Dangerous Lunatic: Aftermath -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The vixen felt hot against his lap, but he knew it didn't matter. The large hyena ran his hand through his hair and scowled when a large clump came free. He discarded the hair and ran his hand over the vixen again. She had taken so much radiation to save him, her fur was now pure white and starting to come off in patches just like his. Blackfire looked up at her boss and smiled, her hand weakly rising up to his, "Did we do it?" "They are gone and we are safe." The hyena smiled as he lied to the vixen. A small scraping drew his attention to the other side of the room, seeing the badgeress crawl out from the piece of debris that she had used as a shield from the beginning She had a look of rage in her eyes and clumps of hair in her hands. "This is all your fault!" The badgeress lunged at the hyena who had the vixen on his lap, both of them already suffering a long, painful death. Carrie thought nothing of her actions, she was doomed already, she had taken lethal doses of radiation as much as they had. The hyena made no move to stop the badgeress as she beat on him, not having the energy or care to stop her. Better this than the slow death. In the end it was one badgeress drenched in the blood and vicera of the hyena and the vixen, dying a slow, painful death of radiation poisoning. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Paul left as soon as the helicopter landed, the wolf scampering off with his tail between his legs. He fled to his home and gathered everything he could before heading for the bus station. The bus ride was uneventful at best, spending time beside a boar that reeked of alcohol. After several hours on the bus, the wolf got off at the rest stop and stretched, making his way to the bathroom. He relieved his aching bladder and turned to leave, only to find two jackals in business suits blocking his path. "Evening," The wolf said calmly as he moved to go around the pair, only to be blocked by them again. "The hell guys?" "Mr Rosen, your going to have to come with us..." The jackal on the left looked into the eyes of the wolf, showing nothing but coldness. Paul cursed and pushed past the jackals, trying to make a break for it. He ran out the door and skidded to a stop. Seven police vehicles, eight handguns, five shotguns, and a tazer. Panic set in and rational thought shut off. Paul tried to run down the side of the building and let out a snarl as something impacted his shoulder. He let out a yowl of pain at the sudden pain, but the tazer had failed to hit properly, only one prong sticking into his skin. When he didn't go down from the tazer, the police officers didn't hesitate to shoot. "We got him. Are you sure that wolf was a child rapist? He didnt look like the type." The panther seargent said over the phone, talking to the informant that tipped him off to the location of the fugitive. "Yeah, thats true. You never can tell who is one at a glance." The panther paused for a few moments, listening to the caller on the other end talk "Yes, we searched his place, his computer was wiped clean. But he forgot to take a DVD out of the drive. It had all the evidence we needed." The panther shivered in disgust at the memory of the images they had found. "No, there wont be any trial... We were forced to use lethal force. This is an open and shut case." The panther hit the case closed button on the computer in front of him. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Marcus held the lizard in his arms, doing his best to heal him. Tears streamed down the face of the rat as he focused, but nothing worked. Desperately he looked up at the face of his cheetah. "Why cant i heal him?" "I dont know..." Melina ran her hand over the cheek of her rat and nestled in close. "His wounds are too much for anyone to heal," Savannah stated in a cold voice, the little hyena sitting near the pair. After the helicopter crashed, they managed to escape into the woods, two of them carrying the lizard carefully while the third watched for signs of pursuit. By all rights the lizard should be dead, the skin and muscle gone from both legs and one arm, his tail all but severed at the base. But he clung to life, his heart beat strong and steady, and despite the grievous wounds, he wasn't bleeding at all. They had taken refuge in an abandoned cabin in the forest near a stream. The cabin was occupied by an old female weasel, her fur mostly grey. At first the weasel was resistant to them, but when Savannah stepped up and gave the puppy-dog eyes (along with a hypnotic suggestion) they were welcomed into the cabin. They each took turns looking after the lizard as he rested, cleaning the wounds as they healed over and eventually discarding the exposed bones. After two weeks of being unconscious and fed purely through the regenerative ability that Marcus possessed, the little lizard finally awoke with a groan. He blinked several times as he worked to focus his eyes, opening them to see an old weasel sitting in a rocking chair beside the bed. After several times of trying to move, he gave a curious merp as his left arm pulled the covers down. He was missing his right arm from halfway between the shoulder and elbow. Memories flooded back into his head, but the only sound that escaped his lips was "Oh... Right." He carefully examined the fabric that wrapped the stump of an arm and started to peel it back. The experience was very peculiar, he felt no pain from the scabbed over wounds, yet at the same time, he felt as if his arm was still there, just unresponsive. Exploring further down with his left hand, he found his legs were just stumps as well, ending off mid way down the thighs. Despite his recent waking, Sam closed his eyes and started to meditate. He relaxed his body and focused his mind as he rested there in the bed under he watchful eye of the sleeping weasel. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Melina looked over her project. She had found the garage to be full of bits and pieces of machinery and electronics that were old and broken. She had tested the various parts and pieces that she had recovered, selecting only the best pieces for her project. Now she was close to finishing it. It wasn't pretty, but it was functional. She had found several solenoids, and used her phasing ability to strengthen several pieces of aluminium and create the proper pivots and joints. It took a lot of planning, but she was already very skilled at designing things thanks to the time she had spent in the artificial reality that the lab rat had kept them in. She smiled as she hefted the contraption up, it had very little in the way of electronics that controlled it. Some 555 timers, some capacitors, a few resistors, nothing too sophisticated. She had set it up so each joint had a variable resistor attached to it for feedback, and there were pads on it that were touch sensitive, pressure pads that were recovered from some old music players. The cheetah slung the project over her shoulder and smiled, starting up the stairs to relieve the old weasel who had been on watch. She knocked on the door softly and giggled a little as she found the weasel asleep in the chair. "Ma'am? Thank you, I can take over now." The weasel blinked a few times and then stood up slowly. "Thank you, deary. I think I need a nap..." "Sleep well." Melina smiled and stepped aside, letting the old woman pass. She then brushed off the seat and set her contraption down on it before looking to the lizard in bed. And nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw him smiling at her. "SAM!" Melina practically yelled it as she leapt at him, her arms wrapping around his body and holding him tightly. "You're awake!" Sam put his good arm around the cheetah and returned the hug, leaning his head against hers. He went to speak, but all that came out was a croak that lead to a coughing spell. After a few moments he recovered and took a sip from the water jug that was beside the bed, and spilled quite a bit on himself from his hand shaking. He licked his lips and tried again, "Melina. It's good to see you. I take it we made it? I don't remember how though..." "You saved us..." Melina teared up as she spoke, looking over the little lizard as she sat back down, "We waited for you at the helicopter like you asked, and when you came back, you were almost a zombie." Sam looked at his left hand and how bony it looked. He repeated the last word, making it into a question, "Zombie?" "Your right arm and both legs were nothing but bone, yet they still moved as if they had muscles..." The cheetah's voice wavered a little, her shock at what she had seen still strong. "And when you clawed Marcus, he didn't regenerate..." "Clawed Marcus?" Sam went wide eyed as he looked at the cheetah, "I... Is he ok?" "Hold on, lemme go get him." The cheetah gave the lizard a kiss on the nose before practically running down the stairs, yelling out, "Marcus! Savannah! He's awake!" Several moments later all three of piled into the room, gathering around the bed. Marcus now sported three lines of healed flesh where no fur would grow, the lines crossing his eyebrow and down his muzzle. "Scaleybutt! Welcome back to the land of the living, my undead friend!" "Your face..." Sam looked at the scars on the rat's face, sorrow showing in his eyes. "Are you kidding? These are GREAT! I love them!" The rat ran his hand through his hair, slicking it back and making himself look suave, "I look totally bad ass now." "Oh shaddap, ya dirty rat." Melina grinned and mock scratched the other cheek of the rat before looking back to the lizard. "I made you something... Its not much, hut it should be good enough for now..." Sam blinked curiously as the cheetah picked up the item she put on the chair earlier, then turned to show it off. It was a crude artificial arm that matched what he used to have in size, but was definitely bulkier and heavier. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Sam extended his stump out towards the arm and smiled. When the arm touched the stump, it came alive, the fingers twitching and flexing, feedback flowing in response as if it was his natural arm. "Wow. Thank you, Melina." Savannah, who had been quietly standing in the doorway, now approached the lizard and gave him a soft kiss of the forehead. "Thank you for saving me." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- PLEASE ENTER YOUR NAME Interface - I can control electronics. Meld - I can phase objects so they can pass through things Spike - I can regenerate any wounds I take. Suggest - I can read memories and influence choices. The four teens smiled to each other as they one by one entered their chosen names and powers into the blog that Samuel showed them online. It had been about nine months since they had escaped, and they were still together, doing their best to stay out of trouble. A few times, agents from the project tried to take them down, but each time they were thwarted in their attempts. Most of the time Suggest was able to just sleep-bomb the agents and they could flee. They did their best not to harm anyone in their defence, but occasionally it was required. Samuel worked with Melina on better prosthetics for his limbs, resulting in lightweight, strong, and thin artificial limbs that gave him better mobility than he had ever had. He eventually decided to get them grafted to his stumps directly using Melina's phasing ability, so he didn't need to worry about chafing straps or anything. He never told his friends about what happened on that day, how he came out looking like that, but then again none of them asked either. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- In the end all four of them ended up getting drafted into the final fight for freedom against the project, but that is another story all together. ********************************************