Five days ago

Knock…knock

"Enter."

Caradon Corius sat in his office reviewing old files and locking up a brief case full of cash when someone knocked on the door.

"Sir?"

"What do you want?"

"Um, I-I hate to disturb you sir but I k-kinda have um, well I have…"

"The only thing I see that you have is a serious stuttering problem. If you want I'll allow you to go out then come back in so you can rearrange you thoughts without making me angry, Caleb."

"Um, yes sir. We've just gotten a call from, from…"

"Didn't I just tell you to lose the stutter?"

"Yes sir!"

Caleb straitened up. The last thing he wanted to do is make his boss irritated but he also feared how Caradon would take the new because that wouldn't make him very happy either. So which was worse? Make him upset now or face his wrath after the message was delivered? OH! Why did he have to lose at straws?

"We just got a call from Mitsuku!" he blurted. There I said it.

Caradon looked up from his work and coldly stared at him.

"What did you say?"

"(Gulp) Mitsuku called this morning."

"What did he want?"

If you were going to work for Caradon you had to get familiar with his 'angry faces' and Caleb knew very few more buttons had to be pushed to get his boss really ticked. It's when he gets really angry or just needs to relieve frustration you need to watch out, regardless if you work for him or not. Caleb's best friend crossed Caradon by accident when he was fuming and ended up with his arm broke, and he had nothing to do with what was going on.

"He, um, he said you had some money you owed him and were overdue in paying it back."

"Was that all?"

"Um, he was going to come by in three days to collect whether you were ready or not."

Please don't hear my voice shake!

Caradon shook his head and stood up.

"I know he wont take half measures but I don't have all of what he wants." Caradon muttered to himself. "A large portion of what he wants is already in use. The only way I could make his deadline is to…"

He trailed off and Caleb wasn't sure if his presence was even noticed anymore.

"I'm not one to say things directly to people so I can't just tell them it's over. Maybe I could…no. Or that might…no, this has to be something very special. A very special way of making them get out of my hair so Owston gets off of my back."

For a few moments, but what seemed like a lifetime to Caleb, Caradon mused over something. To a person fearing serious pain Caleb wasn't sure whether or not to ask to leave or stay and wait for Caradon to make up his mind.

"That's it."

"Um, what is sir?"

"Have you been down to the lab?"

"Um, I, uh, once." That seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Take one of the violet nomiads from Vault 3 and take it down to the lab. I don't care where you put it just make sure it's in a place where something could go wrong."

"I, uh. Yes sir!"

Caleb got out of there ASAP and took his time walking to Vault 3.

What the heck is a nomiad? Oh well. Just get the job done to make him happy and keep all ten of your fingers. Never ask questions!

Three days later

Caradon waited in his office for Mitsuku to arrive. He was glad that kid Ren and his friends had taken off; the last thing he wanted is for his rival to see a group of teenage freaks under his roof. He didn't really care where they ended up, maybe he'd check into a freak show to see if they were there.

Someone knocked at the door.

"Enter."

Mitsuku and his headman entered the room. Mitsuku gestured to the man to wait outside.

"Well, my friend, you seem to be getting more elaborate in you choice of 'home bases.'" Mitsuku Owston had a pretty strong English accent and a cold stare that rarely showed any expression. "It will only be easier for the military authorities to pick out a place like this."

"I didn't know you cared so much." Caradon replied in a tone with as much expression as Mitsuku's face. "Most people expect the rats of the world to sneak around in holes not fancy manors."

He motioned for Owston to take a seat. Hopefully he could get this over with quickly and get this man out of his house. But being English Mitsuku preferred to do things in a gentlemen-like manor so it was hard to guess how long this would take.

"You don't look all that happy to see me, is it possible you had forgotten our agreement? Or are you unhappy because of the amount you owe me and my presence has nothing to do with it."

"Neither of us seems to show many smiles whenever the other visits."

"This is very true." Mitsuku sat back in this chair. "So where is it?"

"Well this is certainly unlike you. Usually you like to drag things on forever before you manage to get to the point."

"Yes, yes and I hate to be a rude guest but there is somewhere else I must rush off to so regrettably I can't stay long."

Not like I'm complaining. Caradon thought. He stood up and pressed a brick on the wall, which opened a door behind the wall. Inside he took out a metal briefcase and put it on the table in front of Owston, who opened it to make sure he wasn't being tricked.

"Now that wasn't so difficult was it? You could have paid me back a year ago but you waited until now. It's quite the shame really; I held up my end of the bargain from the start and paid you back on the agreed date. Or did you not have the money at the time and just decided to bail until you got it so you didn't have to face the embarrassment of facing me?"

"You can come up with as many reasons as satisfies you but odds are you won't come up with the right one."

"I see." Mitsuku grinned. "So where did you get this much this time? That is if you don't consider it rude of me to ask but I would consider it rude of you as a host as to now answer."

Caradon wanted so badly to roll his eyes.

"If you really must know I stopped funding a project with a group of kids thinking their ideas could make a difference. I wasn't going to tell them they could no longer work on this so I just…interfered. The next thing I know it went 'boom' and I convinced them it was their fault so they were cast away. Now they're long gone I don't need to fund their science project so what was going to support them is now in that briefcase."

"So you were responsible for the fireworks the other night. Well I must say I'm impressed, I haven't heard of you being this cruel in a long time."

"Yes thank you now are we finished?"

"Why in such a hurry? No matter, our business is done and I have somewhere to go. I'll show myself out."

He stood up and walked away. Before he got to the door,

"Caradon. If we ever get into another situation like this…be sure not to be late in paying me back. It would be most unfortunate if that were to happen."

Chibi me- sorry folks no preview this time. She's still overwhelmed that she made that happen. Come to think of it so am I…excuse me I need to get an aspirin.

Kurama – leave it to me. Nothing that really ties into the story plot is in the upcoming chapter, just a bunch of fun stuff to give you a breather from what we just learned.