Midnight...
Walking down dark streets on your own in any large city is considered stupid.... and the people who do so generally deserve what they get, by many opinions. Whether that is true or not, it was little surprise that the man we now see is surrounded by several teenaged delinquents. Their bald and tattooed heads and studded leather jackets spoke flamboyently of how big and tough they were. See, they would beat this idiot senseless and take whatever valuables he carried. Not like he wasn't asking for it anyway.
Yet the auburn-haired man looked calm, almost pleased, in fact. He looked at each of his three attackers, one by one, and smiled pleasantly.
"Can I help you children?"
He was baiting them, this much was obvious to their drug-blown minds. Making fun of them. Prick. Rich prick uptowner!
"You can bleed all over yer suede shoes, fag!" The biggest of the three teens, probably the leader, leapt at him. And rebounded, slamming against the alley wall. He choked, blood coming out of his nose.
"Whoa..." one of his friends said. "Hey...guy's some kinda jedi thingie!"
The auburn-haired man smiled, but the kids suddenly turned paler than they already were. His eyes...they were...glowing...No! He suddenly seemed huge, no longer human, but some kind of nightmarish, horned creature. Antlers. They were antlers, sprouting from his forehead.
The two boys dropped their knives and started to run. Neither one got further than three steps before their skulls suddenly shattered, turning their brains into mush. They fell to the ground, their heads sloshing sickenly like water balloons, blood and grey matter oozing from their ears and mouths.
The horned creature approached the still-living teen and crouched down, animallike, to stare into his face. The boy was in pain and coughing up red fluid. Still, he managed to glare at the creature.
"Now...if you've gotten over your need for violence, I require your assistance."
"F-fuck you!"
"Perhaps later," the creature said, tracing the boy's cheekbone. "If you survive this, anyway. I am looking for someone. If you are cooperative, I'll give you an easy death. If not..."
He flashed a set of gleaming fangs.
"What I just did to your friends will seem like child's play, pun aside."
The boy considered. He gulped.
"Ehh...okay. Who ya lookin' for?"
The Next Day...
A game was going on up top. Leon could hear the cheers, even through the Pond's tough shielding. The shapeshifter sighed, wiping some grease from his face. The ducks hadn't asked him to do what he was doing now, which was tuning-up the Migrator to better resist saurian attacks. For that matter, they really hadn't asked anything of him yet.
Well, he had to do something! They had been pretty accepting after he'd told them about the "farewell message" Draganus had left him. That's fine, they'd said, stay here, stay safe. Safe. Leon sighed. No such thing as safe. He sighed again, turned the radio up a little, and scooted back under the Migrator. They'd even allowed him to turn his room into a sort of workshop. Forgiving people, after only two weeks. He had been given freedom to roam the Pond, though he couldn't step outside, or use Drake1. He'd make it up to them, that much he promised himself.
An hour later the game was over, and Nosedive trudged into the main bay looking crestfallen. Leon wiped some grease off his hands and face and gave the duck a puzzled look, but the teen just walked past, heading for his quarters. Tanya, who was checking out the additions their main wheels, just shrugged at him.
"We lost. Nosedive made a play that, y'know, uh, could have succeeded if it were, well, y'know, .03 seconds, uh, umm, faster. Not his fault, but he, well, kinda takes that stuff pretty hard."
"Oh," was Leon's response. Well, you take your falls with your successes. Nosedive would just have to learn that on his own, he decided, then moved to help Tanya make the last few adjustments.
"Aw man!"
Nosedive snarled to himself, sometime later, as he plodded down the darkening streets of Anaheim. It wasn't that they had lost that got to him so much really. It had happened before. He just hated it when it the call could have been made by him. The crowds always noticed that, he could tell. He could almost feel some of the diehard fans' disappointment with him as he'd left the rink.
He was so involved in feeling sorry for himself that he almost didn't notice the furball until it was too late. He stopped cold and gave it a curious look, distracted for the time being.
It was gray, hairy, wet, muddy, and frankly, miserable looking. 'Dive had seen cats before, and knew by it's size that this one was young, maybe only a couple months old. Which was too young to be out here on its own. It looked up at him and gave a pitiful sort of "meep" sound.
"Awwww..." he couldn't help it. It had the most amazingly big blue eyes. Without a second thought, he scooped the kitten up and stuck it into his jacket, then turned on his heel and headed home.
"Hey Raye! Check it out!" Nosedive entered her room, not bothering to knock, and plopped the cat down in her lap. She'd been propped up on her bed, reading "Crime and Punishment," and definitely not expecting anything like this.
"Uh....what is it?"
"A cat, Raye-Rah!! Oh, wait, you haven't seen one before?"
"Well, no..." Still, even under the filth, it was kind of cute. She straightened up and hesitantly touched it's tiny ear.
"Humans keep them as pets."
"So?"
"So maybe 'Wing'll let me keep it. He told me I could have a pet anyway, but I've never been able to take him up on the offer yet."
"So I guess you're over feeling sorry for yourself, huh?"
"Ra-aye!" Somehow he turned the one-syllable name into two syllables. "C'mon....you gotta back me up on this!"
"Why me?" Raye wanted to know, not looking happy with where this was going.
"Cuz 'Wing has a soft spot for gi-irrrrls...." Nosedive grinned evilly. "Maybe if you ask him real sweet-like...?"
"You're sick, Flashblade. Very sick. And your brother isn't going to fall for that anyway. He's not stupid."
"Yeah, but still. Pleeeeeeease?"
Raye opened her mouth to refuse, but then she noticed that the cat had curled up in her lap and was purring lightly. That tipped the scales.
"Oh...fine, alright. Just get this thing off of me!"
"Great!" Nosedive picked the furball up and stuck it in his jacket again, which by this time was already covered in fur and dirt. "Let's go talk to Mal-mal first. If we can convince her, we can convince 'Wing."
"We should clean 'im up first, actually."
"What?"
Raye dusted herself off. Dang, cat hair on black clothing. Great. "Look at him! He's a mess! Nobody wants a dirty, smelly animal around. First we give him a bath. Then we take him to Mallory."
"Um, cool, okay!"
Half an hour of hissing, mud, and wet hairballs later, Mallory was surprised to find herself confronted with a clean little silver-colored kitten and a pair of teenage ducks. Somehow she knew this was a bad sign.
"What up, guys?" She asked suspiciously. She'd been in a fairly decent mood lately, and her bright, clashing clothes were evidence of such, even while she was cleaning her weapons. Now, she worried.
"Found this guy in the street, Mal. All alone and hungry...." Nosedive said. The kitty seemed to understand what was going on, or simply recognized Mallory as an authority character....which meant food. It meowed and rubbed against her leg, purring. Then it noticed a disgarded yoyo laying nearby, which Nosedive had dropped in there weeks ago and never bothered to pick up. It pounced on it playfully and swatted it in Nosedive's direction.
"Isn't he cute? Isn't he?"
Mallory sighed loudly, Raye rolled her eyes, and Nosedive bent down to pick up the yoyo and dangle it over the kitten's head. The animal attacked it in delight.
"Well...? Whattaya think, Mal-Mal?" Nosedive looked at her expectantly.
Mallory eyed the cat again, then Raye, who looked pretty annoyed. Well, she guessed this was Nosedive's idea to begin with anyway. "That's cute, 'Dive, but.....I'm really not the duck you should be asking."
"Yeah, I know, but if I can sell you I can sell my brother."
Mallory's eyes narrowed. "Kid, I don't know where you get your genes from, but every day you convince me more it can't be from the Flashblade clan!"
"Actually, it was Wildwing who was adopted," Nosedive smirked. He scooped the cat up again. "C'mon, Raye, let's go find my bro'!"
"See ya, Mallory," Raye said on the way out. Mallory just scowled.
"So Cha-, um, Leon did this, huh?" Wildwing asked Tanya, eyeing the additions to the Migrator. They weren't anything big, really, mostly just upgrades, but considering the shapeshifter's knowledge of the enemy, it was a great help.
Tanya nodded. "And he is where now?"
"Um, went back to his, um, quarters I think. Mentioned not feeling too well."
Wildwing gave her a surprised look, concerned in spite of himself. He wondered if it had anything to do with the change Leon was going through, from Chameleon to humanoid. It was conceivable...
"Hey 'Wing? 'Wingy..."
Wildwing poked his head out the Migrator door. Nosedive's tone already had him on his guard. His kid brother wanted something. He was instantly met with a small furry thing shoved into his face. It stared back at him with enormous blue eyes.
"Umm...." Wildwing tried to structure some form of thought. He really wasn't expecting this. Then the thing licked his beak.
"Aw, shoot, 'Dive. That isn't fair."
"Geez," Raye said in disgust. "You didn't need me to convince him!"
"So I can keep him, right?" Nosedive grinned hopefully. Tanya poked her head head out just then to see what the commotion was. She noticed the cat.
"Aawwwwww......" She reached over to scratch its ear, then looked at Wildwing, who had a horrified expression on his face. He was all alone in this! "Well, maybe it could, uh, you know, keep the rats out? When it's bigger, I mean..."
"Oh fine, whatever! Just make sure you get it food and stuff. And if it makes a mess you're cleaning it up, 'Dive!"
"Sure, of course. No problem!" Nosedive pulled the kitty back to his chest. It clambered up to his shoulder and perched there, seeming to enjoy the view. The younger Flashblade brother, grinning widely, swaggered back to the hall to show off his pet to Grin. Raye stayed back, still looking a little disgusted as well as a little amused.
"So where's your shadow?" Wildwing asked her.
"Huh?"
"Cleech."
"Oh. At the mall, I think. Why?"
"Well, uh, like, 97.2% of the time he's with you, so, y'know," Tanya noted. Raye frowned.
"So he knows me a little better than you guys."
"H'yeah. Sure," Wildwing said, pulling back into the Migrator. "Whatever you say."
"D'uh, see ya Raye!" Tanya called after Raye's retreating form.
Cleech returned from the mall a pair of pants and three shirts richer. For the most part he didn't care about clothing, but when all your old clothes are torn beyond repair, falling apart, or so bloodstained that old ladies fainted in the streets when they saw you, he guessed it was time to get something new.
He wasn't really sure what to make of the sounds coming from the den. He recognized Duke's and Nosedive's voices, although the stuff they were saying was way out of character. He hoped to Puck they weren't talking to each other! Then he heard an odd sound, like a small siren, and decided he ought to check it out.
"Hey Cleech! Nice do!"
Embarrassed, Cleech ran his had self-consciously through his bangs. He didn't normally let it hang loose. It meant someone would remind him how badly he needed a trim.
"What's goin' on in 'ere?" he asked, trying to divert the subject from himself. Nosedive, who'd been seated on the floor, suddenly turned and shoved a furry, wiggly thing in his face. Cleech gasped and backed up.
"What th' heck is that?!?"
"It's a cat, Cleech. It's harmless."
"Shite, ye scared th' livin' puck outta me!"
"Well damn! Don't take it so hard. He's not gonna bite."
Cleech just backed off more. "I dinnae like animals. I'll see y'around."
"Have it your way," Nosedive shrugged. Duke leaned in.
"I gotta admit, kid, he is pretty cute. What are ya gonna name him?"
Nosedive paused. "I dunno. How about Sapphire? 'Cuz of his eyes..."
"Isn't that kinda sappy?"
"No way! There was this guy in this comic book I read once who was called Sapphire! He was a warrior! Big blonde guy, actually....besides, I can call him 'Phire' for short. S'pretty cool, I think."
"Well, it's your cat, it's your call." Duke scratched the cat's ear a little, then straightened up. "You better feed 'im. He's probably pretty hungry. Don't they like fish?"
"I'll open a can. Stay here, Phire. I'll bring you some tuna." Nosedive got up to do as he'd commited to, and Duke, after a final pat on the head, went off his own way. Neither of them noticed, as they left, that the kitten's eyes began to glow with a cold, blue light.....
Chapter Two
"What are you staring at?!"
"Huh?" He'd barely registered her being there, on his way to the kitchen for a snack.
"I saw you! Trying to pick a fight? Huh?! What are you looking at?!?"
Cleech blinked, then stared at her quietly, wondering if her should respond.
"Well, no. Sound more like ye are, lass."
"I'M NOT A LASS!!" She punched him in the stomach, hard, and stalked off. Cleech leaned against the wall, gripping his gut painfully and staring after her wide-eyed. What in Drake's name was that all about? After a few minutes, he decided to write it off as PMS and continued on his way to the kitchen.
It was early on a Saturday morning, so he didn't expect too many of the other Pond occupants to be awake yet. Mallory didn't surprise him, those military types were always like that. He was a little surprised to find Wildwing and Tanya both sitting at breakfast, but not so much as to pay them a whole lot of attention. He stuck his head in the 'fridge, looking for something worth eating. When he poked his head out to ask who'd eaten all the leftover macaroni, he frowned.
Tanya and Wildwing were staring at each other dreamily, apparently locked up in their own little world. Cleech looked from either duck and decided not to ask. Kids.
The Raptor...
The face on the viewscreen was cool and composed. A saurian male in his midyears, he had all the air of one in power. Draganus cleared his throat, trying to hide his anxiousness.
"Grand Admiral Talon. How may I be of service?"
The Grand Admiral nodded a greeting.
"You mentioned difficulties with your C.B.U. As this is it's trial run, we need to know exactly what kind of 'difficulties' you speak of."
"Ahh...Well, Spectre is showing signs of rebellion."
The Grand Admiral frowned.
"We've been having a few difficulties with our own units. However, your mission is too delicate to allow a malfunction C.B.U. to ruin progress."
"I understand, lord," Draganus said, repressing a sigh. How did things always end up as his fault?
Talon raised an eyebrow.
"I wasn't reprimanding you, Overlord. We do not blame you for Spectre's problems. However, the Empress has decided that things are moving too slowly on your part of the Multiverse. She has voiced the need for her own personal touch in this assignment."
Draganus nodded, only half paying attention. As long as he wasn't in- wait, did he just say...?
Draganus gulped....hard. "The Empress...is coming here?" He asked, turning a shade paler. Talon curled his lip slightly, his expression a cross of amusement and distaste now.
"Don't flatter yourself, Draganus. She has sent royal heiress Dagger as her spokesperson."
"The princess?"
"The same. You will treat her with respect. We hope her stay will be as brief as possible, but she is bringing a second C.B.U. along, to update and check the stats, as well as assist Wraith in the adjustments."
"Understood. Please relay my gratitude to her majesty."
"I will. Talon out."
The screen went blank. Draganus snarled.
"Just what we need around here. A snotty inbred blue blood female telling us what we're doing wrong!" He snarled again and blew up a drone. Seige kept quiet, refraining from pointing out that Draganus was a blue blood himself. Draganus sighed.
"Well, may as well get some quarters prepared for her. A good report won't hurt, at least. Seige, inform Wraith of the news." Draganus gestured to a couple of drones and left the main bridge.
Seige commed Wraith and told him what had happened. Wraith frowned, looking thoughtful.
"The last I saw of Dagger, she was just a child!"
"That was a while ago, Wraith. She must be well into her nineties now."
"Yes. I suppose. But that is still young, royal heiress or not. Do you suppose the Empress is sending her as part of her training?"
"You're asking me? I don't mess around in blue blood affairs."
Wraith smirked. "You should. You never know when information will come in handy...or be life preserving."
Seige snickered. "I'll keep that in mind, Wraith."
"H-hey...." Leon coughed. The teen paused giving him a puzzled look.
"You okay, man? You don't look so good...."
"Heh...yeah. I...umm, what did you want?" Nosedive grinned again and pulled a small animal out of his jacket.
"Check it out...."
Leon got a split second of blue eyes and gray fur, and suddenly found himself holding his bleeding face in shock. The cat made a loud sort of shrieking sound as it attacked him, jumping from Nosedive's arms with all the fury of a rabid devil.
"Sonuva--!!!" Leon backed away from the hissing animal, almost falling over his bed. There was blood all over his hands, and he could only imagine what the thing had done to his face. Nosedive stood there like a dummy, staring wide-eyed from Leon to the cat. He seemed to struggle with something internally, then grinned, a dazed look in his eyes.
"Geez, man, I guess animals don't like you, huh?" He scooped the cat up and walked out of the room, leaving a flabbergasted and bleeding Leon to stare after him. The shapeshifter shook his head, trying to make some sense of what had just happened. His face stung terribly. The animal had taken a good chunk of skin along with it.
"I....guess not," Leon mumbled, suddenly feeling sick again. Something was definitely wrong...
Grin playing a video game? Cleech shook his head. This was getting weird. And that made him very, very nervous. The buff duck had Streetfighter, Tekken, Bloody Roar, Mario Brothers, and many more games stacked up next to him, his face practically glued to the TV screen. Cleech stared at him a moment, trying to find a reasonable explanation for it.
Duke entered the rec room at that precise moment, his beak in a book. CLeech almost sighed with relief...he didn't like L'Orange, but then, he didn't really like anyone (except for Raye, of course), and at least there was someone here with a cool head on their shoulders.
The bounty hunter opened his mouth to ask Duke if he'd noticed anything strange lately, when he realized what Duke was reading.....
A romance novel. The reformed thief had a dreamy look on his face. That kicked it. Cleech slowly backed out of the room and all but ran to Raye's quarters. Without even thinking he opened the doors.
Raye blinked at the sudden light pouring into her room. She glanced at her clock. 7:40 AM. On a Saturday.
"Who...Cleech? What are you doing?" He simply moved to her closet and began pulling out clothes. He threw a suitcase on her bed. Raye sat up, confused.
"What...What's going on?"
"D'ye still have that teleporter?" He asked, dumping some clothes into her suitcase. She blinked, watching as he moved to retrieve more of her things.
"Uhh....yeah. I do. What are you--?"
"The others...have gone mad. We're gettin' outta here, goin' back t' Puckworld, before whatever sickness got them gets us too."
Raye blinked, looking amused. She sat up in her bed, clasping the sheets to her chest.
"You actually thought of someone besides yourself in an apparent threat? Awwww....I'm so honored."
"Whatever," Cleech snarled, trying to close the suitcase. Maybe he'd packed it too full...some of the stuff was hanging out the side. Raye let the sheet drop, grabbing both his hands and pulling him forward.
"That's so....sweet..." Cleech's eyes widened, as he realized for the first time since he'd entered the room that she wasn't wearing a strip of clothing. He quickly backed off.
"Err...wait a minute lass..."
She sighed dreamily, and he recognized, to his horror, the fogged-over look in her eyes. The same look everyone else in this madhouse had...
"I just love it when you call me that...."
Cleech gulped and stumbled backwards out of her room, hitting the control panel on the way out. The doors hissed shut and he slumped against the wall, a defeated expression on his face. Raye had gotten it too. Nothing he could do now...except wait.
The brown duck picked himself up and returned to the rec room, cursing himself and his luck.
"Dames..."
"Danny had to leave. I'm filling in." The man said simply. Charlie glared at him, but couldn't think of a response. He knew something was wrong...
Charlie blinked. What the heck was he thinking? Of course nothing was wrong, and this pizza was getting cold.
"Well, get going! Time is money already! This one's fer The Pond...Down on--"
"I know where it is."
"Oh. Hockey fan huh? Good for you. Now get your ass moving!"
The stranger left. A few minutes later Charlie blinked again.
"Hey.....wait a minute...." He shook his head in confusion. He snarled and stalked out toward the men's room, where he knew full well his usual delivery boy was probably taking a moment for a cigarette.
"Boy, when I get my hands on that kid Daniel...he's gonna wish his momma never--" Charlie broke off, choking on his own words. There was a hand lying on the ground, poking out from beneath one of the stalls. It was lying in a pool of dark blood.
Charlie gulped and hesitantly opened the partially ajar door. The sight that met his eyes sent him screaming...he'd found Daniel. Or what was left of him....
Chapter Three
Leon jumped, seeing Sapphire appear seemingly out of nowhere, and dropped the wrench he'd been holding. The cat made no violent move against him, however, only sat down, curling its tail around it, and gave him a strange, intense stare, watching his every move.
Leon muttered something incognizable, getting down on all fours to find the tool he'd dropped. Damn cat. Wrench in hand, he started to stand up, and froze at what he saw.
In the exact spot Sapphire had been sitting now perched a gray-skinned boy. No. Not a boy. But not a man. The face was both young and old at the same time. And his eyes...were the same color as the cat's.
The two stared at each other in silence for a minute. The stranger's hair was a darker gray than the rest of him, and while he seemed to have a basic human structure, there were some definite feline qualities about him. His ears were pointed and covered in a grayish fur, and his hands ended in claws rather than fingers.
"S-sapphire?" Leon gulped. The being seemed to smile, though his face was as devoid of emotion as a cat's.
"My apologies," he said, in a voice that sounded like silk and blood. Like Leon would imagine a cat's voice would sound like, if one could talk.
"What?" Leon asked, backing up a little. This just wasn't turning out to be his day.
"I mistook you for another changeling. But now I see you are no such thing."
Leon shook his head, confused. Something about this creature...a familiarity.
"We changelings are a bit territorial, after all," the boy/man/creature continued. "That is why I clawed your face. It is an easy mistake, really."
"O..Of course," Leon coughed.
"You are a halfling then?"
"What?"
Sapphire hopped down from his perch with catlike grace to the floor, assuming a two-legged stance. He stood like one more accustomed to all-fours. Leon blinked. The cat/man's features mutated further, into a more human appearance. His hair remained gray, but his skin was no longer gray, and his hands were five normal digits. He leaned back casually against Leon's desk. He still had that feline air, and was short....maybe 5'2" at the most.
"A halfling. One of your parents was mortal."
"Err...yes."
"I thought as much. Most likely of the unseelie household. Who was it?"
Leon frowned.
"Who are you?"
"Sapphire, for now. Was it your mother, or your father, that was the fay?"
Leon glared at him suspiciously. The blue eyes met his with a cool, unfeeling calmness. Leon felt himself relaxing without even thinking. No! He wouldn't fall for whatever tricks this creature had. He shoook his head, clearing it, and avoided looking into Sapphire's eyes after that.
"Speak up, Boy."
"I'm not a boy. And don't you do that again! I'm not sure what's going on, but I have a feeling you're responsible for what's been going on with the ducks, and I can tell you right now--"
"It was Kell, wasn't it?"
Leon froze, staring at Sapphire in horror. His mouth went dry.
"H-how...?"
"You have her talent for acting, for becoming someone else when it suits you. She was...a very old friend of mine."
Leon swallowed, his knees going weak. So it was true. He did have roots on Earth. He sat down hard in the nearest chair, staring wide-eyed at Sapphire. He swallowed hard, trying to find a response.
"She, umm....she said something like this would, um, happen. That you would want to kill me."
Sapphire raised an eyebrow. "Why would I want to kill you? I have no quarrel with you...now, anyway," he said, passing a glance at the scratches on Leon's face. The shapeshifter stared at him, then looked down.
"I-I, she said, I mean....Mom..." Leon swallowed again, unwanted memories coming back in floods. He bowed his head, trying to maintain some level of control over himself.
Sapphire stared at him a moment with his expressionless eyes, then looked down thoughtfully.
"So...Kell is dead. This is serious."
Leon choked. "Y-yes...she..they..." He took a breath. "She said that's why...umm, why others of her kind would try to kill me. Because of her."
Sapphire nodded. "Well. She was right."
"What?" A touch of panic crept into his face. Leon knew his limits. If a full-blood ever came after him, he didn't stand a chance.
"Calm down, Boy. I mean you no harm. Kell was right, though. There will be others of our kind that will hate what you are, and what you stand for, and will use her death as an excuse to dispose of you."
Leon blinked. "What I stand for? What are you--"
The door hissed open, and he turned his head quickly to see who it was. Nosedive walked in, a puzzled look on his face. Then he grinned.
"Hey, there he his!"
Leon looked back.. Sapphire the cat was sitting calmly on his desk again, giving him a knowing look. Nosedive scooped the kitty up and looked at the shapshifter.
"Hey...did I hear voices in here. I thought I heard ya talkin' to somebody."
Leon looked at the cat, then back at Nosedive. He shook his head.
"No, I...had the radio playing."
"Okay, cool. He didn't try to scratch you again, did 'e?"
"Not exactly."
"M'kay, whatever. I got a date with a pizza. You comin'?"
Leon half-smiled at Nosedive. He was a good kid.
"No, I got some stuff to finish in here. But save me a piece, huh?"
"Hee-yeah, right. As soon as Grin finds it, there won't even be a box left! Good luck, anyway." The teenager left with Sapphire perched on his shoulder. Leon could swear the cat winked at him as the door hissed shut.
Cleech glanced from person to person in the rec room. Mallory had the expression of one who was looking for a reason to kill someone. Wildwing was smiling like an idiot, holding the hand of an equally perky Tanya, and Duke was looking like he was trying to find a way to get to Mallory without giving her a reason to kill.
Grin and Raye were playing against eachother in Tekken3. Raye was wearing a brightly colored summer dress and grinning brainlessly. Cleech swallowed hard, and considered panicking. Keep cool, just keep cool....
Then Nosedive entered with that cat on his shoulder. The blonde teen smirked at Cleech, then walked over an noogied his brother.
"Heya Wing! Can I borrow yer wallet?"
Wildwing blinked, looked confused, then frowned.
"No." Almost a second later, Tanya blinked and looked equally confused. They looked at each other, gasped, and moved away, both flushing in embarrassment. At that precise moment Mallory threw herself at Duke's throat, every intention of bloody murder made obvious.
"Hey! Break it up you two!" Wildwing moved to stop the fight, grabbing both their arms. Both jumped, looked at the team leader, then at each other.
"Duke?"
"Mal?"
"Pinch me again and I'll break your arm!"
Duke scratched his head, puzzled. "Umm, okay. Right." He left the room, still looking confused. Cleech frowned, wondering if he was really the only one who'd seen what had just happened. So everybody was back to normal now...except the two in front of him. Grin and Raye. They were intent on the game, not even glancing up at the outburst that had occured.
Tanya moved over and poked Raye.
"Hu-hey, uh, did you ever finish those, uh, prints?"
Raye blinked and stood up abruptly.
"What the hell am I wearing?!" She bumped Grin as she stood. He didn't react, just kept playing the video game. Nosedive grabbed Raye's controls and took over playing for her.
"I think it's wearing ye, lass," Cleech said quietly. Raye glared at him, confused and looking like she wanted to blame somebody. She looked at Tanya.
"The...prints. Yeah. They should be on your desk." With that, she hurried out of the room and to her quarters to put on something more suitable. Cleech watched her go, then felt something soft crawl into his lap. He glanced down at Sapphire, who proceeded to groom himself. The cat seemed to wink at him.
S'funny, Cleech thought....he felt really...happy, all of a sudden. Raye crossed his mind, and he smiled. Then Nosedive poked his knee.
"Hey! You noddin' off there, Cleechman?"
Cleech blinked, then scowled at Nosedive and stood up, dumping Sapphire onto the ground. The cat gave him an indignant look and walked away, tail in the air.
"Don'ae touch me, punk." Cleech stalked out of the room. Nosedive shrugged and returned to the game.
"Man, Grin, why do you always play that nasty ogre anyway? Guy's wearing an iron grate for pants!"
"It is not how he clads himself so much as how he fights."
"Oh yeah, well, this little Julie chick is gonna kick yer butt!"
Phil entered the room, frowning.
"Uh....did someone order a pizza? Some guy up there wants a tip."
Nosedive grinned and stood up. "That's mine!" He gave Wildwing a pleading look.
"Please can I borrow your wallet? I'm kinda low on cash right now..."
Wildwing sighed. He hated it when Nosedive gave him 'The Look.'
"Alright, alright, but this is the last time, Dive! You gotta start planning ahead."
"Sure, okay." Nosedive headed uptop, where a tall human with auburn hair waited.
"Alright, how much do I owe ya?" He asked, taking the box from the pizzaguy.
"Your soul."
"Hee hee, pizza from hell, right? Seriously, how much?"
The pizzaguy gave him a strange look. Nosedive repressed a chill that was starting at the base of his spine. The guy had really weird eyes! They were almost red in color. Did humans have red eyes? He'd have to ask Thrash and Mookie about it later.
If there was a later, he added. The guy suddenly grabbed a handful of Dive's hair and jerked his head back.
"Take me to your mistress. I know she is here."
"Ow! Hey! I don't...what are you talking about?! Let go!" The guy forced Dive to look into his eyes. The the red eyes narrowed.
"You are protected, I see. She was wise...but clumsy. There are other ways of entrance."
Nosedive felt his head go hot...like it was going to explode. The guy's eyes were burning into his...literally, it felt like. He reached out to try to shove this punk off of him, when he suddenly realized he was alone.
Dive looked around, confused. Nothing. The only evidence that the weirdo had been here was the pizzabox, still sitting on the ground. The blonde duck scratched his head, staring around, then picked up the pizza.
"Yeah...well...don't expect a tip," he muttered, hurrying back downstairs. That was way, way creepy. An obsessed fan maybe? He suddenly didn't feel so hungry...
~Nyah nyah, cliffhanger! To be continued in The Wild Hunt!