Back in Corinth, Dr. K was on the communications link, contacting Scott. It was the end of the first full day since they had left, and already she was missing him dreadfully. Not least of which was because so far only he knew what she had found out about her life before Alphabet Soup. Everyone was so focused on the missions at hand that she hadn't even told anyone about her real name.
"So is everything alright out there?" She asked the man she loved.
"We're all just getting ready for the night." He informed her with a little smile. "Dillon and Flynn are already arguing about who sleeps where. We've found a place to park for the night; we're just about to activate the complete security lockdown."
He saw her nodding as he said this, but could see the look on her face through the viewing screen. She still seemed upset about everything. He couldn't blame her really, less than two days ago she had found out her whole life had been a lie. She had found out everything she thought she knew about her life was all part of some kind of sales agreement between her parents and a weapons manufacturer.
"Sarah, how are you coping?" He asked her. Dr. K just shook her head and shrugged.
"I'm coping." She told him in a weak voice. Scott just tapped the screen.
"You know you don't sound convincing right?" He asked her. "Have you told the others yet?"
"I haven't gotten around to it." She whispered, into the microphone.
"Sarah, you've just had a hell of a shock. You need people around you." He told her. "I know I can't be there for you, but the others can."
"There's so much going on here though." Sarah reminded him. "First I had to scan Summer..."
"Wait, you gave Summer a scan?" Scott asked her. "I thought the baby wouldn't show up for weeks yet."
"I just scanned for a heartbeat. I wanted to make sure nothing had happened to the phoetus during the battle." She told him. "The heart is still beating. The baby is fine."
"I'm sure Dillon will be glad to hear that." Scott said with a grin. "When they weren't arguing over where they'd be sleeping all they could talk about was how excited they are about their kids."
"But there's so much..."
"Sarah, do you know what the main thing about being in a family is?" He asked her.
"How would I know that?" She asked him.
"The main thing about being in a family is you CAN inconvenience them." He informed her, ignoring her remark. "No matter how busy they get, no matter how many personal crises there are, family is always there to help."
He touched the screen softly, at which she repeated the gesture on her end. He smiled at her.
"You only have to ask, Summer, Tenaya and the others will be more than happy to be there for you." He told her. "I love you Dr. Sarah Truman."
Dr. K felt a tear forming as he used the name she would likely adopt when they were married.
"I love you too." She replied. "Tell Dillon that Summer's sleeping right now, but I'll let her call in the morning."
"I'll tell him." He replied. "Over an out!"
Over in the city of Eden, Gem and Gemma were finally brought into the city from the jungle. Julian and a couple of guards rode in the back with them as the transport vehicle drove into the city.
Gemma pulled the blanket around herself a little more tightly as she sat in the vehicle. Gem though quickly shed his blanket and leapt to the window, looking out at the city.
It was no less grandiose on the inside than it had been when they saw it from a distance. The streets were all immaculately clean, free of litter and well-lit. The bars, restaurants and clubs all appeared to be open despite the late hour. People wandered around, going about their business without a care in the world, while a few guards patrolled.
"This place is amazing!" Gem yelped, looking out at the streets. It was awash with lights and music.
"If you think that's good, you should see my place." Julian told him, putting a hand on Gemma's shoulder and gesturing up to The Spire. They both looked at him a little shocked.
"You live in The Spire?" Gem asked him. "I thought you were just taking us there because it's the command centre."
"It is." Julian told them. "I run this city. The citizens sometimes call me a prince, but it isn't an official title, just a little honour they decided to bestow upon me."
As they pulled into a rolling door in the base of The Spire, the vehicle went down into a garage, which was almost the size of the race track Fresno Bob used to own back in Corinth. It was filled with vehicles of every imaginable shape and size, from cars and motorcycles, through yachts and speed boats, right up to a jet much larger than the one the twins had arrived in.
"This city truly is amazing." Gemma commented. "How did the city survive the attacks in such...?"
"You were expecting the city to be in ruins?" Julian asked her. He snapped his fingers and a fully grown tiger appeared before them. Gem and Gemma jumped in fright, but Julian didn't react as it approached him. Instead, he just reached out to it, beginning to stroke it.
"This city was hit hard in the Venjix attacks. It was almost completely destroyed." He began as the tiger purred contentedly. "We fought as long and hard as we could. Most of the city perished, but that's when I made the discovery that tipped the balance."
"What discovery?" Gem asked, keeping as far away from the tiger as he could. Julian just laughed.
"This city was built on a powerful magical epicentre." He informed them, snapping his fingers again. Immediately the tiger shrunk down into a far less intimidating little cub. He nestled it into the crook of his left arm and approached them, gesturing to them that it was alright to stroke it. "While the others worked to fight a hopeless war, I brought together a coven of apprentices, and we studied the ways of ancient magic. Augmented by the power of the epicentre, our power grew quickly. Before long, our power eclipsed that of the Generals Venjix sent against us."
"You drove Venjix back?" Gem shrieked as he reached out, beginning to pat the tiger cub nervously.
"I have no doubt that if Venjix concentrated his attack on us, we wouldn't have been able to match him, but apparently he had other areas to focus on." Julian told them. "We drove them back. Once they were gone, we founded the city and started to rebuild. The citizens were so grateful that they chose to honour me. Between my magic and their technology, we built the city into what you see here."
"If everything's so great here, why did you send a distress signal?" Gemma asked him. Julian shook his head as the tiger cub disappeared, sighing deeply.
"We sent no such signal." He informed them. "I have a feeling you have been lured here by the mutates."
"What are the mutates?" Gem asked him. "Why do they attack you?"
"How are we going to find Ziggy?" Gemma asked him. "We need to..."
"I promised we'd do what we can to help your friend." Julian assured them, gesturing over a couple of guards. "Take them up to the palace level. Find them rooms and get them cleaned up."
"But..."
"Trust me, until we find your friend there's nothing we can do." He told them, putting an arm around Gemma. It didn't feel right to have him touch her like that, to have any man touch her that way. He was a handsome man, that much hadn't escaped her notice. If it wasn't for how she felt about Hicks, she would probably have a lot more thoughts about him, but as he touched her, all she could think about was Hicks. "Call up and have them both provided with rooms and drawn a bath to clean up. Have fresh clothing brought to them. If they require anything else, have it brought to them."
"It will be done your highness." One of the guards replied. As Gem was led away, he took Gemma gently by the wrist, and turned her to face him.
"If you're hungry, thirsty, anything at all, my servants are at your disposal." He informed her. "I will be up shortly once we find your friend's location."
"Thank you." She whispered, before turning and going with the guard. As the elevator doors closed behind her, she reached to her chest, stroking the spot where Hicks' dog tags were. They needed to find Ziggy, and they needed to find out what was going on here, who these mutates were and to stop them. She couldn't help feeling guilty about the fact while she had all this to do; she still loved the sound of a hot bath, fresh clothes, and a hot meal.
In the wastes outside of Eden, Ziggy woke up, finding himself locked in a crude cage, made of wood lashed together into a frame. Looking down to his wrist, he noticed that he still had his morpher with him. Obviously his captors didn't know what it was, or what it could do. He knew he could easily escape, but even if he did get out of the cage, he needed to know how to get to the city.
The creature that had taken him prisoner was a little way off, cleaning his rifle. Well, Ziggy presumed it was a male, but in truth, the mutations made it hard for him to tell. He went to the bars, gesturing the mutant over. It just curled its lip at him in disgust.
"What do you want normal?" It sneered at him. "Do you think you can just beckon me like an animal? Do you think I'm...?"
"I'm sorry, that was rude." Ziggy interrupted him, realising that the creature had taken offence. "Where am I? Why did you kidnap me?"
"Why do you think normal?" The mutant spat in disdain. "If it were up to me, you'd already be dead, but the master wants us to bring all normals before him for judgement."
"Judgement?" Ziggy asked him. "You shot me down! I've never even seen this place, let alone done anything..."
His words tailed off as he realised he was close to losing the mutant's attention. The last thing that would help was to alienate his captor.
"When is the master coming to judge me?" Ziggy asked him. The mutant laughed.
"He has been busy on a raid into the Jungle of Eden with some of my allies." He told Ziggy. "The Dragon Lord will be back in a few hours."
Ziggy shifted a little closer to the bars, taking a seat nearby.
"I just have to ask. You said you were a vegetarian." Ziggy said with a smile. "Is that true?"
"You have nothing to worry about normal." The mutant chuckled. "I will not eat you."
"By any chance could I get something to eat?" He asked. The mutant considered his position for a moment, before finally coming to a conclusion. He whistled, at which a small mutant came in. This one was not quite so badly affected as him, clearly female. She appeared to be With the exception of some dark blue blotches on her shoulders and upper arms, and bright purple hair and eyes, she appeared almost normal.
"Get our prisoner some stew." He instructed her.
"But dad..."
"Just do as I say." The mutant reiterated. She looked to Ziggy, an unexplained hatred flashing in her eyes, before turning and leaving. He turned back to Ziggy.
"That's your daughter?" Ziggy asked him. "How old is she?"
"She is 19." The mutant told him. "I know she looks like a child, but I assure you she is a woman."
"I have a son." Ziggy told him. He looked in his pocket, before realising that his wallet had been taken. "I have a picture in my wallet."
The mutant shifted the rifle to his other arm, before searching through a small collection of items at the corner of the room, finding Ziggy's wallet. He opened it, searching through it before pulling out a picture. It showed Ziggy and Tenaya, standing side by side, Tenaya holding Alex gently. It had been taken a few days before he left Corinth.
"He is a handsome boy." The mutant agreed. "This woman is your mate?"
"She's my fiancée." Ziggy confirmed. "If I get out of here, I hope to marry her."
"That all depends on the Dragon Lord." The mutant told him. Just then, the female mutant came back, carrying a small bowl. Her face seemed just as harsh and unforgiving as before. She knelt down, shoving the bowl through the bars roughly, spilling some on the floor. Ziggy looked up to her.
"Thank you." He told her. The girl paused, almost as though he had said something amazing. Eventually, she turned and left the room.
"She is not used to hearing those words from a normal." The mutant guarding him informed him.
"What can I call you?" Ziggy asked him, beginning to shovel some stew into his mouth. There were tiny chunks of meat, some mushrooms, and a few other vegetables in thin, watery gravy. It was surprisingly tasty, though he was sure that with choice, he would have chosen something else, but all things considered, it was good. The mutant thought about it for a moment, before answering.
"I am Graeme." The mutant told him.
"Ziggy." He introduced himself, through a mouthful of stew. "This is great. What's in it?"
"It's probably best you don't know." Graeme responded honestly. Ziggy paused for a second as he thought about what he had said. It wasn't like he had seen a farm, or any livestock. He finished his last couple of mouthfuls and put the bowl down. He had no idea when, or even if he would be fed again. Instead, he just concentrated on trying not to think about what they might have made that stew out of.
Back in the city, Gemma had just finished with her bath, and made her way into the room she had been given. It was excessive to say the least. It was at least twice the size of Hicks' whole apartment, just in the bedroom. The bed looked like it was large enough for a whole family, and covered in plump, crimson pillows, and thick, soft quilts elegantly embroidered like a tapestry. The walls and floor were white marble, though the floor was heated, meaning that after leaving the bath barefoot, it was still comfortable.
Gemma found a red silk dress lying on the bed, obviously laid out for her. She looked around, finding no sign of her own clothes. Obviously they had already been taken for cleaning. Seeing no other option, she pulled the dress on over her head. She would need to wear this at least while she found Julian and asked for something more practical to wear. If she needed to go to and rescue him, then this was hardly the most appropriate attire.
She looked down at the sheer, red dress, beginning to get a smile on her face. Her mind drifted to the thought of what Hicks' face would be like if he could be here with her, to see her in this.
"You do look beautiful." She heard Julian say from behind her, causing her to jump slightly. She turned to face him, finding him carrying a light, silk kimono.
"Julian, this is wonderful but..."
"We have found your friend." He told her. "I've sent out a recovery team to collect him."
"You know where he is?" Gemma asked him. "Then we've got to go, we can help, we..."
He silenced her by placing a finger on her lips. He held up the kimono, indicating that he wanted her to put it on.
"My people will retrieve him." He told her as she reluctantly slid her arms into the sleeves. He slipped it up over her shoulders, stroking her hair back over the collar. "You and your brother are my guests. Just enjoy my hospitality. Once your friend arrives, we will show him the same courtesy."
Gemma pulled the kimono around herself, tying the belt at the waist, before turning to face Julian. He reached to her bedside table, pouring two glasses of deep red wine from a bottle sitting there, before handing one to her.
"Julian, I..."
He started to approach her, and she looked into his eyes. Something in them penetrated her deeply. She found her mind drifting, unable to concentrate as he touched her cheek gently. He drew closer, kissing her softly. Gemma felt herself lost for a moment, before pulling away.
"No, I'm sorry." She whispered. Julian looked puzzled.
"Did I do something wrong?" He asked her. "I thought you enjoyed that."
"I did, you've been nothing but kind to us." She told him. "I'm sorry Julian, but something just doesn't feel right."
He reached down to her neck as she saw the length of chain. Gemma couldn't explain why, but she made no move to stop him as he pulled Hicks' dog tags out. He smiled as he read the name.
"Corporal Damien Hicks." He stated. "I understand."
"No, you don't." She replied. "It's just, we have this mission and..."
"You love him don't you?" He interrupted her. "He is still in your heart."
Gemma could only nod as he said this. Although they had ended things, she still loved Hicks. He let go of the dog tags, allowing her to put them back inside her dress.
"Then I will make do with your company for dinner." He replied. "Your friend will be retrieved shortly."
"Thank you." She whispered, before turning and leaving the room. As she left, Julian threw his glass against the wall in anger. He composed himself and waved a hand, at which the shards of glass and the wine all disappeared. He straightened out his shirt, before making his way back to the main hall.