Holding True
by Melissa Morris

"These are nice accommodation," said Trey formally.

"Yeah, Adam's place is the best," enthused Rocky.

Jason spoke up, "But, it doesn't strike you as the headquarters of the ninjetti?"

Trey took a moment to try and put this thought into words, "It does and it doesn't. After today I believe that this place is as good as any, but it is the people that make it the Ninjetti Headquarters."

"Huh?" asked Rocky in his eloquent fashion.

"I mean that Dulcea is what makes this place . . . "

Jason finished the thought, "a ninjetti place, just by being here. She brings it with her."

Trey nodded, "But I admit I never in my wildest imaginings expected to find it." He was unsure how to continue, "How do you and the others fit in?"

"What do you mean?"

"I met Adam and Billy a couple of times while I was on Earth and, of course, I know you, but how does this group fit into the ninjetti situation?"

"I don't know for sure," Jason smiled, "But if Adam wanted you here, I have a feeling that you're as important as we are."

"What!?" Billy gave an irritated growl as he read the note laying on his bed. 'First he gives me that disk, now he's bringing in some help? And it's coming in tomorrow morning?' "What the hell has Adam been up too?" He spun as he heard the knock on his door. 'Damn, that's loud.' "What!?"

"Open the door, grumpy," came Kim's muffled voice through the door.

Billy sighed and opened the door, "Sure, come on in," he mumbled sarcastically as Kim barged in. She waved a note at him and he groaned, "He left you one too?"

"Yes, for some reason he suspected that you wouldn't let me see this disk? What disk?"

Billy backed away from her slightly, "Uh, I just wanted a chance to go over it before I talked to you about it."

She glared at him, "It's bedtime, time's up. You have a computer, give me the disk and let me use it."

Billy meekly handed it to her and she sat down in the rooms only chair and began to read. 'I'm going to kill him. After all I did today, I'm going to kill him.'

He moved quickly through the jungle hunting for something, the sounds of battle ringing in his ears. He broke through the underbrush and pulled up short as he entered a clearing. He quickly noticed the smell of ozone and blood in the air and walked towards the two forms lying sprawled in the clearing. 'No heartbeats.' He rolled over the first one, a teenager dresses in blue and blinked. 'The boy in the picture. The sentinel. Billy. That would mean . . . ' He turned and looked at the girl in pink lying near him. 'Kim. His guide.'

"Enquiri, you must trust them."

He spun and rose, "Incacha."

The old shaman nodded, "It is not your nature to trust, but you must trust them. If you do not . . . " He let his words hang as he gestured towards the two bodies. "You cannot protect them, but without you and your guide, they will fall." He turned and walked away vanishing into a fog that began to roll over the jungle.

'Coolness.' Blair grinned to himself as he walked through the forest following the grey wolf. 'This is so cool. Almost exactly like Jim described. Why does he have the visions, when I'm the shaman, anyway?' Blair's thoughts rambled over various theories, most of them surrounding the fact that he must not be a great shaman if Jim got all the visions. "Oops, sorry, man," said Blair instinctively as he walked into the wolf.

In a surprisingly human gesture, the wolf rolled its eyes.

"Young Shaman, it is good that you have come."

'Whoa.' "Incacha? Wow, I mean, well, I don't know what I mean, but it's good to see you."

The old shaman laughed, "It is good to see you."

"Hey! You're speaking English!"

"This place is much different. Now, be quiet." The old shaman shook his head and mumbled, "No, wonder Enquiri always complains about you. Talk, talk, talk."

The wolf nodded sagely, but Blair hadn't heard the comment. "Well." Blair cut off and winced as Incacha stared at him. 'Quiet. Okay, I can be quiet. But I wonder . . . ?'

"Now, you must listen, young shaman. You must teach them and teach them well. You have little time, less than had been hoped. If you do not . . . " the old shaman paused sadly, "they will not survive."

"Is their anything that Jim and I could do to help?" Blair's natural concern overpowered all other questions as he took in Incacha's warning.

"No, you must teach, that is all. Enquiri must trust, but that will be the hardest trail for him. You must help him."

"What's so special about them?"

Silent communication seemed to pass between the shaman and the wolf. "They are chosen, trust them and hope that they do not fail."

"Fail? What?" But the dream fades and Blair finds himself back in his seat on the plane. "Well, I knew it was a dream," he said to himself in amusement. He quickly checked on Jim and noticed that he was looking at him strangely. "Jim, you won't believe what just happened," he began enthusiastically.

Adam had talked with Wolf on the way to pick up Jim and Blair. Now as he drove them back to his place, he tried not to sigh, but he didn't succeed and both Jim and Blair gave him concerned looks. Blair finally decided to speak up, "Did your date go okay?"

Adam smiled, "It went pretty good, yeah."

He didn't elaborate, but the goofy grin on his face was a pretty good indicator that the date wasn't the source of his troubles. Blair tried again, "Well, you seem a little distracted since I saw you last. Why don't you tell us some more about your friends?"

'I guess I should prepare them for the weirdness.' "Well, Billy, he's the one I came to you about, he's our resident genius. If he can't figure it out or make it, then it can't be done." Adam grinned and began to hum that song from Dumbo about elephants flying. "Actually, think that, but insert VW in the place of elephant."

"You've got to be joking, VW's do not fly." Blair shook his head. 'What have I gotten us into?'

"I wouldn't believe it either, but Jason, Trey, Kim, Cestro, and Dulcea told me and I know they wouldn't make up stories like that. Rocky maybe, but Jason? Nah. As a side note, Billy's reimbursing me for your airfare, he's loaded from royalties from his patents. Y'know that computer you've got, Blair? Well, without Billy's stuff it wouldn't work."

Silence hung in the truck for a moment as Blair tried to figure out how to deal with that. "So, he's an inventor?"

"He's Billy. Just be willing to see some strange stuff and not get to spazzed, okay?"

Jim thought about it carefully. 'Enquiri, you must trust them.' "Okay."

Blair looked at him for a minute like he'd gone nuts, but shrugged, "Same here."

Adam smiled, "Now, Kim she's into gymnastics, in fact, she's won Olympic Gold and Silver. She's a great friend and will never let you down in a pinch . . . "

Everyone except Cestro and Trey were waiting the common room for Adam to return with his guests. There was a vague resentment hanging in the air as they wondered about who Adam was bringing and exactly why. Kim had said that they were here to help Billy with his super-senses, but she hadn't elaborated about why such help was necessary. The only real distraction was Rocky commandeering the kitchen once more to make breakfast, he'd already sent Trey out to Cestro with some 'earth food that should be good.' They were going to eat together and Trey would join them later, Adam had already talked to Cestro about it last night and the Aquitian seemed okay with it. Everyone else though . . .

"It just seems freaky having someone around who doesn't know. I mean making Cestro hide out in the ship just seems kinda wrong," said Rocky as he voiced the feelings of everyone in the room.

Dulcea smiled slightly. 'They have become so close in so little time.' "But as Billy had said, Cestro's appearance would leave too many questions and it might endanger him. It is better this way and we will make sure he is not left out of the proceedings."

Billy spoke up for the first time that morning, "They're here."

"That's your house!?" Blair shook his head, "What are you, an eccentric millionaire?"

Adam laughed and shook his head, "Nah, I just live very frugally." Jim and Blair stared at him in disbelief. "Really, I was 'given' this place when I graduated and my uncle also set up a trust so that I got a small amount each month to pay for upkeep." He shrugged, "Except for a burst pipe three years ago, I do most of the repairs and stuff myself. Kinda relaxing. I don't need much else, so . . . "

"Do anything else?"

"I'm a stuntman. In fact, I just finished shooting a pretty low-budget movie, but I starred. I was originally taking a break just to see how it does, could lead to more jobs and more pay."

"Good movie?"

Adam chuckled, "Good isn't the exact word I'd use, but it should at least be fun."

"That sounds so inspiring."

They both fell silent as Jim started chuckling at them both and at something else. He pointed towards the house and the people coming out, "I think they know we're here."

"Well, hopefully this'll go well. Any last minute questions while you have me here?"

They thought about it for a moment and Blair grinned, "I think the only important question is which one are you dating?" 'And how did you both manage to have dinner in Cascade?'

"He may play the jack of diamonds
He may lay the queen of spades
He may conceal a king in his hand
While the memory of it fades."

-Sting, Shape of My Heart.

Adam sat alone in the living room, he'd turned the television on a couple of hours ago, but he wasn't really watching it. 'He's still not back.' Adam had declined to participate in sparring with Dulcea and the others. His heart was no longer in it. Billy and Kim were off with Blair and Jim camping. Blair had suggested that maybe some isolation from the rest of them and distractions of the house would help Billy and Kim. So he was alone. It held a different meaning today and he was sure he didn't like it. No Wolf or Crane, Owl or Lion, Hawk or Whale, Ape or, most especially Frog. Wolf had told him that Frog was okay, but he wouldn't tell Adam where to find him. It annoyed him and it worried him, he just wanted to, well, he just didn't know what he wanted to do. After he'd picked up Jim and Blair and made the introductions and ironed over a little bit of free floating resentment from Billy, he just hadn't felt like doing anything. So, he sat there . . . alone.

Rocky was enjoying himself, there was no doubt about it. He'd sparred with Dulcea a few times and spent a lot more time watching the others spar. He had been getting bored when a voice spoke up beside him and he almost fell off his chair as he saw the giant gorilla. He'd stammered out a response and then the APE had told him, "I'm not Wolf and especially not Crane, I believe that I should teach you about your gifts, young one."

Rocky vaguely remembered that he said something, but he couldn't remember what anymore. But he'd followed the Ape away from the main group and into the woods. Ape had looked at him seriously, "Let's see what you can do." Ape looked around for a moment and pointed, "Climb that tree there."

So Rocky had and Ape had groaned, "Man, I have my work cut out for me, don't I?"

Then Ape had showed him how to actually be a gorilla and it was neat. After walking around, climbing trees, and stuff Rocky felt that he'd gotten the hang of it. Then Ape winked at him and told him to change back and keep going, Rocky thought Ape had lost it, but now he was climbing through the trees like his namesake. It was easy. Ape just looked smug, "Had'ta teach you how move, but now you're looking mighty sharp."

Rocky grinned back at his mentor. 'This is great!' His bare feet seemed quite comfortable on the rough branches and he found that it was fun to follow his guide as he carefully taught Rocky the basics of being the Ape ninjetti. Ape stopped in one tree and waited for Rocky to catch up, "Well done. Crane is sure on her feet because of balance, you are sure because you are the Ape. Strength is also your gift, be strong, but remember that all are not as strong as you. But you are fierce because you are the Ape, do not let it blind you." The giant spirit smiled showing Rocky a wonderful view of his sharp teeth, "But don't feel bad it you fail." Ape shrugged, "I do it all the time." Ape suddenly became serious once more, "Remember to use your brain not your brawn and most importantly, now listen carefully," Rocky sat rapt as he waited for Ape to continue, "have fun." Ape reached out and ruffled Rocky's hair, "Tag, you're it."

Rocky sputtered for a moment and then took off after his mentor, laughing as he leapt through the trees with ease.

Dulcea marveled more and more as she worked with Jason, he was improving exponentially with each match. His grasp of tactics was astonishing, she knew that Tommy was his successor, but she wondered how long the battles of Earth would have continued if he had stayed in charge. She now understood Adam's last comment before he'd vanished back into the house. He'd said, "Teach him, he's in charge anyway."

Now she understood, Adam may be leading in the broadest sense of the word, but Jason was the General of the Ninjetti. Whether he would be a Master Warrior was unclear to her, but only Billy was near his equal in combat . . . and that was saying much for both of them. She had thought carefully about the skills of her students and had ranked them. Jason and Billy were the best of this new class and Adam was the brightest. Trey was the most disciplined. Rocky, well, she couldn't truly get a measure of the red Ape, he would play until he was truly needed. Kim fought hard and fierce for those under her protection, but like the Ape, she would never be able to judge her until battle was joined. Yet, she had defeated Vadyvov . . . Cestro, well, he was most definitively suited for the position of scholar, his skills were those of an apprentice, but his dedication and intellect would eventually raise him to new heights.

Rocky had left the group a few minutes ago and she was working hard to keep the other three students on their toes as they squared off against her. Jason had talked to them earlier when she had suggested this three on one match, and she was still wondering what surprise he had in store for her. She carefully repelled each of their attacks. 'They are a good team.' She wasn't surprised when Trey suddenly split into his separate selves, she knew that it wasn't an effective combat tactic—it weakened Trey's skills. So, she was ready for Cestro and Jason's 'surprise' attack and managed to tangle up Cestro for a second with the three Treys. Trey instantly reformed and he came back at her as Cestro regrouped himself. Jason hadn't even paused, he'd kept her distracted so that she couldn't capitalize on Cestro's forced mis-step. But the advantage was obviously back in Dulcea's hands and Jason broke off and nodded as he conceded this round to her.

"I've crossed the last line
from where I can't return
where every step I took in faith
betrayed me
and led me from my home."

-Sarah Mclachlan, Sweet Surrender.

Darkness. He moved quietly and not a little fearfully through it. 'Quiet.' On the edges of his vision it seemed to move with a life of it's own. It was waiting and it was big—and there was something hiding in it. He was trying not to run, because if he did it would find him. He shuddered slightly and locked his panic away. 'Not now. Can't lose it here.' It almost overwhelmed him as he came up to a wall. He hadn't seen it, he'd only found it because his foot had hit it before the rest of him. He rested a hand on the cool surface and began to walk alongside it. 'This is what I needed, this will take me . . . somewhere?' But his journey wouldn't stay uninterrupted for long. 'It's found me!' He sped up as he felt the thing get closer and an endless moment later he took off on a full speed attempt at escape. He imagined he could feel the thing's breath on his neck, he ran harder even though he felt like he'd been running forever. 'Just a little farther.' Then, so suddenly his eyes watered at the sudden change, a door appeared carved into the wall and a golden light tried valiantly to light the darkness. He tried to run faster, but he'd already pushed himself too hard. He cried out in pain as a cold claw tore into him, leaving a burning cold in it's wake. He felt himself falling and reached towards the golden light, but he fell short. The last thing he saw as the cold claimed him was a small frog lying unmoving in front of him.

"NOOOOO!" Adam shot out of bed screaming as he tried to escape whatever had been following him. 'Dream, just a dream.' He took a minute to try and calm the incipient panic attack that threatened to claim him. He vaguely noticed the door open and Dulcea come in and talk to him. 'Too cold in here.' He shivered and slowly became aware that he now had a blanket over his shoulders and someone talking. "Dulcea?"

"Yes, Adam. I'm here," she said soothingly. She had heard him scream and was instantly on alert. She'd even broken his door down, she supposed in some part of her mind that wasn't occupied with calming Adam that it might have been a little extreme. 'I don't think he was going to open it on his own.' He had been totally unaware of her when she had entered and he was shaking hard. 'He was terrified.' When she'd touched him it had became apparent that his shaking wasn't only from fear, he was freezing cold as well. 'What in the Spirit happened?'

He was still confused, it wasn't dark here, but he was still cold. "F-fr-og. H-h-have t-t-to f-f-in-d him," Adam chattered out. He tried to stand up, but he was still shaking too hard to actually get to his feet.

Dulcea for once in her life, didn't know what to do. She looked over at Owl and saw that her guardian had already flown the room. So she continued to hold Adam as Jason brought in more blankets for his friend. She saw the question in his eyes, but didn't have any answers.

Adam took that moment to speak up again, "Are K-k-k-kim an-an-d B-b-billy b-b-back-k?" He knew that there was something he was forgetting, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"They're still out with the teachers you brought."

'Oh, now he remembered, if Billy had been here he'd have heard and already be there. Cool.' "Wer-Weren't they sup-p-possed to be b-back?" 'I thought they were supposed to come back tonight.' "We-We can't g-go without them, can we?" He began to feel tired again as he shook his head, "N-No, we have to wait."

Dulcea noted that Adam's shivers were subsiding and he was beginning to warm up. "Where do we have to go?"

Adam's eye's began to droop as the adrenaline began to wear off, "Wolf knows, he'll lead us."

Dulcea tried to carefully get more answers from him, but he began to lapse back into incoherency as sleep claimed him once more. She, on the other hand, remained awake as the night slowly passed.

Jason nearly laughed as he watched Adam blearily gather up his clothes and vanish into the bathroom. 'I don't think he even knows I'm here. Rocky was right, he's not really a morning person, but he gets up early for working out. I don't know how he does it.'

One long shower later Adam walked out of the shower and did a double take, "Jason!?"

"Good morning."

Adam remembered his nightmare and he vaguely remembered that he'd woken up, but he wasn't sure about that part. "Why are you in my room?"

Jason looked serious, "Because I'm relieving Dulcea, she would have stayed around until you woke up." Jason chuckled and pointed to the boxers lying near the hamper by the bathroom door. "Good thing too."

Adam blushed, "Why are you relieving Dulcea?"

"You had a nightmare and woke up screaming, it sort of got everyone's attention. In fact," Jason pointed to the door that was leaning a little crookedly in it's frame, "Dulcea nearly tore the door off the hinges getting in here, Rocky and I put it back up. Have to replace the frame sometime." Jason shrugged, "She's having breakfast right now. Now, that you're awake do you want to talk about it?"

'Not really.' Adam changed topics, "When Billy and Kim get here we're leaving."

"You said that last night."

"I did? What else did I say?"

"You had to find Frog. Then you asked about Billy and Kim and said we couldn't leave without them. And that Wolf would know where to go."

Adam mulled it over for a moment, "Something big is out there Jason and my guide's right in the middle of it. I warned him. I was told to warn him." Adam paled slightly as the dream fell into place and a picture finally began to form. Adam stood up and began to pace, "Let's eat, there's nothing we can do until they get back."

He turned and stalked out of the room leaving Jason still sitting. 'Why do I get a very bad feeling about this?' Jason got up and another thought occurred to him. 'Who told you?'

It was around two when the others returned in the new and improved Radbug. Their reception was less than stellar. Adam had glared at them for a minute and walked off, but to Sentinel hearing he was talking to someone. "Wolf, where the hell have you been? Frog's in trouble and no one else knows where he is and we need Billy and Kim if this is going to work out."

Jim and Billy both exchanged worried glances, Jim because he thought that maybe the kid was losing it and that he wanted nothing to with the 'mystical crap' if he wasn't. Billy because if Adam was having a hissy over them being late, something bad must be happening, especially if he was reaming out the Wolf. 'That's an odd thought.'

Everyone else was taking in the bedraggled groups appearance: they were covered in mud, their clothes were torn, and they sported a collection of small cuts and bruises. Rocky summed it up perfectly, "What the hell happened to you?"

Kim chuckled slightly and looked at Blair. Blair grinned and put an arm around Jim. Jim laughed and Billy grinned, well, wolfishly. "Oh, nothing much, just ran into some trouble. You know how it is." Billy chuckled, "Well, I think we need showers and breakfast, so unless you have anything important . . . "

Jason spoke up and handed an envelope to Blair, "Adam, told me to give you this when you got back." Jason shrugged, "I think we're going to have to leave here soon." He turned back to Billy, "I'll fill you in, but you'd better shower quick." Jason blinked as he heard the door slam shut and laughed. "Well, if you want hot water, you'd better hurry." Kim and Blair had both vanished through the door before he'd even finished talking to Billy.

Billy was torn, but Jim finally broke his indecision. Jim rolled his eyes, "Important lesson, never let your guide beat you to the shower . . . they tend to use up all the hot water. Now show me the nearest shower, so I can get at least some hot water."

Billy grinned and led Jim into the lodge while Jason just shook his head. 'I think this is going to be the last funny thing for awhile.'

Blair had actually showered in less time than he expected, he'd just had to deal with the loft running out of hot water for so long, that he just didn't take long showers anymore. So, one change of clothes later he was sitting on the bed in the room Adam had let him have and reading. Laying beside him were two sets of keys and a couple maps.

Blair,

Blair folded the letter and carefully put it back in the envelope. 'Spirit animals getting in trouble? I can't wait to hear this . . . now there was that story about Raven . . .'

"Is he alright?" asked Kim concernedly.

Jason shrugged, "I think that depends on your definition of 'all right.'"

"Do you know what happened?" interjected Billy.

"No, first there was the nightmare last night. He was a total mess, I've never seen anyone that scared before." Jason shook his head, "He wanted to leave then, but you weren't back, so he went back to sleep. Then he was up and he was fine until a little after breakfast. He just fell over and Dulcea caught him. He shook it off and said it was nothing, then he went out to talk to Cestro. He came back not long before you came back and started waiting. He's been in a funk and I think Dulcea knows something, but she's telling." He leaned closer to the two and continued in a concerned tone, "Whatever it is, I think it's scared her too. As for Adam, I'm amazed he hasn't . . . "

"Told you it's time to go?" said Adam quietly from the doorway. "Well, it is. I know where now."

"Into this night I wander,
it's morning that I dread,
Another day of knowing of
the path I fear to tread."

The trip away from earth was eerily similar to the one there. There were a few more people, but the ship was the same. Billy and Kim were a little more mellow this time around and Trey was helping out in the cockpit with Cestro. Adam had pointed out some coordinates, but even he didn't know where they really were. The ship was still filled with that vague sense of worry for the Frog Ninjetti, and Kim was going to find out why.

'Deja vu.' She had walked back into a familiar room to find Adam star-gazing once more. "Nice view?" He shrugged slightly, everyone had noticed that he was tired, but he just said it was from missing sleep last night. Kim sighed slightly, neither she nor Billy bought that one. Nor did Dulcea or Jason, even Rocky didn't. Kim had a feeling that Dulcea knew, it was something about the Frog, not just Adam. It didn't make sense to Kim, but she wasn't one to worry if everything made sense—that was Billy's job. All she knew was that Adam was depressed, maybe despairing would be a better word. There was this hopelessness that hung over him and she didn't know what to do. "Adam, what is going on?"

'I don't want to talk about it, but she's not going to give in. I know her too well. Oh, well . . . ' Adam began to speak so quietly that Kim had to strain to hear him, "Is your shadow around?"

"No, he's sleeping and he has a white noise generator on."

'So he can't hear us.' "Well, this is between me and you, right?"

She knew that if she didn't agree to this, he wouldn't talk. "Right."

"I suppose you heard about my little nightmare last night?"

It was annoying, he was still being vague and beating around the bush, he wasn't going to make this easy, was he? "Jason said there was nothing little about it, he said you were terrified and honestly it scared him too."

Adam finally turned to face her and he gave her a searching stare. He smiled slightly, "He cares so much for us, I'd always wondered how it would have been to be a ranger under him. He's in charge now, you know?"

She was a little taken aback by his pale face and dark circles around his eyes. But his comments were too much, Kim rolled her eyes. 'Habla English? Sheesh!' "No, I didn't."

Adam nodded to himself, "Yeah, he's going to lead the others . . . "

"I'm not included?"

"No, Kalieth knows about us: you, Billy, Dulcea, and me. He doesn't know about the others, anyway you and Billy are almost a team on your own. Dulcea works great with you and my powers work best alone. Jason will have to lead them in the upcoming fight, I know he'll do well."

Kim managed to keep surprise out of her voice, "So, we're finally going to get to meet this Kalieth guy?"

"Unfortunately."

She waited for him to continue, "Why now?"

"Because he's . . . done something, I . . . we can't wait any longer. The stakes are far higher than I had ever imagined . . . ," he shook his head irritably. He stared at Kim intently and she began to feel a little nervous under his gaze. Whatever he was looking for he seemed to find because he continued, "Do you remember when I told you the story of the ninjetti?"

She nodded, but she had a bad feeling where it was going, "Yeah, how they fought this great e-vil . . . ," she trailed off as it made sense.

He smiled sadly, "Yeah, that's it." He turned and went back to looking out into space once more.

She waited a few minutes, but Adam said nothing else and she knew a little too much to not be worried. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder and joined him in his star-gazing.

"And its into the shame
And its into a guilt
And its into the fucking fray
And the walls ran red around me
A warm arterial spray."

On a planet not that far away . . .
Kalieth smiled as surveyed the ruins of two shattered worlds. He'd ordered his fleets to blockade the rebellious worlds—the three who dared to defy him and cost him his revenge. So, he'd pulled all of his forces here, this was the battle that would make or break him. He'd used the amassed power of his fleets to obliterate the first planet. No warning, no terms of surrender, he'd just wiped them from the universe. 'If that doesn't bring them, nothing will. perhaps . . .'

So, he'd waited and they did try to talk to him and he hadn't responded. He'd waited until the second world had begun to beg him for surrender to destroy them. The third, well, that one was still stubbornly unafraid. Their leaders had simply told him to 'blow it out his gills,' or some such, they weren't totally sure about the translation. He'd had to admire their convictions, so he'd planned something special for them. He smiled as his general's filed into the war room, he smiled wider as he noted the fear in their eyes. He'd surprised them, they never thought him capable of the merciless destruction he'd committed. 'I've just never had the reason. "now, shall I have my revenge. no more ninjetti. no more foolish spirit's to interfere. mine once more." I'll be the king of their ruin if I have to destroy every damn planet I control. "no, they'll come here. once you . . . " Once I use the weapons at my disposal.' The snarl on Kalieth's face made every general wonder if he'd finally decided to be done with them. He stood tall and spoke in a booming voice, "Now, my generals, you have served me 'faithfully' for years uncounted, now you will be at my side as I claim my final victory." He walked to one of the walls and ran his fingers along a couple of designs and the wall opened. "Here are our weapons, take them and join me. I will have no more enemies after this day." Kalieth laughed—countless years of waiting were finally coming to an end. He would have his revenge.

'frog, you have thwarted me the last time. I've trapped you, little one, and I will hunt you down.'

"We cannot continue further, the fleet has thoroughly blocked all avenues of reaching the planet," reported Cestro dutifully as they tried to get to the coordinates Adam had designated.

Adam seemed to think about it for a minute then he pointed to the screen, "Go through there."

Cestro didn't comply immediately, "Adam, they will easily detect us . . . "

"Go through there," repeated Adam in a quiet tone that no one could refuse. Adam bowed his head as the ship began to move towards the gap he'd found. It wasn't much, but the ship just had to fit through it. Crane had been surprisingly helpful earlier when she had came up with this plan. Adam knew he was running out of time. 'I hope I do this right.' Crane had explained it earlier and it still sounded like a long shot. "Space is but blackness, a great shadow in which you can hide. So hide yourself."

'Hide myself, sounds really simple. Of course, hiding in the ship wouldn't do a damn thing, so he'd have to do a David Copperfield with the ship, nah, make that a Doug Henning.' He gathered up his tattered reserves of energy and carefully began to carefully change his way of thinking like Crane had coached him. He knew he was weakening, his connection to Frog was diminished by whatever Kalieth had done, so he was drawing more on his own energy than that of his mentor.

An endless time later, Cestro spoke up once more, "We are landing on the surface, I have found a place to hide the ship from obvious detection . . . " Cestro didn't really know how to continue, there was no rational way twelve enemy vessels could have ignored them. 'Yet, it happened. How much power do we truly have at our disposal?'

Adam barely noted Cestro's comment, he just waited for the slight jarring of landing. As soon as he felt it he stopped hiding and took a moment to gather himself. Once he felt confident that he wasn't going to fall over 'I have got to stop doing that, it's getting pretty freaking old' or do something embarrassing, he looked back up to the group. "Now, we stop Kalieth."

Jason and the others were waiting on the ship, Adam had told them to come out only when they could wait no longer. That was it, no signal, no mystic warning, just when they could wait no longer. 'What a crock!' thought Jason irritably, he was a man of action and he could understand why they had to wait—it made perfect sense. He just couldn't understand Adam's instructions or why he'd been so adamant about them. Everyone knew something more than Kalieth blowing up a couple of planets, but how could there be more than that?

They'd found out when they had landed, the area around them was decimated. That was bad, but there was more to it than that, it was a feeling in the air that made their skin crawl. Jason shook his head, Kim had left the room and came back a few minutes later looking a little pale. He had no idea how Adam had reacted. He'd watched him morph into his ninjetti outfit, this time complete with a sleeveless overcloak and hood which Adam had quickly pulled up over his head. He'd given Jason those annoying orders and left the ship and disappeared into the shadows. 'I'd swear Kim was watching him even after he disappeared.' There was something else troubling about Adam, but Jason couldn't put his finger on it.

Then Kim had winced and told them that they had to go. She pointed into the distance and Billy took point with her right on his heels. Dulcea moved silently behind them as swift as the Owl that guided her. 'Damn, I'm getting poetic.' Jason shook his head at his own antics. He kept glancing over Cestro's shoulder as the Aquitian scanned the area looking for any thing. "How long is Adam going to make us wait?"

He was surprised when Trey spoke up, "As long as is necessary. He has faith in your abilities as our leader."

"I know, it's just that this place gives me the creeps. I've been trapped in Rita's Dark Dimension with a possessed Green Ranger and I was pretty sure I was going to die, but it didn't freak me out half as much as this place." Jason suddenly changed tracks, "Did you notice anything odd about Adam before he left?"

Surprisingly the answer came from Rocky, who had been totally silent since Adam morphed. "His outfit was blank," he said quietly.

Silence descended over the group as they took that in and what it could mean.

Billy shook his head to try and clear the scent from his head. It was partially familiar but it was overlaid with blood, fear, and burning. They'd found the first bodies a few minutes ago, something had . . . he didn't know. 'I'd rather have not had this mystery solved . . . ' Some were nothing more than husks, some were already rotting, some hacked into an unrecognizable mess, and the last were smashed. He knew it had happened recently, the blood was no more than a few hours old. But the smell, the smell . . .

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and voice speaking from a distance. " . . . imagine the dial, come on, turn it down. We kinda need you right now. Just turn the smell down, 'kay?"

It was finally the slight note of panic in Kim's voice that pulled him back from where ever he had been. He quickly reassessed their situation. 'Good move, Brain-boy.' He ignited his staff and shredded a few of Kalieth's warriors. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Dulcea wiping the walls with them and a flash of pink took out another and then another. 'Why do I have the feeling this is just the warm up?'

He swung low and cut the legs out from under one and sliced up under the guard of another. He continued his turn and thrust right though the guard of another warrior. The numbers around them were thinning with a surprising rapidity. He followed a familiar sound and saw Kimberly smash her bow into one and leap up high, sending a finishing shot into it's chest and another into it's companion's.

Then both sides pulled back and studied the other. 'They still stink. Bathe anyone?' He shook his head absently as they slowly kept backing away. 'I think we've intimidated them. That should definitely be in our favor.' His ruminations were cut short by a distant screaming, a few moments later more screams came from another direction. He gratefully accepted Kim's hand on his shoulder and her calming voice as she kept him from losing it again. He pointed with his staff, "I hear screams from there and there."

That seemed to be a cue for the warriors as they attacked again with renewed fervor. Billy got the distinct impression that they wanted to put as much distance between them and whatever was causing the disturbance.

"You'd maybe think there's something wrong
I'm not a man of too many faces
The mask I wear is one
Those who speak know nothing
And find out to their cost
Like those who curse their luck in too many places
And those who fear are lost."

Adam moved quietly through the rubble of another building taking the shortest route to his destination. The others would have been surprised to know how far into the city Adam had gotten and especially curious about his mode of dress. Adam wore the same clothes he'd put on this morning, not the ninjetti outfit he'd left the ship in. He'd unmorphed not long after he'd left the ship, one because he didn't need it when he was hiding—and thankfully, that wasn't much of a drain on his resources— and two because he had a feeling he'd need it later. A last reason, was that he felt that it would make him stick out like a sore thumb to his real enemy. His friends were in danger, but they were only going to deal with the physical manifestations of this. He was stuck with the whole deal and he'd already seen a couple things that scared the hell out of him. He now had a good idea what the horrible truth that Coyote hinted at was. The air seemed to scream at the horrors loosed by Kalieth and he carefully darted from one ruined building to the next, he was a little too close to something that he didn't want to be anywhere near. He froze, subconsciously holding his breath as he'd heard a multitudinous hissing coming closer. The air was tainted by a black hate that he feared would tear his hiding place from its foundations. 'I'm not here. I'm not here.' His internal mantra shattered when he finally saw what was approaching. 'That can't be!'

For the first time in millennia, Dulcea was truly a fighting ninjetti. She had been a glorified guard for long enough and whatever monster had unleashed these horrors would be vanquished. Owl agreed as she flew before the ninjetti master warning her of any hidden foes, but suddenly she flew past the ninjetti master and Dulcea heard a warning. 'Ware his blade, its bite is deadly.'

Something dark passed by her, but her mind was focused on Owl's warning. All blades were deadly and she knew it wasn't a reference to this creature. In fact, only iron control kept her from gagging at the sight before her, rotting corpses laying everywhere around her. Small frog-like corpses at that, but she wasn't surprised, it accounted for Adam's odd behavior and the disappearance of the Frog spirit. She shook her head as she carefully made her way to a small clearing amidst the corpses and finally caught a glimpse of her prey.

It was a tall thin alien in black armor, like the warriors she had fought earlier, but this one was obviously alive. Dark power seemed to hang in air like a haze tinged with smell of decay and death as he strode after those who tried valiantly to hold him back so others could escape. She gracefully picked her way through the dead as she headed towards the figure. It was obvious that she had been following his trail, since the rotting dead didn't go on past this creature. She drew herself up and stared cooly at the beast—the only title fitting for a being that would do this—and called out her challenge.

'Trail? A five year old could follow this monster's path!' Billy was horrified to say the least, this wasn't like Rita or her ilk, no magic spell to be lifted to return these people to life. They were just dead and it was obvious that they hadn't died well. 'Died well. Until today I would never had made such a distinction, dead is still dead.' He shuddered slightly as he stepped around the small bodies and repressed an urge to throw up or maybe just run screaming through the streets. Being a ranger hadn't prepared him for this kind of carnage.

He sent a glance at Kim to see how she was holding up. She was pale and a little teary, but she looked far more together than he felt. He almost felt a smidgen of pity for whatever had done this, because Kim was obviously pissed, but it was more wishful thinking than anything else. 'Whatever did this is going down.'

Adam took a much needed breath after the monster had disappeared into the distance. 'It's heading towards the ship.' He stood up shakily and left this hiding place as he moved to another, only able to ignore the carnage around him because he had to find Frog. He knew he was getting closer to him, but Adam feared his time was running out. 'I've got to hurry.'

"There is a disturbance," reported Cestro calmly as he pointed to one of his monitors.

The others let Jason come up to look first and what he saw horrified and then enraged him. These little frog-people were hopping for their life from some psycho with an axe. He just kept cutting one down and then another, the guy was drenched in blood and howling something. 'That's it!' He stood up and studied each of the others intently, "I think this is where I say we can't wait any longer. It's morphing time!" To Jason's eyes the flash of purple had blocked out everything for the blink of an eye and now he felt positively super charged. "Hey, Rock, that outfit come with a weapon?"

Rocky didn't know for sure, but he heard Ape grumble, 'Sword, you have a sword. Chop this thing to chutney!' Ape roared and Rocky winced as he felt the great Ape's anger. "Uh, yeah, got a sword."

Jason gave a slightly vicious grin, "Okay, here's the plan . . . "

Billy swayed slightly as the roar of the collapsing building nearly deafened him, but Kim quicky pulled him back from the incipient zone. 'I'm getting good at this guide thing. Thank god.' She was pissed, there was no doubt about it—she knew whatever had done this had enjoyed it. Though 'it' wasn't exactly right, there were two of them, but they overlapped somehow, she just wasn't sure what it meant. 'Too freaky.'

Billy on the other hand was getting his first look at their opponent. 'He doesn't look like much . . . ' It was a very small man in black armor, but he didn't move like the warriors he'd fought on Phaedos. 'At least this guy bathes.' Billy could also make out the frog-people running from him, he cringed as he swore he could hear the cracking of bone when the warrior brought his hammer down on one. Billy didn't even notice himself speeding up or the growl that was torn from his lips as charged to stop the monster.

Kim figured that she had more than probable cause, so she fired a warning shot into the monster's back. It wasn't sporting, nice, or good, but he didn't deserve a real warning. It staggered as the shaft of energy glanced off its armor. Then it turned to face them. 'It doesn't even look like much, it's just a person.' She felt a small twinge of revulsion as she looked at this man who had done such horrible things. Then she knew, he and whatever was with him were pretty happy about what they were doing, not a smidgen of guilt between them. This time she aimed low and knocked its leg out from under it, it was just staggered, but it gave Billy the chance to close without challenge.

Jason was a little frightened, not of the battle, but the change that had come over Rocky. The red Ape ninjetti was now meeting the berserk warrior blow for blow and ignoring the other ninjetti. The fight had started out just as planned and Jason was sure they could take this guy down. Cestro was gathering as many of the frog-people as he could and pulling them away from the fight. Jason and Trey had flanked Rocky as they came up on the warrior as he was hacking into another fallen victim.

He had looked up at their approach and then let loose with a wordless roar as he charged heedlessly towards them. Rocky had stepped forward and blocked the first blow, but even he had bent slightly under the power of the attack. He'd kept the warrior occupied as Jason and Trey attempted to flank him and distract him. Somehow, the berserker grabbed Rocky's sword by the blade and held Rocky fast as he managed a backhanded swipe at Trey. The Hawk ninjetti had gracefully evaded it, but the battle had turned back against the ninjetti.

Rocky had released his sword when he saw the axe coming towards him and stepped in grab the axe from the warrior. The instant he'd grabbed the haft, the anger he had felt as he'd seen what this monster had done boiled up inside him. Reason took a strategic retreat and suddenly Rocky had bowled the warrior over as he tried to wrest the axe from him. The warrior threw Rocky off of him and stood, but he buried the axe deep into the ground beside him as he charged Rocky. The fighting that ensued was brutal as neither combatant fought with any real skill, just rage and strength. They were both oblivious to the world around them as they pounded on each other.

Jason and Trey were both looking for some kind of opening, but their first try to help Rocky had ended with a quick blow that had knocked the wind out Jason. Jason dragged himself up to his feet and stared at the battle before him. 'How the hell do you deal with this?'

A deadly dance was being staged in another part of town as Dulcea parried a flurry of blows. She knew what her opponent's goal was: one nick and she would be defeated, so he attacked her staff and not her. He was good, but she could take him under normal circumstances. Yet these were decidedly not normal, the deadly blade he carried evened the odds. He sent a blast of putrescent air towards her and she called on other skills as a wind blew it back in his direction. He chuckled as it blew over him, "You're good, Dulcea, but you are no match for me." Suddenly he stiffened as the wind swirled around him and it seemed to be drawn inside him. When he spoke this time his voice had changed into something that wasn't only sound, but feeling as well. "You are too late, Owl-kin, even if you defeat this vessel, I am still free," hissed the voice in a tone that made even Dulcea shiver slightly.

Dulcea calmly stood her ground as she waited to see what this new development would mean. "Then at the least you shall taste defeat this day."

He chuckled malignantly, "But I have already tasted victory, are you missing something, oh Master Warrior? A little birdie perhaps?"

Adam was surprisingly close to Frog, he could see his mentor and friend hopping weakly away from the giant Kalieth. He wasn't surprised to find Kalieth here in a way, it had to end here. He still had one trump left to play and hopefully it would buy Frog's escape. 'WHOEVER YOU ARE, HELP FROG!'

He was greeted a moment later by the voice, but it was only distant thunder on the horizon, not the storm he was used to hearing. 'I cannot reveal myself now, nor do I have any connection with him to help.'

He noticed Kalieth pause and cock his head as if listening for something. 'Great.' Adam was vaguely frustrated, he knew this guy hadn't walked him here only to let him down in the final inning. 'Anything would be helpful right now!'

'There is something, but it would leave you defenseless.'

Adam winced as Kalieth looked in his direction. Adam gave a dark mental chuckle, 'I'm already defenseless. Do it.'

With that command Adam's world changed for an instant he was looking over the battlefield as the rushed towards the center of the ruined city. From his high vantage point he saw the dark gateway that was forming and the light that was being dragged into it. He caught a glimpse of something crawling through the hole in reality. But his vision was torn from it as he swooped low and saw the Ape locked in battle with Hydra and for every head the great ape tore from the beast two more sprung up. Things looked very bad for the Ape spirit at this juncture. The Mountain Lion and the Hawk circled the monster attempting to help the Ape. Further he flew, Dulcea battled Wyvern and from behind the beast Owl swooped silently in. Faster, he glimpsed the Wolf and Crane as they beat down the Manticore. Then he saw himself hiding in a ruined building and he seemed to rush towards himself. He glimpsed something out of the corner of his eye . . .

Suddenly, he was back, he was sitting in the rubble and he heard the voice whisper through his mind. 'Find him and then I can try to use your connection to take him to the monolith to heal.' Adam didn't respond as he backed deeper into the ruins as Kalieth came towards him.

Dulcea fell back carefully as the decaying warrior attacked her. She had seen the familiar white shape flying towards them and she wasn't surprised. She had known that the monster hadn't defeated her guide—only forced a strategic retreat. She kept the warrior distracted as suddenly her guide swooped low and dug her talons into the monster. 'Strike now!'

Dulcea didn't hesitate as Owl's voice came to her and sent a deadly blow through the distracted monsters guard. It gave a gurgling choke as it dropped its weapon and reached for its crushed windpipe. A moment later it spilled to the ground and laid still. Its sword bubbled and hissed as it melted into slag. Owl flew unsteadily towards her. 'His vessel is destroyed, you are needed elsewhere. Follow me.'

She followed the Owl back towards the ship and quickly reached the stalemate between Rocky and the next warrior. Dulcea stared at the Ape ninjetti, "Something is wrong."

'Hydra's poison runs through his veins, Ape was not careful and his charge suffers. Our challenge will be to restrain him so that the others may defeat the beast.'

"Restrain the strongest of the ninjetti without hurting him? Ape's rage is fierce under normal conditions, but now it flows freely. Battle is not the full solution . . . " Dulcea slowed and called out to Jason.

He jogged up to her and gave her a slight smile but it faded as he quickly turned his attention back to the slug-fest going on between Rocky and the muscular warrior. They had been beating one another back and now the axe was between them as they strove for superiority. "Rocky's as dangerous as the guy we're fighting. We try and break in on the guy and one of them hits us."

Dulcea nodded, "I will deal with Rocky, you must defeat the warrior."

She turned her attention back to Rocky as Jason ran back towards his charges. She heard him quickly giving orders to Trey and Cestro and heard Cestro say something and Jason agree. Then they broke apart once more and took positions around the monster. She moved quietly behind the two battling warriors and waited patiently for an opening. When it came she swept Rocky's legs out from under him and summoned the winds and waters to her aid. The ground under him became slightly muddy and the winds dragged him in the direction of her staff push and away from the warrior.

The others took this as their cue to renew their attacks and the berserk warrior was kept occupied as she dealt with Rocky. He came up to his feet in a flash and tried to charge back towards the warrior, but she quickly mired his feet in mud and used wind gusts to keep him off balance. 'He growled at me? Owl, I believe your work is cut out for you.'

She heard her guide's exasperated reply, 'Yes, Ape is definitely out of control. I am trying to calm him, but the 'big monkey' is not responding.' Dulcea winced as she heard Ape roar at that comment, and Owl continued wryly, 'At least he isn't totally unreachable.'

Kim and Billy were faring much better against their opponent, the Wolf ninjetti was slowly backing him through the rubble strewn streets as the occasional flash of pink would throw the beast off guard. It was losing ground, but not yet the battle. Billy had scored a multitude of blows on it and some of its armor had been lost, but it was still fighting. As the next blast of pink energy struck it, it fell to the ground in a controlled fall and flung its hand out towards Billy.

'Dirt! I fell for simplest trick in the book!' Billy rubbed his eyes as he coughed and sputtered while he tried to clear the dust from his sensitive system. He wasn't helpless though and he heard the air whistling as something came towards him at high speed. He ducked and rolled on instinct and heard a building behind take the blow. 'He must have thrown the hammer.' Billy winced as he heard a scream of agony from the creature and then he heard it stagger into another building. He was finally blinking his eyes clear as Kim ran over to him, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just sudden, I'm fine."

Kim studied him carefully and made her decision, "He ran into that building."

"Well then, let's get him." Billy stood back up and took the lead as Kim followed him into the deserted building.

"Take a little walk to the edge of town
Go across the tracks
Where the viaduct looms,
like a bird of doom
As it shifts and cracks
Where secrets lie in the border fires,
in the humming wires
Hey man, you know
you're never coming back
Past the square, past the bridge,
past the mills, past the stacks
On a gathering storm comes
a tall handsome man
In a dusty black coat with
a red right hand."

'I feel like I'm in a bad horror movie!' Groused Adam inwardly as he kept moving away from Kalieth. He had taken to throwing just about anything he could grab into Kalieth's path, while it had brought him a few extra steps, it really wasn't doing much else. 'DAMN!!' Adam yelped as he swiped something very hot off a shelf. 'I think I need a new plan . . . ' Adam took off at run as he decided to take the nearest available exit from the building—a window. He flared a weak black as he broke through the window and the minor protection of his power kept him from getting more than cuts and bruises.

He landed and followed his mental compass back to the Frog and came upon his mentor feebly trying to move away from a black snake. 'Is that a crown on its head?' He charged forward and put himself between Frog and the snake. It hissed at him and vanished. He turned his attention back to his guide. "Hey, man, you look like crap."

Frog didn't even chuckle, he looked at Adam sorrowfully. 'I'm sorry, I dragged you out here. You know . . . '

Adam gently picked up the battered Frog. When Coyote had told him that spirit animals could be damaged, he'd wondered what that meant, now he knew. Frog was 'bleeding,' a deep gash was leaking something, some sort of light, and Adam knew exactly where his power had been going. It had never dawned on him how small and frail his mentor was, he shook his head and took a calming breath as he tried to soothe his friend.

Adam felt tears spring up in his eyes and didn't even try to stop them as he silently whispered to his friend. He heard the hiss and pulled himself and Frog away from the black snake at it darted forward to strike. He scooted away and then his vision was obstructed by a black cloud that the snake spit at him. Around the edges it seemed to flare gold then it cleared. He looked around, Frog and the black snake were gone—and so were his powers. 'Where's Frog, did he make it?' He felt for some connection to his friend, but it was gone. There was nothing but a gaping hole where Frog used to be. 'I failed.' Grief rolled through him. He felt positively sick and restrained an urge to throw up. 'Some ninjetti I am. I let my spirit animal get killed by some freaking psycho and his freaky spirit animal.' He felt diminished, like some vital part of him was gone. It was worse than when the Power Coins had been destroyed—he now knew that Frog hadn't left then, because he was gone now and it felt a lot emptier. He was broken from his self-recriminations by a stray thought and he frowned. 'Where have I seen that light before?'

Realization finally came to him and he knew exactly what came next. He threw himself forward and tried to roll away as he felt pain then numbing cold radiate from his back. It was so sudden that all he could do was gasp at the warmth that suddenly burned down his back. 'Fortunately' the numbness took over before his back could fully appreciate the pain of the slash. He managed to turn towards his attacker and saw Kalieth holding a small dark dagger and smiling at him. Coiled around the dagger and Kalieth's arm was the black snake that had killed Frog, black venom dripped from its fangs. 'Bad sign.' It seemed to smile at him. 'missing something, little master?'

Adam ignored the barb as he tried to assess the damage. Even though the cold had already numbed the pain, he knew he was bleeding. It hurt to move his right arm at all, but he knew that he was done running. He drew himself up to his feet and faced Kalieth. 'I've fought bullies before, this is only A LOT different.' He chuckled at his dark joke and fell into a familiar fighting stance. "Here I am."

Kalieth frowned at this boy before him, he was not acting like prey. 'Noble gesture. "what are you doing? cut him, kill him.' He shook his head slightly as he slid the dagger back into its hidden sheath and studied him, "You stand against me?" Adam nodded. 'He laughs at me? "yes, kill him, his was the Frog! he thwarted you! use the dagger! rip his spirit from his pitiful frame!" No. Such courage, though misguided, deserves reward.' Kalieth gave a warning growl and began to advance on Adam. "Now the Ninjetti send children to fight me?"

The fight was now indoors as Billy and Kim began to slowly best the hammer wielding warrior. His helmet had shattered under Kim's last blast and blood ran down it's face from where pieces of the helmet had embedded themselves. For the first time since the battle had been joined the warrior did more than laugh, he spoke. "So little masters, you think you can banish me back? If you destroy this feeble vessel I shall just wait and return when you are weak."

He laughed and threw his hammer and Billy watched horrified as it flew about disintegrating the supports of the building. "Kim, get out!" he yelled just before the roof collapsed upon him.

The fight was not going well for Adam, but at least it was still going. The burning cold was slowly spreading and dulling his reflexes. He could feel the warmth of his blood as it ran down the side of his face from a set of gashes from Kalieth's claws. His right arm was almost useless. The giant warrior was toying with him and he knew it, but he still kept trying. He chuckled as his errant thoughts dredged up Andre the Giant saying 'I'd hate for you to have to die embarrassed' to Cary Elwes in Princess Bride. Strange what his mind was throwing up at a time like this . . .

Even though the sun was slowly setting, light would be no problem as whatever Adam had knocked over had started a pretty good fire. Adam was staying near the burning building, mainly because his body demanded the warmth so badly. As an added benefit it also seemed to slow the spread of the numbing cold. 'Wheee.' Thought Adam sarcastically as he chuckled to himself once more, everything seemed to be a lot funnier now. He supposed that it was because he knew he was going to lose and his mind had long ago run through all the important stuff, which pretty much amounted to Dulcea and Frog—he still wasn't exactly sure about the order. Then this song had stuck in his head and he'd started mouthing the words as he fought. It was better than giving up and it made him feel better. "Raise your hands, raise your hands high, don't take a seat don't stand aside, don't assume anything, just go, go, go!"

Kalieth was vaguely confused as he toyed with the boy, he'd proven his superiority and the little warrior still did not give in. He'd seen hardened warriors succumb to his deadliest of blades in less time, but still he fought on. This child kept laughing at him and now he had started chanting some battle song as he stood his ground.'he is powerless, kill him!" No, not as long as he fights. He is a warrior and deserves a good death, even though he serves the ninjetti. "he is the ninjetti! he's the one to lead them! kill him!' Kalieth chuckled at that. 'Lead them? He has no power, he is no ninjetti, only a sadly misguided pawn in their machinations.' Kalieth leapt a sudden low sweep and barely managed to dodge the leaping kick that immediately followed.

Adam was still singing under his breath as he forced Kalieth on a minuscule retreat. 'Better than I expected.' "Feed the fire and fan the flame, I know you kids can stand the rain. I know you kids are still upsetters, rock is cool, but the struggle is better, just go, go, go!"

Kalieth attacked with renewed vigor as his surprise worn off. He'd thought the boy done for and had only avoided the attack because the boy's injuries had slowed him slightly. 'What battle if he were whole? "what does it matter? he's dead anyway. kill him!" Why, he's going to die in a little while anyway?' Now he was slowly backing the little warrior towards a corner, where he would finish him off.

"Raise you hands, raise your hands high, don't take a seat, don't stand aside, don't assume anything, just go, go, go." Adam may have been a little loopy, but he wasn't stupid, it was quickly obvious that Kalieth was trying to trap him in the joining of the two nearest buildings. 'Not gonna do it, nope, no siree . . . ' "Did they tell you it was carved in stone that you'd end up alone. Use your years to psych you out, too old to care, too young to count. Just go, go, go."

"Where are you little bird?" sneered the dark warrior as he stumbled away from the building. 'The Wolf is crushed. Not here yet? Well, perhaps I should flush her out.' He smirked as he raised his hammer high and was terribly surprised when a pink flash seared into his hand. He watched in shocked confusion as the hammer fell from a nerveless grasp. Then the pain started and he vaguely wished that his hand was still numb.

"Going somewhere?"

He cradled his ruined hand against him as he followed the sound of her voice and found her perched on a street light with her deadly bow aimed at him. He quickly rolled forward into cover and grabbed his hammer in his good hand. He felt the next bolt burn across his back as he came to stop. "So you've come to finish what the Wolf couldn't? Well, 'can't,' I suppose," he growled mockingly through the pain.

Kim smiled as she carefully moved around to get another shot on him. She knew Billy was fine, there was a brief period of worry when she couldn't find him after the collapse, but he was okay. She didn't sense much pain from him, just a lot of 'ticked.' 'When he gets out, this guy is toast.'

He had other plans though, he knelt down low and raised his hammer once more. This time he brought it down hard onto the ground. The effect was instantaneous as the earth shook and the ground cracked. The buildings around him shook, but he was in the calm center of this storm.

A crevice snaked out and tore down Kim's last perch as suddenly she was on the defensive. Now she had a pretty good idea of what had destroyed all of these buildings. She listened for Billy as she seemingly flew to another building and then another as she put some distance between her and her opponent. Once she had a safer spot, she focused on Billy. 'A little worried as the rubble shakes, but he seems to still be okay.' She shook her head as she faintly heard someone singing while she looked in on Billy. She paused and tried to listen for it, but she didn't hear it, yet when she searched for Billy again, it came back. But now the warrior had closed distance between them as she was distracted with Billy. She put it out of her mind as she sent a few bolts of pink out to force him back into cover.

Trey launched a precise attack towards the warrior he was fighting and it moved quickly to counter. But Trey's attack fell short by a few inches and the warrior grinned as its fist slammed into the warrior in the reddish-orange uniform. It was quite surprised when there was no resistance as the Orange outfit was now empty. It wasn't able to react fast enough to avoid Jason's flying kick from its blind-side. It tried to keep it's balance, but something had ensnared its feet and fell backwards with a thud. It roared as first one, then another of the annoying gnats leapt upon it and held it down as they pummeled it.

'How much is it going to take to put this guy out for the count?' Wondered Jason as he kept punching him over and over while he knelt on top of him. The plan had worked perfectly, except for the fact that this guy wouldn't go down. Cestro had pulled one of the ninjetti tricks to sneak up on monster—he'd disappeared into the earth and prepped his little surprise. Then Trey had distracted it and he'd launched his attack. The loop that Cestro had placed around its feet tightened and tripped the warrior as it stumbled under Jason's attack. Then Cestro and Trey had each leapt upon an arm to keep the monster from fighting back as Jason started pounding it.

Owl was trying to get Ape's attention as he tore into Hydra, but she hadn't had much luck. 'Pull yourself together, this does no good, it only makes Him stronger.' Ape roared again and tied another couple of Hydra's heads together as he fought the beast. The only real reaction she'd seen was when he roared in pain when the cursed beast bit him—over and over. Mountain Lion, Hawk, and Whale were distracting it now and the battle was finally turning in their favor. Unfortunately, as long as Ape kept feeding it with his rage, there could be no victory. 'Think of what you are doing to your charge! Even now he struggles to harm Dulcea . . . '

She stopped talking as Whale began singing sadly. 'While you flounder Ape, one of our pod falls. You helped not.'

Those words were like a bucket of icy sea water dumped on the raging spirit animal. 'What!?' he sputtered with horror in his voice.

"Did they tell you, you would come undone, if you tried to touch the sun? Undermine the underground? You're too old to care, too young to count, so go, go, go," the song ended in a whisper, Adam didn't have the energy to continue it anymore.

'It's almost over.' The cold had spread, now his right arm was totally useless and his chest was tight. He'd thwarted Kalieth's attempt to corner him by suddenly leaping past Kalieth and landing in a roll. He came up to his feet and sent a kick to Kalieth's knee that was greeted by a howl of pain from the giant as he fell to the ground. He was already moving to follow up when the cold burning through his chest seemed to grip his lungs in a vice as he tried to draw breath. He didn't even notice when the ground came up to meet him. He could swear he heard a bird singing somewhere and it seemed to be coming closer. He let the melody soothe his pains away as he lost himself in it.

Kalieth had came up to sitting a position, but the attack he expected didn't come. Then he heard the thud behind him and it became clear—the boy had finally succumbed to his blade's bite. He stood and limped over to the fallen boy, he'd been fortunate his armor had protected him somewhat from the kick or it would have broken his knee. He listened to the gasping breaths as the boy still fought for life. 'It ends.' He knelt and placed a giant hand on the fragile chest. He waited patiently as the boy's heartbeat faded and he no longer drew breath before standing once more. 'You were a far worthier foe than I expected, little warrior. "he escaped me!? you let him escape me!' Kalieth shrugged to himself as he walked painfully towards the center of the city.

For Rocky everything changed in an instant, the unnatural rage that had fueled him vanished. He was still mad, but now he was back in control of himself and he felt an icy dread as he stared out over the battle field. His body was telling him that he'd been a total idiot and it wasn't very happy with him. He stopped struggling against Dulcea and spoke quietly, "Let me go. I know how to end this."

Dulcea nodded as finally the Ape ninjetti was rational once more. She gladly let him pass—it had been a challenge to keep him held—and she was a little tired from the effort. 'Now to defeat this monster.' She turned and headed back to where the others had restrained warrior as Jason beat upon it.

Rocky summoned his sword as he walked towards the battle field. 'It ends now.' He growled inwardly, he knew what the problem was and the guy on the ground was only a part of it. They'd wasted too much time here. His sword began to glow, first a deep red, then an orange that grew brighter as it turned to yellow and finally a fierce white as he walked past Jason and the others. He came up to the axe imbedded in the ground and with a great swing his blade descended on the axe throwing up a flurry of sparks as it met his blade. The sparks cleared leaving Rocky holding his sword, once more just metal, and the axe lying in two smoldering pieces.

Behind him the battle stopped as suddenly the warrior passed out. The others got to their feet and stared at the Ape ninjetti. He looked back at them and shrugged, "Well, where do we have to be now?"

The spirit animals stared as the remains of Hydra faded away into nothingness. With one telling blow the Ape Ninjetti had ended this battle and destroyed the Hydra spirit. Owl finally broke the silence. 'You know, Ape, I always forget about the intelligent thing.'

Ape scratched his head with one meaty hand. 'So do I.'

They watched as their children moved quickly towards the center of the city. They now knew exactly why their elder brothers and sisters had left. They had not wanted them to know that some of those that they had mourned for were the cause of their loss. It seemed so petty now. They turned as one to stare at Whale as he began to sing a dirge and they added their voices to his. Now it would end.

"You're one microscopic cog
in his catastrophic plan
Designed and directed by
his red right hand."

The last of Kalieth's generals watched the sunset. He had been here for hours, while the others had caused chaos, he had the duty to see the door open. He'd been told this when he'd picked up the staff in Kalieth's war room. This was the point of greatest devastation in the city, though there were no ruined buildings or screams of agony to prove it. It wouldn't even be readily apparent that this place was destroyed, but it was. If a wind blew through here it would pick up dust that could no longer support plant life. Around him stood bushes and trees that were dried to kindling. Small animals that didn't escape the radius of the staff's growing power had died in their holes or on the run as it drained the life from their bodies. Kalieth's elites laid scattered about the desolation, their energy had fueled the staff. So did that of the people who came to stop it—they never got close him.

'Victory had seemed assured on both planes.' He didn't know what that meant, but it was told him by the staff and she knew what was right. Now, he was sure that Kalieth's time was finally at an end. He plunged the staff into the ground and watched as it seemed to wither. It would still do its work until destroyed, but he had no desire to be here when that happened. So he left it as he teleported up to the flagship.

Kalieth had planned for four, but now there were eight. Hydra was dead. Wyvern had run. Manticore was still fighting, but he was losing. She smiled as she watched more of her brethren crawl through the gateway. After a few moments she followed her chosen vessel.'unlike the others, I know when to cut my losses.'

Billy sputtered as more dust came down on him, his head still hurt from where he'd bumped it trying to get out from under his refuge. He hadn't broken anything thankfully, but when this was done he wanted a long hot shower and a gallon of Tiger Balm. He'd managed to duck under a stone table of some sort when the roof came down for a visit. 'Thank god, these people like building with stone. I haven't even seen many wooden objects since I've been here. I wonder if it's a cultural habit or it could be that I've only seen a small portion of the city.' He idly sneaked a glance at the hole he was creating, he'd decided to see if his light-staff could do the 'they're still coming trick' from Episode 1. So now all he had to do was dodge the drops of molten building materials that were released as he slowly melted his was through the debris. It was slow, but it had the added benefit of welding the rubble above him together. It wasn't his first plan, that had been 'teleport out of here,' but that didn't work, probably because he'd hit his head a little too hard.

He sighed as he continued working. He was alone right now and it was just really annoying, for a guy who had avoided all of his close friends for a decade, he'd suddenly grown very used to having them around. He'd felt Kim's presence a couple of times, but she seemed more interested in checking to make sure that he was alright than having a conversation. It was what he needed though, when the building collapsed it had been like his world had ended. He had just shut down until Kim had contacted him, then he was ready to get the heck out of here. 'I wonder how much farther?'

"Wish I may
Wish I might
Have this I wish tonight
Are you satisfied?"

Kalieth was waiting patiently in the middle of town, he'd known that General Bedek had fled, but he wasn't worried about that now. Bedek had followed his orders and succeeded in his task, while the others had failed. He made careful adjustments to his armor to help shore up his damaged leg. It would not slow him down for this fight. He had miscalculated, but no matter, they were all here now. All he had to do was destroy them and it would be over. 'No more worlds destroyed because of their arrogance.'

Kim nearly flew as she jumped to another building, the warrior had gotten closer and was taking great delight in destroying whatever building or structure she stood on. She hadn't even been able to shoot at him for the last few minutes, he was moving too fast. All she needed was one good shot . . .

'Something's missing . . . ' There was something wrong, but she couldn't figure out what it was. 'The music stopped a couple of minutes ago, something to do with that?' She checked on Billy—he was still fine. 'Maybe the others?' She was interrupted as the building collapsed underneath her, but she was already in flight as she landed easily on a small building. She froze in horror as she figured out what was missing. 'Adam.'

She jumped from the building as it rocked and landed in the street as the warrior came towards her. She raised her bow as he closed the distance between them. He swung back his massive hammer and she fired point blank.

On another plane, Crane suddenly flew in and Manitcore's vision was filled with feathers. He growled and shot his deadly tail forward, but his blow missed as he roared in agony. He backed away as he tried to find out where Crane had disappeared to.

Crane quickly fluttered back and looked upon the beast's ruined face with grim satisfaction—her blow had struck true and Manticore was going to have to get used to a new perspective in life.

He started to advance, but when he heard the warning growl of the Wolf he turned and ran away, vanishing quickly into the falling night.

The warrior screamed as the blast caught him full in the face. He suddenly couldn't see out of one eye and swung out blindly as he tried to connect with the little girl who had hurt him. Then to his dismay he felt the power rush from his body and flow into the hammer. A moment later he felt the hammer explode into dust. He staggered back and in that next moment he felt hot fire burn into his back and then there was blackness.

"All I hear is that lonesome sound
The hounds of winter
They harry me down."
-Sting, Hounds of Winter.

Kim shook slightly as it dawned on her how close it had been. But it was over, she had to get to Adam. "Adam," was all she said as she took off towards the direction she'd heard the singing from.

Billy jogged along behind her, he'd been burning through the rubble when he suddenly felt this wave of horror, fear, and grief come from Kimberly. He'd decided that he was out of time and hoped that he didn't drop the building on himself as he cut the rest of the way through in a couple of slashes. He'd raced towards her familiar heartbeat and saw her jump to the ground as the warrior charged towards her. He'd closed the distance and thrust his staff towards the monster's back as the hammer began to descend. It would be too late. Then there was a nearly blinding flash of pink and a scream, then the monster staggered back into his attack. For some reason he could not fathom the armor, that had protected it from every attack he had made, did not even slow his light-staff. He felt vaguely sick that he had killed a living being, but it was it or Kim. It collapsed to the street with a smouldering hole through its stomach and out its back. That was it, it was over. Now she was running after Adam.

The burning building was an excellent beacon. 'I guess they use wood after all.' He thought absently to himself, then Billy's eyes caught sight of Adam laying in the mud. Suddenly his thoughts were no longer light. It was an eerie reproduction of finding him after the storm, but this time he didn't suddenly find a heartbeat. Nor had there been such a heavy smell of blood under the smoke—human blood. Hoping that his ears were deceiving him he looked closer. He saw the blood slowly seeping, not gushing or pulsing, from various cuts and slashes. He slowed to a stiff walk as his body went on auto-pilot. 'We're too late.'

Kim felt Billy suddenly go numb behind her, his shock told her what her eyes would tell her in an instant. 'Adam's dead!? This isn't the way it's supposed to happen! It can't happen!' The building beside them blazed, shedding its light so that she couldn't deny it. She knelt in mud beside him, but it was quickly apparent that there was no pulse. She didn't know what to do, they weren't prepared for this. 'Adam was . . . He knew.' She felt something 'off' from Billy and put her hand on his leg, "Billy, come back to me."

The Crane and Wolf were silent as they looked at Adam. Frog was not to be seen and any spirit animal would have notified another of its charge's demise, especially in circumstances like this. So, if Adam was dead, then Frog was most probably destroyed. Wolf threw back his head and howled, mourning not only the Frog, but the boy that had quickly become his friend. 'You shall be avenged my friends.'

'Of that there is no denial.' Answered Crane with surprising venom in her musical tone.

Kim spoke to Billy for a couple minutes with tears running down her face as she grieved for Adam. He'd only dropped back into her life a month ago, but he had changed it forever. Now he was gone. She vaguely noticed Billy sit down beside her and examine Adam's body.

He carefully rolled Adam over, it had became quickly apparent that the visible wounds couldn't account for the volume of blood soaking the ground. They were defense cuts, but they weren't what killed him. He was also too cold, the blood was still wet which meant the body shouldn't have cooled, but it had. He took a sniff of the air and winced as the smoke burned through his nostrils. He shook his head as he focused back on the body. The smell of blood almost overwhelmed him, but he had been prepared for it and he gasped slightly at the slash that ran from Adam's right shoulder down to his lower back. 'He fought with this?' Billy looked around and quickly picked out the signs of a fight. The story was forming: somehow whoever did this had backstabbed Adam. They fought, blood loss finally dropped Adam, but not before he knocked the guy down. Billy unconsciously snarled as he took in the murderer's scent—it hung over the body like a shroud. He turned following it away with his eyes, then his ears relayed him a puzzling message. He could still feel Kim grounding him as he reached out for the sound. 'Wind, Fire, Kim, creaking?' Billy's eyes widened as he suddenly grabbed Kim and pulled her away from the body as he started to dash from the area. "What!?" asked Kim shakily as he put her down.

"Wait." A few seconds after he said that the building that had been burning collapsed, covering the area where they had been standing with burning debris. Billy forced himself to turn away and focus on the scent in the air, "The guy who did this went that way."

She looked into his tear stained face and saw him lock it away like he had done when his mother died. When they were finished, then he'd grieve. 'We'll both grieve.' Kim nodded, her face resolved, but tears still followed their tracks through the dust on her face. He started off at a jog which turned into a swift lope as he tracked his prey. Behind him, Kim barely seemed to touch the ground as she ran after him.

"It was midnight, midnight at noon
Everyone talked in rhyme
Everyone saw the big clock ticking
Nobody knew, nobody knew the time."

'"AT LAST!!' Kalieth smiled as the last ray of sunlight slipped below the horizon. His keen eyes had already picked his foes out of the distance. 'Supposedly there are eight ninjetti to battle me. I see only five, one is obviously the Master Warrior, but what of Wolf, Crane, and the Black one?' He yelled out his challenge, "Ho Ninjetti, have you come to die at my hands?"

The Green one, Master Warrior Dulcea, spoke out, "We have come to defeat you! No more shall you destroy the innocent."

He growled, "No more shall your Ninjetti plots force me to." He waited in confusion when as one the advancing Ninjetti stopped and seem to share discourse.

Together they had followed Dulcea's guidance as she led them to where they needed to be. She had been quiet since Owl had stopped speaking to her after telling her to go to the center of the city. Something was wrong, she knew that, and the other ninjetti felt it. She had picked out the form of their foe before the others, her vision was excellent at night. They listened as Kalieth roared out his challenge to them and they were all surprised by Kalieth's choice of words. "Ninjetti plots? Force him to?" queried Jason.

Dulcea was amazed and it was apparent on her face, "I have no concept of what he speaks."

"Who cares? He's just a psycho who needs his ass kicked," stated Rocky as he voiced the thought that was unconsciously echoed by everyone.

Trey's uniform seemed to go reddish-orange as he spoke, "I must agree with Rocky."

"Should we wait for the return of our companions or challenge him now?" asked Cestro as he had figured out the most probable course of action for the group.

Dulcea looked to Jason and he seemed to think about it for a moment, "No, we need to get some idea of what we're up against, hopefully they'll be here soon. We'll flank you and Rocky as you have weapons and we don't."

He was stopped by Rocky, who grabbed Jason's hand and pushed his sword into it, "You lead, you use it." Jason felt a little overwhelmed by Rocky's gesture, and Rocky could tell as he went on hurriedly, "Hey, my strength should make up for not having it."

Jason nodded, "Then Dulcea and I will lead, you'll be right behind me. Trey, you flank me and Cestro, you stand beside Dulcea. Let's do it."

They strode forward to meet Kalieth.

If the ninjetti could see the spirit plane, the would have wondered why their outfits didn't come with zords. Odds are they wouldn't have been as confident about the fight either. The crowned snake had grown as soon as the sun had fully set, now it towered megazord-high over Kalieth and the battle.

The spirit animals recognized him though and they whispered among themselves as they readied themselves for a hopeless battle. They couldn't desert their charges, not against this. They'd already lost too much. Ape spoke up first. 'Y'know, I would kill for a mega-zord right now.'

Mountain Lion chuckled. 'Size is not an issue, you know that.'

'So, I'd still rather have a zord. Especially one with kung-fu grip action. And a sword, yeah, a really big sword.'

''Kung-fu grip action?'' Asked Hawk hesitantly, he'd never really worked with Ape before and right now he had no idea what going on.

'Like a GI Joe.' Supplied Ape helpfully. 'Wait, I got it! A cannon, a freaking huge cannon!'

Owl chuckled, she was one of the most laid back of the avians, it came with the wisdom she supposed. 'Just ignore him, we all do.' It was obvious that Hawk was still lost. 'Ape is just trying to lighten our spirits. Take it in the 'spirit' it was intended.' Ape howled in laughter at that and Owl continued wryly. 'Nor do you have the 'benefit' of having your charge live on earth. Ape's vernacular abounds with cultural references.'

Hawk nodded. 'Oh. Well, good show then.'

Ape laughed even harder, if they survived this he was going to have to teach Hawk about the finer points of humor. Then they heard Wolf's howl on the wind and fell silent as they we once again reminded of the price of this battle. Ape growled up at their enemy. 'Let's kick this guy's ass up between his ears!'

'And how far would that be precisely?' Asked Hawk helpfully as he reined the rambunctious spirit in.

Ape laughed, maybe he'd been wrong about having to teach Hawk about humor. He raised his massive arms above his head and roared as he quickly expanded to zord height. 'Come get some, buddy!'

"Just want one thing
Just to play the King
But the castle's crumbled and you're left with just a name
Where's your crown, King Nothing?
Where's your crown?"

Kalieth wasn't surprised as the ninjetti came towards him. He'd expected them to fight dishonorably, though he would have been surprised to know that they felt him a threat on par with Zedd and Ooze. Which made it totally justifiable force if they were correct . . . which unbeknownst to him, they were.

He slid his sword from its sheath and then reached for the dagger. 'It's gone!?' He groped around for a moment and pulled a different blade out. He gave his enemy a quick salute and assessed their battle plan. He had one too, that's why he'd chosen this place, there was no way they could easily pin him, but many ways he could split up a group. He moved back over a couple of very low benches as he chose his position carefully. 'Ah, the purple one, already moves them to compensate. How is this so? Even the Master Warrior follows the orders of this apprentice. Apprentice or not, he does have some grasp of strategy.' He smiled thinly as the group broke around the barriers he'd placed between them.

His long sturdy knife caught the staff and he parried the sword with his own. The battle had begun.

In the part of the city that Billy and Kim had just left the inhabitants began to flee their homes. They knew that death walked the streets, but to stay would mean that they would certainly die as fire began to spread through the city. Firefighters had already come, they knew that they might die, but this fire could destroy this section of the city and cause more loss of life if they did nothing.

Billy heard the sounds of battle grow closer as he followed the scent. He didn't pause or slow, but he informed Kim. He wanted to reach out and try and figure out what was going on, but that was the quickest way to a zone. So he kept his curiosity in check—he'd know soon enough. He finally saw them and a slight growl escaped his throat as he wondered if this was the guy who . . . beat Adam. He carefully pushed his thoughts away from that dangerous ground and studied the battle before him.

Dulcea and Jason were working in tandem as their weapons danced through the air attempting to score a blow on what was obviously Kalieth. Trey and Cestro darted around the benches and plants that dotted the area, trying to distract their foe. Kalieth executed a spinning move and caught Trey with a hilt punch from his blade. He shoved the Hawk ninjetti into Dulcea and sent a kick into Cestro, knocking the Whale ninjetti from his feet. He leapt forward and locked blades with Jason as he tried to bring his knife into play. Jason's blade began to glow a deep red as Kalieth's flared black. He was ripped from Jason when Rocky smashed the evil warlord in the head. Kalieth staggered, but quickly staggered away to get his bearings.

'The scent grows stronger, I think that I've found the bastard.' Thought Billy cooly to himself as he readied his staff once more. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a flare of pink as Kim readied the first shaft for this battle.

As in the real world, things were not going in the spirit animals favor as they battled the snake. Hawk and Owl harried the monster, trying to launch an attack at its vulnerable eyes as it darted to and fro. They were quite surprised when Crane darted in and scored a gash over the snake's right eye. She gracefully executed a rolling spin that kept her clear of the deadly fangs as he tried to bite her. 'Has Frog came to you?'

Hawk nodded to Owl and she pulled away from the battle for a moment. 'What do you mean?'

The more landbound animals received help when Wolf suddenly grabbed the snake by the tail and shook it like a rag doll. The snake tried to double back on itself, but Wolf was busy doing his Steve Irwin impersonation and snapping the beast back away from him. Mountain Lion leapt in and raked her claws down the vulnerable underbelly as the snake tried to turn back on Wolf. She choked and staggered away as the beast spit a gout of its envenomed breath on her. The snake wasn't able to capitalize on his successful attack as Ape smashed down on the top of the evil reptile's head, driving it down into the 'ground' and away from the dazed Mountain Lion.

Whale sent a drenching shower of water onto Mountain Lion, cleaning the foul poison off the wounded spirit animal. He winced in sympathy as he noted the burned fur and the charred patches where the skin had blistered. She was already recovering and he would stand watch over his podmate until she was ready to return to battle. She sputtered irritably. 'Things just couldn't get any worse could they?'