Voyager Saga
Trials and Retributions
Chapter 4
With so much excitement happening every other day, it's sometimes hard to notice the year passing by and the annual events that follow. Still, some events have a tendency to creep up on you, often ones that are least wanted.
For rifters, citizens of Nullspace, those who had been pulled from their worlds by warp tears, there was always one day that was the hardest and the saddest of the year: their birthdays. Therefore, most citizens of Nullspace check on the recipient's mood before celebrating. Of course, some have less sense of caution than others.
Morph, in a unique show of forethought had somehow found out Megan's birthday and was currently sneaking into her room with a party popper and some coconut cake he had 'borrowed' from CPS headquarters canteen.
He probably should have waited until she had woken up, but he assumed that 'cake in bed' was better than just 'breakfast in bed'.
"Oh, Meeegan…" he said softly before, when that just got a mumbled response, he jumped it up to experiment level, morphed into Yaarp and began honking while singing 'happy birthday'.
That immediately got Megan's attention. She sat up in bed and glared at the little noisemaker as he made enough racket to wake up everyone on the floor.
...
Matt was asleep in the room next door...until Morph's rendition woke the whole barracks up. It took him a moment to make out the words but when he did hear it, he shot upright with a fearful look. "Oh hell no," he said.
...
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!" finished Morph as he honked out a crescendo. He shifted back to his normal form and held up the coconut cake. "So who wants some birthday cake?" he asked, "I know I do."
Megan glared at that. "You woke me up...for THIS?" she growled.
"Who doesn't want birthday cake in bed?" said Morph, "I used your summoning candles to make it extra special. Let's just light those real quick." He then shifted into Splodyhead and his nose glowed red.
Megan went bugeyed. "NOT THOSE CANDLES..." she began before a beam of light from each candle shot up to intersect and open a red hole. A tentacle shot out, about to grab Morph before seemingly shrugging and taking the cake instead, the portal closing behind it.
"Hey! Give me back that cake!" shouted Morph, "That was for me, er, that was for Megan!"
Megan growled as she shifted into Lady NegaMorph form. Morph looked at her and said obliviously, "Don't worry, we can get another cake. And then we'll go avenge the cake we lost."
…
Matt and a team from one of the other barracks were almost at Megan's door when a dark fireball blasted it off its hinges, a splat on it said, "Someone needs more sleep," in a rasping voice.
Matt bent over the burnt cinder that Morph currently was. "What did I tell you about birthdays?" he asked.
Morph seemed to think before he said, "Oh no, did I forget your birthday too?" The two mercs with Matt rolled their eyes and started taking the smashed door, complete with Morph, away.
Matt reached round to knock on the wall. "Is it safe to enter?" he called cautiously...and when no more hellfire emerged, peered round. Megan was curled up on her bed, still in her half-alien form. She didn't look so much mad as she did depressed. "I'm coming on...no blasty," called Matt before carefully walking inside. All Megan did to respond was turn her back towards Matt.
Matt slowly walked forward before his rarely-used sense of 'catching on' triggered. "This is the day they booted you?" he asked carefully.
"Not quite," said Megan, "But I remember the parties they used to throw me. I never would have thought I'd be spending a birthday away from them."
"Hey, they kicked you out for no good reason. You're better off without them," said Matt, remembering what Megan had told him ages ago.
"I suppose, but I wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn't had these powers in the first place," said Megan, "I could have had a normal life."
"I know the feeling. I wonder what life would have been like if I had listened to the 'do not touch' sign," said Matt
"That's not quite the same," said Megan, "You got your powers by accident. Me, I was born with them, even if I didn't know it then."
"I still lost it. You'll be alright," said Matt.
"Maybe," said Megan, "But I'm not in a party mood right now."
"Ok...you let us know when you are. Heck, ask Cmdr Leyton and he can hook you up for a trip into the city," said Matt.
"I know how to find my way around the Big Apple, thanks," said Megan.
"You never saw the magic quarter, CPS has access now that two registered dragons are on their payroll," said Matt, with a smirk.
"I'm a witch, remember?" said Megan, "I can find my way to the magic quarter."
"Ok...where is it?" said Matt.
"Well, it's, um, er...I DON'T HAVE TO TELL YOU!" snapped Megan before zapping Matt with her heat vision.
...
Chloe wandered into the canteen, tazer blasted Draco out of the way of the coffee machine and poured a cup, yawning before stopping as a smoldering Matt walked in and got a cola out the freezer. "Megan needs some alone time..." he said, dully.
"Of course," said Chloe, "I remember my first birthday in Nullspace."
"Hold on," said Matt, dully before walking over to an extinguisher and blasting himself
Gary walked in at that, looking for breakfast. He noticed Matt using the fire extinguisher and asked, "What did you do to upset Chloe this time?"
Matt glared. "It was Megan, first nullspace birthday combined with hairtrigger temper equals heatbeams," he said darkly.
"It's Megan's birthday?!" cried Gary, "Zut alores, I forgot to get her something."
"I wouldn't...remember Sgt Avanis?" said Matt darkly.
"Er, I'm not sure I met him," said Gary.
"That's the point...poor guy snapped in the middle of diffusing a pasaki orb on Mars's third moon," said Matt.
Draco looked confused "Mars only has 2."
Chloe said darkly, "Exactly."
"What does that have to do with Megan's birthday?" asked Gary.
"Megan has the magical potential of a dreadnought...covered in petrol. Are you gonna be the one to throw a match on that?" said Matt.
"No, of course not," said Gary.
"Then DON'T mention birthdays...not until next year," said Matt, warningly.
"So...I don't have to get her a present?" asked Gary.
"Get one...save it. She should be ok next year," said Chloe.
"Still, I feel I should do something for her," said Gary.
"Ok...we warned you," said Matt, walking back out with the cola.
"Now...what would be a good gift for Megan?" asked Gary.
"Why not give her a nail file? Contrinus likes them," said Draco.
"She's not a bird, Draco," said Chloe from the table she was drinking at.
Draco scratched his head and said, "Uh, maybe jewels? Girls are supposed to like jewels, right?"
"That might work, but our finances are frozen by the NSC...and unless you're gonna rob a shop...no," said Matt.
Draco shrugged and said, "I'm outta ideas."
"That didn't take too long," muttered Chloe.
"Hey, she knows you love her, take her out somewhere romantic," said Matt, before noticing the group's stares. "What?" he asked.
"That's...actually a good idea," said Chloe.
"So? You don't have to act that surprised," said Matt, "I can have good practical ideas not related to combat."
"Yeah, once every blue moon," muttered Draco.
"I have an organic version of the GPD virus..." commented Matt absently, to Chloe's confusion.
"The GPD what?" asked Gary.
Matt said smugly, "Noting you need to worry about. Now go find Megan before a passerby accidentally upsets her."
...
Elsewhere, Ghoulwyrm was in the midst of an important experiment. A cauldron of bubbling potion was slowing being turned as Ghoulwyrm was looking over several organic pods that were attached to a nearby wall. Ghoulwyrm looked at one of the pods as Omnirus came in, wearing a gas mask. "Have you finished yet? That stuff smells awful," she complained.
"Their incubation is nearly done," said Ghoulwyrm, "But I need to find a more prime specimen to use. Ah, this one looks promising." He prodded one pod that squirmed in response.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah...do they have to smell like feet though?" said Omnirus rudely.
"I don't smell anything," said Ghoulwyrm.
"That's because your nose is running," said Omnirus, pointing towards the door where a small piece of Ghoulwyrm's skull was running down the hallway.
"Fine, I'll turn the ventilation on, happy?" said Ghoulwyrm dully, sending a bolt into a panel on the far end of the room.
Omnirus looked into the cauldron and asked, "What is this smeg anyways?"
"A very special potion," said Ghoulwyrm, "It gives whatever creature that imbibes it the perfect minion personality. It's a shame it only works on nonsentients."
"So...what are you using it on?" asked Omnirus, looking in a box and leaning back.
"This one, as soon as it hatches," said Ghoulwyrm poking the same pod again, "Which won't take too long now."
"Ok...is this another of your 'get recognition quick' schemes? They're not really working, you know," said Omnirus.
"Not really," said Ghoulwyrm, "I need more disposable minions and zombies are too fragile for our line of work." Just then, the pods started quivering and little shrieks came out of them.
"What the smeg was THAT?" said Omnirus, backing up a bit.
The pods started breaking open as small insectoid bodies crawled out of them. They were dripping with slime as they emerged, but they quickly dried. Once they were fully hatched, Omnirus could see the creatures resembled mosquitos, only they had four legs that ended in long thin fingers and toes, their two pairs of wings resembled those of a bat's and their head were mainly skull-shaped with batlike faces and overlapping teeth.
"What the blitznak are THOSE?" she whimpered, scrabbling back as one of the creatures almost grabbed her blindly.
"Myosquitos," said Ghoulwyrm as he picked up the one that had hatched from the pod he had picked, "An intriguing race of creatures, they make very suitable minions and are easily replaced. Someday I must track down the planet they come from." The myosquito in his hand hissed, its bottom jaw splitting in half as a long thin protuberance extended from its mouth.
Omnirus squeaked and jumped back. "Well...I guarantee that'll get people talking," she said weakly.
"But of course," said Ghoulwyrm as he picked up a very raw steak he had on the table and dipped into the cauldron. He held the tainted steak in front of the myosquito in his hand and said, "Here you go, your first meal." The myosquito gave a squeal and stuck its protuberance into the steak and sucking up its blood. Within seconds, the steak was dried up as jerky.
Omnirus slowly began to turn green. "That's just...wrong"
The myosquito started shuddering as gagging sounds came out of its throat. Then its head bloated to almost twice its previous side. There was a slight pop as a pair of batlike ears sprouted from the sides of its head and then a hiss as pent-up air exited the newly formed ears. The head shrank down to its previous size, only the face appeared more humanlike. The myosquito coughed before speaking in a squeaky voice, "I...am...honored that you would choose me to be your personal minion. It is a privilege to be in the service of such a great necromancer as you. Did I mention that you are positively the epitome of terror?"
Omnirus stopped, raising an eyebrow. "You're joking..." she said dully.
"It appears the minion personality potion is a success," said Ghoulwyrm.
"Of course it is, master," said the myosquito, "No one brews a more potent potion than you. There isn't a single rival to your skill in all the land."
"Nice work, Ghoulwyrm, you've invented the 'kiss-ass' potion," said Omnirus with a chuckle.
"Why shouldn't I treat Ghoulwyrm with respect?" said the myosquito, "He is the best in his field. He is the best in any field."
Ghoulwyrm frowned and said, "Perhaps I put in a little too much humility."
"Ya think?" said Omnirus
"And I bet Ghoulwyrm has a marvelous plan for his next plot. Oh, I shall do my best to make you proud," said the myosquito.
Omnirus rolled her eyes. "I think we can count this one as a reject," she said, readying an electrical orb.
The myosquito hissed at her before it spat a glob of red slime at her chest. Omnirus looked down and said, "What the?" The other myosquitos immediately turned towards Omnirus and extended their protuberances.
Omnirus stared for a split second before the Chloe side of her quickly supplied what the blob probably was and she fled, the insectoids in close pursuit.
Ghoulwyrm scratched his myosquito behind an ear and said, "I think I'll call you Sucker and this looks like the start of a beautiful relationship."
…
Megan was just about to get on the lift up to the warehouse that CPS command was under when she heard Gary call out to her. Megan turned around and gave Gary an annoyed look. "I am really not in the mood right now," she said, making her eyes glow red for emphasis.
"Megan...I thought I would accompany you. I have never been here properly...and I can think of nobody that I would rather see the sights with me," Gary said.
"I'm sure you'd find someone else to give you a tour," said Megan.
"But I don't want anyone else," said Gary, "You'd be better than anyone else."
Megan sighed, her black mood stopping the compliment from getting through fully. "Fine," she said darkly.
"Great," said Gary, "So, what would you recommend we see first?"
"Central Park?" said Megan, not really listening
"As good a place as any," said Gary, "Let's go."
...
Summer had begun to turn into autumn, though it was little hard to tell. Asides from the occasional cold breeze and the leaves starting to turn color, one could barely tell it was late September. Of course, that makes it perfect walking weather for going around Central Park.
Gary and Megan, taking advantage of such weather, strolled through the park, Gary looking around. "I cannot believe how warm it is. I would have expected it to be already close to snowing," he said, absently.
"That was because in your time the ozone layer was completely intact and there wasn't a surplus of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere," said Megan. Gary gave her a curious look. "Ask Tutor Bot about it," said Megan.
Gary winced and said, "I'd rather not, it was hard enough to get him to let us have the day off."
…
Gary and Megan were backing up as Matt struggled with Tutor Bot. "You know...with normal teachers...you just need a forged sick note...not...an ion staff," he said, struggling with the bot.
"I am programmed to not accept absences without permission from a student's authority figure," said Tutor Bot 3.0 before smacking Matt.
"I'M THE CAPTAIN HERE...OBEY MEEE-AAAARGH!" yelled Matt, his anger turning into a scream as he was thrown over the heads of Megan and Gary into the corridor
Tutor Bot beeped before stating, "Matthew Lynch, captain's title: officially revoked. Authority status insufficient."
A plasma burst was the reply, blowing the tutor bot's head off. "BZZ...WRONG!" yelled Matt.
...
Megan sighed. "You would think that things learnt by now," she said solemnly.
"Yes, it may have been created to teach, but I don't think it's very wise," said Gary, "Out of curiosity, what was it like back at your old school?"
Megan sighed, "It...wasn't nice. The other kids didn't like to go near the 'creepy girl'."
"You must have had some friends," said Gary.
"No, the school I went to didn't care much for 'people out of order'," said Megan, "Kids were just a bunch of walking uniforms to be droned at. I hardly think anyone noticed me being gone there."
Gary sighed. "Sounds awful. At least now you are with friends," he said.
"That might not last long, what with Matt getting arrested and the ship being confiscated," said Megan.
Gary smiled. "Chip and Draco once told me how he was locked up before. He has done much good and that will speak in his favor," he said, confidently.
Megan gave him an 'are you kidding' look and said, "Gary, I need some stability in my life and being around Matt might not help now. I just...want a steady home and family." She then turned and started walking off.
"Megan, wait!" called Gary, but there was a brief flash of blackness before Megan disappeared.
Gary sighed. "My cherie...I hope you don't run into trouble," he muttered before going bug-eyed as his brain pointed out the fact that he had been following Megan and as a result, he hadn't got a clue where he was. "Uh oh," he said weakly.
However, there had been someone else watching the interaction of the two young teens. A pair of red eyes among the tree branches blinked before disappearing with a faint buzz of wings.
…
Omnirus was busy finishing her bandages. The myosquito bites had changed to nasty boils...itchy ones and as a result, she was so bandaged up that she could pass for a clone of Ghoulwyrm. "I hate you so much," she growled.
Ghoulwyrm smirked as he petted a myosquito, "You should see how some humans react. They'd tear their flesh just to get rid of the irritation."
"Just make sure they learn that friendly fire is bad," said Omnirus darkly.
"If you can manage not insulting them, we shouldn't have a problem," said Ghoulwyrm.
Just then, Sucker flew and said, "Master, master, I have most interesting news."
Omnirus said sarcastically, "The NSC have deployed fly paper?"
"No, I spotted the halfling witch and the weregoyle in the park," said Sucker, "The witch looked pretty sad. She said she wanted a steady home and family before leaving."
Omnirus didn't seem impressed, "So she needs therapy...boo hoo. That doesn't help us."
Ghoulwyrm frowned and said, "That girl has been a pain in my tail on more than one occasion. This could be an opportunity to get rid of that brat once and for all. But I need more information."
Sucker said eagerly, "I can deal with her. I can drain her drier then jerky." only to be swatted into a wall by Omnirus.
"There, that's what Matt's squad will do to you half a second after you attack," she said in a matter-of-fact voice
"I'm not just going to strike her down when she's alone right now," said Ghoulwyrm, "This situation needs thorough thinking out if it's to be effective. And I'll have to gather more information to know what to do."
"She'll spot you a mile away, Ghoulwyrm...and as for bug boy, over there..." said Omnirus
Ghoulwyrm gave the squished myosquito a disgusted look before saying, "I'll have to mix up that henchman potion again. But there are other ways of gathering information that don't involve physical presence."
"Like what?" said Omnirus
"As the youth today are so wont to say: none of your business," said Ghoulwyrm as he floated off, "And clean up that mess. Myosquitos emit a powerful homing pheromone when they die and they tend to attack anyone who's close to it, particularly if they smell its blood on them."
Omnirus glared as the sound of buzzing got closer. "I swear if you weren't already dea-..."
...
In a quieter area of downtown, Megan had stopped at a bus stop. She could see a little up the street that a kid was playing with his dog while his mom and dad watched. Megan sighed and pulled out an old photo of her and her parents at her last birthday party with them. "I wonder what you are doing now?" she said to herself, before folding the photo back up carefully and putting it back.
She paused when she felt like someone was standing right behind her. She turned around but no one was there. "This day's just getting to me," she muttered, not noticing a slight distortion in the air.
...
Ghoulwyrm was studying Megan through a large crystal ball. "How quaint," he said, "The little witch pines for her mommy and daddy. Almost makes me want to cry. Or gag more likely."
The new minion, peering over Ghoulwyrm's shoulder said, "We eat da lady?"
"Not yet," said Ghoulwyrm, "I think I know how to use this to our advantage, but I'll need a bit more direct information. That's where you come in."
"Why me go dere?" said the minion, one of its eyes slowly spinning.
"I just need some of her blood, that'll allow me to extract the memories of her parents," said Ghoulwyrm.
"You say we no eat though," said the myosquito.
"It's not eating, it's...tasting," said Ghoulwyrm, "We need to make sure she's ready to eat."
The myosquito nodded before his wandering eye did a full 60 and he said, "Why we look at dat?"
Ghoulwyrm groaned and muttered to himself, "Be patient, many potioneers have to go through rejects before they perfect their formulas."
...
Half an hour later, Megan was heading back to the park, some part of her remembering that Gary had no clue how to get back.
Just then, she heard a whining sound and spotted a small mosquito flying around her. Megan glared at it and said, "Stupid bug," before waving it off.
She didn't see it very closely or else she'd have notice it was a different kind of stupid bug. "There girl, now me get," said the myosquito before sniffing and drifting towards an ice cream truck. "Mmm...sugar."
Ghoulwyrm, who was watching from a rooftop, facepalmed as his 'foolproof' minion homed in on the sugary treats. "I coulda used reptiles but nooooo...I had to go for the scare factor," he muttered
Since the myosquito has most likely forgotten all about his job and will mostly get swatted in a minute, Ghoulwyrm became invisible and floated down towards Megan. "If you want a job done right..." he muttered, heading across the road. Unfortunately, undead rarely pay attention to road safety, meaning poor Ghoulwyrm didn't see the bus coming.
A little while later, Ghoulwyrm was proving it was possible to float with a limp. "Note to self: when turning invisible, turn intangible too," he muttered to himself.
Ghoulwyrm peered out, waiting for Megan. "Stupid buses...stupid bugs...stupid fates," he muttered. As he floated closer to Megan, he thought, 'Ok, I have to make this look like a minor incident, something that could easily be blamed on something else and ignored." He noticed Megan walking close to a tree and thought, 'Perfect.' He aimed a talon carefully, muttering "Ready...aiiiiim...fire." before sending a bolt of magic at a branch over Megan's head
Megan heard something and looked up just in time for the branch to fall and hit her. "Ow!" yelled Megan as the branch left several scratches on her exposed skin.
Ghoulwyrm air punched silently going 'Yes'. Megan put her hand on her forehead to see the blood. She went off grumbling, stopping as a bus went by, making a 'clunk' as it seemed to hit something. Ghoulwyrm kept his teeth gritted together to keep him from yelling from the pain of having the bus run over his tail. He carefully headed over and picked up the branch. "At least something good came out of this." he said to himself
...
After wandering about for about half an hour, Gary finally spotted Megan. "Megan, I've been looking everywhere," said Gary before noticing the scratches, "You're hurt."
"A tree branch hit me, no big deal," said Megan, "It'll heal up in no time at all."
Gary however was still concerned. "We should get you back and have one of the doctors look at it anyway..." he said before saying a little shyly "...as soon as I work out which direction to go in."
"It's nothing, Gary, look," said Megan as her scratches quickly healed up leaving no mark, "I have NegaMorph's powers, remember?"
"That is good...now...where are we?" said Gary, gulping as a howl from a homeless dog was heard.
Megan sighed and said, "We definitely need to take you around New York more often."
...
Ghoulwyrm spent quite a bit of time working with Megan's blood. Blood memory was a trickier part of blood magic, but Ghoulwyrm was soon getting all the memories he needed. The new myosquito had returned, human-sized now and covered in vanilla ice cream. "Soon, Sucker, I'll have that little brat within my clutches. Then I'll have the pleasure of-" Ghoulwyrm took another look at the myosquito and asked, "How did you get so big?"
"Suuuuugar…" said Sucker 2...his lazy eye spinning as he spoke.
Ghoulwyrm, who had been unable to stop staring at it, shook his head to snap out of it. "Sugar did that?" he said, confused.
"Tasty sweet sugar," said Sucker 2.
Ghoulwyrm just said, "Wow...and people say sugar's bad for you..." before the proverbial lightbulb came on in his head. "Sucker, are you pondering what I'm pondering?" asked Ghoulwyrm.
"Why they call ant farm a farm when there no tractor?" said Sucker 2.
Ghoulwyrm rolled his eye and said, "No, Sucker, I shall be able to strike Megan even more directly by disguising a pair of myosquitos as her parents."
"Oooooh...what is disguise?" said Sucker.
"Obviously, not something you'll be wearing," said Ghoulwyrm, "I'll have to implant another pair of myosquitos with Megan's parent's personalities."
"Dat is good...what I do?" asked Sucker.
"Go...buzz around the Statue of Liberty or something," said Ghoulwyrm. Sucker shrugged before getting a dazed expression as his brain ran out of thoughts for the moment.
Ghoulwyrm sighed and said, "I have got to work on improving that henchman potion." Despite everything, Ghoulwyrm tried a quick mind reader spell to see what was going on, poking and hearing what sounded like the speaking clock. "I should have known," he said darkly.
"Sucker, why don't you go tell Omnirus she's a pretty lady? It'll be a nice thing," said Ghoulwyrm. Sucker nodded and headed off in Omnirus's direction. Ghoulwyrm rubbed his talons together and conjured some paper and a pen. "Now...for the bait," he said, evilly.
...
The next day, a rather pale-looking mailman made his way to the CPS HQ. "Ok, just stop here, drop off the letter, then I'm gone," he said to himself. The mailman looked around before spotting a warehouse with a surprisingly sturdy-looking fence around it, marked as 'CPS Logistics'. "Really? That's the best they could come up with?" said the mailman darkly before walking towards the street entrance.
...
Matt had ended up with the night shift, making sure nobody actually tried to hire 'CPS Logistics'. "Ugh...I need coffee, strong, black, richly-caffeinated," groaned Matt.
There was a knock as a mailman came in. "Got a letter here for-EEEEK!" he said, screaming as he spotted Matt.
"We get mail again? I thought we had to collect it since the last attempt to send us a bill," Matt said with a yawn, adding darkly "Do you have a bill?"
"Er, no, just a letter," said the mailman nervously.
"Do I know you? I feel like we've met." said Matt, suspiciously.
"Uh, no, just one of those dozens of faceless mailmen who work for near-minimum wages," said the mailman a bit too quickly.
Matt nodded before spotting the brown envelope. "You said no bill," he said darkly, pulling out a shotgun. "As is agreed...you have 3 seconds," he said, pumping the shotgun.
The mailman quickly turned on his heel and ran out.
Mat sighed before looking at the address. "Poor Megan. I told her, the IRS always find you...even in another universe," he said, walking to the lift down to the HQ.
Megan had also apparently just gotten up, given that she was still in her nightshirt and the state of her bedhead. Matt wandered up, holding the letter. "IRS found you." he said, tossing the letter to her.
"IRS?" asked Megan, "I'm only fourteen, why should I be paying taxes?"
"Don't ask me, it looks like a bill to me," said Matt, before staggering off back to his post.
Chloe was headed back to her room with some coffee when she saw Megan standing in the corridor, staring distantly at the letter in her hand. "Hey kid, whatcha reading?" asked Chloe.
"It's...it's...it's..." said Megan in a distant voice. Chloe stared for a minute before lightly slapping the side of Megan's head to jolt her brain out of the loop. "It's a letter from my parents," said Megan weakly.
"Your parents? As in the smegheads who threw you out?" said Chloe.
"Yes and it says they want me back," said Megan.
Chloe raised an eyebrow. "I dunno...you get plenty of wierdo's. You sure this is genuine?" she said.
"It definitely looks like it came from them," said Megan.
"Let me see that," said Chloe reaching for the letter.
Megan yanked the letter back and said, "No, it's mine!"
"Ok, it's private. I can respect that. My brother guards the safe in his quarters religiously...so what makes you think it's from them?" Chloe said with a sigh.
"Just...some references. Some very personal and private references," said Megan.
"Ok...what does it say? You meeting them somewhere?" said Chloe before adding, "I'm coming along. We've met our share of shapeshifters, including a few I met as Silvia so I'm coming along...just in case."
"Fine, but don't tell anyone else yet," said Megan, "I...don't want Mom and Dad to be scared off."
"My lips are sealed...and if these are fakes trying to set you up to lose money...well...dragons need protein," said Chloe.
"Please stop talking like that," said Megan, "I don't know if dragons are really cannibalistic or not."
Chloe rolled her eyes for a moment. "Wait for me up top." she said, heading for her room.
...
A few minutes, later, both Megan and Chloe were walking out of the HQ. "Where are we supposed to meet them?" asked Chloe.
"Grand Central Station, 10:00," said Megan.
"Ok," said Chloe, checking her ion staff, "I'll be having a few choice words with them as well. They can't just dump you then come back suddenly."
While the two girls were walking away, a myosquito was watching, Ghoulwyrm's newest Sucker. He had a communicator with which he could talk to Ghoulwyrm with. He finally, with a buzzing sigh, spoke into his communicator. "Boss...they're here...I think...I dunno."
"Are they heading for the train station?" demanded Ghoulwyrm.
"I guess, it's kinda hard to see them from here," said Sucker 3.
"Then move so you can see them," snapped Ghoulwyrm.
"Whhhyyyyyyy?" moaned the myosquito in a bored voice.
"Because if you don't, I'll feed you to a giant bat. NOW MOVE IT!" roared Ghoulwyrm.
"Geez, man. Calm down," said the myosquito, buzzing upwards after the duo.
…
A short bus ride later, Megan and Chloe arrived at Grand Central Station. "You know this place is going to be packed," said Chloe, "How are we supposed to find them."
"I'll be able to spot them," said Megan.
Chloe nodded, stepping off the bus and looking at the crowd. Megan stepped off behind her, rolling her eyes at Chloe's behavior.
Megan looked around, trying to pick out any trace of her parents. Eventually, she spotted something at the ticket booth. There was a man and a woman, both with red hair, but not quite as vibrant and fiery as Megan's. They were both conservatively dressed and they appeared to be looking around for someone.
Chloe seemed to have spotted something else, heading across the hall as Megan walked slowly towards the couple. "Mu-Mum? Dad?" she asked cautiously.
However, that person Chloe was looking at just turned away, so Chloe put out of her mind. But just then, something started shaking the ground. Chloe looked to see cracks in the floor, as if something was tunneling under it. And it seemed to be heading towards Megan. At the same time, Chloe's wrist comp began beeping and its AI said, "Warning...incoming class 12 lifeform."
Megan was still trying to get the couples attention when the floor behind her exploded upwards and a light purple dragoness with mismatched limbs smashed her way upwards, causing the people in the hall to panic instantly. "Gotcha now," said Omnirus before extending her Diamondblast arm into a fiery spike and prepared to spear Megan through.
At the last second, the red haired man pushed Megan to the side, Omnirus's shot missing and blowing a ticket booth to bits. "Hey! No messing with the shots!" yelled Omnirus. Chloe had covertly taken her blaster out and shot a blast at Omnirus's leg. Omnirus span in the air from the hit before managing to right herself.
"Grr...stupid mercenary," she muttered before looking evilly to Megan and causing a wall of crystal to hem her and the couple in. "Don't go anywhere." she said evilly before swooping at Chloe.
However, by that point, Chloe had her ion blade back and as Omnirus tried to run her through, she chopped of the Diamondblast arm at the elbow. Omnirus shrieked in apparent pain before suddenly knocking Chloe flying with an evil grin and "Psyche." The crystalline arm regrew to its proper length, only the end was hollow and handless. "My turn to blast," said Omnirus before sending a flamethrower attack at Chloe.
Chloe managed to dive to the side just in time, the flame blast incinerating the newsstand she'd been knocked into. Omnirus took better aim before she noticed several stings, looking to the side to see two NYPD officers firing at her.
"This is getting too public," growled Omnirus, "I guess I'll have to deal with you later." With that, she dived back into the hole she came from and quickly bored out of sight.
Chloe ran back to the hole and fired a few shots down before seeing the cops and reaching for a holo-ID...a piece of tech that the NSC had started sharing, allowing mercs to have any ID they needed...in this case, a FBI identity card.
"FBI, Division 5," said Chloe, "Everything's under control gentlemen, this is government business." The cops looked at each other as Chloe continued, "Some idiot with a costume and too much time. All under control." The cops shrugged before heading off to try and re-assure the crowd. Chloe put away her holo-ID and muttered, "I can't believe that worked so well."
Megan however was hugging the man who'd tackled her down. Chloe headed over, saying, "Ok. You ok, Megan?"
"I'm fine," said Megan, "Thanks to my dad."
Chloe turned an icy look on the man. "You're Mr. Roph?" she said, darkly.
"Yes, though I'm not exactly proud of it," said Mr. Roph remorsefully.
"We let our fear get between us and our only daughter," said Mrs. Roph, holding Megan tightly, "We've been living in regret ever since."
Chloe began to say "That's the biggest load of-" only for Megan to immediately hug her father tightly.
"Chloe, these are my parents," said Megan, "I know they did something wrong, but don't they at least deserve a chance to make up for it?"
"Ok..." said Chloe suspiciously.
Megan hugged her mom and said, "I missed you guys so much."
Mom said in a careful voice, "And I love you too."
With all that had happened, no one was looking up towards the ceiling, where a myosquito was watching from the rafters. Sucker activated his communicator and said, "Hey boss, the trap thing worked, big whoop."
"Great...now get back here," said Ghoulwyrm over the line.
"Aw, but it's such a long fly," whined Sucker, "Can't I take a train?"
"GET BACK HERE!" yelled Ghoulwyrm.
"Ugh, fine," groaned Sucker before flying out a window.
...
Chloe looked at McNeil's officer "So you opened fire in the middle of Central Station," he said in a bored tone.
"Yeah, pretty sure you'd do the same if you were there," said Chloe.
"Yes I would...2 years in Disperse Inc. It wasn't your fault, but I recommend you and your team stay in quarters. If people like this 'Omnirus' are in the area, you're an inviting target...and that won't look good before the enquiry," said the officer.
"And what's to keep Omnirus and her friends from knocking on the front door?" retorted Chloe.
"Have they ever tried before?" said the officer.
"No, not that I can think of," admitted Chloe.
"Exactly. Just keep your head down. Just between us, McNeil seems to have it in for you," said the officer before walking out.
Chloe rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, "Gee, ya don't say."
Matt walked in past the leaving officer. "Well? I hear you had some fun," he said.
"Oh, just took a look around Grand Central Station, reunite Megan with her long-lost parents, got jumped by Omnirus," said Chloe.
"Omnirus? That gender bent nutcase is in town? Great...you know who she likes to hang out with," said Matt darkly.
"Well, Ghoulwyrm, Mecha Red, and Soundwave were running that banshee scam a few days ago. Not too surprising their little crime circus is all here," said Chloe.
"Great, that is all we need: nutcases aplenty," muttered Matt.
"And the chances of Omnirus just happening to find me and Megan as we were finding her parents?" said Chloe.
"Astronomical. One of Ghoulwyrm's goons must have followed you," said Matt.
"Yeah, maybe that guard has a point. I don't think Ghoulwyrm's trying to be covert anymore if has Omnirus spouting through the floor of a train station," said Chloe.
"Yes...and I'm sure Megan's parents would LOVE to be shot at," said Matt sarcastically.
"What's that about Megan's parents?" asked Gary as he and NegaMorph walked over.
"Her parents turned up and were nearly shish kebab'ed by Omnirus," commented Matt before Chloe could stop him.
"What? But the chances of-" started NegaMorph.
"Omnirus just happening to find them are astronomical, yeah, we just covered that," said Matt.
"I was actually going to say 'Megan's parents wanting her back, let alone finding her'," said NegaMorph, "Also astronomical."
"So what? These guys are imposters? Megan doesn't have any money as she's still paying back the money for the damages last month when her chem lab exploded," said Matt.
"I don't think they want her money, I think they want her," said Gary, "Or rather, Ghoulwyrm wants her."
"Wait...how do her parents fit in?" said Matt
"How did Megan's parents find her in the first place?" asked Gary.
"They couldn't, period...ever since we shot the last post-I mean we stopped receiving post, it's impossible for a letter to find us," said Matt.
"Yeah, what kind of suicidal serviceman would want to deliver a letter here?" said NegaMorph.
"Yeah...no way they could find her," said Matt.
Gary grabbed Chloe and demanded, "Where is Megan right now?"
"She...went...out," gasped Chloe.
"Don't tell me you let her go alone with her parents!" growled Gary.
"She...wouldn't...take no...for an answer...now...let go of me...or you'll...regret it…" rasped Chloe.
"Alright, kid, ease up on Chloe," said NegaMorph before pulling on Gary's arm, but barely moving it, "Huh, he's stronger than he looks."
Chloe's eyes narrowed before Gary's skeleton was outlined with a buzzing noise.
NegaMorph, seeing Chloe's reaction coming, had let and let Gary get the full blast. "Ow..." said Gary in a weak voice.
"Next time, you'll be ash in a bucket...comprende?" said Chloe darkly.
"Bottle your aggression for later," said NegaMorph, "We gotta save Megan."
Chloe said, "...and if they ARE her parents, Megan will kill us slow."
"When was the last time we've accused someone of being something bad and not be proven right?" said Matt.
Chloe said, "There's a first time for everything. Let's go...and try and be subtle."
"You sure we should be taking Matt then?" asked NegaMorph.
...
Megan couldn't help but smile as she followed her parents down the street. "So...how is home? It was so long ago that you k-...that I left," she said
"Oh, we moved," said her mother.
"Too many bad memories in that place," said her father.
"Really? You loved that old house," said Megan, shocked
"It just wasn't the same without you," said Mrs. Roph, "But we've got a better home now."
"Oh? Where are you living now?" asked Megan.
"We're heading there right now," said Mr. Roph, "You'll be in for a big surprise when you see it."
Chloe, Gary and Matt walked round a corner at that. "Megan...wondering where you were. So these...people are your parents?" said Matt.
The Rophs nodded. "I...do not believe we've met. I assume you have been the ones looking out for our daughter," said Mrs. Roph.
"Of course we've had," said Chloe, her tone sounding a bit strained too, "We've made sure she's properly fed, gets plenty of rest, and we've had her in homeschool for the last few months."
"That's...good...though now we've found her, we would like her to come home with us," said Mr. Roph. Matt began to say "Wait...didn't you already meet-GYAAAH!" yelling as Chloe 'slipped' and kicked him.
"Er, perhaps we could visit," said Gary.
Mrs. Roph looked at Gary and asked, "Who is this?"
"This is my boyfriend, Gary," said Megan.
"Ah, nice to meet you, Larry," said Mr. Roph, shaking Gary's hand.
"Why'd you kick me? I only said it was weird that-ARRRGH!" said Matt, screaming again as Chloe again kicked him 'accidentally'.
Then Mrs. Roph looked at NegaMorph, who was ducking down in his trenchcoat and fedora. "And who is this again?" she asked.
"Oh, just Megan's caretaker," said NegaMorph, "Good ol' Uncle NegaMorph, that's me."
"Obviously he's from your side of the family," said Mr. Roph to his wife.
"Actually he's a mut-AAAARGH!" Began Matt, only to be electrocuted mysteriously as Chloe put her hand on his shoulder.
"Well, we need to be going," said Mrs. Roph, "We have dinner waiting."
"Perhaps we could come," said Gary.
"Sorry, Jerry, but we've only have room for three. Maybe another time," said Mr. Roph.
The gang watched the Rophs go. Chloe glared as they left, "Ok...they're hiding something. I met them personally when Omnirus ambushed them."
"I agree," said Gary, "When Mr. Roph was shaking my hand, it didn't feel right. Like it was a stuffed glove or something."
"That's no surprise," said NegaMorph, "They obviously aren't human."
"You sure?" asked Chloe.
"Of course, couldn't you smell the difference?" asked NegaMorph.
"Now you mention it...they smelled like they'd been rolling in...sugar," said Chloe.
Matt groaned from the floor, "I think you cooked me."
"Is that so?" asked NegaMorph before his tail reached out and nipped Matt's shin.
"Arrrgh...GRRRR!" yelped Matt before growling, grabbing NegaMorph's tail and tying a knot in it.
"But some burn salve and let's move," said Chloe, "For all we know, those two are taking her to a demonic cult for a sacrifice or something."
…
Meanwhile, Megan followed her parents through the street, heading for the warehouse district. "You live around here?" she said confused.
"Oh, it's a very special home," said Mrs. Roph.
"None other like it," said Mr. Roph.
"I dunno..." said Megan, worried as she spotted several shadowy figures dart away.
"But Megan, don't you want to be with your family?" asked Mrs. Roph.
"It's only a little further," said Mr. Roph, "You'll be surprised at how cozy it is."
Megan looked around before nodding carefully. "Ooookay...but maybe I should call the others...let them know where I am."
"You can tell them later," said Mrs. Roph, "You can use our phone if you prefer." Megan gulped a little at that before following them. She had a horrible feeling that something was wrong.
"Ah, here we are," said Mr. Roph before stopping at a nice little house that stood out like a sore thumb among all the warehouses. Megan just stared, the little house quite literally out of place between the two warehouses it neighbored, the warehouses towering over it.
"Why would anyone build a house here?" she asked.
"Well, I'm not sure," said Mr. Roph, "But you would not believe how cheap it was."
Megan walked up to the door and poked the wood. "Maybe its cursed?" she said, absently.
"Cursed? Don't be silly," said Mrs. Roph, "There's no such thing as curses."
"You'd be surprised," muttered Megan.
Mr. Roph unlocked the door and opened it. "After you," he said.
Megan looked confused before walking inside to see a cavernous warehouse interior. She immediately felt the after-tingle of passing through an illusion spell before spinning to see her 'parents' closing the door. "Ok, what the heck is going on here?" demanded Megan.
"Why, it's your homecoming," said a creepily familiar voice, "And you'll have such a blast, you won't ever be leaving."
Megan span around, trying to find the voice...the voice she knew far too well. "What's going on?" she began before an anesthetic spell hit her in the back, causing her to go numb all over.
"Ah, perfectly executed," said Ghoulwyrm has he became visible, "And Omnirus said this plan had no chance of working. But here you are, alone and completely defenseless."
Omnirus, perched on a rafter above with the 'backup plan' stunner cannon, said, "DON'T say that...every time you get confident it all goes south."
Megan managed to turn her head over her shoulder and said, "Mom, Dad, how could you do this?" Ghoulwyrm laughed loudly and said, "How cute, she still thinks she's with mumzy and dadzy."
Megan stared in horror as two insectoid...monsters tore their way out of the skin-suits that had resembled her parents, one of them hissing "We get sugar now?"
"As much as you can eat," said Ghoulwyrm, pointing towards two large sacks of sugar.
Ghoulwyrm looked disgusted as the myosquitoes dived into their reward before walking towards Megan. "I suppose you're wondering why I went to all this trouble. Given you can't ask now, I suppose I should tell you," he said, "I'm sure you remember the myosquitos from before. Well, I've been working on improving them, making them true army-building material. Of course, I need to test how effective they are. But then one of my sources mentioned how you were so homesick so I decided to kill two birds with one stone."
Megan managed to growl in her throat as Ghoulwyrm continued "Who knows? Maybe I'll teleport what's left of you into Lynch's quarters? I hear he's in the sort of trouble that sudden bodies make worse." Ghoulwyrm chuckled.
"I wouldn't taunt her too much," said Omnirus, "Giving her physiology, working up her temper probably makes that spell wear off faster."
"That's why I added my own personal touch to the spell," said Ghoulwyrm, cockily. Megan's growling got a little louder as she focused on trying to change form. Ghoulwyrm sighed. "Fine...shoot her," he commented, nodding to Omnirus's stun cannon. Omnirus gave a nasty smirk before sending a stun blast at Megan.
...
As much as Ghoulwyrm would like to 86 Megan, he wasn't the kind to waste a possible resource. Fortunately, there was a potion he had discovered useful for boiling the essence out of someone for storage and eventual application in alchemy. Which is why Megan was tied and hanging upside down over a boiling cauldron of said potion.
Omnirus said dully, "This looks ridiculous. You realize that, right?"
"Her dignity's suffering more," said Ghoulwyrm with a shrug.
"I dunno...we could just, oooh...maybe just SHOOT HER?" said Omnirus.
"And waste all that power?" said Ghoulwyrm, "If we could apply that to the myosquito army, they'd be truly unstoppable."
"And what if that potion doesn't work?" pointed out Omnirus.
"Then we have Lady NegaMorph soup," said Ghoulwyrm.
Omnirus stared at Ghoulwyrm before rolling her eyes. "I'll stick to takeout, thanks," she said gloomily.
"Suit yourself," said Ghoulwyrm before dipping a claw into the cauldron and bringing it to his mouth. "Mmm...I think it's ready for the main ingredient," said Ghoulwyrm, "Start lowering her in."
Sucker, slumped over the release wench, said, "Aw...why have I gotta do this?"
"Do it or no soup for you," said Ghoulwyrm.
"Ugh," groaned Sucker before he started cranking the wench down.
An echoing clanking was heard as someone knocked at the disguised warehouses's service door. Ghoulwyrm looked towards the door and asked, "Who could that be?"
"Warehouse inspector," called a voice from the door.
"Omnirus, go kill that guy," said Ghoulwyrm, looking back to the cauldron to prepare the potions spell
Omnirus walked over to the door, her stun cannon in her lower arms while her upper arms were preparing a big burst of fire and lightning. "Erm...who's there?" she called out, taking aim at the door.
"Warehouse inspector, gotta make sure there's no illegal goods in there," said the voice.
"Yeah right." muttered Omnirus, readying to blast the door and as such, not seeing her shadow starting to move by itself
"You better open this door before things go kaboom," said the voice on the other side of the door.
"Huh, that's a good one," muttered Omnirus before NegaMorph grabbed her from behind
"What's this? A Tregonian stun cannon?" said NegaMorph, "I bet you don't have a permit for that." He then turned the cannon around in Omnirus' hands before pulling the trigger.
NegaMorph let go of Omnirus as she slumped down before he opened the door to Matt. "NegaMorph, fancy meeting you here," Matt joked.
"Well, it's hardly the best housewarming I've ever seen," said NegaMorph, "Especially when you see what skull-face is cooking for dinner."
Matt came in, followed by Chloe and Gary, who had heard that part. "Cooking? Wait...he's cooking Megan?" Gary said horrified.
"Actually, I think he said something about wanting to extract her essence, but I think eating her's Plan B," said NegaMorph as he extended a blaster from his right arm, "What's say we spoil his dinner plans?"
Gary pushed Matt and Chloe aside, running forward while yelling "Don't worry. I'm coming!"
The three of them did a collective facepalm. "Nice kid, sensitive boyfriend, a bit too overprotective," said Chloe.
"Not to mention he has less patience and caution than Matt," added NegaMorph.
The group ran forward towards where Ghoulwyrm was. However, when they had gotten within 18 feet of him, they suddenly found their feet stuck to the floor. "Matt, how nice of you to stop by," said Ghoulwyrm dryly, not even turning away from his work.
"Oh, come on..." moaned Matt, looking down at the mass of grey goop gluing him to the floor.
"You like it?" asked Ghoulwyrm, "It's an old spell I knew. Never thought I'd have the chance to try it out."
Chloe grimaced as she lifted a few inches up before it snapped back down to the sticky floor. "It feels like I'm in Morph's room," she said.
"No, it's not that bad, it doesn't smell of cheese," said Matt.
"I would toss you into the soup too, but I don't think mixing essences would be pretty," said Ghoulwyrm, "Besides, my troops will want appetizers." Just then, the air was filled with the sound of wings buzzing as at least four dozen myosquitos flew up from behind crates.
"Bugs, I almost hate them as much as undead," groaned Matt before managing to send a plasma blast at some of them.
However, that show of aggression caused the anklet to give Matt a harsh nip. Matt gave a yelp of pain which caused Ghoulwyrm to turn. "What are you yelping about? Don't tell me you can't stand the touch of my trap," said Ghoulwyrm.
"It's not that, it's...GAH!" yelped Matt.
Common sense told Ghoulwyrm to leave Matt stuck in the trap, but his curiosity was aroused. He reached several bandage tendrils over and plucked Matt out of the grey goo before pulling him closer. As soon as Matt was close enough, Ghoulwyrm spotted the bronze anklet on him. "What the netherhell is th-" he began before the anklet leapt off and sunk its bronze teeth into Ghoulwyrm's snout, simultaneously getting him to let go AND clamping his mouth shut.
Seeing how the anklet was currently focusing on Ghoulwyrm at the moment, that left Matt a small window of opportunity to do some plasma blasting without impunity. His choices were A: blast the rope that was binding Megan, B: blast as many myosquitos as he could, or C: blast the floor trap and free the others.
"Ooooh...decisions, decisions," muttered Matt before Chloe yelled "MATT...SO HELP ME...!"
"Chloe it is," said Matt quickly, firing a blast of flame at the goo holding his sister.
As soon as the goo was vaporized around Chloe's feet, she quickly switched to dragon mode and took off. "Hey, what about us?" called Gary.
"Sorry, that stuff's like rubber, electricity doesn't work on it," said Chloe.
Ghoulwyrm finally managed to pull the anklet off his face. "HOW DARE YOU-grk!" He began before the anklet leapt at him again, this time at his neck.
While Matt and Chloe started attacking the myosquitos, Gary and NegaMorph continued to try to free themselves. "Blitznak, this is stuff is like tar," said NegaMorph before extending a blaster from his hand-mouth, "Kid, I suggest you cover your nose."
Gary went bug eyed. "No wait, this stuff looks flamm-" he began before the blaster hit the tar...and made it explode, launching the two in opposite directions, happily free of the tar...though this was a small comfort. "Ow..." groaned Gary as he got back up.
"Ok, note to self: never use molecular rounds on cursed goo again," said NegaMorph.
The anklet flew past NegaMorph's ear to embed in the wall, struggling to get free again. Ghoulwyrm glared at the two, mouthing something at them, soundless due to the damage the anklet had done.
"I wonder what he's saying," said Gary.
"My best guess: you don't wanna know," said NegaMorph. Ghoulwyrm glared and began generating a spell, aiming it at Gary. "Kid, I think you better move," said NegaMorph. Gary started running away from Ghoulwyrm, though his legs ached from the trap's restraint and the shock of the explosion. The spell narrowly missed, causing the supporting girder to melt like ice on a barbeque. A few seconds later, the whole warehouse began to groan.
Megan frantically made efforts to make herself heard through her gag, particularly since she was getting closer to the boiling potion. Fortunately for her, Gary noticed her plight and rushed forward towards her. Several of Ghoulwyrm's myosquitoes noticed his charge and changed their attack target to go after him...only to be sent flying as Gary sent them flying. Megan was having to bend upwards to keep out of the potion at this point. Then Gary ran over and delivered a powerful smack with his tail to the cauldron. The cauldron tilted and quickly started to fall over.
Sucker, asleep in the far corner opened his compound eyes to see a small tidal wave of red hot potion baring down on him. "Uuuurgh, I shoulda stayed asleep," he managed before being hit by the wave, followed by being squashed by the cauldron.
After that, Gary jumped up and slashed the rope holding Megan. Megan tumbled out of the snare and into Gary's arms. In any other situation, this would have been the point where the rescued damsel kisses her rescuer and saying something like 'My Hero'...however this was Megan so she struggled, pulled off the gag and yelled "I'M GONNA KILL THAT DRACOLICH!"
"As much as I support that sentiment, I think we have other worries," said Gary as Matt was thrown into a support pillar, which caused the whole warehouse to buckle.
Ghoulwyrm stalked towards Matt, one of the 'Roph' myosquitoes holding Chloe by the throat and said "This must be my lucky day." before a ceiling panel landed on the Roph minions, crushing them.
"Pity, I think Megan would have preferred to squash those imposters herself," said Chloe.
Ghoulwyrm, who had refused to turn at the crash noise, gulped as Megan said "He'll do just fine." before several shadow tendrils grabbed the luckless dracolich and carried him over to hang upside-down in front of the furious Megan. "Trying to boil me in magical broth, I could put under the typical villain plans. But using the false lure of my parents as bait, you made it really personal," growled Megan.
Ghoulwyrm gulped and, if he had still been alive, he would have been sweating rivers by now. "Now then...let's not do something you'll regret," he said nervously.
"Trust me, you'll be the only one feeling regret, if you'll be able to feel anything at all," hissed Megan as she shifted to alien form.
"Ooooh, why didn't I listen to Omnirus and Red?" moaned Ghoulwyrm before Megan got...started.
Matt, Gary and Chloe winced as Megan vented. "We should make her an official merc. She has the attitude and violent responses down to a T," said Matt, a little weakly before he and Chloe side-stepped from each other to allow Ghoulwyrm's head passage between them.
"Hey, call her off," moaned Ghoulwyrm's head, "She's already done enough damage to take days to recover from."
"Only days?" said NegaMorph, "Megan, kick it into high gear."
Ghoulwyrm groaned as one of his fingers sailed past. "Oh, come on, I'd just got that hand fixed. At least spare the tesla-implants, they cost alot...what did I say that?" he groaned as Matt grinned evilly and called out "Hey Megan, leave the tech for salvage."
Just then, one of Ghoulwyrm's organs flew over and hit a nearby wall. Gary grimaced and asked, "What is that?"
"Actually...I'm not too sure," said Ghoulwyrm.
Matt wandered over and gently kicked it...before being tossed across the room as said organ exploded. "Oooh...it's my old flame-sac, wondering where it went," said Ghoulwyrm, the sight of seeing Matt deposited across the warehouse making up for the upcoming 3 weeks as a head...before a creaking got everyone's attention, the old warehouse finally giving up.
"Megan, if you've had enough venting, I think it's time to leave," said NegaMorph.
Megan glared and growled. "I know when I've had-" she began before a girder landed in front of her, nearly skewering her. "...AND THAT'S ABOUT ENOUGH!" she shrieked.
The gang quickly ran out of the warehouse as the ceiling was about to cave in. Meanwhile, Omnirus was slowly getting up from being stunned. "Oh...what happened?" she muttered.
She turned her head to see Ghoulwyrm's disembodied head an inch from her nose. "Pick me up and let's go...NOW!" he yelled.
...
Safely outside, Matt, Chloe, Megan, Gary, and NegaMorph watched the warehouse collapse. "Well, there's another of Ghoulwyrm's plans down the drain," said Chloe.
"Best of all, my parole anklet's gone, such a shame," he said, apparently sounding sad before starting to laugh like a psychotic. Just then, he heard a hissing sound and Matt turned to see a glint of bronze in the shadows. "Oh no," said Matt before the bronze snake that was the Voodoo Anklet of Extreme Discomfort leapt out and onto his face.
Gary, Chloe, and Megan all stepped back a bit as Matt fell to the floor with a scream. "Pretty nippy for some jewelry," said Chloe in a weak voice, slapping away Matt's hand as he tried weakly to grab her wrist.
Megan was holding the remnants of the skins the imposters were using. "I can't believe how easily I was fooled," she said before igniting the skins.
Chloe put her arm around Megan's shoulder. "It's ok, kid. You got a family anyway...an uncle..." she said, nodding to NegaMorph "...an aunt," she said, pointing to herself before Matt screamed again "...a goofy cousin," she added.
"Yeah, anyone too blinded by their own idea of perfection to see you're a good daughter don't deserve to have you," said NegaMorph.
Matt probably would have added something, but sadly as the anklet was clearly upset, all he said...well, screamed was "IT'S TRYING TO GET UP MY NOSE!"
"It's like Lilo says," said Gary, "Ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind or...or..."
"Forgotten?" suggested NegaMorph.
"That's it," said Gary.
Chloe nodded before Matt started making a weird gurgling noise. "Erm...do we call tech support for that?" she said, worried.
Another chapter done. And a very good example of how nasty Ghoulwyrm can be. Of course, this ends up being his undoing (as usual), so he won't be showing up for a while. But still, there's other things stirring. However, that'll have to wait until next week. Until then, please review.