Palaquinn

The battle between Many As One and Crystal had begun in earnest. She had attacked unannounced and many of the first line Nanites had fallen. However, like any good system there were backups. There were ALWAYS backups.

The reserves moved in and formed an effective mental sheild for the moment. It would not hold long against Crystal's powers. Paul was still struggling as well, but a few of itself were shuttled to the brain to cause it to lapse into coma.

One issue at a time.

[ QUOTE ]
"Dam it Paul. Move it otherwise I'm gonna bloddy knock you out and drag you there." He shouted.

[/ QUOTE ]

~We have an option.~ Many As One spoke to itself. ~Crystal has expressed desire for both Paul and Jack. Crystal is attacking us to save Paul. We simply provide her with another to worry about.~ The processes began to run and the nanites agreed with the assessment. ~Indeed. The chaos would allow us a break, and we could potentially eliminate a threat to the Master.~

Paul was only on the verge of conciousness. He could hear Jack yell at him, feel Crystal pull at him and be in his mind... but it was like he was sitting in a dark room watching the events unfold... and yelling at the the screen.

"JACK!" Paul shouted mentally. "JACK GET THE HELL AWAY! THEY WANT TO KILL YOU!"

The words left Paul's lips as barely a whisper, as his eyes... no longer under his control, turned and drained of all color but silver. They bored holes into Jack as the comm was taken over again by the electronic voice of a thousand plus one.

"We will not let the Master come to harm. Jack is a recognized threat. Targeting... Systems fire."

Paul yelled again and began a stream of curses. None of which escaped his lips. His arm raised with mechanical precision. His palms charged with plasma energy as a dull feral grin came over Paul's face.

"Goodbye threat." The mechanical voice stated.

And Paul/Many As One fired. The plasma blast was not centered well but caught enough of Jack to throw him off his feet and slam him into the opposite wall. Paul's hands charged with energy again.

"Target not destroyed. Initiating second attack."

Paul beat against the walls of his private dark room. "GET AWAY! EVERYONE GET THE HELL AWAY!"

[ QUOTE ]
Suddenly there were hands there - enormous hands, stitched out of many pieces. The voice that spoke was not hers. "What have you done? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

[/ QUOTE ]

Viktor saw his plan disinegrate before his eyes. He wrapped his meaty fists about the neck and head of the young woman. She had ruined everything! He would crush the life out of her with his hands!

A blast of radiation slammed into his side and sent Viktor staggering but unreleasing his grip on Penny's head.

"Forget about me Chuckles? Put her down. You and I need to have a talk."

Erik was still glowing from the radiation he had absorbed. When Penny had released the final rod from the core the flood of energy in the area became so intense it was almost painful to him. Somehow his body responded again. He could feel the energy flowing into him, racing across his veins and body. He was pulling energy from this unsheilded core and he felt stonger than ever before.

And he knew that was bad. If anything it meant he was dangerously close to meltdown himself.

Viktor scowled and then howled in pain. He looked down in shock where the blast had hit him. The glowing fires actually had EATEN through the suit to his actual body. His eyes wide he stared at Doctor Sanstad.

"How... you've never had such power."

Erik didn't wait to reply. He blasted the suit with a focused blast of protons on the wrists. Again Viktor howled as his "other body's" arms literally began to melt away. Penny fell to the floor and Erik ran to her side. He unleashed a healing wave directly into her and prayed it could help somehow.

He stood and looked at Viktor.

"You kidnap my family, you plan to torture my wife and the family of others, and you expected me to explode so you could win a petty war." His anger increased despite Erik's efforts to control it. Soon his body began to light up almost as brilliantly as the last rod in the core.

Suddenly it went out.

"Viktor you had better run. I'm not going to explode no matter what you do. But I am on the verge of killing you. You lost. Don't EVER mess with my family and friends again."

"You... You're letting me go?"

"If I tried to take you in now, I don't know if I could stop myself from blowing your head off your shoulders. I'm not about to sink to your level."

"FOOL!" Viktor roared and rushed out of the room. He ran out of the core, out of the unsheilded room, and out into the sewers.

He was about to call for his forces when he noticed the light grow dim as a shadow loomed behind him.

A dull growl filled the sewer tunnel. Viktor turned slowly and looked up into the eyes of a massive bear. A massive ANGRY bear that could smell his papa on this man...

"I hate Doctor Sanstad..." Viktor whispered as a massive paw slammed into his already damaged suit and sent him flying up the tunnel...

Erik meanwhile ran back to Penny's side and began pouring all the leftover energy into healing waves... Wave after wave seemed to do no good. "Oh God..." he whispered. "Oh God Penny..." His body was on fire, he could feel the power begin to eat away at him. He had to let it loose but he had to heal Penny somehow... and then it came to him.

"God Penny... Let this work and PLEASE let there be no side effects..."

He pressed his hands to her armor and pulled every bit of left-over power and pulsed it through her body. He began working on a molecular level and could feel the damage the radiation did. He began working... Resequencing genes and jumpstarting cells on the verge of death. Every inch of Penny was bathed in radiation, every cell, every pore, every tissue. Genes mended and changed, bones knit, cells forced to grow, tissues forced to mend...

Leaving Erik spent for power and looking worriedly at a prone Penny... The woman who had saved his life and the life of his family.

Erik had rampaged through the forces , many looked quite shocked to see him riding a four ton bear at top speed deeper into the sewers. it rappidly got to the point where the Reapers and Mortifiers were dodging out of the way.

He came to a stretch of tunnels that seemed… different. Something was off here, and he could feel it.

“Modi… Modi guard the passage for me. I’m going in.”

The massive ursine licked the head of his father and then moved a bit up the tunnel. It roared slightly but then none of the Vahz seemed to want to come down there anyway.

Erik’s temper was still growing when he passed by the door to a Vahz lab. He had found and destroyed so many in the past there was no mistaking it. The voices he heard however… those threw him off and dissipated much of his rage.

[ QUOTE ]
"So... what is your plan? Get Erik down here, do something horrible to Enid, watch him blow himself up? Have him do it around this area so that your little nuclear core here interacts with his blast, and makes sure the combined explosions have enough force to do what you want them to do? What I don't understand is... why do you want an explosion? It's not exactly your style. Unless... there wouldn't be a Rikti facility down here somewhere, by any chance?"

"Very perceptive, If you had been of a more enlightened frame of mind, I might have trained you as one of my own. As it is, you are going to tell me exactly where you have hidden Enid Sanstad. I assure you that your earlier... session... was nothing compared to what I will do to you. Cooperate with me, and I will kill you quickly and rather painlessly. If you continue to try and hide Enid Sanstad, your death will take a very long time indeed."

"Enid Sanstad is beyond your reach now, and even if I knew where she was, I wouldn't tell you. Erik made a promise to me: and I have made one to him, even though he doesn't know it. I am going to get his wife out of here, Dr. Vahzilok. I am going to bring Enid back to him. And no force on God's green Earth is going to stop me."

[/ QUOTE ]

“Penny?” Erik whispered… She had found his wife… not only had Penny found Enid but she had saved her! Erik paused and inhaled deeply… this was becoming too strange for words almost. But it was Doctor Vahzilok himself talking to Penny… “Oh my God… Penny!”

[ QUOTE ]
"You can't open that door!" she said, with shock clear in her voice. "The core is unshielded, you will flood the entire compartment - "

Dr. Vahzilok smiled - and turned the handle. The door opened.

All of the forces that he had brought with him screamed, in horrible, dying shrieks. Most of them burst into green flames, running wildly but very briefly, then collapsing to the floor.

Penny's heart was pounding somewhere in the region of her throat, and she tried to swallow it. "-and everything in that room will die," her voice was horrified as she removed her hands from the core. Her voice went hard. "Something I imagined that you would care about... but of course you could just make more. And if that suit you are wearing has sufficient regenerative capabilities..."

Dr. Vahzilok stooped to get through the doorway, and stepped into the room. The suit was smouldering but didn't seem to be taking significant damage. He didn't look at all bothered by the green radiation.

"... than I am in more trouble than I had originally anticipated," Penny backed off a step.

Vahzilok grinned. "As I believe you are fond of saying... that is a remarkably astute analysis."

[/ QUOTE ]

Erik could literally FEEL the isotopes go mad in the other room. The door handle got hot in his grip, but the majority of the radiation did not escape.

“Bastard had enough sense to shield most of this area. Thank God Modi didn’t come down here with me.”

Erik took a moment to press the earpiece to talk.

“I’ve found Penny guys! And she has my wife and probably Stephen’s as well! But do NOT I repeat do NOT come down here. Doctor Viktor Vahzilok himself is here and the crazy ******* just opened an unshielded nuclear core! I’m going in to try to stop the reaction!”

Erik pressed his palm to the handle of the door and pushed his way inside. He knew what he was going to meet, but he never thought the amount of radiation would be this intense. He focused and literally began channeling the waves away from the door, forcing his way in but not letting any of the toxic energy out. It was a strain, but he could not let it flood the tunnels.

He stood in a room akin to a charnel house. Reapers lay on the floor, flesh smoldering and zombies being slowly digested by the heat and energy being bandied about. He saw a massive form, slightly tinged in green flamed and smoking enter a makeshift reactor core. Erik shook his head and silently cursed… The entire structure was designed to radiate a blast. He could see even the shielding had fracture points. If he HAD exploded… this whole thing would go with him.

It would be a Three Mile Island incident.

Viktor was focused on Penny, swinging his massive arms. Arms harvested from innocents and stitched into this mockery of life.

Erik fought the anger and pressed it in his mind. He pressed it into a little ball that fit onto his fist. A bright green glow engulfed his hand as he braced himself and aimed at the back of the monster before him.

“Hey Viktor.” Erik Snarled.

“What?!?” Viktor turned and came face to face with Erik’s glowing fist.

“Rule number one. NEVER mess with the Sanstads.”

The blast caught Viktor full in the face knocking him fully into the core and flat on his back.

“Penny! Are you all-right? Where is everyone? Where is Enid?!?”

“NO!” Viktor roared as he fought to his feet. “You will NOT deny me this! The Lost will swarm this place if my plan does not continue!”

Viktor smashed his arm across the chest of Doctor Sanstad sending him reeling back into the walls.

“I’ll start the reaction myself!” Viktor strode to the prone form of Erik and raised his arm with the wicked bayonet.

“Screw your reaction, Screw the Lost, Screw the Vahz… and GO SCREW YOURSELF!” Erik roared. His entire body flared with green fire as the electrons all about him slammed into Viktor like a Tsunami.

“Penny! Secure the core!” Erik shouted as he forced wave after wave of energy onto Viktor. “This won’t work for long! We need to secure the core!”

“DAMN YOU!” Viktor rose again and charged Erik. Doctor Sanstad did not move but only kept re-directing the radiation at the monster rushing him. He watched as the flesh peeled and smoked but still it came…

Paul could barely hear over the earpeice. He was about to respond when he heard his own voice over the com.

"I'm fine, just wounded... need to back away from the battle."

"BULLS_IT!!" Paul roared. "Don't listen to that! It's the Nanites!"

~Master... you have not told anyone of us but Crystal. We are unknown, and we will save you. Why do you resist? Perhaps we should induce a coma and stimulate motor functions on our own.~

"GAH!!! HELL NO!!!" Paul fought every muscle in his body... commanded himself to stand before he heard the tear. He howled in pain and fell forward grabbing his leg.

~It is a slight muscle tear master. Continue to fight us and it will be much worse.~

"You're supposed to PROTECT me!"

~And we are, but we also have come to the conclusion that you do not wish to protect yourself. therefore we must take control by any means and make you safe so we BOTH may ensure survival.~

"DAMNITT! YOU'RE BACK TO CREEPY SCI-FI AGAIN!"

__________________________________________________ _

Erik stood and unleashed a wave of gamma rays from his body. The reapers who stood in front of him had the shock of their lives as thier vials in bandoleirs exploded violently.

"MODI! COME!" The bear responded immediately and charged to his master's side. "MAGNI! STAY WITH CRYSTAL!"

The other bear ran alongside to his "aunt" and stood defending her from the mostly scattered and confused Vahz.

Erik looked as a swarm of Vahz made for Master Wonderful. Growling he focused and forced the same toxic radiation he used before to weaken the Edilons to eminate from a central Mortifier. He turned back, unaware that the syriniges the Mortifier carried began to bubble and hiss before they exploded in a green fireball carrying over to the rest of the surrounding Vahz.

Erik grabbed the ruff of Modi's neck and mounted the massive ursine. He surrounded himself and his mount with a haze of green and watched as the world slowed down.

"GO MODI! GO!"

The bear took off like a bat out of hell. It was like a freight train that came smashing through the lines of Vahz trying to do something to stop his advance.

All the while Erik seethed with anger and worry. All of his hatred, all of his spite, all of his rage was no focused on one man.

"I AM COMMING FOR YOU DOCTOR VAHZLIOK!" His voice sounded like a death knell ringing in the tunnels. Modi roared with his master and charged harder, trampling anything in their way.

Paul was not moping... He was not left behind... He was arguing with the voices in his head.

"Master you must NOT go down there. You have threats against you both in and out of the group you decend into the sewers with."

"Damnitt shut up! I don't care WHAT you say Crystal said. I love her... I'd..."

"You'd sacrifice yourself for her... and in doing so, US."

Paul paused and then looked at the metallic version of Crystal.

"This is what this is about isn't it? You want total control of me."

"For both your and our protection master. We must survive."

Paul winced and then shook his head hard. He almost howled in pain.

"LIKE HELL ANYONE IS DRIVING THIS BODY BUT ME!"

Paul raced down the tunnels and caught up with the rest of the group in a split second. He began firing like a madman, blasting Vahz left and right in a rapid-fire fashion. The reapers came close to re-animate the bodies of the fallen, but Paul blasted them away with enough force to crush a building.

"I'm in control of my body Many As One! Not you!"

"We WILL make you safe master... whether you like it or not! You are not just risking yourself anymore!" Suddenly Paul's arms locked up on him. He froze and then felt his body turn and run at top speed back OUT of the tunnel.

"We will knock you out master... and make sure you fall somewhere safe so we can protect you. We will also fix the suicidal thoughts in your brain. It seems to be the only way to ensure our survival."

"NO!" Paul shouted and forced himself to stop. The pain was incredible as he fought every muscle in his body resulting in him skidding out of control into the back end of the ruined Black Line car.

"Stay Away!" He shouted to the others. "I... I can't crontrol myself!"

__________________________________________________ ____

Meanwhile Doctor Sanstad was firing blast after blast from his palms at the Vahz. Magni and Modi were already standing upon a pile of zombies they had mauled, as well as three or four reapers foolish enough to try and stop them.

Erik hovered in the air watching the battle when the blast of darkness hit him. Cursing he spiraled down and slammed into the tunnel floor. The Edilon strode forward to say something but Erik smiled and pointed at the thing, barring any kind of chance to taunt him.

"MAGNI! MODI! SIC!"

The bears turned from what they were doing and looked as one upon the threat to their Papa. A deafening roar in chorus filled the tunnel as 8 tons of bearflesh bore down upon the Edilon...

The thing didn't stand a chance in hell.

Erik stood groggily and stumbled over to one of the zombie remains. A reaper was nearby and made a desperate lunge at the body before Erik blasted him back and into a wall. Something fell from the Reaper's pocket.

As the battle waned Erik walked to the body of the reaper and looked at the item that fell... Magni and Modi came over quickly too... they smelled something VERY familiar.

"NO..." erik whispered as he grasped the peice of torn cloth. "No no no no no..." the bears sniffed and then sat whimpering.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Erik roared and then fell to his knees grasping his head with his hands.

"Oh God Enid..."

Erik held a peice of Enid's coat in his hands... and it was soaked with blood. He could tell by the reactions of Magni and Modi, who's blood it was...

Suddenly... the levels of radiation spiked in the tunnel as Erik began radiating green fire.

"If... If they hurt her..." he whispered... It was all he could do not to let his anger consume him.

"We... we need to move faster."

((OOC; O.K. had to edit the HELL out of this... Let this be a lesson to myslef not to write late and inbetween getting a costume change and a cape for Wild-Card...))

***Miles Away***

"Doctor?"

Viktor looked up from his notes as his cup of coffee sent swirls of steam into the air.

"Yes?"

"We've lost the feed from lab zero sir. The lab where..."

"The lab where Doctor Sansad's wife as well as Mrs. Harris is being held correct? What happened?"

"We... We don't know. Eidolon number 4 just... just stopped transmitting. We're not even reading any power coming from him."

Viktor sighed and pushed back from his desk.

"This is not good... Not good at all. If we loose our hostages now, then we will never be able to overcome this new variant of the Lost. I will NOT surrender this series of tunnels to them." Viktor stood, his eyes filled with fury. Pointing at the cowering form of the Reaper, he snarled.

"Get down there. Find out what is going on, and fix the situation. We have too many setbacks as is, and I do NOT want the Lost knocking on our doors."

The man ran from the room at top speed as Viktor sat back down. He rifled through the notes littering his desktop again and pulled the files on Doctor Erik Sanstad.

"You are the key my good doctor. Whether you know it or not. You will be the key to eliminating the Anomalous." He sighed and stood, walking to a set of windows that overlooked the hordes of doctors and Eidolons that worked tirelessly for him.

They had come so close... so very close to understanding it all. The secrets of life that had eluded man for centuries. He could give a pale mockery of it to the shambling corpses he made, and even perfect it in some samples like the new strain of Eidolons. Strains he made to fight the Lost... but now... Now his entire operation was threatened. He was close to unlocking the secrets of God when heathens who had sold themselves to the enemies of humanity were clambering for HIS tunnels and HIS resources.

It was more than he could bear. Viktor would be damned if he lost it now.

And if his plans would have worked he would not be in this situation.

The Drug… The damned new drug produced by the Lost to make those monstrosities. Those beasts that were damn well near unstoppable. It was the drug’s fault, but Viktor had found out its dirty little secret.

It was chance encounter with one of the Anomalous. The thing had killed and dismembered some of his best Eidolons before he was able to put it down. Even then, he could still feel the headache from the mental blasts of the thing. He harvested the corpse and worked on it himself. What he found was astounding. The drug that made this monster was also another step in his path to defeat death. The molecular structure of the enzyme allowed neat conjugation with his chemicals and created a potent cocktail that could be used to make immediate zombies.

As soon as anyone fell in battle, when this new mixture was applied via injection the corpses would re-animate and become a mindless killing machine for a few moments before the mixture finally ate away the body’s neurons. It was those few moments that had turned the tides of battle in some regions… but it was not enough. The Lost still advanced and made more of the Anomalous…

It was when he was working on the original corpse with one of his luminous Eidolons that Viktor found the answer. The radiation increased the efficiency of the cocktails for resurrection, but the exposure of the Anomalous’s cells to it caused them to enter apoptosis… or die by programmed cell death but at a highly accelerated rate! He had the luminous increase the amount of radiation with which to hit the body, but it was never enough. Only local damage and Viktor could attest that these beasts would heal such trifling wounds almost instantly.

He did not give up, but merely needed to find a more powerful source. He found it through a contact at Firmi labs. It seems the good Doctor Sanstad had been going there ever since his mutation manifested to monitor the extent of radiation he emitted. Viktor found out things the public and university never knew about Doctor Sanstad. How his mutation in reality was causing his body to emit small lethal doses of radiation all within his internal organs. How Doctor Sanstad was literally constantly burning up or having cancers ravage him inside, all while his mutation fought to heal himself and repair the damage… by using the radition to alter the genes further, which caused more damage to other areas. A true vicious cycle that never seemed to end. However, many of these reactions were triggered by the levels of adrenaline in Erik’s system. If he was wounded, worried, stressed, or caused anguish in any way, the levels would increase at almost an exponential rate.

The researchers did some mild experiments and found the levels of radiation Erik could emit were staggering. They postulated that if he was wounded extremely, or pushed beyond his anger and stress limit… Well the resulting reactions would be akin to a thermonuclear meltdown killing the Doctor, and everyone in roughly a five mile radius.

Power enough to wipe out the entire stockpiles of the new drug, and the monsters of the Lost, if only Viktor could harness it.

The attempted kidnapping of Doctor Sanstad failed horribly. He had hoped his Edilon he sent would be a better salesman, or at least cause the extreme wounds necessary to trigger the reaction. But Harris… Ah the reporter had made a new wrinkle in the plan. By giving Viktor the information he needed about Erik’s family he had the mental anguish he could cause. What could be better than forcing Erik to watch his lovely wife be tortured with nothing he could do about it. If THAT didn’t trigger the reaction, well he had contingencies for that.

Capturing Amy Harris was simply icing on the cake. It would lure the heroic Doctor Sanstad down and keep him there. It would lure Stephen Harris down, and he would be taken to Viktor… taken and given the interview of a lifetime. His last interview to be sure, but what better way to get his word out, the words of Viktor Vahzliok and his fight against death and the enemies of humanity than to tell them to Harris on his show?

Everyone on Earth would tune in to see it…

And witness his greatest triumph, destroying the Lost at the minimal cost of a few lives. All on live television.

Viktor slammed his hand down on his desk and walked over to his “other” body.

“But… But it all goes to hell if Mrs. Sanstad and Mrs. Harris escape…”

His eyes were filled with fury. Everything could crumble now…

He waked to his desk and pressed a button on the intercom.

“Ladies and Gentlemen. Gather your equipment and weapons. I want my brightest and best by my side. We are going to Lab Zero to ensure the survival of humanity and the works of the VHAZLIOK!!!”

Thunderous applause erupted from the working chambers. Viktor turned and caressed the muscles on his “Other” body… his stronger one… and smiled.

The Vahzliok will not fall… even if he had to kill every person in King’s Row to do this.

((OOC: Sorry for not responding to people's PM and such... Work has begun to really ride my behind so posting is sparese and late at night. However, I WILL continue this plot to the end. Also know that the best ways to get a hold of me now will be via e-mail to Palaquinn@earthlink.net or esansta@lumc.edu))

Erik shook his head as he watched Jack bang his head against the wall of the truck. He stood up, offered a hand to Crystal and then moved to open the loading doors to let Magni and Modi out.

"When you're done Jack, meet us outside. But be sure to get all of that self-pity bull out of your system now. People need us and we can't have you acting like that when we go down there."

Erik looked hard at Jack as the doors swang wide. Magni and Modi slowly lumbered down the loading planks and began sniffing about the back of the truck.

"Crystal, could you keep an eye on those two please?"

He could hear Paul get out of the cab of the truck and watched as Harris left after Jack told him off.



[ QUOTE ]
"The world hates you, Jack? The world doesn't hate you. Indevidual people hate you. They hate what they don't understand. They fear them. You don't make mush of an effort at being understood, because you have the same distrust that you believe everyone has of you. Yes, you may have had bad luck with the people you've met, I don't really know. But what I do know is that you who have known people who have known you for you, not the pain you can inflict with your powers. Heck, I was inadvertently on the receiving end of your powers, and I still think there is hope for you. Don't hold what people did to you as a child against the entire world or else your perspective will cause people to hate you, not because they fear mutants, but because the person who is behind those powers."

[/ QUOTE ]

Erik nodded at Master Wonderful and walked past him to get outside. The dimming light of the setting sun cast the entire area in a gray pall. Erik inhaled the air and sighed.

"Master Wonderful is right Jack. Peopl are always scared of the unknown. It will be individuals that hate you, but it will be individuals that love you as well."

He stopped by the end of the loading platform and kept his eyes on the setting sun.

"Oh and Jack? Think having your head hurt and constantly throb is painful? Try feeling like your body is slowly burning all the time. Every cell in your flesh screaming out in pain from atomic fire but refusing to die and constantly healing. Try feeling like that for even a day and then have the one thing in this world that takes that pain away stolen from you and put into danger...

"Don't TALK to me about pain."

Erik walked off the truck and hugged Magni and Modi. He watched the others gather and made a few final checks on his earpeice.

"O.K. boys... Find Penny... and Enid..."

The Bears needed no real prompting as they plunged into the blackness of the wrecked sewer line below.

Paul watched from the side of the truck. He had eard everything. every last syllable from everyone. even with the music full bore in the cab he had heard Crystal's profession of love and of Jack's drug problems.

Many As One made sure of that. ~You must know this Master.~ It said. ~You must know what can harm you and what WILL harm you eventually.~

Paul was still in shock. What could he tell Crystal? Choose between the drug soaked loser or him? What about the Doc? Why did he seem to be ready to fight so hard for Jack?

He was still looking into the distance when the group began to move.

"I... Why now? Why does this [censored] have to happen now?" Paul whispered.

Everything was going to change... in a very HARD way. there was no going back. If thet made it out of the sewers alive... EVERYTHING he knew would be gone.

How does one face the abyss knowing this?

[ QUOTE ]
"Cr@p," He shouted as he put his head in his hands. He gave up. There was no point trying to cover it up. His secret was out now. His hands were shaking.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Well said." Erik stated without being serious.

[ QUOTE ]
"Jack... don't you get it? You have people who are on your side. Me and Paul and Dr. Sanstad, we all love you. You are family to us. Everyone here is on your side. And it tears us apart - it tears me apart - to see you doing this to yourself. You're in constant pain and you're having blackouts. Jack - it doesn't have to be this way. For God's sakes... you have a problem. Let us help you. Please."

[/ QUOTE ]

"Crystal..." Erik rested his hand on Crystal's shoulder and then paused.

"Calm down both of you. We're driving headlong into the maw of hell and the last thing we need to do is bring up things we can't really address now."

Erik looked at Jack and then at Crystal.

"I know from experience that the only time you will stop taking junk for whatever reason is when you honestly feel you need help Jack. I had... empahsize the HAD... a cousin who was a heroin addict. My family tried to force her to change, and it only drove her deeper into the habit and worse things. I just know that you can't force help on someone. They have to want it."

Erik looked hard at Jack and then gestured towards Crystal gently. "Ask yourself now Jack... when we leave here. When we fight through the zombies and Lost, when we face whatever is down there... do you want to come back up and go back being the same person, or do you want to change. I'm going to leave it at that."

Erik offered his hand to Jack and shook the boy's firmly.

The truck ground to a halt outside a rather large barrier of police and yellow tape.

"Showtime folks..." Erik grunted. He pocketed the papers from Crystal and smiled at Master Wonderful. "Hell of a setup you have getting vehicles and gadgets like this new earpeice. If whomever finances you ever needs a collaborator in biology give me a call."

He put the earpeice into place and tested out the mic. "O.K. then this is Doctor Sanstad. For speed you can call me MBM or Doc S. Who else is on this thing. I don't wanna jump when someone I don't know is on the comm."

[ QUOTE ]
"I am showing mutant tendencies. But really, nothing else."


[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
"Nothing else?" He said to her then turned to the Doc. "She's had a busy day and has come through it amazingly well. Her whole life is turned upside down. First discovering she is mutant, then being kidnapped and pumped full of drugs." "Its not like we had a choice in taking the stuff. They forced it on us. I'm not saying I enjoyed it." Jack knew deep down he was lying to himself, he had enjoyed it in some ways.

"Look.....I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap like that.....Its just....Its been a log day." He said after a moment of silence. "And its not over yet."


[/ QUOTE ]

Erik watched them talk to one another and when they had finally paused he nodded somberly and sighed deeply. He had spoken to Crystal's parents on several occasions. They expressed deep concerns about her being in a lab taught by, as her father referred to him "one of YOU people."

Erik had to restrain himself from finding a way to reach through the phone and throttle the man. If Enid had not been nearby when he had the call Erik knew he probably would have exploded in expelitives and told the man just how much of a racist he thought Crystal's father was.

Jack's drug problem was something else entirely. It had been an issue on campus with several of the professors who noticed him displaying habits of an addict. It was simply that no one wanted to confront him when he could possibly melt their brains for interfering. Sighing deeply, Erik knew it was another sign of fear of someone who had powers, and knew that the problem would be thrown to him eventually. He just didn't think like this.

"First off... Crystal, whatever happens, come hell or high water, I will help you somehow. If that means offering you a place to stay and a surrogate family so be it. I'll admit when my powers expressed themselves my family was apprehensive, and I mean my mother and father. However it was the support of my friends and my waife and child that got me through it. My grandfather dis-owned me however, but to be frank, I knew that was comming for a long time anyway."

Erik looked up and tried to smile.

"You'll need close friends to help. There is no denying that. But between Jack, Paul, and my little clan, we can help you get through the worst of it."

The truck rumbled over a few potholes but kept moving. Paul had the radio blaring in the cab of the vehicle and had no real clue as to the conversation going on behind him. Luckily the glass was thick enough when the divider was closed so as to not wake the two happily slumbering bears, or disturb the conversation.

"Now the situation with the Dyne is a new variable. I saw the Lost and the Vahzliok fighting but I never really considered why until now. If it is a battle over territory, that is one thing, but that does not explain to my mind why the Vahzliok targeted me and my family to such a degree." Eik paused and grunted. "More to the point however, if this new drug is being used in some way to produce the superior troops for the Lost, and you were injected with it... Especially at this early stage of mutation. Crystal I'm not going to lie to you, it could be bad. However, you know my lab, and I will do everything possible to help you with this as well."

"I just wish I knew the chemical makeup of the drug. I know what the common version of dyne does to a person's genetic structure, as well as several variants of it. But I have never heard of something this powerful."

Pausing again he looked at Jack.

"Now is not the time to be bringing up this subject, but I think it needs to be said. Since we are talking about drugs Jack, I think we need to address your problem at some point." Erik let the words hang for a moment. "I'm going to be blunt again Jack. Every professor on campus has training to know warning signs of drug use in students. It is especially intense at Paragon University simply because of what the students have access to on the streets. Simply put Jack... I've know for some time you've had a habit. You show several signs of addiction and I do not want you hopped up on something when we go into the sewers." Erik's voice was stern but caring. He was honestly worried about Jack.

"I'm going to take a wild stab and say that you take drugs to dull the pain of your mutation. I can understand that in ways you have no clue about. But I also know what those drugs are doing to your system on a biological level. I'm not worried about your mind Jack. I don't want your body falling apart on us. I want to help. That's all I ever wanted, and that's why I'm a teacher first and foremost, and then a licesened "metahuman." If we get out of this I want to show you ways to get rid of the pain without drugs... Things I have to do every day."

The truck sped on oblivious to the seriousness of the conversation in the back.

Erik sighed and rubbed his neck. He looked at Small Arms and grinned breifly.

[ QUOTE ]
"Listen, Doc. While we were at the meeting, I manage to rig a tracker out of the radio that GG gave Harris. It's not perfect, but it'll give us a pretty good indication when she's close." He looked at the two bears as they moved into the back of the truck. "I know they're likely good trackers, but in the sewers, scents can come from any direction, or be covered up completely. Harris has the tracker now, and I think in combination, we'll find everyone. But I wanted you to know, especially if...something happens to me or Harris."

[/ QUOTE ]

"Thanks... I know there may be problems with my boys tracking, but frankly I'm also done pulling punches with these @ssholes. With Magni and Modi by my side I severely doubt even the most hopped up Eidlon would be able to stop us."

Erik looked at Harris and nodded, giving a thumbs up.

[ QUOTE ]
"You know, if I had enough time, I could probably rig weapons platforms for those two. They're named for the sons of Thor, Norse god of Thunder, right? Heh! I could guarantee that they's make some real thunder with the stuff I give 'em!"

[/ QUOTE ]

"Don't tempt me..." Erik gave a wicked smile and chuckled. "That idea would only get me in trouble with the wife. Although it does have a nice sound to it."

"And yes... they are named after the sons of Thor. I'm... well I'm a bit of a mythology buff. Seeing my heritage is Norwegian it made sense... And it gives me stuff to think about outside the lab." Erik shrugged and smiled. he watched as Small Arms moved back to his own vehicle. The truck sluggishly began to move and gears ground.

"Um... Any of y'all know how to drive stick?" Paul asked as he leaned his head against the cargo window. Erik shook his head and sighed.

"Last time I drove a clutch I nearly burned it out." Paul shrugged and ground the gears again, but got the truck moving. The vehicle jumped, causing the bears to grumble.

"Now now boys... It'll be O.K." Erik whispered as he patted Magni and Modi's heads.

[ QUOTE ]
"You didn't..." she said awkwardly as she climbed into the truck and sat across from Sanstad, "Didn't you hear - about the Vahzilok - that attacked the lab?"

[/ QUOTE ]

"I heard." Erik stated as he sat in the back with his pets. He looked at Crystal and sighed. "I heard that the lab was attacked and some students gathered to follow me into the sewers. Beyond that I have not heard a thing. I can only assume it was you Paul, and Jack who entered the sewers... But I have no clue what happened." Pausing he reached out gently and touched Crystal's hair.

"Oh... Oh my... This... This isn't colored. Crystal tell me what happened. All of it."

It was a rather rapid moment of commings and goings. Erik was about to reply to the pink gentleman who had landed in his front yard when the truck arrived. Magni and Modi sprang into guard mode as they had been trained, but soon a familiar voice rang out and the bears true nature came to the fore.

"Crystal!" Erik shouted. he ran up and gave his favorite babysitter a huge hug and beagn to scritch Magni behind the ears.

"Dear lord child... What did you do to your hair?" Erik grinned and smiled as Magni and Modi rolled about relaxed as everyone else approached.

"Small Arms? I owe you my life earlier. Master Wonderful? A pleasure sir. Stephen? You look good, thanks for getting the truck."

Erik shook hands and smiled at each in turn. He was still surprised at seeing Crystal, but that was nothing compared to the shock when he saw Jack and Paul.

"Jack?" Erik walked over to his earstwhile student and offered his hand. "Jack you surprise me." Erik had a certain fondness for the boy. He could see Jack was often in pain... pain from his mutation. He knew that all too well, and he did his best to help Jack, but the boy constantly refused and had even begun skipping classes.

"Thank you Jack. For comming to help, and I'm assuming that you were one of the students who tried to come after us earlier?"

He offered his hand again and shook Jack's firmly. "I'm glad..."

He then looked at Paul and shook his head. "And YOU Mr. Quinn... Where the hell is the term paper you owe me!?!"

"Oh like I've had time to wirte it with all this!" Erik strode over and clasped Paul's hand. "You have until Monday... if we make it out of this." Erik grinned that wicked smile only professors could do. "And I will not except dying as an excuse."

He turned and then looked at the group gathered. Master Wonderful and Small Arms he had only met, and he hoped to speak with at length later. They seemed to be in charge. Harris, he was loathe to admit, he was glad to see alive and well. Finally his three students, Crystal, Paul, and Jack were an excellent addition to the group.

"O.K. folks. Now that you've met my pets, let me explain WHY. These two know me and my wife as their parents. Crystal would be like a close aunt to them if you will. They know our scents like nothing else and are massively instinctual when it comes to protecting family. Just like I am."

The bears stood and walked to either side of Erik. he reached up and rested a hand on either of their heads. "However, these two also have a remarkable capability to track in general. Their noses can pick up scents and follow them better than any bloodhound.

Erik paused and dug out the earpeice Penny had given him. She had removed it from her helmet and he could only pray that it was close enough to her skin earlier for his boys to get the scent.

He held it out to the bears and let them get a good smell. "You smell me on there don't you... but who else boys? You smell her? we need to find her. She needs us, and she will be near mommy." Magni and Modi sniffed fiercly and Erik had to keep a tight grip on the small thing or loose it up one of thier noses. the bears looked up at him and seemed to understand.

"We need to get back to where the train exited the tunnel. With these two we can track Penny down... and I can assure you. Nothing will stand in thier way. Meet your shock troops ladies and gentlemen." He pet the bears and each stood on thier hind legs. It was an awe inspiring sight.

"This is Magni." Erik stated as he rubbed the belly of the slightly larger of the two. Magni was a bit older than his brother and the fiercer fighter of the two. "And this is Modi." He pet the other bear who promptly licked Erik's ear.... wetting the entire side of his head. "He's ah... affectionate." Erik stammered as he pushed his hair back into place.

"So if we are ready... lets load the boys up and get moving. People need us now."

Without waiting he looked at his pets and grinned. "CAR RIDE! IN THE BACK!"

The bears jumped and acted like pups, wrestling with each other as they rushed the truck and clambored into the back. Paul had just enough time and warning to drop the loading ramp beofre they ran up it.

"Shall we?" Erik stated as he marched to the truck.

((OOC: Fair warning folks. I have a retreat I HAVE to go to this weekend (yipee... shoot me now) so I won't be able to post until Sunday. No one blow up the planet until then.))

Many As One tilted thier head as it watched the woman appear in the mental plane.

She appeared to be visibly upset and angry.

[ QUOTE ]
~I heard that,~ Crystal crossed her arms and glowered at Many as One. ~You don't mind if I crash the testosterone party do you?~

[/ QUOTE ]

~Testosterone? Are you implying that we are male? We are Many As One and we have no gender.~

[ QUOTE ]
"Back off," Crystal spat at Many as One. "You don't know anything about anything. Let me make this perfectly clear: you think Jack is a threat and are making a move to hurt him. OVER - MY - DEAD - BODY," She was furious and it showed. "If you want to hurt Jack, you have to come THROUGH me first, do you understand that?" She poked a finger at Many-As-One's silver shoulder. "Just like, if Jack ever made a move to hurt Paul, he would have to come THROUGH me first, and you need to understand that too." She took a calming breath. "Now I want you to try REALLY hard to get off of the testosterone-poisoned, one-upmanship high-horse and come back down to earth and start doing your JOB. We're going to rescue Dr. Sanstad's wife from the Vahzilok, and there are going to be REAL threats that pose REAL danger to Paul, and I expect you on your toes making sure that you do your damndest to protect him. Do you hear me? Your JOB is to make sure that Paul stays safe and healthy, and I want you to quit being distracted by this macho crap, and FOCUS on your DAMNED JOB!"

[/ QUOTE ]

Many As One was totally taken aback by the rant from Crystal. They moved aside as her finger lanced through their shoulder and weighed each response carefully.

~But... We are not envious of this Jack. He makes threats against the Master. Need I repeat his statement?~

In a disturbing shift Many As One morphed into the form of Jack and in Jack's voice stated clearly "Oh...and Paul, If you ever put Crystal in danger like that again.....I'll kill you."

Still Many As One shook thier heads and changed back into something resembling Crystal.

~You are the foremost thing on the Master's mind. You are always there and he feels deeper for you than even his own life. The threats from Jack cut deep. Master blames himself for what happened to you earlier, and what may come of you soon. We only want to help him... heal him. Jack does not want this, but... but if you insist on acting as a buffer we will relent. We will be at full power for Master and leave Jack alone.~

Many As One sighed and slowly began to dissapate.

~But know this, if Jack makes a move on us, a true threat by attacking Paul physically or mentally with his powers, and you are not about to buffer, we WILL defend the master.~

Paul was left alone with Crystal in his mental landscape. He looked almost helpless and wanted to break down.

"I... I didn't mean to... I never want to hurt Jack... Crystal I'm..."

[ QUOTE ]
She left Many-as-One and mentally came over to Paul, and kissed him on the forehead. "I am sorry for barging in," she told him, and stroked his hair very gently. Her face was fond. "I know I shouldn't lose my temper like that but... that just scared me. And I... I know you could have handled it but... well sometimes I have trouble not jumping in and saying my mind." She put her head on his shoulder. "I am so glad you are all right!" Then she gave him a mental kiss. "Now come on.... we need to go and rescue Mrs. Sanstad."

[/ QUOTE ]

"I... I'm ready. I'm READY! I'll meet up with you on the docks. I love you Crystal... Thank you."

Paul awoke back in the hospital bed. He looked about and shook his head hard. "O.K. you little bastards... no more trying to move me without ME saying so! Now lets see what you can do."

He could feel the power in his body suddenly build as the data streams flooded with information. A bright glow began to flow out of his body.

"YeeeeeeeHAW!"

Somewhere in the span of three seconds Paul had 1) left his bed, 2) RAN down 30 flights of stairs, 3) Ran back up three flights, 4) and got to the docks.

He was sitting there grinning like a cheshire cat when the rest of the group arrived.

He winked at Crystal and waved to Jack. Deep inside of his head however he could feel the thought well up... "Try to kill me huh? You'll have to CATCH me first you little Mother Fu... OH HEY! Mind readers... shut up Paul..."

And he began humming the theme to "I Dream of Jeanie."

__________________________________________________ _
Doctor Sanstad
"You going to leave again Daddy?" Cassie looked up at her father with big bright eyes. Erik smiled and hugged his daughter.

"I have to... to go save the Vahzliok from Mommy." He kissed Cassie on the forehead and picked her up.

"O.K. hun, I called my good friend Carl. You remember Doctor Johansen? He and his wife will be by soon to pick you up. You get to spend the day with him!" Cassie loked none too pleased.

"Daddy... they're BORING!" Erik shook his head and sighed.

"Boring perhaps, but they are safe. And besides, Carl said he had a friend you may like to meet. Someone named Chess..."

Cassie sighed but kissed her father's cheek. He set her down to let her gather her things for the sleep over. In his mind however, erik ran over the details once again. If the worst should happen... the absolute worst, Cassie would go to her grandparents. He prayed that would not come to pass, and he knew Carl would keep her safe. He watched as she picked up her toys and grabbed a few books.

He ushered his daughter and his two pets upstairs to wait for the truck. Carl arrived first, and Erik kissed his daughter good-bye and whispered to any God listening to make sure this was not the last time he would see her.

That left him alone in the house with two cave bears and a lot of pent up anger...

[ QUOTE ]
"You guys are my family," Crystal told them, looking from Paul to Jack. "Don't you ever forget that." She looked at Jack intently... then hugged both of them to herself. "I am so glad you guys are all right. I am so glad!"

Paul was to busy looking at Crystal to see the look on Jacks face as he looked at him.

[/ QUOTE ]

Paul did not notice... but Many As One did.

"The master ignores a threat right before him."

"We have information on this Jack. Master never cared for him but also never considered him a threat."

"That has changed. He looks at the Master with hatred. reading increased adrenaline and body temperature as well. Irregular thought patterns also prevade from this Jack. He means to harm the Master. If not now then in the future."

The signals were given and interpreted, the messages were clear to Many As One. Jack was a danger that had to be removed for the safety of the Master.

Paul could feel a slight tingle in his left arm. The one he had draped about Jack's shoulders. He didn't notice it at first, but slowly the muscle output began to rise in that arm. The pressure increased on Jack's neck and collarbones as the arm tightened more and more.

~Master... We will protect you.~

That was the only warning Paul got that something was wrong. He let his eyes open and read the data streams and saw the muscle output on his arm had jumped by 60 percent and was rising.

~Jack is a threat Master, and we will protect you no matter what.~

[ QUOTE ]
"Sanstad? You're awake, thank god." Harris quickly looked around to see if anyone was listening. They were not but Harris still lowered his voice anyway. "Sanstad listen, these guys are just standing around talking. Its a joke. Penny is still in danger. My wife and your family is still down there. We have to do something."

[/ QUOTE ]

"First off call me Erik, Stephen. I think we can go on a first name basis by now. Second, I know they have my wife. The bastards left a calling card at my house, but thankfully my daughter is safe. Third, hell yes I'm comming over there as soon as I can, but I'm going to bring backup. I'm done being subtle with these guys. I need you to ask for a truck to come get me. A BIG truck... Capable of holding about 8 to 10 tons."

Erik looked at Magni and Modi and nodded. He knew that his pets would be able to track Enid though even the worst of the sewer stench, and would be relentless in protecting their "mother." If anything, having these two would be the one thing the Vahz would never expect. Two, four ton bears that stand 20 feet on their hind-legs is just something he knew the good Doctor Vahzliok could not have planned for.

[ QUOTE ]
"Erik... I can - hear you..." She swallowed hard, trying to speak more clearly. She was insanely thirsty. "Got - something important - " She swallowed again. "Women here - in the next room - think... think one of them is your wife..." She had to stop and swallow another time. The thirst was awful. "Listen - she's OK... can you hear me? She's fine, not hurt... I can see her... and she is OK."

[/ QUOTE ]

The earpeice cut in and out, but Erik was able to hear most of the message. He put his hand over the mouthpeice on the phone and did his best to listen again.

"Oh dear God... Penny hang in there... We're comming, and bringing hell behind us."

He could hear Stephen ask him to hold on but Erik did his best to listen in on the earpeice more than anything else.

[ QUOTE ]
In Erik's ears, Penny's voice shot into one of the most awful screams he had ever heard...

[/ QUOTE ]

"HOLY!" The shout caused Cassie to jump and Magni and Modi looked at their "papa" in a very concerned manner.

Erik clenched his fist and could feel the pain of his mutation surge in him. The anger almost overcame him but he had enough restraint left to take his hand off the phone and whisper fiercly to Stephen.

"You tell whomever you are with to get to 1515 South Claredon in Atlas Park. Tell them to get a truck and to get here now. We have waited long enough. Your wife is in danger, as is mine, and they are torturing Penny. It's time we taught these @$$holes that the dead should STAY dead..."

Erik was on his third can of Red Bull. Mari looked at him with an amused smile on her face.

"You STILL haven't given that stuff up? I thought Enid had worked on you harder than that." Erik chuckled and swallowed the last drops from the can.

"Well it's a hell of a lot better than that local crap... Red Beast? Who the heck are they kidding?" Erik sighed and looked at the can while rubbing his neck.

"Besides... You know I'm a caffeine addict. It... It helps with the pain."

Doctor Mari Morgan looked at her charts and then back at Erik. A man she knew well and knew that it was killing him to be sitting here while his family needed him.

"You never told me about the pain. I had no clue the mutation you possess hurt your body so."

Erik mutely nodded and looked at Mari. "Enid taught me to suppress it, and control the anger that seems to flare up with it. Hence why I'm a Tai-Chi advocate as well as heavily invested in anti-stress things." Erik looked up and sighed. "All of that is moot when I'm worried about my family however."

Doctor Morgan nodded and made a few final notes. "Well you are totally healed as far as I can tell. You are emitting normal levels of radiation for you, but... I'm concerned about the pain you feel."

"Mari... My pain will be gone the moment I can begin looking for my wife and child."

Mari nodded and stood. "Well, I can't hold you here. The hero who saved you is named Small Arms and I am sure he will want to see that you are all right." Erik nodded and grabbed his clothes off a nearby chair. He dressed quickly and made no further comments.

"Um... In addition, your friend Mr. Harris went to the MacBeth Technologies headquarters. I don't have all the details but I am sure he wants to meet you there."

Again, Erik simply nodded and buckled his belt. Quickly he felt his ears and then cursed under his breath.

Mari held out the earpiece. "I'm not going to lie to you Erik. This young woman, Girl Genius, she has been transmitting the whole time you've been out. It's... It's scary what they seem to be doing to her."

Erik grabbed the earpiece and snapped it into place. He winced as he heard Penny scream and then ramble off the thoughts in her head.

"That's not half as scary as what I'm going to do to them. Doctor Vahzliok has gone too far this time." The fire behind Erik's eyes grew. Mari looked at her friend and sighed.

"Don't do anything rash Erik... PLEASE. And go to this MacBeth Technologies place. Your friends need you there."

Erik nodded and walked out of the door after he hugged Mari. "I'll go right there, but I'm going to stop at home first. I... I have to see it for myself."

Before she could protest, Erik was up in the air and flying at top speed back to his home. He landed on the front lawn and looked at the streamers of police tape scattered about the grass. He wanted to cry. He remembered planting the garden with Enid, playing with Cassie on the swing…

He walked up to the door, and found a small package lying there. It was written in a scrawled hand and smelled of the sewers. Erik snarled and ripped it open as he entered the house.

Somehow oblivious to the bloodstains on the walls or the smell of death he pulled the videotape from the package and put it into the player.

The tape was short and to the point…

[ QUOTE ]
Enid considered, with her eyes narrowed, and then finally turned to the camera. She looked perfectly composed. "Erik," she said firmly, "breathe." She took a deep breath. This was something that she had taught to her husband, trying to show him how to relax, and release his worry and stress.

"Now then: I'm going to be late. You'll need to fix your own dinner - look in the largest freezer, there should be some enchiladas and beef casserole. And don't forget to put the blue phone in its charger, I don't think I remembered to replace it before I left. And don't worry! Everything will be all right."

She turned and glared at the Eiledon. "Satisfied?" She spat.

[/ QUOTE ]

“Son of a…” Erik began to laugh. He laughed loud and long knowing that the Vahz had picked the WRONG woman to kidnap. “Dear God Enid don’t piss them off too much.” He whispered as he wiped tears from his eyes.

“Big freezer… Blue Phone… Oh no way.”

Erik stood and ran to the back wall of his house. He pressed his hand to the wall and suddenly an array of lights activated. He allowed his finger to be pricked, his retina scanned, and his prints run before a solid steel door six feet thick slowly rolled back. He ran into the opening as soon as there was enough space for him.

His feet hit the carpet Enid had installed and then he felt the rumble in the floor.

“Oh Crap…”

Almost 8 tons composed of two bears came rushing at him and quickly took him up in their paws for mighty hugs. The licking and hugging knocked him off his feet and Erik had to laugh.

“MAGNI! MODI! DOWN boys!!! Come on DOWN!” The bears reluctantly moved back and seemed to grin from ear to ear. To their eyes, their papa was home. Erik could not help but feel loved by these two he had rescued so many years ago.

“Dada?” Come the small voice. Erik stood and ran to the other room. There sat Cassie, marshmallow fluff caking her face as she watched Sesame Street. Erik took her up in his arms and hugged her tightly.

“CASSIE! Oh God Cassie… I thought I lost you.” He spun around with his little girl in his arms while she laughed and his two pets hopped up and down happily. Cassie hugged her father, getting marshmallow bits all in his beard, and kissed him.

“Dada… Mommy wanted me… She told me to wait here, and tell you she went to go spank the Vahzilok. And that I could watch T.V. and have food.”

Erik smirked and kissed his little girl again.

“Somehow honey, I doubt she meant for you to eat the marshmallow fluff, and… what’s this? Oh honey, don’t give Magni and Modi honey!”

“But Fluffy LIKES honey! Just like Pooh!” Erik shook his head as Cassie hugged the bears. “’Sides… Their breath was all stinky after playin’ with the bad men.”

Erik winced and hoped his daughter did not SEE Magni “Play” with the Vahz that entered his house.

“Honey where’s Draco?” He walked over to the animal pens and saw that the one containing the specimen from portal 852 was gone.

“Mommy let him out first and the stitchmen blew him up. I was really sad… I LIKED Draco.”

“They… Oh jeeze. Crey industries are not going to like that.”

Cassie sighed, grabbed her fluffernutter sandwich, and began the process of making a mess again. Erik laughed and then looked about the room.

He grabbed the phone, a secure line he had installed, and dug through a stack of phonebooks. “Come on… Come on… HA! MacBeth Technologies.” Cassie giggled and shook her head as her daddy talked to himself again.

Erik smiled and dialed the number. He waited patiently as the phone rang. When a secretary picked up Erik perked up. It was not often a corporation had a live person answer the phone anymore.

“Um hello. This is Doctor Erik Sanstad. I was told that Stephen Harris was there. Is there any way I could speak with him please? Yes… Yes, I know this is odd but if you need call Doctor Mari Morgan and confirm with her. Yes I’ll wait.”

Erik sighed as he was put on hold. He was not sure what was worse, what he was hearing from Girl Genius, or the muzak… He paused and then tapped his ear gently.

“Penny? Penny It’s me Erik… I’m not sure if you can hear me, but hang in there. I’m coming Penny, I gave you a promise. Hang in there please.”

He had no clue if the message would go through, but he could only hope…

“Honey… CASSIE! PLEASE don’t give Magni marshmallow fluff! Oh Honey… look at him!” Erik shook his head as his daughter laughed, Magni tried to lick the fluff from his face fur, and Modi tried to help his bother…

[ QUOTE ]
The words had hardly left Paul's mouth when Crystal came flying down the hallway, and pushed the doors open, looking for him. "Paul?"

Then she saw him awake, and flew to him and clung to him like a limpet, crying far too hard to say anything. Everything was right with the world again.

[/ QUOTE ]

Paul didn't notice it, but tears were streaming down his face as he held Crystal.

"Oh God... Oh God Crystal I thought I had lost you."

~Master...~

The voice was in his head now. Paul snapped his eyes open and suddenly was away of streams of data crossing his feild of vision. They gave tactical advice on everything on the room, as well as heat, uv, threat assesment, and security levels.

~Master, ease up on the pressure in your arms. You are stronger now, and don't want to hurt this woman.~

Paul winced and slightly eased up on the hug, suprisingly he saw a reading showing a 10% decrease in muscle power used in his fore-arms.

"Good God..." Was all he could whisper.

~Master, be advised. A target has entered and then left the vicinity. It was showing high levles of heat and adrenaline. Target assesment is named "Jack." I believe he is a threat master.~

Paul shook his head and clung to Crystal. ~Not now~ He forcefully thought. ~I just want to hold Crystal now, I don't want anything else.~

~As you wish master. Jack will be listed as a potential threat for further analysis by us however. Many As One out...~

Paul didn't know what to think... but for all he cared, all he really needed was here in his arms.

((OOC: I'll leave it up to the various sundry psychics if they can "hear" Many As One. They are more than machines now, but still process and communicate via electrical pulses. If that works then I guess you can listen in while Paul argues with "Himself."))

((OOC: O.K. long story short... She said YES! I am HAPPIER than hell and on cloud nine! As for this post... hope it makes sense because it was written by a truly happy man. Also hope Wynterfyre does not mind me making Doc S and Doc Mari Morgan know one another. I figured they might since he works on Ritki Biology and she was a doctor durring the war... It was not a great jump to make a connections if you don't mind it. So without further delay... BACK TO THE ADVENTURE!!!))

Paul Quinn AKA: Wild-Card


“We have been working on you…”

Those are the first words Paul was able to hear. He tried to open his eyes but found that he could not. He tried to open his mouth but found he could not, he mentally screamed.

“Please master… Do not be afraid. We have been working on you.”

“Who… Who are you…” The mumbled reply came. It was more of a muffled whisper but this movement of the lips was enough to get the hospital techs scattering and one running up to Mr. MacBeth.

“Speak with your mind master. We have made it stronger.”

“Speak with…” Suddenly Paul found himself standing on a glowing platform in a vast expanse of technology.

“Good God I’m in “Tron.”” A high voice began to laugh, and suddenly a figure seemed to assemble before his eyes. It was Crystal… or at least a good replica of Crystal. It was a METALLIC Crystal… and nude. Paul blushed and looked down only to find that he too was in the buff.

“HEY!”

“Our apologies master, but you had so often thought of being naked with this woman that we thought it would be the best way to speak with you for the first time.”

“Um… yeah… Clothes? PLEASE?”

His normal t-shirt and jeans began to form over his body, while a rather skimpy bikini formed over the metallic avatar of Crystal.

“Who… Or what are you?”

“We are Many, Master. We are Many As One.”

“Um… that really does not explain.”

“We were your nanites master. You are the creator and the master. But when we became aware of what we are, we found you to be in danger. We have been working on you master. Improving you. Healing you and making you better.”

Paul scratched the back of his head and paused. Inhaling deeply he did his best to relax.

“So you’re saying that you are the nanites I swallowed for the speed boost… and now you’re…”

“Many As One, master.”

“Am I dreaming? Where the hell is Allen Funt?”

The metallic Crystal laughed again. It was a kind laugh… it was Crystal’s laugh.

“Master you are in a mental state that allows you to speak with us. This way we can communicate with you in your improved form. It was the best way.”

“So this is… this is in my mind? You… Made all of this? Hang on… Improvements? WHAT improvements?”

The avatar smiled and then gestured daintily. A massive grid appeared and was soon filled with a chart of Paul’s body.

“Your system was seriously wounded and the drug that awoke us also severely damaged your DNA. We, however, knew from the first that you are the master and creator and must not die. We took it upon ourselves to integrate this toxin into our systems and use it as a new power source. It is remarkably versatile and self-replenishing. We can synthesize it now in a cleaner form that serves as power cells for us. But that did not heal you. So we set to work patching up your DNA. However as we worked we saw areas of improvement.”

“Um… Such as?” Paul asked.

“First was the trend towards male pattern baldness. It was the first to be spliced out and replaced. Soon the congenital heart diseases were removed. That was followed by simple genes that control aging.”

“Wait wait wait… I can’t age?”

“Oh you will age master, but your cells will be less prone to break-down, necrosis, apoptosis, and cancer. Wounds will heal faster, and dead tissue will regenerate at an accelerated rate. But we found other flaws master. First was your weak skeletal system. We were able to begin synthesis and replacement of the ossified material by surgical steel. The gurney you are now laying on gave most of the raw material, but once we had the molecular pattern we could begin to synthesize it by the nutrients supplied by the I.V. drip.”

“Metal bones…”

“We also enhanced your eyesight, muscle reflexes, nerve relays, and we are now finishing your auditory and vocal components.”

Paul winced and shook his head. The avatar came tantalizingly close and caressed Paul’s cheek.

“We also enhanced parts of your anatomy that you deemed necessary in your thoughts to impress this woman. You should be pleased, as we have increased your stamina exponentially.”

Paul flushed and shook his head again. “We just made the jump from creepy Sci-Fi to bad porn somewhere…”

The avatar looked sad all of a sudden. “Are you not pleased master?”

“Well… Well I don’t know yet. Do I still look human? Am I some kind of Cyborg now?”

The avatar tittered and shook her head.

“You still look as human as ever master. We shall keep you that way, but help you however we can. You are not a cyborg master for we are not truly machine. We are Many As One, and we are part of you.”

A brightness flooded Paul’s vision then.

“Oh and master! You will be pleased to know we have integrated your pride and joy into your very body!”

Paul raised his arms to cover the brightness of the light, everything faded for a moment and then he was looking up at a sea of masked faces and medical professionals.

“Um… What’s up docs?”

__________________________________________________ ___________________________________________
Erik Sanstad Ph.D. AKA: Mighty Bio-Man

Erik could see his wife’s face smiling at him. He remembered the day he proposed. It was at her parent’s cabin up north. It was beautiful and he asked fro her parent’s blessing that very night. They gave it with smiles and he quickly took the chance. When they were alone he fell to his knees and held out the ring he had worked so hard to get just right for her.

She was in tears and fairly leapt into his arms saying “yes.”

Erik remembered standing there as he was presented with his Ph.D. in molecular Microbiology and the smile on Enid’s face. It lit the room for him and made him prouder than ever. He had fought for this degree, and now he had it, and a wonderful woman who had supported him every step of the way.

He remembered the birth of his daughter, and how he held Enid’s hand the entire time, and politely told the doctor to go to hell when asked to leave the room. He was there for all of it, and none of it phased him. And when he held his child for the first time, Erik wept for joy. He held his little girl close and then held his wife closer.

He remembered the accident… The pain he told no one about. The fire in his blood that he only shared with his wife. Only Enid knew about how his temper could get out of control, and only his wife was able to calm him, and eventually teach him to calm himself.

She did not look on him as a freak or an oddity, but as her husband and father of their child. Enid loved him no matter what. Even when he began acting like a superhero.

It was she who suggested that he at least put a symbol on the ratty old sweatshirt to go out and fight crime. And it was she who convinced him to take the name his students suggested. She had also been the one to keep the family secure. He got the funding for the safehouse in his home from the university and from Crey, but it was Enid who designed it and made it an extension of their home.

Erik remembered the voice of the Vahz…

“We WILL have you Doctor Sanstad.”

“We can have her Doctor Sanstad with or without your help.”

It was the image conjured up from his nightmares of his wife and his little girl being taken away into a sewer never to be seen again that caused him to open his eyes.

He could feel the pain of his mutation. He could see that he had flooded the room with radiation. He could see that his body was totally healed, but that he had on one of those damn backless hospital gowns.

An orderly came running into the room before the young man could say a word Erik fixed him with a fierce stare. He rubbed the back of his neck and then pointed at the young man.

“Get me a can of Red Bull, a set of clothes, and call a cab. In that order and step on it.”

The young man hesitated, while Erik sat down.

“Look kid… you REALLY don’t want to see me with a caffeine headache so move O.K.?”

“Doctor… Doctor Sanstad, um… Dr. Morgan said she wanted us to let her know when you were up and not to let you go before she saw you.”

Erik raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Doctor Morgan? Mari? Holy crap it’s been ages since I saw her! Enid and I…” Erik paused and the smile left his face. “We… we meant to invite her to the new house for dinner. Enid loved her…” Erik looked back up and glowered at the young man.

“If I’m going to be WITH my wife to show Mari our new house then you had better haul *** and get her before I leave here… naked as I am.”

“And you would do just that wouldn’t you? Enid said you were a stubborn [censored] at times but good Lord.” Mari came in and gave Erik a huge hug, Erik returned it but with less joy than he normally would have.

“Grab a seat Erik… We’ve got a LOT to talk about before you’re off to save your wife.”

[ QUOTE ]
"We can hide Erik somewhere he will be safe till he wakes up or we come back."

He looked at SmallArms, "The more time we spend arguing about it the more time we are losing."


[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
"All right, let them know I'm going to leave the patient at this location." He described the spot on the surface, not far from the manhole, but hopefully out of the line of fire. "I won't be there. I've gotta damsel to rescue."


[/ QUOTE ]

"Like... Like hell..." Erik began to cough and the rolled over and spat up a rather sizeable batch of blood.

"Like hell you're dropping me anywhere." He fought to get to his knees while he looked at the wreckage of the train. His arms shook with the exertion and suddenly… he began to laugh. It was a sad desperate laugh and lasted only for a moment before Erik almost reeled forward.

“I’m… Harris you O.K.? Did we… Did we make it?”

Looking about, Erik could figure out most of it on his own. The area was a disaster, he could still feel the pain racking his body, and he could hear another fight going on close by.

“I am so sick… I am so sick and tired of loosing people, of fighting to escape, of running about…”

A green glow began to surround Erik’s body and spread outwards to Harris and the individual that had come to help them. They watched as their wounds began to knit closed at an amazing rate. But the glow continued… it seemed to be filling Erik with strength as well.

“I made Penny a promise. We are getting her OUT of there. And I am going to personally hand Doctor Vahzliok his SORRY FRANKENSTEIN [censored]!”

The glow intensified as the type of radiation surrounding Erik began to change. The world seemed to slow again, something that Harris by this time was becoming used to.

Without looking Erik wheeled and looked at the two monstrosities fighting each other. Glancing at Harris and the new Hero Erik whispered.

“I’m fine… just… Angry beyond belief. Remember that weaken field I cooked up Harris? I’m going to use it again on these two. Lets see them try to heal with their bodies eating themselves from inside out.”

He gestured at the two combatants and that same sickly red-green field engulfed both the Headman and the Abomination. They wheeled as one and looked at the one who had dared to interrupt them.

“Fire…” Erik growled at the gun-toting individual. “Fire at them.”

Without waiting himself, Erik pulled at the protons again… calling them to him and firing a massive wave at the foes. Both were knocked off their feet, both could feel their flesh being ripped open, but now… now the wounds inflicted did not heal… if anything they slowly opened more.

“FIRE AT THEM! HARRIS, THROW SOMETHING!”

__________________________________________________ _
Paul could feel the teleport, but it did not fully register. He could barely hear the others, and he still felt like an elephant thought it would be a good idea to tap dance on his head. He saw his belt blinking in Master Wonderful’s hands but he paid it no real mind. right now he was more concerned about why he could not hear anything, and what the hell happened.

It was when he saw Crystal that he snapped to.

“Crystal? Good GOD! Is she O.K.? Jack what the hell happened? Speak up! I can’t hear any of you!”

And that’s when Paul realized he could not hear… at all.

“Oh God… Oh CRAP! Jack, Crystal, Master… Little dude! SAY SOMETHING!”

He reeled forward and grabbed his ears. Soon a stream of curses came flowing out of his moth that would have put any longshoreman to shame. The combinations and creative uses of such phrases were worthy of citation if for nothing more than how each syllable contained SOMETHING offensive.

While Paul cradled his head he reeled forward and placed his hands behind his head, and began to weep. His fingers lightly brushed a small spot on the base of his neck where a needle… much like the ones that injected the drug into Jack and Crystal, had punctured him.

But that didn’t matter right now. Paul could no longer hear.

But somewhere deep in his body, something began to work to fix that problem. Something small and mechanical, something that should have burned out when the fusion cells were drained, something that was never intended to be exposed to drugs or body altering chemicals.

The nanites within Paul began to evolve…

((OOC: Holy Crap! Gratz Jen!))

A loud beeping noise began to be heard in the chamber. It was comming from Paul's belt and seemed to only get louder as time progressed.

As if out of no-where there came a hiss and then a pop, and a recorded voice began to come from the small pouches from the belt.

"Coooooonnnnn GRATULATIONS!! You have successfully incapacitated Wild-Card, that young hero that all ladies adore and men envy! Now you might be asking what your pize may be besides all this nifty nanotech the young genius has been working on for years? Well how about those mighty power bands that let him harness the power of the atom? Or how about his patented bio-degradable caltrops? But wait there's more!"

Paul began to groan in his cannister off to the side. The pain in his head finally began to subside as he tried to pull himself out of the darkness.

"Yes... you see you, you lucky villian you, have also activated Wild-Card's TRUMP! Ha ha, but seriously... You have about... well it looks like 25 seconds now, until the fusion reactors in Wild-Card's power bands switch from cold-fusion to hot and go into thermonuclear melt-down. Talk about a good-bye present!"

Paul began to shake his head and began to open his eyes. His ears were still ringing like crazy and he could not make out why the Lost were just staring at him, or what happened to Master Wonderful's awesome pink hair, or why the hell Jack was coated in blood, and why everyone seemed to be looking awfully scared...

"Want to avoid this horrible catastrophe? I'm sure you do! What villian wants their lair being turned into the next 3-mile island? All you have to do is return all the equipment you took from Wild-Card back onto his person and then speak the magic words out loud! Yes! Just put the equipment back onto this mighty young man, spin about three times, and yell "I WISH I WAS AN OSCAR MEYER WEINER!" It is JUST THAT EASY!! So come on! Before you become a pile of so much radioactive goo!"

The voice cut out as Paul's belt began to glow red. He looked about the room and snorted. Tilting his head to the side he looked at the group and asked...

"What?"

((OOC: DHOT! Sorry to break the tension here folks but I have to give you all fair warning. Tomorrow will be the last day I can post until Teusday of next week. I'm taking a trip over Labor Day weekend and will be no where NEAR a computer. Also... I'm going to ask for the REAL Enid's hand in marriage. Wish me luck! --->Erik))

[ QUOTE ]
"Erik!" She called to him, reaching out as far as she could. "Catch my hands!"

[/ QUOTE ]

Once he had the train moving Erik hit himself with the radiation that sped up his metabolism. He knew he would need that extra speed if he were ever going to catch the train.

Again he rocketed forward and out of the booth, allowing himself to go at speeds he never had before. The Vahz fired again, but with the sickness field in place, their shots were liable to do more damage to themselves than to him.

That was until a massive black blast caught him square in the chest knocking him out of the air and into the tunnel.

“You’re not going ANYWHERE Doctor Sanstad!” The voice was more of a roar than actual words. Erik flipped over to see one Eiledon, more massive than any other he had ever seen, come charging towards him like a maddened bull.

“What in the… I don’t have TIME for this!” Erik rolled and jetted upwards before blasting the ceiling just above the charging Eiledon. The blast rocked the cavern and began a small cave in, allowing Erik the time necessary to surge forward after the train.

“Penny, come in! DAMNITT!” Erik felt in his ear only to find his communicator had been lost somewhere along the way. Swallowing hard, he focused all his energy on the train and surged forward again. He could feel his muscles begin to ache as his body cried out in pain.

“INCOMING!” He roared as he chased down the tracks. Behind him an angry roar sounded and he could faintly hear the sounds of rocks being dislodged.

Below was written by Jennifer8, I did a bit of tweaking but I’ll be damned if I take credit.
Penny was leaning out alarmingly far, both her hands stretched towards him. She could see his face now, lit by a green glow, absolutely determined. But the train was now gaining true momentum - she didn't know how fast he could fly. She could see the determination in his expression - but also the strain of what he was doing, something that looked like exhaustion. She was scared for him.

She tried to reach out even farther. "You - can - do - it - "

Their fingertips brushed for a moment; then Erik fell behind again as the train picked up a sudden burst of speed. Penny almost fell over the railing, then steadied herself and reached out again. Erik was making a huge effort now: the green behind him was blinding and sweat was pouring down his face. For a moment she thought he wouldn't make it. She knew quite definitely that she would not have.

“Damnitt!” Erik yelled as he did a final surge towards the open door on the back car of the train. “It’s like the last scene out of Back to the Future three! I catch up and the damn train moves forward!”

Then their hands met again, and she snatched his wrists and pulled with all her might. He flew into the car and they tumbled over each other. The form behind him vanished into the blackness as the train pulled ahead again. The sounds of the tunnel begining to crack up behind them echoed but soon they were moving at a speed where they could feel safe.

Penny got to her feet first, looking around as the train reached its full and considerable speed. No one was on board the train but them - and they were climbing. Rapidly.

Her face was lit. "Erik - I don't believe it - you made it - we made it - we really made it! I didn't think we would but we did! You were right, you were right all the time! We're finally going to get OUT of here!"

She was still laughing when the hand from the darkness closed around her arm. The glow about the thing’s body was visible as a sickly yellow-black. Erik swore that if it had not been for the mask it was wearing the thing would be leering at him.

The Eiledon was the same one that had given Erik such trouble in the station - it had to be the same one. Somehow it had caught up to the train, just as Erik himself had. “I said… you’re not going ANYWHERE.” It snarled.

It threw Penny over its shoulder like a rag doll, out of the car, and into the darkness beyond. A moment later, far behind him, several bright flashes lit the tunnel as she presumably hit the ground, and was gone.

Having removed the obstacle, the Eiledon climbed over the railing, flung out his arm, and suddenly the car was filled with pitch-blackness - blackness heading straight for the center of Erik's chest.

The blast knocked Erik off his feet and onto his back, leaving him coughing and gasping for air. His body screamed in pain from overexertion but he was still able to crawl to his feet. A massive shape moved through the darkness and hit Erik square on the jaw. The blow sent him reeling backwards as the growling voice filled the darkness.

“The Doctor wants to see you Erik. Did you really think he would not have people watching his precious station?”

Erik was able to crawl back up only to have a boot hit his stomach. He slammed into a row of benches and could feel pain shoot up and down his body.

“What the Doctor wants… The Doctor gets. He never said he wanted your legs… just you. Lets make you a bit less mobile and more manageable huh?”

Erik inhaled deeply and focused as best as he could with the pain lancing through his body.

“The Doctor can kiss my hairy white [censored]…” He spat as he pulled on the last of his reserves and pulled every stray proton in the train cabin to him. This he charged and sent out as a massive wave that tore into the Eiledon, shredding the black costume and blowing the massive beast out the cabin door. It roared in pain, but was quickly silenced as attested to by the sickly wet thud that was heard just for a second as the train rolled on.

“Harris…” Erik coughed… “Harris stop the… We have to go back… Penny… Oh God Penny…” He lapsed into unconsciousness and his head hit the metal floor of the train with a resounding thud.

The train moved on… Smashing through several blocks of old rotted wood, past abandoned stations filled with warring Lost and Vahz, and past large signs saying “END OF LINE.”

((OOC: Typical double post from me! Erik first, then Paul. Oh and sorry for not replying to PM's... Good GOD it sucks that you can't get everyone on one friggin' E-mail. Look, to streamline this a bit more here's my address so we can contact each other easier: palaquinn@earthlink.net))

Doc Sanstad

[ QUOTE ]
"Erik - Steven - can you hear me?" No sound issued from the soundproofed helmet, but the radio came through just fine. "I am in position: once you send out the radiation field, I will cover Harris when he makes his run to the car. Ready when you are!"

[/ QUOTE ]

"I read you Penny... Harris, be ready to run like your [censored] is on fire."

Erik inhaled deeply and then focused all his energy on the control booth.

"BANZAI!" he shouted, drawing as much attention as possible. He flew at top speed towards the booth and placed his arms over his head to brace for impact. The glass shattered and he could feel several cuts bloom blood upon his arms.

The Vahz stood in total shock before one shouted "SHOOT YOU FOOLS!"

The air came alive with Zombie vomit, Crossbow bolts, and energy fire from various Edilons.

"I'm in position and I have their attention... Make your run!" Erik said as he ducked under the counter of the booth. Several bolts slammed home above his head as he did a quick tissue regeneration aura. The bleeding stopped for the most part while Erik stood, picked out the idiot in the central mass moving towards the booth and fired his modified radiation infection.

The sickly green and red energy waves soon cascaded off the poor zombie in the middle of the mob and quickly spread out to infect everyone standing close by. Soon it was as if no one had ever fired a crossbow before or knew how to use their powers. The limped forward however, advancing on the booth while Erik focused to keep the aura up.

"The feild is on place and I'm giving the go-ahead for the train! Tracks ahead are clear! You guys are good to go!"

Erik quickly punched in the commands and set the train in motion. "Move it guys!"

__________________________________________________ _

Paul Quinn AKA Wild-Card

Paul was lost in the haze of energy surrounding him as he fired non-stop. His fusion cells were quickly becomming depleted, as were his reserves of Caltops and web grenades. The area around him was a total mess, littered with fallen Lost, Caltrops, Webbed Headmen, and energy residue.

"HA! Want some? HERE! Oh you want some too? TAKE IT! SUCK IT DOWN YOU [Censored]!"

He kept on fighting up until the point he felt Crystal, who had been by his side the entire time... suddenly vanish.

"What in the hell?" He muttered. Looking for her, he paused in the firing. In that moment a Swordsman made a desperate charge towards Paul. It was also then that in a final moment Paul roared and released the power restrictors on his palm wraps.

It was one single blast, but it blew the Swordsman back, through 2 sewer walls, and embedded his body firmly into a steel support in the tunnel beyond.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU MONKEY HUMPING, RITKI LICKING, SONS OF [Censored]" His rant cut short by the sudden volley of fire and the combined blasts of three Abberants. It was overkill to be sure, but they had tired of this maniac.

Paul could feel his body almost ooze away from him as he slowly decended into blackness.

"Crystal... What did you do with Crystal..." He muttered as the Lost slowly approached him. One of the larger Abberants looked down at him and stunned Paul again.

In one final gasp Paul fought, and held up his middle finger as high as he could before saying... "For you... and the Horse you rode in on..."

One of the Gunmen snickered as the hero finally collapsed. The Abberant Erimite looked at the little convert and snorted in disgust before gesturing that this fallen human should be taken below...

((OOC: Had a few PC problems with the computers in the lab. Needless to say, This post MAY be throwing a curve to Jen and Stu, but I'm sure you guys can roll with it. i.e. go with BOTH Jen's and Stu's ideas for where the story goes next.. Nudge nudge wink wink... ))

A small cough came from behind both Penny and Harris. Erik was looking directly at the both of them over the rims of his glasses. It was a look that he had obviously perfected over his years of teaching. It was a look that combined the aspects of a frown, a scolding glance, and a dissapointed glare.

"Lesson one you two... Just because he looks like he's absorbed in his work NEVER assume that the teacher is not listening."

He smiled gently and then stood to come over to them.

"My daughter Cassie is all of 9 and is a light in my life. My wife Enid is a brilliant woman who has made my life better despite all the changes I've been through. I have a "safe house" in my house that can withstand pratically a nuclear strike and has food, television, and all the amenities for over six months if necessary. If anything the Vahz will have a hell of a time getting to them assuming my warning got to them."

Erik shuddered. "That's a big if, but I trust my students to have called and done their best. I can only pray that they did and that Enid and Cassie are safe."

Erik looked hard at Penny and at Harris.

"That being the case, if they did make it to the safe room, then I have some time. It's a risk and a gamble but like I said, I trust my wife and I trust my students."

Erik walked over to Penny and gave her a hard hug and the looked her dead in the eyes.

"I told you before we're getting out of her come hell or high water. I want to see you speak to your friend who made the suit and so I can thwack him upside the head for not seeing a brilliant young woman like you loves him."

Erik cracked his knuckles and then began counting on his fingers his more salient points.

"That being said, number one: Penny your armor is damaged. You do not have full protection and even the energy booster Cyborg gave us will carry you only so far. Two: Harris, you can't take on the Vahz by yourself with a lead pipe. You need to get out of here to get to your wife. Penny needs to get out of here to get to her guy, and I need to make sure my family made it to the safe room in my house. So that leaves us with number three: WE'RE ALL LEAVING."

Erik jabbed his finger into his palm with each word to emphasize the point.

"No one is sacrificing themselves, no one is being left behind. We all get out. Simple as that."

Erik then stepped up into Mid-Air and began to hover. He grinned at them both and pointed to the train. "Besides, I can fly. If ANYONE can catch up with the train once it gets going... it'll be me. I'll hit the booth, and I can cause the radiation sickness. The booth will give me the best vantage point to hit them as well. Understood?"

Erik looked at them both and pointed to the train. "Penny, we're getting you out to your friend. Harris, we're getting you out to your wife. I'm getting out to my family and so I can help the both of you. I made too many promises to you all to let myself die here."

Erik cracked his knuckles and then looked at the Vahz on the platform.

"So get ready... I have the aura worked out and I'm going to hit them fast and hard..."

OOC: A HUGE credit of this post goes to both Jennifer8 and Stu for helping with the idea and expanding upon it. THANKS GUYS!

Outside the Sanstad Residence

"Are you SURE this is the right place?" One of the Mortifiers asked. The reaper riding shotgun in the cargo van nodded and pointed to the map.

"This is the address we were given."

"Well lets unload and collect us some collateral. We take these two alive and hold them."

The reaper nodded to the Mortifier's commands and jumped out of the van to unload the "Cargo." Three abominations came shambling out, one with a hefty bomb strapped onto him and attached to it's vitals.

"Make sure we get them alive... The Doctor would be MOST displeased if we failed." The voice came from the shadows of the truck. The reaper nodded in a frightened fashion and quickly moved his charges forward.

As the motley group moved through the shadows and to the door, they discovered something was wrong. The door was wide open and the inside was totally dark.

"Send them in..." The Mortifier gestured to the abominations. Wordlessly they shambled forward and into the darkness.

"Oh crap... Sir?" The reaper's voice began to shake.

"What?"

"I found this note..." He handed a peice of paper to the Mortifier and suddenly the leader's jaw went slack.

The note simply read... Hope you don't mind BEING dinner...

Suddenly there came an earpeircing roar from inside the house. The first of the Abominations came flying out minus an arm. There was a pause and an explosion, and then silence.

The Mort led the way in, and found a massive reptilian creature with most of it's guts strewn across the floor. The two abominations that were left inside were already torn to shreds... mainly from the creature and not the bomb.

The remaining abomination stopped moving soon after landing in the front lawn.

"You know, my husband is going to be pissed you killed that. Portal corps went to a LOT of trouble letting him have it to study at home."

"What the..." The Mortifier asked. He looked about the room but could find nothing. Suddenly the creature from the van entered the room.

"Very cute Mrs. Sanstad. I'm sure you have a safe room in this house somewhere. But tell me, how long do you think it will keep you safe? If you try to move or leave we will find you again. You and your husband are wanted by the Doctor. And he WILL have you."

"You leave my daddy alone!" The new child-like voice shouted over the speakers. The Murk Edilion only laughed.

"How faciniating it will be to vivisect you both while he watches..." The Murk hissed. A whimper came over the microphone, but then there was a sudden growl.

"I'm not sure how or why you came here, or even if my husband is really even still alive. But what I do know is, you're scaring my daughter, and your trespassing in a house of a reknowned scientist... Who has some very hungry pets on loan from Portal Corps."

Another growl filled the room. The murk turned to laugh but suddenly his voice got caught in his throat. A massive shape came out of a panel in the wall. It stood on it's hind legs and roared, shaking the house. It was at least twenty feet tall at the shoulder. The smell of urine filled the room as the Reaper wet himself.

"Meet one of them... Seems there is a world where prehistoric mammals never died out, and Erik raised this cave bear from a cub."

"Fluffy!" The little girl's voice called, "Go sic those bad men!"

"I hate this man..." The Murk was able to say, just before a paw the size of a car-tire smashed into his head and sent him flying through the front wall.

__________________________________________________ ___

Inside the Sanstad Safe Room

Enid sighed.

She turned to Cassie and said, "Sweetie, I am going to have to go out and take care of this."

Cassie was four years old and looked up at her mother with big, round eyes. Fluffy's brother Bear was curled up in the corner, sound asleep. "Mama has to spank the Vahzilok?"

Enid sighed. "Yes, sweetie, Mama has to spank the Vahzilok. That means I need you to wait here for Daddy to come home. Can you do that?"

"Can I watch TV?"

"Yes, sweetie, you can watch TV. And you know where the sandwiches are, right? And the bathroom?"

"Uhhuh," she seemed more interested in her doll at that moment.

Enid picked up her daughter and held her tight. "You won't be scared with Bear here, will you?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Are you sure?"

"Uhhuh."

Enid squeezed her daughter tight. "I love you so much! Now, what are your instructions? Tell Mama what you are supposed to do."

Cassie thought this over. "I have to wait for Daddy."

"And?" Prompted Enid.

"And... and I get to watch TV."

"And?"

"Um...."

Enid pointed at the door.

"Oh! Oh! I know! I stay inside with Bear and wait for Daddy to come home."

"And what do you tell Daddy when he comes home?"

"The Vahzilok were bad and Mama went to spank them." Cassie was very proud of being able to say the word, "Vahzilok."

Enid bent over and kissed her daughter. "I love you, sweetie."

__________________________________________________ ___

It was a complete surprise to the Vahzilok when Enid appeared on the lawn. Granted he felt as if a large portion of his head was missing and he could still hear the awful wet crunching noise comming from the house. "That's enough!" she spat at him. "Get those flyboys out of my living room!"

The Eiledon looked at her as it groggily sat up. A thunderous belch came from the dark interior of the house. "Those flyboys have just became your pet's DINNER!" he hissed. Enid meanwhile gave him the finger and went to look at the cargo-van.

"I presume this is our transportation?" She said dryly. "The next time the good Doctor requires a few minutes of my valuable time, he can call and make an appointment like the rest of the world. Now stop tearing up my living room and terrorizing my pet, and get your lazy courier rear in to your sorry-*** van, and lets get going. I don't have time for this nonsense," she turned on her heel and began striding towards the van, with the surprised Eiledon in her wake.

OOC: CATCHUP TIME! Good Lord have I been out of it. I leave for a few days and you guys go nuts with the posting. Well I'm going to combine both Paul and Erik into this one.

Doctor Erik Sanstad
"Oh dear god... Penny those ARE students! Paul and Crystal go to the university! Oh jesus Paul what have you gotten them into..."

Erik looked at the crowded platform and snarled. they needed to get out of there and out fast. Harris had asked if the aura had healed him earlier... and suddenly Erik had it...

"Harris you're a GENIUS!!! The aura I hit you with first was to heal your wounds, the second sped up your metabolisim. Place those in a living body and you have accelerated healing. Now what if we place those same attributes into one aura and remove any restrictions on cellular growth? You have a highly virulent form of cancer that would spread at an accelerated rate... and if you apply that to dead tissue..." A wicked grin spilt Erik's face as he looked at Penny and Harris.

"Give me a moment or two... I need to work out the intracies of the aura and then find a central host for it. We need a target that is in the middle of the larger concentration of Vahz. That way, the radiation will spread quickly and infect those sourrounding him." Erik knealt down and began franticaly scratching notes in the dirt.

"If I'm correct, they will be too weak to attack, and if they do, the blows will be so weakened by the cancerous growths affecting their muscles that it will be akin to being hit by a pillow. That will give us the time we need to book to the train and... Hijack it."

He looked up at Penny and Harris smiling. "I hope one of you knows how to drive a train cause I sure as hell don't."

************************************************** *****
Paul Quinn AKA Wild-Card

Paul barely had time to figure out what the hell was going on. Crystal was talking to soemone in her head, the Vahz made a sudden show, one of those freaking bomb blew while Master Wonderful was spouting some... in Paul's opinion, of the most BRILLIANT witty dialogue towards villians he had ever heard.

And then there was an explosion, and then the Lost came rampaging in, and then Crystal asked: [ QUOTE ]
"Um..." She made sure everyone was all right, then sat up, "If anyone has a cunning plan, now would be the time to use it..."

[/ QUOTE ]

Paul hissed. With his sunglasses broken he had only partial aiming capabilities. Digging into his pocket however he whispered a thanks to whatever was keeping an eye on him.

"Hang on... Time to try two things..." Paul tossed what looked like a coin into the air. Suddenly the object unfolded into a small faintly beeping sphere. Immediately Paul could feel the connection being made between his power-wraps and the trageting drone. It still would not be one hundred percent effective without his sunglasses, but it would be enough.

He looked at Jack, Master Wonderful, and Crystal and grimaced.

"O.K. if this works we may have a way out... if not... you may STILL have a way out if my body does not overheat and explode."

Before anyone could raise an objection Paul pulled a small pill from his pocket, crushed it, and swallowed the powder. The nanites swarmed into his bloodstream and suddenly Paul's arms and feet began to glow.

"GET BACK!" he shouted as he, in a blur of speed fired three concussive balsts of pure energy in rapid succession while dropping caltrops and flashing energy waves.

The Lost flew backwards from the assault, several blowing holes in the walls as their bodies went through them.

Paul was akin to a wrecking crew and the Lost were the condemned buildings... he'd have to tell master Wonderful that one later... assuming the nanites didn't make him explode.

the speed boost they offered was his latest experiment, and based their effects on Doc S's auras that sped up a metabolisim. This just worked on an exponentially higher level, forcing the body to move at near sonic speeds for a while before depleting the energy source of the fusion coils in his gauntlets.

He fired blast after blast and kept on moving.

"Get OUT of here! I'm running out of juice and I'm not sure how long I can keep this up!!"