Chapter 4: Adventure

Wow I finally got this up... do you know how long this has taken me to write? Okay so maybe if you've been reading this all along you have. I got three chappies out in a matter of days and this... wow this one took a month or so. Well anyway for those of you who have been waiting for some tiny bit of action amongst the mushiness Zero's finally in a chappy... yay! Sorry you Raw fans just one sentence about him... whoops. I didn't even notice that until I was typing it up. Did any of you think that DG was just gonna stay nice and contempt at the palace? If you did than you don't know DG (or what I think she would do anyway)...Anyway I hope you enjoy... I know the title sucks but I can't freakin thing of another one... if you think of a better title please review and i'll totally change it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tin Man... although I wish I did...

Glitch couldn't dream like normal people. Instead when he was asleep memories would flood him, coming and going. The random firing of synapses prevented his subconscious mind from settling on a particular scenario for more than a few seconds. Lately all of his memories seemed to be related to two events. One: the surgery that had removed half of his brain and two: the surgery that was intended to restore it.

Count backwards from 100

No… no… NO!!!

It'll be alright Glitch I'm right here

This may not work Ambrose just remember that

A soft, warm hand in his, a strong hand on his shoulder. Everyone was there to… Oh no they were drilling into his head!

The warmth of his friends was gone… The young princess was alive and that was something he would protect with his life.

Ambrose was screaming. They were removing half of his brain. Glitch. Her voice rang through the darkness.

Suddenly she was there. A beacon of light shining through the darkness.

His synapses stilled for a moment as she appeared then they started firing again and it was as if someone had blown out a candle. She was gone.

"DG" he woke with a start. Cain gave him a glance from where he sat on guard duty.

"Again?" he asked. Glitch nodded and sat up, his coat that had been acting as a blanket slid off of him. Standing up to stretch, Glitch slipped on the coat in one smooth motion. "Think it means anything?" Cain asked as his friend sat down next to him. Glitch shook his head.

"I'm no wizard." Glitch said rubbing his face wearily, "I'm sure she's safe."

"She better be" Jeb said appearing from the shadows. Glitch jumped a bit. Jeb was so much like his father sometimes.

"It's been a couple of days. Since she hasn't come I'm sure she's safely tucked away in the palace." Cain said not sure he did believe himself "Besides she's smart enough to know when to stay out of trouble." Glitch smiled

"But she's stubborn enough to disregard logic," he pointed out "That's how we found you Cain" Glitch said reminiscently thinking back to DG, stick in hand, charging into the holographic fight.

"That was something" Cain agreed

"What was something?" Jeb asked. He had been told of her freeing Cain but that was about all.

"Our little princess charged into a fight that didn't involve her." Jeb's eyes widened and his father laughed. Out of the corner of his eye Jeb could see Glitch's goofy smile lingering on his face, he just wanted to slap the former advisor to the Queen sometimes.

"There was no stopping her" the zipper-head commented

"So what happened?" Jeb asked positively on edge about DG charging into a fight

"I was so scared" Glitch laughed "The longcoats really see-"

"Longcoats?!?" Jeb was frantic to know what had happened in the past. His father stood up and clapped a hand on his son's shoulder.

"It was just a holograph Jeb"

"Yes Zero used a Tri-Dimensional Energy Stored Holographic Time Loop to…" Glitch looked down at his feet knowing that both men knew what Zero had used the TDESHTL's for.

His companions were suddenly quiet and the smiles were ripped from their faces as Zero's name sunk in. The full weight of their mission pressed in on them as a late summer breeze swept over them.

"Dad, are you certain that he's in the Central City?"

"To be honest I don't know where that bastard is. Like I told Ahamo, the Central City's our best bet right now."

"Better than nothing" Glitch said ever optimistic

"I guess…" Jeb said agreeing with Glitch for once, "Besides, the quicker we find him the quicker we can go home." The scatter brain nodded

"Better than nothing, better than nothing, better – Ow!" Cain had punched him in the arm. Glitch smiled sheepishly "Thanks"

"Don't mention it," Cain said like clockwork as he sat back down and used a stick to stir the fire. Glitch watched the fire contemplatively and Jeb sat with his father. Raw snored away completely unaware of what was going on.

Miles away the very man that they were seeking sat safe and sound contemplating an equally bright fire. Zero, however, was reclining in an armchair instead of squatting on a log. The former Longcoat General was not as content as he seemed though. His fingers were anxiously tapping out a rhythm on the arm of his chair and his face was contorted with anger and a need for revenge as he thought back on past events. Even in his tin prison the man had been able to feel the O.Z. brighten. What he wouldn't give to shoot the brat who had helped to take away his chance at power.

Any chance at that had seemed nonexistent until he came along. The man who freed him had promised authority and retribution beyond anything Zero had even imagined. The two things that Zero longed for the most and thought were lost were suddenly attainable. He wasn't sure what the deal was with the man but somehow he felt familiar to Zero. Something about him reminded him of… someone… But who was it? Oh screw it. Zero was free and would soon gain all the power he had ever dreamed of and the vengeance that he craved so badly.

Back in the palace DG paced the length of her room. It had only been a few days but those days had been torturously dragged out as she waited for some kind of sign from her friends. The young princess had insisted on wearing Glitch's coat to everything and was being quite stubborn in that resolve. DG thought that maybe by showing how much she cared for her friends her family would let her go. It hadn't worked as of yet, however.

The pacing wasn't helping anything either. Sighing DG threw herself onto her bed. Laying on her back she tender put her fingers to the locket that she had worn since finding it. No one had asked who it was from and DG had not enlightened anyone. AZ kept hinting that DG's annoyance was all caused by Jeb's disappearance and Deege didn't have the heart to correct her. All of her friends were out there, and for God's sake DG didn't even know how she felt about Jeb!!! She wished Raw was here to help guide her through it all but alas he had left her behind too.

"Princess?" DG looked up to find Toto her old tutor poking his head in the room

"They gave you guard duty tonight huh?" her old teacher nodded and chuckled

"Your mother seems to think that I'm the only one left in the castle who might be able to handle you." DG smirked

"You just might be the only one left who might be able to…" DG said. She knew that she could get to his soft spot and manage to escape but seeing as days had gone by and she didn't know which way her friends had gone it was pointless.

"Yes I suppose I might…" he said with a smile "Don't go running away on me Princess, the Central City is no place for royalty right now…" he said with a wink then closed the door.

Toto had watched his student pace around the palace and knew that she was suffering without her friends. Glitch's coat was constantly hugging to her even though Glitch couldn't and on occasion the young princess would put her nose to the fabric when she thought no one was looking. No doubt it still smelled of its owner.

The absence of Cain, Glitch, Raw, and Jeb was seriously getting to DG. Toto was sick of watching her suffer. He hoped that DG had taken his hint and was collecting her things at the moment. Dg had insisted on a bedroom on the goround floor so that she could look out into the gardens. Toto also guessed that she might have anticipated a need to sneak out once in awhile.

Indeed the old shape-shifter's wink had not gone unnoticed. DG smiled as she collected the necessities then opened her window. From the gardens she could sneak out onto a barely treat path that in turn led to the old brick route. DG was certain that from there she could find someway to wind up in the Central City around the same time as her friends or shortly after them. The route was undergoing many repairs but with Glitch's jacket and an old tattered gown on she was sure that if she kept her head down and her nose out of other people's business she could get past any royal workers that she might encounter. For once over these few days the young princess was happy even though she was surely facing extreme danger ahead.

Hope you liked it sorry again that it took so long... the next chappy will be out soon (i hope) thanks for reading