Chapter 2 - Retribution

Savage made her way towards the line, the few people there talking with both their animals and others. "It's really strange!" Savage whispered to Dustin. "What is?" he whispered back. "I've never been able to understand animals before, what do I do?" she asked. "Nothing!" he told her, "Just talk like you're talking to another person!"

"And then I told her, 'Rat? Honey I'm a Mirkat'." they heard one of the animals say from in front of them, this one was obviously female by the sound of her voice. "Just try and remember that they might have a different sense of humor!" Dustin said. The doors opened again, making way for a pair of voices that Dustin thought Savage might not have been ready to hear, Bolt and Mittens talked with each other happily as they walked towards the line. "I still can't believe how much I have to learn. These Elementals aren't easy to do!" Bolt said to her. "I can tell," Mittens told him, "But you're getting the hang of it." Savage stiffened up a bit, her nerves stiffening her up as solid as a board as she listened to the two of them speak. She swallowed hard. Mittens turned just as she found herself in line, and stopped, "Oh!" she said and looked up to the alien feline girl. "Welcome back Savage!" Mittens said tentatively. "You ok?" Dustin said, and watched Savage take a deep calming breath, "Not really, but I'll try and manage!" she whispered back. With a quick spin, she faced them both courageously, with a large nervous smile, "Hi!" she said a bit more forcefully than she had planned. "You alright?" Bolt asked. Savage once again stiffened for a second, and then breathed again, "I'll be fine." she said, "It's going to take me some time before I can really get used to working with you!"

"Working with us?" Bolt asked as he turned to Mittens. His wife turned to him with the same confused look. "I'm going to grow and distribute Felarian weapons for Tarnildra." she explained. "Oh!" he said, "Will solders need special permission to carry them?" Savage was grateful for the question, it got her mind off of the memories of Dark Bolt and began teaching her the difference between the two, "They'll need to go through a rigorous training course before I give the ok!" she explained, remembering the course she had planned out. "Well, I'm glad we can count on you!" Mittens said. "Uh, yah!" Bolt said as he tentatively agreed, "Me too!" Savage felt a tap on her shoulder, and when she turned around, Dustin was urging her to move forward. With a slight nervous embarrassment, she began her short walk, Dustin leading her to the counter as she lifted her head. She was amazed at the food she saw; large ham slices, white gruel, vegetables of every kind on Earth, the burritos she saw the snake eating and the tubes of meat called hot dogs with the bread buns close by. She took a second glance down the spread, "Where are the potatoes?" she asked. Dustin rolled his eyes and pointed to the white gruel, "Mashed potatoes!" he said and moved his hand to the brown liquid next to it, "Gravy!"

"Wait, you can do more with potatoes?" she asked as she slid a large chunk of meat to her tray. "Sure why the hell not?" he asked. She moved down, and he grabbed a ladle full of potatoes before slapping them down to her plate. He then dipped the ladle back in, and reached for the gravy spoon, not knowing that Savage grabbed the ladle herself and slapped down more potatoes for herself. When he turned, he watched her put the ladle back in and try to put more potatoes on her plate. He reached up, and stopped her, "That's enough of that!" he said. Savage frowned as she watched him pour gravy all over her new found food, "That's enough of that!" she repeated as he tried to go for anther spoon full. He quirked an eyebrow at her, confusion setting in as she reached past him to grab some boiled carrots.

Bolt chuckled as he watched her, happy that she finally let herself relax. "She can be kind of nice when she's not trying to shoot my head off!" he whispered to his wife. "I told her to let it go; now it's your turn!" Mittens warned. Bolt let his ears flop to his head, embarrassed about his words, "Sorry!" he said and used his nose to push his tray across the bar. "Dumbass!" Dark Bolt commented, getting Bolt to frown his eyebrows.

Savage moved through the tables as she followed Dustin to a seat, setting her full plate down to lift her legs and sit on the bench like her boyfriend did. "Are Bolt and Mittens joining us?" Savage asked as she looked around. "Nah, they're going to a table their size!" Dustin told her. "Oh!" Savage said and lifted her fork. "Don't start with the damn potatoes!" he told her. "I'll start my meal anyway I want to thank you very much!" she said to him and shoved a great big fork full into her mouth. "Tch, whatever!" he said and lifted a hot dog to his mouth. She noticed it full of things other than the meat, she saw both red and yellow liquids and green chunks at the bottom, little white squares mixed in with strings of a white soggy vegetable on the top with a large pickle slice just sitting on top of that. "I think you're hotdog is defective!" she said as she swallowed. "Huh?" he asked before he could take a bite, "Oh no I just piled it with condiments! It adds flavor!"

"What's a condiment?" she asked. Dustin pointed to each in turn, "Catsup, mustard, relish." he said and moved to the top, "Chopped onions, sauerkraut. I topped it with a pickle slice for my own little flare." Savage looked at him as if he were strange as he took a huge bite, he seemed to enjoy it though. "So!" he said as he set the hotdog down and chewed, "Still scared of Bolt?" Savage flinched in surprise, and looked down at her plate. "A little!" she admitted, "But I'm working on getting over my fear!"

"I can't believe I have to work with the guy!" a small brown male chipmunk said angrily. "Why is that? You both have the same problem!" a female lynx said. "What problem?" the chipmunk asked, and the lynx swallowed a large chunk of burrito, "You're both hotheaded!" she said and the animals around her began to laugh at the chipmunk's expense. Rhino rolled his ball past them, listening to their laughter as he held onto the stick of hamster food with his teeth. It had been some time now and thanks to his inventions, all forms of life in the base got along without any real incidents. He thought hard as he approached the table with Bolt and Mittens sitting at it. "What's up Rhino?" he heard Angelira's voice ask. He stopped his ball, and turned his head, spying her before motioning for her to join him at the table. She used her wings to lift him up, placing him next to his friends as they ate. He pulled his food out of his mouth, and turned to them, "I've been thinking!" he said gaining the attention of all three of them. "It's been three months and all we've seen of Nightmare has been empty streets and discarded skeletons." Bolt turned to the others, "That's been worrying me as well, just what's he doing, and why hasn't he made his move yet?" he said. "I'm more worried about the empty streets!" Rhino said, again catching Bolt's attention, "Why haven't we heard of anything? Where have those people gone?"

"He makes a good point!" they heard a familiar voce say. Mittens turned her head up with a bit of asparagus sticking out of her mouth, finding Holly looming over them. "That's a good look for you Mittens!" Holly said sarcastically. Mittens used her tongue to pull the vegetable into her mouth as she chewed and swallowed in irritation. "What do you mean?" Bolt asked as she chewed the last of the asparagus. "Those cities were never attacked by Dark Bolt, Why are they abandoned?" she asked. "Feh!" Dark Bolt scoffed, "Nightmare's being way too quiet about his strikes. I mean come on! No one's going to be afraid of you if you don't make some kind of statement! Destroy a monument or blow up a bridge. DO SOMETHING!" Bolt narrowed his eyes at his dark side's sense of achievement, "It's just too bad that the forensics' are having such a hard time with the remains we've recovered. I'd like to know just what those melted and shapeless bones were from!" Rhino said, and began thinking, "Maybe I could do some upgrades to the DNA tech!"

"No need!" they heard Ducker say. "Evening Lepnand!" Bolt said. "Hi Ducker!" Mittens responded. "I need you three in the Mission Room after you're done eating!" the leader said. "Sir?" Rhino asked. "Just be there!" Ducker said and turned from them. "I wonder what that was about?" Bolt asked.

Savage stood in front of the door to the Mission Room, the room they had built the O-TIP and the GET in, a sort of headquarters for the Tarnildrian solders. As of now it was closed. She took a deep breath, and twisted the knob, finding instead of the Tarnildrian Mission Room, a closet full of three brooms and a mop with bucket. "Huh?" she asked, and the area was quickly filled with light, "My apologies Mrs. Savage, I was not aware of your arrival!" the computer said, the voce was a man's vice, calm and peaceful with a slight British accent. "GAH!" she said and slammed the door shut. "I am aware that you and I have not been properly introduced, I am the Tarnildrian Artificial Intelligence Security Operating system, but you may call me TAISO." it said. "Uh, hello Taiso. Can I come in?" she asked. "Security system tutorial in progress!" Taiso said, "Please lean forward and place your eye in front of the hole in the wall near the door." Savage looked around the door frame, slowly finding the hole that Taiso was talking about. She leaned forward and waited for her next piece of advice. "Don't blink until after the scanner has completed its reading." the computer said, and the green light was swiped up and down her eye. Savage pulled back in surprise after it was done, and the wall next to her opened up instead, "Welcome to Tarnildra!" Taiso said, and she slowly entered in. Standing there was Dustin, Bolt, Mittens, Kelly and Ducker. The man with the long Felarian gun and his cheetah were unknown to her. "About &#%$ time!" Dustin said. "I see you've met TAISO!" Ducker said. Savage gently and nervously nodded, "Good, he's integrated throughout the building, except in the bathrooms and personal rooms." Ducker said, "Now to business! Our forensics team has identified the bones that were left behind!"

"What poor animals were devoured by Nightmare this time?" Mittens asked as she readied to give her silence. "They were all human!" Kelly informed them. Bolt and Mittens both looked to each other in shock, their mouths hanging open. "Oh shit!" Dustin said in surprise, "He eats humans now?" Dustin touched his throat with both of his hands, almost as if he could feel the death wrapping around him. Savage grabbed his arms with her own hands, "Don't do that!" she said, "On my planet it means you're ready to be killed." Dustin nodded, and looked to her in fear. "This brings Nightmare up to a whole new level!" Ducker said, "We don't know why he's absorbing humans, but we do know that he can't use them effectively!"

"Why is that?" Rhino asked. "Because the human body melts under his parasitic nature, the skin decomposes within hours and the bones become this!" Kelly told them, and touched her pad. The room went dark, and a hologram appeared, showing a pile of white half liquid with no form. "That's nasty." Bolt said, and Savage found herself agreeing with him. The hologram disappeared, and the lights turned back on, "Nightmare has been moved to level Trax, one of our highest priority threats." Kelly said. "Heh, I guess that would make me even higher that that!" Dark Bolt said, mostly to himself. Bolt refrained from rolling his eyes and listened instead to Ducker, "We also know he's moving relatively slow! Because of the bone's turning to mush he can't move when he's absorbing human tissue." the man said, "We need to find out what's going on, why he's turned to hunting and feeding on humans, and we need to stop him!" Bolt straightened up readying himself, "Bolt, Mittens, we're going to need you two on the field!" Ducker said. "Yes!" Bolt whispered to himself. Mittens smiled at her husband, rolling her eyes but grateful to finally be of some use. "I've got a few leads that Nightmare may be heading to a new location south of his last known location. "I'll need you two to be careful as you look for him. Try to stay elemental if you can, they're harder to posses than a physical body!"

"Yes sir!" Bolt said with Mittens repeating him. "Rhino, I'll need you on GET locations, the Senshol's we have are still learning the ins and outs of your work but you know them like the back of your paw! Angelira will be at your side to assist!" Ducker turned to the sniper, "Terrance!" he said, "Take your partner and get a bird's eye view of the area, I don't want any surprises so take the Hover Braker!" Terrance stood up from his leaning position as the cheetah stood up from her resting, "You can count on us!" he said, "Tasha and I are the best at spotting things from a good distance!"

"I'm sending a few bald eagles out with you two, think of them as trainees!" Ducker said. Terrance saluted him, and turned, Tasha following him closely, "Oh and Tasha?" Ducker asked causing the Cheetah to turn to him, "Try not to intimidate the newbies!" Tasha smiled with a chuckle, "No promises there!" she said, "But I have had my dinner already!" She turned again, following Terrance out of the door as it closed behind her tail. Ducker shook his head, "I think we can trust her sir!" Kelly said, "She hasn't had a relapse since her first mission with Terrance in the desert."

"Still, you never can tell with carnivores!" Ducker said, and turned to Mittens and Bolt, "You two had better get ready for your mission, it starts in one hour!" Bolt and Mittens both nodded, and turned away. Rhino rolled up to them in the hallway, "Wait!" he called out and Angelira flew up behind him with two very similar ear devices in her hand, "I rebuilt our communication sets, and I've uplinked them to the Tarnildrian computer mainframe!" he said as his girlfriend presented the devices to them. "Thanks Rhino!" Bolt said as Mittens examined hers. "They look just like the ones Penny had us use!" she said and let Angelira put it into her ear. Bolt slipped his own in, finding the familiar feel of the earpiece as it rested comfortably in his right ear, "I tried to get as close as possible to the original design." the hamster said, "It was tough but I think they'll work for our mission." Bolt and Mittens both turned to each other, happy that they finally get to go out and do something, with very familiar equipment, "Just like old times, eh Bolt?" she asked. "Oh yah!" he said, and turned to run to their room. Mittens smiled at the return of his playful side, and used her lightning claws to chase after him. "It's nice to see them happy again." Rhino said, "I think being cooped up in this little place was beginning to give them both cabin fever!"

End Chapter 2