*Fusion image created by Gyrphman. Special thanks to Fayt for helping me out with the titles each episode*

<Episode 9>

He kept to the back alleys and the quieter streets he could find. Jason didn’t want to draw any more attention to himself as possible. In his human disguise his broken arm looked much worse. The last thing he needed was one of the humans asking about his condition. Leaning against a wall on his good arm he thought about the fight. He had dreamed of tearing the metal bug apart with his own hands almost nightly.

Then a few hours ago he met up with the real thing. To think he was disappointed after it went down after one blow from Michael. Jason wondered how long he lasted against the bug. Maybe Michael was able to do what he couldn’t do. Then he remembered the ferocity the bug fought with and doubted it. Jason got off the wall and looked behind him. No sign of Michael or the bug, a mixed blessing.

Quickly crossing the street he was relieved that the last leg of his journey back to Christopher’s temporary base was almost over. Jason was surprised he felt relieved about approaching anything dealing with the would be king. He must be desperate. The guards saw him, one went out to him and the other went inside. Soon the old man and Christopher came out. Christopher got under his good arm, always putting on a show for the troops. “What happened?”, the old man asked.

“We…,” he tried to catch his breath, “miscalculated slightly.”

“Where’s Michael?”, somebody else asked, he wasn’t sure who.

“The last I saw him, he was fighting the metal bug.”

“What happened exactly,” The old man asked him. He gave them the short version of what he knew.

“So you left Michael to face that thing alone?”, someone else accused.

“He did the right thing,” Christopher told the man. “We got something a little more valuable than a victory, information we didn’t have before.” All things considered he would rather have a dead bug. “Let’s get him inside and fixed up. After you rest I want to know everything you can remember about this metal bug.” He nodded, he was in no shape to do anything else.

***

Jack stared at the ceiling as he waited for Friedman, going over the things that happened in his head. After he took out the scorpion and found out the monkey got away he checked on Rachel. Mitchell and an assault team busted in a few minutes later. Jack made a joke about him being late again. Mitchell took one look at them and immediately called for a med team. Quicker than he thought was possible Mitchell and the med team had both of them in an ambulance and speeding away from the safe house.

When they reached World Inc. Friedman, Barry and some others he recognized practically swamped him the moment the doors opened. He remembered seeing a rush of hallways and faces before being delivered to some kind of diagnostic room. There Friedman and Barry performed every kind of scan they had on his leg. Then they took him to another room and left him there to rest. Eventually Friedman came back looking over some paper work. ” ‘Bout time doc,” he said while sitting up. Big mistake, he gritted his teeth as the pain shot down his leg.

“Careful Jack,” he rushed over and helped him to a sitting position. “Your leg going to be a little tender for awhile.”

“So what did I do?”

“Basically you cooked the inside of your leg.”

“Tell me you’re kidding.”

“Maybe cooked the wrong term, more like you seared it. Like you would a really rare steak.”

“That’s not helping doc.”

Friedman chuckled, “Sorry. You have some shielding around the conductors in you leg. Normally it protects your, and forgive my phrasing, organic parts when you use the charge kick.” Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Tim’s nickname for his weapon got around. “However because you let the energy build up get so high this time it overloaded the shielding. Fortunately the charge went down you leg rather quickly or the damage could have been much worse.” He sighed heavily, “Maybe if Barry was here to explain the technical aspects.”

“No offense but I failed technical mumbo jumbo in school.” Friedman snorted in response. “So how long before my leg get’s better?”

“Like I said the damage wasn’t that bad, but it’s going to take awhile to heal. Of course we could speed up the process by putting you in the nutrient bath for a couple of days.” Jack shook his head, quickly shooting that idea down. “Then again it might be better to let things heal naturally.”

“Tim owes me five bucks,” said a voice from behind Friedman. Rachel stood in the doorway. “He actually thought you think about it.”

“Like you know me that well.”

“You just proved me right.”

“Damn, she’s right.”

“I’ll see if I can find you some crutches Jack.” and Friedman left them alone. She came closer to his bed. Jack noticed the brace on her left wrist.

“How bad is it?”

“It’s just sprained,” she said while holding it with her right. “I’ll be fine in a couple of days.”

“That’s better than what I’m doing.”

“I heard.” She was quiet for a moment, “Jack, thanks for the save.”

He waved it off, “I owed you one from the elephant.”

“Why did you pick me over the monkey? If you got him you would have been out of here.”

“Yeah I…” He found the floor real interesting for a bit. Why did he pick her over the monkey? “I didn’t want to listen to Anderson try to guilt me into staying longer if you bought it.”

Rachel had a smirk on her face, “I thought as much. Thanks, you just won me another five from Tim. I tell you that boy needs to get out more.”

“No kidding… wait, what did he say?”

“Nothing worth repeating. I’ll pull my car up front then I’ll take you home.” She left the room before he could argue. Jack was left alone with his thoughts again. He went back to thinking about the fight with the monkey.

“Should have broken it’s legs first.”

***

Anderson stood in the lobby waiting for them to show. Allen was trying to get his attention about something and Mitchell was scanning the area. He knew it was out of habit, Anderson doubted he had anything to worry about in his own building. But that was what he paid the man for. Not that he had anything to worry about from the humans.

The elevator doors opened up and Haily and Davidson walked out, well Haily did anyway. It was a little strange to see Davidson hobble out on crutches, but it meant he wasn’t invincible. Just like he had the Fusion system designed. He walked up to them and the other followed. “Mr. Davidson,” both of them looked surprised that he was there, “I wanted to congratulate you on your mission.”

“The monkey got away.”

“True, but from what I understand during the battle you were presented with two options, be a hero or be selfish. You choose the hero option and saved Miss Haily, and for that I am grateful. She would be very hard to replace.” Haily blushed slightly. Davidson looked at her.

“Told you he’d try to guilt me.” Haily shot him a rather nasty look. Best not inquire about that comment.

“I’m adding a couple of weeks to your time off to heal up some. I’m sure we can handle the Drakan while you are away.”

“Don’t worry buddy,” Mitchell added, “we’ll find monkey boy for you as soon as we can.”

“Right now I’m just worried about getting my bike.”

“He doesn’t know?”, Anderson asked Haily.

“He doesn’t know what?”, Davidson asked cautiously.

“The bike’s here man,” Mitchell told him. “I had somebody get it and put it in the garage while you were being checked out.”

“Somebody touched my bike?!” Anderson saw a similar look when he told him they located the monkey.

“I was waiting for the pain killers to kick in before I told him,” Haily explained to them.

“What’s the fuss about?”, Allen asked. “It’s just a machine.”

“Just a machine?”, Davidson and Mitchell said at the same time. Both of them looked at Allen like he grew a second head. Humans.

“No offence Mr. Davidson, but you are in no conditions to be driving the KR-1000. Don’t worry, it’ll be safe here until you return.”

“I’ll have a guard on it twenty four seven,” Mitchell joked.

“Triple guard,” Davidson said. Mitchell smiled but Anderson was positive he was being serious.

“Well I won’t keep you any longer. Miss Haily, I want you to take a week off to heal up yourself.” She nodded while Davidson grunted something. As they left the building Mitchell leaned in.

“What are you going to do if he gets the monkey?”

“I’ll worry about that when we get to it. It was a fluke we found him this time, and it will be awhile before we locate him again. That I am quite sure of. I’ll take a look at that file now,” he held out a hand. Allen placed the folder he was carrying in it. He scanned the contents briefly before closing it. “Is this information accurate?”

“I wouldn’t have brought it to your attention if I wasn’t sure.” Anderson looked at the door Davidson went through.

“Should I get a team together?”, Mitchell asked.

“No, not just yet. I think it would be better if we waited for Davidson.” He handed the file back to Allen. “Keep a close eye on this Allen. I want to know the minute anything changes.”

***

“Hey.” Rachel looked up from her desk. Jack was standing in her doorway. She wasn’t expecting to see him today.

“Hi. What are you doing here?”

“I guess my extra time is up. Heather called me this morning. Something about a big job they needed me on.”

“I told them your leg was still a little stiff.” She got up to help him when he started for the couch. He waved her off. So she leaned against the edge of her desk.

“Nothing I can’t handle.” Jack sat on the couch like nothing was wrong. But she saw he was keeping his leg a little straight. “So how big a mission is this?”

“We think we located the rebel leader.”

He whistled, “That’s pretty big.”

“We get him and this war is close to being over. Unless, of course, he has somebody just as good as he is as second in command.”

“Hopefully that was bird boy. Some how I don’t think we’re that lucky.”

“You never know. So really, how are you doing?”

“I’m fine, well better than what I was.”

“Are you still having that nightmare?”

“Why did I tell you about that?”, he mumbled. Recently he been having this dream were he was fighting these various Drakan, usually the monkey. Every time, right before he finished it off, the Drakan would turn into his friend Richie. She only found out about it after she went to check on him and he woke up screaming. Rachel doubted he would have even told her otherwise. “It’s been couple of days since the last one, so I guess that means I’m getting better.”

“I still think it would be best if…”

“I told you no shrinks,” he cut her off. “Any baggage I got,” he tapped his head, “is staying up here.”

She felt like giving up, “It’s your breakdown.”

“Damn right.” He got up, she studied him for any sign of pain. She didn’t see any. “So, when do we get started and where are we going?”

“We pinpointed his camp’s last location in a forest just outside of the city.”

“He got a camp? How many are we talking about here?”

“I’m not sure.”

“You’re not… ,” he sputtered. “Am I getting an assault team back up this time?”

“No,” she said slowly. The she quickly cut off his outburst, “Only because we don’t know if he’s still there. Basically we’re just scouting his last know location. If he left maybe we could find a clue to where he went.”

“And if he is still there it’d be nice if he conveniently went boom.”

“That’s one way to put it. Only problem is the fastest route to the spot isn’t accessible by car.”

“Could it be accessible by say a motorcycle?”

She couldn’t help but grin, “I’m sure most of it is.” That boy and his toy. “Come on, we can leave as soon as we check in with Heather and Mr. Anderson.”

***

Anderson wouldn’t let them leave until they went over everything. Jack hung around the door as the finalized the plan. He spent most of the time trying not to bang his head into the wall out of boredom. He didn’t see why they were planning the thing. Usually the plan degenerated into him blowing the Drakan up. He had no doubt that was going to be the outcome for this one too. By the time they left World Inc. and reached the forest it was almost dark. Rachel pulled a flashlight and a map out of her glove box before getting on the bike. They rode the path until he couldn’t see any where else to go. “Looks like we’re walking the rest of the way.”

“Great,” she sounded unenthusiastic about the idea.

“Your Aunt didn’t have any nature trails by her in bayou country?”, he said throwing in a Cajun accent.

“No, she lived in the middle of Baton Rouge. And that was the saddest accent I ever heard.”

“Everybody’s a critic.”

“No really, I’ve been to Louisiana a lot and that was the saddest thing I ever heard. My Aunt would have slapped you silly if she heard you just now.”

“Alright already.” Jack took the staff from it’s holding place between the handle bars as a precaution, “So which way?”

Rachel checked the map. “That way,” she pointed the light to the left. “It was pretty sad.”

Jack ignored her and let her lead the way. She slowed just enough for him to walk along side her. He guessed they went a mile without seeing anything yet. Jack twirled the staff between his fingers while trying to keep an eye on their surroundings. Suddenly Rachel stopped and turned off the light. “What?”

“Over there,” she said softly. He looked ahead of them. There seemed to be some kind of light. “I think we better see if it’s them.”

“Stay behind me.” Jack took the lead and snapped the staff to extend it to the full length. He briefly considered activating the Fusion system. But if it wasn’t their target he’d have a hard time explaining what he was wearing. He got close enough to see a fire pit in the middle of a clearing giving off the light. Sitting around the fire was a bunch of kids. The oldest couldn’t have been more than sixteen or seventeen years old. Jack was about to tell Rachel they had the wrong spot but she could see for herself. Then a couple of the kids closest to him started sniffing the air, then the other did the same. “You got to be kidding me,” he said a little too loudly because they all turned in his direction.

“Who’s there?”, demanded the oldest. Jack collapsed the staff, handed it to Rachel and walked into the clearing with his hands open. “What do you want?”

“Nothing,” he replied calmly, “just passing through. I didn’t mean to disturb you guys.”

“He smells funny, “one of the youngest said. Her form seemed to change for a moment before returning to normal.

“It’s the Drakan Killer!,” a little boy yelled and hid behind the oldest.

“I told you there was no such thing as a Drakan Killer,” he chided him. The oldest then looked right at him, “But you have killed our people.”

Jack quickly tried to think of a way out of this. “Look, I got some bad intel on this one. I’ll just leave and forget I ever saw you guys.”

“I can’t take that chance.” The boy quickly turned into a green wolf. He snarled at Jack and jumped at him. Jack leaped to the side but was able to kick the wolf in the head. The wolf looked stunned for the moment.

Jack raised his left arm across his chest and materialized the belt. He swung his arm over and raised his right arm. “Henshin!”, he shouted before slamming his right hand on top of the belt. After it scanned his body he was in the black body suit and blue armor.

The young Drakan either gasped or took a step back. The wolf was stunned, “The story was true.”

“Oh my God it is the Drakan Killer.”

“I don’t want to fight,” he told him. The wolf eyes were a mixture of fear and anger. It charged, but again Jack blocked the punch and tossed the youth aside. “I said I didn’t want to fight.”

The wolf looked at the other kids again. Most of them had dropped their human disguises, but it didn’t look like they were going to join in. The wolf looked concerned as he turned his attention back to Jack. “And I said I couldn’t take that chance.” He got up and went after him again. Jack did everything he could not to hurt the wolf. He dodged or blocked everything the wolf threw at him. Then the wolf tackled him back into he trees. They rolled before Jack flipped him off.

“Watch it.” Both of them looked up. Rachel was standing close by, how did he forget about her. The wolf sniffed the air again and growled.

“Don’t even think it Fido.” Jack ran in and punched the wolf before it could do anything. It stumbled back then swung a fist at him. He ducked it easily and nailed the point of his foot into it’s stomach. The wolf doubled over and he brought his knee to it’s face. Blood started trickling down it’s nose as it tried to retreat. Jack moved faster as he grabbed the wolf by it’s shoulders and threw him. The wolf landed hard against a tree. It used that tree to support itself as it got back to his feet. Jack glanced at the meter, it just started flashing. He looked at Rachel and said, “Call it in.”

She looked stunned that he said that, “Jack?”

“I said call it in.” He pressed the button under the belt and headed for the wolf.

***

Anderson’s concentration was interrupted as Williams’ phone started ringing. She picked it up and after a moment said, “What the situation Rachel?” She was quiet for a long time before saying, “No.” She started to pale.

“Did something happen to Jack?”, Mitchell asked. Anderson interest was peaked as well. If Christopher was there surely they would have called for back up. That’s if he gave them a chance.

“We were wrong about the target,” she said. “It wasn’t the rebel leader, it was a bunch of Drakan children. Rachel said they all looked under eighteen. The oldest started fighting Jack. She said he didn’t have any other choice but to kill him.”

“Whoa, Jack took out a kid?”, Mitchell in disbelief.

“We sent him after…children?” Anderson leaned against the map for support. Children, Drakan children. He had nothing to worry about from the humans, but his own kind however. How did this happen? “Allen?” He was no where to be found. Somebody said he left as soon as the phone rang. He knew, Anderson was sure of it. Allen was never in here during Davidson’s assignments. He rushed out the door, almost letting his animal instinct take over. He came to an intersection and sniffed the air. He went down the one with the strongest, freshest sent, “ALLEN!”