Chapter Two

Tanya watched as Duke turned and left through the elevator door leading down to the more discreet part of the Pond. She sighed, shaking her head as she put the rest of her gear in her locker, her expression suddenly changing as she threw her helmet in and slammed the door. Turning her back and sinking against it, she buried her head in her hands. "Duke...." She choked out, holding back a sob.

"Whatcha doin' on the floor, Tanya?" Nosedive pulled his jersey over his head casually, tossing it onto the bench as he entered the locker room. He needed a shower, and he knew it, the locks of golden hair that framed his face were plastered down from the sweat in his helmet and his feathers were matted down in a V at his neck.

Tanya jumped in surprise, her eyes widening as she immediately got on her hands and knees. "Er...Uh...Piece of my Omni-tool fell out. I was uhm...looking for it." She stammered, frantically looking around for what obviously was not there. She thanked the stars that Nosedive was not the brightest crayon in the box, and that his childish naivety allowed him almost ultimate trust and gullibility.

"Oh, you need any help lookin'? After all, my great great great...times whatever...grandfather was part eagle." He plastered that silly grin on his face and bent down, not sure what he was looking for, but pretending anyways.

Tanya couldn't help but smile, closing her eyes for a moment and quickly grabbing a stray screw off the floor. "Oh...look, here it is. Thanks Nosedive, you brought me good luck." And without another word, she stood back up; shoving the screw in her pocket and heading out the door...She needed a walk.


"Is that the one?" Chameleon asked, tapping his fingers together and changing the shape of his head, satisfied only in the sense that Siege looked about to rip it off. Wraith whapped him on the skull with the end of his staff, shaking his head with annoyance as he eyed Tanya leaving the Pond.

"No you fool; the one we're looking for is Duke...That wretched thief that outsmarted Falcone." Wraith answered finally, letting Tanya's distance grow.

"Watch it, you scaly toad of a lizard...That traitor is a coward and pales in comparison to me. He just caught me on an off day." Falcone said wistfully, flipping his hair back with a swish of his neck. He had not bothered to cut it, instead he worked it to his advantage keeping the dark brown locks of wavy hair tied back in a pony-tail at the base of his neck and trailing down over his cloak.

"Keep tellin' yourself that, Pretty Boy." Siege chuckled under his breath before his attention was torn back to the retreating duck as she disappeared down the sidewalk.

Falcone bit his tongue as his hand clenched the hilt of his blade. If it had not been for his lust for revenge, he would not even be here. As much as he hated the Saurians, it was Duke he hated more. "I will, Tubby, I will." And once I'm finished with Duke and the rest of those wannabes, you lizard scum are next. He added to himself, inwardly grinning contentedly.

Wraith cleared his throat rather loudly until they had turned their short-spanned attentions back to the situation at hand. "Despite the fact that she is not the duck we are here for, I think it would be beneficent if we capture her and use her to get Duke." He said, stroking his wispy beard in thought.

Falcone laughed outright, almost coming to the point of knee slapping. "Duke couldn't care less about that four-eyed fruitcake of a fowl. He fancies Mallory..." He quirked his eyebrows, briefly blinking off into his own quaint little fantasy world; a man got very lonely in prison, and it beat any other alternatives, and Mallory was a fine piece of meat, despite the company she kept. "This reminds me...That one is mine also, I don't care what Dragaunus does with the others, but I get Duke and Mallory." He mused, rubbing his hands together and grinning.

Shaking his head, Wraith pinched the bridge of his nose, silently cursing the Ancestors for his rotten luck. "Falcone let us concentrate on the issue at hand...again. If we capture that particular duck, the others, including those two, are bound to come after." He eyed Falcone wearily, stroking the crown of the skull atop his staff. It was getting rather cracked and dull, and he was very keen to the idea of replacing it, and quite soon.

Tanya sighed, shoving her hands in her pockets as she walked, her satchel slung over her shoulder, since she would undoubtedly end up somewhere worth buying something. But for the time being, her thoughts resided elsewhere. Duke... she thought to herself with a shake of her head. He was everything she had always wanted, every since she was little. She almost laughed at herself. There he was, the epitome of everything tall, dark, and handsome, with the splash of mystery that made her blood boil...and he had never even given her a second glance.

She tore her eyes away from the ground and pushed her glasses back on her beak, using the motion as an excuse to blink away the tears that threatened to fall. By this time, the prospect of ever actually going home was getting less and less, although she was the one that always tried to keep the hope alive.

'Lectric Land was coming up around the corner, and she adjusted her bag to her other shoulder as she made ready to go through the double glass doors. Shaking her head once more, she rested her hand on the handle and took a step forward...but froze in her tracks. A blood-curdling scream ripped through the avenue, followed by the cries of a young child. Tanya's eyes widened and she took off at a run, tossing her bag off on the sidewalk as she ran.

It was starting to get dark, and the cries were getting fainter and fainter, but Tanya rounded a corner of an alley way in time to see a little boy rocking back and forth next to a dumpster. She ran up to him, kneeling next to him, her eyes scanning the area cautiously...something just did not feel right.

"What's wrong, kiddo?" She asked, setting her hand on the child's shoulder, looking around for the source of the scream that had first caught her attention.

"A nasty, fat, lizard man came and took mommy away...They went poof!...and mommy wasn't here no more..." The little boy sputtered through wiping his eyes.

Tanya glowered, "Seige..." Shaking her head, she looked back at the little boy, "Don't worry, we'll find your mother. My name is Tanya. What's yours?"

"Cameron." He replied.

Tanya nodded, "Alright Cameron, let me just call my friends and we'll get your mommy back right away." She turned her head a moment, standing and raising a wrist to activate her com unit.

A wicked grin crept across the boy's face. "Miss Tanya...I lied..." He said darkly, "...Mommy's not coming back...Mommy's dead..." His voice grew hollow, as did his expression as a shadow cast across his face.

Tanya looked at him in bewilderment. "No, no, you can't think like that, we'll find her."

"You don't understand, you disgusting feathered freak. I know Mommy's dead...I know Mommy's dead, because I killed her." Tanya's mouth dropped in horror as Cameron suddenly loomed over her, now in the grotesquely familiar shape of Chameleon's favorite, brutish form.

He flung a ham-sized fist backwards, sending the dumpster barreling into the back of the alley. Tanya stumbled backwards at what she saw. Lying there in a pool of dirtied blood was the true source of the scream and the cries. The bodies of the mother and child, still smoking from the barrage of blasts issued by Chameleon and Seige.

"You...Why?...They couldn't...they didn't....You MONSTERS!" Tanya stammered out, backing up as she fumbled for her puck launcher.

Seige appeared behind her, his fist closing in around the back of her neck, picking her easily off the ground and hoisting her into the air. He turned and looked at Chameleon with a disgruntled and angered glower. "Nasty, fat, lizard man? You are so going to get it once we get back to the Raptor." He grumbled as Tanya kicked and struggled in his grip. With a sigh almost of discontent, Siege threw Tanya with bone crushing force against a building, hard enough to rattle its foundations. She slipped with a groan to the ground below and lie in a limp heap amongst the boxes and paper strewn alley.


Woo...Bit longer than my other chapters...gomen-nasai for not making it longer...they'll get more lengthy as the story progresses . Please R&R, t'would be much appreciated. I don't care about flames, I think they're entertaining and I very well may reply to them, but I don't get nasty in return unless I'm truly offended, so take your best shot . Oh, and by the way, all of you reviewers will be mentioned in a future chapter's blurb....unless you dun wanna be