14

"What in the hell is that supposed to be?" asked a tawny-colored lion, looking at the viewscreen.

His companion, who was at the controls of the large shuttle looked and laughed a little bit. "Beats me. I think it's trying to be a moon, but it didn't grow big enough." Both laughed a little.

"Is there even life there?"

The tiger/serval mix flipped a switch and watched the data stream across the screen. "Yeah, there's a lot of life, actually. The records say it's nasty life too. Poisonous, all of it. Hey, it's supposed to be uninhabited."

"So?"

"Well there's a structure down there. Built by a sentient species."

"Really?" The lion leaned over to take a look. He and his companion were Thunderians. They and a small band of their kind had all found each other in their travels, and were looking for others of their kind. They had all thought that all of their people had been lost, but now they had hope. It was a thin hope, as there were only about twenty of them, but they hoped to someday rebuild their race. Maybe their numbers were small, but they'd heard rumors that Thundera had reformed...

The lion shrugged. "Let's take a look. You never know."

The tiger/serval nodded and readjusted the course for the little moon, and brought up all known records about the place. They would be there in an hour give or take a few minutes.

**

It was a few hours before Usiko awoke and sat up groggily. Ze'ev woke with a start where he had fallen asleep against the cat, then threw his arms around him. "I thought you wouldn't wake up," he sobbed.

Still a little disoriented, Usiko hugged him back. "Hey, it takes more than a stunner sick to get rid of me."

Little was said after that. Both of them knew what would happen, and Usiko was going over and over in his mind ways to escape. But none ever had.

Several more hours passed before they came for the pair. They took them both out, three on Usiko this time. He knew better than to fight at the moment.

They were brought to the grooming center and brought over to the tub. "You gonna cooperate?" Ze'ev was asked after the door was locked, and all of them were in there by themselves.

Ze'ev looked at Usiko, and he nodded to him. He did not want the boy getting hurt. The child bit his lip and nodded also. All the while, Usiko's eyes darted around, looking for something he could...yes! There was a stunner lying on the counter.

While the hyena cub climbed meekly into the bath and waited while the water was set, Usiko also waited. He waited until he had an opportunity.

The groomer set about washing the child down. He had several soaps and shampoos to use on him to get the coat in as good a condition as he could before he was skinned.

Usiko saw his chance! One of those holding him had let go, and the other had lost his grip. The feline lunged, throwing off the hands that held him, and dove for the counter.

"Hey!" one of the workers exclaimed, and dove after him.

Usiko got a hold of the stunner and spun around, striking the goon with it. Nothing happened! "What the?"

Then he got jumped on. The two workers slammed him against the wall and pinned him there, prying the stick from his hand. "Nice try, you miserable worthless wretch," one growled. "But it's not charged."

Usiko sighed and closed his eyes, leaning his head against the wall. He should have known.

Ze'ev was finally done with his bath, and Usiko was dragged to the basin and secured in it.

**

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Kairo called out in a little singsong voice. He grinned. This was the best hunt he'd had in a long time. He had to give it to Joe, he was the most challenging prey he'd encountered. He was at the armory, and had heard Safari Joe going that same way...but his quarry was playing it safe. Kairo had been able to tell he'd gotten nailed by the lasers, as he had seen the burn mark and how he held that arm. He also knew he'd hit Joe a solid blow on that same arm. Joe was also exhausted and confused, and yet Kairo had not bagged him. He had to admire his determination.

Safari Joe was watching him. He was running scared, but he also was not stupid. He'd lost the other weapon, and would have been killed had he stopped to find it, and so he came here. Unfortunately that bastard Kairo had anticipated this move and found a quicker route. He knew the compound like the back of his hand, maybe better. Joe only knew its basic layout. "Bastard," he muttered quietly. He had to get him away from that door.

Wait a minute. Kairo's back was to an open corridor, what if Joe attacked? He wouldn't be expecting an attack from behind, not with Joe unarmed and injured. But he had enough adrenaline pumping through his body to lend him the strength of all his colleagues put together, and all he had to do was picture his father's head, hung like that of some animal, preserved in its eternal snarl, and he had quite enough strength to subdue the skinny older man. He searched his pockets and found a small cartridge. He took his kerchief from his neck and wrapped the cartridge in it, and slid it.

He grinned when it went exactly where he wanted it to go, and slid under a shelf just beyond the open door of the armory. Smiling upon seeing that Kairo had heard it, and was looking that way, he quietly backed away and doubled back.

It wasn't possible, Kairo thought. He couldn't be in that damned armory. But then again, Joe had been pretty fast. He had not seen Joe on the other side, skulking around the corner; he'd been too intent on the door of the armory, and was now more so. He had not seen the swift move in the darkened corridor. He had a choice here: he could either go in after him in an all out charge, or wait for him to come out. In his youth he would not have stopped to think, he would have gone in after him, but then he had the thought that Joe's more calculated style had gotten him this far...perhaps he would do the same. He settled back down in his crouch and waited.

"Now what way could he have gone?" Joe mused almost silently to himself. He forced his confused, angry mind to focus and remember where he'd seen Kairo disappear off to when they both bolted, and as he remembered, he spied a small corridor, hidden unless you were right on it. "Ohhh, got ya now, you miserable, cowardly blighter," he said as he headed that way. His injured arm was cradled in his other. It hurt like hell, and he could not move it without causing a loot of pain...but he would need it to fight. He would have to use it to disarm his adversary, so for now he cradled it.

Once Kairo was in sight at the end of the corridor, Joe inched along quietly, never making a sound, his eyes fixed on the back of Kairo Zarack's ugly, puke green shirt. Any second, the older hunter's instincts could alert him to the danger, but Kairo hadn't hunted in a while, and he was intent on the armory. Any second, or so he thought., Safari Joe could come out of there, guns blazing.

Joe's face split into a humorless, grim smile. Big mistake, you bastard, he thought, as he neared.

Kairo did finally sense him. His concentrations was broken by a sense of someone's eyes boring into his back, and the almost shadow-feeling of something sneaking up on him in the dark.

He spun around. Joe leapt! Kairo had only a few seconds to see the startling vision of an angry man leaping at him, snarling almost like the creatures he hunted, before he was knocked hard to the ground, and his weapon grabbed. "The HELL!"

"Bastard!" Joe screamed. With one mighty yank than sent a bolt of pain lancing through his arm, he tore the weapon from Kairo's hand and threw it to the side. He had not meant to do this, he had planned on using it against the older man, but adrenaline had its disadvantages, too. It made one want to pummel something with his bare hands, to feel the satisfying crunch of bone, to strike that hateful face with its arrogant grin and maddening glint in the eyes. "Bastard!" he repeated as he struck Kairo in the face. "You killed my father!!" Joe sounded almost like the child he had been when the two hunters had last met. Tears streamed down his cheeks, almost indistinguishable from the sweat that beaded down his face and smooth head. His clothing was rumpled, and his injured arm looked as if it had been put through a bonfire. He looked like a wild animal.

Kairo was too shocked to avoid the punch entirely, and took a hard shot to the nose. He saw stars for a minute while he started to fight back, grabbing for the arms that kept rearing back to strike at him, like some demonic snake. When he could see again, he managed to grab the injured one and buck his hips, so that he was on top. It was his turn to pummel.

Safari Joe yelled at the second bolt of pain, but this was enough to send him on an adrenaline rush unlike he'd ever experienced. He felt nothing, other than the red rage, and the childish hurt and despair. "I'll KILL YOU!"

After that, there was no stopping him. Both men fought like madmen, but Joe was working solely on the bodily chemicals, and felt nothing. He took plenty of blows from Kairo's fists, and the man was deceptively strong and wiry, but he felt none of it. He only had the desire to hurt, to smash that face and break his body.

"Auuughh!" Kairo howled, as Joe's fist struck him full on the nose. He reeled back.

With a triumphant grin that looked more like a snarl of fury, Safari Joe went in for the kill.

Kairo had been injured before; he could take pain, but a broken nose was wont to make one pause. However he saw Joe's wild charge in time to roll, causing his opponent to slide ungracefully across the floor. Kairo took his hands from his nose, which was gushing blood, and his eyes widened as he saw Safari Joe go for his hunting knife. "I don't think so!" He jumped on him, grabbing for the knife.

It was a struggle for the only remaining weapon between them, and it was Kairo, straddling Safari Joe in the classic "I'm-gonna-beat-the-shit-out-of-you" position, that got control of it. Joe may have felt as if the demons of hell were raging in him, and they probably were, but his body was weakened. He yelled and threw up his hands to ward off what would have been a killing slash to the throat, and screamed again as twin slashes opened themselves in the flesh on the backs of his wrists. He grabbed.

He never did get a hold of the weapon but a well timed kick to the groin, and Kairo's rigid arms slackened for only a moment. One moment, as his face contorted in pain, and that was enough.

With a cry that was one of a madman, Joe slashed forward with the knife, still in Kairo's hands, and as the older man still held onto the weapon, his expression changed to that of deep shock as a red line appeared on his own throat. He gasped for breath and clutched at his throat, relinquishing his hold. Joe grabbed the knife from him and slashed again, this time a severe cut, and threw Kairo off of him. He staggered to his feet, leaning against the wall, and watched Kairo try to stand. Instead, he fell to the floor, still trying to breathe, clutching his throat as he looked up at Joe with that expression of dumb shock still on his face. That wasn't supposed to happen, that look said. I'm the hunter, and you're the prey. You weren't supposed to kill me. It was something Safari Joe had often said himself, and that look told him that Kairo was thinking the exact same thing. He almost felt sorry for him, but then he remembered the look on his younger face as he showed the child his father's head before departing. He remembered the triumphant sneer on that same face as he walked out of the courtroom, free as a bird. And Safari Joe remembered that same sneer the whole time he'd been on that damned compound.

He growled, lurched forward, and kicked Kairo as hard as he could. He made a chuffing sound, and a spurt of blood came from his mouth. "Ha," Safari Joe snarled grimly. "Safari Joe does it again."

The hunter limped back towards the storeroom where he'd found his father's head, and stood there for only a minute. He was bleeding heavily, and he'd been fairly badly beaten. And he was beginning to feel it.

With his injured arm moving oddly, he dragged one of the larger taxidermy displays over to step on, and took the plaque from the wall, trembling as he did. He bit his lip as he got down and fell to his knees, gazing at his father. "Sorry, Dad," he said in a low, trembling voice. He turned the plaque over and released the bindings that held the head to the wood, and shuddered as it fell into his hands. It felt so real, but the weight was wrong, and it was hard. It felt as rigid as plastic. He closed his eyes.

He ransacked the place only long enough to find a sack he could tie to his belt. He would need his hands to make it out of the building. He put the head inside and staggered out of the room, then found the office and fumbled with the controls until he figured out how to open it he compound's doors. Kairo was a bastard, it was a simple switch that opened the doors from there. Almost collapsing, he headed out.

**

"Hey..." the lion said. He was looking down at the moon they were approaching. "What the heck?"

His companion frowned and narrowed her eyes at the screen, as if she were not seeing it clearly. "That's a human!"

"Jeez, look at him, he looks like he got attacked! What kind of large animals are on this moon?"

She shrugged. "None that are listed, but uh-oh. Look." She pointed. Having smelled the blood, a pack of the Ratwolves was headed for the injured man. Joe had not put on his hunting armor again, if they caught him this time, he would be dead. His eyes widened as he realized this, and staggered forward, trying to outrun them, but he couldn't. He was simply too drained.

"Damn! Take us down, quick!"

The lion nodded and swooped down, hovering a foot off the ground as his partner swung up alongside the human. He got out, took the man's arm, and helped him inside. The door closed, just as the pack of little dogs reached him. One leapt, and hit the side of the ship. He fell back, dazed.

Inside the ship, the injured hunter snarled, and jerked his arm from then lion's grip.

"Hey! Take it easy!" he said angrily. "I just saved your ass out there."

"Wait a minute," the half-breed said, staring at the human. "You know who that is?"

The young lion did not. He was only seventeen, and had never heard of Safari Joe.

"He's a hunter. Calls himself Safari Joe." She looked at the lion's expression; he didn't get it. "He hunts sentients. Thunderians included."

The lion's expression darkened. "Oh yeah?" he growled. The stony, defiant glare he got from the human confirmed it. The lion growled again. "I say we dump him for those little dog things to eat." He started for Joe, who raised his arms as if to fight. But he was clearly in no condition to. He would not survive a fierce battle with a Thunderian lion.

The tiger/serval put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "No. We're not like him. I have a ship on the scanners, must be his We'll take him there and be rid of him."

The lion nodded, a sneer on his face. He glared at the hunter the whole way, and Joe was far too exhausted to care.

They did just that, and pulled up alongside the ship and opened the door. Without a thanks, Joe staggered out. But before the other ship left, he got the name and number of it. Hellcat, number 64772894. He remembered it.

After a rudimentary first aid job within his ship, the hunter took off. He was headed home, but there was one thing he had to do. He had to make a detour.

***

Three hours later, with Joe having gotten only a little sleep, and a little food, he arrived on a small jungle planet. It was between the little moon and his resort planet, and he'd been going at top speed. He limped from the ship, the bag at his hip, and sniffed the air. He smelled blood, his own, and the harsh chemicals that had been recently used on Cody Gregor's head, but he also smelled damp grass, and animals, and the conflicting scents of a thousand different flowers. He felt the comforting heat, that always seemed to wrap around him like a blanket, and cradle him when he felt bad. He could always come here and feel at peace. Even after what happened so many years ago, he found he felt at peace. He had not come back since then, but now he knew that he could.

Joe still knew the place like his own name, and limped to the very place his father had been slain. He knelt on the ground.

Joe took his hands and began to dig in the soft earth. Ants and other bugs ran around as the huge human hands disturbed their home, but Joe paid them no mind as he dug the hole. When it was big enough, he took the head from the bag. "Goodbye, Dad," he whispered. It was enough. He knew his father heard him. Everything he felt, all the love and sorrow he felt was conveyed in those two words better than any religious ceremony or funeral could have done. He covered the head with dirt.

**

Usiko and Ze'ev were in the dryer room, where they were being blow dried. Ze'ev was clinging to Usiko, who had his arm around him as the fan blew hot, dry air at them. Neither said anything. Usiko had tried again to escape, to get the drop on the others, but there were too many. All he'd ended up with was a bloody nose.

Kraig Lechlan finally came into the room with his goons and grinned. "It's time, you miserable curs. Time to meet the skinner."

As the pair backed away for a last, impossible, stand, a ragged, hoarse, but loud and angry voice boomed down the hallway. "No one's meeting the skinner today but you, Lechlan!"

Usiko thought he'd never been so happy to hear the hunter's voice in his life. He began to hope they'd be spared. He looked down at Ze'ev and mouthed what was happening.

"Wha--? But...but, but..." Kraig was sputtering. He had clearly not expected to see Safari Joe again.

Joe looked like he'd been put through a ringer. Twice. But he was angry . He had been told what happened, and what Kraig planned to do with his star attractions. "Take him to the hunting quadrants," he snarled at the staff members.

Quite happy that Joe was back, and they no longer had to take orders from a sleazebag like Lechlan, they did just that. They dragged him, kicking and screaming obscenities, out of the room.

Joe looked to the pair, who looked warily back. "Get out of there," the hunter growled.

Leery, Usiko led the young Mutant from the room. He still was not entirely sure the hunter would not have them killed and skinned anyway. They'd be taken back to their cell, he supposed, and when they headed toward the front, he nodded in resignation. It was night, and the resort had shut down. The process that would have prepared them to be put under the skinner's knife had taken all day, but at least they'd get to sleep, and would be fed the next morning.

But when they got there, Joe did something that amazed the hell out of both captives. He opened the gate and stepped back. " Get out," he snarled.

Usiko and Ze'ev both gaped at him; Usiko expected a trap. "What?" he said in disbelief.

Safari Joe pushed the feline towards the gate roughly. "Get out before I change my mind!" A shuttle had landed, and a pale-looking, but alive Kamata was at the controls. She had just made it back from the hospital, and met Joe at the entrance. She had been the one who had told the hunter what was going on. She heard from the staff members what was happening.

Usiko frowned for a moment, but he finally pulled Ze'ev out the gate. If the hunter was going to let them go, he would not argue.

In a low tone, Joe said to them, "You're being taken to Zenton 5. It's a spaceport. Use the radio to call the Hellcat, number 64772894." He thrust a piece of paper with the name and number written on it. Then he walked away.

"Are we free?" Ze'ev asked doubtfully.

Usiko nodded blankly. "Yeah...we are."

"W-will...will I have to go back to Plundaar?" the child asked, almost afraid of what the answer was.

Usiko shook his head at the hyena cub and hugged him. "No way. You're with me, kid...if you want to be."

Ze'ev nodded briskly. "I do!" Had it finally happened? Had he found someone he could call family? That would take care of him, and not hurt him, and love him?

The feline looked at him for a minute. He'd lost his own family, and the child had never had one. They could both start over. They could both have a family again. Usiko finally laughed a little as they boarded the shuttle. "I think we're gonna be okay, kid," he said. A new Thundera had been reformed, and those in the Hellcat would find two more to add to their little colony. The Thunderian race was starting anew, and maybe a new understanding between the Thunderians and the Mutants could start from this as well. Ze'ev kept his arms around his newfound guardian as the boarded the craft, and it took off.

Safari Joe watched them leave, and slowly turned away. He thought again of his father. Joe was set in his ways and he could not change. Perhaps he did not want to change, but maybe he had done one thing to make his father proud. His life had been saved by those two Thunderians in the Hellcat, and he had repaid the debt.

"Hey, you gonna let us go, too?" It was one of the humans, sounding hopeful.

"Shut up, Lalton," Joe said in a tired voice, and limped for his manor. He would call the healer and have his injuries tended to. Maybe he couldn't change, but he could sleep easier, knowing that his father was put to rest, and his death avenged. He wanted his father to be proud of him one last time. Hoping he had done this, Joe Gregor lowered his eyes to the ground and limped through the dark compound, headed for home.

Author's note:
After I wrote this story and sent it out to a fanfiction E-Mail list that I am on, I was told that it was very similar to a well-known short story called "The Most Dangerous Game". After being told this by these two individuals, I decided that I wanted to read this story.

I found it, and another I had been interested called "The Lottery" That one I disliked greatly, sorry to say, but Dangerus Game became one of my favorite stories. I was surprised at how closely Kairo resembed the antagonist of Dangerous Game, even having a similar last name.

I had not read that story before writing this one, but the similarities are kind of creepy, and i had no idea I was creating a cahracter so similar. But now that I know, I;m happy with it and must thank Dangerous Game's author for writing a hell of a cool story.

But the wrong guy won!!

:grin:

Part 13

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