"The Experiment"
Chapter 3
"Who told Sandy she's going to die?!!!" Frank asked.
"The Pixies," I told him. "At least that's what she said."
"Dammit!" Frank slammed his fist into the wall. "Why can't they leave well enough alone?"
There was a short silence. "So... it's true, then?"
"Well..." Frank looked at the floor. "Yes... and no..."
"That's not much of an answer."
Frank turned to face me. "I am not going to let Sandy die. That's all there is to it."
I remained silent. "But..." He sighed. "There were two attempts before Sandy. Neither one made it."
He walked over to the lab table, idly picking up a piece of equipment, and putting it back down. "I don't know if you've seen many Henger subs. They're all Hengers -- machines -- biological machines, technology far in advance of anything we have today, but still just machines."
I had seen Techno Dragons, and Gangsters. Basically, Hengers, but in the shape of Dragons, or Magics.
"With Pixies, however, it's different. The types just aren't compatible... the Pixie half resists joining with the Henger half. What you end up with is, like Sandy, half human and half machine.
"Most of what results from a Pixie/Henger combination doesn't live very long. Fortunately." He shuddered. "We were able to stabilize the process, though. Instead of a deformed jumble of organic and inorganic parts, we got... well... Sandy. A compromise. Human torso, but Henger arms and legs."
I nodded. "That makes sense."
"The problem is, the compromise doesn't last. At about nine months, right before the onset of puberty, the Pixie becomes obsessed with her Henger half. She goes crazy... eventually tearing herself apart in her madness. With our first try we weren't expecting it. The second... we caught her all right, but she convinced us the danger was over. Then she disappeared. We found her again two days later..."
Frank shook his head, as if dispelling a bad memory. "I won't let that happen to Sandy. I was hoping the other Pixies would keep their mouths shut, but..."
"Funny that it happens just before adolescence," I commented.
"Yes, that's what I thought, too." He looked up at me. "We all know how vain Pixies can be. Their self-image is very important to them, especially during adolescence. My theory is, somehow the conflict between the Henger and Pixie halves manifests itself as this obsession. The Pixie becomes convinced that her Henger parts make her unattractive. She's driven to... remove them... any way she can."
"It doesn't help that the other Pixies have been putting her down. Calling her a freak, and so on."
Frank nodded. "I've been trying to keep her away from them, but..." He sighed. "I don't get as much help from the stable hands as I should..."
"What should I tell her? She deserves to know the truth."
"Well, despite what I said about the stable hands, we have someone watching Sandy twenty four hours a day. I don't want to lose her, and more importantly, Mr. Curtis doesn't want to lose another Pixie/Henger either. And when Mr. Curtis wants something, his men know better than to fail him."
"The moment Sandy shows signs of self-destructive behavior, her handlers have orders to restrain her. If we have to, we'll tie her down, for the whole three months that it'll take her body to finish maturing. I'm hoping it won't come to that, but we won't make the same mistakes we made the last time..."
Sandy and I walked into the training ring. "Okay... Sandy's fought a few of our E class monsters before, just to get her ready," Frank was telling me. "Now I want to give her a little more intensive training. You did say that you did some training on Mr. Blayyde's ranch?"
I nodded. "Usually A and B class monsters, but I helped out with the younglings when I could."
"I figured as much. You may be a bit too much of a challenge to Sandy, but I know you'll pull your punches. I'm not so sure about some of the other monsters..."
"Like Inferno, for instance."
"Yes." Frank laughed. "I heard about your fight with him. Brom's been calling you all kinds of names, since then. He's not happy with you... and neither is Inferno."
"Inferno was a pushover. He's never progressed beyond A class, has he? He's used to beating up on his opponents, but I'll bet he's never once faced someone stronger than he is. Am I right?"
Frank nodded, smiling. "So," I continued. "He never once learned how to use skill, intelligence in a fight. Much less control his temper." I laughed to myself. "It was almost too easy to make him lose control."
I winked at Sandy. "My old Master always taught me, anyone can beat someone who's weaker than they are. That's easy. The hard part is beating someone who's STRONGER than you are. That's when you REALLY learn how to fight."
Frank knelt next to the little Pixie. "Do you think you're gonna be okay?"
"I'm not scared," she said. "'Teppenwuf is my friend."
"Good." Frank smiled again. "Now, you go in there and fight the best that you can. You'll be going in the Arena soon, and we'll all be counting on you."
We left Frank at the door to the Arena as we went to our respective starting positions. Sandy was fidgeting excitedly, but she waited patiently in her spot until Frank sounded the horn. Then she spread her wings and took to the air, racing towards me.
I leaped forward, closing with her as fast as she was moving towards me. As she came within range, I dodged to one side. She tried to chase me down, but I stepped backward. She followed, slapping at me with her metal hand. I darted forwards, slipping past her easily, and turned around, again backing away as she continued to swipe at me.
Her attack was weak, almost halfhearted, and from the sidelines, Frank was calling out to her. "Sandy! Don't use your hand-to-hand attacks! How many times do I have to tell you?"
Ah, the old weak spot of Pixies. I slowed my retreat a little, and let her hit me a few times. The damage was minor, not even a scratch against my toughened hide, but she was grinning like she was accomplishing something.
In a flash, I darted forward, kicking at her with my feet. Her green eyes grew wide, but she was so taken by surprise that she did not even attempt to dodge. I flipped over, kicking upward with my back feet, and the maneuver sent her tiny frame sailing across the ring. As she hit the ground, her eyes still wide and frightened, I landed nimbly back on my feet.
I Roared. It wasn't even a tenth of my power, not nearly as much as I'd channeled into the attack when I used it on Inferno. But it was enough to pick up Sandy, toss her around like a rag doll, and throw her into the Arena wall. She lay there, stunned.
She blinked, coming around, as I walked up to her. "You... I... you didn't give me any time!"
"YOU AREN'T EVEN TRYING!" I snapped, my voice angry. She looked up at me, frightened again. "You figured I wouldn't fight back, because I'm your friend! You could have dodged that Combination easy, I telegraphed it so well I'm sure Frank saw it, but you didn't even TRY to get away!"
"I... I'm sorry."
"That's better." I smiled at her. "Look, if you're going to take me on, you're going to have to give me everything you've got. You can't just play around."
She stood up, and dusted herself off. "I'll do better. I promise."
"Okay. One other thing. You were trying to scratch me, like this." I mimed batting at her with my paw. "But you don't have any claws. Use your feet, instead. You probably have more power than most Pixies, and your legs are definately heavier. So use that to your advantage."
She nodded. "Kick. Okay."
I backed away towards my starting spot. "And use your range attacks. I know it's hard, but just concentrate..."
We waited until Frank blew his horn again, and then Sandy hopped forward. She summoned a Ray and fired it at me. I leaped aside. "Good! Good!"
I ran towards her, and she took to the air, circling around me, and then back winging to put more distance between us. This time she raised her hand in the air, gathering an electric charge, and blasted me with it. The attack only stung a little, and made my fur stand on end, but that she had hit me at all was a great accomplishment.
Before she could celebrate I gathered some Lightning of my own and projected it back at her. She only barely dodged the sheet of sparkling energy, rolling across the grass. I raced forward and nipped her on the arm, but as I backed away she caught me across the head with her heel.
"Good! You remembered!"
Sandy giggled, then gave a girlish yelp as I came at her again. I leaped over her head as she tried to kick me, and butted her in the back with my head. She stumbled forward, but then spread her wings, and let her momentum carry her into the air.
She swiveled in midair, turning to face me as she did, and raised her arm up to point her fist at me. At the very moment I realized what was about to happen, there was a loud roar, and Sandy's fist shot from her arm on a column of flame. I only barely dodged in time, and it caught me on the shoulder, bouncing off to shoot off into the wall.
Sandy, however, stumbled backwards, her mouth wide open in shock. She tripped, and fell hard on her bottom. She put her other hand to the stump, staring at it in amazement. Frank came running across the field. "Sandy! That was amazing!"
"Don't be scared," I told her, as I walked over to her. "That was the first time, huh?"
Frank nodded. "She's never used Fist Missile before. We weren't even sure she could."
"Cool! Your own personal attack, huh?"
"How... ?" She trembled a little. "I wan' it back!"
"Just concentrate. Think about it coming back."
Sandy closed her eyes. There was a roar of sound from the Arena wall, and suddenly the fist flew back at us. I sidestepped out of the way as the fist flew past me, but then it stopped short in front of Sandy, did an about face, and connected itself back to Sandy's outstretched arm.
"That... that was weird..." Sandy stroked the reattached hand with her other hand, opening and closing the fingers. She clutched her arm to her chest, shuddering. "I don't ever wanna do that again."
Frank put his arms around her, while I nuzzled her face. "It's okay," I said. "You'll get used to it."
"Yeah. You don't have to do it again right away. You'll learn how to master all your attacks, at your own pace. Someday you'll be as good as Steppenwolf, here..."
She looked up at me, startled. Then, there was a little pride, at what she had done. But mostly, there was still the fear. I smiled at her, reassuringly. "You've done very good today, Sandy. Let's go celebrate."
Sandy rode on my back as I took her through the woods, retracing my path to the place where I'd found her, before. She twisted her hands in my fur, lying down against my neck when I had to duck under a branch or giggling as I leaped over an old stump. She said nothing until we reached the lake, and I skirted around its north side until we emerged in the clearing.
"Wow! You CAN get around to it on foot."
"Well, if you're a Tiger that knows how to walk in the forest, anyway."
She giggled. "I'd rather fly. It's more fun."
"Well, since I don't have any wings, I wouldn't know."
"Maybe when I get bigger, I'll carry you!" She giggled very loudly, at that.
I walked over to her rock, and she hopped off of my back and onto it. The she sat down, and started kicking her feet in the water.
"I love the water," she said. "It makes my feet cool."
"Me too." I jumped into the lake, mainly to make Sandy laugh. Then I rolled around in the water for a few minutes. I hadn't had a chance to clean myself up, after the battle with Inferno, and even I'd noticed I was starting to smell a little ripe. I didn't like the way my fur looked when it was dirty and dingy.
Sandy made a face, holding her nose. "Ew. Wet Tiger."
I quickly whipped around and grabbed her foot in my jaws. She gave a little squeal as I pulled her into the water. She splashed about a few moments, and then stood up, laughing.
I shook myself and she squealed again, putting a hand up to shield her face. Then she splashed me. I rolled in the water some more to get my fur good and clean, and then stood up. Sandy was still splashing about, sending water in all directions by scooping it up with her arms and her wings.
I waded out of the lake, and shook myself dry. Sandy crawled back onto the rock, and shook her head to get the water out of her dark hair. Then she started smoothing it back in place with her hands.
I walked over to sit next to her, as Sandy turned on the rock, to face me. She stared at me for a moment, then reached up and grabbed the neckline of her suit.
"'Teppenwolf! Wanna see something I've never shown nobody before?"
"Um..."
Sandy pulled the collar down. Instead of what I was afraid she was going to do, she pulled it straight down, revealing the center portion of her chest. Right there, just below her neck, was a large, green gem, embedded in her skin. It glowed, faintly, that same feeble glow as the one behind her eyes.
"What is that?"
"It's my Henger eye! I can see through it! At least when it's not covered up..." She looked down at herself, pursing her lips as she frowned at it. "I've never looked at nobody through it before..."
She looked back up at me, grinning widely. "You're all glowing!"
"I am?"
"Yup!" She looked down at the gem again, and reluctantly covered it up.
I gestured at her costume. "You know, when I was growing up, there was a Mint on the ranch. I always thought that was her fur."
"Oh, it is. Some Pixies don' have ta wear clothes. But I do, 'cause I'm all naked underneath." She giggled.
"But your arms... that's not just a covering. It's... Henger... all the way through."
Sandy looked down as I put a paw on her arm. It was soft, the feel and texture of clay. Just like a Henger's shell. But just like a Henger's shell, I could tell it was much tougher than clay. It felt soft, but it was actually a lot harder than it looked.
Sandy again picked up her hand in the other and rubbed it. Then she pressed her arm against her chest again. She closed her eyes.
"I'm scared."
"I know."
"What did he say?"
"That you're going to be just fine. He's not going to let you die."
She looked down at her arm. "Am I even alive in the first place...?"
