{"sf1_id":719268,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The First Attack","author":"Volcan MacAingeal","words":16612,"posted_at":"2014-06-17T22:31:00.000Z","tags":["Cyborg","Discrimination","Dragon","Human","Phoenix","Science","Science Fiction","The-Os-Nadarra Sentinels","paranoia","police"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/719268-the-first-attack","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/719268","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=719268\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\nThe Os-Nàdarra Sentinels\n \nChapter 1: First Attack\n \n-Unity Falls, June 13th\n2010-\n \n            Volcan had been sleeping soundly in\nbed when the buzzing and beeping of his phone receiving several text messages\nroused him from his sleep; lifting his head from his pillow he looked over at\nthe phone on his nightstand with a sleepy gaze, almost wanting to smash the\nphone with his fist to silence it, but he restrained himself, and reached over,\npicking it up from the nightstand and tapping the button on top.\n            On the display, he saw the name\n'Obsidian' at the top above the displayed message. \"From 'Sid?\" He asked\nhimself rubbing his eyes and squinting a little to clear the blur from them so\nhe could better read the text messages. The previous two simply read 'Wake up'\nand 'Hey birthday boy!' on them, to which he smiled. \"Aww, she remembered,\" he\nsaid, and brought up the third one, the contents of which confused him.\n\"Wha...?\"\n            'Look behind you, sleepyhead.'\n            It was then Volcan noticed there\nseemed to be more weight than usual on his back, and it didn't belong to his\nblanket he had draped over himself... It wasn't really heavy -not to him\nanyway, but it was just enough for him to notice. Slowly, he looked over his\nshoulder to find out the source of this added weight.\n            A pair of light blue eyes, no\npupils, and a face of purple scales, stared back at him. \"Rise and shine,\nbirthday boy.\"\n            \"AAAH!!\" Volcan cried out,\nimmediately thrashing around in his bed and hurling the intruder off of his\nback. \"Holy sack of monkey SHIT!\" He babbled randomly as he fell out of bed and\nhit the floor, his ears filling with the roar of laughter, but it didn't just\nbelong to one person either.\n            Untangling himself from his blanket,\nwhich had left the bed with him when he fell out, he sat up and glanced around,\nseeing his bedroom filled with seven people, all of them figures he knew, but\nhe had no recollection of letting any of them in, or even inviting them over\nfor that matter. \nOne of them, the one he had hurled off of his back\nand was levitating in midair, completely defying gravity, was a purple\ndragoness -eastern type, the variety without wings and grew hair instead of\nhorns, said hair growing in a spiked 'mane' running down the back of her neck\nand standing out from the top of her head. Her entire body was covered in\namethyst scales with a slightly paler undertone, and she was dressed in a Unity\nFalls police uniform, concealing an athletic figure underneath. He recognized\nher quickly enough; he didn't know any other purple dragons except for one, and\nthat was Obsidian Kimoyama.\n            Standing next to her was another\neastern dragoness, this one red in colour without an undertone, and a fair head\nshorter than the first. She didn't look as fit as the first dragoness either,\nbut still had a healthy figure about her. She was dressed in a black T-shirt\nand light blue jeans, and had something hidden behind her back, preventing\nVolcan from seeing it. This lady was Ayane Nagano, whom he'd met around the\nsame time as Obsidian; a notably talented technician and engineer, capable of\ncreating wondrous inventions way ahead of the time period.\n            Behind the two dragonesses was a\nmale dragon, a little taller than either of them but sapphire blue in colour.\nThis dragon was also a Western-type, with four horns growing out of the back of\nhis head as opposed to a mane of fur. He sported an athletic figure, and was\ndressed in black jeans and a red, open vest that showed his torso and the\nlight-blue undertone running from his neck down below his belly. The male\ndragon was known to Volcan as Rikyuu.\n            The others in the room were his\nbrother, along with Pavan, Tsume and Brent, all of whom were still laughing\nhysterically at how Volcan had reacted to Obsidian lying on his back when he\nwoke up. He scowled at the group, crossing his arms in annoyance. \"Mature, the\nmaturest,\" he remarked. \"Mind telling me what you're all doing in here, scaring\nthe daylights outta me and interrupting a rather nice sleep?\"\n            \"What else, bro?\" Lighris asked. \"To\nsay happy birthday!\"\n            \"You're eighteen today, big guy!\"\nPavan reminded.\n            \"And we wanted to surprise our\nfavorite phoenix,\" added Obsidian.\n            Volcan chuckled and rolled his eyes.\n\"Oh I was surprised alright,\" he said. \"Yanno, that could be called trespassing\nand invasion of personal space, 'officer'.\"\n            \"But are you going to charge me with\nthem?\" She asked.\n            \"Hell no; you're too damn pretty to\ngo to jail,\" replied Volcan.\n            \"Flatterer,\" Obsidian returned,\ngiggling a little.\n            \"But an honest one,\" the phoenix\nreminded. \"Now uh... sorry to shoo you guys out but, you mind if I get some\npants on before we continue this conversation? This is kinda awkward sitting\nhere in my underpants and covered by a blanket.\"\n            \"Sure; we'll just wait out in the\nliving room,\" replied Rikyuu, motioning for everyone to stop out of the. \"Come\non guys.\"\n            Once they were out of the room,\nVolcan promptly got dressed, finding himself a pair of clean jeans and a shirt\nbefore he stepped out of his bedroom, walking down the hall to the living room\nwhere his unexpected guests were waiting, along with stack of presents by his\ntelevision, and a large, two-layer cake on the table. \"Cake was sent over by\nmom,\" Lighris informed when he noticed Volcan looking at it. \"Made your\nfavorite.\"\n            Volcan smiled at everyone. \"Rude\nawakening aside, it's really great to see all of you,\" he said. \"Especially you\nthree,\" he said to the dragons. \"It's been a while.\"\n            \"Not since the city war ended,\"\nreturned Rikyuu.\n            \"Now, let's not get into that,\" said\nObsidian as she walked up to Volcan and gave him a warm hug, which the phoenix\nhappily returned, giving her torso a good, affectionate squeeze of his powerful\narms before she pulled back from him. \"This is supposed to be a happy day,\nespecially for Volcan here,\" she stated firmly.\n            \"Yeah, she's right,\" said Tsume.\n\"So, Volcan, ready to open your presents?\"\n            \"Damn straight,\" he replied. \"Though\nI'm curious as to what Ayane's hiding behind her back there.\"\n            \"Well, let me satisfy your curiosity\nthen,\" said Ayane, producing an object from behind her back. At first glance,\nit looked like a long black pole, like a quarterstaff but discoloured, except\nfor several narrow slits along its side that glowed with a strange orange\nlight, running from the tip down to the very bottom. Besides those glowing\nslits, it didn't really look that interesting...\n            \"What... is it?\" Volcan asked as he\ntook the long pole from Ayane, looking it over.\n            \"Now, while you're holding it,\" she\nbegan. \"Think of a staff-weapon, any kind at all, although be careful none of\nus are near you when you do.\"\n            Volcan looked over at Obsidian, who\nbacked up to give Volcan some room. He didn't know what to expect from the\nobject he was holding in his hand, so he cautiously gripped it with both, and\nheld it with both ends horizontal, away from anything breakable or from anybody\nwho could get hurt, before he pictured a Greek spear in his mind. Seconds\nlater, the pole in his hand suddenly changed, becoming longer and spawning two\ntiny, leaf-shaped spearheads on both ends in flashes of golden light.\n            \"Whoa!\" Volcan exclaimed, almost\ndropping the staff. \"It... turned into a xyston!\"\n            \"A call it the Morphing Polearm,\"\nstated Ayane. \"Long as you hold it, you need to only imagine any kind of staff\nweapon you want, and it'll become it. It can't turn into anything shorter than\na polearm though; it can't be a hand-axe or a sword or whatnot, but despite\nthat, it's an efficient tool.\"\n            \"I'll say!\" Volcan returned. \"This\nis incredible, Ayane; where'd you even find this?\"\n            \"Find? Not in my vocabulary,\"\nreturned the red dragoness. \"I made it myself.\"\n            Volcan gawked at her. \"I knew you\nwere a wizard at science and technology but this just takes it to a whole new\nlevel, girl,\" he remarked. \"Thanks for this; I'll be sure to go practice with\nthis ASAP.\"\n            \"You're welcome,\" she said. \"But you\nstill have more to open yet.\"\n            \"Nothing we've gotten him is as\nspectacular as some shape-shifting stick, though,\" remarked Lighris.\n            \"Hey, don't sell yourselves short,\"\nsaid Volcan. \"Remember it's always the thought that counts, and I'm sure you\nguys have some surprises for me yet.\"\n            Although Lighris had been right\nabout it, Volcan would never say it out loud; Ayane had definitely given him\nsomething very unique that you'd never find anywhere else, but he still loved\nevery gift he'd received. From Brent, a video game the phoenix had been looking\nfor a copy of for almost a year now -although the hyena had ignorantly left the\nprice tag on it, making Volcan gawk at the cost of it, but Brent assured him it\nwas fine. \nFrom Pavan, it was a new guitar pick, since his was\nrather chipped and worn out; this one was made of a tough plastic that would\nlast him a decade of constant use if not longer. From Lighris, a new CD player\nfor his truck, one with alternating, dim but colorful lights that slowly\nchanged from one colour to another as music played; something to make night\ntime driving a little more exciting. From Rikyuu, Volcan was given a soda\nbottle full of his favorite candies wrapped with red ribbon, and from Obsidian\nand Tsume, new shirts, one of which had his own favorite band, Sabaton, on the\nfront, and the other a casual black sleeveless shirt.\n\"Well, guys, that's the last of them,\" said Volcan.\n\"I really appreciate the gifts.\"\n\"Hey, no problem,\" said Pavan. \"So, what say we dig\ninto that cake?\" He rubbed his hands together eagerly.\nObsidian cast a glance at the clock, and the smile\non her face turnedto a frown as she saw what time it was. \"Damn... sadly, I\ncan't,\" she said, sighing unhappily. \"I have to get going; my shift starts in\nten minutes and if I don't beat the rush hour, I'm going to be late.\"\n\"Aww, really?\" Tsume asked. \"Why don't you just call\nand tell them you'll be a little late? You should at least get a piece of\ncake.\"\nObsidian smiled gratefully at Tsume. \"Thanks, Tsume,\nbut I can't,\" she said. \"We're so short-staffed as it is, I can't start showing\nup late.\" She turned to Volcan. \"I'm really sorry, Volc... I'd like to stay,\nbut...\"\n\"Hey, don't worry about it, 'Sid,\" assured the\nphoenix, pulling her into another hug. \"We all have places we want to be, and\nplaces we need to be.\"\nShe smiled warmly and returned the hug, her tail\nswaying contently as she stood there in his arms for a moment, and then pulled\nback from him. \"Happy birthday, Volcan,\" she said. \"I'll make it up to you\nsomeday soon, alright?\"\n\"Anytime you got a minute, we can meet up,\" returned\nthe phoenix. \"Thanks for coming.\"\n\"Wouldn't miss it for anything,\" she replied, and\nthen added half-heartedly. \"Except maybe my job.\" With a goodbye to everyone,\nObsidian was on her way out of the apartment; Volcan could see she really\nwanted to stay, but he knew as well as she did she had a very important job to\ndo. \n            Although it didn't leave them as\nmuch time to socialize; that bothered him, to a point, but he knew it'd never\nnegatively affect their friendship...\n \n            ~~~~~\n \n            The rest of the morning and early\nafternoon were spent partying at Volcan's apartment. As the later day\napproached several people headed out until only Volcan's brother and Rikyuu\nwere left. Lighris actually tried to talk Volcan into going to the Night Club\nin celebration for him finally being of legal age, but Volcan had to remind him\n-forgetful brother- that Volcan couldn't drink anyway; alcohol ignited in his\nthroat if he were to try and consume it, and he would begin belching flames\nuncontrollably, possibly getting someone hurt in the process. \n            \"If you're not going to go there for\nthe booze, go there for the dancers, then,\" Lighris reminded Volcan. The Casa\nDel'Gato was known for only hiring feline women as dancers at the club, due to\nsome study that felines and their natural flexibility made them better exotic\ndancers than other species, and a better dancer meant better sales for the\nclub. \n            But Volcan had no interest in going.\n\"You know I'm not that desperate, bro,\" said Volcan. \"Besides, there's other\nthings I can do besides going to some crowded night club and gawk at women all\nnight.\"\n            \"Like what?\" Lighris asked. \"What\ncould be more fun?\"\n            \"Well much as watching you get\nbeaten up by Jason at the club would be amusing,\" taunted Volcan, prompting a\ndirty look from the lightning hawk. \"I've got other people I can go visit\n-including mom- and I'm sure I can find other things to do.\"\n            Lighris scratched his head in frustration.\n\"Man, Volcan, you are like, the ONLY guy I know who will pass up the\nopportunity to go watch women strip themselves down to near-nakedness and\npossibly even score himself a date for the night in the process; what is it\nabout you that makes you so different than regular guys?\"\n            \"A wide-open mind that can\nprioritize,\" replied the phoenix. \"I appreciate it, bro, really, but clubs like\nthat just really aren't my scene. Besides, it'd just be you and me there; Pavan\nand Tsume aren't old enough and Brent... well, good luck dragging HIM away from\nhis tinkering and gaming out at his place.\"\n            Lighris shrugged. \"Alright, your\nloss bro,\" he said. \"Guess I'll get the other guys and head down there\ntonight.\"\n            \"You do that,\" said Volcan.\n\"Thanks for coming by, bro.\"\n            \"Anytime, Volc,\" returned the\nlightning hawk as he headed out the door. \"Seeya later.\"\n            \"Bye.\"\n            With that, Lighris was gone, leaving\nonly Volcan and Rikyuu in the apartment. The phoenix turned to the dragon as\nthey heard Lighris leave. \"Well... what do you feel like doing, buddy?\"\n            The dragon shrugged. \"I don't really\nhave anywhere I have to be today, so, what'cha wanna do, birthday boy?\"\n            \"Well,\" he looked at the morphing\npolearm Ayane had given him. \"I do kinda want to try out that new weapon Ayane\ngave me. Feel like being a sparring partner for me?\"\n            Rikyuu grinned in response. \"Oh,\nyou're on,\" he said. \"Where to?\"\n            \"Where else but my favorite\nhangout?\" Volcan asked. \"Overwatch Ranger Station.\"\n \n            ~~~~~\n \n            Unknown to Volcan and Rikyuu, as\nthey walked out of the apartment complex and took to the air, there was a pair\nof prying eyes watching them from one of the skyscrapers overlooking the\nneighborhood, on the roof of the building peering through binoculars. One of\nthe two figures took a hand away from his binoculars and raised a radio\nwalkie-talkie to his masked face. \"Doctor, we've spotted the subject, but he's\nstill with someone; shall we proceed or fall back?\"\n            \"Describe\nhis companion,\" came the response.\n            \"Blue dragon, young-adult male,\" Observer\nOne replied. \"Approximately six-feet in height; average for males.\"\n            \"What\ndo your scanners say; is he an Empowered Being as well?\"\n            \"Standby,\" the observer said as he\ntapped a button on the lens of his mask, honing in on the dragon; a light swept\nacross the strange man's view as it analyzed the subject, and soon the data was\ndownloading. When it was finished, the data stated he lacked the bodily\nelectrons that Empowered Beings possessed. \"Negative; the dragon does not\nappear to have any sort of powers, but...\" He noticed something unusual about\nthe DNA strands of the dragon listed in the data. \"This is strange.\"\n            \"What\nis it?\"\n            \"The DNA patterns of this dragon are\ninconsistent with those of other Blue Dragon specimens,\" the observer reported.\n\"They almost look like they've been modified.\"\n            \"Don't\nworry about it; you've already confirmed he's normal,\" the voice on the\nradio stated. \"Intercept the subject\nimmediately; bring me that phoenix, and if his friend gets in the way, dispose\nof him.\"\n            \"Right away sir; moving to regroup\nwith main unit.\"\n \n            ~~~~~\n \n            Later, Volcan and Rikyuu touched\ndown outside of Overwatch. As they landed near the old Ranger Station, Rikyuu\nstrolled up to the old building, looking over its weather-beaten frame with a\nfeeling of nostalgia. \"Good to see this place still stands,\" he remarked.\n            \"Yeah; it's a sturdy piece of\nconstruction despite having not been used in decades,\" said Volcan. \"Well,\nexcept for us.\" He promptly added.\n            \"Yeah, was about to say,\" remarked\nRikyuu, chuckling lightly. \"A little forgetful are we?\"\n            Volcan rubbed is head in\nembarrassment. \"Sorry; mind's kind of wandering today.\"\n            \"Yeah?\" Rikyuu arched an eyebrow at\nthe phoenix. \"Something bugging you?\"\n            \"No, not really,\" replied Volcan.\n\"Well... okay that's a lie. It's just the way things are right now, they're\njust...\" He looked back towards the city. \"I know the gang war finally ended\nbut, fuck... it feels like there's still something going on out there. I mean,\nall of those kidnappings that have been taking place lately have left the\npolice baffled, yet the gangs don't seem to be behind it. If they're not, who\nis?\"\n            Rikyuu walked over to his friend and\nstood next to him, staring out towards the city with him. \"I know what you\nmean, bud,\" he said, putting his hands into his pockets. \"But don't let it get\nto you; the police will find out the cause of it. The gang war is over; you did\nyour part for the city. I know you want to keep helping, but guys like you\ndeserve a little break, don't they?\"\n            Volcan nodded, knowing Rikyuu was right.\nHe looked over at his dragon friend and smiled gratefully at him. \"Thanks man,\"\nhe said.\n            \"Anytime,\" he replied. \"Now... what\ndo you say we get started with that sparring match?\"\n            Volcan grinned back at him. \"Let's\ngo for it.\"\n            The two stepped a safe distance away\nfrom the cliff, finding more level ground to use for their sparring match, both\nof them adopting a fighting stance as they faced each other. As they stared one\nanother down, Rikyuu's colours began to change, slowly adopting a different hue\nas he altered his powers mentally. Volcan watched him carefully as he changed;\nRikyuu's powers could be analyzed based on whatever colour he changed to, and\njudging by the colour he was turning to...\n            But then, he stopped part-way, and\nhe reverted back to his regular blue form as his gaze drifted back towards the\ncliff. Volcan lowered his polearm when he saw Rikyuu take his attention off of\ntheir imminent sparring match, eyeing him curiously. At first he wondered if\nmaybe this was some trick to throw off Volcan's guard but when Rikyuu kept\nwatching the open air beyond the ledge, he began to suspect something else may\nhave been up.\n            \"Hey, Rik, you alright?\" Volcan\ncalled.\n            \"I hear something,\" he called back\nto the phoenix. \"It sounds like an engine or something, coming this way but it's...\nreally faint, like muffled or something.\"\n            Volcan put a hand to his ear, trying\nto listen for whatever it was Rikyuu heard. Although he almost gave up\nimmediately when he remembered dragons had very keen hearing; far better than\nwhat avians had. Anything Rikyuu heard could be kilometers away and Volcan\nwouldn't be able to hear it.\n            But he might be able to see it.\n            Walking over to the cliff, Volcan\ngazed out to the lands beyond. Using precise muscle control around and behind his\neyes, his vision became telescopic, and seemed to zoom away from his position.\nHe searched the skies beyond, but at first saw nothing, so he blinked, and when\nhe reopened his eyes again, his vision had become darker; everything had taken\non a dark blue hue to it. When he looked towards the city, he saw colours,\nbright red colours with orange hue, in the shape of cars and clouds of exhaust\nfrom their tailpipes.\n            \"Where do you hear it?\" Volcan asked\nRikyuu, forcing his gaze to retract and glance over at Rikyuu, whom he also saw\nin the same colours as he had the cars, but much dimmer in brightness.\n            \"Straight out that way,\" Rikyuu\nreplied as he pointed south of their position. \nVolcan tried to follow his finger to the source, but\nstill couldn't spot anything, so Rikyuu moved closer to him, and, standing just\nin front of the phoenix, Volcan followed the length of the dragon's arm to see\nwhere he was pointing...\nAnd his vision was suddenly filled with a lot of red, coming right towards them at\nhigh speed!\n\"Look out!\" Volcan barked, grabbing Rikyuu and\nducking down, pulling the dragon with him as the mass of red flew over them,\nand he heard the splintering of wood and the sound of planks of lumber falling\nto the ground; following the sound, Volcan saw the mass of red had flown into\nthe ranger station and smashed off the roof.\nThe strange mass of red looked like some kind of\nsmall plane, except that its two 'wings' ended in massive rotors and it had a\ndense, aluminum body in contrast to a small cockpit; it looked more like it was\nmeant for carrying something than for combat, so Volcan didn't believe they\nwere in any danger of it attacking, but it had nearly taken their heads off\nwhen it had flown over them\n\"Volcan, what do you see?\" Rikyuu asked, reminding\nVolcan the dragon had no way to see what was there. \"I can hear it but I don't\nsee anything!\"\n\"It must be cloaked,\" replied Volcan. \"It looks like\none of those twin-rotor helicopters... uh... Osprey's, yeah; those vertical takeoff\nairships.\"\n\"Seriously?\"\n\"Seriously.\" Volcan was already fed up with this,\nand so he conjured a fireball into his hand, hurling it at the strange machine.\n\"Firebomb!\" He barked. The flames hit the side, dispersing over the hull before\nsuddenly combusting and making it tilt awkwardly from the force of the blast,\nalong with alerting the crew onboard they were not so safely hidden.\n            \n            ~~~~~\n \n            \"Doctor; we've reached the subject,\nbut he seems to have spotted us even with our cloaking field up,\" the observer\nfrom the roof informed.\n            \"Of\ncourse he can see you, you idiot!\" The voice on the other end of the radio\nbarked at him. \"Fire Phoenixes have\ninfrared vision; he can see the heat of the Retriever! Forget the cloak and\njust attack!\"\n            The observer grimaced at the radio,\nbut he made no response besides \"On it, sir,\" and prepared his weapon.\n\"Activate the cyborgs; we're taking this phoenix in.\"\n \n            ~~~~~\n \n            The machine finally dropped its\ncloak, revealing itself, and a door in the side slid open. Immediately a\nhalf-dozen people, half of them humans and the other half anthros but unable to\nbe identified due to metal masks, goggles and full-head helmets they wore. On\ntheir bodies they wore tactical armour, similar to what SWAT teams would wear\non operation, and carried compact automatic weapons in their hands. Two of them\nalso carried a very odd-looking device of some kind, which they placed on the\nground behind the first four. Placed in the center of the item was some sort of\nclean, reflective sphere that, occassionally, crackled with electricity, and\nmoreso as the arms that arched up around it from four sides began to spin in\ncircles around the sphere, generating more electricity, although what purpose\nthe device served, neither Volcan or Rikyuu could tell just yet, but Volcan\nfelt a very mild sense of vertigo as he watched it, but shook it off and stared\nback at the armoured men again.\n            \"Now who're these guys supposed to\nbe?\" Volcan asked as he prepared himself for a fight.\n            \"I don't know, but they sure don't\nlook friendly,\" replied Rikyuu, also watching them carefully. \"I just wonder\nwhat that thing they placed there is supposed to be.\"\n            Suddenly, several metallic clanking\nnoises filled their ears, coming from inside of the flying machine the six men\nhad come out of, and four more figures emerged from the inside. But these ones\nwere different from the rest; they were bigger, and the mere sight of them had\nVolcan wondering if he was in some sort of Sci-Fi nightmare.\n \n            (Play 'Tech War' By Adrian von\nZiegler on Youtube)\n \nThey were all human... mostly; they looked identical\ntoo, with the same faces and ghostly pale, exposed flesh, but they looked\nanything but human. Their mouths were covered with iron plating, and their eyes\nhad metal lens' seemingly welded right to their sockets, lenses with\nilluminated with green light as they faced Volcan and Rikyuu. Their arms were\nnormal up until the elbow, where they were replaced with metal forearms that\nended in big, round, spiked spheres, like a medieval morningstar. As for their\nlegs, there was no trace of human left; the limbs were entirely mechanical, and\nwere the source of the height of these creatures, making them taller than even\nVolcan.\n\"Hey, Rik?\" Volcan asked.\n\"Yeah?\" The dragon returned.\n\"Are we at the movies watching a 3D remake of the\nTerminator? Because right now, I'm getting that vibe,\" the phoenix remarked.\n\"I honestly wish that's what we WERE doing, but\nunfortunately, no; this is no movie,\" replied Rikyuu.\nThe four cyborgs began to advance on the two\nanthros, raising their spiked mace-like fists in preparation for attack as they\nstalked towards the phoenix and dragon, every step shaking the ground as if\nthey weighed hundreds of pounds.\nVolcan wasn't concerned, though. \"Well, then, that\nmeans these monsters should be easy to beat,\" he said, grinning. \"Because with\nall that exposed iron I'll turn these guys right into liquid metal.\" He glared\nstraight at the metal arm of the nearest cyborg, mentally commanding his Pyro\nGlare to zero in on the metal and send a concentrated heat wave towards it...\nBut nothing happened.\n\"Hey, what the...?\" Volcan asked, rubbing his eyes\nand trying again with his Pyro Glare, but still nothing happened. \"Uh...\"\nFeeling a little nervous now, he tried casting a fireball at the cyborgs, but\nonce again, nothing happened; not even a spark erupted from his hands.\n\"Uhm... Volc, what're you doing?\" Rikyuu asked. \"Big\ncyborgs, coming towards us.\"\nVolcan replied with a nervous chuckle before turning\nto his friend, wide-eyed and clearly suppressing panic. \"My powers... seem to\nnot be working.\"\n\"Say what?\" Rikyuu asked, his eyes becoming as round\nas dinner plates and his scales visibly paling.\n\"BAIL!\" Volcan roared as the first of the cyborgs\nreached them and swung at them with one of its morningstar-hands.\nThe two narrowly avoided the attack, ducking underneath\nit, and promptly took off in opposite directions. Three of the cyborgs pursued\nVolcan while one kept chasing Rikyuu. The dragon noticed this quickly, and\nrealized that whoever these guys were, they were after Volcan; he had to do\nsomething, quickly. But if Volcan's powers weren't working... could his strength\nsomehow be affected right now too?\nBefore he could even try, though, the cyborg caught\nup with him, apparently faster than he first assumed, and swung at him with its\narms; he ducked under the first swing, but the second one caught him across the\njaw; miraculously he missed the spikes only to be hit by the forearm and sent\nflying through the air head-first into the ground almost ten meters away, the\nforce of the strike stunning him.\n\"Rikyuu!\" Volcan called out in horror, seeing what\nhad happened to his friend; he glared at the cyborgs chasing him, waiting as\nthe first one charged forward, bringing up both of its arms to swing at the\nphoenix. Volcan hurriedly stepped forward and brought up his hands, catching\nthe cyborgs' attack by the forearm and stopping it.\nHe grinned. \"Took away my fire powers, but I still\nhave my strength,\" he muttered, but his grin faded as he felt his hands being\npushed back towards him. \"Eeeergh! For all the good it's doing me! Fuck!\" He\ntried to keep them back, but somehow they were actually stronger than even him;\nVolcan could lift almost 1,600 pounds with his superhuman physique, yet these\nmachines were still more than a match for even him.\nThinking fast, Volcan stepped to the right and let\ngo of the cyborgs arms, letting its mace-hands hit the ground with an explosion\nof dust erupting upon impact. Volcan took that second of vulnerability to\ndeliver a hard punch right to its jaw, snapping its head around in a full 360 like\nan owl with a rather comical clicking sound heard as it twisted and wrinkled\nthe skin on the neck, but the machine simply turned its head back around to\nproper alignment and looked towards Volcan again.\n\"Crap,\" muttered the phoenix, before narrowly evading\nanother swing of the cyborg's arm. He ducked and dodged around it for two more\nstrikes before he managed to catch its arm again, and with a grunt of effort he\nspun himself around and struck the other two cyborgs by swinging the first, and\nthen letting go of it to send it flying off of the cliff, where it found its\ndestruction after falling almost a hundred feet.\n\"One down,\" said Volcan before he turned back to the\nother two, which were getting back to their feet already.\nOne of the armoured men, seeing the spectacle\nunfold, held up a radio to his mouth. \"Doctor, the Cyborgs have engaged the\nsubject, but he's still putting up heavy resistance; even without his powers\nhe's successfully destroyed one already,\" he reported to an unknown source.\n\"How should we proceed?\"\n\"He won't be able to defeat all of them as long as\nthe disruptor is active,\" a voice spoke from the other end. \"He'll tire, the\ncyborgs will not. Just make sure they bring him in alive.\"\n\"Affirmative.\"\n\"Hey, he's armed!\" One of the men shouted, drawing\nthe observer's attention back to Volcan.\nThe phoenix had retrieved the staff-weapon he had\nbeen holding when the strangers had first landed, and somehow, it had changed\nshape; it had turned into a medieval-style halberd weapon, which he impaled one\nof the cyborg's with before pulling it out and, with a powerful two-handed\nswing, decapitated it, causing its functions to cease, and then held it up\nhorizontally to block an attack from the third. However, the fourth cyborg was\ncoming to join the fight as well, and Volcan was now stuck; the shaft of his\nweapon had caught in the spikes of the cyborg's mace hands and he couldn't pull\nit free!\nMeanwhile, Rikyuu, having recovered from the earlier\nblow to his head, looked up and saw the predicament Volcan was in. He had to do\nsomething fast, but what was it that was locking Volcan's powers? He thought\nback to the device he had seen the strangers bring out of their flying machine;\nperhaps that had something to do with it, but he'd never get near it without his\nown powers.\nUnless... maybe his weren't affected.\nIt was do or die, now; Rikyuu thought over all of\nthe abilities he had gathered, quickly selecting the one that might serve him\nbest at this moment. 'These guys may have\nstopped Volcan from using his powers, but they haven't stopped me from using\nthem for him,' the dragon thought\nto himself as he pushed himself up to his feet, all the while his blue scales\nbeginning to change colour.\nThis scales changed to red and gold, in colour\npatterns identical to Volcans'. Even his eyes had changed to be the same as his\nphoenix friend, and he could feel great strength flowing into his limbs. The\ndragon grinned in satisfaction; whatever tech these assailants were using to\nstop Volcan's elemental prowess had no effect on Rikyuu's internal\nnanotechnology that let him mimic the powers of others.\n\"Payback time,\" he whispered.\nAs the six armoured figures kept watching Volcan's\nbattle with the cyborgs, they failed to notice what was coming up behind them.\nOne heard the dragon's footsteps too late, looking over his shoulder just in\ntime to see Rikyuu's fist impact with his masked face, the force of the strike\nsending him flying into another of his comrades and immediately alerting the\nother four of the sneak attack; they spun around and faced Rikyuu, shocked to\nsee his colours changed and his fists burning with fire.\n\"What's going on here?!\" The observer demanded.\n\"Observer 1,\nwhat's happening down there?\" A voice asked over the radio.\n\"Our scans were wrong; the dragon is an empowered being!\" The observer\nreplied as the other three armed men began emptying their guns at Rikyuu, but\nthe bullets melted before even reaching him, splattering against his scales\nlike paintballs and failing to inflict any damage to him.\n\"My scanners are\nflawless; if he doesn't have the electrons of an E.B then he can't be one,\" the voice on the other end\nretorted. \"It has to be someone else.\"\n\"I know what I'm seeing here, doc; it's the same\ndragon and he has the phoenixes' powers!\" The observer retorted as one of his\nallies were clobbered by Rikyuu. \"His colours have even changed to match them\nbut my scanners still detect no E.B. Electrons!\"\n \n~~~~~\n \nMeanwhile, in a laboratory hidden in an unknown\nlocation, the message reached the ears of a man standing over by a large\ncomputer terminal. On one screen, the strange man could see the scene from\nabove via satellite, and despite his doubts, a heat signature about the same as\nSkilerain's had appeared at the scene, yet Volcan himself was still busy\nfighting the other two cyborgs; he could see such through the thermal imaging.\n\"Send me the data,\" he commanded. \"I'll figure this\nout myself.\"\nAs he watched, the scan results taken by the\nObserver began to download onto the monitor before him, and the strange promptly\nbut carefully read them over, searching for anything to indicate that his\nearlier results may have been flawed.\nAnd there it was; as the Observer had tried to\nexplain to him before, the dragon's DNA sequence looked... unusual. For one\nthing, it didn't appear to be any one persons' DNA, but that of several, all\ndragonic but not all of them of the Blue variety, and while blue dragons\nnormally had a strong connection to magic energies such as Mana, this dragon\ndidn't have any such links, and yet he did not have the bodily electrons of an\nEmpowered Being... so how was it he was using powers at all, let alone powers\nidentical to those of the phoenix that the retrieval team.\n\"Wait... it can't be,\" the man said, shooting to his\nfeet and bringing an elderly, wrinkled face right into the light of the\nmonitor. \"A strange DNA pattern, in a being not affected by my disruptors?\" His\nface contorted with rage. \"Nero! That bastard! I set out to cleanse this world\nof Empowered Beings and he keeps MAKING them!!\"\n\"Sir? Have you\nfound anything?\"\n            Completely forgetting about his team\nand realizing the predicament they were in, he promptly turned around and\ntapped the communicator. \"Get out of there, now; you can't beat that dragon!\nLeave the disruptor and the cyborgs and escape, hurry!\"\n \n            ~~~~~\n \n            \"Roger, sir, we'll...!\" He paused as\nRikyuu suddenly pushed past him, running towards the unusual device placed over\nby the flying machine with his fist drawn back. Before the man could protest,\nRikyuu struck the device with all of his strength, smashing it utterly and\ndisabling whatever electronic field it was generating.\n            Rikyuu looked over at Volcan. \"Volc,\nyour powers should be back now; use 'em!\"\n            It was true; Volcan could feel the\npresence of his elemental energy again, and as he glared at the cyborg he was\nstill in a deadlock with, the metal-plates on its face suddenly became red-hot\nand melted together; a crackle of electricity followed and the cyborg staggered\nback from the phoenix, letting the other one jump in as Volcan's weapon was\npulled from his hands. But with his powers back, even without his weapon the\nphoenix was dangerous; he turned on the cyborg as it charged at him, and let\nhis gaze fall to its legs, which just as the other's visor had, glowed red-hot\nand melted into the ground, sending the cyborg to its knees -or what was left\nof them, and putting out his mace-hands to stop its fall.\n            As soon as it raised its head,\nVolcan was right there, and punched it with all of his might, breaking the head\nclean off and sending it flying off, never to be seen again, while the one\nVolcan had melted the face of was finally finished off by an inferno the\nphoenix cast at it, one of such intensity that it utterly incinerated the body\nand left the metal implants warped and burnt.\n            Rikyuu was faced with two of the\narmed men, still, and had changed colours again, this time to a jet-black hue.\nHaving used his earlier form to destroy the weapons of the strangers, they were\narmed now only with knives, and when one tried to run at him, Rikyuu exhaled a\nblack energy at him that not only sent him flying back, as soon as he was back\non his feet again he ran away screaming in terror, as if the breath had been\nsome sort of terror-inducing attack -which, it very well could have been.\n            The other one was shaking, staring\nRikyuu down with his knife held tightly, but he was trembling, even moreso as\nRikyuu met his gaze, the dragons' eyes blank white and lifeless, glaring\nhungrily at the man. The longer he kept staring at those eyes the more\nhorrified he felt, even moreso as a creeping smile appeared on the dragons'\nface.\n            Until...\n            \"BOO!\" Rikyuu yelled at him, flaring\nout his wings and arms.\n            The man screamed, dropped his knife,\nand ran for all he was worth towards the hill where his comrade earlier had\nfled, flailing his arms this way and that, as if he were being chased by a\nswarm of bees or a flock of angry birds. He tripped part-way down the hill, and\ntumbled his way down the rest of the way before disappearing into the\nforestation below.\n            Rikyuu laughed sinisterly as his\ncolours slowly shifted back to blue, putting his hands over his stomach as his\nlaughing intensified almost to hysteria. \"Oh my god that was priceless; I wish\nI'd had a camera!\" He exclaimed.\n            \"Good one, buddy,\" Volcan called.\n            Suddenly the air vehicle began to\npower up, the rotors whirring and engine rumbling as it prepared to liftoff;\nthe figure Rikyuu had punched out earlier was back up and pulling the airship's\ndoor closed as it slowly began to ascend to make its escape.\n            But Volcan wasn't having it.\n            Jumping onto the cockpit of the ship\nhe bashed the window with the pointed part of his elbow, shattering it upon\nimpact and keeping his arm back to prevent it from being cut by the glass,\nbefore he shoved his arm inside and grabbed the pilot by the collar, bringing\nhim eye-to-eye with the phoenix. \"Land, or I light up this entire vessel like a\nfreakin' Christmas tree; your choice, dirtbag.\"\n            \"I'm not afraid of you, freak!\" The\npilot, an anthro wolf, retorted.\n            Volcan smacked the pilot against the\nremaining windshield above him, brutally cracking the glass with the wolfs'\nskull, before bringing him to eye level again. \"Can you walk away from a\nburning airship when it crashes?!\" He threatened, his eyes glowing like\nmini-suns and reflecting off of the wolf's goggles. \"Last chance; land this\nheap now, or it goes down my way!\nWhat'll it be, chum?!\"\n            Even through the goggles, Volcan\ncould see the wolf didn't believe him to be making an idle threat -and he\nwasn't, either; heating up the ships' exterier to the point that the internal\nelectronics and mechanics would start melting really wasn't that difficult for\nhim, and the ship would crash down as a burning husk.\n            \"Okay, okay, I'll land it! Just...\njust don't hurt me,\" the wolf pleaded.\n            \"Wise move,\" stated Volcan as the\nship began to descend again.\n            \"What's going on up here?\" A voice\ncalled from the cockpit door as it was pulled open roughly. \"Why are you...?!\"\nHe paused when he saw Volcan on the airship's front.\n            The phoenix leered back. \"I suggest\nyou go back to your seat, sir,\" he warned. \"The flight's been cancelled.\"\n            Quickly, the passenger slammed the\ndoor shut. The instant the airship was back on the ground again, he attempted\nto bail, falling awkwardly out the side-door before righting himself up again\nand breaking into a run. He did not get far, though, before a blue-scaled arm\nshot out in front of him and clotheslined him in the neck; he grunted and\ngasped as his windpipe was briefly blocked, and fell to the ground in a daze,\nbarely noticing a foot pressing down on his chest and pinning him.\n            Rikyuu eyed the fallen man for a\nmoment before he glanced over at Volcan. \"Got 'em,\" he said.\n            \"Got your phone handy?\" Volcan\nasked.\n            \"Sure do,\" replied Rikyuu, picking\nthe said device out of his pocket.\n            \"Call Gregory and tell him to come\nget these morons,\" said Volcan as he walked below one of the rotors as it\nslowed down after the engine was cut. With that done, he bent his legs, and\nmade a mighty leap at the rotor with his fists outstretched, smashing the\nfan-blade out of its frame, where it clanged to the ground somewhere nearby but\nnot anywhere in sight, leaving the airship now unable to fly again. After that,\nhe walked over to Rikyuu and grabbed the fallen assailant by the back of his\nneck and pulled him up to his feet. \"I'll keep my eyes on these two. And be\nsure to let them know about the two who ran off as well.\"\n            \"Right-o.\"\n            \n            ~~~~~\n \n            The police were on scene in less\nthan half an hour after Rikyuu called them; Gregory thankfully knew where the\nOverwatch Ranger Station was and how to get to it. They detained the two\ncriminals and kept an eye on the three fallen cyborgs lying nearby, although\nthe damage to them was extensive and they were unlikely to stand up again\nanytime soon. Once the crime scene was closed off with police tap and officers\nset up around the perimeter, they immediately got to work gathering evidence,\nwhile Gregory stood over with Volcan and Rikyuu near the destroyed ranger's\nshack.\n            The police chief was taking notes as\nVolcan explained what happened to him, starting from why he and Rikyuu had come\nto the station in the first place and when the strange group attacked. \"Soon as\nI saw the ship coming, I alerted Rik and we ducked; it flew right over us and\nsmashed into the station here,\" explained the phoenix, gesturing at the shack.\n\"Then those men, six of them total, and four of those cyborgs.\"\n            \"Four?\" Gregory repeated, glancing\nover at the fallen half-robots. \"I only see three.\"\n\"One of them took a tumble off the cliff,\" said\nVolcan. \"My powers weren't working so, I had to do a bit of improvising in\norder to survive the encounter.\"\nGregory looked at Volcan. \"Your powers didn't work?\"\nVolcan shook his head. \"No... which is why I think,\nchief, these guys may be connected with the kidnappings that took place\nrecently. It may be a bit of a stretch, but it all fits; a cloaked airship and\na device that cuts off Super Humanoids from their powers, it would explain how\nthe others were taken without signs of struggle.\"\n\"Am I missing something here?\" Rikyuu asked.\n\"I'll... tell you later,\" returned Volcan.\nGregory tapped his pen against his chin in thought,\nbefore voicing his next question. \"Where is this device?\"\n\"Remains should be over there with the ones Rikyuu\ntook out, near the airship,\" replied Volcan, pointing towards the parked VTOL\naircraft as investigators photographed it. \"Weird device too; never seen tech\nlike that.\"\n\"It's certainly not common,\" replied Gregory,\nlooking at Rikyuu. \"And Volcan's powers weren't working the whole time until\nyou smashed the device?\"\n\"Exactly,\" replied Rikyuu. \"Soon as I shattered it,\nhe had them back again.\"\n\"How come yours weren't affected?\" Gregory asked.\n\"Probably because my powers are artificial,\" replied\nRikyuu. \"They're generated by nanites all throughout my body, unlike his which\nare genetic and fueled by elemental energy in your body. Whatever that device\ndid, it probably wasn't tuned for electronics, so, my powers kept working\nbecause the nanobots were unaffected.\"\n\"That makes sense, actually,\" said Volcan. \"One good\nthing Nero gave you, it seems.\"\n\"Yeah, no kidding.\"\nGregory cleared his throat, reminding the two he was\nstill interviewing them about the incident. \"And, you also said one of them was\ncommunicating with someone by walkie-talkie?\" He asked.\nRikyuu nodded. \"Yeah; I saw one of them talking into\none, with someone he called 'doctor'. Didn't hear a name or anything though,\nunfortunately.\"\n            \"Hey chief,\" one of the officers\ncalled out. \"I think I found the radio they were using.\"\n            \"Bag it and get down to the lab,\"\ncommanded Gregory. \"Maybe we can trace the signal on it, if the channel's still\nopen.\"\n            \"You think they'd be that careless?\"\nVolcan asked.\n            Gregory glanced back at the phoenix.\n\"Minor oversights can occur, especially in high-pressure situations,\" he\nreplied.\n            \"Charlie\n1-0-2 to Alpha 1-0-1; come in chief,\" Gregory's radio buzzed.\n            Gregory brought a hand up to the\nshoulder-mounted speaker attachment of his radio. \"Go for 1-0-1,\" replied\nGregory.\n            \"1-0-1,\nwe've located the other two suspects about one kilometer north of your\nposition; successfully detained.\"\n            \"Good catch, 1-0-2; get them back to the station for interrogation,\"\nthe police chief instructed.\n            \"En-route\nnow, boss-man; Charlie 1-0-2 out.\"\n            Gregory took his hand away from the radio and returned his attention to\nVolcan and Rikyuu. \"Alright; we got the other two.\"\n            \"So we heard,\" said Volcan. \"You got\nsome good guys, Greg.\"\n            \"I should hope so,\" the chief\nreplied.\n            \"Chief... I think I found something,\"\none of the officers called out, before they approached with a piece of metal\nheld between gloved fingertips.\n            The metal piece, once belonging to\none of the cyborgs Volcan had destroyed, was melted and the front of it barely\ndecipherable, but it was just clear enough to make out a strange looking emblem\nof rather disturbing image; an inverted pentagram with a Japanese kanji written\nin the middle of it in white. Below it were the letters 'I.T.O.U.E' and the\nimage of a blooming flower behind the lettering. Aside from the pentagram being\nred the lettering and images were in black \u0026 white, making them very clear\ndespite the damage to the metal piece.\n            \"I've seen that symbol somewhere\nbefore,\" remarked Gregory.\n            \"Oddly enough... I think I have\ntoo,\" added Rikyuu.\n            \"Where?\" Gregory asked.\n            Rikyuu put both hands to his head,\nthinking back and focusing on the image, trying to remember where else he had\nseen it. He stood like this for a moment before he grunted and shook his head.\n\"Nothing...I can't remember where I saw it, but it just looks so familiar to\nme.\"\n            \"Volcan, have you seen this insignia\nbefore?\" Gregory asked.\n            \"No, but just looking at it, I think\nI know what some of it means,\" said Volcan. \"The inverted pentagram is a symbol\nof evil in Catholic and Christian legend, and that Kanji written in the middle\nmeans 'power', I think.\"\n            \"Western symbolism and eastern\nwriting in one image,\" Rikyuu analyzed, holding out one hand and then another\nas he spoke. \"And they basically translate to 'evil power'; what could that\nmean? We're dealing with some anti-government Satanists?\"\n            \"Plausible,\nbut very unlikely,\" replied Gregory. \"Anti-Government cultist-types wouldn't\nhave any interest in someone like Volcan. Those letters underneath it\nhowever... they're what stand out most to me; I know I've seen them before, somewhere.\" He shook his head. \"I'll go\nthrough some of my case files when I get back to the station; maybe I\nencountered this during one of my old cases from my patrolman days. If not,\nI'll have Marcus run a comparison with known organizations.\"\n            \"You should check some of their\nhardware too,\" offered Rikyuu. \"Those guns they had were no black market\nsurplus.\"\n            \"What makes you say that?\" Volcan\nasked.\n            \"I got a good look at one of the\nguns the armoured fellows dropped; it was an HK MP5,\" replied Rikyuu. \"Fully\nauto, equipped with a red-dot sight, extended magazine and a collapsible stock;\nnot something you pick up at any gun store. That is the equipment of\nprofessionals.\"\n            \"Are you thinking mercenaries?\"\nVolcan inquired.\n            \"That, or some ex-military who know\nsome very good weapons dealers,\" stated Gregory. \"Those things are expensive;\nyou need to be well-funded to equip a tactical squad, especially with foreign\nequipment.\" He glanced at Rikyuu. \"How did you recognize those guns anyway?\"\n            \"Video games and movies; you see\nhundreds of them,\" replied Rikyuu. \"Some of the most popular ones out there.\"\n            \"I trust you didn't tamper with the\none you looked at in any way?\" Gregory asked, eyeing Rikyuu suspiciously.\n            \"Do I look fifteen? I know to keep\naway from them,\" replied Rikyuu, winking at Gregory.\n            The hawk shrugged in response.\n\"Okay. I'll let you two know if I find anything else out. In the meantime,\nVolcan, I suggest you don't go anywhere alone,\" Gregory said, insistently.\n\"Whoever these people are that're after you, they're dangerous, and they want\nyou for somthing.\"\n            Volcan nodded to the chief. \"Don't\nworry Greg; I'll be careful,\" he promised. With that, the two were told they\ncould leave, and so they began to depart, heading towards the cliff and opening\ntheir wings in preparation for flight. Before takeoff, Volcan looked over at\nRikyuu. \"Aren't you technically only four years old?\"\n            Rikyuu grinned at the phoenix in\nresponse. \"He doesn't have to know that.\"\n            Volcan winked back at his friend,\nand then peered out to the valley beyond. \"Come on; let's get down there.\"\n            \"For what?\" Rikyuu asked before he\nand Volcan took to the air.\n            \"I want a closer look at the cyborg\nI threw off the ledge here,\" replied Volcan. \"Maybe we can scrounge a piece of\nit over to Brent or Ayane for them to analyze.\"\n            \"You sure the cops won't give you\ntrouble for that?\"\n            \"Dude, this forest is huge and even\nI don't know where that Terminator ripoff landed,\" replied Volcan. \"It'll be a\nwonder if WE can find it.\" He reached for his cell phone in his side pocket.\n\"On that note, maybe I ought to bring in some extra help.\"\n \n            ~~~~~\n \n            Volcan called in some help from\nTsume and Pavan, whom he knew could cover the forest much faster than Rikyuu or\nhimself; the two were quick to respond, especially after Volcan told them that\nhe was looking for a wrecked cyborg that he had thrown off of a cliff for\nattacking him. With that incentive, both were there within the hour, Pavan\narriving first by air, and Tsume emerging from the earth itself only moments\nafter.\n            The four of them scoured the forest\nfor hours, searching high and low for the cyborg. At one point Volcan wondered\nif the cyborg had remained intact even after Volcan had dropped it off of the\ncliff and somehow got back up and walked away. But so far, Tsume detected\nnothing walking around in the forest anywhere; being able to feel vibrations\nthrough the earth she'd notice the cyborg so easily it'd be like broadcasting\nits location if it tried to get away, especially since it was so heavy and\nwould produce even stronger tremors for her to sense.\n            \"Damn it, where is this fucker?\"\nVolcan demanded, starting to lose his patience. \"With all the damage I did to\nit, there's no way it could've gone far!\"\n            \"Maybe you just tossed it too far!\"\nPavan shouted to the fire phoenix as he flew overhead.\n            \"Hey boys!\" Tsume called from\nsomewhere nearby. \"I found it; over here!\"\n            Following her voice, Volcan, Pavan\nand Rikyuu honed in on where the Earth Phoenix was, coming to a small cluster\nof closely-packed trees that left the area below them shadowed, except for a\nsingle beam of light falling down upon the half-destroyed cyborg in their\nmidst, allowed through the thick canopies due to an oddly human-shaped hole\nabove. The cyborg was in pieces; both of its arms where hanging only by threads\nto its metal joints, one of its legs had been broken off by the fall and his\nmetal visor and facemask were both smashed inward, leaving the face a grotesque\nmess.\n            \"Geez, Volcan, what'd you do this\nguy; dangle an active grenade in front of him?\" Pavan asked.\n            \"Considering what he tried to do to\nme, this seems like minor payback,\" stated Volcan. \"I'm not going to prop up\npillows for a mechanized behemoth trying to turn my bones into bread flour.\"\n            \"Was that a Jack-and-the-Beanstalk\nreference?\" Pavan asked.\n            \"How the hell did you even come up\nwith that?\"\n            While the two friends bantered,\nTsume and Rikyuu took a closer look at the cyborg, several time poking it to\nsee if there was any reaction, but from what they could tell it was completely\noffline and wasn't getting back up any time soon; the damage to its body was\nextensive on the outside, the inside was probably even worse.\n            Suddenly, as they watched, suddenly\nthe chest seemed to move, as if something bumped against it. Immediately the\ntwo jumped back from the cyborg, Tsume drawing a knife from her belt. \"Uh...\nVolcan?\"\n            The two male phoenixes stopped their\nargument and glanced over. \"What's up, Tsume?\"\n            \"The cyborg is either having a baby\nor something's trying to come out of it,\" replied the Earth Phoenix.\n            \"Say what?\" Pavan asked, walking up\nbehind her to look over her shoulder, just in time to see the strange\nindentation appear on the cyborg's chest again. \"Okay, that is freaky; if some\ncreature with a long head and spiny tail comes out of that cyborg and I'm going\neast until I hit Ottawa.\"\n            \"If you meet the Prime Minister,\nsend me an autograph?\" Rikyuu asked, joining the joke.\n            \"You're American; wouldn't you\nrather meet the President?\" Tsume asked.\n            \"I have Canadian citizenship,\" the\ndragon returned, shrugging.\n            Suddenly, the cyborg's chest exploded,\nand a small, spherical object flew out of it and soared towards the four\nanthros with surprising speed, prompting them to duck as it flew over them,\nescaping into the forest and leaving them far behind.\n            \"A shiny, flying baseball?\" Rikyuu\nasked.\n            \"Catch it; it might be a clue!\"\nVolcan barked.\n            \"First time I'll ever be playing\ncatch by playing chase,\" remarked Pavan before he dashed off, a burst of air\nerupting around him as he took off at high speed after the ball. He spread his\nwings and commanded the wind to carry him forward, boosting him as if\nrocket-propelled as he sought to catch the fleeing sphere, ducking and dodging\none tree after another while trying to keep it in his sights.\n            Finally, he started to close in on\nthe ball, and held out his hands towards it with grabby fingers ready to clench\nit. \"C'mere little ball, don't be shy...\" He cajoled the little sphere.\n            Suddenly, the ball flew the canopy\nof one of the trees, passing between the Y-shape its trunk adopted halfway up\nits height and between the clustered, leafy branches. Pavan, of course, tried\nto pursue being unable to evade the tree in time, only for his wings to catch\non some of the trees parts, throwing him completely off balance and sending him\ntumbling to the dirt with a surprised yelp before he hit the ground and went\ntumbling forward like a hedgehog while curled up into a ball in defense.\n            \"Ouch,\" he groaned. \"Okay, so...\nbatter gets a home run on me this time.\"\n            \"Not yet!\" Volcan called as he and\nRikyuu flew overhead, pursuing the orb while Pavan straightened back out.\n            The sphere kept flying, low to the\nground, towards unknown destinations while trying to outrun the fliers. As it\nsoared though, something exploded out of the ground it front of it, and out of\nthe soil emerged Tsume. \"Aha!\" She yelled as she made a grab for it with her\nhands, but it banked left just out of her reach and evaded her. Disappearing\nback below the ground again, she continued her pursuit, tunnelling through the\nsoil as fast as a torpedo before bursting up below the orb and successfully\nsnatching it with her hands. \"Got'cha!\" \nBut as soon as she gripped it, the thing gained an\nextra boost of speed and, despite its small size, actually dragged her a short\ndistance before she lost her grip and fell to the dirt. \"C'est des conneries!\"\nShe cursed - coming out 'say-day-kohn-ree'- speaking French profanity neither\nVolcan or Rikyuu understood as they flew over her, keeping the sphere in their\nsights.\n            \"What'd she say?\" Rikyuu asked.\n            \"Not a clue,\" replied Volcan.\n            Finally, the sphere exited the\nforest and began to ascend, climbing higher into the air until it was above\nVolcan and Rikyuu; they watched in mild wonderment as it flew over them, and\nthen began to speed up, rapidly pulling away from them!\n            \"No you don't!\" Volcan declared, and\nfocused his flame powers to his feet, expelling fire from his talons and\nlaunching himself forward like a rocket-propelled grenade, chasing after the\nsphere. For a moment he seemed to almost catch up to it, reaching out with one\narm to try and grasp it, but at the last second, it flew even faster, and\ninched out of his grasp narrowly. \"Fucker!\" He cursed, and slowed down, out of\nbreath from beating his wings so hard and using so much elemental energy for\nhis rocket-flight.\n            \"Volc heads up!\" Rikyuu cried out.\n            \"What?\" Volcan looked behind him,\nonly to get smacked across the beak by some other form of unidentified flying\nobject, throwing off his flight balance and sending him careening down towards\nthe treeline again. \"Shit, shit, shit! This is gonna hurt!\" He bellowed before\nfalling through the trees, breaking several branches in the process before\nfinally hitting ground. \"Ow... I was right...\" He sat up soon after, rubbing\nhis head. \"What the hell hit me?\"\n            \"Another sphere,\" came the voice of\nRikyuu, before the dragon landed next to Volcan and proceeded to help him to\nhis feet. \"Three of them, actually; flew right past me just as you started\nslowing down. You okay?\"\n            \"Yeah, I'm good,\" replied the\nphoenix, rubbing his head as he was brought back up to his feet. \"Thanks.\" He\nturned his gaze towards the sky, staring off in the direction the spheres had\nflown. Even for his telescopic eyes, they were already out of range and getting\nfurther still. He retracted his vision back to normal sight, and turned to\nRikyuu. \"One guess to where those other three probes came from.\"\n            \"Way too obvious,\" agreed Rikyuu.\n            Seconds later, Tsume and Pavan\narrived on scene, both of them approaching on foot. \"Did you catch that\nsphere?\" Tsume asked.\n            \"Unfortunately, no,\" replied Volcan.\n\"Was too fast even for my flying.\"\n            \"Damn; if I hadn't crashed earlier I\ncould've caught 'em once they were out in the open,\" said Pavan, punching his\nright fist into the palm of his left hand. \"There was too much junk to maneuver\naround though; I couldn't go full speed.\"\n            \"Normally I might tease you about\nmaking excuses,\" admitted Tsume. \"But even though I got my hands on the sphere,\nall that happened after was me taking a short trip through the trees and\ngetting dropped off abruptly.\"\n            Volcan peered off in the direction\nthe four probes had gone one more time, and narrowed his eyes suspiciously as\nhe remembered how the things had flown. \"Awfully strategic for robots,\" he\nsaid. \"Somehow I think our puppets had strings we couldn't see; the question\nnow though who is the puppeteer, and where the hell is he?\" He crossed his arms\nfor a moment, deep in thought before he turned back to the others. \"Come on;\nlet's go salvage the rest of that cyborg, and find out what Brent and Ayane can\ntell us about it.\"\n \n            ~~~~~\n \n            A hatch in the roof opened as the\nfour probes returned to the hidden base, and flew into the laboratory where the\nstrange man worked. He looked up as the probes reached him, and held out his\nhand, letting one fall into his palm. \"Good... the data on these core probes\nwill help me plan for the next offensive,\" he said to himself, turning his\nworkbench and walking over to the large terminal in the corner. \"I\nunderestimated Volcan and his circle of friends... I never would've imagined\none of Nero's accursed abominations would be in league with him.\"\n            He put a hand to his chin, thinking\nhard for how he could best rectify this situation. As ashamed as the Doctor was\nto admit it, Nero's technology was far superior to his own. The blue dragon\nposed a problem; the doctor had never learned just how Nero had created his\nprojects, let alone what gave them their immunity to the disruption fields. The\nscanners had been unable to find the source either, but the data recorded on\nthese core probes that had returned just might have been able to devise a\nstrategy to defeat them both.\n            \"Volcan spends much of his time\nclose to his friends,\" the scientist theorized. \"If I want to remove him, I may\nhave to deal with them as well...\"\n            Suddenly, as he neared the terminal,\nhe heard a voice coming through his long-range communications. \"Retrieval Team 2 to Dr. Rex,\" it said.\n            Snorting angrily the man pressed the\nbutton on the terminal to send the transmission back to the team. \"I told you\nto not use my name over these channels,\" he reminded. \"There's no telling who\nmay be trying to listen in over them.\"\n            \"Damn\nI... I'm sorry sir; mere slip of the tongue,\" the other person pleaded,\nsounding nervous.\n            \"I will let it go this time,\" the\nscientist, Dr. Rex, returned, gruffly. \"Give me your status report, now.\"\n            \"Yes\nsir. We've confirmed that the surviving members of Retrieval Team 1 are in\npolice custody, along with three of their cyborgs,\" the man reported.\n            \"Where's the fourth cyborg?\"\n            \"Unknown,\nsir; we're searching for it now. We believe it may have fallen off of the cliff\nduring the battle and are conducting our search in the forests below.\"\n            \"Keep looking, and send Retrieval Team 3 to recover or silence the\nsurvivors of Team 1, and get the cyborgs back,\" instructed Rex. \"We cannot have\nthem giving away our operation before we retrieve our subjects.\"\n            \"As\nyou command sir; I will contact Team 3 and brief them. I'll report back as soon\nas they are en route.\"\n \n            ~~~~~\n \n            Meanwhile, at the Unity Falls First\nDivision, Chief Gregory and his team were at work. On his way to his office,\nGregory instructed his officers and doctors their instructions. \"Benson, you're\non interrogation; make those tight-lipped marauders talk as soon as possible.\"\n            \"I'll have them singing God save the\nQueen by dinnertime,\" a rather portly human returned, in a rather cocky and\narrogant tone.\n            \"Tanner, Jeols, I want you two to\nstay mobile and watch for any more of these guys; don't ask me how I know but I\nhave a feeling we're dealing with an organization,\" Gregory said to two other\nhumans in the station; one of his top constables, an African American man named\nTanner Phillips, and a Caucasian human, Michael Jeols -still a rookie, and\nTanner's partner.\n            \"We're on it, chief,\" returned\nTanner.\n            \"Rachel, you're in charge for the\ntime being; I have to look through some old case files.\"\n            \"You got it, chief,\" returned the\nbrown wolf, smiling at Gregory.\n            \"Obsidian, you're on Security; I\nwant you by the morgue and lab at all times, and let me know immediately if Dr.\nKent or Dr. Canyon learn anything from the evidence we collected.\"\n            \"I'm on it,\" the dragoness agreed.\n\"What about you, Chief?\"\n            \"The symbol on that piece of metal\nwe found still bugs me,\" replied Gregory. \"I know I've seen it before; I'm going to look through some of my old\ncase files and see if I can find out where and when.\"\n            \"Why not just let Dr. Kent run an\nanalysis on it?\" Rachel asked.\n            \"He's alone in that lab; it'll take\nhim too long to get to it,\" replied Gregory. \"If I'm right and it is from an\nold case of mine, he won't have to do it anyway; saves him some time.\"\n            \"I suppose so,\" agreed Rachel. With\nthat, she turned to address the other cops as Gregory headed up the corridor,\npast all of the offices and up to his own. \"Alright, guys; you have your\ninstructions. Let's get to work!\" And with that, they dispersed, heading to\nperform their assigned tasks.\n            This left Gregory to his own task.\nHeading for the file cabinet at the back of his office, he pulled it open and\nbegan scanning over the contents, which he kept in alphabetical order. Flicking\nover file after file, he pulled out several, briefly surveying their contents\nbefore putting them back in their place; this process carried on for what felt\nlike an hour until he finally came to the 'G' section.\n            And suddenly, it seemed to come back\nto him; a case he had done ten years ago. Feeling that sudden epiphany wash\nover him he quickly searched over the files in G until he came to one folder\nwith the name 'Glaseros, V' written\non the upper lip, with the number '207' -kidnapping- written alongside it.\nSomething told him this was the file he'd been looking for; slamming the drawer\nshut he carried the file over to his desk and seated himself before opening it\nand beginning to read over its contents.\n            On the very first page of the folder\nwas the photograph of an avian, with pale blue, almost white feathers and dark\nviolet markings below his ice-blue eyes, like the bags a person developed from\nlack of sleep but these looked like they were part of his skin colour.\n\"Vernardo Glaseros,\" he said to himself, absent-mindedly flipping the page to\nphotographs taken at the scene, save one picture sketched out by one of the\nwitnesses.\n            The picture looked identical to the\nsymbol that had been bothering Gregory; the pentagram, kanji, and even words,\nit was identical. He had seen the\nemblem before, ten years ago when an ice phoenix was kidnapped by unknown\nassailants, leaving his wife and only child alone. Above the sketch was a photo\nof one of the fallen assailants whom Vernardo had managed to kill while\ndefending himself. Even the gear worn by the assailant was similar to those of\nthe suspects they had just brought in today.\n            The kidnapping, the helpless Super\nHumanoids with no evidence to the use of their powers, the strange, nightmarish\ncyborgs... it all fit the bill from that case...\n            \"It's them, again,\" he whispered,\nhis eyes furrowing with anger. Always, he had wanted to solve this case, or at\nleast give the family closure of Vernardo's fate -better yet, return him to\nthem. As a father himself, Gregory was sickened and felt cold as he imagined\nwhat would happen to them if he were ever lost or disappeared; he barely got to\nspend any time with either of his children, and leaving them that way was too\nmuch for him...\n            Flipping the page, his feeling\nworsened; he came upon a newspaper clipping of the crime, and a photograph\ntaken of the family, clutching each other and weeping for the loss. A woman phoenix;\nbeautiful yet frail, and a boy, not even into the first decade of his life only\nto have his father taken away from him...\n            \"I'm so sorry I couldn't bring your\nfather back to you, young man,\" he whispered to the photo. \"But maybe I can\nstart over.\" With all this evidence, he could reopen the case, and pursue the\norganization that had kidnapped Vernardo once again. Now, they were after\nVolcan Skilerain, though why remained to be seen. Gregory did not even know\nwhat 'I.T.O.U.E' stood for, let alone who could be pulling the strings behind\nit; years ago, he had contacted Interpol while the case was still open, asking\nthem if they knew, but the organization was as much an enigma to them as it was\nto the UFPD.\n            \"Well, there's still one group that\nmight know,\" he admitted to himself, loathe as he was to involve them. He\npicked up the phone on his desk and pressed a button, waiting as it\nauto-dialed. It took a while though, much longer than it should have, and he\nfound himself tapping his foot impatiently while he waited for an answer.\n            Finally, there was a click. \"Telecom\nCentre.\"\n            \"This is Chief Gregory Vinson of the\nUnity Falls Police Department,\" the hawk introduced himself. \"I need to make a\ncall to the United States FBI, Priority One.\"\n            \"Which Agency, sir?\"\n            \"Any.\"\n            \"Please hold.\"\n            And then came the long wait and the\nuninteresting pop music while he waited for an answer on the other line.\nGregory hoped he at least got someone who would give him a straight answer...\n            His wait was shorter than he\nexpected; within ten minutes, there was an answer on the other line. \"Senior\nAgent Olson speaking; is this Gregory Vinson?\"\n            \"Correct, Agent Olson,\" returned\nGregory. \"Thank you for taking my call.\"\n            \"I had a free moment,\" the other\nvoice returned. \"Is there something I can help you with?\"\n            \"I've come across some evidence of a\npotentially international organization that is performing kidnappings of\nSuperhumanoids,\" explained Gregory \"They're identified by the letters\n'I-T-O-U-E', and I want to know if you have any information available regarding\nthis organization.\"\n            \"I'll check for you; one moment\nplease,\" Olson returned, before the line became silent again for a few moments.\nWhen the agent resumed their conversation, his response nearly made Gregory\nblow his top. \"I'm sorry, Chief Vinson, but I'm afraid that information is\nclassified under...\"\n            The Chief didn't let him finish.\n\"Agent Olson, maybe you didn't hear me when I said this group kidnaps\nSuperhumanoids; a decade ago they took a two-hundred year old Ice Phoenix, and\nnow they're back, targetting a seventeen year old Fire Phoenix! If I'm to\nprotect that boy, I need information.\"\n            \"Mr. Vinson, I understand your\npredicament, but I'm not at liberty to give out a secret of this magnitude.\"\n            \"Damn secrets and damn your\nprotocols!\" Gregory exploded, his patience at its breaking point. \"Unless\nyou're the ones who created this abomination, I don't see why you'd have\nanything to hide!\"\n            He didn't hear the phone click, but\neasily noticed the long, awkward silence that followed his outburst. \"Agent Olson?\"\nHe asked.\n            \"Yes, I'm... I'm still here,\" he\nreturned, some hesitation in his voice.\n            'He\nknows something...' \"I'm sorry for my outburst,\" said Gregory. \"But on a\npersonal note, I already failed a nine year old boy ten years ago, when I\ncouldn't return his father to him. If there is anything you can tell me at all\nthat might help me protect another family from losing someone they care\nabout... please, I need to know.\"\n            \"Chief Vinson, you are a\ngolden-hearted man,\" returned Agent Olson. \"But you have to understand, just\nlike you, I have things that must remain confidential. I want to help you, I\ntruly do, but I can't... if I did, I'd be betraying my oath of secrecy. I'm\nsorry.\" And after that, the sound of the phone being slowly hung up filled\nGregory's ear.\n            The Chief sat frozen for a moment\nbefore he angrily dropped the phone back into its cradle, running both hands\nover his face and stopping with his index fingers in his eyes. \"How am I going\nto protect Volcan, if I don't know what I'm protecting him from?\"\n            Suddenly, Gregory heard his personal\ncell phone vibrate on his desk, the buzzing sound of it barely catching his\nattention, but thinking it may have been his wife, Jennifer, asking him to\nbring home some groceries he picked it up and looked at it. But, he was\nsurprised to see that it was from a private number, and had a name written on\nit.\n            Jacob\nRex.\n            'Who sent me this?' Gregory thought. \"Could...\" He looked at the\ncradled phone on his desk. \"How'd he get my phone number?\"\n            Before he could continue to ponder\nit, he heard a commotion outside in the hallway. People shouting -a few voices\nhe recognized, others he didn't a couple of officers even running past his\ndoor. He picked up his phone and was about to call to front desk to find out\nwhat was happening, but to his horror, the phone was dead. He set the phone\nback down and sprang to his feet, keeping a hand on his sidearm as he walked\nout into the hallway and peered towards the front.\n            Not two seconds after he peered out,\nan explosion rocked the station...\n \n            ~~~~~\n \n            \"Very fascinating,\" said Ayane as\nshe looked over the pieces of the half-cybernetic body lying on the table\nbefore her with a keen interest, closely examining the inner workings of the\nlegs and the arms alike. \"The design is surprisingly simple and oddly\nmechanical, yet very effective.\"\n            \"Mechanical?\" Lighris repeated; the\nLightning Hawk had joined the others after learning about the attempt on\nVolcan's life by the strangers. Fearing for his brothers' safety, Lighris had\npromptly closed up his shop and came to Brent's workshop outside of the city,\nto be where he could protect his brother if more trouble arose. Since his\narrival though, Brent and Ayane had been looking over the cyborg, while\neveryone else watched and waited to see what they could discern from it.\n            \"Yeah; the internal workings aren't\nas complex as I was expecting,\" replied Ayane. \"Sure, there are lots of\nelectronics running from the top of the leg to the foot, which, from what I can\ntell, basically act like nerve systems, transmitting commands from the brain to\nthe limb, but the 'bones' of this cybernetic body are hydraulic lines.\"\n            \"What does hydraulic mean?\" Pavan\nasked.\n            \"You serious?\" Lighris asked. \"Don't\nyou take shop class at High School?\"\n            \"Hell no,\" replied the Wind Phoenix\nwithout hesitation.\n            Lighris irked an eyebrow at Pavan's\nanswer. \"First guy I've ever met that goes to High School and didn't take\nmechanics class.\"\n            \"Technically I've graduated now, but\nnope; never even tried for it,\" said Pavan.\n            \"To put it simply, hydraulic systems\ninvolve liquid,\" explained Lighris. \"At my shop, you've seen those big lifts\nthat boost up cars for me to work on, right? Those are hydraulic lifts, using\npressurized liquid to generate lift and raise those lifts up to certain\nheights. In the case of these cyborgs however, I'm guessing these hydraulics\nare meant to support a really heavy body, right?\"\n            \"That's pretty much the gist of it,\nLighris,\" confirmed Brent, nodding to the lightning hawk.\n            \"Hot damn; seems you can be smart when you want to, Lighris,\"\njoked Pavan with a mild laugh, which earned him a punch in the gut from Lighris\nthat sent him reeling and falling onto his backside. \"It was compliment!\"\nWheezed the Wind Phoenix.\n            Tsume rolled her eyes. \"There's a\nfine line between complimenting someone and making fun of them, Pavan,\" she\nstated.\n            \"By my calculations, based on the\namount of pressure I can detect in these lines,\" stated Brent, looking over one\nof the arms. \"These limbs can withstand up to two and a half thousand PSI\ncoming down on them, and can generate more than half that in force; that's more\nthan enough to literally knock a person's head off with one, good clean hit.\"\n            \"Bloody hell, no wonder I wasn't\nable to overpower these guys strength-wise,\" said Volcan, notably impressed by\nthe feat of engineering. \"Each one of them is just about as strong as I am.\nMaybe stronger.\"\n            \"Unfortunately, yes,\" said Ayane.\n\"However, this means they have one major weakness; if you take out the\nhydraulic lines, the limbs can no longer support themselves and the cyborg will\nfall over and be rendered completely helpless.\"\n            \"That actually sounds like it'd be\nfunny to watch,\" remarked Rikyuu. \"Although having death balls on the end of\ntheir hands kind of ruin the rest.\"\n            \"What else can you tell us?\" Volcan\nasked.\n            \"That we're dealing with someone\nwho's even above the advanced class in cybernetics,\" said Brent. \"Science has\ncome a long way but bionic limbs that actually respond to messages in the\nbrain; that kind of tech shouldn't even exist yet. But here it is, lying on my\nworkbench in plain sight. If I didn't see it, I wouldn't believe it.\"\n            \"I know I do,\" Volcan said,\nsuddenly. Everyone's attention was on him with that comment; he look\nreminiscent, and deep in thought.\n            \"I know that look, bro,\" stated\nLighris. \"You've seen this before, haven't you?\"\n            Volcan nodded in reply. \"Pavan,\nRikyuu; you remember that assassin that attacked me during the gang war?\"\n            \"How could I forget?\" Rikyuu asked.\n\"When Aisuours brought you back, you looked like someone that was dipped in\nacid.\"\n            \"I may as well have been, with what\nthat assassin did to me,\" replied Volcan. \"He hit with a fire extinguisher hand\ngrenade. The chemicals in those things steal the oxygen out of the air, and are\nextremely corrosive to skin; was a double-whammy when it nailed me.\" He looked\nat the cyborgs' amputated leg, studying the exposed electronics with his sharp\nblue eyes. \"He had a bionic left arm, which was designed a lot like the limbs\non these cyborgs and was hard enough to stop a direct hit from the baseball bat\nI was using; according to Xavier it was even able to stop his swords and\ndeflect bullets.\"\n            \"Devilshade,\" stated Ayane. \"That's\nthe guy you're talking about, right?\"\n            \"That's what he called himself,\nyes,\" replied Volcan.\n            \"Do you think he works with the guys\nwho built these cyborgs?\" Lighris asked.\n            \"Not much is really known about the\nguy so it's hard to say,\" replied Brent. \"Man's a total enigma.\"\n            \"We can probably at least assume\nhe's encountered them before,\" added Tsume. \"They may have even been the ones\nwho gave him the arm, unless he invented it himself.\" \nAs she spoke, the sound of a phone ringing filled\nthe room, catching everyone's attention. After briefly searching to find out\nwho's phone it was, eventually Rikyuu called out that it was his, and picked it\nup from his pocket, answer it. \"Hello?\" He asked. \"'Sid, you okay? You sound\nnervous... Say WHAT?! We're on our way down!\"\n\"Rik, what's the matter?\" Volcan asked.\n\"The police station was just attacked!\" Rikyuu\nreplied.\n\"What?! Is Obsidian alright?\" Tsume asked.\n\"Let's go find out!\" Volcan urged, running for the\ndoor.\n\"I'll stay here and keep analyzing this cyborg!\"\nBrent called as the others ran out of the workshop.\nOnce outside, Tsume and Ayane held onto each other\nbefore suddenly sinking into the ground, and a dust trail began to lead the way\nout of the property. Volcan, Pavan, Rikyuu and Lighris spread their wings and\ntook to the sky; Pavan used his wind powers to keep their currents in their\nfavor and let them travel faster, although as always he flew ahead of them\n-just because he was a show off like that.\nMeanwhile, Brent began to look over the cyborg\nagain, checking the inner workings of the legs once more and rubbing his chin\nthroughfully. \"Hydraulics, eh? Maybe I can use that...\" He found himself a\nnotepad and began to jot down his ideas. \"Man, the guys would freak if they\nknew what I was working on in here...\"\n \n~~~~~\n \nObsidian sat outside the police station on a park\nbench as the area was sealed off and investigators began to comb the area for\nevidence, and coroners carried away deceased bodies... several of which were\nother police officers. Seated next to her was the SWAT medic who dressed a gash\nin her arm, spraying it with stinging disinfectant before wrapping it in gauze\nand bandages.\n\"Anything broken?\" Obsidian asked the medic.\n\"No Officer K.; your arm seems intact,\" the medic\nreplied. \"You should be good to return to service anytime, although maybe you\nshould see about taking a couple of days off.\"\n\"I'll be alright,\" assured Obsidian. \"This isn't the\nfirst time I've seen such...\" She looked towards the station. \"Destruction...\"\nThe medic nodded to her, and began to pack up his\nmedical kit. \"I'll go see the Chief next, make sure he's alright.\"\nObsidian nodded in reply, and watched as the medic\nleft before she turned her gaze up towards the sky off to her left. She spotted\nfour winged figures descending towards the scene; they had come even faster\nthan she had anticipated. Standing up from the park bench she walked over to\nmeet them as they landed, but someone else arrived first; Tsume and Ayane\nerupted from the group of a grassy area and came running over to Obsidian.\n\"'Sid, are you okay?\" Ayane called as they neared\nher.\n\"I'm alright, Ayane,\" the purple dragoness assured\nthe red one as they stopped in front of her. \"Thankfully I didn't get hurt too\nbadly.\" She glanced at her arm, and grunted as she felt a pair of scaled arms\nhug her for a moment; the arms belonged to Rikyuu, who out of everyone seemed\nto be the most worried of the group. Of course, this came as no surprise to her\nor any of the others; Obsidian and Rikyuu had a very special relationship,\nalmost a mother and child kind of one, and Obsidian's safety meant a lot to\nhim.\n\"Told you that you should've been a model instead,\"\njoked Rikyuu.\n\"This job needed a lot more people,\" the dragoness\nreturned, poking him in the nose.\n\"Obsidian, what happened here?\" Volcan asked. \"Who\nattacked the station; was it the gangs? The Sylvia Syndicate?\"\n\"No,\" replied Obsidian, shaking her head. \"I\nactually wish it were so simple but it's not.\" She turned her gaze back towards\nthe police station, pointing towards a body that was being carried out to be\nplaced in another body bag. \"See for yourself.\"\nThe others followed where she was looking, spotting\nthe body of a man coated in body armour, which at first they mistook for being\none of the SWAT officers, at least until Volcan looked closer at the body,\nparticularly the face mask and goggles he wore and the lack of emblems on his\narmour. Except for that same sinister 'I.T.O.U.E' emblem he had come to know\nall too well this very same day.\n\"It was them...\" Volcan said, his voice filling with\nanger. \"The same bastards who attacked me and Rikyuu this morning!\"\n\"But why would they attack the police station?\"\nRikyuu asked. \"If these guys work in secret that's a hell of a way to bring the\nheat down on them.\"\n\"I think they came to retrieve their comrades that\nwe were holding,\" replied Obsidian. \"They went for the morgue and forensics lab\ntoo. Doctor Canyon got a nasty blow to the head when he tried to stop them, but\nas far as I know he's okay. Can't say the same for the cyborgs; the intruders\ndestroyed them when they made it into the morgue. As for the lab, Marcus and I\nwere in their way; there was too much gunfire for us to fire back so...\" She\nsmiled. \"I gave them a splitting headache. So, our forensic evidence is still\nsafe.\"\nVolcan chuckled. \"They had it coming.\"\n\"And the prisoners?\" Lighris asked. \"Did they get away\nwith them?\"\n\"Unfortunately, yes. Six came in, seven left; we\nmanaged to kill three of them, but then they sent in more of those cyborgs,\"\nObsidian ran a hand down her face. \"Those, we weren't ready for, and couldn't\nstop them.\"\n\"Greg... is Gregory okay?\" Volcan asked.\nObsidian nodded. \"Yes, he's fine,\" she replied. \"He\ntook a few rounds but his vest prevented any real damage; good thing he never\ntakes it off.\"\n\"Yeah, damn good thing,\" said Volcan, sighing with\nrelief. \"Thank the old ancestors you and Gregory pulled through.\"\nObsidian hummed in response. \"So did Rachel and\nBenson. Jeols and Phillips were away and Marcus didn't get hit either,\nthankfully, but we lost five of our guys, even our receptionists... everything\njust happened so fast.\" She put a hand to her forehead and returned to her seat\non the bench.\nVolcan turned his attention towards the police\nstation, studying the carnage that had been inflicted upon the building; the\nfront door and desks, blown to smithereens, the inside riddled with bullet\nholes, wounded cops being herded onto ambulances and public and paparazzi\nclamouring to see it all up close with police officers from other stations\nkeeping them back, preventing contamination of any evidence.\nAmidst the scene, the group saw Gregory stepping out\nof the crowd, directing the officers before he spotted Volcan and the others,\nand began to make his way over to them, waving off the reporters that tried to\ntalk to him and directing a few officers to hold them bac while he approached\nthe gathering. \"Hello everyone,\" he said, somberly. \n\"This just started and it's already getting out of\nhand,\" said Volcan. \"What the hell do these guys want? First they attack me and\nRik, and now they attack the UFPD; are these the terrorists we defeated a month\nago, trying to get payback?\"\n\"No, Volcan, it isn't,\" replied Gregory. \"I think I\nmay know who's behind this, but I know very little yet.\"\n\"What've you found out, Chief?\" Obsidian asked.\n\"Just before the attack, I learned where it was I\nsaw that symbol before,\" explained Gregory. \"It was from a rough sketch, given\nto me by witnesses to a kidnapping ten years ago.\"\n\"Who was kidnapped?\" Tsume asked.\nGregory looked at her sternly. \"You know I can't\ndisclose that,\" he stated. \"However, I can tell you, the paraphrase 'I.T.O.U.E'\nseems to refer to an organization of some kind. Years ago I contacted Interpol\nwhen the investigation was still open but they had no knowledge of it, and then\nI tried the FBI. They said it was classified.\"\n\"Whenever American Feds say that, it's short for 'we\ncreated it and don't want anyone to know',\" scoffed Lighris. \"This group was\nprobably all their fault.\"\n\"While it wouldn't surprise me, let's not make\nassumptions,\" stated Rikyuu. \"I of all people know some radical organizations\nout there operate solo and aren't backed by any sort of government.\"\n\"Name one,\" said Lighris.\n\"The same one that created me,\" returned Rikyuu without a second of hesitation and a stern\nglare at the lightning hawk.\nLighris made no response to that, apparently having\nforgotten about the organization of Nero Cornelius, and that Rikyuu was made by\nthem. Ayane gave the lightning hawk a kick in the shin that made him grunt and\nleer at her, but she simply turned away from him. \"Bitch,\" he whispered, which\nearned another kick in his other shin by Tsume, this time sending him falling\nonto his stomach. \"Oh yeah, that's real nice; gang up on me.\" Lighris said,\nsneering.\n\"You were kind of asking for that one, lightning\nrod,\" Pavan pointed out.\n\"Shut up Pavan.\"\n\"I was only able to get a name,\" said Gregory. \"Does\n'Jacob Rex' mean anything to any of you?\"\nNobody gave an answer to the question, but it was\nAyane who seemed to react to the name, her eyes wide with surprise after\nhearing it. This did not go unnoticed by the police chief. \"Ayane? Do you know\nsomething?\"\n\"I know that name, definitely,\" replied the\ndragoness. \"He was a highly respected figurehead of cybernetics, creating some\nof the first robotic implants ever made. He went to work for the American\nGovernment during the Vietnam war; after it ended, he supposedly disappeared.\"\n\"I told ya so,\" called Lighris, still lying on the\nground.\n\"Shut up Lighris!\" Volcan, Pavan and Tsume barked\nsimultaneously.\n\"Then, a few years later, he re-emerged again,\"\nAyane carried on, turning her gaze to Rikyuu. \"There are rumors he may have\neven worked with Nero once.\"\n\"You're very well informed,\" said Gregory. \n\"Most of it's just rumors and conspiracy theories,\nbut one thing is confirmed; two years after the Vietnam War ended, Rex was\nincarcerated in a maximum security prison,\" Ayane went into further detail. \"He\nwas barely there six months, and then the prison was attacked and he was one of\nseveral not accounted for. But, there's a biography of him on the internet that\nstates he was paranoid towards people with special powers, whom he called\n'Empowered Beings', and was convinced they'd one day try to rule the world.\"\nVolcan scowled. \"Well, now we know who's behind all\nthose kidnappings. They definitely have the means to take on even the strongest\nSuper Humanoid.\"\nPavan face palmed. \"Just fucking great; a paranoid,\ngenocidal psychotic who creates Terminators and power-stealing technology, and\nhe's going around kidnapping people to dissect them in a lab somewhere,\" he\ncomplained. \"Why can't we ever meet someone who's nice, or maybe sane? That'd be a nice place to start.\"\n\"Hold on there, you two,\" urged Gregory before\nlooking at Ayane again. \"Ayane, in your opinion, do you think he may be\nconnected with the I.T.O.U.E?\" Gregory asked, matter-of-factly.\nAyane seemed hesitant to answer at first, as there\nwas no real evidence to support Jacob Rex was even still alive today, or was\ninvolved with any sort of organizations. But the cybernetic technology she had\nseen in the cyborg she had examined wouldn't let her come up with any other\nanswer than, \"it's very likely; the cyborgs match his work, and the M.O of the\nI.T.O.U.E fits with his extremist nature.\"\n\"So, now we have a name for our opponent,\" said\nVolcan. \"Now how do we find him? He's damn intent on covering his tracks.\"\n\"For the time being, Volcan, it may be best if you\ngo into hiding,\" said Gregory. \"We discussed this before, but this time, I'm\ninsisting it. Jacob Rex and his organization have targeted you, specifically\nnow, instead of just grabbing random people in the city, and after the defeat\nyou gave them, they'll be more motivated than ever to come after you, which is\nwhy I'm also putting you under police protection.\"\n\"Gregory, I can protect myself, and my friends have\nmy...\"\n\"This is not up for discussion, Mr. Skilerain,\"\nGregory interjected. \"As a citizen of Unity Falls, you're my responsibility,\nand it's my job to protect you even if you're capable of protecting yourself.\nFor the time being I recommend you find somewhere to go that might keep Rex\nfrom finding you, and that an experienced officer accompany you at all times.\"\nVolcan was about to make a response, but Obsidian\nstepped in. \"Chief, let me be the one to watch Volcan,\" she urged.\n\"Obsidian, you're not even a one-year veteran on the\nforce yet, and you've only been with my division for a few months,\" replied\nGregory. \"Protocol states I put Volcan under the protection of a senior\nofficer.\"\n\"I know I'm still a rookie,\" admitted Obsidian. \"But\nVolcan knows and trusts me, and as a Super humanoid myself, I stand a better\nchance of protecting him than other cops might. Besides...\" She looked towards\nthe police station. \"We have no senior cops left, Chief. Everyone's either in\nthe hospital or on very important cases. Even if they manage to finish them,\nyou'll need them to help you track down Rex and his organization.\" She looked\nback at the chief again. \"I'm the only person for the job. Maybe not the best,\nbut there's no one else.\"\nGregory eyed Obsidian for a moment, seeing the look\nof worry in her eyes; he knew she cared about Volcan, just as any of the\nphoenixes' friends did. Volcan did know Obsidian pretty well, and they trusted\none another, plus Gregory had just learned himself Obsidian was a psychic; her\nchances of protecting Volcan may have even outweighed what four police officers\ncould give him. She also had a valid point; he needed all of his senior\nofficers right now.\nGregory sighed. \"For a rookie, you have a lot of\ninsight,\" he said, sounding almost defeated in the way he said it. \"Alright,\nObsidian; I'm probably going to get a lot of flak for this for so many\ndifferent reasons but I'm officially assigning you to watch Volcan until the\nI.T.O.U.E is dealt with; I want you to do regular check-ins at least once per\ntwo hours. Volcan,\" he turned to the phoenix as he went on, \"I have no\nadditional officers to relieve her; are you alright with her staying with you\nfor the duration of Police Protection?\"\nVolcan nodded. \"I am,\" he replied.\n\"Alright,\" said Gregory. \"I'll let you know a soon\nas we find Jacob Rex. Until then, Volcan, you are to remain with Officer\nKimoyama at all times, understand?\"\n\"I understand,\" the phoenix returned. \"In the\nmeantime though, where should we stay?\"\n\"What about Brent's place?\" Tsume suggested. \"It's\nin a remote location; pretty unlikely Rex knows where it is, since Brent's\naddress isn't even listed in any phonebook or anything.\"\n\"How will Brent feel about that?\" Lighris asked.\n\"A little intruded upon, probably,\" replied Pavan,\nputting his arms behind his head in a relaxed manner despite his constant\nfidgeting. \"But to protect Volcan, I'd wager he'll do the right thing. If it\nbothers him THAT much, he can just come stay at my place.\"\n\"We'll talk it over with him first,\" said Rikyuu.\n\"And, for that matter, some of us should probably stay nearby as well in case\nVolcan needs help.\"\n\"My house is just a half kilometer away from Brent's\nplace,\" said Lighris. \"I can be his backup.\"\n\"Got room for one extra?\" Rikyuu asked. \"I'd like to\nbe close at hand too, since my house is across the border.\"\n\"Well, I do have a spare bedroom,\" replied Lighris.\n\"Alright; you can stay at my place.\"\nGregory, having heard every detail of the\nconversation, nodded in approval. \"Alright, all of you. I wish I could handle\nthis matter myself but at this point it's beyond my control,\" said the chief of\npolice. \"I wish you all the best of luck, and watch each other's backs, okay?\"\n\"We will, Gregory,\" promised Volcan.\n \n~~~~~\n \n \n\"Retrieval\nTeam 3 to base.\"\nDr. Rex approached the terminal after hearing the\ntransmission coming through, and pressed the transmission button. \"Go ahead,\nR.T.3.\"\n\"Mission\nsuccessful, Doctor. We successfully retrieved the members of R.T.1 and\ndestroyed the remains of the cyborgs recovered by the UFPD. They no longer have\nany means of recovering information about your operation, sir.\"\n\"Well done, Commander 3,\" complimented the Doctor.\n\"We've run\ninto a couple of complications, however,\" the team lead continued. \"R.T.2 has still been unable to locate the missing cyborg; it appears\nsomeone may have made off with the remains, but we only found three at the\nPolice headquarters, so we know it wasn't them. Furthermore, we were unable to\ndestroy any possible evidence in the forensic lab at the station; we\nencountered an unaccounted resistance there.\"\n\"What sort of resistance?\"\n\"An Empowered\nBeing, sir; a purple dragoness. From what we saw, she appears to be a Psionic\nlife form, although the class level is unknown; she stopped us from reaching\nthe Forensics Lab and we could not get any closer.\"\nThe doctor's hands tightened into fists upon hearing\nthat information, and veins appeared on his forehead before he continued.\n\"Abort the search for the cyborg; we've done all we can for now. Rendezvous\nwith Team 2 and get back to base as soon as possible.\"\n\"Yes doctor;\nwe shall be back within the hour.\"\n            The transmission ended, and the doctor stepped back from the console,\ntrembling with fury. \"It has begun,\" he said. \"The Empowered Beings and their\nvile ilk, have infiltrated the Law Enforcement system! How long will it be\nbefore they become mayors? Politicians? Governors; heads of state,\nPresidents?!\" He grasped his head with both hands and shook it. \"Oh, if I don't\ndo something soon it will be too late; they will rule the world and enslave us\nall!\" He turned to his workbench and reached for something in the cabinet\nunderneath it, spreading it out on the smooth surface before him. \"I have no\ntime to finish 'Project: Purge'. I must focus on 'Project: Aerial Savior' for\nnow...\"\n            As he poured over the plans, he\nwhispered something else to himself. \"Merely killing Volcan will no longer be\nenough,\" he said. \"I destroy him and one of his henchmen may very well just\ntake his place. No... I will upgrade my cyborgs; I will find Volcan and his\nentire crew... and kill all of them\nat once.\"\n \n \n            End of chapter 1\n"}