-------------------------

Chapter 6: The Chemicals Between Us

"Go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of heaven, you'll be justified in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowin' come the judgment day
on the bloody morning after one tin soldier rides away"
~Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies, One Tin Soldier

-----------------------

So I got away. So the bad guy was thwarted again. He won't go on to complete his evil schemes ever again, ha, ha, ha. But that's never how it is. I know better. I know that it is never over until you see the enemy's body beneath your feet. That's the sad part. It takes death to end killing. I must sound like a hypocrite here, considering all the people I kill, but I'm not. I was protecting people.

When I think about what happens when two important people in my life that don't like each other meet, I can think of only one word. Ugh. I feel stuck in the middle. So as my sister, who I've known and loved my whole life, and my current love-inerest, who I barely know, sit across from each other, glaring, I can only sigh. I wish it didn't come to this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Stop sighing." Stamm snaps. I give her a hurt look, and she feels remorseful. Any look is probably a hurt one, considering how bad that grenade rocked me. I didn't realize that it had dislocated all of my ribs, that were slowly and painfully moving back into place.

"So, now what?" I hear Reina ask. I turn and look at her, now. We've all had a bad day. I was blown-up. Stamm killed an innocent. Reina killed for the first time. What else could happen? I immediately regret thinking that, quickly knocking on wood. Both of them look at me with alarm in their faces.

"What is it?" They both ask in harmony. I almost grin at this pair. They are so different, yet so alike. If only they didn't hate each other.

"Knock on wood." I reply with a grin. They look confused, but accept this answer and go back to their glaring contest. I keep shaking my head. When will they learn.

Sitting back I do something I never thought I'd have to do. I light up. Both of them look at me incredulously. I look back. "What? You guys drove me to it."

They smile wanly and Stamm playfully shoves me. "Not cool, Keith. You shouldn't smoke those, they'll kill you."

I start to laugh. It's mainly a relieved laugh. Unfortunately my ribs don't think it's a relief and I double over in pain. I can feel hands holding on to me, and comforting words. "I should be hurt more often." I say with a grin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

That butthead. Since when did he start smoking? I bet that tramp started him on it. I wander out of the room, wondering what has happened to my brother. I hear her starting to follow me. I stop in the bedroom, by the bed, "What?" I snap at her. Maybe I am being unfair.

"I need to talk with you." She says flatly.

I turn and look at her. She stood there. A few bandaged cuts, cut up clothes, matted hair, and a determined look on her face. "Go on."

"We both want the same thing, don't we. We won't both be able to get it, though. Only one of us will come out of this with Keith. The other must leave. I want to be frank with you, Stamm. I want that person to be me. I mean look at what you have to offer for him. You're past your prime. You have nothing. He is much better off with me." She squares her shoulders and looks at me with an angry glare.

"Are you finished?" I ask politely.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I glare at her. Well, I got my point across, I can see it in her face, now lets see if she accepts it. "Yes, I'm finished." I add sweetly, "Now what do you have to say?"

"Look, you... tramp. I've known himm my whole life. I've also been searching for him for years. You have a lot of gall, coming in front of me and trying to do this." She takes a step towards me, fist raised for a bit of retribution. I take a few steps back, brandishing my Glock at her.

"Don't move. I'm not gonna let you do anything. Just leave." I advance on her cautiously with the pistol.

"This is my place." She says in disbelief. "You can't kick me out."

"Watch me."

She turns towards the door and picks up her purse. Turning around, she looks into the kitchen. I follow her gaze to see Keith reading something. Turning back, she has her small submachinegun out, aimed at my chest. "Now who's gonna leave?"

I drop my gun, hanging my head as I walk out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, a new twist to this strange little group. I'll have to expoit it any way possible. I fly back to the lab, avoiding the wires like usual. When I land, I let loose my favorite pet.

"Go Grendel. Have some fun."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 2: Didn't you learn to share

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I look up from the table to a strange scene. I see my sister holding her favorite gun in a very businesslike manner toward the door. I look around the corner and see Reina walking off, a trial of tears behind her. I get up, shooting an angry glance at Stamm, as I run out the door.

"Reina, wait." I say, getting a hold of her arm. I haven't noticed how much she's changed lately, going from a young, innocent girl, to something that exudes more power. Her long, blonde hair has been ragged and dirty.

"No, Keith. I'm not wanted here." She tries to escape my grip, but I won't let go. She turns and looks at me. "She would have killed me to keep you."

"No, she wouldn't have. I know her. She couldn't kill anything."

"But the robin." She starts to protest. I stifle the protests with a kiss. She melts back into me, sobbing against my chest.

I break off the kiss, looking her in her eyes. I slowly kiss the tears off her cheeks, murmering endearing words. Her eyes start to mist again, as she throws a bearhug around me. We start to sway with the slight wind.

"You need to come back inside," I whisper, "It's freezing."

She looks up and I see the conflict behind her eyes. She doesn't want to share me with anyone. I brush back a stray lock of hair that drifted by her eyes, resting my hand on her cheek. Finally, she slowly nods, holding my hand as i lead her into the house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I see them walk back in, hand in hand. Keith makes a few motions with his head that indicate that he will want to talk with me later. I have a feeling that it will not be a happy meeting. I weakly grin at him, but it doesn't help. His frown deepens. He can see right through this.

My face contorts into one of anger. Why does he have to stay with... that. I stomp out of the room angrily. I'm not going to watch this anymore. I need a breather outside.

I walk out into the fresh air of the day, but I can smell something's not right. There's too much fear in the air. Something bad is near.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm so happy that Keith came for me. I'm glad he snubbed her. Finally, I'm glad that she's outside. She was starting to scare me.

"Keith?" I ask him, uncertainly.

"Yes?" He replies, hugging me tighter.

"Will she be gone forever?"

"Why do you two have to make me choose? I love you both. I couldn't live without both of you. And finally, I want both of you to kiss and make up." He seemed a bit peeved.

I hang my head, "Alright."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can hear him snuffle through the grass, a killing machine. He's almost perfect. If I could get 42 into my lab for a few tests, then I could make a perfect specimen. I hear him catch onto 42's scent and start off at a run. I smile, knowing what is going to happen to him when Grendel gets there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 3: Another anticlimax (or is it?)

(Author's note: I insert Grendel's point of view here)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I leave Reina in the room, going after Stamm, now. "Hey, sis, get back in here."

She turns on me with that vengeful eye. "Why?" She spits out. Why did you have to pick her?

"I didn't." I reply. OK, so it was a lie, but I didn't pick only her. She looks at my uncertainly.

"You didn't?" She asks. I shake me head, taking her hand. How she has aged. Her black hair is still long and flowing. Her features still refined, but she's older now. More regal. I pull it behind her head, making a quick braid with it. Her eyes start to mist as well.

"No, now come with me, inside." She lowers her head, and follows me inside. When she looks up, she sees Reina standing there.

"But you said!" I hear the blurted response, and quickly cover her mouth. She bites me.

"Ow! Now look. I'm going to stand here, until the day I die, if I have to, until you two make up!" I plant my feet. I'm not budging on this.

A sharp pain moves throughout my back, making me arch back. 'They must be moving into place,' I think. I look down to see 3 feet of curved steel grow out of my stomach. I start foward, the blade sliding out of my back. I drop to one knee, the pain spreads as I feel the blood seep out both sides of me. I look up to see both of the girls standing by each other, hands to mouths.

I turn, throwing my leg out for a sweep, catching a leg. I see a wiry weasel hit the ground, and roll to one side, avoiding my quick kick to where his head would have been.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Master was right. This guy's good. I drop back into a fighting stance, while he just stands up. I start back in suprise as I see him unfurl a pair of bat wings. I'm a bit shaken at this, true, but I quickly recover, pulling the sword tip up to my eye level. I start a quick charge that would have taken enyone else by suprise, he dances to one side, neatly delivering a knee to my ribs. I swing my arm behind me, catching him in the knee with the handle of the sword. I hear a grunt of pain, and spin around blade first. It bounces off his gun, sending them both to the side. I have my foot on the gun, his on the blade. I kick the gun up in the air, catching it and leveling it at his head, as he does the same with the blade. I smile as I start to depress the trigger. Nothing happens. I start to feel a cold sweat as I see the blade come down on my hand. I cry out as it is separated from the rest of my arm.

"I used the last of that clip on your master." it says, smiling.

I flip back through the window. Landing in the grass.

"I'll get that back, fool." I hiss, sprinting off, clutching the stump.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can feel my senses coming back, I look up to see Keith and Stamm's faces.

"What happened? Was I hurt in the fight?" I ask worriedly, trying to get up.

Stamm smiles at me. "No, you passed out when you say that guy's hand get cut off. Don't try to get up, though."

I ignore what she said, and immediately regret it as my world goes black again, due to a lack of blood. I don't pass out, though, and quickly lay back down. My vision returns as I try to ignore the pouding in my skull.

"Is Keith alright?" I ask anxiously.

"Yes, I'm fine." I hear him say in a strained voice.

After I hear that, I'm content to let myself lie back down. That's all I needed to know. I let the wonderful escape of sleep return.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I look down on both of them sleeping next to each other. They really don't make that bad of a couple. I shouldn't antagonize her as much as I do. I can't help but feel that she is trying to keep Keith all to herself, though. I sigh, and curl up next to him on the bed. At least he still cares about me. I doubt he'll leave and abandon me for a while.

I can hunt him down again, though. I'll make sure that I don't lose him. He may not be the KeKe I'm used to, but he's still my brother and I can't let him go that easily. And as a perk, I don't have to really worry about getting mugged, anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can hear Grendel come back. I can smell the blood as well. A little of both of theirs. Well, i expected a bit of a setback. As the weasel slowly limps in, I'm not prepared for what I do see.

"What happened?" I ask, a look of disbelief.

"He's better than you thought." Grendel answers.

"No! You're worse than I thought. How could you fail? You fool!" I can't believe that he lost.

He hangs his head and walk towards the blowtorch. "Help me." he says flatly.

I turn away haughtily. Why should I help scum like him.

"Now!" He snaps. I slowly flap over, grabbing the blowtorch and aiming it at his hand i light the small tip.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

He nods and I pull the trigger, sending the gas out into the flame. This produces a great tongue of flame that covers his fore arm. His screams continue even after I turn off the gas. I look at the charred stump. At least it's not bleeding anymore.

-------------------

Chapter 7: A Fresh Face

"Maybe life is like a ride on a freeway.
Dodging bullets while you're trying to find your way.
Everyone's around but no one does a damn thing.
It brings me down, but I won't let them."
~Offspring, Staring at the Sun

-------------------

Well, a new life is added to the mix. Another face, another point of view. I wish i could say I knew this person. He seems like he's under someone's control. I hope I can remedy that in a few ways. Killing him, killing the person who has him under control, or brainwashing. The latter does not appeal to me, though. I would rather take him out. He'll be back for his hand.

I'm now thinking about the new-found friendship between Stamm and Reina. It's very strange to happen so suddenly. Maybe it's because of all that we have been through. I'm proud of Stamm, too. She's the one that took the initiative. I know it's getting off to a rocky start, but such was to be expected.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, I sit in Stamm's kitchen, again, listening to a heated argument, excuse me, debate, between the two of them. They seem to be probing each other's views on everything. Name a topic, they've fought over it. Politics, wars, religion, and race are only a few. I lay my head back, smothering it with two pillows. The din is starting to get on my nerves.

"I hope it's worth the noise!" I bellow into the other room, ducking under a hail of thrown pieces of fruit.

"Shaddup!" the yelled reply states.

I grin and snuggle deeper under the covers, peeping my snout out to see the time. Two thirty at night. I try to bang my head, but remember that I have a pillow on either side and sigh. I really wish they'd cut it out. At least there are no guns in there for them to use. I did leave that sword in there, though.

My mind at ease, I drift off to a nervous sleep, my mind wondering what else could happen today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wake in my ragged bed, a new bandage around my stump. I decide that today I will vow revenge. I get out, rolling to one knee as I leave the bed. I then lay my good hand on my knee, holding my other to my heart.

"This day, I vow to avenge my arm. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth." I get up, throwing on my clothes. I put a pancho on over them, leaving it untied around the waist. I walk into the main room of the lab to see Ra hard at work with a welder over another project. "What is it this time?" I ask.

He glares at me, his concentration broken, "Indade, it won't be your hand if you keep interrupting me like that." Finished with his snapping at me, he turns back to his work.

I take a step back, startled by his news. A new hand. That would be nice,but my honor dictates that I get what was taken from me back. I will need that hand to get the one I lost, though. I slowly bow my head again. Mumbling a few words, I decide I will get my revenge today. I'll need some help, though.

I pick up the phone, making the necessary call. It hits me how I'll be able to defeat him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stomp out of the room. I'm tired of Stamm's beligerence, I can't talk to her. For a bit of solace, I decide to call my friend from the cafe, Sarah. When I pick up the reciever, I can already hear a voice on the other end.

"Hello?" It asks, uncertainly, "Is Reina there?"

It is a strange, masculine voice that I do not recognize. "Yes, this is she."

"I have a proposition to make." He begins.

I listen with rapt attention. His words sink into my brain, and i know that this is a good plan, one that will work. I smile, hanging up the phone. What a marvelous idea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I watch her hang up the phone, and wonder who would call here. "Who called?" I ask, bluntly.

"Well, since you put it so bluntly," She replies, "It was one of my friends from the diner, and I called her.

"Oh." I concede, walking out, past her. I actually trust her for once. Smiling, I head into the bedroom to see a sleeping Keith. At least he finally got rest. I slowly walk back in to make another meal. Looks like I'll only have to feed two. 'I hope that girl likes salads.' I think with an evil grin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grendel walks back in, a small smile on his face. How unlike the little scum. I smile at the thought of his pain he must have suffered from the severing of the limb. It must have been pretty horrifying. How wonderful. I hope he'll tell me about it in time.

"Ready?" I ask him, a smirk on my face. If this works, it will ba a new step for me. In not only prosthetics, but nervous repair. As he sits down next to the table, I wonder how painful this is going to be.

Slowly, I unwrap his arm, feeling it stick to his skin. I pull harder and hear him sharply inhale. I smile inwardly, as not to disturb Grendel. Once it is off, I see his wound. It's nastier than I thought. I'm glad i made it reach up the fore arm. I have to clean it, though, so with a bare alsohol swab, I scrape off the top few layers of burnt flesh, accomponied by various grunts and twitches by Grendel. I look up to see he has bitten his lip with those razor-sharp teeth. Shuddering a bit at what those teeth could do, but remembering that i have the power here, I finish cleaning him. I then pull out a small knife, making incisions into his stump at various locations. Into these incisions, I put the filaments of the new hand. It twitches and flexes, reflexively. I slowly start to attach some of the other fibers, and finally slip the rest of it over. He now has a furless, prosthetic paw. I make the last connections, grafts and such, and slip a fore arm long leather glove over it.

Wiping my snout with one wing, I declare, "Whew, finally done. Try to move it, test your reflexes, strentgh. I'm off to bed."

I fly off, happy with a job well done.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 2: Trust

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wake, looking about me. I can't see anything. Then I remember that I'm still under the covers. It very warm, though, and judging by the warmth on either side of me, the girls are asleep, too. I slowly creep out from between them, getting out of bed. They instinctively snuggle closer together to keep the warmth. I giggle mischeiviously to myself, grabbing Stamm's camera out of her purse. With a giant grin on my face, I snap a quick picture of the two of them sleeping. Ask I walk back away, a thought strikes me. This is the first time I've been like this in a while. These two are making my life wonderful. I hope I never have to remove either of them from my life.

I hear a small sound behind me, turning slowly, with a dreaded feeling that my peace is about to end, I see the weasel back in the doorway. I slowly drop down into what i assume to be my best fighting stance, unfurling my wings. He smiles and holds out a Jericho at me. I whistle quietly at the nicely made pistol.

"Nice piece." I gruff out at him, "Can you use it?"

He smiles and shoots my leg. I cry out in pain, clutching my leg as he throws the piece aside and grabs his sword off the table.

"Thank you, 42, my name is Grendel Mishenka. I will have to kill you now." He smugly levels the sword with my head.

I roll to the side, coming up on one knee, and popping off a quick 3 rounds towards him. Towards being the keyword as he's no longer there. I see a flash of color as he dives at me. I roll onto my back and aim the gun upwards at him. He lands next to me, but has the tip pointed at my neck.

"It would seem that we are at an impass." He says hollowly.

I slowly nod the affirmative.

"Except we are not." He says, smiling. He kicks the gun out of my hand, jumping back towards the bedroom. I start to run towards him. Then I see Reina come out with a gun. I sigh with relief. She knows what to do. Then she turns and aims it at me. All the blood must of poured out of my face, then. I know I must have been pale as I mutter a small phrase.

"Why?"

"I can get you for myself this way, Keith. I drugged Stamm, she won't be waking up, and Grant here says I'll get you all to myself." She seems a bit ashamed, yet happy at her actions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm glad she decided to help so easily. If i couldn't have gotten an insider, this would have been a bit harder. I slowly reach into my trenchcoat, pulling out a tranquilizer gun.

"What are you going to do?" She asks worriedly.

"Just put him to sleep, that's all. Don't worry, just keep the gun trained on him. 42. Those are incendiary rounds in her pistol. The shots will hurt." I aim the tranq gun at his chest, unloading three darts. They all hit, quickly injecting the fluid. He starts to giggle uncontrollably, then fall on the ground, screaming and laughing almost in unison.

"What's happening to him?" She gasps in fright, dropping her gun.

"I've injected dopamine into him. He's feeling incredibly happy right now, but he feeds on misery, so he's in pain and losing power." I quickly walk yo him and shackle him up. Hog-tied, I put him in the back of the van. It is painted in hippie colors. Very unsuspecting. I pick up a small flower near the doorway, crushing it in my new hand. Ah, the wonderful feeling of power.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I watch the strange weasel drive off with Keith. I can't believe I just did that. Wait a minute. I run back to the bedroom to see the drugged Stamm still sleeping there. He didn't even keep his half of the bargain. Tears of shame leap unbiddingly to my eyes as I fall onto the bed, realiizing what i have just done. I just signed his death warrant.

I jump onto the bed and start to shake Stamm. "Please get up, Stamm. They've taken him. It's all my fault." I start to cry on her a she sleeps. "It's all my fault."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I feel groggy, as I start to come to. I can feel a stange weight on my chest and a wetness there as well. I open my eyes a bit, seeing a blurry red shape there, shaking. "Reina?" I ask groggily.

She looks at me, and i can see tear stains going down her face. Her eyes are almost bright red. I can see the worry written all over her face. This quickly gets me up. "What happened?" I ask her.

"He... He's gone..." She chokes out. I get even more awake after this. Looking around the apartment. A wave of nausea flows over me, forcing me to lay back down. It feels as if a train is running over my skull, while a million daggers stab me. I groan, motioning her to move off my chest. She complies, with more  sobs.

"What happened?" I ask, more awake, but much more painfully.

"I gave him to that weasel," She chokes out, "I wanted them to get rid of you, and in return, they'd let us be together." I look at her, shocked. I thought I could really trust her. She looked back up at me. "Please. We have to get him back. You have to help me."

"Why should I trust you after this?" I ask angrily. This headache wasn't helping.

"I told you the truth, didn't I?" She pleads.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I trailed Grendel to the house. I saw the capture. This is wonderful. Flying along with them towards the cave, I keep giggling to myself. I'm like a kid in a candy store. I can't wait to start the tests. I fly in ahead of Grendel, prepping the lab for final touches. Perfect timing. I got that new skin core sampler...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 3: Another Twist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can't feel anything.Wait. There it is, the pain. I know this feels good, but the goodness hurts. I know what hurts me more. Reina. Why did she have to? I know I'm tied up, in the back of this van. I'm probably going to that bat's place. The Bat-Cave. I giggle at the thought, but this sends more pain rippling through me. I decide these things are best left alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I drive past the cave entrance. I'm not going to sully my honor by going back to him with Keith. How could I ever live with myself with that much of a black-mark on my honor. I pull into a nearby driveway. Typical suburbia home. I pull Keith out of the back, bringing him with me up to the door. Knocking, I see my contact come to the door.

"Who is it?" I hear from the other side.

"I'm Henry the Eighth, I am." I say.

The door opens. "What do you need, Gren?" He asks, pointedly staring at Keith.

"I need a safehouse. I can't go back to Ra. He's an honorless cur. I will work for him no longer." I say to him, defiantly.

He grins. "Never liked that flying rat anyways. Come on in."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I load up the rental with everything in the house. Stamm's got a freaking arsenal in there. I see 30 pounds of C4, 12 pistols, 3 automatic rifles, a sniper rifle, and 2 shotguns. I pick up the mother of them all, though. It's a beautifully made Hand Cattle. This beauty will put a hole in a concrete wall 1 foot wide, or more. I hold it to my hip, looking like a gangster with a tommy gun. Smiling, I get into the car, gun on lap, smile on face, ready to storm the gates of Hell if need be.

"Ready?" I ask Stamm, a grin on my face at the fun to come.

She grunts, closing the door and starting up the small sedan. This has to be the most nondescript car I've ever seen. It's perfect for our mission, though, as we pull out in search of the bat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can't believe I'm doing this. This has to be the craziest thing ever. I saw how good he was with demolitions, and for all the C4 I have, it won't compare to the sprises he has rigged for us. Shrugging, I drive down the main stretches first, looking for signs that advertise caves. Seeing one, I pull off the highway, down a bumpy, dirt road. I see Reina looking worried.

"Boom!" I yell, to get her off gaurd. It works, she jumps in her seat, looking at me fightened. She then gets a grwat frown on her face. "What?" I ask with a grin. I might actually enjoy this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Where is that stupid creature. I know he wasn't far from here. In a frustrated fit, I fly out the cave, searching for him everywhere. When I find that stupid thing, I'm going to verbally, if not literally castrate him. I look down to see a small white car going towards the cave. 'Not him.' I make a mental note, 'He's in a hippy van.' I'll find him soon enough...

----------------------------

Chapter 8: Change of Heart

"And they think it will make their lives easier
For god knows up till now it's been hard
But the game never ends when your whole world depends
On the turn of a friendly card"
~Alan Parsons Project, Turn of a Friendly Card

------------------------------

As you all know, I feed off of the misery of others. It gives me energy to do all of the various amazing things that i can do. It lets me move at fast speeds, seduce the cleanest virgin, hypnotize others. Well, when I felt that shot hit me, it was as if my world exploded. I got on a high that a junkie could only dream of. I could sit there and feel my bad feelings wash away. Literally, it felt like that. Unfortunately it had two side effects. It weakened me and put me into immense amounts of pain.

Now, here i am, the dopamine wearing off. I'm in a strange place. I'm with a strange weasel that seems to be obsessed with honor. I have a girlfriend that sold me off to the aforementioned crazed, armed weasel. I have a sster that was drugged by my girlfriend. My life isn'r exactly the best. Not to mention the fact that the weasel works for a crazy bat that thinks he is the best scientist in the world. He also likes to blow things up into many pieces. Not good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I could slowly feel my limbs again. I blearily tried to open my eyes, to see darkness. I relaxed my lids again, letting them close. I could feel the blood start to rush back into the rest of my body, feeling coming back.

"Starting to awake, are you?" I hear that damnable weasel's voice.

I grunt in acknowledgement, trying to get up. The freshly-awakened limbs scream pain at me, forcing a small muttering of pain to escape as I lay back down. So I wait, I let my blood gradually start to flow into aching limbs. After what seems like an eternity of laying on that dank floor, covered with a sheen of moisture, I start to get up, flexing the mulscles that aren't painful, and arching my back. Finally, I come to a sitting position, looking slowly around me.

To my left, I see a scrawny fox. He's wearing a baggy, worn-out sweater, and has large glasses. A bad haricut, twitchy feet, and pale fur complete the image. At least his tail isn't puny. No, it's the most remarkable part about him. It's almost as big around as he is. Quite a comical little figure for such an important place.

I slowly look to my right, and there he is. It takes all of my self control not to dive at his throat right now. I can see the large black glove over the prosthetics of the hand that he lost. I start to smile, feeling muscles in my face I didn't even know i had, hurt.

"Tom, get him some food." I hear 'Grendel' order.

I hear movement behind me as I see an IV bag full of blood thrust in front of me. i slowly reach my hand up, aching all the way, and hold it up to my face. Not exactly a fresh victim, but I'm not complaining. I sink my teeth in, starting that sipphon of blood that is oh, so familiar. I then can feel a wave of fresh energy coming from behind me as well. I slowly turn, messily shooting blood all over myself, to see 'Tom' crying over a picture of another fox. A vixen. I realize that he is giving me power by becoming miserable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He looks at me, his muscles starting to get back into shape. He gives me a questioning glance. I smile, pointing to a warm mug in front of him. He quickly takes it, holding it near his face, savoring the smell of the tea.

"Why?" He asks slowly, "Why help me if you're just going to kill me?"

"I can no longer work for Beghorra. He is an honorless cur. I have brought you here to use a safehouse until we can figure out what to do." I look down at the questioning, untrusting face.

"How can I trust you?" He asks, suspicious.

"You can't, really. You just have to realize that it's me or Ra. Believe me, he will be very interested to see your pain tolerance levels." I shake my head, "It's his favorite part of the job."

He looks back down. "I-I don't know what to say, except, thank you. I think." He mumbles, albeit gratefully.

I nod to Tom, who gets up and goes back upstairs. "It's time we talked, Keith. Talked about me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I look up, seeing the dark shape fly overhead. I look over to see that Stamm has spotted it as well. "Are you thinking..." I begin to say.

"That that's our bat? Yep. And I bet that's his cave."

I look ahead to the small rocky bump on the horizon. "That must be it." I say, completely stating the obvious. I start to laugh at this. She looks at me with a strange look on her face, but shrugs it off. I look to the horizon again, my face becoming stony, "I'm coming to get you, Keith. I'm going to atone for what I did to you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow. The girl seems serious about this. Maybe she will be an asset. I pull up to the mouth of the cave, turning the car off, I sit and wait.

"What is it?" Reina impatiently asks. I look over at the mouth of the cave, frowning suddenly.

"It's serious from here on out. I know he's got that thing kept locked up tighter than a kings virgin daughter. We'll have to be extra careful so it doesn't blow us sky high."

She looks over, nodding slowly, "Fight fire with fire?" I smile at the prospect. This girl isn't too stupid after all.

"Exactly what I was thinking." I smile, flying out of the can, to the trunk. I open it, back to the kid in the candy store. I pull out a few pounds of C4. "Time to close that enterance."

"Why?" She asks, her wit suddenly gone.

"He's gonna have that thing trapped so much, it's not even funny. So we blow the traps, settig them off. Then we blow the rubble away. Clear path in. No traps, no explosives sending the roof on us. One Keith, in the bag." I smile, ready for the fun.

"Okay, let's go." She says, eager for the adrenaline.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know where that cur went. He went to his 'safe house'. Fool. Doesn't he know, he can't keep anything from me. I fly to the small house in 'Crackhead central'. I see a few junkies walk by, sniggering and commenting about flying rodents. My hackles rise, making me pull out 2 limpet mines, arming them and tossing them on their pants. When I activate my next set, those pricks will pop like zits.

I come to the door, knocking and waiting for the puny excuse for a fox to answer. Just I get my third good set of raps off, I feel my beeper go off. I look down at it on my belt, and it is screaming code four. I think to myself, 'What is four? Hmm... three is armageddon, 4 is... intruders.' Hissing at my bad luck, I take off into the air, leaving the door and my delinquent servant behind. I'll take care of him later. Must have been those tourists I saw driving down the road.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 2: Checkered Past

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I lay back, letting an interested look cross my face. Tom had run off to answer the door and Gren had locked the basement behind him. He walked across from me, plopping dwon in an old ean bag chair.

"So how did it begin?" I ask him with a bemused grin on my face.

He smiled back. A toothy grin that probably had no mirth behind it. "Well, when i was created, back in the day..." He started to laugh.

I joined him, reluctantly, thankful that I at least wasn't being tortured. "Anyway..."

"Ah yes. Well, you see, Ra needed a good assistant. He decided to go with a base of weasel genes, because he thought I would be more subservient. He added fox to make me smarter, and a bit of rat for savagery. What he gets is a weasel that has a very strict code of honor due to his intelligence. Unfortunately, I get feral sometimes as the rat comes out. Anyway, When I could read, he set me in his library. He wanted me to just soak up information. Of course my personality dictated what I would read, as I picked only the most honorable novels. Don Quixote, Shogun, anything about knights or samuri, I soaked up like a sponge. When he got back, I was a younger version of what i am today. I had all the bushido, and then some of an average shogun. And then some. I live on my honor, so I can never again work for that.. that excuse for a creature." He shook with rage at the thought. "So anyway, what's your story?"

I started to laugh. He looked at me with a quixotic look. Perfect for him. I started to rehash my tale. From when i was created, the death of Aurora, the joy with Reina. I couldn't keep a poker face through most of it, and had to be consoled until I could continue, my blood tears forming a small puddle. I thought of the irony of the situation. Here this weasel had just tried to kill me, now he's consoling me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I try to feel sorry for the poor guy. He's had only trouble in his life. And now I know that i not only joined in, but helped the one person that has caused the most. I get up, looking down at the sobbing, wretched creature below me. "This moment, i vow to destroy that which has forced me to soil my honor. I acted in blind vengance. i will never let my emotions cloud my judgement again."

Keith looks at me. I can see the pity behind his eyes. "Think with your brain. Feel with your heart." is all he says before curling up and falling asleep.

I sit down, pondering the meaning of those words as I drift off to a daze, meditating on my life and where it will go. I close my eyes and drift off, thinking of what Ra's going to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I help Stamm jug the box of explosives out of the trunk. She grabs a hunk, tossing it down the cave with wires attached and all. I wonder where she got her training from, but not for long. i duck behind a rock, covering my ears. Stamm just stands out in the open, grinning as she pushes the detonator. The counrtyside starts to shake around me. I fall to the ground, crying out in sudden pain as I hit the ground on my tailbone. Thankfully, my tail absorbed the impact. I look over at Stamm, who is grinning from ear to ear as she plants the next charge.

"Ready for round two?"

I lay prone this time, holding my hands over my head. I'm still not ready for the even bigger explosion that happens. This time, I'm sent into the air, to land on my stomach, knocking the wind out of me.

I look at her with a bit more annoyance, "Thanks for the warning." She smiles back sweetly and walks in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow, I didn't think that would work. I shoulder the shotgun I have, and let the barrel lead me through the cave. If anything pops it's ugly head, then it'll be toast. I do wish I had the Hand Cattle, now, though. That would have been much more nice than this little semi-12 gauge.

Either way, with a mititary headlight on the end of the barrel, I walk down the tunnel, ready for anything. Well, anything but snakes. Can't stand snakes. Now, knowing my luck, a huge snake will come out and, "Holy crap!" I yell, unloading three shots into the anaconda's head that just appeared next to me. I freaking figures...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I get to the entrance of the cave and see the white car there. I see packs of detonators and wicks for explosives there. There are many weapons in the open trunk as well. Well, I don't know how many there are, but I'll take care of them soon enough.

"Computer! Engage program seven-oh-five delta phi!" I yell into my belt beeper.

"Emergency lockdown procedure engaged. Now detonating charges in tunnel. Syntax. Charges already detonated." I cussed loudly.

"Six-seven-oh-eight epsilon pi." I yell at it, in a great fit of anger, now, throwing my last few limpets on the ground, unarmed, of course, but the thought counts.

"Outside doors closed, epsilon program engaged, cage three released." I smile at it, setting the last of their explosives around the edge of the cave mouth. Pushing the small lever down on both sides, I set them off as I fly to the chimney entrance. That'll teach them...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 3:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wake again to find myself in the strange basement. I remember what has happened, and slowly get up, looking about for any other inhabitants. Seeing a shape in the corner, I move to it, slowly, seeing Gren meditating again. I pad across the room to the door.

"You don't have to go." I hear.

"I must. I must find them." I reply, standing at the doorway.

"They went to get you, you know. From Begorra, that is."

I turn, "What?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I said they went to rescue you."

"But, I'm right here." Suddenly, he's right here.

"I know, i think it would be in both of our best interests to go and get them, before something very bad happens."

He's already out the door before I have anything else to say.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What was that?" I ask nervously, looking around me.

"That would be our way out being shut off behind us." She says grimly. "Now we have to press foward."

I hold my gun to my shoulder, taking one resolute step in front of the other. But I'll be the first to admit I'm scared shitless.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I pump off a few shells into the next snake that pops its head up. I'm getting tired of this. I want the end, and I want no more of these slimy, little, ugh.

Where's Keith when you need him?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I look throught the viewscreen at the advancing duo. Perfect. These two will be perfect for the inhabitants of three. I zoom in on the sleek, supine figures as they fly along the walls at an incredible speed.

This will be interesting indeed.