The Catalyst Pt3

Krystal could hardly believe what it was she was seeing; the room that Slippy lead them to was far withdrawn from prying eyes to a place she'd never even known was there. Near the Academy in the northern reaches of Corneria City there lay an old lab facility which she'd heard that Slippy and his father had used ages ago to design certain weapons and tools now used by the military and bounty hunters alike. He'd gone and told them all that this was even the very facility where the reflector shields that had made blaster fire nearly useless in most short range situations. She'd recalled even the first time she'd seen a reflector shield work, completely reversing the small burning light from a blaster only to have it punch a hole far away into a distant wall. The facility had been reduced to a place covered in Plasteel plating, a sort of polymer composite alloy that almost felt like plastic to the touch yet, was tough and durable like forged steel. The plasteel had taken on a dank, dingy sort of appearance, rather than it's normal appearances of somewhat white or off gray, the exposure to the elements and dank air had begun to paint the siding a sort of offish yellow. Yet further down and through the facility, the color began to grow more vibrant and alive, more of the familiar white siding that was so familiar, nearly the hallway decorum of every single ship she'd ever been aboard. A short lift ride down several floors after reaching a far back room, and they again went through several long, white halls, they took another lift down another short number of floors. Something slowly began to tell the group that they were seeing things suddenly that were never meant to see the light of day; what had begun as mechanical implements and half-built projects long ago abandoned began to slowly shift into a n alien sort of feature. The rooms were now filled with long rows of large glass tubes here and there, some smaller glass jars looked as though they'd once held specimens of this or that, but, no matter how still and calm Slippy seemed to remain, the air of foreboding was something that was almost physically tangible. Finally the group stopped before another lift, this one much smaller and with a large admission reader that seemed to bar all entrances spare the young amphibian whom now turned to face them all...

"Now," Slippy sighed heavily, "I want you all...especially Krystal and...You Dravyn," He said pointing his now folded glasses as the black furred fox, "to know that this facility has been shut down for a very long time. I had to pull quite a few strings to get it back up and running, even a little bit."

Krystal shook her head, "That doesn't explain the body in the casket."

"Well I was getting to that," Slippy replied, he said brushing a finger under his nose before placing his glasses back on his face, "I believe his name was Gavin...something...homeless; no next of kin, died of natural causes. He looked so much like Fox that the work that needed to be done was pretty minimal. His burial was an honor that he never would have received under normal circumstances really; on the McCloud family plot nonetheless."

As they boarded the lift and started their slow decent, Angel in particular began to look over the cramped, claustrophobic space, "How...long did it take you to do this by yourself?"

Slippy exhaled a rather heavy sigh as he shook his head, "Since I learned that Fox was slowly dying, so..." He shrugged his shoulders, "...decade? Maybe more. You see Fox, technically Fox is a clone, well, not particularly. It's difficult to explain but I'll try my best. You see long ago, way before any of us there was an incredible soldier named Darius. Registered himself with the last name McCloud despite the name having no place in the Lylatian databases, on top of that none of his information seemed to check out when he enlisted. His test scores however, were absolutely outstanding, he smashed once generational records in the Academy..."

Dravyn sighed with frustration, "Let me guess, the Council pulled some strings along with the acting General at the time?"

Slippy pointed to Dravyn with a nod, "The General in specific," He replied, "after a short while, he set out to do some amazing things for the military, nothing more amazing than the creation and full implementation of of both the Free Mercenary Initiative and the Versatile Intelligence and Precision Response team otherwise known as V.I.P.R. Unfortunately, after meeting the love of his life Darius found that he was infertile. Yet, he wanted nothing more than to be a father himself; this facility was born from a joint study. Genetics, advanced cryptobiology, and advanced nanotechnological research. The three were eventually barred together by one Cornelius Oikonny who'd become quite close to Darius. What eventually took place here was something beyond groundbreaking..."

Sierra shook her head in disagreement, "Wait, Oikonny?"

"That's right," Slippy replied, "Fox and Andross's families once had a common interest, and that interest coincided with what the military wanted. Fox's grandfather, that is Darius's son Marcus McCloud, whom Fox's son is a namesake of was the first biologically living organism born from a purely synthetic agent," He said looking to their faces, "in short. They managed to use his seminal fluid to produce a living sample that was, for the most part, synthetic. By all proper biological science it should not have worked, but, by some miracle of science and faith it did and some time after the artificial insemination, Darius's wife gave birth to their son. Unfortunately, something happened with the process and Marcus himself found the same issue, he was an amazing soldier by his very nature, like the gift was just bred into them...and just like his father he was completely infertile. The process was offered and repeated, and again with James McCloud, and..."

Krystal nodded slightly, "When we decided to have a child, Fox took me aside and told me everything about it..." She sighed, "...I agreed and we visited Beltino's facility on the military compound, and nine months or so later...we had Marcus. We tried again, and it failed, and again, and it failed, and...then there was this last time...which turned out to be a false alarm. We'd hoped though."

Slippy paused as the lift came to a halt and escorted everyone out into the hall for another short trip, "The most unfortunate was that there seemed to be something inherited between all the McCloud men...a rather aggressive condition that we still to this day have not been capable of for one thing, curing, or for a second fully identifying. It is a rapid breakdown of his organs' tissue; this seems to effect the heart, living, and lungs more than others. Fox's case was slightly different, in fact it was nothing short of his incredible physical fitness standards that even managed to keep him alive this long. He originally intended to just live out what life he had left with Krystal, and I honestly don't think anyone would really blame him..." He smiled at the blue vixen, "...but, I've been watching him kill himself over the thought of leaving her all alone. Finally, I came up with a solution..."

With that Slippy finally opened the door to their destination. It was a massive room with a large apparatus at it's center; a large pillar of mechanical equipment surrounded by four nearly horizontal metal tubes. The tubes looked about large enough for a person to lay down inside, with a thick glass window that covered the top half of what was clearly a lid which would close over the top of the tube. Random hoses and wires made the whole thing look otherworldly as the nearby beep of a heart monitor assured them that a nearby specimen was quite alive. Slippy pulled back his wrist to examine a small band on his wrist which had a holo-screen displaying several small statistics; Krystal had noticed he'd been watching it quite intently since they'd landed and met with the short scientist. As he took one final deep breath, Slippy led them all about the room until they were finally in front of a pod that was actually lit up on the inside, and inside was a somewhat familiar looking face. Fox was wearing a mask that was clearly feeding him an ample supply of air, tubes kept him on a constant I.V feed and the glass across the front of the pod was alight with the statistics of his biorhythm...

Dravyn ran his claws over the surface of the glass for a moment, shaking his head in disagreement, "Black Star..."

"Yes," Slippy sighed knowingly, "this is where that travesty started the moment they got a sample of Krystal's blood," He replied, "and fortunately it is that travesty that is going to save Fox's life. Right now he's in a chemically induced coma; I have no idea what the process of making such a radical change to his DNA is going to do but, I'm certain that I don't want him to be awake for it."

Krystal felt a relieved smile etch across her face as she placed a hand on the glass, "No...he's comfortable. His mind feels like he's sleeping. What about the degeneration?"

Slippy's smile alone was enough to assure her of the facts before he wiped his hand over the glass causing the image to change to a readout and display of Fox's body and organs, white splotches appearing everywhere, "The white bits indicate the infected tissue that was killing him. He's only been under a week or so and I've already seen a five percent decrease in the infected areas. I have some living quarters set up in here, a few individuals that I know I can trust come by to bring supplies. I'm currently setting it up for once a week, and I can increase that if you plan on staying."

Krystal finally withdrew her hand from the glass situated over her husband's face, "I have nowhere else to really be...I think I will..."

Dravyn shook his head, "I have..." He looked to Angel who folded her arms, the act causing her breasts to bulge from over her arms, "...ahem! We, have some business to look into. I have to find this Anaya person; and I believe my beautiful daughter has a team she should most likely be looking back in on."

Sierra nodded, "I am worried, Marcus and Maryk usually aren't this quiet."

Krystal had already determined she would no longer leave Fox's side, not until she felt his mind in the way she was familiar with. She hoped and prayed that he'd wake soon but, she also had faith that Slippy knew what he was doing. Now it was only a matter of waiting...

Location: Venom

Time: 1124pm

The facility was unlike most things that Mick had ever really seen on the outside, at the very least to the untrained eye, would have seemed like any other abandoned warehouse. There were some things however, that were proof of it's other than saintly origins. It was nothing like Sewry would have thought or even how she'd described it; it was an old, obviously false building to belie what lay beyond it was surrounded on all sides by a massive razor wire fence, trespassers will be shot on site signs as well threw up endless warning flags. He was certain that it was not only guarded, but being watched at all times as well. How it was he'd expected to get through the gates he wasn't sure, he'd expected to do so without an issue but then, what else had he expected? Several times he'd inspected the perimeter, and as he'd suspected, there were several cameras that threatened to spot him if he had bothered to get any closer. The thick skinned reptile had a seat on a large stone removing a cigar from his pocket and after lighting it's end taking a long puff, just however, as he contemplated simply rushing the main gate and bashing it open like a speeding vehicle something odd happened. He watched as a slight click caught his attention causing him to note the camera suddenly lolling forward as if to fall asleep on it's pivot. With a sigh bordering on disappointed Mick looked to the moon above shaking his head while mouthing the words "why me" to himself. From a place not far away the stalker Mick had taken notice of peered over a small bit of brush. The target had only been there just a moment ago, there was no possible way that someone of that monstrous size could just vanish into thin air, certainly he wasn't massively tall but, his build was quite hard to miss. Yet, right there where the camera still stood now limp and dead, the area was completely empty not even a broken twig in place of the large Argon which had stood there a brief moment ago...

"Ahem!"

The heavy voice clearing it's throat from directly behind her caused Sewry to drop the tablet she'd been holding, while slapping her plams over her mouth to stifle her terrified scream. A few moments of heavy breathing later, her hands worked their way down over her heart, which was now beating faster than she'd ever recalled, "What is wrong with you?" She asked, "how did you...you were just..." She pointed over toward the open, "...then you were...how?"

Mick huffed angrily with his arms folded over his chest, "Very light steps," He sighed one hand moving to rub the space between his eyes, "look ah thought we understood one anothah."

Sewry sighed pointing out the cameras, "What? You needed my help," She replied, "as much as I like you Mick you don't exactly seem to be a tech wiz. Hell, I'm not and I managed to shut down the cameras."

Mick gently tossed a small, fist sized stone up and caught it a few times, before nonchalantly whipping it through the air which collided with the idle camera causing it to explode into a mess of sparks and shrapnel, "Thing is, tech tends ta respond pretty well ta violence. Ah got ma way 'round things sheila."

With her tablet in hand Sewry approached Mick flipping through a few different screens before pointing to a clear blueprint, "I originally came looking for you because I found some things that you might find interesting," She said waving the tablet for a moment. After a moment of inspecting it, Mick tapped the screen. There was a strange looking structure detailed inside of the facility, "exactly," Sewry replied, brushing each screen aside for a moment until another print showed, "the facility here goes way underground, about nine floors. It was some sort of research facility that Andross used back when he was banished here; but it's strange," She pointed out, "the facility wasn't exactly black label. It was a research case on overall planetary Teraformation."

Mick snatched the tablet and studied it for a moment, "Whazzat s'posed to mean?"

Sewry chuckled, "It means he was working on technology to reform the Atmosphere of a planet or moon in order to make it hospitable to life."

Mick thought for a moment back to what history classes he'd been through ,"Like the thing Uncle Fox shot into Venom, what made it like this?"

"Exactly," Sewry nodded, "because of that this place is tied down pretty tight, or at least it used to be. The problem is that we not only don't know where they're holding your friend. There's only one way to get to the lover levels...and that's this elevator..." She said tapping her finger against the screen, "A friend fixed me up with a program that'll help me tap into the camera feeds. Cuz something tells me that getting into that building might not be the hardest thing you do tonight."

Mick thought for a moment before nodding his head, "So ya can tap into da feed?" He asked receiving a nod, "find her for me, an find out if Caruso and his Teddy Bear be in there either."

Sewry panned over the tablet for a moment, swiping between images that came up one after another until finally something familiar showed on one of the cameras, "That is the entrance to the elevator upstairs," She said looking to a rather large brown furred bear standing nearby, seemingly sleeping with his shoulders leaning against the wall behind him, "I guess that's Teddy?"

Mick nodded, "Can we do this a lil' faster?"

With a nod the young lizard began to flip through the camera feeds with a muchly improved vigor until finally she paused on a screen that was nearly entirely black; near the center was a light at the center of a dark room some distance from the camera. There a familiar looking cream furred she-wolf sat, stark naked and shivering in the cold, her hands and feet bound to the chair she sat in while her face seemed to be drawn back in a grimace of pain. Whatever was happening to her, she was clearly being tortured or experimented on, whichever this was did not matter in the slightest to Mick, he only had one question about it in fact...

"Where is this? Can ya find it?" He asked.

Sewry bit her bottom lip, "Asking me to pull the stars down huh?" She sighed going to work, "lemme see what I can..." She paused a bit baffled, "...do?" The last word was ployed more as a question than anything else, as the screen she'd expected to be difficult to get in to didn't take any real time or work at all, there was no security to the camera feeds or the primary systems of the place, "egotistical mother..." Sewry cut herself off, "...whoever set this us, left the systems open; all that backdoor work a moment ago and I could have punched right into the system. Bastard in charge must not even think anyone is smart enough to find him out here."

"Or da fuck jess don't care." Mick added with a nod before dropping a frying pan sized palm over her shoulder, "either way. Dis is where ya gotta stop. Ah'm not let'n ya get yerself killed on my account."

Sewry rolled her eyes as she pushed his hand away, "Look I followed you this far what makes you think I'm going back now?" She demanded, "I helped before, I helped this time, I can help again. Besides..."

Mick placed his middle and index finger over her mouth causing her to stop speaking, "Sorry love..." He smiled as she felt, felt but did not see or hear the pain shoot through the side of her head causing her to collapse against his chest as her eyes rolled back, his gentle strike immediately rendering her unconscious, "...yer too plucky fer yer own good, sheila..." He chuckled to the lizard patting her head in a sort of one armed hug, "...but, ah'm still not gonna watch'a get yerself killed." Laying her against a nearby tree Mick pulled whatever he could, some up pulled bushes would act to conceal her from any sort of passerby if there be such a thing on Venom.

Tromping off, Mick only looked back for a moment; he felt bad just from the act of striking her but, moreso from leaving her there. True she was only trying to help, but, there were things, bad things about to take place that he simply didn't want her to see. If it worked out the way he wanted it to, maybe there wouldn't be quite so much blood but, unfortunately he wasn't into the case of seeing the lengths he was about to go through for a friend. As he was already certain it would happen, with the bear standing guard, whoever was in charge was certainly not about to care in the slightest about what might happen upstairs; again as Mick had figured the bear hadn't even been sleeping, in fact he'd been waiting there, eyes half open clearly having expected that someone would come for their captive. The warehouse looked as though it was commonly used for some sort of storage; it was covered in large crates of just about every size one could think of, some metal, others wooden shipping crates, standing there against the wall still stood the large brown bear who surprisingly did not step away from his post as Mick approached, even after he came within reaching distance. However lost in thought of his own dilemmas he might have been however, Mick finally felt a tug at his lower back as a powerful grip at the tip of his tail swung him away from the door he'd been hoping he'd get through without much conflict. The powerful force slid him on his boot heels across the floor but, thanks to a very impressive balance, Mick managed to stabilize himself, slapping his thick tail against the stone floor to help hold back his momentum...

"I am...sorry," The large bear said, oddly in a tone that made Mick believe his words, "I would rather nobody got hurt in all of this. But I have little choice."

Mick continued to study the strange bear, there was something very odd about him, "Choice? Mate we all got a choice," He replied managing to produce a frighteningly massive Bowie knife from behind his back before twirling it between his fingers for a moment, "sadly, yers ain't so chippah. See, ya got me cap'n down there...worst of all...ya got ma friend down there. An' by hook or crook, Ah'm bring'n 'er back up 'ere. So make yer choice mate."

The bear shook his head and suddenly an unseen force crumpled a nearby crate into the floor, however, unlike the first time such an ability did nothing to the Argon causing the bear to flinch, "This is...different."

"Point o' advise mate," Mick pointed out taking a step forward, "nevah, use the same trick on an Argon twice."

Clearly perturbed by the suddenly escalating events the bear reached up with one clawed hand and tugged away the thick sweater he wore tossing the now torn garment to the side; this revealed a mountain of ursine muscle the like of which Mick had rarely seen in his life. His chest pushed out against his thick fur that he almost appeared to have breasts, his thick abs nearly bordered on deformities, and his biceps seemed to never end across the scale of his massive arms. To most Mick supposed this would have been an intimidating sight but, by this time in his life he'd been to Argo for several years, and Argons were intimidating sights, especially the larger ones who towered over Mick and his father both; however, this only caused Mick to toss his vest to one side alongside his knife and hat before rushing in. It was true that Mick did not necessarily care much for his father's way of doing things, barrel head first into a situation without the thought of loosing; it was Argon tradition really or at the very least it seemed to be a logic heavily set into their society back home. The impact of the two large creatures could have been compared to a small vehicular collision; each felt the ripple of the collision jolting through sinew and bone down to their cores, off of Argo, Mick was certain he'd never entertain the thought of someone that matched muscle for him pound for pound, at least not without some pretty serious bionics at work, but this was a man unlike others he'd ever seen before. Where this bear came from he didn't know or care, at the moment Skye was his only real goal and this one was just another unfortunate sod that got in his way. The bear didn't really see the kick coming that struck like a sledgehammer against his right knee causing it to buckle, bringing him down to the slightly smaller Crocodile's level before the biting force of a sickeningly powerful knee swung up into his chin with a tooth rattling force that brought the metallic taste of blood to his mouth. The bear nonchalantly spit a bit of blood out as he lay prone on his back for a moment generally considering his options. The reptile was strong, unnaturally so as per his species, on top of that he seemed to be heavily motivated, and fairly well trained...on top of all of this he seemed to be intelligent enough to find a loophole in the gravity manipulation that the bear had employed before unfortunately for the large reptile, there were multiple ways in which to use any ability one was born with and Mick became almost immediately clear of that little fact as the fight carried on.

In a bolt of inconceivable speed for someone of the bear's size, the ursine shot from his prone position with little more than a clap of his massive paws against the grating beneath him. The bolt effectively turned the large creature into a barreling torpedo that struck home at the center of Mick's chest sending him airborne and sailing through building, only halted by the far wall which spider webbed from the bone cracking force of of the collision. Mick managed to catch himself, stumbling as he landed on his feet, a sheer moment before effectively dodging a punch that lodged the bear's massive mitt elbow deep in the sheer wall where he'd been standing only moments ago. It took the expert reasoning that Sydney had pounded into his son for Mick to figure it out. This bear, whoever he was, was manipulating his own gravity making himself so incredibly light that his muscles knew nearly none of the restraint they would have otherwise had from holding aloft his massive form, a form which Mick was certain nearly broke four hundred pounds; and now moving at speeds he could only guess at with little influence from the weight of gravity on his body. That mass moving at such speeds could impart a killing blow without ever bothering to bear the six inch razors at the tips of his fingers, he'd taken a shot from his uncle and his own father, both of which were much lager than he was, but, Mick was already certain that if such a shot as he'd just witnessed made landfall, he'd be killed without any shadow of a doubt. Again and again the bear lunged at him, every time seeming to increase in his movement speed until the unthinkable happened. Every time the bear had shot by him Mick had managed to place a well aimed kick or punch here and there, more than a few times he'd allowed his tail to lash out striking painfully along the bear's thighs in a hope to wear him down; but, suddenly the attacks felt like they were coming from all sides and they were. Using incredibly developed legs the bear was now pouncing from wall to wall, ceiling to floor, bounding about the room like a ricocheting bullet, every so often the passing behemoth would lash out striking out at Mick even once leaving a series of long scratches searing across his right arm. Feeling the blows starting to wear him thin Mick fell to one knee, he'd lost count of how many strikes he'd taken; his head swam, his vision blurred colors together, each shot had been like someone smashing his skull in with a large hammer. It had only been a short while but, his body was not used to taking beatings like the one he was receiving, not only was his opponent incredibly physically powerful, that mass and power was now moving at an unnatural rate of speed. One of the strikes had hit his wrist as well which was now dislocated, his left knee felt numb. Spitting out a stray tooth he was forced to watch as once more the bear bounded around the room in order to gain attack speed once more. There was a patter, there was always a pattern in movement, unfortunately he'd lost the ability to follow the bear's movements with his eyes some time ago, however, and as he watched new dents form in the metal siding of the building it all come to him and in a blinding instant, the bear's missile like motions came to a crashing stop as Mick suddenly dropped low and reached out managing to snatch him by the scruff of his neck and transferring his forward motion into a hellish overhand swing, driving the bear neck and shoulders first into the concrete floor, where the bear crumbled on impact folding into himself so that his weight rested on the nape of his neck while his legs hung out over his upturned face. The concrete, which had once been a smooth, flat surface, now looked like a still pond disturbed by a massive stone, radiating ripples as far as Mick could see. Amazed to see the ursine's chest still heaving with exasperated breaths of unconsciousness he chuckled while correcting the angle of his wrist with a painful pop before repeating the process for his knee. The surge of hot fluid rushing to the once dislocated joints hurt and caused him to work them a bit to soften the ache before retrieving his vest and hat from the floor.

Returning to the large fellow Mick patted his still solid thigh before pushing his lower half over backward, allowing the bear to now lay on his back, "Tell ya what mate," He chuckled spitting a bloody tooth onto the floor, "yer pretty tough fer a gummy beah. Glad ta see yer still breath'n mate...sad day when a bloke like ya gets into it this thick," Mick stretched his back causing more reaffirming pops to sound off, "Hmmmmm..." He groaned, "...ya sure earned that nap mate."

Mick was fairly surprised at this point, so far everything had gone pretty much the way he'd expected it to; there had been one hell of a guard in place, but, other than that this so called "mastermind" didn't really seem to have the funding for any real guards. Most of the building below the main facility up on the surface along with most of the floors he now watched pass by the elevator were dark and without power. It wasn't until the final few floors that the lights seemed to shine through the elevator door's slight opening. The young Argon was not particularly happy with the closed area, much the less leading into a place he was not particularly familiar with; it felt a lot like descending into a basement. He'd never liked basements, or the underground for that matter, not that he'd ever point that out to anyone in specific; Argons weren't supposed to have particular fears but, it was something he wasn't capable of helping really. Finally however, his suspicions were brought to light when the lights in the lift flickered out of existence and his world crashed to a halt nearly throwing him to the floor. The doors slowly opened and Mick became fully aware that he was only several floors above the bottom. Taking caution the burly reptile stepped out into the floor he'd come to a stop at; the area he stepped into was not something he'd prepared for. It was a massively open space, with much more height than he'd have though possible for such a facility, everything reinforced with plasteel structures. The facility had been a biological engineering base, when it came to Andross and Venom there was only one real genetic alteration that could have taken place...bioweapons, or at least something like it. The room was surrounded with different work stations, each was a small triangular base of computer terminals and at the center, a triplet of tall glass tubes filled with a strange sort of opaque liquid. Inside one of them floated a large object. It was something almost Lylatian in appearance; no, it was one of the strange rubots that had attacked Katina, it was curled into a fetal position. Mick stood there studying the strange figure for a moment, whoever was running this place certainly had a habit of looking for the strangest subjects they could find. Everything about the place had his nerves on end, which was a feeling that he was simply not accustomed to; not generally being a nervous person but there was simply something...unsettling about the place. Setting aside the thought however, Mick set forward in search of the stairs that would lead him down. There wasn't much space separating him from Skye now, there simply couldn't be and when he found the door that led out into a stair case he was happy enough to find it trailing down several floors. He wasn't certain how long the treck would take him but he was certain that the bear upstairs wouldn't be his last run in, in fact he was certain that somewhere below Caruso would be waiting...

Down in the depths of the facility; Skye woke once more to blinding light, even though it was nothing more than a haze of discomfort in the back of her head through the narrow slits of her eyes. By now her body had begun to reject the cold entirely, in fact she couldn't recall a time when it had been cold. She'd lost count of the number of times she'd been struck, or cut, or hit with unseen objects; she'd at one point said something she no longer remembered to Leona and was rewarded with a crack across the jaw from some unseen object which had left her tasting the metallic taste of blood and broken chunks of tooth. Her left eye refused to open anymore, it was swollen shut, she could also tell that she'd suffered a few cracked, if not broken, bones. Leona always came back however, every so many hours to inflict some other sort of pain or gather another slice of skin or specimen of blood. She tried with all her might to think of how long she'd been there, it had been so much more than a few short days; maybe a week, two weeks? A month? She recalled something about a wolf in the room with her, not certain of who it had been, his eye patch and gray fur stood out. A part of her told her that she knew who it had been, but, such a thing was simply not possible Wolf O'donnell was dead. Perhaps it was one of the things that Leona had mentioned before; she'd pointed out more than once that Stage 2 was associated with intense hallucinations. Stage 2? What was it she'd been injected with? She'd called it something several times while taunting her; C-cell? Blue Cell? Did it matter at this point? It crept into her mind very slowly as she lay back in the chair, no longer fighting to resist the restraints that held her. A pang of pain shot across her body as she attempted to reposition herself, small bloody lacerations across her breasts were the result of one of her comments to Leona's constant torment from a small leather whip with meany frayed limbs, each tipped with a small metal barb. As she sat a small bit of light began to grow much brighter than the small bit that illuminated her dark new world, slowly however it rushed upon her suddenly showering her in light so bright that even her tightly clenched eyelids did nothing to shield her from the sting of the light, and suddenly she was no longer in the room. There was hot wind against her face, her bare feet dug into rich hot sand, and as she finally opened her eyes to view a desert landscape. Here all sounds of the world and universe were null, not even a pin drop could be heard, as if all senses had been cut off and she was watching a reel of horror play out before her.

The winds grew hotter and streaked tears across her face, blowing her hair and fur into the wind, stinging at her many cuts and injuries as she was forced to look up into the mouth of a horrid sight. The metal hull of a starship riding a fireball of reentry in the distance, so vast and monstrous in size that it blotted out the entire sky in the distance even though it fell a far distance from where she stood. The half-dome structure of the bridge of the ship she'd come to Captain was immediately well known to her; it hurdled toward the surface of what she knew to be Titania and what she was certain to be terrifying speeds until she watched in sheer horror as the ship bent at it's middle, folding double over as the nose impacted the ground with the sinister force of a comet. The entire planet seemed to rattle to it's foundation as the mammoth structure careened into it's surface like a bird shot from the sky; still no sounds, the silent terror that went on in front of her caused more tears to to sting at her eyes. This was not the sort of thing that someone survives, the ship rocked several massive explosions as the impact tore it asunder as if the reinforced hull and bulkheads were nothing more than paper-mache. The fuselage bucked before snapping like a twig sending massive plates of Borillium flipping hundreds of feet into the air, skipping across the sand, or simply lodging into the firmament like thousand pound throwing stars. For a moments she was certain she saw a body fly from the wreckage so high into the air that there would have been no hopes of living upon impact. It was just like the nightmare if she'd been forced to watch over the entire thing in motion, and as the dust settled she wanted desperately to scream out as the chaos of the Vinna Colletta lay smote in ruin across the massive canyon it had carved out of Titania's golden sand. As suddenly as it had all started it all crashed to a halt and she was once again looking into the dark emptiness of the room but, she was clearly not alone. He stood just beyond the reach of the lights fairly tall, dressed in a dark coat that stretched to his ankles; settled between his index and middle finger, his right hand held a small black cylinder the shape of a cigarette with a small blue light at it's tip. Inhalers such as it were used fairly often to vaporize many different inhalants, from medicines to narcotics, yet as this stranger drew his smoke up to his mouth the sweet smell of cherries filled the room. The small blue patch at the tip lit up for a moment as he inhaled bringing his brilliant green eyes to view while bathing his features in a pale blue light. He was a handsome thing, with strong features, a thick athletic build, and a mop of shoulder length hair that circled his head, she nearly mistook him for Marcus. For a great long moment he stood there simply taking drag after long drag from his Vaporizer, smoke curling away from his nose like the breath of a dragon. For a moment he seemed to simply stand by no longer bothering with his smoke, only to finally shake his head disapprovingly and with a lithe turn vanishing back into the shadows completely. Her blood instantly came to a rolling boil; who was he to judge her? Who was this pompous ass that Leona had brought in to torment her? His eyes burned into her like hot coals, she could tell from the moment she saw his eyes they were eyes that were full of judgment. It was a feeling she'd always despised and now it drove her; every fiber of her being wanted to lunge out across the darkness and tear his judgmental eyes from their fucking sockets. She gnashed her teeth in anger growling with all the fury of a rabid dog as she felt a previously non-existent pulse of heat and fire charge through her, down and through her chest, where it pushed down and through her legs and up through her arms causing every muscle to become tense and taught; the ropes that bound her groaned in agony as it bit deeply into her bound wrists, the hot blood only making her more and more angry. She finally thrashed out against her bindings and felt it, the right front leg of the chair gave in.

Skye crashed to the cold stone floor with a painful thud but, it had been the first taste of freedom that she'd received and she wasn't about to deny it. As she fought more against her binds, her right leg came free, the bindings themselves slipping away from a broken leg of the chair. It took her a moment to realize that the chair was still grounded however and after some time of scratching at her binds with the long nails of her right foot, she felt the slightest slip in the hold on her left leg and after a bit more work her left broke free, unfortunately, the binds about her hands were not giving up. After a moment of thought she managed to get both feet between her body and the back of the chair, working her hands around to the front of her, where her much sharper teeth could set to releasing her hands. Once she was free, the fury in her mind burning just behind her eyes shot about the room seeking out the man with the judging eyes. Repeatedly she tore into the shadows, searching feverishly for the stranger it was however the crack of light that caught her attention. The reptile hit the floor with force sliding several feet back into a short hallway, the naked form on top of her crouched on all fours holding her tightly by the collar of her long white coat. Leona quickly swiped something up at Skye's face before it was batted away, a burning in her right breast causing the enraged canine to tear the still crackling needles of the taser from her right breast before jamming them violently into the chameleon's shoulder. Leona cried out as the electricity of the weapon, locked in the on position, which pulsed through her body until a short pop from the tool caused her to stop screaming. An instant of realization brought the more civil mind of Skye back; her normally calm face contorted into a sneer of anger before she brought her face close to Leona's...

Licking her lips Skye exhaled angrily, "I believe...I made a promise about what was going to happen to you when I got free," She half growled, her claws sheering into Leona's black under, shirt before a single motion parted the thin fabric. Putting her claws to work, soon the two of them stood on equal ground. Catching the now nude chameleon by the tail she looked to her victim's chest, "well now no wonder why we were so harsh on mine, you never had any." She huffed angrily snatching the chameleon by the tail and forcefully whipping her through the open door into the freezing room.

It was already clear to Skye that Leona was no kind of fighter, after all she'd had goons take her by force, and held her tired in this freezing room, starved, and sleep deprived. She was kept at her weakest point so that no sort of offense could be mounted against her. Uncertain where she'd gotten it from, Leona leaped to her feet brandishing a razor sharp scalpel. Now at a sight, Leona was a bit taller than Skye had precised her to be, in fact a few inches taller than she was, with a thin, lithe body not very muscular at all, yet she shot across the small expanse like a snake, her attack was a pathetic gesture. Fully trained to handle such situations, Skye easily side stepped the attack before catching her assailant by the wrist and sending her flipping end over end and into the mangled chair at the center of the room. It didn't seem like she'd ever been trained to fight, in fact as she lay there...her body began to spasm in a fit of coughing that bordered on that of a chain smoker; it wasn't until she spit up something almost like a clout of black blood. It was in that moment that everything actually began to make some semblance of sense; the black blood, she was in the final stages of Terrance Wallace Syndrome which at the very least meant that she didn't have long to live, weeks, months, rarely was it years at such a late stage in the illness. Cerinian DNA, C-cell; she was trying to cure herself; they all showed signs of it; Marcus, Sierra, Dravyn, and of course Krystal...the healing factor even for those who'd been experimented on was incredible compared to that of the average individual, but there was something about what she'd said when this thing had all started in the first place, something about the transference not always being possible. She certainly didn't feel any different, and all the cuts and marks across her body, her breasts still stung from the whip she'd been beaten with, her jaw still ached from the fractured tooth...if she'd gone through a change wouldn't something have healed up by now?

"You were trying to use Krystal's DNA to cure yourself."

The chameleon girl wheezed and coughed a bit more, "So what if I was..." She grimaced, "does that make you pity me?"

Skye had started to walk away only to freeze at the statement before turning and violently driving her foot into Leona's gut sending her flopping across the floor, "FUCK YOU!" She screamed, "you dragged me down here, beat me when I was tied down and starved?" She demanded while using her hands to gesture toward her chest, "you have any fucking clue how sensitive these get when they're this size? I'm not one for physical appearances but, even I don't want scars all over my tits and we both know how these cuts are gonna end up."

"Do you think I care about that?" Leona groaned as she attempted to get up, "I'm as good as a walking corpse. Whatever you feel or go through as a woman, at least you'll have that chance," She grimaced again, "I just get to sit by and feel my lungs turn to pudding while I'm still trying to use them to breath. You'll just keep going on, swing those gelatin bags around and make men go stupid, until you finally end up as some schmuck's obedient little housewife. Not even remotely aware of how lucky you are."

A triplicate of gunshots rung through the halls causing Skye to shake her head, "You could have done anything in order to get what you were after but, no you had to go at it like this," She shook her head, "now my people are headed down here, you're fucked beyond belief, and as far as I can care, you can sit down here and freeze. There was a time that I would have taken you with me, helped you in whatever way I could. Not because I pitied you but, because it was simply the right thing to do but, you taught me a valuable lesson," She half chuckled to herself, "fuck the right thing. I'm tired of always doing the right thing," As she said this Skye waked to the door picking up the coat which had only been partially destroyed and wrapped herself in it, "far as I care you can sit down here and die. Not something you'd know about but, I'm going back to my friends."

It took Skye some time to find the stairs that would lead her up to the next floor but, as she did so she felt the world around her begin to spin. Adrenalin, which had held her aloft for the last near hour, had quickly left her body; she couldn't recall the last time Leona sent someone with food. Her stomach was on fire, every muscle in her body felt like a mile of melted rubber; she heard something crash above and a screaming body shot by her impacting the ground floor, only a single fight down. The large green form that sauntered down the stairs was like a sign from above, because it was as he reached out for her that her entire field of vision went black. It was the sweet, enticing, nearly sexual smell of frying bacon that woke her. Not just bacon either, potatoes, sausage, eggs, toast, fresh coffee...and most of all, she was warm, warm and comfortable beyond anything she had currently believed possible. She was in a bed, a large, round bed and she was wrapped in a large plush terrycloth robe. Looking out the nearby window she could see that they were fairly high up in a high rise, not particularly cheap apartments but, regardless of that she found the strength to force herself to her feet before heading out into the open where she found Mick's familiar mass seated at a wonderfully set rather large table polishing off the spread laid out before him. Nearby a rather attractive young lizard moved about the kitchenette finishing a setting for herself as well as one setting for the newly woken Skye; she almost needed no real encouragement to rush to the setting and go to work. The unknown female in the room also joined the table, and soon the table was cleared, and for the first time in what felt like forever Skye felt the pit of her stomach in a state of satisfaction. She looked about for a moment before Mick pulled a chair over to her side a large brown bottle in his hands, while the still unnamed lizard sat by working at something...

"Alright," Mick said setting the bottle down, "off wit' the robe."

Skye shuddered at the thought, Iodine; thinking back she recalled all the cuts and lacerations on her body. It almost pained her to look down as she opened the gown. The once bright red strips that marred her breasts were now red gashes, gross purple colors lined the wounds, they were showing signs of infection. It was awkward feeling Mick's massive hand gently hold up her right breast as she watched him pick up a cotton ball with a long pair of tweezers before dabbing it in a brownish liquid that was all too familiar. The large crocodile lifted the bit of flesh into the light a bit more before looking Skye in the eyes with an affirming nod. The feeling of the stuff on the swab felt like fire, she hissed in pain as he gently dragged the disinfectant across a long cut across the top of her chest; Mick winced as he then began to gently dab the cotton ball into the wound along it's length causing much less pain...

"Dat sheila sure cut ya up good, eh?" Mick chuckled as he began to disinfect another cut.

Skye chuckled a bit herself, "Seemed to have a few problems with me. My tits being one of my bigger offenses for some reason," She winced in pain as the cotton ball hit a rather nasty cut across her nipple, "hey! Take is easy," She demanded, "that is some sensitive skin."

The Argon chuckled a bit, actually seeming to gather a red sheen to the green of his cheeks, "Sorry sheila. Jess 'tween me, Sewry, and yerself. Ma first time handling anyth'n like dis," He pointed out, lightly bouncing the fleshy orb in his hand, "much the less a pair what's been savaged like 'dis."

The lizard girl whom sat in the living room working over something on her computer looked up for a moment, "Almost looked like you were cut up with razors. Luckily none of that mess is gonna need stitches," She pointed out, "your kidnapper must have been one twisted sicko."

"It was a whip actually." Skye reassured the person she was certain Mick referred to as Sewry, it was a pretty name.

"Kinky," Sewry chuckled, "I've never actually met anyone with a titty torture fetish, weird."

Skye shook her head, "Yeah, she seemed to get quite a kick out of it," She winced again causing Mick to look up to her in apology, "Mick called you Sewry, right?"

Looking over to Skye for a moment, Sewry nodded once, "I work at the bar where Mick went looking for the guy that took you way. Unfortunately we haven't been able to find him. According to my friend, he paid her and then sent her away...said he had to get out and..." She paused, "...oh...my...god."

Mick and Skye looked to Sewry whom still sat there in shock, "What?"

"A news report," She said looking over the screen as she began to read, "As of exactly four hours ago, the Resort Colony known as Xenass collided with planet Papetoon. Cause and situations are currently unknown as emergency technicians and medical staff are being charted to the planet with utmost haste. Anyone that has any information about the incidents that led up to this catastrophe are implored to contact your local authorities and explain your situation to them and the urgency that your information be presented to the acting General Peppy Hare immediately. Hopes and Prayers to all those aboard the Xenass Colony, and more hopes again that someone, somehow, made it safely away before this horrifying incident."

Skye shook her head, "That's...not possible...Maryk was on that colony," She thought for a moment, "how long have I been gone?"

Mick continued his work, switching from her right to her left, "'Bout...two, two 'n a half weeks. We gotta get more info, on dis."

"No..." Skye demanded, "...once I'm patched up, we're going back to Sauria, getting together the Colletta, and we're headed down there. People need our help. In fact get a message out to the team right now; I want Dax to gather everyone together and get the Colletta headed in that direction and we'll meet them there. It's time this undercover bullshit came to an end."

A/N: Hey there all, hope everything is going great for you in this time of Covids and Generalized BS. I have unfortunately suffered another setback in getting this chapter ready as my dad recently suffered a heart attack and I've been dealing with the fall out from all the doctor visits and prescriptions, and generalized back and forth of getting an old man back into health. Luckily however this has also given me more reason to get back into the health thing too. Regardless, the system is falling appart, Xenass has taken it's last voyage and now we have no clue what's become of Maryk, Tanya, or Caruso for that matter. Hope you enjoy the chapter, I'll hopefully get some more stuff up pretty soon.

The Footsteps in the darkness

~SkullFox