I DO NOT OWN MOST OF THE CHARACTERS

Chapter 4

Dess sat in her room, working on some of her toys. These ones weren't that special; She hadn't needed big- time weapons since Samhain. The one she was working on now was a steel rod called Analyzability.

She suddenly felt the familiar shudder of the blue time. "Gotta love that," she muttered, grabbing her rod and taking off into the blue- lit, very quiet street. At least it was for a moment.

"DESS!" Rex bellowed from down the street.

Dess waited until he was panting in front of her before saying, "You could wake the dead, Rex. What's wrong?"

"Didn't you say that Eric guy was a mindcaster?" Rex asked.

"Uh, yeah," Dess said, unsure of where this was going.

"Well, I just saw him flying. No, not flying. Jumping. Like Jonathan."

This threw Dess. Why would Eric lie about his talent? It made no sense.

"Hey!" Eric said, walking up to them. He must have touched down some way back.

"Hey," Dess said. She shot a look at Rex, warning him not to say anything about seeing him. "Welcome to Bixby, Oklahoma! Not exactly glamor at it's best."

Eric shrugged. "It's okay. I love small towns."

"Really? That's-" Dess stopped, seeing something in the air. In fact, quite a few somethings. And they were all headed their way.

"What is it?" Eric asked, looking up at the sky.

"Just a few slithers. No biggie." Dess replied, holding up Analyzability like a baseball batt. "Get ready to see us in action!"

Without warning, Rex fell to the ground, looking very sick. He clutched his stomach, heaving.

Dess turned to him, worried. "Rex, what's wrong?"

That's when another bit of trouble came.

"Whoa! What is that?" Eric nearly shouted, stepping back.

Dess inwardly groaned. "Psycokitty."

"Dess..." Rex muttered, pained. "I can feel it inside me."

Dess grasped his arm. "Rex, the last thing we need right now is for you to go darking on us!" Her head was reeling. What was going on?

The panther struck! As did the flying slithers! Dess swung Analyzability at them, knocking them a few feet. She knew it would only be a matter of seconds before they came back for Round Two. She turned to Eric. "I know you're an Acrobat. I don't care why you lied. I just want you to get us out of here!"

Eric nodded. He grasped Dess's hand. She felt that familiar lightness she hadn't felt since she had flown with Jonathan long ago. He grabbed a shaking Rex... and jumped! The slithers weren't far behind.