The creature trembled slightly in anger as it watched the "dino crew," as it not-so-affectionately referred to them, pick up and move the Fortrette out of the range of the scanner the Juraturatarion Slobbering Kelp Monger (JSKM) had placed nearby. It slammed a clawfist on the arm of its throne. "I can see this pattern repeating all too frequently," it cursed. It stood, and wandered over to the Imperial vending machines, conveniently located right on the bridge of his star cruiser. "This kind of direct attack almost always fails. I've watched enough Earth science fiction to know that by now." The creature toyed with some change in the regal pocket of his regal garment. "I've got to do what the more sinister villains of time and space have employed." The creature fished out a shiny new quarter from his robe, and plopped it into a vending machine. After a few seconds, a small hand-held JSKM tumbled down to the recovery bin. Bending over and picking it up delicately, the creature twirled it in his claws, studying it with a sinister eye. "I'll just have to attack them indirectly, and probe their weaker points." With a slight twitch of a lower lip, the creature teleported the JSKM to it's destination. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- "X, haven't we run far enough? I'm pretty pooped," the Dinosorceror whined as he struggled to keep up. "Well, alright. I think we've covered enough ground for today," she replied, huffing only slightly and setting her gun down to the ground. Red didn't even appear winded, and had kept up with X in perfect stride. Dino and Jerhevon were the slowing force, with Jerhevon stopping every once in a while, complaining that something was poking his tail. Dino, whose turn it had been to carry the Fortrette, nearly shattered it as he clumsily tossed it to the ground. They found themselves on a side street of a small town, still presumably in Pennsylvania. A large grey structure was barely visible in the distance. "This job sucks almost as bad as my last one," Dino sputtered. "When are we gonna find some place permanent to settle down?" Red gave X another memorable glance, then left the group, presumably to scout the surroundings and curse in private. X sat down next to Dino and the Fortrette, followed by Jerhevon, who immediately nodded off. "Dino, until we get at least something of a small defense force assembled, we have to keep meandering in search of others," X replied, her eyes constantly darting in search of threats. "I never said this would be easy." Dino retorted, "Yeah, well you never said it--" when Red returned to the group, in a state of slight alarm. "Come, everyone. There's something you have to see." Dino thought to wake up Jerhevon, but he looked so kyoot and peaceful, he placed the Fortrette beneath his arm, and nominated him as guard for the moment. Red led X and Dino to a small TV repair shop on the main drag of the town, where the few sets that were working were showing a news bulletin. They couldn't hear the sound, but after seeing a robotic male news anchor mouth with a cooling tower graphic and a little old-style molecule symbol over his shoulder, the video cut to a live feed...from the "Limerick Nuclear Power Plant." The television showed workers scattering as a JSKM twirled around plutonium rods like marching band batons. X shook her head, disgusted. "He's not going to stop," she muttered. "Until we stop him. We've got to find out where that is." The television showed the JSKM pick up a large computer bank and toss it right through the wall of the facility. In the distance, they heard a crash, and turned to see a small puff of smoke erupt from the grey structure...the cooling tower...in the distance. "My, how chaotically convenient," Red noted as they returned their attention to the television screen. "Come on...enough of these cathode rays. We've got to act." X and Red had turned to return to the Fortrette, but Dino shouted, "Look!" They turned back to the tee-vee to see the JSKM devour a few rods of plutonium. The creature belched loudly, then began to twist and mutate. In a few short moments, it had turned into a pitch black Western dragon, circa 40' long. It belched again, and green radioactive ooze coated the floor, washing towards the cameraman. The picture sputtered and faded to snow. Dino slowly turned his gaze to compare his own, meek gaze to X and Red's--they were stern and defiant. "Oh, come on...we're not going to fight that thing, are we?" he whined. "I mean, 'No Nukes' right? Chalk one up for Greenpeace?" Red rolled his eyes and strode back to the Fortrette, his wings unfurling. X stuck a talon up Dinosorceror's right nostril, and strung him along, complaining nasally the whole way. When they reached the Fortrette, Dino suggested he stay behind and guard their top-secret facility, but X and Red chose Jerhevon to be the guard...mainly because they simply couldn't wake him from his slumber, and they could activate the automatic security features. They all shrank down for a few moments to sit Jerhevon in a chair, then left a note for him, explaining their situation: We've gone to a nuke plant called Limerick To fight a black dragon that's really sick If we don't come back You can eat all the snacks 'Cause our bones will be used like a toothpick X set the automatic defense mechanisms moments before they all jogged out of the door. Dino returned them all to normal size, and quickly pushed the Fortrette under a bench, removing it from public view. Red then wasted no time in scooping Jenn under one arm, and Dino in the other. With a stomach-lurching launch, Red soared higher and higher into the air, his white wings indistinguishable from the overcast sky. As X set her gun to "Want some toast?", Red pretended to slip and drop Dino, who nearly soiled his toga as they approached the cooling tower of the power plant, now billowing black smoke... [Note to Jerhevon...remember to try to link to Ben's SB010!] ---- -=+ From the Dinosorceror of Lava Dome III +=- Herpetophile, macrophile us015238@interramp.com As I reach for the dreams of tomorrow, I draw strength from the depths of my sorrow.