I'm sorry it took so long to get this up but I've been having computer problems. Again, sorry.

One and a half weeks later…

Joe was running and running with Francoise on his back and Ivan in his arm. They were once again in the midst of battle. Right now they were retreating to rest and think of some other plans. As far as the three knew, no one was hurt and Gilmore was at Kazumi's. They had been in a group right before they began to retreat, and Joe had said that they were to go separate ways, in groups of two or three, and to meet in a cave a mile away from the Dolphin in six hours. Right after that, an explosive landed in the center of their group and they all had scattered with a partner or two before the bomb went off. Joe at that time was closest to Francoise, who was holding Ivan, so with him leading, they run off together heading north into the woods. After they had run for fifteen to twenty minutes, Joe slowed to a walk and stopped to let Francoise rest and catch her breath.

They hadn't been there for more that a minute when suddenly Francoise jerked her head up, looked south, and exclaimed, "There are soldiers coming! But I'm too tired to run…"

"Quick! Give me 001 and get on my back. I'll carry you," Joe had ordered and she did as he said. And that's how they come to be this way.

After an hour of running, Joe slowed down to a walk. That's when he first noticed that somehow Francoise had fallen asleep on his back during the run at some point. He walked on looking for a place to hide and rest. He didn't go far before he spotted a rock with claw marks at the bottom, which he thought was odd and barely saw, near a fallen log. Curious, he went over to examine it. When he knelt down to get a good look he also barely saw that there was a dugout underneath the log and it was covered in vines, moss, and other vegetation. When he looked inside, he saw that grass covered the dirt. 'This looks like a good place to hide,' Joe thought. Carefully he placed Francoise inside so that she wouldn't wake up from the movement. Then he too got inside with Ivan. He lay down with his back to her holding the little baby in his arms to keep him warm.

Later… Suddenly Joe's eyes snapped open. He didn't know how long he slept, but when he peaked outside through the vegetation, he saw that not to far away large orange, clawed paws stood. He noticed that Francoise hadn't awakened. He guessed that she doesn't wake up from animal noises. Then the next that happened shocked him so greatly that if he had been standing he would have fallen over! "009?" a voice said out of no where that sounded vaguely familiar to him. Through his shock, he noticed that Francoise had woken up with a start, from the voice, behind him.

"009? … 009? Is that you?" the voice asked then said in a smirking voice, "I know your sent, 009. And I can smell 003 and 001 with you, too. So please don't make me come and get you out from under that log you're hiding under. I'm a friend and I know that if 003 got a look at me she would recognize me. Just trust me for a moment and if I try to hurt you, you can kill me. I won't move, I swear. Have we got a deal?"

Slowly, Joe emerged from the hiding place with Ivan protectively in his arms. Francoise soon followed. When she saw who was in front of them she gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. They were looking at the tiger that had somehow healed Gilmore, Chang, and Joe. "I see you remember me, 003. I bet you also know what I am now, too, with your vision, correct?"

Francoise nodded, removed her hand from her mouth, and said, "Yes, I remember. You're the one who healed 009 and two other friends of ours. And I also see that you are a cyborg as well." Joe gave her a surprised glance.

"I guess I should explain then, huh? Well, if you please follow me, I can answer some of your questions and show you to the others. Oh, by the way my name is Kya (K-i-uh: Kuh, long I, uh) but my number is 0019."

"Others? 0019?" Francoise asked as they followed Kya.

"Yes. There are other cyborg animals like myself. You shall meet them soon. I wasn't necessarily the ninth animal cyborg created of my group though. I was one of about thirty animals that had been made with human thinking at a Black Ghost base. My team, that I'm with right now, is eight of those other thirty. And, yes, I'm the leader of the team. My number is 0019 because about four months ago, we discovered your group. After that we began to watch you. We even had one of us to sneak inside a Black Ghost base to learn about you. That's when we found out about all your own separate abilities. That's also when we decided on our code names. You see, when we saw your powers, we realized that our main ability matched yours'. So, we matched the numbers, too, but in the tens so we wouldn't get confused. So that in a way I'm 009's 'partner,' as my group calls it. So your whole team, 009, have partners, too, even little 001 there. My powers are acceleration, bullet proof skin, super strength, breathing underwater, the ability to heal myself and others, talking and thinking like a human, obviously, and I can fly with wings attached to my back." To prove it, she extended and retracted her wings. They were like bats (or like the wings of Goliath's on The Gargoyles) and were near her shoulder blades. They saw that the wings folded backwards so that the edges ran along her spine and overlapped her harness. "I keep thinking that the scientists went overboard when they made me," she continued with a humorous tone in her voice and shaking her head. "I'll explain the others' 'special' powers when we get there."

Joe and Francoise walked along silently, taking it all in, until Joe asked, "You gave me that crystal. Why?" Francoise gave him a confused look.

"Yes, I did. I have one too, see?" Kya stopped, held her head up high, and lifted a similar crystal with the back of her paw. The crystal was hanging around her neck, slightly connected to her harness, and hid in her fur. It was shaped the same but its color was black instead of red. "It has my number engraved into it as well but black so that it blends in with my colors no matter what. Oh, I forgot, I can also change the orange part of my fur to white. And I gave you one, 009, because it has special powers. We have ones for your team too. It's mostly for partner reasons: calling and finding each other, checking each other's health, and stuff like that."

"How did your team escape from Black Ghost?" Francoise asked.

"In the group of thirty, there was the best rebel of all of us, he was a monkey. That little monkey hated Black Ghost the most out of all of us, we don't know why. He was the first to even suggest the possibility of rebellion. We all ended up agreeing for whatever purposes we had. I, before this, had already began thinking of what I would do if I ever got out and figured out that I would go back home and protect my species from poachers and other stuff like that. So one day when scientists or guards, I can't exactly remember, came to get Sari, the humorous little monkey, and since they were so use to us coming peacefully and quietly, were caught way off guard and he was able to escape them. One of his abilities was to become invisible so he easily was able to get into the security room and hit the button that opened all the doors and cages of the base, even the tank doors to the ocean were the marine animal projects were, a few were like my group. You should have seen all the peoples' faces! They were in complete panic! All of the animals, well… most of them anyway, burst out of their cages. The ones I had been with were ready for this so we shot out in a second. I was at the back of the group because, oh I don't know, I guess I just felt responsible for the others I guess. And after we got out side of the base, a few moments later, the big base door closed behind us and about fifty other animals that had escaped with us. But I believe that there were at least a hundred animals total in the base so about four-fifths of all of us got away. And I don't know what happened to Sari. We all went separate ways endless you were a herd animal, then you went with others of your kind and I believe after that they shut down the project. That was about… oh, five years ago. A year after we escaped, my team came together. The others of their herds, if they had one, had been killed and all of us had been rejected from all in our species. I'm not sure how we found each other but we did and we've been together most of the time since and had made our own secret base… Speaking of which, there it is!"

The two followed Kya's gaze. She was looking a small mountain made of jagged rocks. They couldn't see an entrance anywhere! But she just walked right up to a large bolder on the north side and slipped inside a crevice on the side of it. The crevice was tall enough for them to stand up straight and still have some room above and wide enough for a fat horse to go through without getting scratched. They noticed that at no matter what angle you looked at it, you couldn't see it. When they went inside they were amazed at how huge it was and there even were other separate caves, as well! That's when Francoise noticed the other eight with Kya. She gasped and Joe soon followed. The other eight were a black leopard, a bald eagle, a Siberian husky, a red-tailed hawk, a gray wolf, a cat, an Arabian horse, and, in a pool of water, there was a bottle-nosed dolphin! The hawk and horse were the other females and the rest were males. The two humans' jaws went slack a little. "You might want to close your mouths, a birdy might fly in there," the eagle said and their mouths clamped shut.

"I told you there were eight others! Now, introductions. 0011 is the dog, 001's partner. 0012 is the eagle. 0013 is the hawk, 003's partner. 0014 is the leopard. 0015 is the horse. 0016 is the wolf. 0017 is the cat but he is not a cat. He doesn't remember what kind of animal he is. 0018 is the dolphin. And you know my number," Kya said. After that she continued on saying their powers. When she called their name, they stepped forward. "I'll say mostly their extra abilities because their main ones are basically the same as their partner's. 0011 is a whiz at Math and Science. 0012 has x-ray vision. 0013 can shoot laser rays from her eyes and the tip of her wings. 0014 can grow really long and really sharp claws that are unbreakable. 0015 can change the color of her fur, like me, and can make a saddle, bridal, and horse pack appear on her. 0016 can freeze things. 0017 can see and sense heat, kind of like a snake." At that 0017 turned into a snake then turned back into a cat, grinning. Some of the animals rolled their eyes. "0018 has the ability to destroy rock, metal, or anything else that isn't living with his sonar. And again, you know mine."

"Great! Now that they know that, can we go fight now," asked a bored 0012.

"Cool it hothead. We don't even know when and where there all going to meet up with each other, assuming that they do," replied 0014.

"I don't want to get you all involved in this," said Joe.

"Wow. He speaks," said 0017.

"Oh be quiet, 0017! Before I hurt you," said an annoyed 0016. They obviously argued a lot.

"No fighting!" Kya warned the two and to Joe and Francoise said, "To late. We know each other exist now. We can't change that. When we chose our numbers we agreed, no, we promised to fight along side our partners and be under your command once we finally met, no matter what. But…" she added with a grin, "only take 'commands' when we're in battle. We do chores when we're not in battle by our own will. Agreed?"

"I agree. We're supposed to meet the others in a cave a mile away from the Dolphin, our ship, in one and a half hours," said a very much awake Ivan, making some of them jump.

"Good to see that your awake, 001. And I'll go with you, I agree too," Joe said and Francoise nodded in agreement.

"Great! I have an idea," Kya said with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Let's hear it," an interested Joe said.

"It's simple. If 001 and 003 agree, they can stay here with their partners and 0018. My team goes back with 009 and me and when we get there, my team goes and sticks by their partners' sides to help fight and you and I help 008."

"I was think of something similar. I'll go with it. So what do you say, 003?" Joe said with a grin.

"I still want to fight but 001 and I are too tired to do so. So I'll do it," she replied wryly.

Joe hid a smile. "Alright then. Let's get to work."

One hour and forty-five minutes later at the cave…

Thank you to all of those who reviewed! (If you haven't noticed, I don't like to do a lot of talking before or after the story. Sorry…)