Frontier Chronicles

by 117Jorn

Marvel/Pokegirl Crossover: Three unlikely heroes end up in an unfamiliar world, where sex is in the norm, and super-powered woman run around the world. How will these heroes cope with being in the world... of Pokegirls? RATED M FOR A REASON PEOPLE!

Disclaimer: If you think I own Marvel or Pokegirls... you're stupid.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Radio/Telephone/Telepathy"

Chapter 1: The Zanacorp Incident

United States, California, near Los Angeles

A lone pickup truck which had a moving trailer hooked to the back drove down the highway towards Los Angeles. The road was surprisingly empty, not another car in sight for miles. The driver of the pickup looked in the bed in the back, where two people were sitting in. He opened the window and shouted out, "Hey! We're gonna be in LA in about a half-hour!"

"Thank you sir," said the first one, a young man. "And thanks for giving us the ride."
The man chuckled. "Hey, just doing my good deed of the day," he said as he closed the window.

The boy who spoke looked to be about 18 or 19 years old, standing at 5'11 with short spiky black hair and crimson-colored eyes. He was wearing what looked like an armored Gi colored red and black, with a single red sword sheath on his side as he looked out over the horizon. "It sure took us a long time to get here..." he said. "A whole month of travel, huh?"

The second occupant smiled. "Yeah," the woman said with a nod. "Never thought I'd ever go to LA." The woman looked as old as the boy, with long shoulder length silver hair and dark red eyes. She was wearing a simple pair of bluejeans and a red T-Shirt with a pair of boots. "And to think you wanted to come all this way on your own, Jaden."

Jaden chuckled a bit at that. "Yeah, I guess bringing you along for the ride was a good idea, Rena," he said. "Even though your parents are probably worried sick..."

"I'm nineteen years old, Jaden," Rena said as she huffed a bit and crossed her arms across her chest. "I'm old enough to make my own decisions, I'm not a baby."

"I know, I know," Jaden said with a short laugh before he frowned. "But things are gonna get pretty dangerous you know," he said. "We might run into people like those SuperVillains we keep hearing about on the news. I can't promise you that I can always protect you."

"You taught me the same stuff you learned in your mom's scrolls," Rena said. "I can handle myself. We just do things like normal, you watch my back, I'll watch yours."

Jaden smiled and nodded. "Good, and thanks," he said, as he looked up at the sky. "One day... we'll finally find her..."

Meanwhile, Los Angeles International Airport

LAX was about as busy as it usually was, with cars, taxis, and buses ferrying people to and from the massive airport. Inside was just as busy as outside, with people walking through the airport in just about every direction and doing just about every activity you'd expect at an airport.

One person, a 26-year-old Asian man standing at 5'11" with dark brown hair, a fairly bushy moustache of the same color, and amethyst eyes, clad in a dark blue long-sleeved polo shirt and black pants with a pair of sunglasses resting atop his head, walked out of the Baggage Claim area carrying a dark blue duffel bag that was his only luggage, though he also had a Japanese Katana Sword in a dark blue sheath strapped to his back.

Entering the Public Transportation Pickup Zone, he waited for a bus from the local Best Western to arrive, entering the bus once it had arrived. The man had been to quite a few hotels over the course of his travels, and always preferred the Best Westerns-they were inexpensive, weren't too gaudily decorated, but they still had all the comforts one could ask for in a hotel.

And for Takeshi Yamato, also known as the Freelance Hero Azure Tempest, they were also the perfect hotel for keeping a low profile as he established ties with the locals and waited for his next job offer, be it from local Law Enforcement, any local Superhero Teams, or SHIELD.

As the bus pulled away from the airport and began taking Takeshi to his hotel of choice so he could check in, he wondered once again just why he felt like he'd had to come to LA, when the city didn't have any known Superhero Teams or Villain Problems...

Meanwhile, in New York

A young man who looked to be about nineteen was crouched on a rooftop looking down below at the bustling city with curious dark green eyes. He stood at about 6'10" with a strong frame and dark brown hair that was cut in a military fashion. He was wearing what looked to be a black karate outfit with the sleeves ripped off and the top held close by a dark green belt with a pair of comfortable sneakers finishing off his outfit. He also had a rather prominent tattoo on his upper right bicep that was the Kanji for 'Lightning' on display.

"How lucky they have it," The teen muttered as he watched the masses mill about before his eyes spotted a scruffy looking kid being harassed by a group of thugs. "Whoops, can't have that, now can we?"

The man nimbly leapt from roof to roof until he was above the group of thugs and dropped down between them. "Big Brother!" The boy cried out in relief as the teen fully stood.

"You alright there, Ricky?" The teen asked over his shoulder. "Run along, Akira should be waiting for you at home."

"Right!" The boy said before running off.

"Hey who the hell are you? Don't you realize we work for Kingpin?" One of the thugs asked menacingly.

"Ah, right, right, whatever you say buddy, don't you realize that you're in the territory of the Children of Gaia?" He asked with a dangerous smirk as sparks started appearing all around him. "I think I'm going to need to make a couple of reminders about that, aren't I?"

"N... no way... he's Raijin!" One of the thugs shouted right before he was knocked unconscious from a kick to the face.

"Gets it in one!" Raijin said grinning before ducking under a punch from the second thug before slamming his elbow into his solar plexus, making the man blackout from the sudden loss of oxygen. "That's two, now for three!" The final thug screamed as he tried to run only for his head to be caught in a strong grip and slammed down into the pavement.

"Heh, thugs these days," Ryu said mockingly before going about rifling through their pockets. "Thanks for the cash, boys!" He called out as he walked away leaving them lying unconscious in the alleyway.

Meanwhile, back in LA

"Again, thanks for the ride," Jaden said, as they stood alongside the truck, both he and Rena now in the middle of busy Los Angeles, Jaden shaking the hand of the man who drove them there.

"Nah, don't mention it," The man said. "You two take care now!" And with that, he drove off onto the streets.

"Alright, we made it to LA," Rena said. "So... now what?"

Jaden reached for his pocket, and pulled out a small picture of a blond-haired man wearing sunglasses and a black suit. "We find this guy," he said. "One of my mother's scrolls said that if I ever needed help, I should see this man. Some... Hector... Zathan... never heard of him before. But if we start asking around we should find something."

Rena sighed. "If he is still here, it's gonna be hard to find him in a city like this," she said.

"It's not like the answer will just slap us in the face."

SLAP!

"Ow!" Rena shouted as a newspaper suddenly slammed right into her face. "What the- huh?" She grabbed the Newspaper and looked at the contents before her eyes widened. "Jaden, look!"

Jaden looked at the news article, and his eyes widened as he saw the same person on the picture on the front page "Hey, that's him!" he said. "Doctor Hector Zathan... the CEO and founder of Zanacorp, some pharmaceutical corporation."

"It says he's holding a press conference on the seventeenth..." Rena said before she blinked. "That's today!"

"Then we better hoof it if we're gonna keep up with this guy," Jaden said. "Come on!" Rena nodded before the two quickly began running through the streets of LA, to reach the location of the press conference.

Meanwhile, with Takeshi

Takeshi had managed to get a room at the Best Western Airpark Hotel, one of a few Best Westerns close to LAX, and was just settling into the room when his Cell Phone went off.
Now, Takeshi actually had two Cell Phones, one for Civilian Use and one he used to keep in touch with the larger law enforcement agencies. And given that the Ring Tone was JAM Project's 'GONG' rather than 'Ride of the Valkyries', it was the second phone that was going off, and a quick check of the Caller ID revealed the caller as Nick Fury of SHIELD.

Takeshi flipped the phone open. "Azure Tempest here. You got a job for me, Fury?"
"Tempest, I heard you're in Los Angeles now," Nick Fury said. "I need your help, and you're the only one who's close enough who I can trust to get the job done."

"You've got it, Fury," Takeshi replied. "What do you need?"

"You ever heard of Hector Zathan?" Nick asked.

"The guy who's as intelligent as Tony Stark, but focuses on the Biological Field where Tony's in the Technical Field?" Takeshi replied. "Yeah, I've heard of him."

"Well, as you may know, publically, he's only interested in medical science in curing diseases," Nick said before he sighed. "But... the government has also contracted his facilities for military purposes. At first, he supplied us with improved battlefield medications, and augmentations for soldiers wounded on the field. But..."

"He's moved into more morally ambiguous territory, I take it?" Takeshi asked.

"We don't know for certain," Nick said. "We have reason to believe he's making Bio-weapons and selling them on the black market. They were just rumors before, but recently we picked up a container with Zanacorp markings filled with chemical weapons, which was marked for transport to North Korea. Whether Hector knows about this or if someone in his company is going behind his back... we don't know, but with him focusing on his press conference today, it may be the best chance you have to sneak in, get into his personal files, and see what he's up to."

"Sure thing, Fury," Takeshi replied. "I'll do what I can. I trust you'll wire my fee to the usual account-a man has to pay the bills, after all."

Though he didn't see it, he could tell Fury was smirking a bit. "As usual, of course," he said. "Half now, half for when the job's done." He then continued in a more serious tone, "Just be careful, Tempest. I sent an agent of mine inside a month ago, and she never came back."

"You've got it, Fury," Takeshi replied. "Azure Tempest out." He then closed the phone and went to his duffel bag.

He was going to need to get into costume before he headed out, after all.

Meanwhile, New York City

Ryu sighed as he walked through some of the abandoned streets of a small warehousing district until he came upon a slightly more intact warehouse that he stepped into. The interior was mostly barren with what looked to be a couple punching bags and weight lifting equipment, although there didn't seem to be anyone around at the time.

He moved over to a particular door that had a keypad next to it and punched in the code that unlocked the door, leading into an elevator that brought him downwards. When it opened up, he was hit by a barrage of noise as music clashed with the sounds of kids playing and video games going on.

He smiled at the noise with a shake of his head and a light chuckle as he moved through the almost laboratory feel of the facility until he came upon the main room that once had been a main lab, but had been transformed into a massive play area for a large group of children.

"Ryu!" A voice called out calling his attention over to an attractive young woman about his age with long, wavy brown hair with two streaks of light green framing her heart shaped face, full, pouty lips, and sparkling deep purple eyes. She was wearing a sleeveless white blouse that was snug across her rather impressive, for her age anyways, bust showing off a good bit of cleavage and a short pleated blue miniskirt clinched to her waist by a black belt, she had on a pair of sneakers with black knee high socks. She also had a pair of razor fans tucked into her belt that she used to help control her mutant ability of Aerokinesis, the ability to manipulate wind.

This was Kira Urei and she was, in a roundabout way, the one responsible for their current lodgings.

See, The Children of Gaia were in actuality a large group of Orphans that banded together under the leadership of Ryu and his four lieutenants, one of whom was Kira, or Fuujin as many had started calling her. Ryu had started the gang shortly after being orphaned when his parents were killed by a group of people who were against mutants in general and wanted them dead. They had targeted Ryu when his mutant power manifested itself in the form Electrokinesis that allowed him to manipulate electricity.

He had managed to escape the mob as his parents headed them off, dying in the process. After a few weeks of surviving, Ryu decided that he refused to just lie down and die and started forming a gang of his own to combat the ones that were plaguing the area, while there were a good number of mutants in the gang, not all of them were as any orphan that came to him was never turned away. One by one Ryu had recruited new people to help protect the children, the first being a man named Geo, who had the mutant powers of Super Strength and Geokinesis, who joined with Ryu after Ryu had beaten him in a long and grueling fight, becoming Ryu's first lieutenant. His second lieutenant was a young woman named Akira Shisho, an Aquakinetic who had been watching over a group of orphans protecting them from the various gangs in the area.

The Third Lieutenant was also the youngest, a young teen named Kenji Kasen who was a Pyrokinetic who had watched Ryu defeat a large group of thugs and joined up with the Children of Gaia to learn from Ryu. Kira was the final Lieutenant to be recruited after she had been kidnapped by a gang hoping to cash in by ransoming her back to her father, the owner of the successful pharmaceutical company Urei Industries, she had awoken her own Mutant abilities when she was about to be raped by the thugs, alerting Ryu, who was out on a stroll, to her position and he rescued her from the groups, own mutants returning her to her grateful father, who not only gave them an old and unused hidden laboratory for their use as a home, but paid them a sizable fund, setting up a private and hidden bank account for them to use.

Since that day, Kira had been hanging out with them and learning how to better fight and use her powers eventually becoming the fourth lieutenant and the final member of the 'Elemental Gods' as they had become known as.

"What's up Kira?" Ryu asked as he turned to the girl. "Need something?"

"My dad does, actually," Kira admitted as she led him through the chaos to a room off to the side where her father was waiting with the other 'Gods'. "Says he wants our help with a rather sensitive issue that he can't go to anyone else with."

Ryu nodded his understanding as they entered the room. Looking around he nodded to each of the 'Gods' and Kira's father, Donovan Urei, who was a rather average looking man with graying brown hair and tired looking brown eyes, wearing a nondescript suit, obviously wanting his visit here to be kept a secret.

Donovan was standing between Geo, a large young man standing at over 7' with large muscles and had a shaved head with dark brown eyes, he was wearing a white tanktop and a pair of black pants tucked into a pair of construction boots, he also had a tattoo of the kanji for 'Earth' on the left side of his face taking up the majority of it, and Akira, a young woman standing at about 5'6" with Dark Red hair tied into a ponytail with two strands framing her angular, asian looking features with light green eyes and a slight scar running over her right eye, she was wearing a pair of torn blue jeans with a dark red t-shirt that shows off her midriff and a black bandanna around her forehead and had a tattoo with the Kanji for 'Water' on her abdomen.

The final person in the room was Kenji, a young teen with spiky black hair and dark red eyes wearing an outfit similar to Ryu's only his is dark red with a black belt and has a tattoo with the Kanji for 'Fire' on his upper right bicep.

"Mr. Urei." Ryu greeted respectfully to the man, who nodded back. "Kira said you needed help with something?"

"Yes," Donovan informed with a tired sigh. "I am going to be going to Los Angeles for a series of meetings with other pharmaceutical and biological companies discussing the possibilities of setting up a joint team to work on new cures for diseases, combining all of our knowledge. However, something about these meetings just don't sit right with me, it makes me feel like someone is setting a trap for us, I would decline the invitation but the public backlash could very well ruin the company..."

"We'd be bodyguards." Geo rumbled in his deep voice. "To make sure nothing does happen."

"Yes, of course I am willing to pay you for this, and I will even allocate a few squads of my security teams to protect the orphans here while you're gone." Donovan offered hopefully.

"Of course we'll help you," Akira assured with a gentle smile. "After all, you're Kira's father."

"Yeah," Kenji shouted out in agreement. "We don't leave friends hangin'."

"When and where?" Ryu asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Now, if you don't mind," Donovan informed. "I have a car waiting to take us to the airport where we will be taking my private jet."

Ryu turned to the others, who were all nodding. "Pack up," he ordered. "We leave in five."

Later, Los Angeles

"Ya know..." Jaden said with a groan as he and Rena walked down the streets of LA, "I wish we kept that damn paper long enough to find out exactly where that Press Conference was being held..."

"Well, you were the one who tossed it up in the air the moment you read about the Conference part," Rena said with a sigh. "Maybe we should look for another paper?"

"I think I can help you there," A voice 'said', causing both of them to jump, as they didn't actually 'hear' it, as it seemed almost as if they were hearing it from their own thoughts.

"What the...?" Jaden said, "Who and where are you?"

"Calm down, I ain't gonna hurt you." The voice in their heads said. "I know where the Conference is, you can follow me!"

"And... where are you, exactly?" Rena asked, as she looked for the source, but the only thing around them was a cat that was sitting on a box a few feet ahead of them, staring at them.

"I'm the cat." The voice said, causing both of them to blink before looking at the cat, which seemed to nod. "Give me a second..."

Suddenly the cat jumped off of the box and onto the ground, and as it walked towards them... it changed and grew larger and larger, and its fur began to disappear, being replaced by a black and red tight skin jumpsuit revealing her feminine frame, and soon she stood right before them. She had a mask over her eyes, however they could still see they were dark brown, and she had long waist length red hair. Seeing how well the suit revealed her form, Jaden couldn't help but blush. "Uhh...h-hi..." he said, glancing at her ample cleavage before quickly focusing on her eyes. 'Think non-perverted thoughts... think non-perverted thoughts!'

"Uhh, who are you?" Rena asked, as she eyed the woman suspiciously.

"Most people around here call me Animorph," The woman, now identified as Animorph, said. "Who are you?"

"I-I'm Jaden T-Takeo," Jaden said, while still having a slight blush. "And this is Rena, she's my friend... y-you said you can help us find the Press Conference?"

"The one hosted by Hector Zethan? Yeah, it's the only one that almost everyone in town has been talking about," Animorph said, nodding. "Follow me, he's holding it outside the HQ of his company."

Animorph then turned and headed down the sidewalk, transforming back into a cat while doing it. "Come on!" She said in their minds once again.

Jaden and Rena looked at one another, before shrugging as they followed the transforming catwoman down the sidewalk.

With Takeshi

Takeshi was now making his way through LA's Sewer System, clad in a classic Ninja Outfit which was dark blue with black trim, with his swords strapped to his waist as per usual.
What most people never knew was that sewers were the easiest way to travel in a city undetected, and given that every building in a city was connected to the sewer system, one could traverse a city without being detected at all.

He consulted his cell phone's map function, and saw that he was directly under Zathan's building. Checking the clock showed that it wasn't quite time for the conference yet, so he had to wait. He did climb up to the nearest access point, though, intending to slip out of the sewers and into the building as soon as the conference began.

Fury needed information from Zathan's office, and the Azure Tempest was going to get him that information.

LAX Airport

Ryu sighed as he and his lieutenants stepped off of the private jet that Donovan had chartered to get them to Los Angeles. Each of them were now wearing higher-end clothing that Donovan had provided them to make them look more professional and to hide their origins, Ryu was wearing a white button up shirt with a black sports blazer with a pair of loose fitting dress pants, Kira was wearing one of her own outfits consisting of a tight, black blazer with a white blouse underneath and a knee length skirt that that slits on either side for easier movement. Kenji and Geo had been put into a similar outfit as Ryu's, only Geo's was a dark brown instead. Finally Akira was wearing a navy blue dress shirt that hugged her chest with an ankle length skirt that had slits running up the sides all the way to her upper thighs of the same color.

In addition each of them had been provided with sunglasses that were made by Stark Industries meant for threat analysis and kept Donovan highlighted for them, even through walls through the use of specially made implants.

"Ah, there's the limo now," Donovan pointed out for the group as they adopted a loose circle around them. "It'll take us straight to Zanacorp where the meeting will be held."

"How many companies are going to be attending?" Akira asked as she took out a notebook to take notes down on.

"Ten, including Zanacorp and Urei Industries." Donovan informed as they climbed into the limo. "An invite was sent to Tony Stark as well... but I haven't heard of anything on him attending or not."

"Are the other companies going to be bringing bodyguards?" Ryu asked as he kept his eyes to the streets.

"Maybe one or two for appearances sake," Donovan replied. "Although since we will be in Zanacorp for the meeting there will be a strong security presence with them."

"Man, do we have to wear these things?" Kenji asked as he tugged at his collar earning a swat from Akira.

"Yes, we have to look like professionals, Kenji," She scolded. "While the street gangs may see our markings as a symbol of who we are, these people don't and we have to look the part of bodyguards and not punks."

"She's right, Kenji," Ryu said as he watched the crowd his eyes glancing over a pair of teens who seemed to be following a cat. "Just try not to torch the expensive clothing if you can."

Kenji laughed slowly as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment remembering the early days of his elemental training. "Doesn't feel right," Geo rumbled. "Something's in this city."

Ryu nodded in agreement as everyone looked between the two. "Yeah, I think you're right, Geo," Ryu informed his eyes narrowing. "You were right to hire us Mr. Urei, something is going to go down here... but what?"

Meanwhile, with Jaden

Though Jaden and Rena were... hesitant to follow a woman they just met who obviously had mutant powers of shapeshifting (Not that they were against Mutants, of course), however seeing how she managed to lead them towards a large and tall building where a large crowd of people, mostly made up of reporters, and standing in front of the whole group was none other than the very man they were looking for, Doctor Hector Zethan, standing behind a podium which had several microphones on it.

"...now, are there any questions?" The doctor asked, and the reporters all began shouting out questions before Zathan pointed to one reporter, a woman.

"Dr. Zathan," she said, "There have been rumors that you have been receiving contracts from the military and organizations like SHIELD, is this true?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Zathan said, "However most of the details are, of course, classified, I can assure you that Zanacorp is simply using our medical expertise to help our brave men and women in the armed forces, to make sure they will always come home to their families."

"But there have also been rumors that Zanacorp may be creating Biological weapons for SHIELD," the Reporter asked. "What do you say about that?"

Zathan chuckled a bit. "I say that they should open their eyes," he said. "Zanacorp does not create any Biological or Chemical weapons for that matter, for the United States, or SHIELD, period."

As the reporters continued to ask question after question, and Zathan answered each question one at a time, Jaden had to admit the guy seemed alright, and it was no wonder why his mother would know him... but for some reason he felt a strange nagging feeling in the back of his head that there was something... off about him.

"He seems nice enough," Rena said. "But... am I the only one who thinks there's something off about this guy?"

"You're not the only one," Animorph said, as she stood next to Jaden in her cat form. "I've always had a feeling that there's something wrong with this guy... but I never had a reason to follow up on it. Why do you want to meet him anyways?"

"Jaden's looking for his Mother," Rena answered. "We think the Doctor might give us a lead... but how are we going to get to talk to him?"

"That might be tough," Animorph said, however Jaden could swear somehow, even though he knew Cat's couldn't possibly grin, Animorph did while in her Cat form. "But I have an idea... "

Eventually the Press Conference finally came to an end, as the Doctor turned and returned into the building. "What's your plan, Animorph?" Jaden asked the cat.

"You see, I can Morph into any animal I have ever touched," Animorph explained.

"However, if you touch me while I am morphing into something, you can Morph into that same creature. However, the effect takes a strain on me, at best I can only hold the technique for two hours before we all would have to demorph. We could Morph into something that can fly, and enter the building through the rooftop. The Doctor rarely ever seems to leave the HQ, so if you want to talk to him, finding him at night would be the best option."

Jaden nodded "Well... alright, sounds good enough to me," he said, turning to Rena, who nodded as well. "Thanks for doing this, Animorph."

"Eh, it was a boring day, anyways." She said with a giggle. "Besides... I think you two will make things interesting around here, especially you, cutie." She then purred a bit as her Cat form roamed around Jaden, causing him to blush lightly while Rena glared at the cat.

With Takeshi

Takeshi had managed to slip into the Zanacorp building without much trouble, and was using his skills at stealth and his Spatial Awareness to avoid patrols and security cameras. So far, it seemed like he had managed to avoid detection, but he knew that he couldn't relax until he got what Fury wanted and then got out again.

He hadn't found Zathan's office, yet, but he had found one irregularity in the Zanacorp Building... or its staff, to be more precise.

'Is it just me, or do the women vastly outnumber the men here?' he thought to himself.

'Zathan's definitely up to something-from what I've seen, only Villains have such an unusual woman/man ratio in their employees. All I need to do now is find out what he's up to and get that info to Fury.'

With Ryu

Ryu's eyes swept the building as he walked beside Donovan, the Stark sunglasses marking potential threats through the link that's formed with the brain when they're worn. "Geo, other side, Kenji, front, Kira, Akira, rear," he whispered to the others, who immediately moved into position. "For a biological company, these people certainly like their guns."

"Yeah, you've got a point," Kira whispered nervously, eyeing the women who seemed largely equipped with MP5's. "Even for a meeting of this calibre."

"Keep close," Geo rumbled to Donovan, who nodded, his mouth forming a grim line as they all stepped into an elevator.

"Am I the only one who's noticing most of the guards were Female back there," Kenji said,

"Or was it just me?"

"Not that there's anything wrong with that," Ryu said, casting a glance over to Kira and Akira. "But he's right, most companies would have at the most a 1:5 ratio for women to men, it seems to be the other way around here, maybe even more..."

"You're right," Akira agreed with a nod. "As much as I wish to say otherwise... something is definitely off here, they just didn't feel right."

"Trouble," Geo said, his eyes narrowing behind his sunglasses.

"Yeah, I think you're right Geo, this Zathan guy is going to try something," Ryu announced.

"Be prepared to move to protect Donovan, and don't hold anything back."

"Right." They all agreed as the elevator reached its floor.

With Takeshi

Takeshi hid in a corner as the nearby elevator opened, and was surprised to see who emerged. He recognized Donovan Urei from some of his own press conferences, but the other five were unknown. They didn't look like Urei Industries or Zanacorp, though, so they were probably independently-hired bodyguards.

Making contact might blow his secrecy, but he was beginning to realize he might need a bit of backup. Plus, the method he was planning to use was pretty undetectable, unless Zathan had special sensors set up to monitor for activity like this, which was not very likely.
Takeshi reached out to the group of six with his admittedly minor Telepathy and asked,
"Can you hear me?"

The group twitched and most seemed ready to move into attack stances, however, one of the 'bodyguards' who was standing to the right of Donovan made a sharp gesture with his hand, stopping their movement. "Who are you?" Came back originating from the one who made the gesture.

"I'd rather keep my identity hidden at the moment," Takeshi replied. "I mean you no harm, however. I am here at the behest of Nick Fury of SHIELD, investigating the rumor that Zathan is making Bio-Weapons and selling them on the black market."

"So that's what was going on..." The response didn't seem completely surprised. "And what's Mr. SHIELD Agent going to do exactly?"

"I'm not really a SHIELD Agent-more of a Freelance Hero that Fury hires from time to time," Takeshi informed. "Anyway, I need to get to Zathan's office, see if I can get the information I need from his computers. But I'm not sure how long that will take, so Zathan needs to be kept away from his office for as long as possible."

"That won't be a problem," Donovan stated. "After all, we are here to meet with him and several others."

"Understood," Takeshi replied. "Keep an eye out for anything strange, too-any evidence we can get will be beneficial. And yes, I also count the fact that women severely outnumber men in here to be strange."

"Just remember, our concern is Mr. Urei," The 'leader' informed Takeshi as they began to move again. "Don't be too hopeful for a rescue should shit hit the fan."

"I can take care of myself, if that happens," Takeshi replied. "And while my telepathy may be somewhat limited, I'll try to use it and my other senses to keep an eye on you while I go about my work, so I'm just a thought away if you need help."

"Not likely," The man assured as they disappeared around the corner. "One final word of warning, if a fight does happen, we'll be bringing this place down around us."

"Understood," Takeshi replied. "Good luck to both of us, I guess."

With that, Takeshi set off again, making sure to keep to the shadows and keeping his Spatial Awareness alert for security patrols and cameras, while also diverting a small portion of that awareness to keep track of Donovan and his bodyguards.

Before he could continue, though, he heard another telepathic message, this one from a different location than Donovan's group.

"Help me..."

The voice was clearly female, and it seemed like it was a general telepathic broadcast emanating from within the building somewhere. "Help me..."

"Who are you?" Takeshi asked the voice. "Where are you?"

However, she kept repeating her single telepathic call, which meant she couldn't hear him.

He would have to track her using his senses.

'Fury knows the drill,' Takeshi thought at last. 'Helping people in need takes priority over any job I'm on. And who knows? This might help me find out what Zathan is up to.'

And so Takeshi set out in search of the source of this telepathic call for help, again making sure to remain hidden from security teams and cameras.

And he had no idea just how much he would discover...

Meanwhile, outside

As the day began to turn to night as the sun began to slowly set over the horizon, three Seagulls flew in the skies towards Zanacorp, landing right on top of the roof.

Moments after they landed, the three birds began to grow and transform until they had become the forms of Jaden, Rena, and Animorph. "That... was... AWESOME!" Rena cheered, "I never thought I could fly like a bird like that!"

Animorph giggled a bit. "Yeah, that was my reaction when I first flew like a bird," she said, turning to Jaden. "Alright, now just follow me and I'll get you inside."

Jaden nodded as they approached the air duct on top of the building, where Animorph forced it open with her hands. "Okay, we're gonna have to Morph again inside the Air Vents," she said, as she grabbed Jaden and Rena's hands. "Hope you two are ready... some of these... smaller morphs can be pretty freaky."

Jaden blinked before suddenly he found himself becoming smaller and smaller, and he also noticed he was growing additional arms... it wasn't until the transformation was complete that he finally realized... he was a Wolf Spider, and so were Rena and Animorph.

"AH!" Jaden shouted using the telepathic ability being in an animal morph had. "Fuck, Dammit, why the HELL did you pick SPIDERS!"

"They're small, and since they can make silk we can use it to drop down into the vents." Animorph said, "Why, what's wrong?"

"Jaden is Arachnophobic," Rena answered. "He's terrified of Spiders, funny thing is he still likes Spider-man for some reason..."

"At least HE doesn't have eight freaking arms and eight eyes!" Jaden shouted. "Uhh... I'm gonna have nightmares about this..."

"Just bear with it for a while," Animorph said as she and Rena in their Spider Forms moved towards the air duct. "Once we get inside the building we can morph out."
Jaden groaned as he continued to follow the two up into the air duct 'Don't think about it... don't think about it...' he continued to think in a mantra as they proceeded into the vents.

"Help me," came a telepathic call that reached their minds before they could progress too far into the building, the telepathic ability they gained in their animal forms allowing them to hear it.

"Uhh... did either of you say anything?" Animorph asked.

"Uhh, no, we didn't say anything." Jaden said. "We thought that was you."

"Help me," the telepathic call said once again.

"Uhh... hang on! We're coming!" Rena said, only for the message to repeat. "You think she can't hear us?"

"I think it's safe to say there's more going on here than we thought," Animorph said, and if her Spider Morph's eyes could narrow they would have done it by now. "Come on, I think I might be able to track it down." The three proceeded through the vents, intent to find the source of the plea of help.

With Takeshi

Takeshi continued sneaking through the building, homing in on the telepathic call which got stronger and stronger the further he went. He finally arrived at a door leading to what seemed to be a research lab, and the telepathic call seemed to be emanating from beyond it. Looking at the keypad on the door, he realized he'd need a code to get in, but he didn't know that code, and figuring it out would take too long. Instead, he'd have to take a more direct approach, which would probably get him spotted.

"Help me."

'Screw stealth,' he thought. 'I need to get in there.' He then advanced to the door and stabbed his sword into the keypad, ruining the circuits and causing it to unlock.
He then reached out with his telekinesis, grabbing the doors and pulling them apart just enough to give him a way in, which he quickly took advantage of as he dove into the lab.
He then took a look around, trying to find the one who was calling him.

"I think the voice is coming from this direction," Takeshi suddenly heard the voice of another telepathy user, sounding female.

"How are you so sure?" A male voice said in Telepathy as well.

"Women's intuition." The first voice said, "That and I can home into their signal, but barely."

Takeshi was somewhat startled. More telepathy users homing in on the call? He wondered what they were doing here, and reached out with his Spatial Awareness to try and locate them. He then blinked in surprise as he looked up at the vents above him. 'In there?'
"I've got a bad feeling about this..." a third voice, also female said.

"You two worry too much, you know that?" the other female said. "At least you're not Arachnophobic like Jaden is."

"I swear, I WILL have nightmares about this..." The male, probably 'Jaden' said. "This is one of the most freaky powers I've ever seen..."

'Spiders?' he thought. 'More to the point, those vents are too small for a person. Are the three of them shapeshifters?'

He decided to give them a bit of a hand, and used his telekinesis to pop open the vent closest to them. He then prepared to catch them, because they'd probably end up dropping from the vent.

"What the-OH SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" Jaden started shouting as three Wolf Spiders dropped from the vent.

"FUCK, I DIDN'T SEE THAT DROP!" The first Female shouted. "BRACE!"

Before they could fall too far, though, they found their descent almost abruptly halted, before they began descending again, but much more slowly.

"What the... hell?" Jaden said, "SInce when do Spiders fly? Are you doing this, Animorph?"

"N-No!" Animorph said, "I can morph and talk to people in their minds, but I can't make things float!"

Takeshi let out a slight mental chuckle, filled with humor. "I don't think I've ever seen three people who can transform into spiders before," he thought to them as he continued gently lowering them to the floor, rotating them so they could see him. "Definitely a first for me."
The three Spiders looked at Takeshi. "Uhh... actually Animorph is the only one here who can Morph," Jaden said. "We just morphed with her 'cause we can morph with her if she is touching us while she morphs... who are you?"

"Just a Freelance Hero who was hired to covertly investigate Zanacorp at the behest of Nick Fury," Takeshi replied. "But when I heard a telepathic cry for help, I just couldn't sit by and do nothing to help."

"Wait, you heard it too?" The second female voice asked.

"I did," Takeshi said. "My powers include minor telepathy and telekinesis, with the telekinesis being how I was able to catch you just now." He then set them down on the floor. "Perhaps we can continue this conversation with you in your human forms?"

"Sure, one sec," Animorph said, before suddenly the three Spiders began to grow to human sizes, and gained human bodies until they had fully transformed into two women, and a boy. "There we go."

Jaden sighed. "Thank god I'm out of that damn thing..." he said. "Freaking Spiders..."
"Arachnophobic?" Takeshi asked. At Jaden's nod he continued, "I see. Well, let's take a look through this... lab, I guess. Someone needs help here, and we need to give them that help."

Jaden nodded. "Right, right," he said. "By the way, name's Jaden, Jaden Takeo."

"Rena Koya." The second girl said with a nod.

"Animorph." The first woman said with a smirk.

"You can call me the Azure Tempest," Takeshi replied. "Now, let's see what we've got here..."

Jaden and the others nodded as they began to inspect the lab, it seemed rather normal with different types of scientific gear all over the place, with microscopes and other pieces of equipment Jaden couldn't remember the names too half of them. The only thing that seemed out of place was the large steel door at the end of the room, which the four of them approached.

"Big door," Jaden admitted. "How are we gonna get in, though?"

"If it has an electric lock, I could disable it with my sword, and then use my telekinesis to open it-I got into this lab in similar fashion," Takeshi said. "Or, if any of you have super strength, we could always simply tear the door down."

Jaden glanced at the others before he shrugged. "Hang on one second, step back..." he said as he got into a ready position, holding his hands closed as the others took a few steps back. "Haaaaii!" He shouted as a ball of blue energy formed in his hands "KA!" he then shot the beam forward, blasting the doors into pieces. "Huh... that was easier than I thought," he said inspecting the door. "It was only a few inches thick."

Takeshi sweatdropped. "...that works, too..." he said as he stepped past the rubble of the door and into the room beyond.

Earlier, with Ryu's group

The group was now gathered in the main conference room of the Zanacorp headquarters, a rather large and imposing room that had a long table in the center of an almost Romanesque room with two levels. "Intimidation factor, much?" Ryu muttered as he eyed the balcony where lines of the female security guards were standing, guns in hand. "Geo, be ready to take out the balconies, Kira, prepare to use your wind shield."

The two nodded as they looked over at the other company owners. "Looks like Stark was a no show," Akira muttered. "Too bad, having Iron Man on our side when shit hits the fan would have been very helpful."

The company execs were all chatting with each other, each of them wondering why the meeting was called and what was with the heightened security, when, with the creak of the doors opening, Zathan entered the room.

"Greetings, everyone," Zathan said as he walked into the room. "A pleasure to have you all here... it is unfortunate that Mr. Stark could not arrive in time, though, but it matters not."

"Would you kindly get on to the point of this meeting, Zathan?" one of the other executives asked. "A lot of us had to interrupt busy schedules to come here-we don't have time for niceties."

"But of course," Zathan said, with a small smirk. "So I shall cut to the chase. I know all of you are familiar with these... Mutants which have been appearing across the globe lately. I know how some of you even have fears towards them... however I have always believed those fears to be... obsolete. We only fear Mutants because we humans do not have their amazing powers and abilities."

"I have spent years trying to replicate the abilities of Mutants... and I believe I have finally found it." He then snapped his fingers, and the doors to the room opened once again, as a single woman who had long blond hair and blue eyes walked in, wearing the standard security guard uniform of Zathan's guards.

The guard turned to Zathan, who nodded as she raised her hand, and to the surprise of all of them, a ball of fire appeared within her hand.

"The hell...?" Kenji muttered in surprise.

"Sally here was once a normal human like all of you," Zathan said. "No mutations whatsoever. However, she volunteered for my experiment, and thanks to those experiments, she has access to a wide variety of abilities, some of which not even Mutants have been recorded to have, abilities once thought to be nothing more than fantasies or science fiction."

"A-amazing..." another executive muttered. "To be able to give ordinary humans the powers of Mutants, or even beyond..."

"What's the side effect?" Donovan cut in, his fingers linked together before him. "And don't say there isn't one, there are always side effects to these 'Super-Serums'."

Zathan simply smiled. "Nothing of any grave consequence, all males given this serum are noted to become rather... aggressive, in certain areas. However, I have also discovered females given the serum have become more... submissive to males in certain degrees."
Murmurs swept through the room as Donovan's eyes were narrowed. "One last question... where did you get the technology to create this serum?" He asked. "Urei Industries has been looking into a similar serum at the behest of SHIELD, but we are still in the theory stage..."

The Scientist smirked. "One must not give away all of his secrets," he said. "But remember, all of the test subjects, each of whom Volunteered, have shown a near 100% acceptance rating, most of them along females rather than males, surprisingly. Each of those who accept the powers have shown great powers, anamorphic powers, telepathic, telekinetic, and more. Some powers not even Mutants have achieved yet."

"So you have created Bio-weapons," Donovan declared, sounding eerily calm. "And I am going to assume that there are also side effects on males that make the more tractable as well. I am also quite certain that you did not actually invite Tony Stark, because you don't want SHIELD to know of these new weapons."

"I wouldn't call them weapons, Mr. Urei..." Zathan said, frowning slightly. "Just our evolution as a species, is it any different from how many have tried to turn Mutants into Bio-weapons? It's similar to how man harvested the power of the Atom, on one hand it gave us Nuclear Energy, however on the other hand it gave us the atomic bomb. My serum is no different, and shall usher in a new chapter of mankind, that may even render Mutants... obsolete."

"Interesting how you didn't respond to my comment on how you didn't respond to my accusations of not only making the males who have taken the serum easier to control, but you want to hide this from SHIELD." Donovan countered, his voice unwavering as his eyes bored into Zathan. "And I use the term 'weapon' for a very simple reason, you said that they will submit to a male, meaning they will follow orders without question and no will of their own, sounds suspiciously like a weapon... doesn't it?"

"Since when did I say anything about them needing to submit to a male?" Zathan asked with a small smirk. "They could submit to either a male or even a female. And who ever said they did not have minds of their own? They have their own free will, they simply know where their loyalties will lie."

"I have to admit," one of the executives said, "it does sound intriguing. Giving ordinary humans the power of Mutants or even beyond, with the only side effect being that they become utterly loyal to just one individual..." The executive then paused. "Zathan, please indulge my curiosity for a moment. Just how would one get these women to 'submit' to them? Does it require any specific personality, trait, or ability?"

"None," Zathan said with a short chuckle. "Actually, all you need to get their loyalty could be considered... pleasurable for both the dominant member, and the submissive member."

"This is completely unethical," another executive growled. "Just think about it, what he's saying is that not only are these women going to be powerful, but as a result of this serum we're essentially making them slaves!"

"And you still haven't told us everything," Donovan accused. "Do not take me for a fool, Zathan, I know when someone is hiding something from me, and you are hiding plenty."
Zathan simply looked at Donovan and the rest of the executives with a frown, before he sighed. "Oh well," he said. "I had hoped you men would have been more open-minded about humanity's evolution... but it seems you are as narrow-minded as SHIELD."

Suddenly, several beams of laser lights traced themselves on the heads of several of the executives, as the guards on the balcony above them trained their rifles towards the executives with laser sights. "I will not have you all destroy everything I have spent decades working for." he said.

Donovan closed his eyes, looking surprisingly calm about having a gun trained on him. "I have never stood in the way of evolution, natural evolution," He declared as he reopened his eyes, glaring at Zanthan. "And you are a fool to think that I wasn't prepared for this. Ryu?"

"Of course," Ryu declared as he stepped forward, looking up at the balcony. "How long you need, Geo?"

"1.23 seconds." Geo informed as he stepped forward with Ryu.

"You got it!" Ryu shouted as sparks suddenly flew off of his body and he disappeared from sight, appearing on the balcony between two of the women whom he proceeded to kick in the stomachs, grabbing their guns and opening fire on the remaining women, forcing their attention to shift to him only for him to disappear once again, right before Geo charged the columns holding the balcony up and smashed through them, sending it crashing to the ground and causing the floor to start crumbling.

The moment this happened, another woman seemed to materialize out of thin air next to Zathan. "Bring in the Tyrannodames," he ordered, and the woman nodded before she grabbed his shoulder and disappeared along with Zathan.

Moments afterwards, as Ryu's group continued to fight the guards, there was the sound of several loud THUMP's coming from the large door at the end of the room...

Suddenly the doors were blasted open, and in charged what they could only describe as five Tyrannosaurus Rex's, roaring and charging towards them.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Akira shouted as she swung her collapsible Bo Staff, guiding a jet of water from a pipe into the group. "This is insane!"

"You're telling me!" Kira shouted in agreement as she moved her razor fans in an intricate pattern, causing gusts of wind to tear into them which left gashes that caused them to roar in pain.

"Just hold out!" Donovan shouted. "Those glasses are linked directly to Stark! He owes me a few favours so he should be on his way!"

Meanwhile, with Jaden and Takeshi

As the group of four continued through the darker parts of the lab past the steel door, suddenly there was the sound of a few explosions, followed by alarms going off.

"I think they know we're here now!" Jaden said, turning to Takeshi. "Where is that voice coming from, are we getting close?"

"I think so," Takeshi replied. "The voice is definitely getting stronger the further we go. I'm not sure how close we are, but we're definitely getting closer!"

"Then we better hoof it before any guards show up," Animorph said, as she began to transform into a Mountain Lion while running. "I think we're almost there, let's go!"

The group continued to run, avoiding as many guards as they could which was surprisingly easy, until finally they reached another set of steel doors.

"Right beyond these doors," Takeshi remarked. "My senses are definitely picking up someone on the other side of these doors. Do your thing, Jaden."

Jaden nodded as he created another ball of light, but this time it was yellow. "Don't want to risk whoever is inside..." he said as he shot out a beam of yellow light, which slowly melted the steel doors, allowing them inside.

"Why didn't you use that one before?" Animorph asked. "Seems a lot more subtle..."

"'Cause I wanted to blow something up, of course!" Jaden said with a grin, "Trust me, stealth is not my strong suit... yet at least."

Takeshi lead the way into the room, which looked very much like the lab they had met in, except for the fact that there was a large device in the middle of the room, with the appearance of a transparent tank, filled with fluid and hooked up to a large bank of machinery. And suspended in the fluid was a woman, who had a height of 4'8", a slender figure, and C-Cup Breasts. Her dark blue hair went down to her waist, and floated around her in the liquid. Her eyes were closed, giving the impression that she was asleep. Another thing that was noticed... was that she had no clothing, fully exposing her Asian skin.

"Help me," came the telepathic call once again, only this time Takeshi was able to pinpoint it exactly.

"It's her," he said, blushing faintly at the woman's beauty and the fact that it was fully revealed by her nudity, though his blush was hidden behind the Ninja Headwrap which covered his face. "She's the one who's been calling out telepathically. I think she's in some kind of stasis, though-the fact that she hasn't responded to any of our replies is a sure-fire sign of that."

Jaden nodded, slightly blushing himself. "Alright," he said. "So... how are we supposed to get her out? I ain't blasting or melting her out of this one."

"And I'm not cutting her out of there or disabling it with my swords," Takeshi replied, but then he spotted a control panel next to the tank. He turned to the two girls and asked, "Animorph, Rena, do either of you think you could figure that control panel out and wake her up?"

Rena shrugged. "I can try..." she said as she approached the panel. "Let's hope this works..." she typed a few commands into the panel, before suddenly there was a loud hissing from the container. "I... think I got it!"

The fluid began to drain from the tank, the woman slowly descending and almost instinctually getting on her knees as the fluid lost its ability to support her. As the fluid fully drained, her hair cascaded around her, giving her back a small amount of modesty.

The tank opened as she stood up to her full height, pushing her hair behind her and causing Takeshi and Jaden to blush again, and opened her eyes, revealing that they were a vibrant blue. However, there was a point of oddness to her eyes... her pupils, rather than being the standard black, were blue as well, though they were darker than her irises.

"You don't look like Zathan's people..." she said, looking them over, her voice confirming that she was the one who had called them.

"We're not," Takeshi replied, doing everything in his power not to stutter and thankful that his Ninja Headwrap hid his blush. "I was investigating Zathan on behalf of Nick Fury of SHIELD when I heard your telepathic call for help, and I couldn't ignore it. The other three with me were entering the building for their own objectives, but also heard the same call and wanted to help-we met on the way."

"Nick Fury... SHIELD..." the woman muttered. "I... those names are familiar... they should have meaning to me... but I can't place it... I can't remember anything besides this lab, Zathan, and his scientists..."

"Umm... maybe uhhh... we can continue this when you're... uh... " Jaden said, stuttering a bit as he averted his gaze away from the woman, trying to think of any non-perverted thought he could.

"Umm... do you have any clothes you can put on?" Takeshi asked, doing his best to keep his eyes on the woman's own instead of her chest.

"...Zathan never gave me any clothes..." the woman replied. "He wanted me to submit to him, and would not give me clothes until I agreed to give myself to him... But I do not see him as worthy to be with..."

Animorph sighed as she reached behind her into her backpack, and pulled out a set of clothes. "Here ya go, girl," she said, handing her the clothes. "I usually use them when I'm out of costume, but you really need it more than I do right now."

"I thank you," the woman replied, taking the clothes and quickly getting dressed. "There should be a couple of swords around here somewhere-I was trained in their use whenever... whenever I wasn't in stasis... and after... after I was injected with that serum... I always found it much easier to use them..."

"Serum?" Takeshi asked.

"It is... one of my clearer memories..." the woman replied. "Zathan had his scientists inject me with a serum... and then my body changed..."

"So that's what Zathan is up to," Takeshi muttered, even as he searched for the swords the woman had mentioned. "He's making some kind of Super Soldier Serum..." He then whipped out his special contact cell phone. "Fury needs to know this, and he needs to know this now." He then brought up Fury's number in the Phone's Address Book and hit the 'call' button. However, he couldn't get a signal through. "Well, frak..."

"That can't be good..." Rena said. "What now?"

"We improvise!" Jaden shouted as he raised his hands, and sent forward two blasts of energy, blasting a hole through yet another door. "We'll fight our way out of here!"
"Sounds good," Takeshi called back as he put his cell phone in a pocket on his outfit. He then spotted what looked like a pair of Katana Swords in a corner of the room. He raced over, grabbed them, and raced back to the woman. "Are these the swords you were talking about, Miss?" he asked, handing them to her.

"They are," the woman replied, taking the swords. "And I will help you fight." She then paused a moment, then said, "I just realized I have failed to introduce myself. My name is Sayane."

"Just Sayane?" Takeshi asked as the group started down the path Jaden had just opened.

"I... I should have a last name..." Sayane replied, "but I don't remember it... I think something has happened to my memories..."

"I guess Sayane works until you can regain those memories, then," Takeshi replied. "You can call me the Azure Tempest."

"Jaden Takeo," Jaden said, gesturing to Rena and Animorph. "And that's Rena and Animorph, now follow me! I'ma blasting us out of here!" he then charged forward, a ball of energy in his left hand, and his sword in his right. "We'll find our way out of here even if we have to blast this whole place to the ground!"

"Right behind you, Jaden!" Takeshi replied, his own sword out. "I don't care if he's got a whole ARMY of Super Soldiers blocking our path-I'll take down as many as I need to to ensure that Fury knows what Zathan is up to!"

Sayane spared a glance at Takeshi as they ran, feeling a bit of respect for the swordsman.
She even began to wonder if Takeshi was the one worthy to be her Master... with all that entailed.

"Just don't kill the guy until I find out what I need to know," Jaden said as he charged towards another door, "He's the only lead I have to finding my mom!" He then primed up his attack, and blasted away yet another door.

Meanwhile, with Ryu's Group

As much as Ryu hated to admit it, they were running out of time and fast. Those Tyrannodame beasts were slowly beating him and the others back, as they did everything they could to protect the executives. But they needed a way out and now.

'But all of the doors are locked,' he thought, 'Dammit, we need a way out of here!'

Suddenly one of the smaller doors to the side suddenly exploded open, causing everyone, including the Tyrannodames to look, as five individuals emerged out of the door, the lead figure, a boy looked at the sight and blinked.

"Oh, uh... wrong door?" He asked a bit sheepishly.

The entire room stared blankly at the boy, even as rubble fell and water poured from the broken pipes. "I'll take anything I can," Ryu muttered. "GEO! MAKE A PATH!"

"You got it!" Geo roared as he slammed his fists into the ground, causing the concrete to lurch before it seemed to slide onto him, covering him in some sort of rocky armor. "OUT OF MY WAY!" He shouted before charging into the women, sending them flying as the rest of the group followed after him, keeping the female guards from closing the pathway, before the group charged towards where the boy and his group emerged as Geo closed the door behind them.

"O-Kay..." The boy said. "Would anyone be willing to tell me why there were fucking T-Rex's out there? Is Zathan trying to make a real-life Jurassic Park or something?"

"I'm not sure," Takeshi replied, "but something tells me it's connected to what he did to Sayane here." He then turned to Donovan, Ryu, and their group, and said, "I take it your meeting didn't go quite as planned, Mr. Urei?"

"I expected something like this, but not this exact situation, no," Donovan stated as he took some cover. "I really hope Tony gets here soon, I should've brought my own weapons... but no, I had to be a good and respectful guest, didn't I?"

"Well, I have no idea who you people are, but we all seem to want to get out of here," Jaden said, as he charged up another Chi blast. "Just follow me and I'll try to blast us a way out!"

"I have a better idea," Ryu cut in before Jaden could fire off the attack. "Hey Geo, remember the West Side Gang incident, care to do a repeat?"

"Let's," Geo rumbled as he got into a football tackling pose. "Ready."

Ryu closed his eyes and placed a hand against the wall. "Normally I don't do this as it makes me rather... twitchy, but having to deal with security systems would be annoying," Electricity began to spark off of his body as the lights began to flicker. Ryu's eyes glowed an electric blue as he snapped them open as a group of the women guards stepped around the corner. "EAT THIS!" He roared, extending out his hand, unleashing a torrent of lightning into the women who couldn't dodge.

Geo charged as his rocky armor grounded the electricity hitting him, preventing it from harming him, before slamming into the first woman, causing her to vomit blood as multiple bones were broken. He continued to run using the woman as a weapon to slam into the other guards until they were all downed. "Clear," he called out.

"Ryu... how much electricity have you absorbed? The lights are still on?" Kenji asked worriedly. "If you go over your limit..."

"I'll be fine!" Ryu said as he winced slightly before removing his hand with a gasp. "Even with me unleashing enough electrical power to power New York there, there is still more in this building, dammit!"

"Zathan must have something here which requires quite a bit of power," Takeshi remarked. "Part of me wants to find it so it doesn't bite us in the butt later, but we need to get out of here and get in touch with Fury."

"Right," Ryu said as he twitched. "Thankfully, I'm going to have plenty of chances to burn off this energy."

Before the group could move off, however, a rather large group of girls with grey skin and black hair with thick individual strands wearing some kind of armor with large tri-barreled miniguns appeared from around the corner and took aim at them. "Ah crap!" Akira shouted as she paled. "That's some heavy duty firepower! We can't handle that!"

Just as the women were about to open fire, though, a rather large explosion swept over them from outside of the building as the sound of some kind of pitched whine could be heard. "You alive there, Donovan?" A rather smug and cocky voice shouted out from the dust cloud as something metal hit the ground. "Cause that would really suck if I came out all this way only to be too late."

The dust cleared to reveal none other than Iron Man in his trademarked red and gold armor. "Dammit, Tony, couldn't you have cut it any closer, where the hell were you?" Donovan asked as the faceplate of the suit opened up to reveal a smirking Tony Stark.

"Well, when JARVIS informed me of what was going on in that secret meeting of Zathan's, I was currently enjoying a rather nice bowl of Miso Ramen in Japan thank you very much," Tony replied, smirking. "And I have to say, why am I not surprised that he's created Bio-Weapons."

"Nick Fury actually sent me in here because of rumors that Zathan was making Bio-Weapons," Takeshi replied. "I don't think that an army of super-powered women was quite what either Fury or I had expected, though. Glad to see you, Iron Man."

"Women, eh?" Tony asked, a rather wide grin spreading over his face. "Oh that'll make things very interesting indeed."

"Not really the time for thoughts like that," Takeshi remarked. "Zathan's got some kind of serum that seems to grant special abilities to whomever it's injected into. From what I've seen, though, it has a few different results, and it seems to either only affect women or has the best results with women. I tried to contact Fury when I first found out about the Serum, but my Cell Phone can't get a signal."

"Yeah, once I got here I couldn't contact JARVIS, either," Tony said. "But I managed to detect some sort of power fluctuation coming from the lower levels of the building. I think whatever is blocking our comm gear is coming from there."

"There's a major source of power down there, as well," Ryu announced as he closed his eyes, sparks still flying off him. "Not connected to the rest of the building, but... even more than the the old Arc Reactor you had before it was destroyed."

"So, we head down there, blow up whatever is preventing us from contacting the outside, call for help, and get out of here?" Animorph asked, shrugging. "I'm game."

"Sounds good to me," Takeshi added. "We'll probably have to face more of Zathan's super-powered guards to get there, though. Mr. Urei, I'd appreciate it if you told me everything you might have learned about either the serum or Zathan's guards as we travel."

"Of course," Donovan agreed. "Just remember, much of what I'm going to tell you is what he's told us and my own conjecture, so I cannot guarantee the validity of the information."

"That's fine," Takeshi replied. "Anything you can give me would be beneficial, and will help get some initial impressions on what Zathan's endgame might be-and make no mistake, he's definitely got some kind of endgame, all egomaniacs do."

Donovan sighed, as he began to explain to Takeshi everything Zathan had told him and the other executives during the meeting. It took them a few minutes, but finally he finished.
Jaden himself blinked. "This... doesn't make sense..." he said. "If this guy really is that bad, why would my mom tell me to find him to tell me where she is?"

"Maybe he wasn't that bad back when she knew him," Takeshi replied. "Or maybe he somehow hid his true nature from her when they met. Or it could be some other reason entirely. Whatever the case, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, we need to move."

"There's a lot more than what I relayed to you," Donovan said as they moved. "In particular, what happens to the males who are injected with the Serum... I don't think they received the same 'power-up' as the females do, this is just a guess... but I think they are somehow transformed into a female themselves..."

"If that is the case, then that would be incredibly unsettling," Takeshi remarked. "We'd have to destroy that serum if it is indeed the case. We'd probably have to destroy the serum anyway, but that would make its destruction even more imperative."

"It would be a near impossible task to destroy the serum right now," Donovan said with a growl. "Zathan is too smart to have the serum stored in one location, he probably has it stored in locations all over the world, but... if we can stop him here..."

"Right," Takeshi replied. His Spatial Awareness then alerted him to a large cluster of individuals ahead of them, all with hostile intent. "We have company up ahead!" he called out.

Rounding around the corner emerged several women armed with swords charging towards them, each with electricity charging around their bodies intent to attack them.

"Swordswomen with electric powers, huh?" Takeshi asked, bringing his own sword up. "Sounds like fun."

Sayane brought her own swords up, continuing to keep a surreptitious eye on Takeshi and evaluate whether he was worthy to be her Master, even as she prepared to engage the enemies herself.

Ryu raised up a hand as the swordswomen charged, pulling the electricity away from the women and towards himself. "Leave Elements to us!" He called out in warning. "We'll take those attacks for you!"

Jaden looked at the women with some sympathy. "Do we have to kill them?" he asked, even as he raised his sword. "I do not feel very comfortable around killing women... kinda goes against my code of honor here..."

"If you can find a way to avoid it, go ahead!" Takeshi called out. "But it probably won't be easy!"

As he said that, the first group of women had reached them, and Takeshi was forced to use his blade to block an attack from one of the enemies.

Akira and Kira were protecting Donovan, who had retrieved the MP5 of one of the fallen guards and was using it with remarkable accuracy as Kira and Akira intercepted those who got too close to him.

Kenji and Geo where fighting together, Geo used his rock armor to absorb the enemies' attacks while Kenji used his fire to burn them all before they could get in too close.

Ryu himself was flitting through the enemies ranks, seemingly a blur as he struck out at the enemy guards, sending volts of electricity into their bodies or even snapping their necks when the electricity didn't work.

Takeshi and Sayane were moving through the enemy ranks, too, blades slicing out to cut down any enemy in their path. An instinctual reaction of some kind caused them to fight alongside each other, Takeshi often parrying attacks originally meant for Sayane before beheading or bisecting the offender. Sayane noticed how protective Takeshi was of her, and smiled.

She was definitely respecting him more and more, and he'd be more than worthy of being her Master at the rate things were progressing.

Animorph meanwhile had transformed into a grey wolf, and proceeded to bite and tear through the enemies in her path, while Rena followed close behind her, firing off some of her own Chi attacks from her palms, trying her best to avoid lethal attacks.

Jaden meanwhile had his blade crossed with another woman about his age, this one with long shoulder length blond hair and electric blue eyes, and armed with a pair of Sai knives. "Please don't make me kill you..." Jaden said, trying to get the woman to stand aside, but she didn't seem to pay attention as she continued her vicious assault on Jaden, trying to stab him several times, however Jaden managed to deflect each slice.

As he fought, that was when he noticed something on the back of the woman's neck, something mechanical. Jumping over the woman, he got behind her long enough to see what it was, some sort of insect-looking machine with a glowing red core.

'I wonder...' he thought as the woman turned to face Jaden, only for him to jump over her again, once again getting behind her. However this time he reached for the strange device, and proceeded to pull it off. The woman screamed a bit before Jaden tugged at the device a few times before it successfully was pulled out. The woman let out a silent scream before she fell limp, Jaden catching her.

"Hey, see if any of the girls have these!" He shouted as he raised up the now inactive machine, showing it to the others. "I think they're some sort of mind-controlling device."

"Right!" Takeshi called, leaping over another of the women and finding another of the devices, tearing it off before the woman could react, causing a similar reaction to the one Jaden had affected. He then took a quick look around the battlefield.

"There seem to be more of those devices!" he called out. "Not all of our opponents have them, though... Ryu, can you disable the devices with your electric powers?"

"I'll try," Ryu informed as he backflipped away from a strike from an enemy. "Sorry if I short out your electrical devices!" He called out as he unleashed a wave of electricity that washed over everyone, causing the devices on the women to start to spark and sizzle before they all collapsed.

Takeshi looked around, seeing that over three-quarters of their opponents had been rendered unconscious by this. There were still about 20 or so enemies left, and none of them seemed to have that device on their necks. "We won't be able to take down these last few that easily," he called. "They're probably just as vulnerable to a good whack to the head as other humans, though-try to knock them unconscious if you can!"

"No promises!" Geo shouted as he slammed a woman through the wall. "Not like they're making it easy for us!"

"Understood!" Takeshi called back. His Spatial Awareness flared at that point, and he turned around to see another of the women behind him. He didn't have time to react as she raised her blade to strike-

CLANG!

-only for Sayane to appear between the two at the last moment, blocking the woman's strike. Sayane yelled as she shoved the woman's blade aside, before proceeding to decapitate her.

As the woman's headless body crumpled to the ground, Sayane turned to face Takeshi. "Just returning the favor for all the times you've saved me in this fight."

"Thanks," Takeshi replied. "And I'll keep protecting you no matter what-you may be able to defend yourself, but we always need someone watching our backs."

Sayane smiled. "I am grateful, Azure Tempest..." she said. "And I have made up my mind."
A look of confusion crossed Takeshi's eyes.

"I respect you greatly for all you have done for me," Sayane continued. "And the fact that you are willing to spare your opponents if necessary has only increased that respect. You are worthy to be the one I call... Master."

"M-Master?" Takeshi asked, shocked.

"Yes," Sayane replied. "Master. There is something we will need to do once we get out of here, but once that is done, my loyalty will be firmly cemented to you and you alone."

"Al-alright..." Takeshi said, still somewhat startled. "However, please don't call me Master-you may be giving me your loyalty, but you are not my servant-we'll be partners in this."

"Of course," Sayane replied, even as the two moved as one to block another enemy's attack, Sayane holding the woman's blade back while Takeshi used the pommel of his sword to whack the woman on the head, sending their enemy into unconsciousness.

As Takeshi and Sayane moved on to the next opponent, Takeshi said, "Glad to have you with me then, Sayane."

The groups attention was diverted as they heard the shouts of Akira and Kira as a pair of the few male guard had managed to sneak up behind them and grabbed them injecting something into them, Kira's attacker, however, only managed to inject half of the serum before he was blasted through the wall by a burst of wind summoned by Kira as the two of them cried out in pain.

"KIRA! AKIRA!" Ryu shouted out as he blurred behind the guard holding Akira and yanked him off of his lieutenant and friend before coursing millions of volts of electricity through his nervous system, causing an extremely painful death for him. "Kira, Akira, are you alright?"

"Ngh, Ryu..." Akira groaned out before gasping in pain as a change began to overcome her, her hair began to shift colors, first becoming violet before changing to a dark blue hue with a single lock of her former crimson red hair, her skin had begun to change into a sea blue color as well as her upper clothing began to tear as a red shell began to form on her lower back and she actually lost a few inches in height.

"It's the serum!" Ryu shouted out looking over to where Kira was with her father hovering over her. "But it's not affecting Kira though..."

Takeshi went next to her and saw the needle that had been used for injecting Kira nearby. "Looks like Kira didn't get a full dose," he said, holding up the needle and revealing that it was still half-full. "My guess is that it's still affecting her, but she's not going to get the full effects-possibly a slight boost to her powers with at least some of the side-effects of the serum."

"Dammit..." Ryu cursed, looking down at Akira as she fell unconscious from the pain of her transformation along with Kira. "We have to keep moving, you got Kira Mr. Urei?"

Donovan nodded as he, with Kenji's help, slid his daughter onto his back while Ryu picked Akira up onto his back. "I've got her," Donovan assured. "Keep the serum, I would like to examine it if I can, perhaps find a reversal for it."

"Gotcha," Takeshi replied, handing the plunger to Iron Man. "You have a storage container that can safely hold the serum, Iron Man?"

Tony nodded as he accepted the syringe and stored it in a compartment on his thighs. "Can do, but I think our priority right now is shutting down whatever is going on downstairs," he informed. "JARVIS informs me that the energy levels are starting to surge."

"Got it," Takeshi nodded. "Let's keep moving!"

So the group continued down the facility, engaging whatever guards they came across as they worked further and further down.

Eventually, they came across yet another massive door, this one larger than any of the others. Jaden stepped towards it and inspected it. "Big door..." he said. "Let's see if I can crack it..." his palms once again charged with energy, as he unleashed a torrent of energy towards the door, causing a short explosion. However when the smoke cleared, though a large chunk of the door was missing, it was clearly much thicker than any of the previous doors.

Jaden growled a bit. "Tough one, aren't ya?" he said as he charged up an even larger ball of energy. "I'd take cover if I were you people!"

The others rushed for cover, as Jaden targeted the wall again. "IKEN!" He shouted with an echo before he shot out a large ball of red energy, which hit the wall, destroying it easily.

"Normally someone would comment about Overkill here," Takeshi muttered as he stepped through the now open doorway, Sayane at his side.

"Overkill isn't in my dictionary, Azure," Jaden said with a smirk as he followed him inside. "You either go all-out, or you're not trying at all."

"There are times when overkill will get you killed though," Ryu informed as he walked in alongside Donovan with Geo and Kenji in front of them. "Like say in the middle of the enemy base you are trying to keep from knowing you're there."

"Yeah, but in this case they already know... we're... coming..." Jaden said before trailing off as he and the others looked at the contents within the room. "What the... fuck?"

Inside, on the opposite end of the room was a massive ring-shaped machine, which was currently pulsing with a large blue wave of energy inside. The device reminded Jaden of the Stargate from the Stargate Series. And who else would be standing right in front of the massive ring was none other than Zathan, who glanced towards them as they walked in.

"So, you found this place quicker than I anticipated." He said, not sounding surprised at all, even as he glanced at Sayane. "It matters not, the portal is already active, and I will be leaving this world soon enough."

"You're finished, Zathan," Takeshi informed. "Even if you run away, we'll be ready for you. Once SHIELD knows about what you've been up to, they'll be able to design countermeasures to your Super Soldiers."

Zathan simply chuckled. "Once SHIELD discovers what I have accomplished, they won't want to develop counter measures," he said. "It brought miracles to the world they are from, they will not so easily discard them."

"What do you mean by their world?" Jaden demanded, "Also, how the hell does my mom know you, does the name Sutura Takeo ring any bells?"

Zathan glanced at Jaden for a moment, before he smirked a bit. "Ah... you're Sutura's son," he said. "Pleasure to meet you, she spoke highly of you before I had to send her home. And to answer your first question... I discovered a Mutant, one who had the power to teleport people to other worlds, other universes... with her power, I discovered a way to mimic her power, and discover a world unlike any other. A world filled with beings much like my guards you have fought... only there are many far more powerful than what you have just fought."

Takeshi's eyes narrowed. "So your Serum isn't just a Super Soldier Serum..." he said. "It changes those injected with it into one of these beings... doesn't it?"

Zathan smirked again. "Indeed it does, Azure Tempest," he said. "The people of their world call the transformation a 'Threshold'. And it's not an injection for them, for it is a natural occurrence for many in their world, a natural... Evolution."

"Listen, asshole, I can't say I give that much of a rat's ass," Ryu announced angrily. "I tell you what, give me an antidote for this shit and I'll let you live."

Zathan simply chuckled. "There is no antidote," he said. "And there never will be... farewell to you all, but I will return... and I will have revenge for everything you caused, Donovan." And with that, Zathan turned and walked into the portal.

"Hey! We ain't finished with you!" Jaden shouted as he jumped forward, and fired a small ball of energy into the portal.

However, that is when things started to go wrong.

When the ball of energy hit the portal, it suddenly turned red as warning alarms started going off across the room. "Oh... shit..." Jaden said. "I... think this is bad..." suddenly the portal began to grow larger and larger at a very rapid rate.

"This isn't good..." Takeshi remarked. "I think we should start running now..."

"Bailing out is a good idea!" Ryu shouted as he spun on his heel and started to run.

However as they began to run, before they could even leave the door, the massive pulsing ball from the portal grew larger and larger, before suddenly it engulfed the entire group, and all they could see was white...

---

117Jorn: And that's the first chapter of Frontier Chronicles!

Takeshi Yamato: A rather interesting beginning, if I say so myself. :)

DragonKnightRyu: Can't wait for the insanity to ensue. That and the alcohol... mmm fermented hops...

117Jorn: *Sigh* Anyways, stay tune for Chapter 2 people! So until next time...
Everyone: Ja Ne!