Reticence Saga

Severed Web

Chapter 11: Return to the Savage Land, Part 6

"Well, true-believers, I would think that things would settle down a bit after we've all been brought back together from various crazy adventures in the Savage Land. But apparently, someone wants something from here and isn't going to ask nicely for it."


"COVER!" yelled a trooper as the blasted airship flipped onto its side, EGIS troopers firing in the direction of the shooter, Matt drawing his own blaster and Lana's armor clipping some sort of rifle over her hand.

Several energy blasts shot out in a random pattern, creating a lot of explosions.

"Friends of yours?" snapped Matt at Dr Karisa.

"Nobody I know. The other factions learnt the hard way to stay out of ours," said Dr. Karisa.

Several fireballs were shot, more directly towards them. "Hey...I know those fireballs." said Matt in confusion. Just then, a solid ball of earth was launched and hit Matt directly in the stomach.

"Get the device!" came a familiar call, Matt sitting up in a dazed state to see several experiments running down the hill towards the base.

"Oh, not them," groaned Matt, "Ow, my diaphragm." He focussed on a red-furred Stitch, albeit holding a club and with overbite, running at him. "Oh please," he muttered, lining up his shot and blasting it flying back as it leapt.

"Guys, it's Omnirus and his goof troop, business as usual!" he yelled, before Cyber tackled him. "Cyber, someone finally lent you a hand," Matt smirked before blasting him.

Then Leroy leapt in and tackled Chris. "Does Leroy look more brutish than usual?" asked Chris.

"Savage wildflower?" suggested Spider-Man.

"Makes sense," said Chris, "Could someone get one of those ice age skunks?"

There was a scream of "NOOO! HE'S ACTUALLY USEFUL NOW!" before Omnirus tackled Chris.

"Omnirus, you got your Y chromosome back," said Chris casually.

"Yes, about time, and now I'm at my full pow-" began Omnirus before there was a 'dunk' and, his expression not changing, Omnirus fell sideways to reveal Leroy, who then lunged at Chris.

"On second thought, I think I prefer the Leroy who's housetrained," said Omnirus. He turned to see a person in a lab coat running for the lab, before smirking. "Now who would happen to have an evolutionary transmutator?" he asked rhetorically before shifting into Snare-Mutt and going after her.


Dr Karia skidded round the corner, running for the communications room. A few squads of the EGIS elite would deal with these pests. Then she heard something roar behind her. "That almost sounds like a Vulpimancer," she muttered to herself.

She turned to see some sort of hybrid tackle her down. She struggled against what felt like living linen bandages. The hybrid roared in her face, which sounded sort of interrogative. "Get off me, you paper-mache mongrel!" she snapped.

The creature tilted its head before changing into a small experiment. "Unless you want me to turn into something nastier, I want a cure to those damn flowers and you to order your men to blast Matt, his friends and those costumed weirdos," snapped Omnirus.

"The cure, I can provide," said Karisa, "But I'm not about to shoot someone who's helped me in the back for no good reason."

"Would your life be enough? Cure first," snapped Omnirus.

Dr. Karisa sighed before pulling out an inhaler mask. "Fine. I've already made a big batch of these anyways," she said before shoving it at Omnirus.

"I don't need that," laughed Omnirus.

Karisa shrugged. "Your nose," she said, sealing the airlock, before it opened into a room with faint purple smoke everywhere.

"Doesn;t look so ba-aaaaack!" Said Omnirus, gagging as he got a noseful, though sadly too slow as the door shut.

"Dinnertime," said Karisa, into an intercom on the other side of the airlock, Omnirus managing to get his breath back a little, before hearing several skitters from the grass.

"Now what?" snapped Omnirus.

"Oh, its dinnertime," said Karisa smugly, Omnirus taking notice that the airlock door was rated for warships.

"What's in here?" he asked, keeping his voice level.

"The antidote for the savage wildflower," said Karisa.

"Ok...yes...what's the antidote?" said Omnirus, jumping as several snapping branches were heard, finishing "...that requires an armored door to keep them in..."

"A simple natural chemical," said Karisa.

Omnirus heard a snap before he said "It's right behind me, isn't it?" before he turned to be nose to nose with a giant skunk with dentistry at home on sharks. "Oh no," Omnirus said in a small voice before the skunk pounced.

"Get off me, you overgrown weasel!" snapped Omnirus before throwing the skunk away. "HAH! It takes alot better than that to get me," scoffed Omnirus at Karisa, not noticing the long grass vanishing under a forest of skunk heads, all growling. He turned finally to see all the skunks. "Erm...I think I have my sample now," he said quickly.

Karisa grinning darkly, "I did say it was feeding time."


With the revelation that it was Omnirus's crew of experiments attacking, Matt's priorities shifted. If there was anyone who can restore Kala's memories, it had to be him. Getting to her was another matter though.

"Kala, get back here and listen!" snapped Matt, dodging the chaos. The only clue he got to where she was were the fireballs being thrown.

Matt finally got a glimpse of her, firing at a mech's fuel tank as it tried to blast her, only for the bullets to bounce off. Kala had never been bulletproof as far as he knew.

"Ok, just a little plasma burst to stun her," muttered Matt as he took aim. He fired the shot, the orb shooting forward and hitting her, her head whipping round to...growl at him, a action that made Matt pause. "Er, Kala?" asked Matt.

"Na Divo Koda?" snapped Kala, Matt's translator changing it to "Who the hell are you?"

"Kala, it's me, Matt. Don't you recognize me?" asked Matt.

"Never seen you before," snapped Kala, extending her extra arms and firing 4 fireballs at Matt

Matt ducked down quickly and muttered, "I'm gonna twist Omnirus's head off."

"Don't you touch my bushi bu!" snapped Kala, lunging at him.

"Bushi bu?" asked Matt, feeling both offended and revolted.

He paused as the translation came on, the bottom falling out his stomach...before Kala's fists sent him flying.

Matt went flying for quite some distance before he was grabbed out of the air by Spider-Man. "You ok?" he asked.

Matt snarled, his eyes bloodshot. "Not till I hang Omnirus on my wall," he snarled, transforming to his anthro form and taking off, scanning the battlefield, before spotting his prey...


Omnirus ran out the habitat emergency exit, screaming before slamming the blastdoor shut and leaning on it. "Never...badmouth...skunks...again..." he panted, twitching before holding up the sample he'd "That should be enough to get Leroy back to normal. Now where is that transmutator?" asked Omnirus.

He looked up in time to see a burst of blue flame heading for him. "Not now," said Omnirus with annoyance before jumping to one side.

"OMNIRUS! YOU'RE DEAD!" roared Matt, swooping down and passing Omnirus, leaving three shallow slashes in the experiment's side.

Omnirus winced and grasped his side. "Over one trashed lab?" he asked, "Or is it about the package I sent?"

"You took my girlfriend, you little slime!" roared Matt, before he swooped down again, Omnirus ducking the wing aimed at him before, hearing a creak, turned to see a lamp post that had been in the way fall down, neatly sliced.

"Ok, need some armor now," said Omnirus, hitting his Omnitrix and turning into Eye Bolt.

A hail of plasma bolts slammed into him at that before Matt tackled him and, in one smooth movement spun and threw Omnirus into some storage containers. Omnirus quickly curled into a ball before shooting several eye lasers at Matt.

Matt glared, walking forward, ignoring the wounds and welts from the blast. "I'm gonna rip you apart, no matter what form you're in," Matt snarled, his scales getting a darker look, even a few shots from the EGIS troopers rifles shooting towards him and getting absorbed.

Eye Bolt responded by hitting Matt with an ice beam until he was in a solid block of ice at least five feet thick. "Odd, he didn't even try to dodge," said Eye Bolt. But then cracks started to appear in the ice block with steam coming out. "Well, that's my cue to go," said Eye Bolt before rolling off.

He was tossed off his feet as the ice block exploded to show an energy being in the same of said dragon before it said in an echoing voice, "Your continued existence is void, Omnirus. You tampered with my fellow elemental."

The only response was a fire blast as Eye Bolt rolled away. "C'mon, c'mon, where is that transmutator?" he muttered.

He yelped as a hand made of plasma picked him up. "Any last words?" said the elemental, before Eye Bolt fired a blast into its 'eyes', if the two white orbs at eye level were any indication, the elemental staggering back and firing randomly before turning back into Matt the dragon.

"Now to get-" started Eye Bolt before two web blasts hit two of his eyes. "Hey!" he snapped as Spider-Man swung down.

"Going somewhere?" asked Spider-Man.

"Nope, found what I was looking for," said Eye Bolt blasting Spider-Man's hands with ice beams. Eyebolt reached down to grab the small box that was dropped. "Everyone, leg it. We got what we wanted," he laughed, looking at Matt who was clutching his eyes and said, "I'll take good care of Kala." leaning back as Matt swiped. Curling into ball form again, he rolled away.

Matt blinked, his eyes healed before he looked around. "Where is he?" he snarled, turning his head back and forth.

"He went that way, I think," said Spider-Man, gesturing with his frozen hand.

Matt sighed, sending a faint flame out that melted the ice before seeing Karisa. "There's no way that rat set up camp unnoticed. Why didn't you tell me he was here?" snapped Matt, picking her up. "Are you in on it? ANOTHER EXECUTIVE GENETICS PLOT?" before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Matt, calm down," said Spider-Man, "Losing your temper isn't going to help anyone."

"He took Kala. He's dead," snarled Matt, before his legs were webbed up.

"Kala isn't gone for good," said Spider-Man, "You two were way too close for her to forget you that easily."

"I saw her eyes. She didn't know me at all," said Matt in a low voice.

"You'd be surprised how easy it is to recover from amnesia," said Spider-Man.

"I know, I've seen it...but nothing was left. She's hooked up with Omnirus...I lost her," said Matt darkly, his hands clenching.

"And I thought I lost Connors for good," said Spider-Man, "But he came back. You can't give up hope yet."

"He took her...HE TOOK HER...I'LL KILL HIM!" snapped Matt.

"Oh, give it a rest," snapped Chris, "This isn't the first time you 'lost her forever'. And for all the tantrums you have about them, you don't put nearly as much effort into getting her back. So are you going to rant and rave about it or are you actually going to get her?"

Matt glared with a growl before snarling "Fine...but I get to kill him..."

"Then get after him before he gives you the slip," said Chris.


"Ok...we got the stupid box," snapped Leroy, rubbing his head as they walked through the forest

"So how are you supposed to put that thing in your Omnitrix anyways?" asked Dark Start.

Omnitrix paused, before saying in a dull voice, "Shut up."

"You dragged us all the way down here for a gizmo you can't even use?" asked Kala.

"Look, I just need to get the right part out of this thing," said Omnirus as he opened up one side of the device.

He looked at the wires before poking one, causing a buzz, the words 'Do not touch again!' flashing urgently on the screen.

"Uh, are you sure you know what you're doing?" asked Kala nervously.

"Don't break my concentration, woman," said Omnirus, "This is extremely high tech here."

There was another buzz, the screen saying 'She'd have better luck.' Omnirus twitching to look at the serial number which said 'North Star'.

"Uh, you ok, boss?" asked Cyber.

"Just fine," said Omnirus a little forcibly, "Do me a solid and hold this, will you?" He handed the transmutator over to Cyber. Cyber took it, before Omnirus screamed and attacked a tree.

Cyber looked at the transmutator and said, "Hey, I think I see your problem."

Omnirus stopped his attacking the tree and screamed, "DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

A blue beam shot out, bouncing around as everyone dived for cover. It briefly hit Leroy who talked with a posh English accent before the beam hit him again and turned him back before it hit Kala.

The others turned to look at Kala. "Guys, I don't feel so good..." groaned Kala before she started crusting all over her body. In about 30 seconds, she was a large, slightly pulsing cocoon.

"Well...you think if we run to the Combine territories we'll get far enough away from Matt?" said Dark Start.

"Maybe she'll come out of her cocoon first," said Leroy.

"I get the feeling we won't want to be here when that happens, so Cyber, stop poking it," said Omnirus.

"Hey, I'll poke this if I want to," snapped Cyber. Dark Start smacked him upside the head.

A angry roar sounded nearby. "I got a great idea. Let's work out how to fit this somewhere else," said Omnirus urgently.

"Good plan," said Dark Start. There was a hiss at that. "Cyber that's really childish," said Dark Start warningly.

Cyber said "I didn't..." before everyone looked up to see a giant spider on the tree above them, a tiny one going, in a high-pitched voice 'Hello'.

Now, anyone would have fled from a giant spider just from the sight of it. But Omnirus had too many experiences with the spiderbots. "SPIDER! HIDE YOUR KIDNEYS!" he screamed, running for it, the spider scratching its head with a leg as the others ran after Omnirus. It wasn't even like it had done anything.

"Kidneys or not, we probably don't want to stick around get our fluids sucked out," said Dark Start.

They looked back to see the giant spider scuttle down to poke at the cocoon before grabbing it and scuttling back up the tree. "The Combine won't be far enough," Cyber muttered.

"I almost like to see Matt try to get that cocoon back," said Leroy.

"I won't," said Dark Start before grabbing him.


The giant spider was poking the cocoon gently. It seemed like one of its egg sacs...but they usually didn't pulsate.

It almost fell off its branch as a giant reptile landed in the clearing below, looking around...LUNCH!

The best part was the prey never looked up until it was too late.

It dove off with an angry hiss, the reptile turning to look before screaming, "OH GOD, HIDE THE KIDNEYS!" before a blast of blue flame hit the spider.


Spider-Man swung after Matt and called, "Matt, you shouldn't go this far in- OH MY THOR!" The last part was rather appropriate considering the size of the spider that was attacking Matt. The spider itself was on the defensive, Matt screaming various things as he tried to squash it

Ka-Zar landed on the branch and said, "Savage Land not safe place for outsiders." He took one look at the spider and said, "That very good example."

"Do they usually get this big?" asked Spider-Man.

"Never saw one that big before," said Ka-Zar, "You think you can make it stop?"

"Me?!" asked Spider-Man.

"You are Spider-Man, aren't you?" asked Ka-Zar.

"I don't speak to spid-" began Spider-Man before the panicked spider grabbed Spider-Man with some web and tried to hit Matt with him.

Ka-Zar turned to Chris and asked, "Shouldn't we do something?"

"In a minute," said Chris, who was filming the whole thing, "I have got to show Chloe this when we rescue her. Though she'll probably freak out."

"JUST HELP!" screamed Matt, grabbing Spider-Man

"Ok, ok," said Chris before handing his phone over to Ka-Zar, "Keep filming."

The spider itself was being backed up. The prey's ability to breathe flame made it formidable, and now more had turned up. The one it was using as a bludgeon wasn't being very cooperative either.

It hissed as one of its legs was webbed down again before looking up to see its bludgeon had gotten loose before it noticed the cocoon had landed, the dragon sniffing the air before looking at it.

The spider gave a hiss, more out of an attempt to appear intimidating than trying to threaten. The dragon glared before roaring at it hard enough to shake the ground.

Any smart predator knew when one prey is too much trouble to be worth trying to eat. The spider decided that this dragon just wasn't worth it anymore. It scuttled off, one of the dragons paws stopping it getting to the cocoon.

"That was probably the most ironic thing that ever happened to me," said Spider-Man, sitting up with a groan.

"That's...That's Kala..." gibbered Matt, pointing at the cocoon.

"Did she eat after midnight? No, way, it's not midnight, is it? Maybe she's on a different clock," said Spider-Man.

"That's my girlfriend you're joking about." said Matt in a dark, deep voice, his eyes glowing white

"So what kind of poison did she get hit with?" asked Spider-Man.

"No idea, this looks like a gene therapy cocoon mid-process," said Matt, poking the cocoon gently.

"So what's going to come out of it?" asked Spider-Man.


The cocoon opened, releasing a hideous half-fly version of Kala. "Ugh, not that!"


The cocoon opened, releasing a fairy version of Kala. "How does that make any sense?"


"I don't want to know what you're thinking about," said Matt flatly. He shifted back to humanoid form, his armor reforming.

"Scanning...unknown chrysalis state detected...recommend no interference," the onboard computer said.

"Yeah, you better leave her in there," said Chris, "Getting her out now would kill her."

"Urgh...why the hell did he want some old second hand medical processor?" muttered Matt, carefully lifting the cocoon.

"That's what Sauron was using to mutate the Pteron and Aerian leaders," said Spider-Man.

"Yes, he corrupted its purpose pretty well, but that's not what it was meant to do," said Matt.

"It's a medical tool designed to cure DNA-based medical conditions," said Chris grimly.

"And who knows what he's modifying it to do now," said Matt.

"Let's not think about it," said Chris with a shudder, making a comm report to Karisa.

"Tell me someone has a lead on my sister," said Matt icily.

"If she is Sauron, we know where to look," said Ka-Zar.

"No. She'd never let that dingbat transform her. She's probably giving him hell right now," said Matt angrily, not knowing how right he was.


Dr. Karisa was giving the cocoon a thorough examination. She was using all available methods of noninvasive examination to study Kala's condition. "Hmm...I've never seen anything like this," she muttered, using a scanner to try and get a reading on the inside.

"But you've at least read about this sort of thing, right?" asked Matt desperately.

"In theory...the transmutator goes through several lens and other systems to focus their energies. Nobody's ever been hit with the raw energy," said Karia calmly, keeping her eyes on the cocoon, the VI saying "This could represent a potential biohazard."

"Is there anything good you can tell me?" asked Matt out of exasperation.

"She seems to be pupating nicely," said Karisa.

"Pupating? She's turning into a bug?" said Matt dully, the VI saying "Recommend the subject is moved to Clean Lab 3."

"It's a little easier to say than metamorphosing," said Karisa.

"Just what is she going to become?" asked Matt.

"That's unclear right now," said Karisa, "But it should be very interesting."

"It's not interesting..." snapped Matt, a faint glow blinding them as the VI teleported them and the cocoon to the clean lab, the cocoon on the other side of a transparent energy field, Karisa putting on some manipulator gloves, a skeletal bot mirroring her movements as Karisa looked at a screen feed from the bot.

Matt rubbed his eyes until he could see again. "Look, can you at least tell me how long she's going to be in there?" asked Matt.

"No idea. She could hatch as anything. This lab's a good idea, given any of those forms could be a hostile creature," before she opened a separate window. "And there is still clear corruption in her brainwaves..." she said, pointing to several glowing red spots on the brain image.

"Great. So for all I know, she's going to be a kaiju when she hatches," said Matt.

"If she is...well, punch the field, all your power," said Karisa, Mattr glaring before going dragonian and punching the field...and being sent flying back. "Newest device from the company tech sector. Refractor field, reflects any force back at the initiator by about...10 times," said Karisa proudly, Matt making a faint whimpering from the dent in the wall.

"That being said, we will be giving her our best treatment," said Karisa, "If she can be reasoned with, we will do so."

"And if she can't?" rasped Matt.

Karisa said, "We deploy the incineration protocol...40,000 degrees."

"WHAT?!" snapped Matt.

"If she retains her fire affinity, it might not be enough," said Karisa.

"You are NOT hurting her," snapped Matt angrily, his eyes getting a faint glow.

"Hey, let's not assume that she'll be a monster," said Chris, "I mean, what are the odds of that happening?"

"Scanninf current readings. Estimation: 86.437%" said the VI politely.

"Uh, we've done better with worse odds," said Chris.

"Estimation now at 91.453%" said the VI before Matt blasted the speaker.

"Chris, remember our rule about tempting F-A-T-E?" asked Matt.

"Sorry," said Chris.

Karisa said, "I have ordered the men to deploy some sensor drones and I programmed them to look for your sister's DNA. Even if she's morphed, it should find her."

"Good. Meanwhile, I need to settle the score with Omnirus," said Matt.

"Mr. Lynch, the cocoon's accelerating development. The best chance to break this programming is for you to be-" she said before Matt snapped "No, I'm gonna bring her a little present. Chris, make sure Spider-Man, Ka-zar and White Tiger have no idea where I went. They won't get it."

"Matt, I think Kala should be your first concern," said Chris.

"Anderson, I gave you a very specific order," said Matt darkly.

"And I'm giving you sound advice," said Chris.

"You have your orders," said Matt coldly.

Chris sighed and said, "Fine. But you better hope Kala won't go feral just because you're not here."

Matt growled at that before walking out.


"Fix it FASTER!" snapped Omnirus in a panic, the others trying to get their ship to work.

"Maybe if someone didn't drive it into a tree," snapped Leroy.

"Just do it! That spider could be on its way already," said Omnirus in a faint voice, looking around.

"Is that what we were worried about?" asked Cyber.

Leroy said in a terrified voice, "You haven't...experienced them."

Cyber raising an eyebrow before his face slowly turned horrified as Leroy whispered in his ear.

"You know, there are other dangers in the Savage Land we should be more concerned about," said Dark Start.

"Leroy, explain the bots to her. We need more terror-based urgency," snapped Omnirus before the experiments all looked terrified. "That's more like it," smiled Omnirus before noticing the sun appeared to have gone out behind him.

"Oh no, is it the spider?" asked Omnirus.

"Nope, one of those other dangers I was talking about," said Dark Start.

Omnirus turned slowly to see a T-rex (probably) grinning at him before it chomped him, the others looking terrified. A few seconds later, the T-Rex seemed to be gagging before Omnirus popped out of one of its nostrils. "If anyone takes a picture of this, I'll personally feed them to the spider," said Omnirus in a warning tone.

The T-rex shrugged before stomping on Omnirus, turning to leave, pausing to kick some dirt on Omnirus and walking off. "Just...fix...it..." rasped Omnirus's voice from the footprint.

"If you're really that concerned, why aren't you working on upgrading your Omnitrix right now?" asked Dark Start.

"Because my liver and pancreas just swapped places," rasped Omnirus, saying, "I'm...just gonna lay here for a few minutes." Just then, an angry sounding roar was heard not too far in the distance. "Then again, what's a little internal injury when you've got something to keep your hands busy?" asked Omnirus.

"It's fine, just another T-rex," said Dark Start abscently, before a blue dragon landed on Omnirus's footprint home.

"WHERE'S OMNIRUS?" It roared, the experiments all pointing at his claws, a faint 'eeeeeeeee' coming from under. Matt looked down and said, "Oops." He turned to the others and said, "Uh, I'll be back in five minutes. Make sure Omnirus is ready to fight."

The experiments watched as Matt flew off before they strolled over to the footprint, now surrounded by cracks. Cyber said cheerfully, "Now you got 5 minutes to finish the Omnitri-uuuurk" said Cyber, gagging as Omnirus's hands, which had slowly and shakily reached up got a grasp on his neck.


5 minutes, one session in the regen booth and a hurried transmutator installation later...

"Ok, Kala's still metamorphosing? Ok, let me know when she's getting ready to come out. It shouldn't be long. Omnirus won't be hard to beat. I stomped him flat five minutes ago. No, I couldn't just finish him off then. Let me focus on my thing right now. See you later," said Matt before turning off his comm.

He descended with another divebomb, seeing the experiments in front of their ship. Omnirus and Cyber seemed the worst off, Omni still sporting a black eye and Cyber's eyes seemed to be a little wall eyed, his armor covered in what looked like fist-shaped dents. "Ok...hand over Omnirus so I can turn him into a glove," he snarled.

"Not this time," said Omnirus, "You've disrespected me for the last time."

"No. You were the one who was in my landing zone. That was an accident," said Matt.

Dark start said, "Got you there, boss. Wasn't his fault this time,"

Omnirus snapped, "I meant all the other times."

"And how is this time going to be any different?" asked Matt.

"Because I haven't been just repairing my Omnitrix, I've been upgrading it too," said Omnitrix, lightly tapping the Omnitrix faceplate. It was different now, shaped like a square with one half green, the other black, and two lines of each color extending into the other area.

"So you've got a new design, big whoop," said Matt.

"It's more than that," laughed Omnirus before being roasted by Matt. "Just...work...you...stupid watch," Omnirus coughed.

"Yeah, great upgrade," said Matt sarcastically.

"I'm getting to it," said Omnirus before pressing the Omnitrix faceplate. With a flash, he morphed into Diamondblast, but Matt could hear energy still building up.

"Uh oh," said Matt.

Then Diamondblast grew taller, his shoulders becoming even wider as flaming vents appeared in them. His back bulged as even more mass built up, building up to a literal peak that opened for a volcanic spout. His limbs got thicker, with his arms getting longer and his legs getting slightly shorter. His head was now slightly extended from the middle of the volcanic stack. In short, Diamondblast now looked like a volcano with arms and legs. "That's right, Lynch," said Diamondblast in a deeper voice, "A hyper-evolved Pyronite/Petrosapian hybrid. I can access my most powerful forms and you can't."

Matt gave a shocked look. "Does the condemned get a last request?" he said, taking off.

"I know I'm going to regret it, but I'll allow," said Ultimate Diamondblast.

Matt nodded, took a deep breath. "Oh dear God," said U-Diamondblast faintly before trying to ready a attack, before Matt started singing and everything went to pain.


Dr. Karisa was supervising the outside repairs when her ears flattened as some horrible noise was coming from the distance. But that noise was soon stopped. "Good thing that poor creature wasn't in pain long," she said.


"MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!" screamed Dark Start manically, shaking Ultimate Diamondblast's head by the collar.

"I'm trying!" yelled Ultimate Diamondblast, shooting molten rocks from his volcanic spout at the flying Matt.

Matt just easily dodged the slow blast before actually stopping. "Oh thank Jumba," muttered Dark Start before her eyes turned to pinpricks as Matt called "Now for my next number..." Dark Start leaping down to Ultimate Diamondblast's arm and stomping on the joint that made spines shoot out.

"Hey, those are my spikes!" snapped U-Diamondblast. Dark Start turned to glare, the others only seeing that U-Diamondblast's head was lit up in red light before he said "I'm not saying stop." in a small voice.

"If only someone with aim was shooting," said Cyber dryly, having shut off his hearing after the first five seconds. Adjusting his blaster, he aimed at Matt and shot a burst of concentrated white noise at him.

Matt yelped as the blast went down his throat, before coughing smoke.

"Oi...never underestimate the artist-EEP!" he snapped, dodging a hail of spines as U-Diamondblast took back control, putting Dark Start on his shoulder, who was egging him on. "You'll need to do better than that!" called Matt.

"Gladly," said U-Diamondblast before his arms bulked up, his hands sinking into growing holes until he had a pair of large cannons for arms. Aim at Matt, he shot two huge flaming balls of crystal at him.

"Ohdeargod!" yelped Matt, a few spines shooting out as well, glowing red from heat. "Hah, what's the matter? Can't you hit me?" taunted Matt, before catching a spine in his jaws, spitting out. "Ok, fun over," he said, spitting a plasma blast at U-Diamondblast.

The blast hit U-Diamondblast dead center. But when the smoke cleared, he didn't even show a scratch. "You'll need to do better than that," said U-Diamonblast before plunging his hands into the ground. The ground right beneath Matt started turning red and giving off a lot of heat.

Matt flew up. "Yes, ground attacks against a flying target, well done," sneered Matt before looking down to see fire spreading from the trees that had been hit. "Omni, stop shooting, you fruit loop!" he roared.

"Wait for it..." said U-Diamondblast before the ground erupted and a spout of lava shot up straight at Matt.

Matt flapped to the side, wincing as the heat scorched his tail. "Are you actually trying to destroy the ground you are on?" snapped Matt.

"No, just the ground you're on," said U-Diamondblast before a huge crystal shot up through the ground. Matt was hit point blank shooting skywards. "HAH!" laughed U-Diamondblast.

Cyber said "Erm...boss?" pointing to the lava which was slowly heading for him.

"Will you relax? I'm half-Pyronite and half-Petrosapien. There's no way that lava can harm me," said U-Diamondblast, "I finally got Matt, right in the lungs. He won't be singing for weeks."

Leroy said, "But I thought we were bad guys."

"You guys don't realize what a big victory this is," said U-Diamondblast, "You're too caught up in the big picture. You can't see the forest for the trees."

"I can see the forest fire for the trees," said Dark Start.

"What the hell are you talking abou-oooooh dear," said Omni, turning to see the now pretty large fire.

"Yeah, throwing around that much fire in the jungle wasn't a good idea," said Dark Start.

"Shut up, everyone on the ship. Where the hell is Cy-CYBER, STOP ROASTING SMORES!" snapped Omnirus, turning back.

"I got enough for everyone," said Cyber.

"Just get in the ship," snapped Omnirus, looking up to see a small shape getting bigger. "OH DEAR GOD, IN THE SHIP!" he screamed, yanking Dark Start along.

"No time for hot dogs?" asked Leroy.

"NO TIME!" snapped Omnirus.

"But what about Kala? She knows too much," snapped Cyber in a rare sane moment as they ran up the ramp.

"What's there to know?" asked Dark Start dryly.

"That she'll give Matt's crew even more reason to kill us and she was probably the only reason they didn't hunt us down?" said Cyber, a uncomfortable silence following.

"Damn, we're lucky," said Dark start weakly.

"Look, Matt got Kala back, we're even now," said Omnirus.

"You don't really think that counts," said Dark Start disbelievingly.

"No, but it'll give us a headstart while we finish our work on this planet," admitted Omnirus.

"And knowing Matt, he'll have a lot more stuff to keep him occupied," said Leroy, "Like trying to get back his former street urchin-turned-sorceress."

Omni nodded. "Lets just put some distance before-AAAAARGH" Omnirus said, everyone screaming as a dazed Matt, hit the windscreen before Cyber turned on the wipers.


Chris wasn't able to keep the others back for very long, especially with a wildfire breaking out in the jungle. "The hell did Matt do?" Chris snapped, following, Karisa having been left cocoon watching before hearing and seeing a ship fly overhead before a shape fell off the front.

"Is that who I think it is?" asked Spider-Man.

"Let's see what sound it makes," said Chris. Eventually, the shape fell into a tree and a high-pitched yelp was heard. "Yep, that's Matt," said Chris with a wince.

There was a snapping noise before Matt landed in dragonian form, his armor's breastplate cracked. "I think my pancreas and liver swapped," Matt groaned.

"Ok, you need some bedrest," said Spider-Man, "But first, how are we going to put out that huge fire?"

"Oh, if only you had someone who can create a near endless supply of water," said Lana in an ironic dry tone.

"Shut it," grumbled Matt from ground level.

Chris said, "You're barely holding yourself together as it is..."

"If I can't put out a fire, what good am I?" asked Lana.

Matt, helped up, grumbled, "Fire's too big. I can tell cause you're shrinking."

"I can handle it," said Lana.

"And there's lava starting most of those fires. You have enough water to fully douse lava?" asked Matt.

Lana paused, before some new fear hit her.

"Lana? Lana, look at me," said Matt, "Lana, stop thinking about the lava."

"It's...burning...Dad?" said Lana weakly.

"Lana, no, you're not there. Think of the present, think of-" started Matt before Lana ran off.

Matt sighed before turning "Her dad..." before he paused. "Wait...what about a fireblock?"

"It might work. But how are we going to set one up here?" asked Spider-Man.

Matt looked up. "Chris, if I land half-insane, beat me up," he said before he took off, looking down to see the beach where Omnirus and company had been before actually starting to turn to brown glass, the fire spreading fast in all directions. "Gotta work...gotta work." he muttered, closing his eyes...


Mind scape

"Come out here you lodger," snapped Matt, looking around.

"Lodger? Are you insinuating that I'm a mere tenant here?" asked a lofty voice. "No, I'm insinuating you're a parasite," said Matt.

"My name is Sokaris...and I heard you tell Mr. Anderson to beat me up," said Sokaris loftily, before saying evilly, "And you need something..."

"I need to know how to turn sand to glass," said Matt.

Sokaris scoffed and said, "Even your feeble human methods had figured that out long ago."

"I prefer to not use a nuclear warhead," snapped Matt.

Sokaris smirked. "So you want me to give you my knowledge. Well I want some time in the physical world that doesn't count on admiration." He lifted up his paw to show some mental chains.

"Since when have I gotten admiration?" asked Matt.

"Yes...in my day, we were gods among you mortals. Had fun in the Mayan empire," said Sokaris wistfully.

"I saw enough of that," said Matt darkly.

"You saw plasma dragons. My people were the real deal," said Sokaris harshly, the chains creaking.

"Look, I didn't come here for a history lesson," said Matt.

"Yes, you came for power worthy of a dragon...and I have stated my terms. I want to feel air under my wings," roared Sokaris.

"I'm not giving you the keys to this place," said Matt, "If you get any wing time, it'll be a measured, finite time."

"Then enjoy seeing those lands burn," sneered Sokaris.

"10 minutes," said Matt.

"20 minutes...during the night," said Sokaris.

"Ok, fine," said Matt, "But if you touch her..."

"I would not touch your mate-to-be," said Sokaris, before sneering, "This may hurt." before he jammed his claws into Matt's forehead.


Matt's eyes shot open, his eyes having a faint glow for a second. "Ok...concentrate..." he muttered to himself, a glow rising from his chest. The wet sand around Matt was already starting to hiss and steam.

He concentrated harder, his horns getting faint markings before he spat out a pure beam of plasma, black smoke rising and a deep trench being dug as he slowly led it around the flames. Trees grass, rocks, all vaporised under the onslaught, without even time to combust, leaving black glass and ash in its place...and it hurt. Matt's throat felt like it had a knife in it as he led the blast, the glowing lines on his horns spreading all over him, though minus the cracks of imminent elementalization.


"Holy crap!" yelled Chris, the group moving back just in time, the beam annihilating the trees where they had been before.

"I've only seen Nova get that hot, and only on very rare occasions," said Spider-Man.

"Yeah, too hot, get back further!" snapped Chris, continuing to run, before Ka-Zar noticed that the glowing and plinking glass had halted the flames' spread. While there was still lava lying about, the lava didn't have anything to burn after the plasma ashed everything flammable.

"I think he's got it," called Spider-Man, before the glow vanished from Matt and he began to plummet into the center of the fire.

"I don't think so," said Chris before flying towards Matt. What he found was a familiar dragon hovering in the updraft with a content smile. "Oh, he had to call on you," said Chris.

"No...I called on me. If he does, so do I," said Sokaris calmly, before saying, "Though I did give him the skills to stop this inferno."

"And now you have, you can give him his body back," said Chris.

"He's out cold. I can't turn back unless you want him roasted," said Sokaris logically, flying towards the others before Chris got in his way.

"You turn back when you land. We look after our own..not some egotistical nutcase." Sokaris's eyes narrowing but complying.

The others naturally tensed up when he landed, but less so when he shifted to a unconscious human, Matt. "Bedrest," said Chris decisively, "Chloe and Connors can wait until he's had time to recover."


Mindscape

"Sokaris smiled to himself, Matt glaring. "I suppose...some thanks are needed given we're both not dead," said Matt icily, adding, "When I wake up..."

Sokaris lifting a talon, "Ah, ah...a deal is sacred between dragons. As you humans say, no take backsies."

"This was a one-time thing," said Matt.

"For now. You're barely a hatchling and you've the scars to prove it...and my knowledge will help. I will not ask for...longer," said Sokaris.

"You better not," growled Matt.

"Of course not. You require lessons and if you die, so do I," said Sokaris.

"You're technically not alive to begin with," said Matt.

"I'm bound to your body," said Sokaris, "And I'm not likely to reincarnate in another plasma dragon any time soon."

"Fine...but no trouble or it's mental poison time," warned Matt, before looking around "We're still out cold..." before he looked down at what they'd been doing before the argument. "Got any threes?"

Sokaris muttered, "Go fish."


Dr. Karisa was feeling a little put-upon. She wasn't really a medical doctor and yet she had to watch over two patients. And now some half-savage jungle man was snapping at her over the damage to his jungle. "For the final time, I will make sure we replant," snapped Karisa, before snapping, "Now please get out before I forget my pledge to not eat people."

"Not just plants. New soil," said Ka-Zar, "The earth was burned badly."

"We'll turn it into a stream," said Karisa sarcastically.

"GO FISH!" yelled Matt, sitting up, causing both Ka-Zar and Karisa to jump. Matt looked around before snapping, "DAMMIT! I had him where I wanted him." He looked at Ka-Zar and Karisa, "What are you looking at?"

"Uh, how are you feeling?" asked Karisa.

"I have a headache," said Matt darkly

"Well, you seem to have recovered from the most severe of your injuries, though I still recommend you rest longer," said Karisa.

"My mouth tastes of plasma clips," muttered Matt, before seeing the now larger cocoon. "What have you been feeding her?" asked Matt.

"Nothing," said Karisa with a roll of her eyes before the cocoon shook.

"How often has it been doing that?" asked Matt.

"A few hours...oh, and Mr Ka-Zar is annoyed that you glassed a road in his jungle," said Karisa icily.

"I had to stop the rest of the jungle from going up in flames," said Matt.

"I'm sure you and Ka-Zar can discuss things," said Karisa with a evil grin, walking out.

Matt turned to Ka-Zar and said, "Look, the fire-" Just then, the cocoon gave a bigger wobble. As Matt and Ka-Zar turned to look at it, a crack appeared in the surface. Matt, in a sudden show of energy, jumped off is bed, running over to the cocoon. "Honey? You ok in there?" he yelled at the shell.

The cocoon shook and Matt saw something was pushing against the surface. He looked around before grabbing the nearest sharp pin and hitting the cocoon. "I'M COMING, HONEY!" yelled Matt manically.

"Not a good idea," said Ka-Zar.

Matt turned to glare. "I'M GETTING MY KALA OUT OF THERE! Wait, why's it a bad idea?" he asked, the shell starting to glow.

"Because she's getting herself out," said Ka-Zar, flipping a table over and getting behind it.

Matt turned to look in confusion, seeing the glow. "Oh, some leftover viking dragon DN-" he said.


Karisa sighed as the door to Matt and Kala's room was blown off its hinges, before she sighed, taking a medikit off the wall and walking in. She had to watch her step as she walked in, as there was red goo splattered everywhere. "She couldn't come out of her chrysalis quietly. No, she had to make a big mess with it," she grumbled.

She finally waved some smoke aside to see a red haired human with a blanket covering her and Matt slumped against the wall with a dazed look. "Ms. Kala?" asked Karisa.

The woman turned to look at her with a terrified look. "Some pants...please..." she said with a twitch.

"In a moment," said Karisa before thinking better of it, "No, some proper attire should be first. We can evaluate you afterwards."

"Medic," rasped Matt, Karisa throwing the medikit at him. "Ow," said Matt.

Ka-Zar just blinked, before shrugging. The Savage Land is a strange place, with things that even surprised him sometimes. The cocoon's contents were hardly the weirdest thing. He sniffed at the red goo. For some unknown reason, it smelled just like strawberries. Though only an idiot would try to taste it.


"Beginning Evaluation...Dr Karisa recording. Subject: Kala 777...previously 700 series military grade experiment. Say hi, Kala," said Karisa, speaking into her datapad, two guards standing behind Kala, who was wearing a blue jumpsuit.

"Hi, Kala," said Kala in an annoyed tone.

"We'll begin with reading off the medi-scan results. It seems alot of her experimenty qualities, such as increased cell density and strength have carried over, though physical features have not. Tests with small arms showed only light bruising," Karisa said.

Kala snapped, "You told me that was an airsoft game."

"Her senses also retain some of their enhanced experimental quality. Eyesight, hearing, and olfactory are quite acute. There are some notable experimental features that have been retained. Her irises are 50% bigger than a normal human's and when fully dilated, her pupils cover 60% of her optic surface. More obvious to the casual observer is that her ears come to points not unlike an elf's or Vulcan's."

"I like it, Matt does too," said Kala sulkily.

Karisa rolled her eyes before saying, "Onto the mental state, she's definitely retained a experiments approach to rules."

"I was always like that," said Kala.

"A psi-scan however showed several anomalies which concern me. Clear signs of the beginning of split personality and a dormant third." said Karisa, Kala suddenly looking concerned

"Dormant third? What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Kala.

"Your mind is a mess," said Karisa calmly, asking "Have you ever had this before?" noting that Kala now looked worried.

"Not for a long time," said Kala quietly.

"Well, its coming back. It seems to be in the proto-stage. I'll be prescribing some nano-meds to counter it," said Karisa calmly, before turning back to her medical report, "I've read your file, you won't have dragon powers for a while. Your control nanite is heavily damaged and is missing the newer nanites Matt has."

"Wait, I can't use my elemental powers anymore?" asked Kala.

"That appears to be the one exception to you retaining any experiment powers," said Karisa calmly.

"Well, that's going to make things...one-sided," said Kala.

"I don't see any reason for Matt to lose interest in you," said Karisa with a coy smile.

"Right... Any estimation on when I'll get my full fire powers back?" asked Kala.

"Hard to say," said Karisa, "Your control nanite seems to be in a self-repair mode, but it looks like it may require a trigger to reactivate it."

"Oh goody," said Kala gloomily.

"I won't worry too much about it," said Karisa, "If I've noticed a pattern with this dimension, it's that such triggers happen sooner than later."

"And who knows what I'll turn into...MY LIFE IS OOOVEEER!" screamed Kala, the two guards looking at one another as Karisa facepalmed.

"Human estrogen seems to have increased her dramatizing tendencies," remarked Karisa.

"Screw you!" snapped Kala before looking confused as Karisa grinned.


There's another chapter, one that changes the status quo a little. Omnirus is going to be a bigger threat in future chapters, though he might not appear as often. And Kala's back with the good guys, though she might be out of action for a while. Tomorrow will be the last chapter of the Savage Land arc. Keep an eye out for it and please review.