What's New | Supermegatopia | Crushed | Meshworld | Visions | TMBGR | Stuff | Forum | Guestbook | Links | Contact

Plague of the Demon
by Kyle Johnson Di-Man: Episode 5 Chapter 1: Somewhere in the stillness of the multiverse is a good place to be if you're trying to get a couple of hours sleep. There's nothing there to disturb you, just the inside of a massive infinite blue sphere, with a crackling ball of energy at its core. Utter peace… until the gravity takes hold of you. Fortunately I am near the outer edge where it takes the gravity a while to get hold of you. The strange thing is, it's very difficult to get comfortable in microgravity, but I manage For those of you who haven't been following my story, I became drafted into the job of dimensional traveler, journeying between alternate worlds. Sometimes I'll fix the occasional hiccup, but until then, I have a long way to go before I'm home. My first trip through the `verse, embued me with a ton of spectacular energy to burn, but no skill in how to use it. However the first dimension I landed in had people who could teach me how to control those powers, a warrior named Goku, a few of his friends, and a giant cockroach named King Kai. As I learned to control my new abilities, I gained new skills and even learned how to fly, but I would trade it all for a simple sign that would take me home. I awoke with a jolt as I felt something pulling on my leg. I was being pulled towards the core of the Multiverse. I had slept for too long, and I was beginning to fall into the slope, the part of the core's gravity well where I pick up the most speed, and as I pass through the core's corona, I remember just how MUCH I HATE THIS!!! I blast through the fabric of the Multiverse, and into freefall. The portal formed high in midair, a fact for which I am grateful. Coming out of a portal that's close to the ground is never fun. I have been clothslined by tree limbs, and had a high-speed introduction to a brick wall. Needless to say this is a change I would like to see more often. Even though there is nothing up here for me to run into, I still need to slow down. I estimate that I am going about mach three, and I have the strange sensation that I could still find an airplane if I am not careful. I quickly focus and channel my power into my arms and release it in one massive burst. "BLAST FORCE!" The technique results in a powerful shockwave erupting from my hands, slowing me down enough for me to get an idea of where I am. As I slow down to the velocity of a speeding bullet, I can see that I am over the ocean. I begin to think that I was better off before; at least before I was getting somewhere at a higher rate of speed. I needed a way to get my bearings. Inside my knapsack was a device I needed. A weird thing that looked one half of a headphone set with a colored lens, a scouter. I fitted the device over one ear and looked to see that the lens was in its proper position. That being done, I touched the power button on the side of the scouter and waited for it to find something. The scouter beeped to itself harmoniously as it started looking for a power reading. All of a sudden, a shrill whine filled my ear and the display lens lit up, showing a massive power reading behind me and heading my way fast. I shot a quarter of a mile straight up; just as whatever it was flew beneath me. The scouter locked onto the power source, and zoomed in. The power source belonged to, or was, a young felinoid flying through the air, wearing a white costume with a blue cape and skirt. Felinoid, which meant a fur dimension. I didn't know where she was getting all that power, and right now I didn't care. She looked like she knew where she was going, and anywhere was better than over the middle of the ocean. I stayed a good distance behind her as she flew towards wherever she was going. After an hour or two I began to see the outline of an island or a continent. It was beautiful, green jungle, lush rain forests, some mountains… Beyond the forest, the sun was gleaming off the glass of several tall buildings. I was coming up upon a city, a pretty big one too. It would be a nice change from the medieval style villages that I had been staying in for the past few days. As I approached, some of the buildings looked like something out of an old Flash Gordon flick, while others looked like those you would normally find in a big city like this. It was actually pretty well maintained, even the low rent districts had the look of freshly painted buildings. Even the glass on the office buildings looked clean and bright like new mirr- oh crud… My guide just then noticed me in the reflection of one of the windows, and judging by the look on her face, she wasn't happy. I quickly disappeared from site before a fight or an argument broke out. Owen was so engrossed in his book, he never noticed the Valkyrie slip up behind him. It took a soft furry nuzzle on the back of his neck to bring it to his attention. Owen jumped at the sensation. He looked behind him to see Delilah dressed in shorts and her favorite T-shirt, the one that read 'Brides do it in Church'. "How can someone as big as you are, move around so quietly," Owen asked. Delilah lifted one of her legs onto the back of the couch and wiggled her toes. "No shoes," she replied. As his heartbeat began to return to about normal, he picked up the book that he dropped and began skimming through it looking for his place. Delilah padded around on her soft feet and tried to snuggle up with him on the couch. This time Owen wasn't as responsive. She sighed. "Good book?" asked Delilah, trying to appear interested. "Uhh huh," muttered Owen. Delilah tried to peek over her fiancé's shoulder at the title. "I didn't think you were into Milton," she said. "I like some of his works," Owen replied, "Not all of them, but there are a few that peak my interest." "Oh," said Delilah. "Something on your mind?" Owen asked. The bunny nodded. "Owen, I've been living with your family for months now," Delilah began, "but we never seem to do much together. I mean we fight crime and all, but not once have we ever just gone out together, just to have some fun." Owen looked up from his book. "I wouldn't mind going out with you," he said, "In fact it could be fun. But why didn't you say anything sooner?" Delilah toed the carpet and slumped her shoulders. "Well I came on with that ‘You being my husband’ routine a little strong," she explained, "and I saw how it was making you a little apprehensive." "A little…" "So I decided to back of and wait for you to make the next move," she said. "Ahh ha," stated Owen matter of factly, "You've been having cocoa and cookie talks with mom late at night haven't you. That's why, on some mornings, your lips are brown." Delilah's long ears drooped as she blushed slightly. "It's alright," said Owen, "I have had a few of those talks with mom myself. Be it nightmares or new schools, those kinds of talks are best for helping you get through the night." Delilah smiled sweetly. "So do you want to go out tonight?" she asked. "Sure," Owen replied, "Did you have a place in mind?" Delilah nodded and then held up one of the back sections of the newspaper. "Amanda passed by this new place downtown," she said, "She said that it's like one big club with a bunch of little clubs inside, like an arcade, a pool hall, a big laser light show over the dance floor, a karaoke stage… Umm what's karaoke?" "Karaoke is the only way Japan could get even with the west for beating them in the second world war," explained Owen, "Now we have to listen to the bad singing of a lot of ugly people." Delilah giggled. "So it's a good idea?" "Karaoke was never a good idea." "I meant the club!" shrieked Delilah, as she hit him with a pillow. Owen fended off the Valkyrie's blows with his book. "Yes it's a good idea," he said, "But lets take Monty and Amanda with us. I'm not quite ready for a one on one date with you, yet." "Fair enough," replied Delilah, "What do you think I should wear?" "You should ask Amanda about that," replied Owen, "She's the expert when it comes to party clothes." "Good idea." The huge rabbit hugged Owen gently, and went in search of Tiger Lass. "Amazing," thought Owen, "She actually managed to be gentle." Chapter 2: I reappeared on top of a six-story hotel some where downtown. I had decided to try and get an angle on what dimension I was in and what troubles I might run into. I scanned the area with the scouter and was amazed with the readings I got. Lots of multiple power readings of varying degrees, but one sure thing, not a sign of any other humans. I didn't want to wind up in another lab like I did in David's dimension. I still bore a few scars from that incident. David's was the second dimension that I had visited, but for some reason my powers were severely limited, barely a sixteenth of my normal ability. It was also the first fur dimension I had visited. I stood out a bit and eventually I was captured by a laboratory that wanted to find out why I was still human. I was kept sedated, poked, prodded, and all but vivisected by a mad doctor named Decai. I don't really remember how, but I managed to signal for help. It was David who rescued me. He and some of his friends who helped me escape. They got me out of the lab, and took me someplace safe. Eventually we retrieved all my things and I was able to leave. I shook my head to rid myself of those images; they often gave me nightmares. On that note I decided to check my own power level with the scouter. The device beeped merrily to itself before bringing up a reading of ten thousand and forty-five, my normal level. Good, I had enough to deal with what ever I had to, but hopefully I wouldn't have anything to deal with. On my wrist, I had what I needed. The transband, a simple device that was disguised as a wristwatch, but could record different DNA fragments and alter my genetic structure to allow me to blend in anywhere. Right now it only had one setting, the genetic structure of a Saiyan Moonbeast. I didn't bother asking Bulma where she got it. A green LED on the face of the device told me that the transband's solar batteries were fully charged. I lifted up the watch face to reveal the device's control keys and pressed the large yellow orange button in the center. I had never had the chance to use Bulma's present before and with this being the first time, I wasn't sure what to expect. I watched as the face of the control panel lit up and then bent over double as my body went into spasm. I began to itch all over as the thick coarse hair began to grow over my arms, legs, and body. I won't even mention the tail, but as the transformation slowed to a stop, so did the spasm. As my vision cleared I could see the thick hands and feet of an oversized monkey. My face had reshaped into a short blunt muzzle with set of elongated canine teeth. It was painful, and I was glad it was over. As I stood up on the roof, I realized that that tail could cause me a bit of trouble, I could accidentally knock something over if I wasn't careful. Now lets see how did Vegeta do it. It took a little practice, but I managed to get the dumb thing to wrap around my waist like a belt; that way it wouldn't stick out so much and get in the way. As I was about to descend to the ground, my stomach gave a low growl. Looking at the watch on my transband, I saw that it was almost noon. I had missed breakfast and it was almost lunchtime. I had some jerky in my knapsack, but I needed real food for once. There were a couple of dozen places I could go to eat, but the only money I had was in the form of a couple of bags of gold and silver marks that I picked up on another dimension. I pulled one of the large gold coins out of the poke and rolled around in the palm of my hand. They probably wouldn't recognize where it was minted, nor the emblems that were minted on it. Three of these could probably get me enough money to put me up in a nice place until the next portal opened up, but how to trade it without arousing any suspicion. Hmm. Then I hit on it. Channeling up some of my power, I sandwiched the coin between my two hands and let it heat up just enough to melt the features of the minting. I opened my hands to reveal a flat piece of gold that had only barely visible evidence of having been minted. I bent one of the edges slightly and voile. The result of an electrical fire in my living room where my late uncle's coin collection was kept. Now all I needed was a bank. With three more similarly affected coins in my pocket, I walked down the street to, what I hoped was, the business district. There had to be a bank of some kind there and if there was, I could have a nice room and a soft bed for the night, maybe even a place with room service. As I rounded a corner, I came to a place called 'SMT First National'. This had to be a bank, what else ever called itself first national? As I walked into the lobby, I immediately noticed the metal detectors. With all the metal things in my backpack and satchel, I thought it would be a good idea to leave them there. With my satchel and pack safely tucked under one of the lobby chairs, I passed through the metal detectors with out so much as a beep. To top it off I was in luck; a teller was just opening up her window. As I approached the window, the cute young bunny greeted me with a smile, despite my fearsome appearance. "Welcome to Supermegatopia First National," she said, "How may I help you today?" As I was about to ask her my first question, I heard the metal detector behind me go off. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the bank guards take his nightstick out of his belt and charge the intruder. As soon as he did, he was thrown across the room like a sack of potatoes. I turned around to see the largest koala that I had ever seen before. This guy was at least six and a half feet tall, and half that across the shoulders. He wore: combat boots, camouflage pants, and an oversized T-shirt with the large yellow letters "B.F." emblazoned on the front. Strapped to his back were a pair of wooden baseball bats, and sitting in his hand, was a small black kitten. "Alright people you know the drill," he said gruffly, "Just hand over the money and nobody gets hurt." The young bunny immediately began to empty her cash drawer into a bag. "Is everyone in this bank allergic to cats?" I asked nonchalantly. The teller looked up. "Huh." "All he has in his hand is a kitten," I said, "What's the worst that could happen? He gives you a couple of runs in your pantyhose?" The rabbit gave me a rather serious look. "You're new here aren't you?" she asked. I nodded, politely. "That rather large gentleman over there refers to himself as Brute Force," the young bunny explained, "The drill is either we give him all the money, or he crushes that little kitten that he's got in his hand." As she said this, a sensation of someone rubbing my newly grown fur the wrong way came over me. I stormed up to the bank robber, snatched the kitten out of his hand and said: "Look you ugly so and so…" and I went on for about fifteen minutes, telling him what a bully he was picking on defenseless kittens, little old ladies, and cute bunny bank tellers. I don't think he understood a word I was saying, but I had him so flustered that he couldn't get a word in edgewise, and so I finished my tirade with: "…now please exit the bank." All of a sudden, it got rather quiet in that bank. Slowly, Brute turned around and got all of three steps before he suddenly turned around and said "Now just one minute!" He suddenly took a swing at me with a bat that suddenly appeared in his left hand, to which I caught with my right hand. "You'll have to be faster than that, Brute." Suddenly the other bat appeared in his left hand, and as he swung it at me I realized that I couldn't catch the other bat because my left hand was full of kitten, and that I was going to have one heck of a headache. The sound of a whip-crack and clatter of half the bat falling to the floor fills the air. As I opened my eyes, I see the broken bat in his hand and the other half of it across the room, spinning around on the floor. "Wha happon?" I asked. A groan from Brute, and a familiar looking gash in his shirt gave me the answer, as I began to wrap my tail around my waist again. I had a gash like that on one of the shirts in my backpack; I also remember what the welt that came with it felt like. It's one of the things you have to watch out for when you fight with Vegeta. "Are you alright?" I asked him. Brute nodded as he rose to one knee. "Are you sure?" Once more he nodded, as he got to his feet. I slowly escorted him through the metal detectors and into the lobby. "Well if you're sure," I said, and with that I left him to his own devices. "Wow," muttered the teller, "I didn't think anybody could do that to him. A Johnny one punch." I shrugged. "No, you're being modest," she continued, "Not even Ferret Man or Weasel Boy could take Brute down with one punch." "Who?" I asked, accidentally sounding like a tourist. Within a couple of minutes, I had a little over seven hundred in currency in my pocket. I made a mental note to thank Bulma whenever I saw her next. She had made me a set of I.D.'s in my Moonbeast form, that were totally legal, they even had my real world name and address in them and everything, so everything I did at the bank was kosher. In the lobby, I slipped the straps of my pack over my shoulders and reached for my satchel only to find it gone. I became furious, not only did the satchel have the bag of coins in it, but it also contained my scouter and portal tracker, and until I got them back, I was stuck here. "Yeah," commented Amanda, "Those spandex shorts look good on you, and the pink and black top will go good with them." Delilah stretched the garment over her massive body and noticed herself in the mirror. The top looked to be stretched tighter than it was supposed to be, making the rabbit giantess look as thought she were wearing a bra instead of a top. "I think it's a little small, TL," said Delilah blushing slightly. Amanda looked at the oversized bunny, and decided that she was right. "Hmm, I have another idea," said the feline. She pulled out her pink oversized shirt with the neck cut extra wide so it would drape off of Amanda's shoulder. Delilah traded the spandex top for the shirt. On Amanda the garment's hem draped down to her waist, on the Valkyrie, it looked like a cropped top. "Perfect," said Amanda with great exuberance. Delilah looked in the mirror, she agreed wholeheartedly with her friend. "I like it," said the rabbit. The door opened as Gretchen Vayne entered. "Amanda, have you seen my- oh, what are you all gussied up for Delilah." asked the matriarch of the Vayne's. "We're going to a club with Monty and Owen tonight," explained Amanda, "Doesn't Delilah look nice?" Gretchen rubbed her chin for a moment. "She needs something," she said finally, "I know." The matronly woman vanished from the doorway and soon reappeared with an oversized box in her hands. "The leather shop sent this over," said Gretchen "It was a gift from a secret admirer, but someone got the size wrong. It's too big." Gretchen pulled the string off of the box, and took off the lid. In the box was the biggest black leather motorcycle jacket a leatherworks ever made. Gretchen stood on a chair in the room and draped the jacket over Delilah's shoulders. As the Valkyrie slipped her arms into the sleeves, she soon discovered that the coat fit her body perfectly. "Perfect," said all the girls in unison. "Are you girls ready?" called Montgomery Vayne from the bottom of the stairs. "No," Amanda called back, "We're up her in the nude with Buck Naked." "Oh, well say hello to Buck for me." "If I didn't know Monty already," said Amanda, "That would have been funny." Gretchen watched as the children piled into the car. As Owen started the ignition, Gretchen waved to them and told them not to stay out to late. They were gone for the night, and Gracie would be at the library practically forever. As the car's taillights vanished in the distance, Gretchen stuck her head in the front door. "Warm up the generators, Janice," she called up the stairs, "The kids will be out all night!" A loud squeal of enthusiasm echoed through out the Vayne mansion halls. Chapter 3: I had a pretty good idea of who had taken my satchel, and I knew how to find him later if I needed to. What I needed now was a room with a bath and a good meal in my stomach. I checked into a room at something called a Motel Twelve. It was like a Motel Six, only it had room service. That was good, I needed it. After about three hours in the shower, I grabbed one of the oversized motel towels and tried to dry off through the thick coarse fur. That took another hour. While I was toweling off, I ordered some food from the kitchen downstairs. Just as I finished dressing, there was a knock at the door. A feminine voice said room service and I got up to open the door. The first thing that I saw was two trays of food, the smells of chicken fried steak, gravy, and French fries assaulted my nose, as if I hadn't eaten in a year. As I lifted the lid off of the first tray, I stiffened as I saw the face of the girl who was serving me, a young buxom cat with golden brown fur and blonde hair. I immediately recognized her as the feline who led me to this island. I began to sweat a little. I didn't want to start a fight here in the room; it could be dangerous for anyone else staying in the building. I said thank you, tipped her, and she went on her way. An hour later I was fed, full, and bored out of my skull. As I opened the door to go buy a newspaper, I suddenly found myself lifted up off the floor by the lapels of my jacket. The young feline was back. "I thought I recognized that jack-" CHOOM! Needless to say I don't handle surprises too well. I was surprised that the room held up as well as it did, there were a few cracks in the plaster and a little soot here and there, but other than that… Okay, so I broke the lamp, that I can pay for. I soaked a washcloth in cold water and draped it over my would-be assailant's forehead. As she held the cloth on her head, I shook the plaster dust out of my jacket and fur. The young feline sat up on the bed. "Are all the people on this island nuts," I asked, " Or is it just the national custom to attack any stranger who comes to this island." "You were following me," she replied, "What was I supposed to think? I would either wind up in a bizarre team up, or in a super massacre that would have rocked the heavens. So if you not going to kill me or ask for a team up, what are you, some kind of super powered tourist?" "Super powered, interdimensional, accidental, tourist," I explained, "My 'ride', such as it is, left me floating over the middle of the ocean. You were the first thing that came along that might have led me to land. I just followed you in hopes of getting somewhere that was dry, and maybe had some food on it. Other than that, I didn't really give a care about where you went." "You weren't looking for a fight?" she asked. I rolled my eyes at her and shook my head. "Lady, I have a base power reading of ten thousand and forty five," I explained, "That means on my worst day, I would have more than enough power to finish anything I start with anyone on this island. What I did to the room, was just a hiccup compared to what I am capable of on most other worlds." "'Most' other worlds?" she asked. I nodded and then told her what I had gone through with Decai and his goon squad. Suddenly, she wasn't all attitude, somewhere she found a little more sympathy for me. "I guess I can relate," she said, "Guess how I got my powers." I thought about it for a moment as I looked over her body, trying to be a gentleman about it and not undress her with my eyes. "Okay how?" "Aliens gave me a boob job," she said. I looked at her with semi-serious credibility. "I'm serious," she continued, "Watch." She stepped out onto the motel walkway and took off her shirt revealing a bikini top. She had a nice perky set of C cup breasts, but as she basked in the setting sun, I see them gradually getting bigger. She didn't put her shirt down until she was at least a generous D cup. "I soak up every stray erg of energy around me no matter where it comes from," she explained, "Unfortunately as a side effect my bustline tries to bust through my bikini. Needless to say I was a little ticked when the media named me The Buxom Gal." "Ouch, your right," I said, "I prefer Buxom Lass, it suits you more." I thought she would try and hit me again, but she didn't. Instead she sauntered over and gave me a bump with her hip. "So how does a nice guy like you wind up in a place like this?" she asked, I decided to tell her everything. About the portals the worlds that I had visited, all four of them, the friends I had made and the few enemies… "You're actually kind of a nice guy," she said, "I was planning to go to a club later tonight, would you like to tag along?" I nodded; I didn't have anything better to do tonight and a club would be a change from what I usually did. "Sure," I said, "By the way my name is Kyle, what's yours?" "Molly," she replied, "Molly Caitlin Ursula Patton." It was a spectacular night, Delilah found herself on the dance floor with tons of good music that made her feet fly through the tempo. It made her reminisce of Valkyrie war parties that were held after a victorious battle; those nights proved that she was as good a dancer as she was a fighter. The other dancers gave the Valkyrie a wide berth after she clobbered one poor guy with her shoulder. Owen brought four colas to the booth where he and Monty were keeping the seats warm. The weasel kept his eyes on both Amanda and Delilah, as the two girls set the floor on fire with their dancing, Delilah with her high stepped tribal movements and Amanda with maneuvers reminiscent of ballet and gymnastics. "Those two can really dance," said Owen, "Don't you think Monty?" "Everyone here, is dancing," the yak replied "Or else they wouldn't be here, would they?" There were days, a few rare days mind you, when Owen found a sort of profound meaning in what the Mighty Yak said. On other days, however, Owen just wanted to hold a Geiger counter up to Monty's head. Anything that dense had to be made of pure uranium. "Wondering what's inside Monty's head again, Grandson?" Owen turned around to see his grandfather; Alexander Vayne, had snuck up behind him. Though it appeared the former vigilante had come to the club sans his mask and costume, a pair of bulges under the arms of his jacket told Owen that his grandfather had not come unarmed. "Hey! What's an old fart like you doing in a place for young people like me?" teased Owen. "Bite your tongue," replied Alexander, "I will have you know that there is a perfectly good establishment for old farts like me downstairs. There's a pool hall with a bar and three tables. Your scaly buddy with the white hair is down there as well." "The Dark Iguana is downstairs with you, and the floor doesn't look like Swiss cheese yet?" asked Owen, "Grampa you're slipping." Ferret Man whacked his grandson with the back of his hand. "Too many bystanders up here," explained the aging vigilante, "Innocent and otherwise. Besides he's just here on chaperone duty." "Sunflower's here as well? Lovely…" said Owen exasperated, "Where is she?" "Blasting her way through the video arcade," replied Alexander, "They are being harmless for once. Guess what I heard." Owen looked at his grandfather. "I give up what have you heard?" he said. "Your buddy Brute Force got his butt handed to him today while he was robbing a bank," said Ferret Man. Owen took a swig of his cola. "Who'd he run into," asked Owen finally, "Zippy and The Dynamo Girls again?" Alexander shook his head. "No this guy's new," he said, "Some kind of tourist, but they said Brute swung a bat at this guy and he broke it with his tail. Also left a gash in his shirt and a welt across Brute's chest." "Whooo, ouch," said Owen, "I hope Bertram's all right. When he's not being a criminal, he can be a pretty nice guy." Alexander nodded, Brute might be a bad guy, but he never hurt anyone, badly, that didn't deserve it. Owen sipped his drink and gazed across the room. As he did this, a thought of mischief passed through his mind. He waved Delilah over and whispered something into her long furry ear. A similar look of mischief formed itself into a smile and a giggle as she set off for the bar. Alexander's face took on a puzzled look as he wondered what was about to happen. "Something I should know about Grandson?" he asked. "Watch," said Owen. Ferret man watched as the big bunny sauntered over and tapped on the shoulder of a youngish fur, in about his mid-twenties. As the young fellow turned around, a look of terror appeared on his face and quickly slipped past the huge bunny and, at very high speed, vaulted over the booth Owen and Monty were sitting at. The fur was crouched under the booth and whimpering. "Presenting the presently MIA, Mongoose Lad," said Owen, then to the cowering fur "Where you been Jon?" Jon Grey, a.k.a. Mongoose Lad, peeked over the top of the booth and gave the trio a disgusted scowl. "I should have known," said the disgusted mongoose, "She never goes anywhere unless she can keep you in sight." Alexander Vane grabbed Jon by the scruff of his neck and hauled him up. "My grandson asked you a question," said the vigilante, "and I would appreciate you answering." Ferret Man released his former assistant. "It's okay Grampa," said Owen, "If he doesn't want to tell us, he doesn't have to. We can always have Delilah ask him." As Jon slumped under the back of the booth, he spoke up. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you," said the mongoose, "Ever since Delilah came back for Owen, I've been hiding out at Doctor Nesbit's lab." "Whoa…" said Owen, "And the winner of this year's Glutton For Punishment category of The Darwin Awards. Jon, I believe you have gone just as mad as the good doctor." "It seemed like a good idea at the time," said Mongoose Lad, "I would rather put up with what Nesbit could do to me than go one on one with Delilah again." Jon placed his hand to his side as a twinge of phantom pain reminded him of his last encounter with the Valkyrie. "Only I got cabin fever from being cooped up in the lab for so long," Jon continued, "I just didn't count on Thunder Bunny coming to this particular club tonight." "Oh, my poor slave." The mongoose automatically stiffened in fear. The voice that came from behind him was much sweeter sounding than when he last heard it, but the imposing size of the Valkyrie still frightened him. Delilah gently wrapped her arms around the still shaking Mongoose Lad. "It was partly my fault you were hurt so badly," said the enormous bunny, "I should have realized exactly how powerful I was and how much force you could take." Delilah picked Jon up and kissed his cheek. "Friends?" asked the Valkyrie. "Friends," said Jon, as soon as he had realized that she meant it, he stopped shaking. Delilah put Jon down and picked up her glass of cola, and drained it in one gulp. "Next time dearest, bring me a full pitcher," said Delilah as she shed her leather jacket, "You can seriously work up a thirst out there." "I will remember that," said Owen, then to his grandfather, "What's the matter Grampa?" Alexander's face had furrowed into a grimace of deep concern. "Remember that guy I told you about, the one who stopped Brute Force from robbing the bank," asked Alexander. Owen nodded. "He just went downstairs into the pool hall," Alexander continued, "And your scaly friend is still down there." Chapter 4: In the temple of the ancient pine tree god, Louis Cardon tries to sleep. On his ancient throne, the super-villain known as Carrion sits in repose trying to dream; looking for a way to escape his situation of undeath. Just as the sun goes down, he dozes off. "Louis Cardon… Awaken… " Carrion snaps out of his "slumber" with a jolt and quickly looked about the temple, no one. Who had spoken, perhaps one of the zombies? No, for he had temporarily removed his spell of living death from them so he wouldn't be disturbed. Well if not them, then who? "Louis Cardon… I am here…" That came from behind the throne. The throne had been built flush into the face of a low wall and over the centuries: lichen, eroded stone dust, and moisture had sealed the ancient seat to the wall. "Strange…" Louis thought to himself. He tried to dig his bony fingers into the grime filled crevice and pull the throne away from the wall, but to no avail. He would need help. A gray fog covered the undead sorcerer's empty eyes as he returned the spell of undeath to the dead bodies lying on the floor of the temple. "Rise," said Carrion, "Rise and give assistance to your master." The bones on the floor began to stir and assemble themselves into skeletons. The still fleshed body of a semi-famous explorer was the first to arise. "You summoned us master?" "Yes," said Carrion, "Help me move the throne." "Why," asked one zombie, "Are we moving?" "I hope so," said another, "This place is a dump." "I maybe we're just redecorating," said the first. "Just help me move the throne!" said Carrion. As the zombies' fingers scratched and scrabbled around the join, they soon managed to get a finger hold in the join and with a bone shattering heave, they pulled the throne away from the wall and revealed a large chamber that went deep under the floor. Carrion lowered himself into the chamber and found with in there a corridor leading downward. The corridor lead to a large metal door. Carrion carefully examined the door and the metal that it was made from. "Orichalcum," thought the sorcerer, "What could be so important that it would be sealed behind a door of orichalcum?" Carrion pulled on the door with all his skeletal might, and with a sudden heave, the door swung open and bathed the corridor in a glaring red light. Behind the door was a room that contained a tall pedestal, and at the top of the pedestal was the source of the light. A large ruby, the size of a cow's heart, lay on a pillow at the top of the tall column. Carrion stood in awe of the great amount of power that lay before him. "Louis Cardon… I am here… Free me…" The voice had been coming from the gem. "Who are you?" asked Carrion. The light dimmed slightly. "A means to an end…" said the voice, "Perhaps to that you seek…" Carrion took up the gem and examined it closely. "Perhaps you are at that," said the sorcerer. The minute I got into the club, my ears were assaulted by a torrent of loud music. Don't get me wrong, it was good music, but it was just so dang loud. I watched Molly walk onto the dance floor and then turned away to find some place that was a little quieter. I looked around the room and found a stairway leading down. As I came to the door, I could smell chalk and talcum powder, only one thing could be behind that door. As I opened the door, I saw that my guess was right. Before me were three brand spanking new pool tables, as well as a rack of cues, a wet bar, and an iguana sipping a Cuba Libre. The whole room had been soundproofed so the noise from the dance floor up stairs didn't interfere with the games of the pool sharks down here. I selected a cue and went over to the bartender to ask for a rack of balls. As he handed me a rack, I noticed that the bartender seemed nervous for some reason. His eyes kept twitching towards the iguana for some reason. I set up a table for nine ball and took my first shot from the corner. My break put the seven in the far corner pocket and lined up the one for an easy sink. I could strangely feel the eyes of the bar patron on the back of my neck. I shot the one into the corner and then the two and the three in the side in the same shot. "Impressive," said the iguana. "Just luck really," I said, and then sank the nine with the four. "Join me for a game?" He turned his head slightly. "I'll just watch you thanks all the same," said the iguana, and then he took a sip of his Cuba Libre. I re-racked the balls and fetched the cue ball for my next shot. As I choked up on the cue, someone came in to the room. He looked to be old, but not ancient, like the grizzled veteran of some long forgotten war. I could see a pair of bulges under the old soldier's jacket, and then curbed my curiosity there. I remembered reading how, after the war, Audie Murphy slept with a gun under his pillow. "Similar symptoms," I thought, "Different war." I dropped the eight ball in to the near corner with the break and the one into the right side pocket. As I lined up the three, I noticed someone else come in, a young fur with a red pelt. As he sat next to the older fur, I noticed a bit of a family resemblance. Weasels maybe, or ferrets, I couldn't really tell. As I set up the rack for another game, the small group was joined by a mongoose with gray fur, and a yak; it had to be a yak, no other bovine is that red nor that shaggy. Then finally, in came the last member of the group, the biggest daing bunny I had ever seen. She was a jaw dropping sight to look at; she was at least seven feet tall. I would guess that at least three quarters of her total body weight was muscle. Her fur was snow white and her hair was blonde. For a rabbit, she was truly stunning. "Is he staring at me, Owen?" asked the bunny "You tend to have that effect on people, Delilah," Owen replied "You are sure they are in there?" asked Carrion. He was standing in an alley across from the club, along with eighteen of his reanimated creations; six of whom had belonged to the order of the Knights of Acre. "Yes… Louis Cardon…" said the stone, "Your enemies…and… mine…" Carrion and his undead entourage walked across the street; as they approached the front door of the club they were immediately blocked by one of the clubs enormous bouncers. "Ten dollars," said the enormous badger, "Apiece." Carrion gulped, he didn't have a penny, farthing, or anything else on his person. Now what was he to do? "Present me…" said the ruby. The sorcerer took the ruby from the folds of his cloak and presented it to the bouncer. "Will this cover us all?" asked Carrion. Suddenly the ruby flared with a baleful red light; thin tendrils of vapor wafted up and drifted into the bouncer's nose. The large fur began to breathe heavily, and then suddenly he doubled over with pain. As the badger stumbled off into the far alley, Carrion walked unchallenged into the club, followed by his bane of minions. It was going to be a good night Sunflower was exasperated, she was master of thirteen different styles of eastern martial arts, and half that in western styles, plus she had a few thousand years experience, and she was getting her butt handed to her by Tiger Lass and a video game. "That's four," said Amanda, "Shall we go for five?" The Dark Iguana's daughter raised her hands in defeat. "No," she replied, "No I think I have lost enough for tonight. Besides, I'm thirsty." The video arcade was equipped with a fully stocked juice bar and soda fountain. Amanda led the way and ordered a pitcher of cola and two glasses. "Two pitchers," amended Sunflower, as she paid the extra money. As she took one of the schooners in her hand, she said: "Now I'm going to show you something I know I can beat you at." With that she put her lips to the spout and up ended the pitcher. Amanda's jaw dropped as the huge vessel was emptied in a matter of seconds. "Amazing," said the tigress. "No great feat," said Sunflower, "I just happen to have had the advantage of being born long before the under twenty-one laws. I started doing that when I was thirteen, and practiced until I could do three flagons of ale at a time." "Three flagons?!" said an amazed Amanda, "That is amazing." Sunflower shook her head. "It just takes practice," she said, "Here you try it." Sunflower pushed the other pitcher into Amanda's paws. "Okay" she said as she placed the spout to her lips. "Go slowly," Sunflower advised, "And try to relax the muscles in your throat." Amanda took the lovely young iguana's advice as she carefully poured the pitcher into her mouth. Slowly, the cool bubbly fluid trickled down Amanda's throat and into her stomach, filling her until she thought she would burst. Finally she had to put the pitcher down, with just about an inch of liquid in the bottom and Amanda gasping for breath. "Not bad for a beginner," replied Sunflower, before she ordered another pitcher. Amanda swallowed and then loosed a burp through her nose. "Oh… how do you deal with feeling so full, Sunflower?" she asked. The iguana took a sip from her schooner. "You just get used to it," she said, "It's a lot easier on the system when you're drinking ale or something of the like; the alcohol numbs your stomach and you can enjoy the sensations a lot more. Kinda feels like taking a bubble bath from the inside. Sometimes after you get used to it, you start drinking more and more, just to see how much you can hold. It can be a lot of fun." "Well," said Amanda, "I guess there are weirder ways to get you kicks." Sunflower nodded with a smile and then began to start on her second pitcher. As she got halfway to the bottom, something in the crowded arcade caught her eye, pale ripple of cloth and a flash of blue. "Getting full?" asked Amanda. Sunflower shook her head and then swallowed the drink in her mouth. "I thought I saw something," she explained, "Hmm, maybe it was just my imag- Amanda look out." Sunflower dropped her pitcher and grabbed the tigress by her hands and hurled her to the other side of the room, just as a massive broadsword smashed through the counter of the soda fountain. "Oh crud," said Sunflower under her breath. Chapter 5: The line to the restroom had stretched across the room; the circumstances found Ferret Man and The Dark Iguana, both of them after having way too much to drink, in the alley behind the club. "So what do you make of him," asked Alexander. The Dark Iguana looked up from the ground. "I am not really sure," the reptile replied, "He's definitely not from this country, Probably not even from this world. He has a great deal of power though, I can feel it radiating off him." "Think he's an alien?" asked Vayne "Or a problem for The Continuity Police," the iguana replied, "He plays a decent game of pool though." Alexander started to giggle. "I liked it when he asked who you were," he said, "'Lemme guess, your some sort of pool shark and this is your fan club.' I tell you Dark, I just about wet my shorts." "It wasn't that funny," said Dark. "I agree with you, it's just that my bladder was that full." Dark groaned as he held his head in his hand. "Woo, I feel about five pounds lighter," said Alexander, "Ready to go back in?" "Yes, I shall teleport us back in so we don't have to-what was that?" Dark went over to the end of the alley. "What is it?" asked Alexander. The reptile pulled away a bag or two of trash and then shouted: "Alexander, get over here!" The sexagenarian ran over and pulled a pocket flashlight out of his jacket. The light's beam revealed the heavy badger that was the club's bouncer. The skin under his fur was red in color, his fur was soaked with sweat, and his pupils were dilated. "What's wrong with him?" Vayne asked. Dark pried the badger's mouth open and then quickly turned his face away in disgust at the smell. "Damn it," he said. "Bad breath?" asked Alexander. The Iguana shook his head. "Smell." Alexander used his hand to waft the scent to his nose. "Whoa." The foul odor of decay assaulted his nose worse than from any corpse he'd been anywhere near. "Know that scent well, Alexander," said The Dark Iguana, "For this is the Red Fever, an ancient plague, and the reason I am as you see me today. I thought it had been fully eradicated." "Okay, so how do we cure it?" asked Alexander. Dark placed his hand on the bouncer's chest. "We can't," said the reptile, and with a flash, the bouncer disappeared. Dark slipped a hand into the folds of his cloak. "I shall resurrect him when we can do more," he said, "For now we must go back inside, or more will suffer this fate." "I'm game," said Alexander as he tore off his breakaway clothes. Beneath the disposable garments were the hero's costume, and a pair of .41 caliber automags. "Let's rock." The game had picked up a few new players, Owen challenged me to a game of eight- ball, and Jon, the mongoose, was teaching Delilah the rules and methods of the game. I didn't see where the old fart and the iguana had gotten to, but I wasn't concerned with that at the moment. I was more concerned with sinking the four, without knocking the eight in after it. At the time I could feel the hair on the back of my neck beginning to rise for some reason. It was an uneasy twitch that made me feel as though something was about to happen. Suddenly the pool hall door burst open as two people suddenly rolled down the stairs and through the door. One of them, a young iguana (iguaness?), with red hair stood up and helped a pretty tigress to her feet. "I had forgotten how well those guys can fight as a team," said the red head. "Kyle Johnson," said Owen, "Meet Amanda Davenport, and Sunflower. Just what were you two fighting about anyway." Amanda shook the splinters out of her hair. "We weren't fighting each other," she said, "There are a whole bunch of dead guys upstairs and they're causing a panic." "Dead guys?" I asked. "Zombies," Jon replied, "Carrion's minions, this bunch must be pretty nasty to throw Sunflower down a flight of stairs." Sunflower nodded. "Six Knights of Acre," she answered, "Some of the best warriors to ever swing a broadsword." I laid my cue down and walked over to the door. "This I have got to see for myself," I said. As I opened the door, there framed in the doorway was a huge badly decomposed body, holding a huge claymore over its head. Suddenly in one deft move, the corpse swung the sword and sliced through the doorframe, towards my head. "No," I shouted out of reflex, and then the door, the stairway, and the zombie disintegrated in a huge blast of red. In one corner of the dance floor, there was a huge flare of azure. As the magic of the Dark Iguana faded, he and Alexander Vayne stood on the floor ready for anything. Unfortunately, anything didn't include a huge explosion coming form the poolroom. As the smoke cleared and the debris, and little bits of zombie, fell to the floor, Alexander could see figures emerging from the stairwell. The new guy led the way, his tail swishing back and forth just inches above the floor. Following him was Sunflower, who looked mad enough to decimate, and Tiger Lass, dressed in her costume. After them came Jon and Owen, in the identities of Weasel Boy and Mongoose Lad, with Delilah and Monty bringing up the rear. The whole room was in a blind panic, zombies of all shapes and states of decay were attacking any people who stood still long enough for the dead to catch up to them. Ferret Man and Dark struggled through the panicked throng, and made their way over to the others. "Off hand, I'd say we have a problem," quipped Alexander. "Off hand, I'd say you were right," Kyle replied, "So what say we do something about it? Amanda, would you please get the nice dead peoples' attention?" Tiger Lass nodded and then put her fingers to her lips before blowing an ear piercing whistle that shattered two glasses on the wet bar. As the remaining patrons and zombies turned to face the small group, Kyle announced: "Ladies and gentlemen, the good guys have arrived." The dead released the living from their grasp and then started after the heroes. The zombies got no more than a few steps when a massive burst of energy rocked the club and decimated a quarter of the undead's ranks. From the blast cloud, a rather shapely silhouette flew into sight. "Who's that," asked Owen. "I believe that's my date," Kyle replied, as Buxom Gal landed beside him in full costume. Owen's jaw dropped as he saw the heroine land. "You got a date with her?" he said. "He's a nice guy," Molly replied, "And he doesn't treat me like a sex object." "I thought we were here to kick zombie butt," said Delilah. Kyle nodded and then said: "Let's do it then. CHARGE!" The heroes launched themselves headfirst into a full charge and plowed into the line of undead. The reports from Ferret Man's twin automatics rang out above the din of the fighting, as Delilah and Kyle slammed a pair of zombies into each other. The undead minions' bones flew apart as they collided. As Delilah picked up a stray femur to use as an impromptu club, Kyle let his power rise, and channeled it into a ball between his thumb, fore, and middle fingers. "YAM-CHA FAST…BALL!!!" The red orb streaked across the room and went through three zombies before detonating with a boom against the far wall. Kyle watched as the undead creatures crumbled, one after the other. Sunflower's scream of rage echoed through the whole club as she flew through zombie after zombie. Her short yet powerful claws doing more damage to the undead than any weapon in her private collection could do. With the speed and agility of a green mamba, Sunflower would dart between legs and over heads, and rip out vulnerable, but vital, bits of flesh from the undead horde. However, even the swiftest of serpents can be caught…and killed. A ripple of blue out of the corner of her eye is just enough to distract the Dark Iguana's daughter. As she hesitates for but a moment, she feels the heavy blade of a claymore slam into her chest. The ancient blade is long since been dulled by time and dampness, but the heavy blade is still enough to break three of Sunflower's ribs. As the lizardess slumps to the floor, the undead soldier raised his sword over his head. "MIGHTY CHARGE!" The ivory colored tips of the Mighty Yak's horns pierce through the front of the knight's armor from behind; the zombie was then lifted up into the air and then slammed forcefully into the floor while still impaled on Montgomery's horns. The Acre Knight shattered violently, as bones and pieces of armor scattered everywhere, leaving the backplate swinging slightly off of one of Montgomery's horns. "Are you all right," asked the yak, offering his hand. Sunflower nodded and pulled herself up. As she carefully straightened her blouse around her chest, she noticed that Monty wasn't wearing any clothes. "Monty?" she asked, "Where's your costume?" "Huh?" "Your costume," repeated Sunflower, "What you normally wear under your clothes." "Owen just told me to wear my breakaways," said Monty, "He didn't say anything about my costume." " Monty…" "BLAST FORCE!" I watched as three zombies disintegrated in the wake of the shockwave and two more flew across the room. The reports of Ferret Man's guns rang out loudly as his carefully aimed headshots sent minion after minion back into eternity. From across the room I watched as he fired his last three rounds. As the slides of his guns locked back, Alexander fumbled as he tried to dig another couple of magazines out of his pocket, only to have the Cosmoline coated clips slip from his hands and clatter to the floor. Ferret Man dove to the floor to grab a magazine, only to have it kicked away by a panicked club patron. As Alexander scrambled for the magazine, one of the zombies raised an axe over its head and ran towards the aging sentinel. There was no time to lose. "BALL LIGHTNING BLAST!" I watched as the crackling white ball soared across the room and incinerated the undead creature. "Pay more attention to your opponent Alex," I said loudly. A massive burst of energy and undead body parts flew over from behind me. I turned to see Buxom Gal standing behind me, plasma streaming from her eyes, and smoke trailing from one hand. Her normally full figure was looking somewhat flat. "You should take your own advice sometime," she said. "Are you all right?" I asked. Molly nodded. "I'm alright," she said, "But I am running on empty. I could sure use a recharge of what you've been running on." I placed my hands on her shoulders. "Ask and you shall receive lovely lady," I said, as I let my powers rise. As an aura of power began to visibly surround me, I tripped the mental trigger that would channel it into her body. "POWER FLUX!" I felt the power race through my arms and into Molly's slender body. I received a rude shock as her bustline burst out of her costume. "I think you got a little carried away," said Molly, holding a pair that were each the size of a pumpkin. "Sorry," I apologized, "Without my scouter I can't accurately measure my powers; it's like trying to get the hot and cold in a shower just right, with out sticking your fingers in the water. It's difficult." "It's alright, it was an honest mistake," replied Molly, "And one that's easily fixable." Buxom Gal snapped her wrist out and loosed a spectacular arc of energy towards Carrion's undead warriors. As Molly tucked her still spectacular assets back into her costume, she winked at me and then turned her attention back towards the zombies, which proceeded to crumble into dust. Looking about I saw that there were about ten zombies, including three of the claymore-wielding knights, that had survived the melee. As the undead stood shoulder to shoulder with weapons drawn and at the ready, we stood nine abreast, with Delilah in the middle, and Sunflower behind the Valkyrie. "Ready," Delilah called out. "Set," replied Sunflower. "Then go," Delilah commanded as she turned around and cupped her hands together. As Sunflower put her foot in the bunny's hands, Delilah heaved the iguana girl into the air and over our heads, where she somersaulted with a twist, and landed behind one of the undead knights. Sunflower then put her hand straight through the warrior and grabbed hold of his claymore. She then: pulled the sword through the knight's body, twirled it over her head, and then used the ancient blade to cleave the undead creature in half vertically. An energy burst from me, Molly, and Dark disintegrated six more of the creatures, leaving one apiece for the rest to handle. I especially liked watching Amanda fight; with amazing speed and grace, she subjected her opponent to a flurry of blows that left the zombie seriously punch drunk, before making three long, angular swipes with her paws. The zombie stood there for a moment before collapsing into four large, rotting pieces. "Was that the last of them," I asked. Dark looked about then shook his head. "No," he said, "For we have yet to encounter Carrion. He is the master of this ilk." "Somebody mention my name?" Standing on top of the bar was a skeleton dressed in a cloak as dark as night. Held high above his head, was the biggest ruby I had ever seen; it glowed with an ominous light. "Ladies and gentlemen, Carrion has arrived," said the walking nightmare, "And with him he brings your demise." Chapter 6: "Damn I wish I had my scouter," I muttered to myself. I couldn't tell what this ruby was capable of with out my miraculous little device. The skeleton cackled to itself madly as the light from the gem radiated throughout the room. Man what I wouldn't give for a distraction of some sort right now. "Now then who should I unleash this new horror on first, hmm?" the skeleton, they called him Carrion, cackled. Suddenly the ruby flared and a blaze of energy streamed forth from the gem snaking it's way towards Delilah. I grabbed the enormous bunny and hauled her into the air. The blast from the gem caught me in the back, and burned away part of my jacket; now I was mad. As I let Delilah drop to the floor, I channeled all my energies into my fist until it was white hot. I then dropped to the floor myself and charged at the undead sorcerer. The gem loosed another blast of energy towards me, which I blocked with my burst of my own, then tried to bring my burning fist down on the pile of bones who wielded it. Carrion ducked as my fist slammed into the wall behind him. He cackled madly as he pointed the gem at me once more. However before he could do anything I lashed out with my foot and sent him rolling across the room. I then pulled my fist out of the wall and let my power rise. "BALL LIGHTNING BLAST!!!" Carrion was pinned to the wall by the ball of high velocity plasma. As the light from the blast faded, a singed and smoking Carrion fell to the floor, one bone at a time. "Oh yeah!" shouted Delilah with great enthusiasm. She was enjoying seeing Carrion getting his butt whipped for taking a shot at her. "Get him!" she shouted. "Yes…get him…" Delilah's ears perked up, as though she had heard something, something strange. The Valkyrie looked around the room only to find the ruby that Carrion had been holding just before; had it spoken to her? "Yess…" Delilah picked up the balefully colored gem and turned it over in her hands. It was a strangely shaped ruby; in fact if she didn't know any better, she would say that it was once a heart that had been transformed into a ruby. She held it up to the light and examined the jewel. To her eyes it looked as though there were a blob of something pulsing inside the gem, as if a heartbeat throbbed inside. "Yesss…" Slowly the beat grew faster and faster, as it beat the light began to pulse in time with the sinister rhythm. Slowly a fugue began to drift through Delilah's mind as she turned the gem over and over, examining at every detail. Slowly her grip on the ruby began to tighten; it was subtle, barely noticeable to the Valkyrie. As Delilah's hands explored every curve and line in the odd jewel, the muscles in her hands tensed tighter and tighter, her nails began to dig into a crack… "Yes!" Dark was elated, never before had he seen a fight of this caliber. As soon as Carrion would ready a new attack, this newcomer would vanish and then appear somewhere else. "Amazing," the Dark Iguana said under his breath. The ape loosed a massive charge of energy at the undead sorcerer, only to be clouded in a sheath of mist from Carrion's eyes. "When was the last time you saw a battle like this Delilah?" said the immortal lizard. No response. "Delilah?" Dark scanned the floor until he saw the big bunny standing with her back to him, a deep red light strobed from in front of her. An uneasy feeling creeped up the iguana's spine, as he began to creep around to see what was causing the foreboding red glare. As he came around to the Valkyrie's front, he spied the ruby that Carrion had been holding in Delilah's pure white paws. "Get rid of that thing, quickly!" he shouted. And just then, the crack in the gem widened just a hair. It sounded like lightning, not the deep rumble that comes after a strike, but the immediate nerve-rattling crack that comes from a bolt that strays too close to your house. And that's exactly what it was, nerve-rattling. I turned my head to see Dark thrown against the far wall, and poor Delilah sprawled on the floor. In the middle of the floor there was an ominous cloud of smoke and shadow, that seemed to creep forth from the gem, crawled along the floor. At the edges of the strange haze, were pairs of glowing dots each glowing like sickly fireflies in a fog bank. As the fog came closer to the two of them, the mist seemed to rise up like a thunderhead. "Ooh." Delilah rose up on her elbows, and rubbed her sore head. "What hit me? It feels like-Ahh!" A claw lashed out from within the deadly nimbus and left four deep slashes down poor Delilah's back. I couldn't stand by anymore. "BALL LIGHTNING BLAST!!!" I watched as my technique streamed through the air and down towards the towering fog and passed straight through. There had to be something solid in that wall of mist or else how could it have attacked Delilah? It was like the fog was protecting what ever was in side of it… or maybe… I channeled my power into the tips of my fingers. I then let the little sparks fly towards the cloud, and into the mist. As the sparks passed through the nimbus, I knew what to do, just not how to do it. I landed next to Ferret Man. "Alexander, do you have any thermite bombs on you," I asked, "We need to heat up that cloud." Ferret Man searched through his belt before coming up with an oddly shaped grenade. "All I have is white phosphorus," he replied, it that hot enough?" "It will have to be," I said taking the grenade from him. I pulled the pin, waited a few seconds, before I threw the bomb into the mist. When it detonated, the light from the burning phosphorus revealed the form of a tall sinister something with many arms. I knew there was something there besides just mist. I began to power up once again but before I could use my technique, one of those long taloned arms reached out of the nimbus and after Delilah. "Leave her alone!!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. It felt like I had swallowed a rat-tail file about as wide as my arm, as a huge torrent of energy rushed from my throat and into the nimbus. The force of the torrent raged through the fog, pulling it away one wisp at a time, like wool from a spindle. Slowly the wisps of fog drifted away, and revealed a towering, six-armed monstrosity. Its skin was covered with heavy scales that were a sickly green color, not like the healthy vibrant green Dark or Sunflower had. It was more like the skin of someone who was severely seasick. It's neck was half as thick as Delilah's shoulders, which was understandable. For the creature sported three heads, each as large as a beachball. The first one resembled a Chinese peasant, human, short hair with a somewhat flatish nose. Anywhere else and he probably would have only gotten a second look, until he smiled. His mouth was bristling with the teeth from at least three different kinds of sharks. The head in the middle was somewhat less fearsome. Its scalp was completely bald, as though it were shaved clean. Its features too were oriental, those of a stately grandfather. Its eyebrows and Fu Manchu mustache, were salt and pepper. The middle head looked almost completely human save for two things; its ears were slim and pointed, and just between its parted lips were a pair of short, vampire-like fangs. Just enough to inspire a bit of mild terror. The last head, however, truly belonged to a monster. The ears and fur of a bat, combined with the face of a koi, including the long trailing barbules. The last head opened it's mouth to reveal a set of short chisel shaped teeth; then it released a scream that sounded like a cross between the shriek of a bat and the dying gasps of a fish long out of the water. The energy from my blast splashed off of the beast like water from a nozzle. The creature used all six of its arms to shield itself from the torrent of energy; but from what I could see, the attack was having little effect on the creature. As I tried to keep this thing away, I saw Owen and Monty slip in and pull Delilah well out of harm's way. With one less thing to worry, I ceased the blast, grabbed Dark by his cloak, and hauled him to a safer local. "What is that thing?" I asked. Owen shook his head. "I don't know," he said, "but this would be a great time to test out Gracie's cybernetic gauntlets." Weasel Boy slipped on a pair of arm length gloves; he then twitched his fingers a bit, causing the integral circuitry to illuminate. The eyes in Owen's mask lit up as well as the new heads-up display was activated. Owen charged the creature, striking the creature in the abdomen. Sparks flew as the gauntlet sent a massive energy discharge into the beast. The creature stumbled back a few feet, then lashed out with three of its six powerful arms. Owen ducked one of the ogre's arms and blocked the remaining two, causing more sparks to fly. Owen changed his tactics and used his natural agility to leap over and through the demon's attacks, to dizzy the creature. Every now and then he would strike at a vulnerable area left open by the confused monster. Sparks would fly as the monster stumbled forward and back under the protector's rapid assaults. Suddenly, Owen appeared across the room; inside his mask, the HUD lined up with the creature's solar plexus. As the display sounded a tone, the circuitry in Owen's gauntlets began to glow, as they charged with energy. Suddenly a hum filled the air and a huge surge of energy zapped from the gloves and straight into the monster's torso. The demon was slammed against the far wall, leaving a huge dent in the plaster. As the beast slumped forward, it caught itself with two of its hands, and stood up. As Owen's gauntlets were recharging, the beast charged, attacking relentlessly. It struck Owen with each of its fists, one at a time but in rapid succession. His face soon was black with bruises and red with blood. He couldn't take much more of that kind of treatment. Suddenly Molly loosed a huge blaze of energy at the demon, knocking him across the room once more. As the beast struggled to get up I saw that something stronger was needed and quick. I settled down to center my energies; as my consciousness left my body, it projected somewhere into my fighting spirit. I could feel my power building and being magnified. King Kai once tried to teach me how to use the Kaioken Attack, but my body simply couldn't take the strain. Finally, I found a similar technique in a scroll in his basement; it was the same technique, only projected outside the body in a tremendous surge of spiritual energies. "TATAIODOKEN!!" I launched towards the demon in a tremendous fulguration, surging with my own fighting spirit, only with out my body to limit me. I charged into and through the monster, letting my energies do whatever damage they did. I looped around and channeled back through the beast from above. I then looped my fighting spirit back through the demon's chest; this last attack slamming him through the wall. Somewhere in the noise and chaos of the attack, I thought I heard the sound of bone breaking. I let all the power in my attack surge into a single powerful burst, and then launched it at the beast. As all of the energy left my fighting spirit, my consciousness settled back into my body. "Where'd it go?" someone asked. I stood up to look out through the hole left in the wall. There was no sign of the demon, not hide nor hair. It had simply vanished. "How can something like that just come and go with out being noticed?" I asked. "You'd be amazed," Owen replied, "There's a robot who's just as big; he loiters at bus stops and no one notices him." I had to sit down, the Tataiodoken had drained me. I reached into my pocket for the small stash of tsen-tzu beans I kept there. I popped one of the candy-flavored beans into my mouth and crunched on it before swallowing it down. "Anybody need a pick me up," I asked as I offered them around. Delilah and Alexander each took a bean. As the effects of the bean recharged my strength, I began to wonder about the demon and where it came from to begin with. "The demon's name is Lu Yueh," said Dark, "He's the god of epidemics; his specialty being the Red Fever. He was the reason I have lived for so long, and the reason I have my lovely wife and daughter. That ruby the demon was trapped in, it used to be my heart." Chapter 7: As we walked up the stairs to my room, I could see Molly shuddering in the porch lights. The night was warm, so I knew it wasn't the temperature that was making her shiver. "What he said scared you, didn't it?" I asked gently. Molly shook her head. "Not so much what he said," she replied, "But it was how he said it. Like it didn't matter at all to him. He said it as though we could all just rip out an organ and trap a demon in it anytime we wished." "Maybe that's why he said it like that," I explained, "Maybe it's just that simple." "Doesn't mean I have to like it," she replied. I took the key to my room out of my pocket and unlocked the door. Molly went in ahead of me. She sat down on the bed and undid the clasp on her halter. "Is it alright if I stay here a while," she asked, "After all that, I don't want to be alone right now." I nodded gently and sat down next to her. As the other clasp of her halter fell open, her now petite bosom came into view. "Running on empty," she said looking down at her chest. She snuggled up next to me and wrapped her tail around mine. "I don't suppose you'd mind giving me a recharge?" Molly asked, "I prefer having a full bust when I am with a guy I like." I wrapped my arms around Molly from behind and cupped her bodice in my hands. As I slowly channeled energy into her body, her bosom grew in my hands and soon began to overflow. "Not so big," she chided, "I want to be full, not huge." "What's wrong with being huge?" I asked. "If I get too big, I can't move," she said, "They get so heavy I can't get up." I stroked one of the swelling orbs in my hand. "These aren't for moving," I said semi-seriously, "They are supposed to bring pleasure." I resumed massaging her glorious front and soon had a purring bundle of golden fur in my arms. Soon, her handfuls had grown into lapfuls, that's when I stopped the slow influx of power that I was sending to her body. Molly turned around and hugged me tightly. "You're right, it does feel good," she said, "But why'd you stop?" "I figured you were big enough," I said, "You said you didn't want to get too big anyway." "I changed my mind," she said. Molly pounced on me pinning me to the bed with her tremendous assets. "Make me bigger or I'll smother you." "Okay, " I said, "Just remember that you asked for it." Somewhere under the city, Lu Yueh is hiding. The last fight broke the neck of Tan, the head with the shark teeth, and weakened him considerably. He needs to rest and to plan. This new warrior is a formidable opponent; just as the one before, the one who trapped him. That one lives as well. Lu Yueh must deal with them both and quickly. After about an hour, Molly's magnificent bust filled the bed, and had me trapped in her cleavage. Buxom Gal laughed at the sensations that were traveling through her body. "I never knew how nice this felt," said Molly, "I'm glad you did this." She reached into her burgeoning bustline, took hold of my hand, and kissed my cheek. "I just hope I can get back to normal after tonight," Molly said finally. I kissed her in return. "Don't worry about it," I said, "Just enjoy it." I stroked under the swell of her breast and got a response that I wasn't ready for. Molly took a suddenly took a deep breath in and held it tightly. As she did, she began to glow with an aura of power that lit up the dim room. Soon Buxom Gal began to glow brightly, the shock came when my soft prison became tighter as Molly's bosom began to balloon bigger and bigger. Just as her back touched the ceiling, her whole body illuminated, and she screamed with pleasure. Suddenly I had a purring glowing armful with a nicely full bosom. "Oh wow," she said as she finally came around, "That felt amazing. The first orgasm these things have given me, and it's the size of a mountain." She draped an arm over my shoulder and smiled at me. "Let's do it again," she said smiling. Lu Yueh sits in ponderance; there are more than the two warriors here. There are many here who can fly and with such powers, where did they all come from. Tracking down the two warriors will have to wait, he will have to incapacitate the rest of these heroes, and quickly before another one figures out a way to trap him, maybe forever this time. The Red Fever, he thinks, maybe that will be enough to stop these heroes. He will have to work fast to do so. Molly snatched the transband from my wrist. "This is the thing that makes you an ape huh?" she asked. I made a grab for the device, but she was too quick for me, for once. "Give it back," I said. "Nuh uhh," she said, "You started this, now I get to play with your powers." Molly giggled as she slipped the transband over her wrist and opened the face. She touched one of the keys on the tiny panel and triggered something. In a brilliant flash of light stood a lovely young human female. She had golden tan skin with golden blonde hair to match. She had slim arms long legs and tiny feet. She also had a bust the size of a melon patch. "This feels great," she said finally, "No fur to cover up the skin, I feel everything. The slightest breezes in the room, the softness of the carpet, the tightness of my costume, it all feels wonderful." Molly walked over to the bathroom and stripped off her costume, to admire her new body. "Your kind has a good thing," she said. Molly sauntered over to me and wrapped her arms around me. "You're so soft," she said. Molly took my hand and pressed it into her deep cleavage. While she had it trapped, she slipped the transband back around my wrist. Molly then touched a key and in a flash, I was human again. "Molly," I said, "What are you doing." "Skin," she said slipping my shirt over my head, "It feels so much more wonderful than fur." As she tightened her embrace, my energies began to flow into a charged aura around me, causing my heart to beat faster and my breath to quicken. "Am I making you lose control?" she asked as her golden bust began to grow just the slightest bit bigger. Indeed she was, for her touch was electric and her caress a brush stroke of fire. She then jumped up and kissed me her tongue parting my lips. I then lost my balance and fell over backwards onto the bed. "Good choice," she said as she straddled my hips, "I said that one of the reason's that I liked you was because you didn't treat me like a sex object," she explained, "But now, I want to be treated like a sex object." And with that she kissed me passionately on the mouth and straddled me. "Now are you going to charge me up," she said cupping her breasts in my face, "Or do I have to find a way to do it myself?" I was simply speechless. "Looks like I am going to have to do it for myself," and she reached for the fly on my jeans. Lu Yueh pulls loose teeth from Tan's mouth and places them onto the ground before him. He then trims off parts of Li's, the middle head, mustache with his claws and then drapes the trimmings over Tan's teeth. Then, with a sudden jerk, the last, the nameless head, gives a loud snort and then hocks a wad of phlegm over the whole pile. The sound that emerges from this last action is reminiscent of acid being splashed on metal. As the pile now begins to smoke and bubble, a red vapor drifts up into the air and through the grates and ventilation systems of the city. Soon no one will be able to oppose him. What we were doing under the covers couldn't really be called cuddling. More like Molly was on top of a pair of earthballs and was trying to smother me with them. "For the first time since I received my powers, I feel good," she said. I slipped out from under her tremendous assets and rolled her to the floor and maneuvered her around to where she could sit on my lap. I lightly dragged the tips of my fingers along the curve of her bosom, causing the massive orb to shudder. "I like this," she said as I slipped behind her and pulled the covers over our legs. "Why don't you charge me up a little more, just a little." "How much more," I asked. A look of mischief crossed her face. "Oh, when they touch the floor and the ceiling." I suddenly found myself trapped in her cleavage, I was facing her and she had her arms wrapped around me tightly. "And I'm not taking no for an answer." Then she put her hands on the small of my back and pulled me towards her. "Are you sure this is where he's staying?" asked Alexander. "The sensors in the cave said that this was where the energy readings were coming from," Owen replied. As he finished his statement, the air became charged with energy. Suddenly, a huge crack thunders through the air as a blaze of light illuminates the whole parking lot, and leaving the air smelling of ozone. "Whoa," said Owen. "At least we know where to find them," replied Alexander, "We'll come back in the morning." Molly snores like a kitten; it's cute and kind of sweet. I find myself trapped in the enormous swells that her breasts have become; she's right, it does feel pretty good. A simple movement brings a smile to her face, and causes her eyes to open. "I think we overdid it," she said finally as she struggled out from under the covers. Her breasts were taller than I was, but they didn't quite reach ceiling. I kissed one of Molly's enormous nipples. "Ooh, do that again," she said. So I kissed it's mate. I could almost see the tingles running along her skin. Molly then shuddered with pleasure before pillowing her head against her enormous bosom. She began to snore quietly as she finally fell asleep. As she lay in blissful slumber I slipped the transband back on her wrist, and hit the reset key. Molly's skin glowed as her golden fur and pointed feline ears of her normal form returned. I then took back the transband and then transformed back into the Moonbeast. This time, it wasn't as traumatic. As I looked at Molly, I could hear her purring underneath her snores. Cats, I thought. I drew up the covers and went to bed, sleeping against Molly's enormous bosom. Chapter 8: I started the morning by brushing my teeth, an interesting task since my new muzzle had so many more teeth. I spit the toothpaste into the sink and washed out my mouth with a bottle of complementary mouthwash. I looked out into the bedroom to see that Molly was still sleeping blissfully on top of her boobs. As I pulled on my jacket, someone knocked at the door. As I walked over to the door, I first began to rub Molly on that sensitive spot just under her breast. The whole room filled with light, as her eyes popped open and she shuddered with pleasure. "Well," she said, "That was a pleasant way to wake up." She pulled the covers off and picked her costume up off the floor. "There's someone at the door," I said as she finished clasping her costume back together. I opened the door way to reveal the grizzled countenance of Alexander Vayne and his grandson, Owen. "Can we come in?" the old ferret said. I stood aside and let the pair in. "Have you seen the news today?" asked Owen. I shook my head. Owen went over to the television and thumbed on the switch. There on the screen was the image of a young elk buck in an surgeon's mask with a microphone in his hand. "The mysterious sickness reached plague proportions," the reporter said, "As nearly half of the city's occupants have come down with this strange illness in under six hours." "What is going on around here," I asked. Owen shook his head and frowned. "All this started a few hours after we fought Lu Yueh," he said, "Now practically the whole city is being infected with this strange crud." "And you're thinking that our three-headed friend is causing this?" I asked. Owen nodded solemnly. "Come, " said Alexander, "We're holding a war council of sorts at Vayne Manor. We could use all the help we could get." "Of course we'll come," said Molly, "I've always wanted to see inside Vayne Manor anyhow." "Could we make a quick stop on the way there," I asked, "There's something I need to retrieve." Bertram pushed down the toaster lever, and turned on the oven. His wife, Debby, had caught this awful sickness that was going around the city, and he was making her breakfast in bed. He then took two eggs from the fridge, broke them into a bowl, and then beat them with a whisk. Then he chopped a little onion, some bacon, crumbled some cheese, and then added them to the bowl. Bertram then poured the mix into a pan he had warming on the stove. As he folded the omelet over, he scooped it out of the pan and placed it on a stack of paper towels to let the grease drain off. Now he needed just one more thing. Bertram walked to the front door and as he bent over to pick up the newspaper, Bertram found himself being hauled up by the scruff of his neck. "Okay Brute, I know it was you who took my satchel, now where is it?" When Brute came back with my satchel, I reached into it and pulled out my scouter. "Come to papa," I said as I fit the little device over my eye. Owen and Alexander had followed me into the house. "That's what we came for," said Alexander, "A stupid piece of glass." "This stupid piece of glass, as you so lightly put it, is a compact sensor and heads up display," I explained, "It may be the only way we have to find Lu Yueh. It tracks power levels and energy sources accurately down to the decimeter." "If you guys are done arguing," said Brute "I am going to take Debby her breakfast." Bertram went into the kitchen, and returned with a tray of food. He took it into one of the back bedrooms, and closed the door. When he came back out, Owen and I were the only two still in the living room. "Debby's got it doesn't she?" Owen asked, "The Red Fever." Bertram nodded as he put the tray in the sink. "She got it last night," he said, "It's not very bad, she can sit up and such, but it's enough to keep her in bed." "Keep her warm," I said "That's about the best you can do." "Maybe Dr. Nesbit can find a way to cure it," said Owen, "When she's not pigging out on donuts." Bertram smirked. "I'm gonna tell her you said that," he replied. Owen launched into a flurry of mock begging and pleading that gave Brute a chuckle that he desperately needed. At the Vayne Family Manor, we were met in the kitchen by the Dark Iguana, and a male lion with an odd helmet. Beside the cat's chair was a silver engine with heavily padded straps; I assumed that it was some sort of rocket pack. Owen introduced him as Rocket Bob. Dark looked more somber that he did last night. "Well over a millennia ago," he began, "A band of nomads traveled on a pilgrimage to the holy temple of Rashakakana, their Goddess of Death. The nomads normal trade route had been blocked by a devastating landslide, forcing them to take another route. The job of scouting this route fell to the caravan's leader, his guards, and his three sons. While searching out this route to the temple, the Caravan Master came upon a small village. The men of the village were staking a young girl out beside the walls of their village and left her to die. The Caravan Master's youngest son, a brash and impulsive young man, drew his sword and attacked the villagers in an attempt to free the girl." "Before the Caravan Master's son got within striking distance of the group," Dark continued, "He was stopped by an old man, one of the village elders. The elder pleaded with the young man not to interfere, that the girl was willingly sacrificing herself in order to prevent a demon from sending a plague from wiping out the village. The girl didn't appear old enough to make a decision about the color of her dress, and the Caravan Master's son knew it. He pushed the old man aside and, with three of his father's guards, attempted to free the girl, when the demon appeared." "Lu Yueh," I assumed. "Mm hmm," The Dark Iguana said with a nod, "He killed two of the guards before the Caravan Master's son wounded him. When the young son saw the beast's wound close before his eyes, he told his father and the Caravan Master ordered his sons to make a run for the Death Goddess's temple, while he stayed to hold off the demon as best he could." "They ran!" said Dark with a strange emphasis, "They ran as fast as their legs could carry them. It was three days later before they saw the demon again. It tried to trap the brothers in a mountain pass. The oldest brother, Haaloch climbed to the top of the pass, and using his halberd, caused a rock slide that buried the demon and himself just long enough for his brothers to get away. A fortnight later, the demon caught the two remaining brothers hiding in a forest. The middle brother, Kadram, was master of the bearded axe, he could fell a tree with one swipe of his magnificent weapon. He led the demon on such a wild goose chase, that the youngest brother, Ahura, made it to the Temple of Rashakakana three days ahead of the demon." "Ahura spent this time wisely," said the Dark Iguana, "He studied the writings on the temple walls and in the scrolls at the Death Goddess's altar, searching for a way to stop this raging demon. Then he found it, a scroll describing the demon, what he was, and how to cure his plague, but it was written in code, as some sort of prophecy. 'And she will come, a girl with golden hair, and her spark of life will drive out the red fever.' The scroll also told of a way to trap Lu Yueh." "Following the instructions in the scroll," the Dark Iguana continued, "Ahura made a special brew from the herbs growing around the temple. When the potion was ready, Ahura drank it down and waited for the demon to appear. When Lu Yueh arrived at the temple, Ahura felt a great power surge through his body. With a sudden jerk, he dug his claws into his own chest and pulled out his own still beating heart. Ahura then tore a rip in the pulsing organ, loosing all the power that was contained within. The tendrils of energy surrounded the demon, and pulled him inside the heart of the Caravan Master's youngest son." "Whoa," said Molly. She was listening intently with her head propped up on her hands. "Whoa indeed," said the Dark Iguana, "Slowly, Ahura's heart began to crystallize into a ruby and, after three days without his heart, he died. After another three days, the Goddess of Death, Rashakakana herself appeared. She took the now crystal heart and spirited it away to some secret hiding place that only gods and goddesses know about. The goddess then returned and restored life to Ahura's body and bestowed him with immortality so that he could survive with out his heart. After a few centuries, when Rashakakana's followers were reduced to a handful of isolated monasteries, Ahura began courting her. They were married, and she bore him a daughter with red hair, whom he happens to be very proud of. And that children is how he you call the Dark Iguana came to be." "And now, because of Carrion, Lu Yueh is free," Dark continued, "And with him, he brings back The Red Fever. This stuff makes the Black Death look like the common cold. So far no one here has died, but this will continue to get worse, the agony that this disease brings is beyond unbearable. Even I wouldn't inflict it on anyone, not even Carrion." "So that's why you…" began Alexander. "That's why I incinerated the bouncer as quickly as I did," Dark finished, "He would have been in agony for days before he died. This way when a cure is found, I can revive him so that he may receive it." "There are days that you don't seem as heartless as we know you are," said Bob. A puzzled look passed over the iguana's face. "If that was meant as a complement, Bob," Dark said, "You need to work on your conversational skills." "Hey," said Monty, "Where are Amanda and Sunflower?" "You mean dumb and dumber," someone said. We turned to the door to see a tall fur in stirrup pants and a leotard standing in the doorway. "What's wrong Janice," asked Owen. "Yesterday I bought the groceries for the month, including what I thought was enough soda to keep Delilah's thirst quenched for a week," she said, "I wanted a glass of soda so I go to the pantry and all of the bottles are gone, vanished without a trace." "How much did you buy," asked Owen. "Twelve bottles," Janice replied. "That doesn't seem like very much," I said. She looked at me funny. "Twelve three-liter bottles doesn't seem like much?" asked Janice. Right, I had forgotten that it was Delilah we were talking about. "What happened to the soda, Janice," asked Alexander. The old ferret's question was answered by a double toned vibrato belch erupting from the next room. "What the hell…" asked Alexander as he stood up. "They're what happened to the soda," Janice said. Alexander looked around the door. "Great googly moogly," he said. I got up to take a look. There sitting on the floor were Tiger Lass and Sunflower, both of them with a belly blown up to the size of a beach ball from the twelve empty bottles that used to be full of soda. "Uhh Dark…" I said, "You want to take a look at this…" The tall iguana peered into the room, put his hand over his face, and slowly shook his head. "Now you know why my hair is white, despite my immortality," he said, "Imagine what it's like having to live with a teenage daughter for a few centuries." "Well," said Janice, "Right now, I am going to do the cruelest thing I can think of to get even." "And what's that?" asked Dark. "I'm going to lock all the bathrooms and hide the key," Janice said with an evil grin on her face. "You wouldn't dare!!!" shouted Amanda and Sunflower in unison. Chapter 9: Delilah rolled over slowly in her bed. Her shoulder was still throbbing from the battle last night and the Valkyrie tried to do nothing to aggravate it. Slowly the door to her bedroom opened with a slow creak. "Delilah?" It was Mrs. Vayne. "Delilah, it's nearly noon, are you getting up?" Delilah raised herself with her good arm. "Yes, Mrs. Vayne," Delilah replied, "I'll be right down." And as she raised up, the blanket fell off of Delilah's shoulder, Gretchen inhaled sharply and screamed. The sound brought the whole mob up from the kitchen, including the very bloated Sunflower and Amanda. "Gretchen, honey," said Alexander, "what's wrong." Then they saw Delilah's shoulder. The area around where Lu Yueh had clawed her back festered overnight and the flesh had turned a dark purple. The cuts themselves had reopened, and scabbed over, caking Delilah's pure white fur with dried blood. "This is wrong," said Kyle "This should be healed. Delilah ate one of my tsen-tzu beans." "Lu Yueh has many plagues at his disposal," Dark said, "This is another of them, the Rotting Sickness. We'll have to cauterize this, or it will only get worse." "Del," said Kyle, "Hold still." Suddenly the tips of three of Kyle's fingers became burning white. He stuck the tips into the sores on Delilah's back causing the Valkyrie to stuff a pillow into her mouth to muffle the scream. Down in the cave: "I didn't know Delilah could scream that loud," said Owen, as Bob set his rocket pack on Gracie's workbench. "Well, she was in a lot of pain," Bob replied, "And having to watch wasn't the most pleasant event that I have ever had the experience of having." "Speak for yourself," said Gracie Vayne as she zipped up her coveralls, "I'm just sorry I missed it." "No your not," Bob replied, "It wasn't pleasant to look at. Three-sixteenths socket please." Gracie dug the shiny bit of metal out of her tool box and handed it to Bob. "Did you redesign your rocket pack, Bob?" Gracie asked. "Yes I did," said Bob, "The main booster is a vectored thrust turbine that adds lots of maneuverability. Combined with two side auxiliary thrusters, I can go up to Mach-Two in a hurry. But most of the time I just use the main booster." "But then why the other two thrusters if you just use the one?" asked Gracie. Bob looked up from his work and picked up the loose end of the belt and opened the buckle. Inside the buckle was a small red button which he pushed. Suddenly the rocket pack unfolded, causing the two smaller thrusters to separate and hang akimbo on either side of the pack. Each was held aloft by a slim but sturdy robotic arm. Lastly a pistol style grip and trigger unfolded from the bottom. "I thought I needed some heavy artillery in case I ran into one of the big boys," Bob explained, "Each smaller thruster has a quarter of the power of the main one, thus canceling out the recoil. Now if I can just clean out these igniter points." CHOOM!!! "Note to self," said Bob, "Turn off fuel supply when working with igniter points." I needed to burn off a little energy, so I decided to do my katas in the Vayne's extremely large backyard. I cleared my mind and focused. After I started my second series of block and strike techniques, I began on a few of my lower powered attacks. After a volley of Fastballs and a set of Disrupter Blades, I began to lose my balance. I sat down on the lawn to recover. "Wow," said Sunflower as she came out the back door, "You're good." I shrugged. "Considering how and where I was trained," I said, "I am about average." "That's about average?" she said taking a fighting stance, "Prove it, c'mon, full contact all the way, just you and me." I stood up and dusted the grass off my butt. "As you wish," I said. I BLURRED and then reappeared behind the iguaness, and slammed my elbow into the small of her back. She flew off of the verandah steps and into the middle of the yard just inside the hedge. "Just don't complain if you get hurt," I said. Gretchen Vayne poured black coffee into the Dark Iguana's cup and then set the cream and sugar beside the pot. Dark stared wistfully out the window. "Are you going to stop them?" asked Gretchen. Dark shook his head. "Sunflower called the challenge," he replied, "She'd hate me if I even tried to interfere." "Oh…" said Gretchen as she sat down in the chair beside him. They watched as the strange ape got piston kicked in the gut and rolled backwards across the yard. After about an hour of watching, Gretchen said: "Did you ever think that your daughter would ever show an interest in boys." "No," said Dark, "But what makes you think she's interested in him?" "Well, they've been at it for about an hour now," said Gretchen, "And not once has she tried to kill him." "Good point." Sunflower launched into a series of backflips, before she could go over my head, I grabbed her ankle, swung her around airplane style, and watched as she skipped along the ground and tore a huge divot out of the sod. In a flash, she was up again and speeding towards me on all fours. As she came within arms reach of me, I dodged to one side and caught hold of her tail. For a moment, I hesitated not knowing what to really do with her like this. My pause gave her the opportunity for a shot to the solar plexus, which connected. I went down on one knee gasping for breath. Sunflower then hit me with that thick tail of hers and sent me rolling along the ground. As I got to one knee, Sunflower hit me with a strong piston kick to my chest, and sent me flying across the yard. I didn't know what to do about her next. I let my power rise until it made my fur stand up on end and then I charged. As I attempted to hit her, I realized just how fast Sunflower really was. She could dodge every blow by just a few inches and still have enough time to try and land a punch or two on me. Suddenly, she backflipped away from me and landed a couple of yards away. As Sunflower readied her next attack, she suddenly went to her knees, and doubled over as if she were in pain. She then covered her mouth and nose with her hands. "Are you all right?" I asked, concerned that I had done more damage than I had intended. Sunflower waved me off, then her eyes widened in a look of panic and instantaneously, she exploded out of her clothes. "This is embarrassing," said Sunflower. I had to agree, there setting on the lawn was an inflated green sphere that was bigger around than I was tall. Only Sunflower's head, tail, hands, and feet stuck out from her swollen mass. "What happened," I asked. "It had to be all the soda I drank," said Sunflower, "All that back-flipping must have shaken it all up." "Are you all right?" I asked again. Sunflower nodded. "It doesn't hurt or anything," she said, "In fact the cool grass feels kind of nice like thi-whoa." "Is something wrong?" I asked like an idiot. "I'm beginning to float," Sunflower said, and she was right. My fur had prevented me from noticing that the air had become cooler than before and with Sunflower all full of warm gas from the soda…oh boy… She hadn't been rising very fast, but I panicked and just reached out and grabbed. Sunflower's face reddened slightly, and when I saw where I grabbed, mine reddened a lot. I didn't even know iguanas had breasts, or that they got embarrassed. I released her and grabbed onto her foot, and then pulled her towards the house. As we passed a clothesline, I grabbed a dry sheet off of the line and tied it toga style around Sunflower's body. Now she could have some degree of modesty. As we walked up the verandah steps, we ran into Monty coming out of the French doors. "Nice balloon," said The Mighty Yak, "Do you think you can get me one like it?" I was about to explain what happened when Sunflower bumped me to get my attention. "Just nod and say yes," she whispered in my ear, which I did. "Do you mind if it's not the same color?" I asked. Monty shook his head. "I'd just like one," he replied, "I'm not picky about colors, I just like big balloons." "Okay," I said, "I'll see if I can find one." Then with a smile and a wave, Monty trod out the door. "What was that all about?" I asked Sunflower and with a smile on her face, she told me. I knocked softly on the door to Delilah's room. "Can I come in?" I asked. "Yes you may," Delilah replied. I opened the door and found Delilah sitting in bed reading. "How are you feeling?" I asked. "My shoulder still hurts," the Valkyrie replied, "But other than that and being a little tired, I'm good. I saw you sparring with Sunflower out on the lawn earlier, what happened." "Ah what do you mean?" I asked. Delilah sat up a little straighter. "Well you went past the window, where I couldn't see you, and then everything got quiet," she said "Who won?" "Umm, that's kinda why I'm here," I said opening the door wider. "Presenting the worlds first combination get well present/bunkie." I gave Sunflower's foot a gentle to pull her the last few inches through the door. "I didn't know what to do with her like this," I explained, "And I figured that she could at least keep you company until she deflated." I gave Sunflower a gentle bat and sent her floating towards the Valkyrie. "This is neat," Delilah said as she caught the floating lizard, "Are you alright?" Sunflower nodded. "I just feel kinda full," she replied, "It's nice kinda." Then she smiled dreamily and floated up with her back towards the ceiling. "She'll be great company," said Delilah, "If I get bored, I can just bounce her off the walls" Somewhere in the dark of the city, a pile of rubbish stirs in the bottom of a dumpster. "Poor Louis," a voice somewhere in the back of his mind says, "Why do you do these things to yourself." "Please," replied Carrion, "No more disembodied voices, no more…" "Do you not remember this voice," it asked softly, sweetly almost, "Does it not stir something where you long absent heart has been?" "Eve…" said Louis Cardon, "Eve Farmer, please let me finally be dead so that I may be with you." "No Louis," Eve replied as her spectral form faded into view, "For it is not to be, not yet.. You have brought a plague to this world, one so much more terrible than the one that took me from you. You must help to stop it, or for once in your long eternal life you will be truly alone." Carrion reached out to touch Eve but before he could, she faded. Louis then shook himself awake and lifted the lid on the dumpster. As he emerged, he could hear the sounds of suffering, of pain, and of vulnerability. He had not heard such sound since…since the plague. When he humble Louis Cardon was transformed into the lich Carrion, when his transformation caused him to be banished from the castle, and why he could not be with his beloved Eve when she… NOOOOOOOOOOO! Louis Cardon shot straight upright in the dumpster he had taken refuge in, he had been dreaming. After the fight at the club, he tried to control the beast that had emerged from the ruby, only to be thrown across the street by the creature and into a garbage strewn alley. The last thing he remembered was climbing into the dumpster hoping to heal. As he now emerged from the dumpster fully awake, he found that he was not assaulted by the sounds of plague as he was in his dreams, but by the sounds of stillness, quiet, and the occasional bird or dog. Louis realized that he had to help stop the beast, but where to find it, and how to stop it… Chapter 10: Delilah hissed in pain as she leaned forward to get into the limo. Her shoulder was beginning to get infected again and, thanks to Sunflower being in the room at the time, the whole house was alerted by an enormous belch that registered somewhere on the Richter Scale. This time they were taking her to a doctor, a Doctor Nesbit. "So who is this Doctor Nesbit you're taking us to?" I asked. "She's the most brilliant and twisted mind in the city," Gracie replied, "A real technocrat, her whole life is dedicated to messing in things the world was not meant to know." "Why do I have a strange feeling that I am going to be coming back to this world after I leave," I asked redundantly, as Gracie turned into the driveway. Marilynn Yamakawa sat at her computer typing in the latest data on the bones that had been brought into her museum. Three incomplete velocerapters, what was left of an iguanodon, and the skull of a ceratosaurus. All in all it was a good haul. "Miss Yamakawa?" It was Ed the janitor. "Miss Yamakawa, there's a gentleman here from City Maintenance. He says that the new dinosaur skeleton is to heavy for the platform it's on. He want's permission to take it to be weighed for a stronger pedestal." "Does he have the proper forms?" Marilynn asked. Ed nodded slightly. "Send him in then." A slender man in tan coveralls and cap came in bearing a clipboard. "Miz Yamakawa," he said, "Lou Cardon, City Maintenance. I need your signature on these forms so that we can take this artifact to be weighed and maintained for a new pedestal." "Right," Marilynn said, taking the clipboard from him. She signed the papers and returned the tablet to him. "All right," Cardon yelled out Marilynn's office, "Let's move it out." A few seconds later, Marilynn pulled a bottle of Sake' out of her bottom desk drawer, as she watched the heavily armored skeleton of a Paleoscincus walk past her door under it's own power. "Miss Yamakawa," said Ed, "Was that-" "Yes it was," Marilynn replied, as she poured Sake' into her cup. "He'd gone through so much trouble, it seemed a shame to spoil it for him." Charlotte Persimmon Nesbit looked through the eyepieces of her microscope at the strange bacteria that were infecting poor Delilah's shoulder. "This stuff is interesting," she said, as she prepared another slide. "These little guys are like grass-burrs, they are coated with fine cilia that are each attached to an RNA strand. Then the cilia pull the strand inside the cell, and then replicate more bacteria, or viruses, they seem to have the properties of both." "Can you do anything to treat her, or cure her," Kyle asked. Suddenly what he thought was Dr. Nesbit's aquarium, stood up on six stumpy crab-like legs, and scuttled over to the microscope. "We could introducing a substance that would neutralize the RNA sequences," said the aquarium. "We could, Jim," Dr. Nesbit replied, "The problem is we have to key the substance to the right sequence of RNA, or else her whole body would just unravel." She opened a laptop and began to click out a set of formulae on the screen. "Hmm," she said, then she looked up. Kyle was tapping buttons on her EDC, her energy to donut converter. In a flash of light, a perfect poppyseed bagel appears in the middle of the machine. Kyle snatched the goodie out of the machine and spun the bagel around on his finger, where a thin sliver of light gleamed across the diameter of the bread. He then caught two perfect slices of bagel off of his finger. Kyle then returned to the EDC, and pressed a few more buttons. In another flash, a goodly slice of ham and thick slab of cheese appeared and were caught between the two slices of bagel. Dr. Nesbit simply stood there, dumbfounded. Here was a total newbie to her lab, and he just does the impossible with one of her machines. Kyle turned to see the good doctor staring at him. "I'm sorry," he said, "Did you want a bite?" "How… how did… you do…" she stammered out. "Oh that?" Kyle replied, "It's an innate ability I have, I can figure out nearly any computer program almost instantly." The good doctor just stared at him as he munched on the sandwich. Then the phone rang. "Nesbit," she answered, "No I didn't send anyone down to pick up the new Particle Accelerator Cannon, We're not testing it until Thursday." Dr. Nesbit listened to the other end. "You're right," she said sotto voce, "That is unusual. All right, I will get back to you." Nesbit hung up the phone and then hit a speed-dial button on the side panel. The conference speaker rang a couple of times and then someone picked up. "`Allo," said someone on the other end, he had a rather deep German accent. Dr. Nesbit snatched up the receiver and put it to her ear. "Herr Bonehead I presume," she said. A few seconds went by. "This is Nesbit speaking," continued the doctor, "Where do you get off stealing my new Particle Accelerator Cannon. I haven't even had a chance to test it when-what?" A few more seconds of silence. "Are you sure," said Nesbit, "I see. Sorry for the mix up." The doctor hung up the phone. "Something wrong?" asked Kyle. Nesbit nodded. "Somebody went to our storage warehouse with a phony work order," she explained, "They stole the new Particle Accelerator Cannon, and I assumed it was Herr Skull-for-a-Head." "Why would you assume that?" Kyle asked. "The guard at the warehouse," Dr. Nesbit replied, "He said that the guy with the work order was seriously gaunt. Looked like he hadn't eaten in a month of Sundays." "Well then who else…"Gracie began, but then Doctor Nesbit cut her off. "It's not important right now," said the good doctor, "We have something more serious to deal with. Jim, start programming the variables into the computer." The aquarium suddenly stood up on the tips of its legs, as several small panels popped open around its base. Several long black cables shot out from behind the panels and linked up with the large computer panels and terminals on the wall. Suddenly the screens lit up with long strings of ones and zeros. "I'm noticing a pattern here doctor," said Jim, "Monitor three." As Dr. Nesbit looked at the screen, all Kyle could see were more continuous strings of binary code. "Your right Jim, there is a pattern," she said "But it's not the genetic code, it looks more like an energy frequency. Maybe these things got a dose of some sort of radiation that affects them. Look here, some of the viruses have been destroyed without infecting any living cells but they weren't affected by Delilah's immune system." Doctor Nesbit's eyes narrowed a bit. "Didn't we record an energy spike like this last night?" "Analyzing…" said Jim. More strings of binary appeared, only this time they were in a different color. "Umm…Hmm…" muttered the brain in the jar, "Your right, Doctor, there is a similarity. I estimate that we will need three to four more hours of analysis too find a match, or at least a similar frequency." "Yeah, then we can expose Delilah to the energy, and destroy the virus," said Doctor Nesbit, "Sort of like exposing her to Cesium rads to cure cancer." "On the nosy," said Jim. He retracted a few of his cables from the terminals and redirected them towards a different machine. Then the phone rang. "Nesbit," answered the doctor, "It's for you." She handed the phone to Kyle. "Yes," he said, "Where? Where? Well where is that from where I am? No, don't go into details, just tell me as the crow flies. Right, I'm sure I'll find it, it shouldn't be hard to miss. Okay thanks for calling, I will be there as soon as I can." Then he hung up the phone. "How do I get to the roof from here," Kyle then asked. "Through that door," said Dr. Nesbit pointing, "Go up three flights, and through the little door that says roof. Why, what's going on?" "They've found him," was all he would say. Chapter 11: Leaping out into freefall isn't something I do often. This time however, it seemed the to be the quickest way out of Dr. Nesbit's lab. As I leapt from the top of the building, I felt my power kick in and send me across the sky. I was looking for a downtown area, between a large mall and a new construction site. A sudden explosion and a plume of dark smoke led me right to it. As I landed, I saw the Dark Iguana summoning arcane energies from out of the air, Rocket Bob holding two heavy looking blasters in either hand, Alexander making sure that all his magazines were where they were supposed to be, and Molly about to split the seams of her costume. "Where are the others?" I asked as I landed. Molly turned to look at me. "Our friend with the three heads is in there," she said, pointing towards the alley between a grocer's and a hardware store, "Through there is a virtual maze of alleys and manholes that you can get lost in for a month of Sundays. Owen, Monty, Sunflower and Amanda went in there to try and flush him out." She slumped down to sit on the pavement. "It's been a couple of hours now," she said, "And I'm about to burst out of my costume because the Mister Creepy wannabe won't cool it with the pyrotechnics!" "Sorry," said Dark as the glowing around his hands ceased. "S'not your fault," Buxom Gal replied, "It's just that all this waiting is getting on my nerves, I wish something would hap-" Suddenly four costumed figures sped out of the mouth of the alley. As the rest of us turned to see the others jump behind two parked cars, several very loud explosions erupted from the alley one after the other. "How can anybody be that dangerous with a bottle of soda," said Owen as he stuck his head, "Would somebody please tell me that?" "I'd tell you," said Sunflower, "But then I'd…" "Umm, guys," said Monty, "I think he wants to know too." We all turned to see Lu Yueh charge out of the alley with a dumpster held high over his head. Owen and the others beat feet out from behind the car, as the dumpster was slammed into the side of the car by the demon. Molly opened up on Lu Yueh with a fury. The white-hot energies that poured off the heroine melted the asphalt as the blast struck the demon. Lu Yueh held up three of his scaly arms to block the brunt of the gale of energies that assaulted him, but even he could not deflect the full force of Buxom Gal's onslaught. I saw scales and bits of skin tear away front his arms and body. Through the blinding light of the attack, I could see that Molly couldn't keep up this attack for long. The normally overfilled bustline of her costume beginning to fall slack on her chest, and as she exerted the last of her stored energies, Molly fell limply into Alexander's arms exhausted by the final effort she put forth. As Lu Yueh lowered his hands from in front of him, we could see how much damage the beast had truly taken. Three of his arms had been severely burned and large patches of scales had been torn away. Most of the hair from his right head had been scorched off, and all that was left of the middle head's mustache was a thin line of soot. I began to think that all we did was make him mad. Suddenly, the display on my scouter lit up as the demon's energies began to spike. Lu Yueh channeled a huge surge of energies into his unburned arms causing a purple nimbus to surround his hands. Suddenly, someone pulled me out of the way just a Lu Yueh loosed a devastating beam of energy that missed me by inches. Bob aimed one of his heavy blasters at the demon and then pulled the trigger. There was a deep hiss and a whine from Bob's rocket pack as a huge torrent of super-heated fuel blasted the monster at close range. Bob played the jet out to where ever the demon moved to. As Lu Yueh turned to try and block the fiery jet, the dark god found himself under the onslaught of a new assault, as the Dark Iguana launched bolts of crimson arcane energy at Lu Yueh's third monstrous head. The hideous face turned to hiss and snarl at its attacker, Dark launched more crimson arcs at the beast, striking it about the neck and shoulders. Just then I realized that I had been just sitting there watching them when I could be helping. Suddenly two of Lu Yueh's hands put out a sickly cyan nimbus. As the creature aimed its callused paws at the Dark Iguana, I just then realized what was about to happen. "DISRUPTER BLADE!!" Lu Yueh roared with pain, as the blazing crescent quickly sailed across the short distance to sever the demon's extended arms, before fading out of existence. The cyan energy surrounding Lu Yueh's dismembered hands crackled loudly as they fell to the ground before disappearing in a blinding white flare. "I'm out," Bob shouted, as the heat from his weapons dissipated into the air. The right side of Lu Yueh's body was burnt to the bone, but we could see it beginning to quickly regenerate. Alexander pulled out a large cylinder from under his coat and twisted the top on it. He then tossed the device at the feet of the raging demon. Three seconds later, the top of the cylinder popped off and huge glob of jellied gasoline blooped onto the back of the demon and ignited. Lu Yueh roared with pain and clawed at his body as the fire crawled along his skin and charred his flesh. For a moment, it looked as though we would win, then my scouter registered a power spike, and we were suddenly thrown against the building behind us. When I regained some semblance of consciousness, it looked to be about sunset. We were all still there, including Lu Yueh, who was sitting on a car across the street. He was still regenerating, there were still patches of scales missing on his body, and the hair and fur on his heads hadn't grown back yet either. Lu Yueh stood up and walked over to where Dark was lying, hauled him up by the lapels of his cloak and began speaking to him in some long forgotten language. I didn't know what the demon was saying, but I recognized the tone of his voice, he was gloating, most heartily. He gave Dark a couple of shakes while talking in that ancient vernacular, then with one of his massive scaled arms, Lu backhanded the immortal warlord into the wall and laughed maniacally. "Stop it," I said, but the words came out as barely a whisper. Lu Yueh picked up the unconscious lizard with three of his arms, and slammed Dark into the wall across the building's corner. "Stop," I repeated, but the beast paid me no heed. It picked the bruised and battered iguana up and held him over its head. "Stop it!" I shouted hoarsely. A strange red beam struck the demon in the small of its back. Lu Yueh stood there paralyzed as a second beam, a blue one, found its mark slightly adjacent to the red one. Lu Yueh was pinned by four more energy beams each a different color of the spectrum, which formed a ring on the demon's back, before an enormous sphere of energy crashed into the demon's back. Plasma arced from the demon's body as it was thrown into the same wall he had used to batter the Dark Iguana mercilessly. "I must admit," someone said, "When I steal a weapon, I always steal a doozy." I rolled over to see what looked like a dinosaur with a cannon mounted on it's back, before I blacked out. "I must admit," Carrion said to himself from the back of the Paleoscincus skeleton, "When I steal a weapon, I always steal a doozy." Lu Yueh picked himself up from out of the rubble where he was lying in. His nameless head turned it's wide round eyes to see the bones of some strange armored beast bearing a huge, seven barreled cannon on its back. The head hissed loudly and two of the dark god's hands glowering with a dark purple nimbus came to bear on the creature. As two bruise-colored blasts of energy shot from the demon's hands, the giant beast leaned to one side to take the brunt of the attack in the armored plates of its back. The necromancer aimed the cannon towards Lu Yueh, and pressed his thumb on the weapon's trigger once more. The weapon began to hum as the six beams of energy came out of their respective barrels, paralyzing the demon, before the huge emitter in the center fired its sphere of energy through the ring of energy shafts to strike the demon in the chest. Carrion cackled to himself as Lu Yueh was slammed through the wall again. "Throw me into the side of a dumpster will you," Louis howled, "How do you like it you three headed freak." Carrion then violently thumbed down on the trigger again, only to have nothing happen. As the demon began to climb out of the rubble once more, Carrion opened a panel on the side of the weapon to find that the power gauge read almost zero. "I'm in trouble," the undead sorcerer muttered to himself. Louis Cardon looked to see the demon slowly walking towards him. "Come on you shambling hulk," Carrion said to his mount trying not to panic, "Do something, you're bigger that he is." Then just as Carrion could see the sinister glow in the demon's eyes, the massive skeleton swung its heavy tail around and sent the bony knob at the end rushing into the small of Lu Yueh's back. The impact sent the demon flying through the air and crashed through the boarded up window of a condemned hotel. Carrion read the sign on the fence surrounding the property. "Slated for demolition, hmm," the lich read aloud, it was dated for the next day, "I don't think that the mayor will mind if vandals speed things up a bit." The power gauge of the cannon read three quarters of a full charge, if the explosives were already in place, three quarters would be more than enough. Carrion directed the cannon at the base of the abandoned building, just as Lu Yueh began to emerge from the structure. Louis then thumbed the trigger, causing the six beams of energy to train on the building's lower wall. Suddenly, the huge charge of energy rushed from the cannon's center emitter and blasted through the wall. A large chain of explosions rocked the building from the inside, and then all at once the building collapsed in on itself and the demon Lu Yueh. Louis Cardon "reined" the dinosaur over to the group of semiconscious heroes, and began to load them onto the huge beast's back. After loading Molly and Bob, he turned to the new guy, the big ape who had so much power to spare. It took some doing to sit him up, he was heavy. As Carrion sat him up, his head drooped back and his eyes popped open. "Hey you awake," he said slapping the big ape's face, "C'mon, wake up." It was no good, the guy was still out of it. Carrion tried to heave him over his shoulder, but he was just to heavy. Louis decided to leave him leaning against the wall while he tended to the others. As Carrion loaded Owen and Alexander onto the dinosaur skeleton, Kyle slumped over and stared into the sky, just as the clouds parted and the moon came out. It was the second full moon of the month. "Boy Dark he did a job on you," said Carrion as he dug the ancient warlord out from under the rubble and shattered cinder block. That was the last of them, except for the Mighty Yak and the new guy. Louis turned around to find that only Montgomery remained, the ape had vanished. "Where did…" Louis began, but that was all he got out, as the smallest bits of debris from the condemned building began to shift and slide about. Lu Yueh was digging himself out. Carrion grabbed Monty by the shoulders and hauled him with all his might towards the dinosaur bones. Now small boards and pieces of brick began to fall away from the heap of rubble. "God Monty," said Louis, "You need to go on a diet." As the necromancer tried to push The Mighty Yak onto the skeleton, a hand emerged from the rubble of the collapsed building. Carrion had managed to get Monty onto the Paleoscincus's tail, as two more arms emerged from the rubble. As he pulled the Mighty Yak up the dinosaur's back, Carrion could see the pile in the middle of the debris begin to rise into a heap, and suddenly fly apart in a huge explosion as Lu Yueh burst from beneath the rubble. In an instant, Lu Yueh's hands began to blaze with a deep violet nimbus. Carrion scrambled to the cannon and swung it around. He then picked up the trigger by its cord and thumbed the button. The beam emitters began to charge for a moment, then faded as the last of their energy was spent. Suddenly, Lu Yueh bunched his hands together, and channeled a deep violet beam of energy towards the necromancer. Carrion held his arms up and "closed" his "eyes" to receive the full brunt of the blast. Chapter 12: As the beam came within a heartbeat of striking Carrion, a blazing red torrent of energy deflected the blast and dug a deep furrow in the street. Carrion opened his eyes to see that he was still indeed in one piece. Louis then looked up to see a strange shaggy behemoth larger than the worlds largest hamster. It had glowing red eyes, and an enormous mouth full of teeth. In the baleful light of the moon, the beast looked familiar somehow. Lu Yueh charged up his hands for another assault, only to find himself in the blaze of the great beast's attack. The Plague God's stream of energy held off the blast the gargantuan's assault, but only for a few moments. The beast's power suddenly surged with energy, plowing Lu Yueh into the ground up to his waist. The three-headed demon responded with a volley of bruise-colored bolts that exploded violently as they came in contact with the giant creature. The behemoth plowed through the smoke of the bolts and brought it's massive fist down on the huge pile of rubble. As the battle escalated, Carrion commanded his mount to leave the battlefield. The massive skeleton shambled down the street and out of the line of fire. The last Carrion saw of the massive beast, were an enormous flare of red light, and a thick ropy tail snaking around a building after the dark god. Somewhere in Dr. Nesbit's lab: "Ice please," said Amanda as she sprawled on one of the couches in Nesbit's lobby. Owen brought her a large chunk wrapped in a towel. "You were saying Louis," he said after handing Tiger Lass the ice. "This thing was Huge," said the necromancer, "At least as tall as a five story building. I don't know why, but it saved our lives by deflecting that blast. Then it went after that thing like a scalded cat. After that I didn't see what the heck happened to it. I brought you guys here, cause I didn't know where else to take The Dark Iguana, as badly as he was hurt, this was just the only place that made sense." Owen nodded as Molly began to stir. As she sat up on the couch, she noticed her costume had fallen completely slack. All of her stored energy and more had been spent. So much so that after all this time her normally full bodice was nowhere near what it normally was. "That must have been some battle," Buxom Gal said, adjusting the slack in her costume, "Did we beat him?" Owen shook his head. "According to Carrion, we barely did anything to phase him," Weasel Boy explained. "Dark took the worst of it," Amanda said, "That thing beat him until he was nearly a stain on the pavement. Nesbit's got him hooked up to her instruments trying to find out what damage has been done, but it wasn't pretty. Sunflower is in there with him now." "So now what do we do?" asked Alexander gruffly. "We start by getting Molly powered up again," Owen began, "Then we look for Kyle, we don't know if Lu Yueh survived the attack of that monster, and if he did, I don't want Kyle out there with that beast or the demon roaming loose." I had no clue as to where I was. My head was swimming and my vision wouldn't clear, everything was a blur. The only thing I knew was that it was dark and wet, where the hell was I? A heavy thump, like the footfall of someone big, trying to move very quietly. Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw movement. I'm not alone in here. "I realize that this doesn't have the personal touch of your shaggy friend," said Dr. Nesbit as she aimed the PAC at Molly, "But it should do the job just the same." Buxom Gal stood there as the six different colored rays alighted on her body, followed by a large burst of energy that surged into her body. Her bodice then swelled into voluptuousness and almost caused one of the catches on her costume to give way. "That does feel much better," said Molly as she patted her chest, "I may have become too used to having an overfilled bust. Nowadays I don't feel right when I'm 'running on empty' as it were." A scampering of tiny clawed feet, followed by the clatter of metallic spider legs, echoed through out the hallway. Suddenly the door to the lab was flung open as a soft brown something was chased into the room, followed by Jim hot on the heels of whatever it was. "Stop that mouse," Jim buzzed from his voicebox. "Mouse?" Nesbit said amazed, "That thing is as big as a rat." The little creature hopped up onto a swivel chair and then jumped onto a desk. It stared at everybody with oil-drop eyes. "It's part of a growth experiment," Jim explained, "Someone left the cage open and it jumped out; we need it to analyze the factors and parameters of the growth formula." Suddenly the mouse scampered over to the far end of the desk and leaped, a considerable distance, onto Molly's shoulder. "Eeep," Molly squeaked as the mouse scurried beneath her chin to her other shoulder looking for a way down. The mouse then scurried back around and then squeezed its way between Buxom Gal's considerable cleavage. "Hey…" she said as the mouse's tail vanished down her bodice, "Get out of… no don't do that, don't do…" Suddenly the little rodent was snuggled next to a certain sensitive spot beneath Molly's breast. "No!" she cried out softly, "Not there!" Dr. Nesbit creeped up in front of Molly and made a grab for the mouse. Suddenly the little creature lost its grip and began clambering inside of Molly's costume trying to get a foothold. "Oh n-Huuuuuuuh." As soon as she began to glow, Molly loosed the clasps on her costume while she could still think through the haze of pleasure the sensations the mouse's claws were stirring in her body. With the halter off, Dr. Nesbit grabbed the clambering rodent and stepped back as Molly's bosom began to swell to massive proportions. The heroine was breathing heavily, as her bosom billowed down past her knees and settled on the floor. Suddenly a golden light that matched the color of Molly's fur illuminated the whole lab. The blank expression on her face, and the slight smile on her lips, gave the two scientists no clue what so ever as to the depths of pleasure Molly was experiencing. Suddenly the whole lab was filled with a brilliance that would rival a solar flare, and, as the light faded, Molly had returned to normal. All of a sudden, there was a klaxon of alarms as a row of computer outlets appeared from various concealed panels in the walls. Jim jumped up onto a lab counter as the section beneath his brain-jar opened up and sent cables into each and every socket in the room. Rows of ones and zeros lit up every computer monitor in the room as the brain in the jar began a massive computer analysis. "That was it," Jim said after a few minutes. "What was it?" asked Dr. Nesbit. "That was the energy spike we were looking for," Jim replied, "I needed more time to analyze the infection in Delilah's shoulder to find an energy frequency that would neutralize the virus. So I set the labs sensors to monitor for the original frequency in case it showed up again. It appears that our dear Molly is the source of poor Delilah's salvation." "And you thought that you were just another pretty face with super powers," Nesbit said to Buxom Gal. Molly simply blushed shyly. Okay smart guy, it's pitch black and you have no clue as to where you are, what you're going to do, or what's moving around in here with you; now what? I had turned to talking to myself to keep from going insane in the total darkness of my situation. It seemed like a good idea at the time and it gave me a sounding board to bounce ideas off of. The first thing I needed was light, but as I began to power up, I thought about what ever it was that was trying to sneak around in the darkness. It would see the light and, once I wasn't looking, attack me from behind. That also left out using the scouter, the device used an illuminated display screen for the lens, and it too would give off a great amount of light, for the dark chamber that I was in. For once, I was beginning to regret being headblind. Goku and the other fighters who trained me how to use my powers, had a sixth sense for detecting the fighting energies of their opponents. My first trip through the multiverse, however, had burnt-out, for want of a better term, my ability to sense these energies, hence my need for the scouter. I didn't mind, it gave me a neat little gadget to use and a great souvenir. But now, I was trapped in the dark here, and that sixth sense would have come in useful about now. Thump… I was wondering what happened to him. What ever I had been trapped in here with had been quiet for a while now. It was kind of spooky in a way. I was drawn between: my good sense to stay put and wait for my friends to find me, my overbearing sense of curiosity to find out what was making that noise, and a hair trigger of panic that was keeping me from blasting my way out of there. Strangely, I was leaning away from panicking. Thump… Just barely. Thump… I let my power level rise and focused into my hands, and then into the fore and middle fingers of each hand. Thump… Now where was it? I just had to listen for that heavy footstep. Thump… There, it was ahead of me by about fifty yards. A heavy bipedal step, I hoped it wasn't Lu Yueh, the very thought scared me. Thump… Now it was behind me, and closer. Maybe thirty yards. What the heck was going on? I remembered that Molly had said that there was a labyrinth of alleys and manholes somewhere in the city, could I be trapped in that maze somewhere. It certainly was a possibility. Thump… Don't panic, as long as you know where it is, it can't surprise you. Just then a loose rock rolled up against the back of my foot. "That's all for me sports fans." SOLAR FLARE!!! A high pitched scream of surprise and pain told me that this was not Lu Yueh. "Easy Delilah," Owen said as he helped the enormous bunny to her feet. He slipped under the Valkyrie's large arm and helped her shuffle down the hall. "I'm bad, aren't I beloved?" Delilah asked somewhat groggily. "No delight," replied Owen, "You're going to be just fine." "Get her in here before Megaboobs here falls over again," Dr. Nesbit hollered from down the hall. In the next room, they had charged up Buxom Gal with another two shots from Nesbit's Particle Accelerator Cannon. The good doctor wasn't sure how much energy it would take for Molly to heal the damage that had been done to Delilah's shoulder, but since they had suffered no ill effects from her initial flare of energy, Charlotte thought that some extra power couldn't hurt. "Could I at least have a chair so I don't have to stand up with all this weight," Molly griped. Owen slowly guided Delilah into the room and helped her into a comfortable chair. Dr. Nesbit helped lean her forward, so that the infection in her shoulder would be fully exposed to the energy's radiation. "All right Molly," said Dr. Nesbit, "Whenever you're ready." "All right," Buxom Gal replied, "But turn your heads if your gonna ogle." Molly placed her fingertips on the sensitive spot just below where the curve of her bodice joined with her body; a gentle stroke was all it took. Owen had refused to turn his head; he wanted to know what was going to happen to Delilah, and if it was going to hurt her or not. Owen had faith in what Dr. Nesbit had explained to him, but something in the back of his mind wanted to make sure. Slowly Molly began to billow out of her costume; she'd had the foresight to undo the clasps this time before setting off the whole reaction. Owen looked on as Buxom Gal's gargantuan assets swelled to the floor and began to lift the heroine off of her feet, lifting her almost to the ceiling. Then she began shimmer with a strange golden light, it was as though she had become the dawn after the darkness. As he watched, a sound filled Owen's ears; like something frying in grease. That and a strange smoky odor caused him to turn his head. Tendrils of smoke trickled from the infected cuts in Delilah's shoulder, as the viruses were incinerated by Molly's brilliance. Owen then sat down on the floor and watched, not like a sex crazed teenager, but rather like a young boy who had awoken early to watch his first sunrise. Chapter 13: "I'm terribly sorry," I apologized, as I laid a damp cloth across her eyes. For a sewer, the water here was remarkably clean. "It was more my fault than it was yours," she replied, "I should have said something instead of just barging in here full force. I was looking for that thing that's been making all the people sick." "Still, a person shouldn't go off half cocked just because a rock hits him in the back of the ankle." I gathered some scraps of wood together and started a fire; it was getting a little chilly down here. "My name is Tina by the way," she said. As the light from the fire filled the tunnel, I saw what Tina was, but I couldn't really be sure. "A whale?" I said incredulous. "You got something against whales?" asked Tina. "No," I replied shaking my head, "I just didn't think one could survive this far inland." "It's not impossible down here," Tina explained, "All this is clean water, run off from the kiwi orchards above. A swim a day, and I am good to go." "In fresh water?" "Brackish," She replied, "See the aqueduct runs from one side of the island to the other, so water can be siphoned off and desalinized for drinking and other things. Waste water, is channeled to the purification plant for filtering and then drained back here and then sent back to the sea." "Oh," I said, "How's your vision coming along?" "I can see now," said Tina, "What was that you did to me?" "Solar Flare," I explained, "useful when you want to light up someone's life." She chuckled. "That was bad," said Tina. Suddenly, she raised her head. "Someone else is down here," said Tina. As she closed her eyes, I could feel a dull "thrum" traveled through the air. As it ruffled my fur, I had to pause for a moment. "Amazing," I said. "What's so amazing about a whale using echo-location?" Tina asked. "That you can do it out of the water," I replied, "I thought whales could only do that underwater." "It took a little practice, but I can do it," Tina replied, "I just have to use a lower sound frequency." She turned her attention back to finding the intruder. Another loud thrum rippled through the air. Suddenly her eyes widened. "He's over there," Tina replied. I loosed a charge of energy towards where she indicated; as the charge detonated, the three-headed form of Lu Yueh rushed forth from the smoke and dust. He grabbed my arms and gave me a fast shot under the ribs. As I went down on one knee, the demon slammed one of his fists between my shoulder-blades and kneed me in the rib cage. His low laugh rumbled through the air as he pressed his claws to my throat. He was taking no chances; the minute I tried to use my powers, he would rip my throat out. The demon barked some strange order at Tina in a language neither of us could understand. Lu Yueh must have thought that because Tina was a water creature, there wasn't much she could do on land. The monster was wrong. I watched as the enormous whale girl put her hands together and concentrated. A dull rumble began to fill the air as Tina focused on sending her sonar frequencies lower and lower. All of a sudden, Tina loosed a wave of sound that was of the proper frequency that it shook the walls of the aqueduct, and still she went lower. Her thrumming descended through the frequencies, until finally dust and chunks of masonry were being shook loose from the ceilings and walls. One piece even caught Lu Yueh between his heads and made him loosen his grip on my throat. I BLURRED through the demon's hands and appeared next to Tina. "What ever you are doing Tina, keep doing it," I said. Tina nodded as she loosed a sound blast that caused a column holding up part of the roof to crack and splinter. I channeled my powers in to a blast that separated the rest of the column from the ceiling, and brought part of the roof down on Lu Yueh. I then placed my fore and middle fingers on my forehead and began to channel my energies into my hand. I then pointed my fingers as the pile of rubble that had buried Lu Yueh and released the energies that I had gathered. "DISRUPTOR DRILL!!!" The ever widening spiral of energy collided with the debris pile and shattered it violently. The demon flew out of the wreckage and slammed into a wall, leaving a rather sizable dent in the masonry. Just then I thought it was time to kick it up a notch. TATAIODOKEN!!! I felt the explosive rush of my energy form leaving my body at a high speed. As I charged the great beast, I slammed my elbow into his gut and smashed Lu Yueh the rest of the way through the wall. As I sort of hovered there in mid-air, I watched for any sign that the demon was still looking for trouble. Suddenly, a huge charge of energy glowered in the darkness of the room beyond. I replied in kind by channeling a great quantity of my own power into my hands. Immediately, the huge barrage surged out of the chamber only to collide with my own blast of energy, creating a huge crackling sphere of force that might cause a catastrophe if someone handled it wrong. That's just what Lu Yueh was hoping for. I had two choices; I could deal with the sphere and offer Lu Yueh a chance to escape and possibly do more damage, or I could deal with the demon and in the struggle possibly cause the sphere to detonate taking out at the very least, the whole city. The choice was practically a no brainer. I had to get rid of the sphere. Very carefully, I placed my ethereal hands on the orb, and slowly began the drain off the energies my blast had infused it with. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lu Yueh slinking around the hole in the wall I had made with him. All of a sudden, a chill crept up my spine as I realized that I had left myself vulnerable. My body, it was just sitting there in a sort of meditative pose while my spirit was out here dealing with this potential energy bomb, and if I could think of this scenario, then surely he... Lu Yueh loosed a terrible roar of death and rushed through the hole in the wall, all six of his taloned arms raised for the kill. "Noooooo!" All of a sudden there was a deep rumble in the next chamber and then Lu Yueh was sent flying through the air towards me. I had almost drained off all the energy that I had sent into the orb; leaving, for the most part, only the demon's energy behind. I grinned to myself slyly, waste not want not. I hurled the remains of the violet and silver sphere at the demon and caught him in midair. The energies from the orb slowly rolled over the demon engulfing him in a billow of purple that crackled occasionally with silver. Tina appeared on one side of the cloud, with my body slung over one shoulder and a look of concern in her eye. Suddenly one of Lu Yueh's arms lashed out, barely missing the girl and my body. I blasted past the purple nimbus and dropped a small charge of energy into it causing the chain reaction to take place on a smaller scale. As the turbulence of silver crackled through the purple effulgence once more, I quickly settled back into my own body and then returned Tina's favor by picking her up with one hand and blasting a way straight up out of the drain. The minute I saw daylight, I heard the death cloud beginning to give up it's ghost as several small flares of energy signaled the time of our departure. As I slowly lifted into the air, the pyroclasm detonated as we were half-way up the shaft I had blasted. I sped up the passage and threw Tina clear before rolling away from the huge churning mushroom cloud that suddenly spewed forth from the city street. The huge tower of purple vapor curled up in the sky and crackled with silver tendrils of power. It had a strange and terrible beauty all it's own, but only one thing was on my mind at the time. Where was the demon? Chapter 14: The streets were quiet except for the cloud. All the shops were closed, no one was jogging, strolling, or driving to work, everything was for the most part dead. It's scary I know, every one on the island could be dead for what all I knew. I slowly walked through the streets with Tina holding on to my shoulder. I knew that the mushroom cloud would attract help of one form or another, but until then, it would be a good idea to make ourselves scarce. About three blocks from the hole, the street began to fracture, leaving a high peaked furrow down the middle of the road. It started slowly but quickly build up speed as it rushed towards us, sending chunks of asphalt flying into the air. Tina and I started to run, but the fissure quickly caught up with us and over took us by at least a yard before erupting and sending out huge clods of pavement. I could stop worrying now as we found where the demon was, he landed about three feet in front of us. Lu Yueh's middle head drooped lifelessly towards the ground, as most of his right head with the shark's teeth was gone. This left his last and most horrible head in charge of the battle. I just hoped that I could phase this thing. I pushed Tina away and stuffed my fist into the demon's gut and then slammed a charge of energy into his solar plexus. He slid back about two feet, but other that that he didn't look as though anything had affected him. Either this head didn't feel pain, or it was in so much pain that it couldn't feel any more. That or it just didn't care anymore. Suddenly, three of the creature's arms lashed out towards me with their claws bared. I put my arms up to block what was coming. SPANG! SHRIEK!! I looked up to see sparks fly, as a spinning circle of metal took the blow for me. It looked kind of like a Frisbee or a shie... "OFFENDERS ASSEMBLE" Owen walked past Monty in the hall. "That's neat," said the Yak. "What's that, Montgomery?" Owen replied. Monty pointed out the window. "There's a giant mushroom growing in the middle of downtown." I wasn't sure I was believing what I was seeing, but it seemed that the new guys were having an effect on Lu Yueh. I watched in sheer awe as one massive hound power-stroked a war-hammer into the creature's chest and sent Lu Yueh tumbling head over heels, trailing streams of lightning down the street. No sooner did the demon arise when a woman in red, trailing arcane energy off the tips of her fingers, lashed out with a massive bolt of sorcery. The bolt left a huge gash in the demon's chest that looked as though it had already begun to heal, but slowly. Suddenly in the middle of the fray, there was what looked like a robot mantid. I watched as it shot beams of energy from each of its four arms. Each round from the machine creature added to the already considerable damage done by the sorceress in red. In a missed instant, however, one of the machine's shots missed Lu Yueh and allowed the demon to charge the bug. With little wasted motion, the insect turned to avoid Lu Yueh's attack and resumed its energy barrage. Amazed, I was content to sit on the sidelines until I felt I was needed. "Who are these guys Tina?" I asked. "Those are the Offenders," Tina explained, "They are some of the mightiest heroes in Supermegatopia." As Tina explained this, a new team member appeared on the battlefield. A large green woman with large muscles, a considerable bust, and a massive bulge in her crotch stepped up to slam her fist into the side of Lu Yueh's disabled middle head; she then grabbed the demon by two of his right arms and swung him into the shield carried by the hero who had saved me from the ghoulish claws of the beast. This new hero the brought the edge of his weapon down on the neck of the remaining head. "Thunder Dog, Blood Witch, Iron Mantis, She-male, and Captain Kiwi," Tina continued, "In that order." All I could do at the time was watch and wonder why I could no longer affect Lu Yueh with my powers, and yet these heroes were now mopping the floor with him. It made no real sense. Part of the Iron Mantis's armor opened to reveal a wicked looking emitter of some kind. A hum filled the air, as the weapon discharged a force beam of tremendous energy. The beam caught Lu Yueh in the abdomen, the demon doubled over to try and block the beam with his arms, but to no avail. The weapon scoured most of the flesh off of the demon's arms to reveal bone, which too was shattered by the beam. I still didn't understand; at one time, I had Lu Yueh on the ropes with my Tataiodoken, but now it barely affected him, as though it were nothing. Now these new heroes have him on the ropes and they are beating him; what is their secret? What were they doing different; no, what was different? "He's the god of epidemics," the Dark Iguana had said. Epidemics, plague, sickness... "We can expose Delilah to the energy, and destroy the virus," Doctor Nesbit said, "Sort of like exposing her to Cesium rads to cure cancer." That's it! Lu Yueh was like a living cancer. He had experienced my other attacks before and become acclimatized, like cancer. Most times you have to cure it in one fell swoop, or else it just comes back bigger and stronger, then you have to start over and find a whole new treatment for it. That had to be the answer. I let my power rise to the point that you couldn't look at me without hurting your eyes. Suddenly, my scouter showed Lu Yueh's energies beginning to spike. I wouldn't let him pull that trick again. I leaped over the Offender's heads, and brought my fist down with blazing fury upon the demon's unbroken neck. "DISRUPTOR BLADES!!!" I watched the flurry of golden crescents fly through Lu Yueh, leaving deep furrows in the demon's flesh. My theory was confirmed as the oldest of the cuts quickly scabbed over while the freshest of the incisions had all but healed itself to the point of scarring. I knew that had to be the answer, now all I had to do was come up with a whole new attack that he hadn't experienced yet. I quickly thought through all the attacks that I had used on Lu Yueh in my head, and realized that I had used most of them up. Sure I had other techniques, but it would take too long for me to bring them into play, but maybe I could pull something out of my hat. I pointed my fingers at the middle of my forehead. "SOLAR FLARE!" The sun bright burst of energy caused Lu Yueh to cover his eyes and raise his hands to block out any other attacks, I hoped that this would give me the time I needed to beat this sickening creature. I stood in the middle of the street with my palms toward me. My power began to rise and flared out into my aura as the level grew stronger, I began to concentrate, and slowly, my aura began to turn red. Power waves are a lot like sound waves, they have a broad range of frequencies, and each frequency has it's own special properties. That fact is easily forgotten, it was Tina's sound attack that reminded me, and told me what to do. I had to push the energy frequency down as far down as I could. I just wish it were easier to control. Push it down, I told myself, as far as it will go. Slowly, my aura of power began to resemble the glow from the ruby the demon had been trapped inside. Suddenly the scouter began to chirp in my ear, as the demon's energies began to spike once more. The scouter's display lit up and showed me where Lu Yueh was through haze of my own aura. As I loosed my attack, the energies manifested themselves as a thin red beam, but the amount of force that emanated from the beam was so great, it left a long shallow furrow in the street. Just as I triggered my own attack, the demon loosed one of his own. All six of his hands appeared to tear a rip in the air, they all formed a tri-colored spiral of energy that intercepted my beam head on. As the two salvos met, they both seemed to give way at first, then the two surged against each other, like two waves meeting in the middle of a pond. At this nexus, a depression began to form beneath where the two opposing forces met, it grew deeper as both Lu Yueh and myself increased our output power. As I tried to maintain the attack, my energies began to falter; Lu Yueh was blocking me off with a massive surge of energy that hadn't even begun to wane. I didn't know what I was going to do; I thought and thought, and the only thing I could think of to boost my power would probably cause all my efforts to fizzle. Still, I had to try, I carefully began to channel my consciousness into my aura. "TA...TAI...ODO...KEN..." The deep red energy field of my aura took on a humanoid shape as my body slumped into oblivion. My beam widened an inch to either side as I channeled a new surge of energy into my salvo. Lu Yueh's own attack seemed to recede as the redoubled barrage met the demon's opposing force. Suddenly, as the demon realized that he was about to lose the battle, Lu Yueh did the unthinkable; he leaped to one side and deflected the attack towards the Offenders. I began to panic. Before I could do anything, Captain Kiwi flipped his shield over and caught the deadly blast on the inside of the metal disk. All the energy collected into a ball and then was reflected back at Lu Yueh and struck the demon down and sent him skidding back into an empty building. The Super Soldier twirled his shield and slung it onto his back as I rejoined my body. As Captain Kiwi helped me to my feet, he explained what happened to the demon. "Megatopium-14," he said pointing to his shield, "It can deflect or reflect energy blasts; it just depends on which side you use." Lu Yueh carefully picked himself up from the floor filled with scattered glass. The last attack had done a lot of damage; most of the flesh from around his spine was gone revealing his backbone alone. Twelve of the demon's ribs were either cracked or shattered; it would take a long time for him to heal. The demon seriously doubted, though, that these warriors were about to let him get away. I was drained, right down to my last erg of energy. I needed a quick recharge, and I didn't know where my tsen-tzu beans had gotten too; they must have fallen out of my pocket. The scouter was chirping in my ear as it picked up an energy signature from where the Lu Yueh had been blasted. The demon was gathering his powers for a final attack. My own efforts had either been wasted, or were not strong enough to finish him off. Unless something really drastic happened in the next few seconds, we were road-kill. "ROCKET BOMBS... DEPLOY!!!" Suddenly two large missiles whistled their way towards the building. Suddenly the missiles' warheads opened to launch dozens of tiny micro-rockets into the damaged building. The din of the tiny explosions triggered the collapse of the building. With the demon securely buried, for the moment, we looked up to see Rocket Bob hovering in mid-air. Floating beside him was Buxom Gal, carrying Delilah on her shoulders. The enormous bunny looked much better than the last time I saw her. The ground began to shudder as the heavy skeleton of an armored dinosaur lumbered its way up the street. Mounted on the skeleton's back was one seriously mean looking cannon, the necromancer Carrion trying to look meaner, and the rest of the Vayne family in uniform and sporting all the heavy battle gear they could find. "That's some signal flare you sent up," Owen said as he swung down from the back of the fossil. I nodded. "I had some help from our gruesome friend in there," I replied, "Whatever you do, don't use the same methods you used on him last time. Seems Lu Yueh can adapt to them every time they are used against him until they have no effect whatsoever." "Well then we've got some new tricks to teach him," said Alexander as he appeared next to his grandson, "So where is he?" "In that building over there," I said pointing to where the demon had landed. All of a sudden, my scouter blared shrilly in my ear as it picked up another power spike; but one much higher that any of the other attacks Lu Yueh had used. "Watch out everybody," I warned, "He's up to som- aagh!!!" The energy surge had overloaded my scouter and caused it to shatter from the strain. Burned and startled, I threw the smoking piece of burned out tech to the ground and rubbed where my fur was burned. With a massive burst of indigo colored energies, the whole building exploded in a hail of brick and mortar. Out of the cloud of dust and debris stepped the demon Lu Yueh. He had fully regenerated and now stood before us uninjured; none of his heads drooped due to broken vertibrae, and he had all six of his arms. It looked like we had the demon severely out numbered, but even with Tina, The Offenders, the Vaynes, and Buxom Gal we were still underpowered, and he had adapted to most of our attacks, it was only a matter of time before Lu Yueh could resist all of them. As the tension continued to build up inside of me, a shadow appeared on the ground. Chapter 15: Slowly, a figure in an old fashioned costume appeared he had a long golden cape, a streamlined helmet, and a long golden rod that trailed streams of energy. As his feet touched the ground, Ferret Man gave a whoop and dashed over to meet the newly descended hero. Owen explained to me that the new champion was known as Moon Man, and that he and Ferret Man fought together during the city's golden age. "Hey Ted," Alexander shouted, as the hero turned around, "I thought this ruckus would bring you out of your apartment." "Hmm," Ted grumped, "That big explosion caused a power-surge and crashed my laptop; now who do I get to be pissed off at about it." We all pointed at the demon as he emerged from the wrecked building and slowly strode towards us. Suddenly, the globe atop the Moon Rod flared brightly; causing us to cover our eyes. Alexander put his hand on Moon Man's shoulder and told him to calm down. "Not yet Ted," Ferret Man explained, "We're not ready yet." Suddenly a minivan careened around a corner and stopped beside our neat little group. At this point, I expected a group of super clowns to pop out and attack with heavy water seltzer bottles; I was almost right. "Fire-man, you're taking the point on this mission," a voice commanded from inside the vehicle, "Sails-man, take Space-man up to give him a better vector with his Hyper Ray. Junk-man and Fissure-man, you're on repair duty. If anything's not working, get it working; if it's working, keep it that way." "The Men-men," said Owen, "I do believe that this is going to be the biggest hornets' nest, that's ever been stirred up in this town." Well, when in Rome. I opened the face on the transband and keyed the reset button. As I slowly returned to my human form, I began to power up. Slowly I concentrated the energy into a ring and as soon as it glowed a brilliant blue, I knew it was ready. "KAMEI CORRIDOR!!!" I launched the circle straight up into the air where it stretched out into a long tunnel. This technique is always tricky; the more energy you put into it, the faster it travels, and I had put a lot of energy into this corridor. I flew straight up faster than I had ever flown before, but I still had long way to go before I could catch up with the energy flow. With a final burst of power I caught up to the mouth of the corridor, but for once it looked like it wouldn't be enough. Just as my power began to give out, I felt a pair of strong hands grab my arms and carry me. "Where to?" Molly's voice was sweet to my ears. "Just get me up to the mouth of the Corridor," I responded. All of a sudden Molly threw me into the very edge of the Corridor's mouth; it was just enough. When you go through a Corridor, it's like being wrapped in a long string of firecrackers with a lit fuse. The energy dances over you skin, as the energy gets enfused directly into your muscles. The technique increases your size, your speed and your power level to a point that almost nothing can compete with you. After I emerged from the other end of the Corridor, I BLURRED to the ground, stopping short of crashing into it. As my feet touched the pavement, it caused a minor shockwave, which in turn caused the remaining glass in the area to either crack or shatter. As I looked behind me, I saw that I was now a full head taller than Delilah. Lu Yueh was not impressed, he stepped out of the pile of debris and strode stiffly out into the street. Alright, time to give him something to be impressed about. "Lu Yueh," I said, "They call me The Dimensional Man! You have caused a lot of pain and a lot of suffering here and for that, I'm gonna mash you FLAT!" Lu Yueh's demon head roared an incoherent reply before the demon launched its attack. All six of the beast's terrible hands seemed to tear into the fabric of reality and sent the pieces streaking at us. With my hand extended, I channeled my energies into a shield, with the curve facing away from me. I braced my arm as the monster's attacks either struck the barrier or traveled around the curve of the shield and were sent back at the beast. Then, without word or warning, Moon Man went into action. He raised his Moon Rod into the air; the majestic scepter flared brightly as it released a volley of cantaloupe sized fireballs at the demon. Lu Yueh raised two arms to try and protect his heads, as the other four were used to swat away the offending projectiles. Try as he might though, the Lu Yueh couldn't prevent Moon Man from scoring a direct hit on the demon's shark-toothed mouth. Suddenly, the middle head opened its mouth and a devastating indigo beam streaked at Moon Man. The lunar paladin ducked to one side, the beam missing him by inches, and then launched himself into the air. The demon raised his beam into the air, and tried to hit the aging hero; as maneuverable as he was, Ted knew he couldn't outmaneuver the demon's attacks forever. Then, as though each knew what the other were thinking, Lu Yueh's demonic head swiveled around and shrieked its own bruise colored beam, cutting Moon Man off and leaving him vulnerable to the first. Just as Ted was about to be caught in the grip of the demon's attack, an ominous hum filled the air, drowning out the shrillness of Lu Yueh's onslaught. Suddenly the two shafts of energy were drawn up into a black, swirling nimbus. As Moon Man saw the demon struggling to free his attack from the nebula, he used this opportunity to get out from between the deadly rays. He then swung his Moon Rod from side to side, and then raised it above his head. This created a flare of energy the size of a wrecking ball. Moon Man launched the sphere toward Lu Yueh. The god raised all six of his hands and caught the ball in a death grip. I was amazed that the demon had a chance to block it much less catch it. Without warning, a wide crimson beam shot out of the dark haze that had absorbed the demon’s attacks. The ray plowed into the street and jarred Lu Yueh into dropping the energy flare. The explosion was blinding. As the smoke and the dust settled we saw that Lu Yueh was missing a few fingers and his scales were singed. I looked up to see that the dark cloud had vanished. Where it had been, now soared a hang glider with two passengers. The craft floated over to the golden age hero. Moon Man looked over to see Sails-Man carrying Space Man in the passenger section of his glider. "Thus ends the first successful test of my Singularity Generator," said the gray pointing to a small box on his belt. "You mean that little box can create a Black Hole?" Moon Man replied incredulously. The alien nodded. "Yep," Space Man replied, "Fortunately, I can set it to draw in a specific matter type or energy frequency." "Well, that’s good to know." I decided that it was my turn. I felt the energies coursing through my skin as I charged the demon and sank my fist into his solar plexus, or rather I tried to. As I neared connecting with my fist, Lu Yueh grabbed my arm with one of his and used the remaining five to beat me senseless. Still with one arm free, I managed to keep the majority of blows from hitting me. "This is ridiculous," I said to myself and then I charged my fist with power until it burned. This time I connected. I hit him so hard I felt it in my teeth. The shockwave left a divot in the pavement and smashed a hole in the wall behind him, but he wasn’t affected. "No way," I thought, "No way he could have become immune to my Kamei powers so fast. He must have found a way to boost his powers somehow." My mind flashed back to that power spike that blew out my scouter. Not only did he speed up the healing of his injuries, he sped up his regeneration factor. Okay then, time for a serious attack. Power radiated from my hands as I prepared my actions. Suddenly, Lu Yueh opened his mouths and channeled all three of his beams into one concentrated ray. I knew I couldn’t block it, but maybe I could cancel it out. "EXTREME BLASTER!!!" Two rays streaked from my hands and focused into a much powerful beam that met the demon’s attack head on. The sound of the two charges colliding actually sounded like the sound effect they used in Star Wars for lightsabers clashing. Only that was fantasy, this was reality. I was fighting a demon and the demon seemed to be winning. As I kept channeling my power into the wave, I heard a sound. It wasn’t very loud, like someone blowing out a candle. I dug my heels into the ground and pushed back hard against the demon’s power beam. There was that sound again, just like a loud puff of air. I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Maybe it was an air pocket created by the two rays colliding. Then I remembered that I wasn’t alone here. I had at least three teams of superheroes helping me out. PHUTT. Suddenly Lu’s shark-toothed head began to scream in pain. As though its hair had been set on fire. The head turned violently from right to left and screamed like a banshee. As it screamed though, it would occasionally fire off a short burst from it’s beam attack at random. Now the demon’s attack was severely lessened and maybe I could use this to my advantage. "EX…TREME BLAS-TER!!!" My power wave grew stronger as I channeled a great deal more power into it. Lu Yueh’s own beam was smashed and Lu caught the brunt of my attack square in the gut. The demon slumped to the ground; weakened, but not defeated. As I too fell on my butt, I noticed that I had shrunken a great deal. That meant that I had used up most of my Kamei powers from the corridor. Delilah sprinted over and dragged me away from where the demon was recovering. "Are you alright?" she asked. I nodded as I saw the long barreled pistol in Ferret Man’s hand. I recognized it as some kind of dart gun. "What did you shoot him with?" I asked; seeing Lu Yueh in such pain made me believe that we had a solid chance of fighting him and defeating him. Ferret man took a dart with a thick needle out of a pouch on his belt and showed it to me. "The stuff’s called Vancomyacin. It’s supposedly-" "The most powerful antibiotic ever made," I finished, "I have heard of it." "Yeah, well the first shot glanced of those heavy scales of his, so I had to try and hit him in the neck, but those arms of his kept getting in the way. Finally, I got lucky when he moved his head back from the recoil of that blast of his. Even so it was a keyhole shot." "Amazing," I said, "What else have we got to throw at him?" "Well," said Alexander, "We’ve got-" "Guys," called Rocket Bob from his position, "He’s up to something." Bob was right, Lu Yueh was up on his feet in a kneeling position. He held his hands out from his body, like the big strings on a spider’s web. Suddenly the demon’s hands began to glow with an arcane flux, then an arc of energy went from one hand to the other, forming a six-pointed star. "Captain, he’s creating a portal," Blood Witch reported. "Do what you can to stop him," Captain Kiwi replied. Blood Witch nodded and then her eyes flared with her own magical essence. The crimson flare of energy undulated like a snake along the ground and then lashed up to strike in the center of the Demon’s hexagram. The magic then crackled out from the center and ignited the Demon’s hands in arcane fire. Lu Yueh screamed in pain, but he still stood, never letting his arms fall from their position. With an ear-shattering blast, the center of the hexagram imploded, ripping a hole in midair. The tear revealed a blue-green void beyond where dark and ominous figures stalked in hiding. Suddenly a decayed hand appeared through the mists of the void as an emaciated figure stepped trough the portal. It was followed by two more similar figures who in turn were followed by two more each. "Everybody get back," someone shouted, "Keep away from them, don’t let them touch you." I looked to see a severely decayed fur run from around the minivan. "What the…" "Post Man," Owen explained. "I know what they are," the latest arrival explained, "They are Plague Liches, undead who died of one of this creature’s more horrible maladies. They still have it, but they can only pass it on by touching you." Buxom Gal loosed a bolt of energy that reduced one of the liches to ash. "And the problem is?" she asked. The undead hero pointed at the portal. "He has a whole bunch of them," said Post Man. A whole slew of the withered creatures clambered out of the gateway. They staggered about clumsily, trying to get a good hold of one of the heroes. Captain Kiwi slapped away one of the creatures with his shield, as Blood Witch tried to work up a hex to shut down the portal. Suddenly a blazing inferno rolled through the street engulfing the undead creatures. "Look’s like Fire Man took his gloves off," Carrion called out. The Necromancer aimed the cannon on the back of the dinosaur’s skeleton behind where Lu Yueh held the portal open. The blast of accelerated particles shattered the sidewalk and ripped open a fire hydrant, but the demon held his ground. Fire Man’s inferno was holding the army of the undead at bay, but I wasn’t sure how long his powers would hold out. Then Lu Yueh turned his head and launched his beam attack at Fire Man, suddenly the blazing hero was no longer able to control the intensity of his attack. Fire blazed everywhere as the heroes tried to douse the flames, and still the liches marched from the void in space. Owen then slipped two long cylinders from a pouch on his belt. He then snapped his wrists, causing the sticks to extend into a pair of thirty-one inch batons, each tipped with a thick, sharp needle. "Give me a boost, Del," said Weasel Boy. Delilah cupped her hands and Owen was launched over the heads of the demon and landed behind Lu Yueh. Owen turned around and then stabbed one of the thick needles into the scale-less flesh under the demon. The hiss of the CO2 injector delivering it’s load of chemo-drugs into Lu Yueh’s body. As Lu Yueh hollered in pain, the arm under which he was injected, went limp; neither moving nor generating the energy that helped hold the portal open. Owen skirted to the other side of the demon and aimed his other injector at the same arm on the other side of the monster. Lu Yueh’s monstrous head turned to lash out with it’s teeth and its energy blast attack. As Blood Witch tried to construct a shield to protect the wounded from Lu Yueh’s army, she noticed something that she thought she could turn to her advantage. One of the points on the demon’s gateway now blurred and wavered, as though the locus that held it in place had been disabled. As she sealed the dome of her arcane shield, Blood Witch channeled her powers into a slow trickle, literally pouring her sorcery into a puddle at her feet. Out of that puddle trickled a small rivulet of arcane flux that flowed through the mystic barrier and poured its way between the feet of the undead. The stream was almost disrupted when one of Moon Man’s tremendous fireballs crashed to close to the trickle. "That was too close," thought Blood Witch as she resumed her concentrations. Slowly the arcane seepage neared its target as more and more of the infectious undead droned their way through the portal. Then, just as she knew it would eventually, the stream of energy reached the foot of Lu Yueh’s gateway. "Okay," Blood Witch thought, "Step one completed, now for step two." "Well," said Carrion, "There’s at least one good thing about that demon’s army that’s to our advantage." "And what is that?" I replied. "BLAST FORCE!!!" "They are slower than mud." The whine of the PAC filled my ears as Carrion locked on for another shot. As the hurtling ball of energy cut a swath into the legion of undead, I noticed something. I was almost back to my regular size, what remained of my Kamei powers was rapidly dwindling. I had to find a way to get my powers back. "It’s a pity we couldn’t get that behemoth from last night on our side," Carrion griped, "One blast from him, and this would probably all be over." "What are you talking about?" I asked. Carrion told about what had happened that night. "Come to think of it," said the necromancer, "I couldn’t find you anywhere after that beast chased ol’ three heads off." "Louis, this is very important," I explained "Was last night a full moon?" "Yeah, it was," Carrion replied, "A blue moon in fact. Some one at the observatory got the lunar tables wrong." There was only one logical answer. I leaped into the air to look for Owen, Moon Man, or any one else who might have a cell phone. I had a call to make. Lost in her meditations, the Blood Witch feels her way towards the demon. "You are a nasty creature," she thought to herself, "You deserve what ever hell spawned you. I must shut the portal before this city is over run with those things." Slowly, from the pool of magic at the demon’s feet, Blood Witch manifested a tendril of energy, that rose slowly from the small pool, like a cobra rising from it’s basket. She inched the tendril forward until it could feel along the edge of the gateway. "Must be careful," she thought to herself, "I do not know what this thing can do if he discovers me. Probe gently my precious." Blood Witch ran the tendril along the inside length of the edge of the portal; she did this to avoid the demon’s hands, fearing that if her probe even brushed the creature’s claws, it would sense what she was doing and she did not even want to think what Lu Yueh might be capable of then. Slowly the probe approached the point where the loose side of the portal began. Blood Witch hoped that this was the fly in the demon's ointment that she needed to staunch the flow of liches that poured through the rift. To her senses, it was like an iridescent sheet on a clothes line flapping in the breeze. As she studied the loose end of the end of the rift, something bothered her, almost sickened her; Blood Witch couldn’t really explain it but it was something just on the edge of her senses, something she couldn’t really feel. Like looking at a photograph in the dark, only this was feeling rather than seeing. What was it something about the liches, the demon, the portal… "Nesbit," the good doctor said in almost the same instant the phone rang, "Hey, it’s you, you sound different on the phone. I saw that big mushroom cloud, was that your doing? I am envious. Oh, what do you need?" Nesbit opened her desk drawer for a yellow legal pad, a pen, and a pink frosted donut with sprinkles. She took a bite out of the donut and pulled the top off the pen. "Okay," Dr. Nesbit said into the phone, "Tell me what you need again. Uhh-huh… Uhh-huh… Uhh-huh… Whoa, that’s no small order. For that I am gonna need some pretty big lasers, are you sure this is going to work? Okay then, I will do my best, it may take some time though, say about an hour and a half?" "An hour and a half will be fine," I said, "and make sure the frequency is exact, I don’t want this to get screwed up because of a stupid miscalculation. We screw up now, we might as well start kissing Lu Yueh’s butt right now." I heard Nesbit’s phone hang up on the other end, so I returned the phone to its owner. "Thank you," said She-male, as shi tucked the phone back into her spandex just above hir bulge. Well where else was shi going to put it? "You know, you should really think about investing in a fanny pack," I replied. "What is this?" The Blood Witch focused her perceptions on the energy that fed the portal. It was vile, and it made her sicker every minute she dealt with it. "Where does he get this power." She shifted her perceptions outward, above the city and beneath. "Where is it all coming from," she thought. She shifted her perceptions again. Not outward this time, but through the different hues of magic. From the blazing infernos of the Gulfs to the cool soothing hues of the Metaplanes of Water, but she still could not find where the demon got his power. Finally the intensity of her investigations, had all but drained her and she slipped into meditation in hopes of regaining her powers. "What?" Something was there. In the lower depths of the astral plane, she found something that she hadn’t noticed before. It was like the trickle of smoke that came from a match that had been snuffed out suddenly. It had a faint purple hue to it that reminded the Blood Witch of an old bruise or rotten plums. It was faint, but it was there. Blood Witch followed the trickle of smoke away from the demon until it eventually ended at its source. "A hospital?" she said, "but why would the power be coming from there?" Blood Witch let her astral form slip through the wall of the building and found yet another trail of smoke leading down the hall. "I do not like this," the sorceress murmured to herself, "What is this place." On the astral plane, she couldn’t read the label on the door that told of what lay beyond, only the emotions that were generated by those on the physical plane that read it. Those emotions were cold, and lonely, very lonely indeed. Blood Witch slipped through the door and found the source of the smoke. It was a little girl. The little girls intern was in the room with her reading the child’s chart to a doctor, this the Blood Witch could hear. "Her condition suddenly worsened," the intern told the doctor, "She was doing fine when all of a sudden, her vitals took a turn for the worse. The pain doubled, her white cell count is up, and she’s having trouble breathing. She may soon need a respirator." The Blood Witch’s mouth hung open, as the source of the demon’s power became shockingly clear. It was pain, the pain and suffering of the sick, especially those infected with that nasty red fever that was going around. Then another even more deafening realization came to her. Lu Yueh drew strength from the disease, because he was the source of it, it emanated from every pore of it’s body. Now the demon had found a way to tap into that pain and that suffering, and use it to increase his strength and bring his army of plague bearers into the city. "No," she said, "He must be stopped, HE MUST BE STOPPED!" In an act that was one part reflex and one part accident, the ethereal lines that connected her astral form to her body drew taut and snapped Blood Witch back to her corporeal form. As she was slingshot back to her body, she opened her hands and dragged them through the ethereal mists of everything she could find that would heal and make well the enfeebled. Pulled along by these energies, the Blood Witch channeled them through her corporeal form and into the pool of magic at the demon’s feet. The probe that had started as a simple tendril of magic suddenly took on the vulgar ferocity of a scorpion’s tail. The now lethal vine then reached up and tore across the unfettered locus of the portal and ripped across it like a sickle through wheat. Lu Yueh’s portal vanished in a blinding flare as he stumbled back in surprise. As the Blood Witch joined with her body, she keyed the communicator on her wrist. "Captain," she said, "I have managed to close the demon’s gate." "It may not make much of a difference now," Roger replied, "So many of those things have come through the gate, that we could barely make a dent in their numbers before we were overwhelmed ourselves." He turned to cleave the head off of one of the liches with the razor edge of his shield. "Were going to give it our best, but right now, we could use a miracle." Their miracle came in the form of a tank shell. Chapter 16: The projectile tore into the waves of the undead like a flying shark. Bones and bits of malignant flesh were scattered as the shell exploded in the center of their horde. The heavy rumble of an old fashioned panzer perked Captain Kiwi’s ears as the tank crawled around the corner of a partially demolished building. As the tank rolled to a stop, the hatch opened to reveal a bony face with dark gray complexion at the command. "Ve are sahree zat ve ah lahte herr captain," said Herr Skull for a Head, "Despite za fact zat zis tank is made by Porsche, it lacks ze speed of ze good doctor’s ozher modes of transportation." "Your timing is excellent Herr Skull," Captain Kiwi replied, "but what are you doing here?" "Za same sing you ah doink here," Herr Skull replied as he positioned himself behind the tanks turreted MG42, "You sink ve are chust goink to ignore a mushroom cloud in za middle of za city, vell sink again boyo." "Wait a minute," said the captain, "Who is we?" His answer came in a blast of cold air and the crackling of quickly frozen ice. The Captain turned to see a block of at least twenty frozen liches in the middle of the street, and the frozen villain, Snow Cone smashing the block to pieces. "This is our city too, Captain," the armored snowman said coldly, "Thus we have every right to defend it just as you have. Thought you may have cause to disagree with our methods." A swirl of frost surrounded the end of Snow Cone’s Ice Broom, forming a sharp, crescent blade of ice. The snowman slashed into the nearest zombie slicing it cleanly through the spine. "Chilling." "Are there any others that I should know about?" Captain Kiwi asked. The snowman nodded. "A few minor leaguers, Lady Ger-wrath," he said, "And her." Owen and I were watching as a deep blue arc of energy crackled down from the top of the building from across the street. As the glare faded, we saw a masked chipmunk barely dressed in black leather holding a ray gun. "Yeeaaahhhh baaaaaay baaaaaaa," she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Oh great," Owen moaned, "She’s been watching ‘Army of Darkness,’ again." "Does that make her less dangerous or more?" I asked. Suddenly three more arcs ripped through the air and slammed into Lu Yueh. "I’d say more," Owen replied "Definitely more." As Lu Yueh voiced his exasperation, the Dark Chipmunk took great pleasure in draining her blaster’s power pack into the demon. Suddenly, the demon blasted the first three floors of the building she was on top of. "Oh no," she squeaked, as the building began to collapse under her. As she dropped about half way, Dark Chipmunk plopped onto a glowing cloud that slowly began to drift to the ground. Then the cloud suddenly vanished and the chipmunk landed next to a sorceress with an extremely long neck. "Ger-wrath," Owen explained, "Now things are going to get seriously interesting," The sorceress raised her hands and let them fill with crackling energy. "I summon the Sphere of Chaos to devastate this evil," she commanded. A huge multicolored sphere filled her hands and shot out at Lu Yueh. The sphere crashed into the demon and sent him flying into the building behind him. "Should we?" I asked. Weasel Boy shrugged. "Why not," he said, "Let us add insult to injury, as he did to us." Owen removed a canister from his harness and tapped on a button on the end. He then tossed the canister into the divot where the demon lay semi-conscious. I then channeled my powers into my fingers. "DISRUPTOR DRILL!!!" I aimed the beam above the demon and brought a huge chunk of wall down on top of him. "Three…two…," Owen counted down, "One…" The sudden explosion blew the piece of wall to bits and collapsed the rest of the wall on top of Lu Yueh. "Insult and injury," Owen said, "All in one package." "Jim, Status," requested Doctor Nesbit. A cluster of cables reeled out from the base of the brain jar and plugged themselves into a socket on the wall. "We can shave five minutes off of our operations schedule if we use the satellite lasers for this, Doctor." Jim replied, "and we won’t have to use so much of our main power source if we do." "What about the lux frequencies?" A line of ones and zeros ran across a nearby display terminal. "A perfect match doctor," the brain in the jar replied, "We are ready, all we have to do is notify our friend." "You want to know something, Ger-wrath," said the Dark Chipmunk, "This party is getting majorly bogus. All there is to do around her is blast zombies." "Only you would think of this as a party," Ger-wrath replied. "Life is short for us mortals," the chipmunk replied, "You have to take your parties where you find them." She squealed with glee as she fired another burst from her blaster into the lurching throng. Owen’s cell phone beeped from a pouch on his belt. "Yes," he answered; then he handed me the phone. "It’s for you." I took the handset from him and brought it to my ear. "Yes?" "Your idea is all ready," Nesbit’s voice rang into my ear, "All you have to do is just say the word and we turn it on." "Give me a minute to get ready, and then activate it," I said, and then gave the phone back to Owen. I lifted the face on my transband and keyed the transformation. "You came up with a plan didn’t you?" Owen asked. I shook my head. "No, maybe nothing, or maybe just a way to even up the odds," I replied as the fur recovered my body, "Either way, we’ll know in about a minute." As the seconds ticked by, suddenly a beam of light streamed out from the top of Supermegatopian Labs and into the heavens. Suddenly, I could see three more beams streak through the sky only to meet at a point. Suddenly with a huge flash of light there it was, a hologram of the full moon, perfect right down to the last detail. As I stared into that great expanse in the sky, I felt my pulse begin to throb faster in my neck and chest, it was working, it was actually working. "Hold this," I said as I passed my jacket to Owen. Suddenly my bones began to ache as I began to transform once again. I gritted my teeth and hoped for the best. "Kyle, look out." Owen shouted. Suddenly I was pulled underground by two devious green claws and held up by the arms. In the darkness, I could see the purple glowing eyes of Lu Yueh as he glared at me menacingly. I could still hear the thrum of my pulse and feel the ache in my bones as I slowly continued to change. As I was dragged away from the moon though, I felt the transformation began to slow down. I just hoped that I had gotten some of my power back. Chapter 17: Owen dove forward and thrust his hand down the hole trying to grab anything that might have saved his friend. All Owen could do was feel his fingers brush against the back of Kyle’s shirt collar as he was drawn deeper into the hole. "Dammit," the young Vayne cursed as he slammed his fist against the side of the hole. It was at least a quarter of a mile deep. "What happened?" Alexander’s voice came over the com-link loud and clear. "Lu Yueh pulled a fast one on us," Owen replied, "He dragged Kyle back down into the sewers. I can’t tell what’s going on down…" Suddenly a bright streak and a glowing pulse flashed by the far end of the hole. "I think we may have lost him Grampa," Owen said solemnly. Instantly a blaze of red rushed across the end of the tunnel, causing a column of dust to rise up into the tunnel. This was followed by several more blasts and a shockwave that could be felt on top of the street. "Then again, I could be wrong," he said into the link. He turned towards the sorceress, Ger-wrath and motioned with his arm for her to come over. "Can you use your powers to tell us what’s going on down there?" he asked. Ger-wrath raised her hand, which trailed streams of arcane energies, and covered her eyes. The energies in her hand then turned a deep azure as the sorceress went into a deep trance. Ger-wrath’s astral form traveled to the end of the hole, and then stuck her head through the vent. Out of reflex, she quickly pulled her head back into the tunnel as a red wave of energy streaked past the exit and exploded into something. Ger-wrath then lowered her head again and saw what looked like a huge ape grappling with a reptilian creature with three heads and six arms. She hadn’t gotten a good look at the demon earlier, but now she could see it clearly and perhaps she could help. "Weasel Boy," Ger-wrath’s body said, "How tall is this demon?" "It’s at least a full head taller that you are," Owen replied, "Why?" "What ever it is that the demon is battling," she explained, "Is holding its own sufficiently." She watched the ape throw the demon into the wall hard enough for the monster to go through. The attack was returned in kind from a flying chunk of debris that caught the ape in the chest and rolled him into a corner. The walls were cracked from the force. As the demons hands began to crackle with energy; Lu Yueh made short little swipes in the air that rippled across the cavern and slammed into the ape. Parts of the wall crumbles down around the ape as the bursts of power exploded around the ape. By chance, one of the bursts slapped the ape in the face and brought it back to consciousness. The beast then leaped to it’s feet and roared. It was so loud, Ger-wrath had to cover her ears. Suddenly the apes maw began to glow and a bolt of crimson sped at Lu Yueh and slammed the demon across the room. The ape the stopped roaring, charged the demon, and wrapped it massive arms around the beast. Ger-wrath turned her astral form upwards to return to her body. "I had to get out of there," she explained, "There was too much stray energy in the room for me to see anything. That, and I strongly dislike pro-wrestling." "Never mind that," Owen replied, "What was going on down there?" "This three-headed demon was battling with this giant ape that had some kind of power breath," Ger-wrath reported, "The last I saw of them, the big ape had the demon in a full-nelson and looked like he was getting ready to perform some kind of pile driver on him." "You say that as if they were the same size," said Owen. Ger-wrath looked down at him. "They are Weasel Boy," she said, "In fact, I think the ape is bigger, by an inch at least." "You can tell that, even when they are rolling around down there?" Asked the Dark Chipmunk. "I’m a giraffe, DC," Ger-wrath explained, "When something is taller than you, how much isn’t just a detail." "He can’t be that tall," Weasel Boy said, "There hasn’t been anything near here that would cause him to mutate; no toxic waste, no mutagenic compounds, no alien ra…dia…tion…" Then it hit Owen all at once. "This beast has become stronger" thought Lu Yueh, "But it is still no match for a go-AUGH!!!" The Moonbeast’s tail lashed across the demon’s chest and carved a deep gash in his flesh. The nameless head snarled and loosed its power beam at the giant ape, only to have it deflected by the creatures own destructive blast. It could deflect one head’s attack but not all three. Tan and Li then aimed at the Moonbeast’s feet and attacked with their own power beams, as they tried to throw the ape off balance. Lu Yueh then channeled it power into all six of its hands and hurl devastating orbs of energy at the beast. It was too much for the Moonbeast to keep all of the balls in the air as it were. "No match for a god, indeed." "You are correct Weasel Boy," Space Man explained, "My singularity generator can absorb any frequency of energy, concentrate said energy, and transmit it through my hyper ray. Why is this information so important to you?" "I think Kyle knew of a way to use the moon to increase his powers enough to defeat the demon," Owen clarified, "Lu Yueh however dragged him down beneath the city before he could finish. Now Ger-wrath said that he’s holding his own down there so far, but we’ve seen that demon come up with enough ways to slam us against the wall just when we think that we are winning. I figured that if we take enough moonlight down into the underground, we can use it to help Kyle regain his powers and stop the demon." "It seems plausible," the alien replied, "I shall try it." Space Man pulled an oddly shaped box off of his belt and pointed it’s face towards the image of the moon. "Locking on to frequency vector," the alien said, "The guns, they’ve stopped." "Knock off the Star Wars Jokes and just charge up the stupid gun!!!" Delilah heaved, and sank the three-foot spike half way into the concrete. As Owen secured the rope bag to his leg, Space Man brought over his Hyper Ray. "My weapon has been fully charged as you requested," said the alien, "I do not know if it will have the desired effect that you wish." "Maybe it will," Owen replied, "It just may be enough to turn the tide" Weasel Boy then tied two half hitches around the spike and dropped down into the hole. As he descended, Owen snapped a light stick to light up the dark corners. "Boo!" Owen jerked and dropped the light stick, as Ger-wrath’s astral for faded into view. "That was not funny," Owen shouted at the shade, "What are you doing here anyway?" "Do you notice something?" Ger-wrath replied, "Anything at all?" Owen hung on the line and thought for a moment; it was quiet, too quiet. When Ger-wrath first came back, she said that Lu Yueh and Kyle were tearing into each other like wildcats. But now there wasn’t any sound, no flares of light from them shooting off their energies. The place should be quaking from the force these two would be using. What was going on? As Owen passed through the end of the bore-hole and disconnected himself from his descent line. He then found his light stick and raised it over his head. The walls had been charred from power blasts and pulverized by blows of immense strength. Owen gave a low whistle. "But where are they," he asked. "Tceted," Ger-wrath chanted softly. The sorceress’s eyes began to glow causing strange lines of energy to appear in mid-air. "They went this way," she said. As Owen followed the shade down the tunnels, he could see the damage to the walls getting worse and worse. Charred blast holes, melted cavities, and curious impressions that looked like they were made by the collision of heavy bodies into the walls. Suddenly, they corridor abruptly ended. "I don’t get it," Owen said, "This tunnel is supposed to go on for at least another two miles, what’s blocking it off?" "Eyrcs." Ger-wrath’s eyes changed color as her perceptions began to change. "You’re not going to believe this," she said, "But your friend is blocking the tunnel. He’s stuck." "I’d believe it," Owen replied, "Is there a way to get around him?" Ger-wrath nodded. "There is a maintenance shaft that goes around him to your right," she reported, "It goes through along the wall and comes out a few meters beyond your friend’s nose." Owen dashed over to the wall and pulled off the maintenance shaft cover. He crawled in and half crawled-half slithered along the two and a half foot wide crawlspace in hopes of saving his friend. "You must hurry Weasel Boy," urged the sorceress’s shade, "Your friend’s growth has slowed to a point that the tunnel is slowly crushing him to death." "Just tell me how much further," Owen replied. Ger-wrath vanished for a moment and quickly returned. "About ten more feet," she said. As he struggled forward, Owen could see a glow from the tunnel’s utility lights seeping in around the corners of the hatchway. Only a few more feet and Owen was beside the hatch cover. Owen pressed on the door with one hand then with both hands and still the door wouldn’t budge. Owen then began to furiously band on the door with his fist, hoping to knock what ever held it shut loose. "Look out!" Ger-wrath shouted. Owen clambored back into the tunnel as thick taloned arm plunged through the metal hatchway. "Schesse," said Herr Skull reaching for his Luger, "Za ammo belt chammed." Several of the shambling undead were beginning to climb onto the tank. As the Nazi super soldier took aim, he was blinded by a flare of energy. As his vision cleared, Herr Skull for a Head reached out to catch a flat-chested Buxom Gal in his arms. "Danke Frauline," he said, "Rest now, you haf done more zan your chare today." Owen struggled to free an item on his belt, as the demon’s arm swept around the crawlspace. Quickly, Owen loosed a long silver rod from his belt and trust it in front of him for the demon to grab. As Lu Yueh grabbed hold of the sturdy cane, Owen thumbed a small button on the end of the device. Lu Yueh shrieked in surprise as about sixty-thousand amps were shot up his arm. The arm ripped back out of the chamber. Owen bunched his legs up behind him and sprang out of the hole tearing his costume on part of the jagged metal. Owen then tucked and rolled along the floor narrowly missing the demon’s wicked talons by a hair’s breadth. Owen then: pulled another long metal rod from his belt, grabbed hold of both ends, and them apart. One end sprouted a wickedly spiked grappling hook. Owen swung the end around and then tossed the hooked end at the demon. The cord landed between the middle and demonic head; Owen pulled hard on the cord and caused the hooks to dig deep into the demon’s flesh. As Lu Yueh grabbed onto the cord to try and pull the hook free, Owen twisted on his end of the rod, causing a small button to appear on the butt of the handle. Owen then pressed down on the button with his thumb. Suddenly, the line drew taut and the handle raced out of Owen’s hand and joined flush with the base of the hook. Then the whole device, which had been designed as a disposible escape and distraction device, discharged loudly as a twelve-gauge blank blasted into the ears of two of Lu Yueh’s heads. The demon shirked as it stumbled to one side. Lu Yueh fell to one knee and tried to cover his damaged ears to stop their incessant ringing. Owen pulled Space Man’s moon light charged hyper ray from his belt and tried to get a clear shot at the beast stuck in the tunnel. All of a sudden the gun was knocked out of Owen’s hand. The weapon skittered to a stop with a thick pointed tooth imbedded in the grip. The head on the left bore an evil grimace, like it had a toothache. Suddenly, Owen bent over backward to avoid the shark-like tooth the head spat at him with great speed. Owen then rolled over in midair to avoid two more of the demons fangs. As Weasel Boy tried to get up, he slipped on a loose patch of gravel and lost his footing. Lu Yueh’s unaffected head turned to draw a bead on Owen and spat one of his razor sharp teeth at the hero. As Owen covered his face, the tooth caught in one of Weasel Boy’s kevlar wristguards. Owen scrambled to his feet and tried to find where he had dropped the Hyper Ray. Weasel Boy felt his way through the rocks and the rubble for the weapon. "Ouch!" Something had cut him through the fabric of his glove. Owen snapped another lightstick between his fingers and shook it. There, gleaming in the light, stood the demon’s tooth sticking out from the ray guns grip. Owen snatched the weapon up from the ground and took aim at the beast lodged in the tunnel. Owen then ducked out of the way, the demon had fully recovered from the attack and resumed it barrage of energy blasts. The first three blasts slammed into the tunnel walls. "Yldaed Sllaw fo Gninthgil!" Energy crackled along the walls of the cave, surrounding Lu Yueh with in walls of lightning. The God of Plagues tried to claw his way through the barrier, but the walls held, barely. It was then Owen realized that Ger-wrath was buying him the time he needed to use the ray. Weasel Boy pointed the ray at the trapped Moonbeast and pulled the trigger. As the cavern filled with the light of a thousand full moons, powdered rock began to fall from the ceiling and walls. Owen realized what was happening and high tailed it back into the maintenance shaft. As Weasel Boy slipped inside the duct, he pulled a grapple gun from his belt. The grappling ‘hook’ was a heavy plastic capsule-shaped weight with a skin composed of an extremely strong temporary adhesive. Weasel Boy pulled the non-stick cover from the hook and fired it down the tunnel. As the ‘hook’ stuck to the far end of the shaft, Owen slapped the butt of the pistol; this caused an internal winch to quickly reel him back towards the other end of the shaft. Owen slid out the end of the shaft and tumbled to the ground. With an ear shattering snap, the underground chamber’s ceiling cracked violently as the Moonbeast’s growth resumed. Owen raced back to the hole in the ceiling, fired his second grapple gun up the wide excavation, and activated the reel winch in the gun. As he accended the tunnel, the shaft began to crumble and shake as a long crack rent it’s way up the side of the shaft. Owen scrambled up the edge of the hole and hollered out as loud as he could. "Everyone get clear, get clear! It’s coming!" And then the street split asunder. For the first time in two days, Sunflower saw her father’s eyes open. "My daughter," said The Dark Iguana, "Help me to the window." "No father,"Sunflower replied, "Your not strong enough for that yet." "Daughter please," he pleaded. Sunflower had never heard her father plea for anything in her entire life. This time it must have been important. Carefully, she moved the I.V. stands and the bed out of the room and took her father to the lab’s sun room where he could see all around the city from the floor’s huge windows. "Can you feel it daughter," Dark asked, "The balance of power in this battle has shifted. Now for the first time I believe that we can finally beat Lu Yueh. Suddenly, the report of a large explosion shook the whole building; causing the sun room’s windows to shatter. In the distance, Sunflower could see the hulk of a huge behemoth rise into view. "Father," she said, "I believe your right." Chapter 18: The street erupted with great force as a giant hand emerged from the concrete. It slammed down on the ground and pulled the now gigantic Moonbeast to the surface. The beasts red eyes could be felt staring through every one he looked at. Suddenly the plague liches stopped attacking the heroes, and began to shamble towards the giant ape. The Moonbeast’s eyes narrowed as it raised its free hand out of the chasm and then brought it crashing down upon the liches. The resulting shockwave shattered every window in sight. "Whoa…" said Owen with great awe. The ape then leapt out of the gorge and landed at the far edge. The Moonbeast then turned and blasted his power breath down into the gorge. The blast caused an explosion to rocket up the shaft into the air. At the top of the cloud, a purple trail could be seen streaking its way through the sky. The giant ape turned his head upwards, and then loosed blast after blast at the streak. The trail then curved around and headed back towards the ground. The trail then slowed down and stopped before the face of the great ape. The glow that caused the trail slowly began to fade and revealed the god Lu Yueh, in all his ghoulish glory. As the Moonbeast swatted at the demon, Lu Yueh streaked across the faster than the eye could follow. Then just as quickly, a volley of energy blasts slammed into the Moonbeast’s chest. The explosions raised a huge cloud of smoke that covered the giant ape from head to foot. Lu Yueh streaked back into view to inspect his handywork. A whipcrack reported through the air, as the demon was suddenly sent flying into the remnants of a collapsed building by the Moonbeast’s tail. Lu Yueh had barely come to his senses when the giant ape leaped out of the smoke and brought his fists, crackling with energy, down on the rubble pile. The heap exploded as Lu Yueh skirted the brunt of the blast, though he still took some of the damage none the less. Lu Yueh rebounded off the neighboring building, and launched itself into the chest of the giant ape. As the ape went down on one knee, Lu Yueh circled around and slammed six of his elbows into the small of the Moonbeast’s back. It was like watching a man trying to swat a mosquito of equal strength. "Owen!" Alexander Vayne shook his grandson out of the young fur’s daze. "Owen, he can’t do it alone," Ferret Man said, "Brute force and power alone are not going to beat that thing, it’s going to take teamwork; what we have may not be enough, but we have to try none the less, for all our sakes." "Your Grampa’s right," said Moon Man floating into view, "I don’t know what you guys are going to do, but I am going to help him." The Moon Rod flared to life as Moon Man launched himself into the battle. "Ve haf to to vork togezher," agreed Herr Skull. The german super soldier reached into his tank and pulled a flat chested Buxom Gal out of the panzer. He then carried her to the street and propped her up by the tank tread as he opened the maintenance hatch to reveal the tank’s battery. Donning a pair of heavy rubber gloves, Herr Skull took Molly’s hands in his own. "Zis may not be pleasant frauline," the Nazi said, "But it’s ze qvickest vay I can sink off." He then put Molly’s hands on the battery’s terminals. Buxon Gal awoke with a gasp as the current from the battery flowed through her body. Her petite bosom swelled into fullness as her lost powers were returned. "That’s much better," she said as she rose into the air, "Now I have a friend to help." "C’mon c’mon c’mon, Ger," Dark Chipmunk griped, "I wanna zap him some more, but I can’t do it from down here." "Very well," said Ger-wrath. The sorceress spread her arms causing a luminescent mist to surround the chipmunk, and lifted her off the ground. "Woo hoo hoo," Dark Chipmunk squealed as she soared into the air. "Any one else need a lift?" asked Ger-wrath. Lu Yueh dug his talons deep into the Moonbeast’s back. The giant ape roared out in pain as the monster continued to tear into his flesh. "Hey you!" Lu Yueh looked up from his gruesome task, only to be seared across the chest with a blade of energy. Moon Man raised the blade that manifested from his Moon Rod and slammed it across the demon’s shoulders. One of Lu Yueh’s heads looked up and spat a burst of energy at the golden age hero. Moon Man: raised his blade to block the burst, extinguished the blade, aimed the rod, and fired a continuous stream of ‘blow up a house’ caliber fireballs into the demon’s chest. Lu Yueh raised four of his arms to try and block the assault, while hanging on for dear life with the remaining two. "Take a taste of this, scale face!" Lu Yueh roared as the blue arc from the Dark Chipmunk’s ray gun slammed into his back. He let go of his two remaining handholds, and fell into freefall. The demon then righted homself in midair and caught sight of his latest assailant, a scantilly clad chipmunk floating on a cloud of mist. Lu Yueh channeled his powers into a tight beam and sent it streaking at the fur. Dark Chipmunk swooped out of the line of fire and managed to get another salvo fired off at the demon. Lu Yueh managed to land on his feet and ran to avoid the beams from above. Suddenly, a steel I beam was slammed into his chest. "You beast," raged Delilah as she threw down the beam, "You tore a chunk out of my back." The Valkyrie punched Lu Yueh in his solar plexus to emphasize her point. "You left me bedridden with that god awful sickness of yours." Delilah slammed her fist into the demon’s left face. "My shoulder had to be seared because of you." She then smashed in his middle face. "And the worst, the worst thing, you left me so I could not fight beside my beloved!" Delilah brought both her fists down upoin the demon’s shoulders and buried him up to his knees in rubble. "Ahhh!" Delilah suddenly doubled over in pain. Blood seeped through the Valkyrie’s fingers as she realized what had happened. The blood dripping off the demon’s claws made it painfully obvious. Lu Yueh had raked her acroiss her belly with his claws when she wasn’t looking.. Thankfully, her strong abdominal muscles had kept the demon’s talons from going any deeper and doing real damage. The demon pulled his stood up from the rubble and tilted Delilah’s head back. Then, with one swift motion, Lu Yueh slammed his fist into Delilah’s gut with such force, that it sent her flying through the air. Delilah landed with a meaty smack as she landed in the Moonbeast’s oversized hand. The giant ape rumbled with extreme disapproval. The Moonbeast then spread wide it’s jaws and sent its power beam slamming down onto the demon with full force. Lu Yueh was forced through twenty feet of rock and concrete before he came to a stop. Rather than pursue the demon, the giant ape stopped to examine the tiny figure in its hand. It gently rolled the Valkyrie over to look at her shoulder and at the heroes on the battlefield and in flight around him. After setting Delilah somewhere safe, the ape suddenly snapped his cupped hands together as though he were catching a butterfly. "What’s he up to?" Owen thought. Owen’s puzzlement continued as the Moonbeast blasted its beam into his clasped hands, causing a red glow to seep through his fingers. After a moment or two, Owen saw what looked like a golden orb begin to rise out of the Moonbeast’s hands. The globe grew and swelled until Owen could clearly see that it wasn’t merely one orb but two; two nearly perfect golden globes. "Oh man that’s Buxom Gal," Weasel Boy said with amazement, "But what can he do with her like that?" From the ground, a storm of dust rushed forth from the hole Lu Yueh had been blasted through. Owen saw commotion, ran over to the mouth of the cavity, and pulled grenade from his belt. Before Owen could activate the timer, the demon leaped out of the hole, grabbed the boy by the throat, and raised a taloned hand to do him grievous harm. Suddenly, the air crackled with energy as bolts of crimson filled the air. The Blood Witch appeared to lend her aid; she used her anger at the demon’s atrocities to increase the force of her powers. These scarlet bolts lashed across Lu Yueh’s back and shoulders. The demon roared and loosened his grip enough for Weasel Boy to use his grenade. Owen dropped the bomb at the monster’s feet and tore loose of its grip just in time to avoid the explosion. Lu Yueh rushed through the cloud of smoke and dust, with his claws raised. He bore down on a now stunned Weasel Boy and was within a heartbeat of killing the young hero. A whistle in the wind heralded the sound of flesh against metal, as Captain Kiwi’s shield soared across the street and severed one of Lu Yueh’s arms off at the shoulder. The lethal disk then veered up, stalled, and then returned to the captain before a drop of the demon’s blood ever hit the ground. As Lu Yueh screamed in pain, a different scream caught the ears of the heroes; one of ecstasy and triumph. All eyes turned upward as they saw the swelling orbs that the Moonbeast held in his arms. Molly’s bustline had swelled to the point that the Moonbeast had to cradle the load in his arms to keep from dropping her. The great ape loosed his energies into the growing heroine, tripling the speed at which she grew. Buxom Gal grew bigger and fuller as sensitivity of her breasts grew in proportion to her size. Lu Yueh’s eyes widened suddenly as he realized what was happening. The demon wasn’t sure why this sight made him afraid, but Lu Yueh knew that he had to stop it, for what ever reason. The plagued god leaped onto the Moonbeast’s leg and started climbing using the ape’s long, coarse fur to hold on. CRACK!!! Half-way up the apes shin, a powerful blue arc burned away the handhold Lu Yueh was just reaching for. The demon’s heads turned to see a plume of smoke drifting off the tip of the Dark Chipmunk’s blaster. Lu Yueh snarled and spat purple bolts from each of his mouths. The Dark Chipmunk flew through the barrage with the grace lent to her by Ger-wrath’s spell, but even that was only enough to get her so far. Suddenly Lu Yueh’s attack cut the villaness off from her escape. Dark Chipmunk swiveled in the air and strafed along the ape’s leg with her blaster. The stench of ozone and burnt fur filled the air, as the blaster’s arc crackled along its path. Her luck ran out as three bolts struck her simultaniously. The Moonbeast’s energies raged into Buxom Gal, causing her breasts to swell to tremendous proportions. A smile of delight beamed across Molly’s face as the sensations from her bodice rushed into her brain. She loosed a sigh and let her mind drift free of eartly concerns. Somewhere in the back of her mind she heard: "And she will come…" "Are you two sure you want to try this?" Moon Man asked of his companions. Ferret Man and Captain Kiwi both nodded. "Okay." Ted held out the Moon Rod so that the others could place their hands on it. The short, glowing staff became ablaze with energy, as the three heroes were lifted into the air. The trio shot up the immense leg and past the demon. Ferret Man pulled a grappler gun out of his belt and fired it into the Moonbeast’s fur. As the grappler’s spring-loaded clamp gripped into the ape’s fur, Alexander clipped the gun back onto his belt and rappeled down until he was in firing distance of the the demon. Lu Yueh let go with two of his hands and hurled pulses of sickly, cyan energy at Alexander. Ferret Man quickly drew his .41 caliber pistols and returned fire. The demon let go with all but one of his remaining hands to swing out of the way of bullet’s path. Alexander slapped the release on the grappler’s cable reel. Ferret Man slowly fell towards the demon, twisted to one side, and emptied the magazines of his pistols. Holes appeared in Lu Yueh’s chest as the demon swung across the leg of the giant ape towards the aged vigilante. He slammed his feet into Ferret Man’s chest and sent Alexander into freefall, the only thing keeping him from terminal velocity was the Kevlar tether that spooled from his grappler. Lu Yueh crab crawled across the Moonbeast’s fur and grabbed Ferret Man’s tether. He brought it up to the mouth of his demonic left head and placed the line between the head’s chisel sharp teeth. "Let go of him!" Captain Kiwi swung his heavy shield and sliced the edge deep into the demon’s back. The shield lodged in the demon’s back and left Roger with a cliffhanging problem. Lu Yueh had released Alexander’s tether line and reached around to try and pry Stevens off of his back. Roger swung around with his free hand and slammed his fist into the small of the demon’s back. Captain Kiwi did it twice causing Lu Yueh to lose his grip and slide down to the ground. Lu Yueh leaped to his feet and shook Roger off of his back. The demon the reached around, pulled the shield free, and hurled it into a wall. Suddenly from above, a hail of fireballs slams into the demon and the ground around him. In the air, Moon Man halts his barrage and turns his staff to one side, causing a crescent of energy to appear at the end. As Moon Man swings the lethal sickle downward, dust swirls around Lu Yueh’s feet as the demon’s power rises to form a shield of his own. The two energies meet with a blinding clash. "Oooooh Yeeees," Buxom Gal sighed, "More energy, I need to be bigger!" "Please, you must remember," said the voice in the back of her mind. "Oh go away, will you," Molly groused. She wiggled her toes against her swelling bosom and giggled at the feeling that went up her spine. "This is a losing battle and this feels so good," Buxom Gal continued, "Let me enjoy this before it’s all over." "If you think that way then you have already lost," the voice griped back, "You have forgotten what’s important." "All I know is, all of a sudden, I have my own little private taste of heaven," Molly replied, "And I am going to enjoy I for all it’s worth before the city goes straight to hell." "You’ve forgotten what he told you," said the voice, "She will come…" "She is coming already," Molly giggled through the haze of ecstasy. Suddenly a half- sobering thought went through Buxom Gal’s mind. She rose bolt upright, as well as she could, and stared at her titanic bodice that had swollen as far as her eye could see. "No way it could be that easy," Molly thought to herself, "It can’t be." Molly thought back to the night they first encountered the demon; when The Dark Iguana told them about the ruby Lu Yueh had been trapped inside being his heart. "Maybe that's why he said it like that," Kyle replied, "Maybe it's just that simple." "That means all I have to do," Molly said, "Is just reach down and…oh no!" Molly suddenly realized, that in her haze of pleasure she had grown waaaay to big. The flesh of her breasts had distorted her body so far out of proportion, that the spot that she used to trigger her release had swollen out of reach. "You have to tell someone," the voice cried out. "The wouldn’t be able to hear me," Molly replied, "Everything… so lo…ud…" As she lost her concentration, Molly was almost instantly drunk with pleasure from her ballooning bodice. Dust from the last explosion drifted away on the wind to reveal Moon Man lying at the base of a partially collapsed wall. His clothes are in tatters and he is badly bruised and broken. Lu Yueh turns his attention back on the growing spheres in the Moonbeast’s hands. The demon suddenly leaned back and reached out with an arm to catch Captain Kiwi’s shield, as the disk sailed close to Lu Yueh’s chest. The demon turned his heads to face the defender, and, with one clean motion, hurled the heavy shield into the chest of it’s owner. Roger flew off of his feet and was slammed into the wall behind him. Lu Yueh then turned and started to walk towards Captain Kiwi. "NAY!" The sound of lightning racing through the sky ended with an enormous CRACK, as Thunder Dog’s hammer was smashed between Lu Yueh’s shoulder blades. "I say thee nay," the Norse god shouted, "Thou shalt not inflict further harm on this goodly soul. Nay so long as there is breath in my body." Thunder Dog let his hammer slip down in his hand and then then gripped the shaft next to where it joined the head. The Norse god then swung his hand back and charged the demon. One of Lu Yueh’s hands shot out and caught the god’s warhammer as it came around, as another latched around Thunder Dog’s throat. A third hand was lashed back to tear through the captive god’s breastplate, only to be caught by a green hand. Lu Yueh turned a head and took a fist in the face as She-male tried to free Thunder Dog from Lu Yueh’s grasp. "MIGHTY CHARGE!!!" The horns of the Mighty Yak pierced through the front of the demon’s chest, as Montgomery raised Lu Yueh off of the ground from behind and slammed the monstrosity hard into the earth. Lu Yueh looked up to see the army of heroes that had arrived. "I bet you forgot you were outnumbered didn’t you?" She-male quipped. "Louis, Louis," Eve Farmer’s voice drifted through the ether to what remained of Louis Cardon’s Ears. Carrion’s eyes went gray as ethereal fog filled his sockets. Slowly through the mists, Eve’s luscious form slowly appeared to the necromancer. "Eve," Carrion replied, "What is it?" "Tis Molly, the lass you call Buxom Gal," the shade replied, "She cannot trigger the release of her power. She’s grown too big and growing bigger. If we’re to stop this madness, we must help her trigger." Carrion looked up at the Moonbeast and sighed. "Tell me what I have to do." Rocket Bob’s jet pack thundered through the sky as Weasel Boy held tightly onto the control joystick. Owen had been armed with vital information provided by Carrion and told exactly what he had to do. Because of the great height he had to travel and the speed at which he had to get there; Owen had borrowed Bob’s jet pack. He flicked up the cover on a switch on the joystick, and thumbed down the button. The jetpack’s afterburners kicked in and launched Owen higher into the air. Lu Yueh fists flew with demonic fury. The ancient demon fought three to one against the army of defenders that charged towards him. When all was done, he at last faced only four remaining opponents: Tina, Thunder Dog, Snow Cone, and Iron Mantis. As the demon’s mouths opened to begin their assault, Snow Cone activated his Ice Broom and channeled the super-cooled gasses into a domed shield that deflected the demon’s assault. Tina inflated her throat and let loose with a blast of low sound that shattered the shield and hit the demon in the chest, knocking Lu Yueh off of his feet. The Iron Mantis then flew into the air and bombarded Lu Yueh with laser fire, as Thunder Dog leaped into the air and brought his hammer down with the full force of a blazing thunder storm. The explosion raised enough dust to obscure the combatants from each other’s view. "Did we get him?" asked Tina aloud. "Scanners on line," answered the Iron Mantis. A thin sheet of laser light emerged from and emitter in the center of his helmet’s forehead. "No energy or life force signals," the armored warrior replied, "I think we got him." "On your guard none the less," warned Thunder Dog, "Evil gods are not always defeated this eas-HUFF!" The Norse god doubled over as Lu Yueh slammed two of his joined fists into Thunder Dog’s solar plexus. The demon snapped out his foot and sent the Iron Mantis flying into Tina, knocking her to the ground. Lu Yueh turned around only to have a two foot blade of ice thrust through his chest. A spray of super-cooled gas blasted from Snow Cone’s Ice Broom, surounding the demon. As the snowman pulled back his weapon, Lu Yueh had been frozen solid. Snow Cone took a step back, all the while keeping one coal eye on the block of ice in front of him. The ice shattered an explosion of great force. One sharp sliver pierced through Snow Cone’s Lexan helmet. The sudden loss of coolant from his temperature control suit disoriented him to the point that fell flat on his back. Lu Yueh leaped high into the air. Snow Cone saw the creature falling towards him and acted. The armored snowman roled to his feet and grabbed his Ice Broom. "ICE PILLAR!!!" Snow Cone twirled his Ice Broom over his head and slammed the end of the handle into the ground. This sent a torrent of super cooled liquid into the air that froze solid the second it left the chilling weapon. The resulting column of ice slugged Lu Yueh in the abdomen and stunned the demon for a moment. With a swift jerk, Snow Cone pulled his Ice Broom out from under the pillar causing it to come crashing down. A swirl of frost appeared around the end of the Ice Broom, as Snow Cone reformed the heavy blade of ice. A huge block of ice, part of the ruined pillar, soared out of the cloud of fog created by the ice. Snow Cone couldn’t move out of the way before the block slammed into him, and sent him speeding through a brick wall. Streams of cryo-coolant seeped from small cracks in his temperature control suit, as a huge cloud of vapor poured from a major breach. Lu Yueh appeared through the vapor as he looked over his defeated opponents. The demon picked up Snow Cone’s Ice Broom, and then looked up. Chapter 19: Owen shut down the jetpack’s afterburners. As he flew towards Buxom Gal’s now immense form, he discovered that the Moonbeast’s power beam was causing turbulence. Owen changed course to land on the giant ape’s shoulder. The jetpack’s fuel was just about gone as his feet touched down. Owen found it was like walking on deep pile carpet up to ones ankles. The trek along the Moonbeast’s arm was tedious, the wind the ape’s power beam generated made it necessary for Owen to grab onto the thick fur and crawl along on all fours. It was slower, but there was less chance of him losing his grip and falling. "Easy does it Owen," he said to himself, "Slow and steady, just forget you’re a few hundred stories in the air." As Weasel Boy made his way across the hairy expanse, a gust of wind blew over Owen’s back. The young fur held onto the ape’s arm as the wind tried to blow him away. As the wind died down, Owen looked up and reached out for the next handhold and moved forward. "Okay, this isn’t so bad," Owen thought to himself, "Just scootch along, hang on when the wind picks up and you’ll be alriiiii-" Owen slid down the side of the Moonbeast’s arm. He quickly reached out to grab a thick patch of fur. Owen hung there for a minute trying to catch his breath; then, slowly, he climbed hand over hand until he was a little further up from where he had come loose. "Third rule," he said, "Always test the strength of your hand-holds. Yeesh that was close." After he crawled another twenty feet, he beat his head against the furry expanse; he had forgotten that he was still wearing Bob’s rocket pack. Owen looked up from where he was, another fifty feet or less he had to crawl. "That shouldn’t be too far," he thought. As he reached out for his next purchase, a wisp of frost drifted past his nose. "Snow?" he thought. Owen looked up and then rolled out of the way as a heavy spear of ice was buried in the Moonbeast’s arm. Owen scrambled back, as Lu Yueh leaped off of a thick column of ice. The demon pulled the spear loose and thrust it at Weasel Boy. As Owen back-flipped out of the way, he pulled Gracie’s cybernetic gauntlets onto his hands. The gloves crackled with energy as the heads up display illuminated the eyeholes in Owen’s mask. As Lu Yueh swung Snow Cone’s ice broom around and gripped it in two of his hands, Owen raised his arms and a classic fighting stance. Weasel Boy immediately went on the offense; Lu Yueh quickly blocked Owen’s punches with Snow Cone’s ice broom, until Owen faked a punch and tucked inside the demon’s defenses. Owen’s gauntlet’s hummed briefly and then shunted a massive surge of energy into the demon’s body. Lu Yueh was knocked back by the jolt; as he recovered, the demon swung the ice broom around and held down the trigger. Owen hit the jetpack’s igniters and flew over the cone of cold. Weasel Boy landed behind the demon, snaked an arm around one of Lu Yueh’s necks, and slammed his fully charged gauntlet into the small of Lu Yueh’s back. Lu Yueh jabbed his elbows into Owen’s ribs; the demon then turned around and raised Weasel Boy over his head. As he was about to throw Owen into freefall, Weasel Boy slapped the button on the jetpack’s belt buckle. The two engine pods separated from the side of the pack and swiveled around on their slender robotic arms. Owen grabbed onto one of the control grips and swung the weapon downwards; Weasel Boy pulled the trigger causing a blast of superheated gasses to sear the flesh off of the demon’s leg. Lu Yueh screamed in pain and went down on one knee. Owen squirmed out of the demon’s grasp and stomped on the damaged limb. Lu Yueh backhanded Owen with three of his callused fists. The young hero went flying backwards and landed a foot away from falling into space. Lu Yueh appeared over Owen with a thick blade of ice, ready to run the young hero through. Lu Yueh was suddenly surrounded with mist as Carrion’s bony arms were wrapped around the demon’s neck. The mist poured forth from the necromancer’s eyesockets and weaved it’s way around the demon’s limbs, as rivulets of dark magic were channeled through the haze. "You tricked me you son of a bitch," Carrion screamed, "You got me to take that stupid rock you were trapped in out of that vault in my temple. Well I got news for you, no one tricks me and gets away with it. No one!" Louis looked up at Owen. "Get going weasel, I can’t hold him for long." Owen then turned and then ran for the swelling form of Buxom Gal. Carrion watched Weasel Boy’s racing form heading for the growing globe. The necromancer then redoubled his efforts to hold the demon captive. The demon dropped the Ice Broom and fell forward as the bonds of mist drew tight around his limbs. The hazy bindings pressed into the demon’s scaly skin and began to seep with its vile ichor. One of Lu Yueh’s heads turned around and leered at Carrion. "I know that look," siad Louis Cardon, "It’s the look I get when people say that I will never get away with it. Well you rotton SOB, I am not here to get away with anything, I am just here to stop you, no if’s, and’s, or but’s." Suddenly, the demon made as if to burst through his bonds. The bindings didn’t break, but one of the demon’s arms was severed off by the demon’s strength. Before the stump could regenerate, the demon slipped the bleeding stump through the mystic rigging. At once the renewed limb burst forth from its stump and grabbed Carrion by the neck. The necromancer was hauled around, in front of the demon. The last thing Louis Cardon saw was the glow of energy that began to stream from Lu Yueh’s mouths. Owen ran as fast as he could towards Buxom Gal’s growing form, without losing his balance. Weasel Boy stumbled once and then regained his footing as he came ever closer to his goal. "Just a few more yards," Owen said to himself. I was just a mere ten feet away, all he had to do was just trigger the relea- a sudden jerk on the jetpack’s harness hauled Owen away from the trigger point. Owen found himself nose to nose with the demon, Lu Yueh. The middle head curled its lip and snarled. Owen lashed out with his gauntleted hands, and smashed his open palms down on the demon’s ears. The concussion combined with the current flowing through the gloves stunned the demon; Lu Yueh went down on one knee, but the demon never loosened his grip. Owen released the pack’s harness and slipped out of the flying contraption. He then pointed the three jet burners into Lu Yueh’s chest, braced himself, and then activated the igniters. The thrust from the pack crammed Owen into Buxom Gal’s swelling flesh, as the blast from the burners incinerated the demon’s chest, leaving only the bones and sinews to hold Lu Yueh’s torso intact. The demon wouldn’t free his grip. Owen sneered at the beast. ‘What does it take to make you let go?" A thought then crossed throught the young fur’s mind. "If you won’t let go, then just keep it." Weasel Boy then wrapped the straps of the harness around the demon’s arms and then tied them into a heavy knot, before hitting the igniter button. The jets roared as the heavy rockets began to drag Lu Yueh away from the sight. Suddenly one of the demon’s arms lashed out and seized Owen by the scruff of his shirt and hauled Weasel Boy into the air. Out of shear reflex, Owen drew one of his grappler guns with the Stickyhook and fired it at the Moonbeast’s arm. The "hook" stuck fast and held firmly as the thrust of the rocket pulled the line taut. Owen strained to hold onto the grappler line as the jet pack’s pull caused the line to tear through his gloves. The jetpack was so strong, that the grappler’s winch on full power couldn’t bring him any closer to his goal. Finally Owen: let go of one hand, loosened another foot of line from the grappler, and tied it into a half hitch around his belt. The knot held as Owen release the line. Now if he could get the demon to let go of him. A loud, wet snap alerted Owen, Lu Yueh was working himself free. A wet hand snaked its way around as its fingers regrew their long talons. Owen pulled his shock stick from his belt and smacked the wicked paw with the crackling baton. Another wet snap told Owen that Lu Yueh had gotten another hand free. He needed to find a way out of this situation, and help Buxom Gal trigger her powers. It was days Owen wished that he carried a blade of some kind. There was a third snap. "Think fast weasel," Owen muttered to himself. As two more of Lu Yueh’s hands felt the sting, of Weasel Boy’s shocker, an idea came into Owen’s head. Owen slipped the shock stick back into his belt and pulled the last grappel gun he had out of his belt. Owen fitted a Stickyhook into the device, but left the non-stick cover on. If he could only remember where that trigger spot was. "Just under the curve of her breast," Owen thought to himself, "That’s where it is, where the back touches the skin of her chest. Owen took in a deep breath, aimed, exhaled, and fired. The heavy grapple sailed through the air. For a moment there, Owen thought that his shot was off, but the shot slipped smoothly between the junction. From his vantage, Owen could see Molly’s eyes suddenly widen as she felt the surge of redoubled growth rush across her skin. As Buxom Gal’s triggered energies began to manifest, one of Lu Yueh’s arms snaked it’s way around to cut the tether line with its razor-sharp claws. As the line was sheared, the thrust from the jet pack launched both Owen and the demon across the sky, tumbling out of control. Owen drew his shock stick and pressed the crackling rod against Lu Yueh’s hand. The demon howled as the current ran up his arm. With a final sickening wet snap, Lu Yueh freed his final arm. Owen grabbed onto a loose strap as the demon released the scruff of his shirt. Weasel Boy swung around on the strap and slapped the shocker across Lu Yueh’s ribs. The demon looked down and loosed a power beam at the dangling hero. Owen dropped his shocker as the beam scored a direct hit on his shoulder. Dangling by the strap, Lu Yueh reached around and grabbed Owen by his good arm, squeezing hard enough to make the young hero let go. The demon held the young hero up before his demonic third head. The monsterous face drew back its lips to reveal its sharp, chisel-like teeth. The demon’s head opened its mouth and turned its jaw to bite into Owen’s exposed neck, just as a burst of light rivaling the sunrise filled the sky. As all three of Lu Yueh’s head focused their attention on the event, the demon’s body began to smoke. As the black vapors trickled up the demon’s arms, Lu Yueh’s flesh began to turn into black ash. Lu Yueh struggled helplessly in midair as the light bathed him in its golden radiance, turning his vile tissues into cinders; and as the last of his body was blackened to charcoal, a wave of light rippled its way across the city. As the wave struck the blackened demon, his body exploded into a cloud of cinders. As Owen went into freefall, he passed out from the pain in his shoulder, and the world became oblivion. Chapter 20: It was nearly midnight before Owen opened his eyes. I was back in my human form, sitting in the chair across from Owen’s hospital bed. His shoulder was heavily padded with gauze and an IV snaked its way into his arm The young Vayne tried to sit up, but the aches from his shoulder wouldn’t let him. "I see you survived this madness," he said as he reached for the controls to his bed. I shrugged. "I always seem to get through stuff like this," I replied, I pulled back the sleeve of my to reveal my bandages. "Not always unscathed, but for the most part intact." "How did you know that was going to work anyway?" Owen asked. I shook my head. "I didn’t, the Moonbeast did," I explained, "When I fully transformed, my vision changed and my instincts took over, but I remember what happened. When the Moonbeast saved Delilah from Lu, it noticed that her shoulder had healed. It could also see traces of the energy that healed her; so the Moonbeast just reached out and grabbed the only hero who’s aura matched the traces of energy." "And that just happened to be Buxom Gal," Owen finished, "We already knew that her powers could heal the demon’s plagues, we just didn’t think that it would affect the demon itself." "I am surprised," I stated simply, "We both heard the Dark Iguana, the prophecy he mentioned. I saw what happened, you saw what happened, but no one put it together because we were concentraiting on the disease alone, instead of the demon. But once we put two and two together we found the solution." Owen sighed with relief. "Did anyone get hurt seriously?" he asked. "Mmmm, Nesbit gave me a list in case you asked," I said, pulling a folded sheet of paper from my pocket. "Snow Cone took some damage from his suit being breached, Dark Chipmunk has three broken ribs and a concussion. Most of the Offenders got off lightly, save for Captain Kiwi. He has a gash in his chest and a cracked sternum from getting hit with his own shield. A couple of the Men-Men have first and second degree burns, Delilah got raked by the demon again; but Molly’s flare healed any diseases the demon might have given her, and Ger-wrath banged her head." "That’s good," Owen sighed, "We didn’t lose any one." "I didn’t say that," I replied. It was then Owen noticed the small box I had under my arm. "What’s that?" he asked. I set the small metal carton on the tray table and gently edged it towards him. "I wasn’t sure what to do with this," I said, "I thought you might have a clue." Owen raised the bed and reached out to lift the lid on the receptacle. Inside was a curved piece of skull, the temporal bone and a part of the left parietal. The front part of the lower jaw with a few teeth still in the socket, and a few odd scattered teeth here and there. "Carrion?" "It was all they could find of him," I explained, "Not much else." Owen gently swept the pieces back into the box. "He’ll be back," he said, "He always comes back, no matter whatever happens to him." For a moment there I thought he might be in denial over Carrion’s death; in a strange way even your enemies are the friends you never thought you needed. "Thank you for bringing them to me," Owen finished, "I’m sure I will know what to do with them." He then swung his feet off the bed and grabbed on to the I.V. Stand. "I am tired of lying in bed," he said, "Get me that wheelchair and let’s take the fifty cent tour. Which hospital is this anyway." "It isn’t a hospital," I explained, "It’s the sick bay of Supermegatopia Lab. They told me that you were brought here after the transformation wore off. I guess it was the closest there was at hand." "Strange thing is that a lot of heroes get treated here," He said, "Let’s get out of here and raid the cafeteria." As I pushed the wheelchair out the door, I bumped into the janator with my shoulder; the name "Lou" was emblazoned in red on the right lapel of his uniform. The custodian went into the room with his mop and bucket as we got into the elevator across the hall. "So the best thing about getting treated here," Owen said, "Is that the food is ten times better than any hospital." The elevator doors opened to reveal Delilah dressed in her t-shirt and jeans. "There’s my hero," she said, "Mind if I take this guy off of you hands?" I shrugged and pushed the chair towards her. "Be gentle," I replied. Delilah took the chair from me and pushed Owen down the hall. As I walked out of the elevator, I bumped into Doctor Nesbit. "How are you doing?" she asked. "I’m good," I replied, "Collateral damage, nothing that can’t be fixed. Except for my scouter. I am going to have to get a new one." She nodded. "Delilah brought me what was left of it," Nesbit told me, "But the tech is really beyond anything I could build in the time I have. I was told you were leaving soon." "In about six hours," I said, "That’s about how long it takes for an exit portal to form, my portal tracker indicated that the dimensions are fluctuating." Dr Nesbit dug a black box, about the size of a walkie-talkie, out of her pocket. "Here," she said, "A little present before you go. I realize that you just can’t call up a full moon whenever you want, but that should help you if you need to become the Moonbeast again in a hurry. It emits the same kind of moonlight that the hologram produced, just push the button on the front there." As I pushed the button, two little doors on the front of the box opened towards me, as the inside of the box glowed with a pale gray light. "This was very thoughtful of you," I said. I leaned over and gave her a a peck on the cheek as a thank you. Charolotte looked surprised for a moment and then blushed shyly, as though no one had ever done that before. Maybe her reputation as a mad scientist simply kept away anyone who wanted to. She smiled kind of sweetly and hugged me back before she went back to her lab. As I turned to go back to the elevator, I saw Sunflower and Tiger Lass whispering to each other in a corner, like two school girls sharing a naughty secret. I had an idea of what they were up to, but I wasn’t going to spoil it. Besides, it would give Amanda that she had been waiting for, for a long time I went back into the elevator and keyed the button for the roof. As the doors to the elevator opened, I found Molly sitting on the edge waiting for me. "I wanted to see what one of your portals looks like," she said running her fingers through her hair. I sat down next to her and waited for my ride out of here. A mysterious figure stands on the grounds of Vayne Manor. At her feet are six bottles that each held three liters of soda each. She then somersaults across the wide yard before backflipping up and into one of the second story windows. "Thanks Sunflower," she whispers to herself Early in the morning, about three, I saw the portal appear high in the sky; they look like golden ball-lightning. I shook Molly awake and slipped off the edge of the lab roof. As I let my power rise, my descent slowed. A moment later, Molly was floating beside me. "Here it comes," I told her. I pulled my portal tracker out of my satchel and turned it on. According to the watch shaped sensor the portal would pass us about two blocks away from here. The portals travel along the paths of least resistance. They can go up walls, around buildings, any which way that’s convienient, which for me often made leaving a dimension kind of interesting. Sure enough, the portal skimmed along the street two blocks ahead of us. My aura flared as I decended to the street and broke into a dash. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Molly flying above me. She smiled at me and waved goodbye as I closed in on the blue vortex the golden flare trailed. Then with one last burst of energy, I leaped into the portal. Monty stretched his shoulders out before going into his room; it had been a long week and he wanted his bed. As Monty opened the door, he couldn’t believe what he saw. "He remembered," Monty said happily to himself. Gently bobbing before his bed was a huge orange balloon with black stripes along the back. "I was sure he had forgotten," he finished. Monty took the big balloon and gave it a gentle toss in the air. As he caught it, he noticed the small sticky note stuck on the balloon’s tail. "Balloons need lots of cuddling," it read, "please do not neglect me." Montgomery pulled down the sheets of the bed and pulled the huge sphere in with him. As Monty drifted off to sleep, the balloon started to purr contentedly. "Good night, Monty," said Tiger Lass softly. Molly stopped to float in mid-air as the portal winked out of existance. She would miss her new friend, he had changed her life around somewhat. Maybe one day Kyle would come back though; she could always hope. As she rose into the air to go home, she wondered if Amanda and Delilah were busy this weekend. It might be fun to go clubbing with them again. In the temple of the Ancient Pine Tree God, Louis Cardon fits the last of his teeth into his broken jaw. As he slips the bone back into place, tendrils of mist surround the cracks healing them instantly. Carrion clacked his teeth together and then sat back in his throne. He was tired. He would worry about the rest of his head tomorrow. As a haze of mist swirls over his eye sockets his head slumps down as he tries to sleep. Somewhere in his dreams, he feels a soft arm wrap around his shoulders and hold him tightly. "Eve," he sighs. "Rest now Louis," Eve’s voice tells him, "For you have done well and you are one step closer to us being together forever."
Back to Stories