"Where is...no, don't tell me," Jenn sighed. She was about to inquire about the whereabouts of Dino, but after getting the same reponse for the third time in as many days, it was finally sinking in. With most of the residents of Faibanx moving back into their homes, all that remained to be done was to rebuild the buildings that King Nhidorah had destroyed a few weeks ago. GDE, Golden Dragon Enterprises, was supplying most of the manpower at a very reasonable rate to the good people of Faibanx. Dino was there, every lunchtime at the main construction site like clockwork. "Quarter for a claw-cleaning!" he shouted. When that failed he tried, "Alms for the poor!" followed by "This space for rent!" and still got little response. It was only today, on his third visit to the site, that he finally got a response. Not so much a verbal response, but the response of having a big dust-covered elephantine foot thumped down before you. Dino studied the foot...four juicy toes, with lots of kruft. "Now this is more like it," he muttered to himself. Finally, his dignity got the better of him, and he looked around to see a few of the workers (various dragons, dragonettes, anthropomorphic dragons, and the occasional dinosaur) giving him weird looks. "They warned me about you, you know," the voice connected to the foot said. Dino eventually followed the ankle to the leg to the hips to the shoulders to the neck to the neck to the neck and finally to the head of the apatosaurian morph standing before him. "Am I that infamous?" he asked, sitting on his heels before the reptiloid. "Quite," he chuckled, and proceeded to have a seat on the box Dino had scribbled "Claw-Cleaning Stand" on the side of in yellow chalk. "Well, oddly enough, you're my first customer, Mister..." "Astor. You can call me Astor." Dino's eyeridges knitted a little sweater. "Hey...wait...haven't we...?" "Never, absolutely not." Dino blinked, and shrugged. "Oh. 'Kay. So, what'll it be, Astor?" Astor leaned back, stretching, wincing as a jackhammer started up not far behind him. "Oh...the usual, I suppose." Dino began by kneading his thumbclaws into the thick, leathery sole before him, occasionally popping cartilage. "Well?" Astor looked at him curiously. "Well, what interested _you?_ You seem to be the only herp here who's interested in my services," Dino replied, continuing to knead. Astor rumbled like a giant kitty cat. "Let's...mrmrmrmm...let's just say I can understand someone who appreciates the larger things in life." Dino chortled and raised an eyeridge at this comment, then resigned himself to finish his task quietly, and surprisingly quickly. Astor stretched and wriggled his newly-cleaned toes. "I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but my toeclaws are really shining! It feels good to have a break like that...and it only took fifteen minutes! I can do this every lunchtime. You do intend on keeping your business open, even if I am the only customer, don't you?" "Absolutely." In fact, in the days to come, other workers at the site were accustomed to taking fifteen minute breaks with Dino. As Dino served no real functions at Lava Dome IV worth mentioning, his presence was not particularly missed. "I'm making a killing!" he thought to himself as he worked his latest client, an anthropomorphic dragon named Kokomu. "Three fifty in cold, hard cash...and no taxums!" He happened to notice Astor, wearing a hard hat and overalls, working on the third story of the skeletal structure of the building, hefting an I-beam. Dino smiled up at him, as did Kokomu, as it was no secret that Dino and Astor were palling around an awful lot, going out in the evenings with Helvetica and Jenn to Chuck E. Wan's Pizza-4-Less. Astor noticed a new look cross Dino's face that he could discern even from three stories up. It was the look Dino got when he first laid eyes upon Astor's foot. And Dino seemed to be looking past Astor, not directly _at_ him... It was then that Astor turned and saw Khith. Khith was hired help, like Astor was, just working for GDE for the duration of the construction project. He had seemed like a mild-mannered raptor, if there ever was such a beast. Normally, seeing Khith wouldn't've been a reason for concern or surprise for Astor, either...however...he saw that Khith was growing to match the height of the building and beyond at an alarming rate. Astor just kind of smiled and shook his head, gazing down at Dino, who was having jitters. "You know, I used to have a normal life," he simply said. Khith glanced around and made sure he had the attention of all the construction workers...at least, of all those who didn't have wings to flee the scene. Upon closer examination of his muzzle, Astor deemed Khith's expression to be that of a giant raptor looking to have a good time. Upon cursory examination of Khith's crotch and his log-like erection, Astor deemed that Khith was a horny son of a bitch. Apparently, Khith wasn't too interested in Astor, though. He was interested in using his mammoth erection to crush the corner of the superstructure of the building, however. Astor was the luckiest of the ones to fall off their girders...he landed in a pit of moist concrete to break his fall, whereas others broke their bones. Dino's brain wasn't thinking what you might think he was thinking, though. He was wondering how the Lens, Jenn and Palanth were all at a symposium on Albany that Dr. Ramses was hosting. His brain did start thinking what you thought he was thinking when Khith's huge eyes pinned him down among the scattering and limping workers. "Mama mia! Holy paisan!" Kokomu shouted as he tried to avoid Khith's footfall, but some dragon's wings are, unfortunately, only for mating rituals. With Khith's next step, he placed Dino messily between his two foreward facing talons, with the sickle-claw poised over his head. "This will be the last claw you ever see, you insignificant idiot!" Khith boomed down at him. Dino's gaze was locked with Khith's...but he saw Khith's wander. He was looking at his other leg. Astor had gotten himself out of the cee-ment pond and was climbing up Khith's leg. "Just what the hell is your problem?" Astor shouted up to him. "Didn't Kokomu pay you enough?" Khith sneered with rage at Astor, lifting an arm in preparation for a thorough swatting. "You worthless fool! I work for Tanya Clegg!" he hissed. Well, y'see, Astor wasn't the kind who just clung to someone's leg like a tick waiting to be squished. He cocked a fist back and thrust it into Khith, and all Dino could see from his vantage point was a shower of sparks and a yellowish glow. "Upload!" was the last think Khith shouted, as Astor started to burrow into his leg like it was made of tin foil. The glow left Khith's eyes, and he seemed to freeze. Astor, sensing that Khith had ceased to function, worked his way back out of Khith's leg, tangled and gagging on wires and hoses. Helvetica arrived on the scene, just as Astor was working his way back down. "I see that Tanya Clegg and company have been improving their robotic technology. You say this just...grew?" Astor nodded to Helvetica. "This...thing was working with us like just one of the guys for weeks here. All of a sudden, he just grew, starting whacking at the building with his woody, and st...shit, Dino!" They ran over to Khith's other foot, and saw Dino reclining between the toes. "This would look good in the living room," he sighed contentedly. "It's a shame about Kokomu, though." "Well, not really," Helvetica said. "I was on my way over to let you guys know. I just found out that Kokomu was an agent of AEI." Dino raised his eyeridges momentarily. "I guess Khith had to get rid of anyone who we could get information from. That's a shame...I really liked Kokomu's claws." And, true to his wish, Dino did get to have Khith's robotic clawfoot as a couch in the living room. Of course, Jenn hadn't returned from the symposium yet. And neither Dino nor Helvetica noticed the phone call that Astor placed, very long distance, later that night. "No, they don't suspect anything. Why should they?" he whispered irritatedly into the phone. "I know the score. I have to wait until the moment's right. The crossover isn't for another few weeks. Look, this is costing me a fortune. I'll talk to you later, Patty!" Astor smiled, and quickly hung up the phone. He knew how much he hated being called that.