*All characters copyrighted to Poseidon Simons

Chapter 6

The Killer

Within

 

                Ingrid woke to find her self in a forest.  There wasn't a soul around except for her, Tom, and his father.  They were roasting marshmallows and making smores while Tom's dad told them another interesting story, "What happened?.."

                Tom glanced over at her, "You fell asleep.  I know my dad can get boring sometimes, but he isn't that bad!"

                Ingrid laughed, but her mind was elsewhere, "I was just so sure that something else had happened..."

                "We didn't know whether or not to wake you, but you started screaming while you slept.  What kind of nightmare did you have, Ingrid?"

                The thought made her wonder, "A dream?  Was that all it was?  But it felt so real!  I thought dad had said that you couldn't feel pain in a dream..."  Right then, a helecopter appeared above them, "It's happening again!  I won't be taken this time."  She glanced at Tom, who was backing away, frightened beyond reason.  His father was shaking as he stood his ground, but he stayed where he was.  Ingrid decided to help him a little.

 

                Tom, still in the grip of the white dragon, was forced to watch.  Ingrid was in a strange simulation of the campsite.  She had seen who knew what, and the strangest thing started happening...Tom was mesmerized as she began to grow taller.  She kneeled down and stood on four legs, and nearly filled up the room.  Her color had changed and become white, the wings on her back vanished, and she breathed a pillar of flame up at the fake helecopter.  It exploded, and she returned to her normal self.  The white dragon smiled, "She's perfect.  I can't believe I finally have her..."  Tom was shoved into the waiting hands of some strong looking griffins.  They took him to a seperate room and locked the door.

 

                Ingrid blanched, "No!  I didn't mean to blow up the whole thing!  I just wanted to scare them away..."  The carnage she'd created frightened her.  Tom and his father had been blown back, behind some trees.  She couldn't see where they went, "Tom?  Mr. Whitman?  Hello?  Is anyone there?.."  She called as she walked in the direction she'd seen them go.  For a moment, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, then she hit something that shocked her so badly that she fell back.  When she got up again, she changed herself to have the same abilities of an electrical dragon and touched the surface again.  As a small electric current flowed through her, she could feel glass holding her in.  It was dark on the other side of the glass...somewhere in the distance, a door opened, "A door?  How could there be a door in the woods?  Or glass..."  She heard something metal hit the ground and saw it bounced toward her.  Before she had a chance to do anything, a gas made her fall asleep.

 

                Isaac watched everything with growing excitement, "I can have the power soon...I can finally change!!!"  He let the illusion of the white dragon drop, revealing his true form.  A long, snake-like tail took the place of his legs, but from the waist up, he was normal, "Except for my color.  As soon as I get that shape changing power from her, I'll be normal!  It's finally going to happen!"  He thought back to his attempt six years ago, when he'd had Amy go after Gareth, "I still don't know how he managed to resist her...I could have had it back then if he hadn't been so strong-willed."  He picked up the girl himself and carried her to the lab.  Once there, he had Sylo help Henry strap her into a special machine that would shock her if she tried to move at all.  It was a good thing they starpped her in when they did, for she woke up right as they finished.

                "Wha...where am I?"

                Isaac slithered into her view, "Welcome Ingrid.  I'm glad you could join us.  Thank you for giving us that marvelous demonstration of your power."

                "What?  I never--you mean that was a fake?!"

                "You're a smart little girl too...it might be worth it to keep you around."  He turned to Henry, "Is everything ready?"

                "Yes sir."  Henry answered, "We are waiting for you to get into position."

                "Good.  How long will the process take?"

                "An hour if things go smoothly.  We need to get a complete strand of her DNA, then we will change yours to match it.  Most of the time will go into finding the strand that enables her to change, sir."

                "See that you hurry.  I have been waiting for this for my entire life."

                "What are you going to do to me?.."  Ingrid asked from where she was strapped in.  Isaac turned to her.  She was shivering with fear, and each shiver brought along another little shock.  She was clearly in pain, but she was too scared not to flinch as he came close.  The movement caused a much larger shock to hit her.  When she was able to lift her head again, she started crying.

                Isaac sighed, "Ingrid, you'll be free soon.  I just want something you've got, then I'll let you go."

                "But I don't have any money..."

                "Not that!  You can change into whatever you wish.  I've seen you do it, and I've known about your father for the past six years.  My scientists are going to copy that power of yours and give it to me."

                "How?.."  She probably would have said more, but her tears started to increase.

                Isaac turned away without answering.  He wanted to get this done with now!  Time passed slowly as he waited.  A half hour went by, then another fifteen minutes.  He had been pacing the floor the entire time, becoming more impatient as every spare second slipped through his fingers.  Finally, Henry came in, "Sir?  We're ready to change you."

                "Then let's do this.  Will you be able to ensure this works?"

                "Yes sir.  We are ready to begin."  Isaac followed Henry into another room and laid down on a table.  He sighed as the eternal headache reminded him what was wrong with him, and took the sleeping gas willingly.  When next he woke up, he was in a hospital bed.

                "Henry?"  His voice was weak, strained.  He coughed once to clear his throat and tried again, "Henry, is it done?"

                Henry walked in, "Yes sir, but we have a problem..."

                "What?"  He said flatly.

                "Sir, it's your micro-chip.  It's gone out of control..."

                "What do you mean?!"  Isaac shouted.  Instantly, Henry was pinned to the wall by the power of Isaac's chip.  He slowly felt his forehead, rubbing the chip when he felt its familiar shape pushing against his scales.  The headache that was normally there had vanished completely, and every little thing he used with the chip didn't hurt at all.  He laughed as he started spinning Henry around, excited by this development.  After setting Henry down, he experimented with his new power, "I want legs and a tail.  I want to be a red common dragon."  He watched his arm as he thought of what he wanted to look like, shouting in joy as it changed.  He tried again, this time thinking of various different combinations.  Wings vanished and reappeared, he was too big for the room, then normal again, "I finally have what I want..."  Henry cleared his throat.

                "Sir, about your chip..."

                "What about it?  It's worthless to me now!"  He laughed excitedly.

                "But sir, there's something you really should know..."

                He calmed himself down, "What then?"

                "Sir, have you had a headache yet?"

                "No, and I am happy for it!"

                "Sir, wait a minute.  Do you remember the mind-reading power that the human Gareth has?"

                "What of it?"

                "Your chip interfaced with that power sir...it created an anomaly like nothing any of us have ever seen."

                "Get to the point, Henry."

                "Sir--stop, please..."

                Isaac glanced over at Henry, who was holding his hands to his neck and choking.  Curious, Isaac made him stop, "What were you trying to kill yourself for?"

                He gasped in some breaths before he spoke, "Sir...I wasn't doing a thing.  You were making me do it...I...couldn't stop myself..."

                Isaac smiled, "I can make others physically do what I want?  I don't have to hypnotize them anymore?  What a thought..."

                "And there's more."

                "Who spoke?!!!"

                "Hahahahaha...heehee..."

                "Answer me!!!!"

                "Isaac, don't be alarmed...hehe...I'm your friend..."

                "Who are you?!!!!!!"

                "Watch and learn, Isaac."  Henry suddenly shot through the wall, landing in a heap on the other side and groaning, "Good at it, aren't I?  Hehehe..."

                "Who are you?.."

                "You!"

                Isaac screamed as a headache more massive than anything he'd ever felt before shot through his mind.  He could control it, couldn't understand anything with it.  It plauged him for an eternity before he felt it soften even slightly.  When it was gone, he looked around.  He was on top of a building in a city that looked utterly different.  Humans were walking all over the place, but most were staring up at him, "Where am I?.."

                "In the humans' world."  That odd voice spoke to him again.

                "No, what are you doing?!  Stop it right now!!!!"

                "But it's just starting to get fun...Heeheehaha..."

                "No!  NO!!!!!!!!!!"  He tried hard not to panic, but everything looked so strange to him, and at the same time, exactly like home.  More humans started to stare at him, causing him to panic even more.  In fear, he lashed out with his mind, wanting only to hold the humans back.  Instead, the chip in his mind seemed to have a mind of its own, holding back only a few people, and killing the rest.  Those that lived ran away in terror, "What happened to me?.."

                "I happened.  Do you see what I can do?  With me, you are invincable!!!!!!  HAHAHAHA!!!!!!"

                "But I want to go home..."

                "Then sit down.  You'll hurt yourself if we do his standing up."

                Suddenly, the massive headache began again, and this time, when it subsided, he was back inside his room in Hop city.  Henry was just pulling himself out of the pile of rubble.  Isaac slowly got up as well.

 

*Drannus, Dakarth, Mendorath, and Drakis are copyrighted to Eric Huston.

*All other characters copyrighted to Poseidon Simons

Chapter 7

Hop city

 

                That next night, Peter grinned at seeing Hana back home.  She had gone this time only because Gareth had asked her to, "I'll have to thank him later.  After tonight I'll be sure to have a child from her!  So long as Gareth is hurt, who knows how many I can have?!!!!  This is perfect!"  He slipped inside after Hana had gone to sleep, using his chip to unlock the doors.  For a moment, everything around him seemed to grow silent.  There wasn't even wind outside as he slipped through the house.  When he came to Hana's room, he saw her window was open, "How thoughtful of her.  Now the smell will leave and it will be her own fault!  I'll just have to clear the sheets of the evidence tonight..."  A shaft of moonlight gently draped over her and the bed, casting strange, and unmoving shodows from the trees outside.  He removed his clothes and laid down under the covers, "Hana..."

                "Wha...Grth..."  She mumbled in her sleep.

                Peter slipped the illusion into her mind, then shook her slightly, "Hana, you promised..."

                She yawned and turned to him in the bed, "No I didn't..."  She sounded more alert than she looked.

                "Yes you did.  C'mon, please?.."

                "Gareth, I'm tired...T'morrow, okay?.."

                "Please Hana?  I can't help myself..."

                She sighed and closed her eyes, "Hold it in tonight, love...you've gotten to the point where you can wait now..."

                "Please?.."

                "Alright, but I get a day off tomorrow."

                "That's fair."  Peter purposely let the illusion drop in her mind, changing his voice instead to match Gareth's, "I'm ready whenever you are."

                "You always are, Gar--Peter..."  Her eyes widened as she opened her mouth to scream.

                Peter held a hand over her mouth as gently as possible, "What's wrong, Honey?  You promised..."  He smiled as she calmed down from hearing Gareth's voice.

                "Gareth, I thought we agreed that you would never look like that."

                Peter frowned, "But I can't help it...He's been stuck on my mind lately...I can't get him out of my head."

                "Not tonight Gareth."

                "But you promised!"

                "No.  I won't do it while you look like him.  It scares the hell out of me whenever I think of how close he came to--to--"

                "No Hana.  Don't say it.  That's all over now..."

                She shivered and dug deeper into the blankets, "If you really have to look like him, and if you truly can't hold yourself tonight, must I look at you?.."

                "No, you can close your eyes."

                She sighed, relieved and snuggled closer to him.  Smiling, with her eyes closed, she let him begin.  Peter marveled at how passionate she was, more jealous than ever of what Gareth had done to take her from him.  Once he was sure she would be pregnant with his child, he made her fall asleep and changed the sheets.  At three in the morning he was on a train back to Bay city.  Once Amy was finished with Hana later, she would be heading directly for Hop city to get her old job, and their son, back.  He, on the other hand, had to make sure Sylo was taking care of the mob correctly, "I don't care if he was the crime lord before me.  With all the changes I made, I don't think I can trust him anymore.  Not after the way he tried to get us all in prison!  Hmph...I hope Thomas can handle things by himself.  I'll make it up to him and have Sylo get him more games.  That way I can be sure Sylo will call me and I can ask what has happened."

 

                Drakis yawned and stretched himself in the morning.  The manager of the hotel, a pegasus, knocked on the door and slipped a note underneath.  Drakis picked it up and read it.

                Dad, I went off to look for Ingrid.  Grandpa should be on his way over to help you out.  I called and asked him to come.  I can do this on my own, okay?                                                        Drannus

                Drakis shook his head, "Dakarth, what have you been telling him?"

                There was a chuckle as Dakarth answered, "Why Drakis, I thought you'd be proud of your son!  He's walking in your footsteps just as you had hoped he would!"

                "I'm proud he thinks he can do it on his own, and I'm sure he can, but you know how he tends to take more than he can handle!  He should've waited for me, or at least woken me up!"

                "Well, I'm almost to you as it is.  Be ready to go in an hour."

                "Just hurry.  I don't want my son to get hurt."  Drakis was ready in a half hour, and spent the rest of his time scanning for his son's pattern.  Drannus was able to hide it well enough that Drakis could not find him.

                "'Having trouble again?"'

                "Shut up, Mendorath."

                "'What?  I only asked a simple question."'

                "You know I hate it when you act like this.  Cut it out and shut the hell up!"  Drakis scowled and ignored his non-anthro side until Dakarth appeared, "You certainly know how to take your time, don't you?"

                "I scanned the city first, Drakis.  There's a lot more going on here than even I had thought!"

                "Such as?"

                "I can sense their evil all over this city, Drakis.  It may be hard to find someone who will help us."

                "Whatever.  I want to find my son as soon as possible."  As they left, neither noticed the pegasus talking to someone on his cell phone.

 

                "Yes, that's right.  Two black dragons and a razor.  One of the blacks is a kid."  He said as quietly as he could, waiting for the two to leave.

                The other voice, Sylo's, sounded amused, "Is that so...Keep an eye on them.  If they start getting too close to the compound, you know what to do."

                "Sir?"

                "What is it now?!  I'm busy!"

                "Sir, I recieved a call from Peter last night.  He says we owe his son a favor and he wants you to go...err...shopping for him?"

                He could almost hear Sylo growl on the other end, "No.  Have someone else do it and tell them it was a direct order from Peter.  I am going to have a talk with him..."  With that, Sylo hung his phone up, and the pegasus left to find some burly anthros to help him.

 

*Note:  This section is by Eric Huston

 

                                Drakis walked with a middle-aged razor into Hop city.  His companion spoke directly to his mind, "Drakis, Mendorath, the ER has let me do some research on Peter.  He is a crime lord with much of Bay city under his control.  I’m here to cover your tracks when you do what you do best."

                "Being able to kill someone in a variety of ways is NOT something I’m proud of."

                "'He is right, you know.  That IS what we do best… well, maybe the second-best thing we do.  We-"'

                "Shut up, Mendorath."

                "'No need to get offended.  Just trying to think of something we’re better at."'

                "I said, shut up."

                Dakarth edged a thought in, "If you two will stop bickering for a second, I can finish.  I’m not the only telepath in this city.  I’ve been keeping us quiet, but you two are some of the loudest thinking people I have ever met.  So keep your thoughts guarded like I had shown you.  Peter and several others in his organization have enhancing chips inside their heads."

                "Like Don?"

                "Yes, but to a greater degree of power and ability.  Peter has the strongest one."

                "No surprises there."

                "Just so you know, he’s been able to keep Drannus’ aura hidden from me, but he isn’t consciously trying to do it."

                "'It won’t stop us from frying him to a cinder, will it?  That’s all we’re concerned about."  Taking momentary control, Mendorath pounded Drakis’ fist into his palm.

                "From what limited information we have on him, no.  Even so, don’t let your guard down."

“I think we’re safe enough to talk.”

The psychic razor replied, “You’d be surprised.  No help can be gained from the police here.  They’re all under his payroll.”  He added with his mind, "Best not to mention his name while in this city. We don’t want to attract unnecessary attention."

                "'We don’t?  I thought we did that anyways.  Our scars don’t help us blend in that well."'

                "Maybe with the seedier sections of the city.  They’ll probably think I’m a bounty hunter or merc here looking for a job."

                “Dakarth, isn’t Samuel around here?  We could use his help.”

                “He’s not on the Island anymore, Drakis.  He wanted to go back, so we sent him home.”

 

                They entered the city’s heart by nightfall.  Drakis wanted to get to hunting Peter down immediately, but his son presented a more urgent case.  He knew he had taught him all he was able to do, and he knew Drannus was blessed with a great amount of good sense from his mother, but he sometimes got himself in over his head.  He only hoped that his son would be able to come back from this one as well, “Dakarth, I’m going to look for my son first.  I could never forgive myself if something happened to him.” He stretched his mind out, watching as the world faded away and people were replaced by images of their electrical pattern.  He searched all throughout the city, looking for the familiar pattern of his son.

 

                Drannus stopped as he made his way towards where they were keeping Ingrid.  He felt the overwhelming presence of his father searching for him.  He did his best to hide his pattern, hoping he would be able to evade him, "Man, why did my dad have to come?  I TOLD them I could take care of it.  Not bad for a six-year-old they would say.  After this, maybe we can stop this guy from hurting anyone else.?  He moved slowly through the alley, making sure he didn’t make a sound.  He came upon an old, run-down looking building.  He stretched out his own mind, looking for his friend’s pattern, "Hmm… she’s in there all right.  I wonder how I can get those guards away from her."  As he thought about it, he decided to try and find a way inside first, then getting rid of the guards later.  He also heard someone coming down the alley.  Borrowing a trick from his brother, he used his fledgling magnetic powers to run as quietly as he could up the wall of the nearest building, his black scales helping him hide in the shadows.  He was thankful that his shirt covered his silver plates, or they would’ve seen him easily.  He saw an old dino dragon walk below him, muttering to himself.

               

“… Stupid brat.  Making me go get him some video games at this hour.  I’m not feeling as young as I used to.  He has more than enough already.  If it wasn’t for his father, I’d have ended his whining ages ago.”  He stopped and looked up right where Drannus was hiding, but saw nothing more than shadows.  He went on, muttering about what he’d do to Tom if he wasn’t Peter’s son.  Unbeknownst to him, he was followed by a six-year-old dragon on silent black wings.

 

Distracted from his searching, Drakis felt a tug on his sleeve.  Dakarth whispered, “Drakis, trouble.  Do your thing.”  Looking around, he saw several dragons and griffons, and a pegasus moving towards them, trying hard not to be noticed.  He smelled steel, and he suspected that they had guns or knives.  Well, if it’s a fight they wanted, they sure were going to get one.

 

“Hey, Blackie.  You’re not from around here.  Our boss told us to keep people like you out of his city.”  The pegasus, clearly the leader, stepped forward, doing his very best to sound tough and superior at the same time.  Drakis decided to let Mendorath’s creative side handle this.  "All yours, Mendorath." and Drakis relinquished control of his body, letting his non-anthro side take over.

“Hmm, I thought I smelled horse shit.”

Dakarth looked worried, but decided to trust his lover’s son.

“What did you say!”

“What, you’re hard of hearing, too?  I almost feel sorry for you.  Don’t make me add stupid to the list.”

“You must not know who you’re dealing with!  Get him!”

“Get him?  Is that the best you can do?”

Ten dragons rushed him, but he was ready.  One slashed at him with his knife, but he rolled with the motion, dropping into a backwards somersault, then kicking up at the dragon’s head, bringing himself to his feet in the same motion.  One down, nine to go.  He almost felt sorry for them.

 

The pegasus watched as his men were being knocked out one by one, the strange black anthro shouting colorful insults as he took out all ten dragons that rushed him.  It was almost beautiful the way he did it.  He threw amazing punches, graceful kicks, and even a tail slap or two in the mix.  He wondered why the guy didn’t just kill them with that dangerous-looking blade on his tail.  Taking out his pistol, he decided that the best way to get rid of someone like that was to put a bullet in his head.  He shot straight into the melee, not really caring if he hit his own men.  He could always drag up a few more from the alleys and bars.

 

"Now that pisses me off!  Shooting at his own men!"  Drakis took control of his body again as Mendorath finished the last one off.  “That really pisses me off!”  The pegasus was staring amazedly at his bullets just floating in midair right in front of Drakis.  “I was going to let you go with just a few kicks to the head, but that pushed me over the edge!”  He stopped each of the bullets fired at him just before they hit him, and he charged up his electrical powers.  Lightning crackling around him, he launched a bolt that turned the pegasus into nothing more than a hunk of seared flesh.

 

Drannus flinched as he followed the dragon, feeling a backlash of power hit him.  "Dad must’ve been really mad at someone to do THAT.  I just hope he doesn’t find me while he’s mad.  I don’t think that’d be good."

 

Drakis gave a small snort, blue-green flame coming from his nostrils.  “Scum.  I still can’t believe he’d shoot at his own men.”

Dakarth walked over, erasing the memories of those who had seen them.

Mendorath felt power flow from the psychic, throwing his thoughts into momentary disarray.  "'Whoa, what’d you do, Dakarth?  You made me feel like I was in a whirlpool, or something."'

"I merely erased those poor unconscious dragons’ memories of us. They’ll wake up with all the symptoms of a hangover, and they won’t remember a thing of us."

“Anyways, let’s get going.  If I know my son, he’ll head toward Ingrid.  Freeing her is what he originally came here for.”  He stretched his mind out again, looking for Ingrid’s pattern.