Scar straightened up slowly as the deluge soaked him from head to foot. He knew that the water meant he would be seen but there was no help for that now.

In a way he preferred it.

He wanted these insolent humans to look upon him and tremble "Then they will realise how foolish they have been in harassing and pursuing my female… just before I destroy them."

He began to walk swiftly towards the remaining crowd where he guessed she had to be, becoming more visible with every step as the sparks crackled and fizzled all around him.

Even though the majority had fled, there were still too many humans in the way for him to be able to see Lex immediately. As the cloaking device finally spluttered and died he stopped and engaged the 'Seek and Scan' function on his mask, intent on finding her. As he stood still for a moment he suddenly became aware of eyes on him and turned to see a group of humans – male and female – watching from only a few feet away.

The nearest one stretched out a hand at him, one finger extended, pointing "Dude," He said "That is one badass costume!"

Scar didn't understand what the human had said, it sounded like nonsense. He worked on the basis that he was in the midst of enemy territory; therefore it was probably a challenge to his dominance. Retracting his blades he reached behind his back and drew his twin swords with a snarl. The insolent human blenched and fell back, his companions similarly scrambling away. They were unarmed anyway so Scar did not bother to pursue them, laughing softly to himself "Run soft meat, run away in terror!"

Suddenly, he caught sight of Lex; the dispersing crowd meant that she was now visible. At the same moment he saw her, she saw him and her black eyes went wide with surprise, her expression a curious mixture of rage and … was it relief? Her pale headed companion, meanwhile, looked as if he might be about to vomit or pass out.

Seek and Scan was now telling him six armed men were ranged around her and the other human. He hadn't noticed them before because they had been screened by a loose group of unarmed humans that for whatever reason still had not fled – and these men had come equipped for serious trouble. The display inside his mask showed him they were carrying dart-guns, body armour, semi-automatic weapons… "It seems they were expecting us," He thought "Interesting... and unfortunate for them they will not get a chance to use them!"

He began to run towards her through the panicking humans, knocking aside those who weren't quick enough getting out of his way. The first target turned as Scar reached him, just in time to get his sword in the gut. Body armour or not, he gave a strangled cry, folded up on the point of the blade. Then he grunted as Scar slammed the second sword downwards into his spine through the gap at the nape of his neck. The next man got as far as pulling his automatic weapon when Scar seized his head with his free hand and twisted it sharply to one side, snapping his neck.

As he yanked the blades free the unarmed humans – the few determined gawpers who hadn't yet bolted when the van crashed through the barrier – started to scream and run in terror. As the remaining four armed targets swung round to face the new threat, he saw Lex level her own gun and shoot two of them whilst they were still gaping in astonishment.

Grinning broadly under his mask he leapt towards the nearest remaining target and, as the human looked up at him swung the sword at his throat, releasing a gush of hot blood. He spun as he landed, bringing the blade round in a wide glinting arc, neatly beheading the sixth man with a pleasing silken sound.

As the corpse toppled to the ground he turned to see Lex standing in front of him. "Where's Selim?" She gasped.

"Safe," He flipped open his wristcom "In the medipod. I have been monitoring him, see? I would not allow any harm to come to him, you know that!"

She grasped his wrist, twisting it so that she could see the display, then she looked up at him furiously, eyes glinting with rage. He thought for a moment she was going to hit him and grabbed hold of her, pinning her arms to her sides "Scar, what the fuck are you doing here?" She hissed.

He shivered. Her voice always had that effect on him when she talked right up close to his ear like that. Then, over her shoulder, he noticed her golden headed friend… his second objective. The human male was standing there with his mouth agape. As he saw Scar's head turn his way, he suddenly came out of his trance and made a movement, stumbling backwards.

Scar growled. Still holding Lex tightly against him so she couldn't see what he was doing, he reached out one long arm and brought the hilt of his sword sharply down on the Fil's head. The man crumpled at their feet, unconscious.

As he loosened his grip on her slightly, Lex turned and exclaimed in surprise when she saw her friend out cold "What the hell happened to him?"

Scar shrugged "He must have passed out from fear!" He said, contempt dripping from every syllable.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously "Did you do that?"

At that moment sirens blared behind them and an artificially amplified voice yelled "Alright Samurai Jack, this is the SFPD! Put the lady down and drop your goddamn weapons!"

Scar made quick glance over one shoulder, only four armed humans, clustered around a vehicle with flashing red lights – they were not so heavily armed as the twelve they had just dispatched but armed nonetheless. Quickly pulling a grenade and activating the switch with one talon he threw in the direction of the vehicle the voice had come from, yanking her to the floor as bullets whizzed overhead. There was a blinding flash and the hot draft of an explosion followed by a few clangs as bits of burning metal bounced away across the floor.

He raised his head and looked from side to side. Seek and Scan was showing him more armed humans a little distance off coming their way. It would probably not be a good idea to hang around.

With very little effort he picked up the unconscious male. He was surprised to find that this human was not even as heavy as Lex. He was only a little shorter than her but when Scar had lifted him up there was no weight to him.

"This is not the time to argue, we must leave!" He snarled at her "Or do you want me to carry you over my shoulder also?"


Lex didn't answer his question but her eyes flicked over to the approaching flashing blue and red lights. San Fran's finest had started to arrive en masse. She could see other police who must have already been here for the street party also beginning to close on them, drawn by the light-show of plasma fire and their colleagues' calls for backup. She began to run and he followed, looking behind them to pick off any armed pursuit.

She ran out through the barrier into the road on the side furthest from the ruined van and the still gushing fire hydrant, now surrounded by other emergency vehicles. There wasn't much traffic left on the road, most people having fled for their lives. A few cars were parked up but she didn't feel confident about hotwiring one – she needed the keys. The only vehicle that was occupied was a battered pickup and as they got nearer she realised why. The music blaring from the stereo must have drowned out all the noise of the crash and the fight. She could see the driver sitting there wreathed in smoke, nodding his head in time to the grinding heavy metal. She ran up to the truck and pointed the gun at him through the window, but he didn't even notice her standing there. Then she wrenched the door open and grabbed him by the upper arm, tearing him out of his seat and throwing him onto the asphalt.

The driver straightened up angrily – he was quite a big guy she now saw, with long dark hair in a ponytail and an array of obscene and pneumatic looking tattoos covering his straining biceps.

"Give me your keys!" She yelled, pointing the gun in his face.

"You crazy bitch! What the fu - " He lunged towards her but she spun on one foot and kicked him in the jaw, not wanting to kill him if she could avoid it. He fell back, staggered momentarily then he went for her again. At that moment, Scar arrived behind him and spun him round by one shoulder, seizing him by the throat. He lifted the man off his feet and pulled him up close to his masked face with a spine tingling growl.

"Give… us your keys!" He said in sepulchral tones.

"They're in the f-f-fucking ignition!" The man said in a panicky voice.

Lex was already pulling herself into the driver's seat as Scar flung the terrified human aside and swung himself into the back of the pickup. Dumping the still unconscious Fil into the flatbed of the truck he turned to see two more cars pull up behind them with flashing lights. As the engine started he shot at the wheels of the police cars, the heat of the plasma bursting and melting the tyres and fusing them onto the tarmac in a cloud of steam. He threw himself flat as the cops returned fire, bullets bouncing off the metal sides of the truck – luckily these humans were not carrying high velocity weapons or they'd have gone through. He could do without being shot full of holes. Crouching down he engaged the multiple targeting function on his mask, then he reared up again and shot four of them, the shoulder mounted gun swivelling rapidly as it zeroed in on their movements. Continued shouts and curses made him think that he had probably not managed to kill all of them.

Suddenly the vehicle lurched into motion under him as Lex put her foot down, the truck screaming away from their pursuers down the darkened street.

Lex checked the mirror, whatever Scar had done to those police cars just behind them seemed to have put them out of commission, but she couldn't take it for granted that more wouldn't show up. As she thought this, right on cue, she heard sirens and saw more flashing lights in the distance behind them.

"Shit!" She really hoped those cops hadn't had time to radio in a description of their vehicle and registration but even if they had, she'd just have to try and lose them. She really didn't want to end up in a Mexican stand-off with the whole San Francisco police department. If they could just get back to the shuttle everything would be alright.

Or rather, this immediate problem would be solved. There were still a whole pile of other problems for her to deal with that would make shaking off the SFPD seem like just a fun little diversion.


Lex finally ditched the pickup on the side of Guadalupe Canyon Parkway, one of the roads running through San Bruno Mountain Park. She'd managed to get them out of the city very quickly and the sound of police sirens seemed to have died away but she imagined the engine and the suspension was now even more shot than when they'd stolen it. She'd driven the last twenty miles or so without any lights on because she hadn't wanted to advertise their presence to the police helicopter she'd heard circling in the distance, no doubt looking for them. Luckily she'd been able to pull her mask out of her backpack as she drove so with enhanced vision it wasn't as dangerous as driving in the pitch black. The place where they had landed the shuttle was in a clearing in a small patch of woodland so they would have to walk the last few miles.

As she got out of the van Scar jumped out of the back, and lifted Fil – who remained out cold – out of the truck and onto his shoulder. Neither of them spoke as they slogged their way through the scrubby woodland. Lex for her part was just in a hurry to get back to the ship and reassure herself Selim was alright. No matter what the wristcom said, she was worried. Through the trees she could just glimpse the city lights in the distance.

When they got back to the Chameleon she was dead tired. Her eyes felt sore, tight and gritty and every inch of her skin felt begrimed. When finally she reached the ship she dashed up the gangway, through the hatch and down the corridor to the medipod.

Selim was there, safe and sound, deeply asleep.

Relief swept through her as she saw her son's untroubled face, his chest rising and falling peacefully. "Thank God he's ok!" She stood there for a moment leaning against the door frame, rubbing her tired eyes. She pulled the plasma cannon from her pocket where it had been hidden and put it down on the console of the medipod. Feeling much too hot inside the craft after being in the open air, she yanked off the jacket and threw it on the floor. As quickly as the relief of seeing Selim had come, it was washed away by torrent of incredulous rage as she remembered Scar had left him on his own.

"What the hell was he even thinking?!" She thought furiously, marching into the cockpit intent on dealing out instant karma.

He was standing in the darkened inner lock, the outer hatch sliding shut behind him and she launched into him before he was even fully through the door "Just what the hell kind of game were you playing tonight?" She demanded "Leaving Selim all alone when you know he's sick?!"

He didn't answer her immediately but stepped into the room and looked down at her appraisingly. She got the impression he was taking a deep breath, counting down, mastering himself. As she stared up at him angrily, she also recalled that he was carrying Fil over his shoulder.

"Your 'friend' has still has not woken up." He said, unslinging the limp bundle from his shoulder and laying him on the floor at her feet. She frowned as he rolled Fil over with one foot and she saw the face under the blonde spikey hair.

"Scar," She said, suspicion written all over her face "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing… yet." He said testily "He is only unconscious."

As she stared at him dubiously, going over the events of the evening in her head, she suddenly realised he could not have found her so quickly just on the spur of the moment. He must have been there all along, tracking her.

"You followed me! You -" She was so caught between disbelief and anger she struggled to find the words "You jealous…lying… controlling… motherfucker! You followed me!"

"Yes." He replied, infuriatingly impassive "I did not like leaving Selim alone but it was necessary. I knew you would not be pleased but I trust that you will realise I had good reason."

"I realise you're so crazy that you'd abandon your own son just to come and check up on me!" All her tiredness had suddenly drained away to be replaced by the rocket fuel energy of rage "Why did you knock Fil out? Why did you bring him here? Do you want to make him suffer, is that it? Want to prove to everyone who's the alpha male in my life? Mark your territory, is that it Scar?"

"First of all, it was you who brought him along when you escaped from those men who attacked you initially. Unless you wanted me to leave him unconscious and surrounded by enemies I assumed you wanted me to bring him here." He said slowly "Secondly, this human is too weak to be a serious rival to me. He is barely able to look at you, much less touch you. This has nothing to do with my jealousy, and if you were not so saturated with emotion and longing for your old life you would see that."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"As you say, I followed you so I saw what happened tonight. This creature," He indicated the supine form of her friend "Has betrayed you. How else could those other humans have known where you were going to be? Only if he told them. There is no other explanation."

"Well maybe they picked up the shuttle on some scanner? Maybe someone saw me in Reno?"

"Then why did they not take us both the moment we landed?" He purred "Why did they not capture you in the other city or take the shuttle whilst we were both gone, hrmmmmm? His treachery is the only explanation that makes sense."

"So what if he did?" She almost yelled at him "What does it matter now? Did you drag him all the way here just so you could say 'I told you so'?"

"Do you seriously think our best chance of helping Selim is to find this scientist, this 'Iversson'?" He asked abruptly.

She was momentarily wrong-footed "You know I do. I can't think of any other solution, can you?"

He waved away the question "And you think that this male here would know how to find her?"

"Yes, it's the kind of thing he's always been good at – I thought he could help us." She said, defensive now "Why else do you think I went to meet him?"

"Then why do you think I brought him here?" He said patiently, she still looked dumbfounded "Lexsssss, I sometimes think you are the most intelligent life form I have ever known and at other times you can be surprisingly stupid. Selim's life depends on finding Iversson; this human may know where she is. I would guess he did not tell you during your brief conversation earlier?"

She shook her head slowly.

"I thought not!" He clicked mirthlessly at the back of his throat. "Well then, if as you say he does know, I will make him tell us."

"I knew it! This is just an excuse for you to torture him. I suppose you're going to tell me you won't enjoy it?"

"What does that matter?" He shrugged "Can you think of a better way? He has already proven to you that he cannot be trusted."

"I thought it went against your sense of honour to kill someone who's helpless and can't fight back?" She spat.

"Yes that is so." He shrugged again "But if it is a choice between Selim's life and my honour then we both know which I will sacrifice first!"

At that moment, they both turned as the ex-hacker stirred and groaned.

Fil was waking up.