turn,” he encouraged. “Mutant blood will break down the enzymes before they can ‘zombify’ living tissue.” The trick worked. Wounds and bruises immediately began to fade as the bloodsucker’s blood kick-started Nine’s healing systems. Randall finally caught up to the scene, staring down in amazement at how quickly she was piecing back together. The scientist knelt down by her side even as Zigg staggered backwards, looking even more dead if that were possible. Brimstone caught their benefactor. “Okay, we need to get everyone back inside. Claw, can you fly us back up there?”

            The dragon mage had revived and was almost clear-headed enough. His wings, however, had snapped in the fall and he was trying to weave a healing spell to reinforce the membranes. “A few more minutes, I think,” he muttered in between incantations.

            “Fine, I’m taking Zigg up. He needs blood fast so I guess we have to raid the closet again. When you’re functional, bring the rest of the crew, and yes, that does include Tim.” The ‘borg once again fired his booster rockets, hauling the thin pale body back up to the infirmary.

            Nine’s eyes fluttered, then slowly focused on Randall looking down at her, his eyes filled with concern. “What happened?” she asked.

            “ ”What happened’? You tried to kill yourself!” Randall was clearly upset.

            “I....” Her eyes rolled a bit as if searching.. Then the memory came back. Her whole demeanor fell and she closed her eyes again. “Shoulda let me go.”

            He couldn’t help himself. He grabbed her shoulders and lifter her slightly, shaking her. “What the hell were you thinking?”

            She just let him toss her about, her head lolling as if attached by a single string, no fight in her at all. “I thought I was making a decision for us all.”

            “Well That was the wrong one! Look Nine, we are going to have to have a long talk.”

            Her eyes were still closed, even when he stopped shaking her. “That was the problem. It was all talk.”

            Claw lumbered up, having finally healing his own injuries. “Nine, what the hell kind of decision were you trying to make for us by committing suicide?”

            “The right choice,” she answer back, already slipping back into her numbed state.

            “And what ‘right choice’ would that be?”

            “The one theat nobody else wants to make.”

            Randall suddenly reached out, grabbing the girl by the shoulders and literally hefting her to her feet. “I don’t want to lose you!” he insisted then without any warning, he planted a very passionate kiss on her lips.

            Brimstone was finishing the four bag of plasma on the vampire, pinching off the fluid as he saw the man’s eye’s turn red, indicating that he was “full.” It would take a few more infusions spaced out over a week for the vamp to intake all the correct properties, but he was out of danger. “Kid,” he mused. “That was very selfless of you. Not many strangers would do that. Seems you still have hope, despite all your pain.”

            The way the metal man phrased those words made the vampire think the man must have some sort of mind reading capability, but if Brimstone wasn’t going to say it out loud, Zigg would also keep that aspect shrouded in double entendre’. “Remember I said I would help Nine. She’s a good kid.”

            “Yes she is. Now if we can just convince Her of that.” He bit his lower lip as he took the used materials over to the sink. “You know I told them she needed to be kept tied down, but does anyone listen to me? Noooooo.....” He paused, turning his head slightly as if hearing a far distant noise. “Ah.. Guess we saw That coming,” he commented, though Zigg had no idea on what. With a shrug, the bionic man turned back to his patient and slowly looked him over. Zigg had the distinct feeling he was looking into his soul, or lack of it. “What about you? Do we need to detain you? You’re not suicidal, are you?”

            “Nah, I ain’t gonna kill myself.” Zigg was thinking more along the lines of self sacrifice, but he felt that the ‘borg already knew that too.

            “That’s good. The blood stain alone would take weeks to get rid of if you decided to slit your wrist or something. Teeth and Toenails! What is taking that overgrown lizard so long with them?” Brimstone quickly washed his hands and made his way back through the caves to the outlook, leaving Zigg in the company of the two drakes as they nuzzled him for reassurance.

            If there was anything that would blow Nine’s mind apart, Randall kissing her would do. She seemed quite stunned, even as he gripped her tight, refusing to let her go in any way. Claw mumbled something about not going anywhere soon and turned his back. Tim seemed to smile, even in agony. “‘Bout time,” he murmured.

            Randall finally broke the kiss. “Why do you think I have fought so hard to take care of you?” he asked softly.

            “But... the ship? The experiments?”

            “I have realized that I have had some deep feelings for you for some time now. Yes we started out as co-workers, but things have grown since then.”

            She would have argued further as questions a doubts had begun to swirl around in the back of her brain, but a look to Timothy told her she had to wait. He looked as if he could slip away at any moment, no matter how much he smirked at her. “We need to talk about this later,” she said quickly, slipping out of his grip to aide Claw in trying to lift Timothy without breaking his ribs further. His healing powers were running, but in fits and snorts, causing him bouts of great pain between the dull ache. Things were trying to heal, but unless they could line up the bones, he was going to be very crooked.

            “Yes,” Randall mumbled as he followed her to the dragon’s flank. “We must talk later.”