Cortes skidded to a halt as he came to the clearing in the centre of the garden again. Would it be stupid to get caught up against a wall again? He turned back to the direction he’d just come from, and lifted his gun. “Where are you?”

Surprisingly, and disturbingly, the machine had stopped making noise.

“Hello?!” Cortes called out. He didn’t expect the machine to reply. But surely one of his crew had come back for him? He gritted his teeth and mentally condemned the thought. They didn’t need to be brought into this to get hurt; he could handle it. He just needed to know where…

There was a crash from his left, and Cortes spun around, bringing up his gun.

A wall of metal crashed into Cortes, throwing him to the ground. Metal claws pinned down his shoulders and dug into his skin and muscles. One of the machine’s heavy metal feet just missed crushing through his pelvis. The pincers on the machine’s back snapped downwards, intending to grab and crush whatever they clasped. These came to bear on Cortes’ gun, which he held in front of himself, trying desperately to protect his body.

Cortes drew in shaking breaths, trying to hold the machine back. It was too strong.

He let it force the gun downwards, and slipped out from under her, ignoring the pain as the machine’s claws tore out of the skin on his shoulders.

Nessie moved before he could get out from under her, knocking him back down. Again, he barely missed being stepped on.

Nessie spun, trying to locate him.

Cortes slipped out from under her legs, ducking under the heavy swinging tail. He needed another weapon; she had crushed his gun.

His eyes fell on the bird bath in the middle of the clearing. It was the only thing beside loose leaves. He ran to it, and heaved against it. Despite its worn appearance, it was almost impossible to move.

Cortes tried once more, and then glanced over his shoulder. Nessie was right there! He tried to spin back to face her, but she threw herself against him. Claws scraped at his back, pushing him forwards and down. He crashed into the birdbath, and this time it broke free of the ground, partly turning to powder as it and the Saint Nazaire’s captain crashed into the ground under the machine’s weight.

Cortes rolled himself over, trying to see through the dust. Nessie hadn’t come down with him; she probably needed to stay upright. Cortes blinked through the dust and pain.

A head darted down, searching for him.

Cortes froze, staring into red unblinking eyes.

Nessie opened her mouth.

“No!” Cortes forced himself upwards and slammed the machine’s mouth shut. It had not been designed with teeth, and the mechanics of the jaw were weak. Cortes just managed to force it shut.

The metal heated under his hands. Cortes shuddered and kept holding on.

Suddenly Nessie shook, and a burst of flame came from the side of her neck. The system had backed up, but her internal computer recognised this, and shut down the source of the flames before they could spread.

Nessie took a step back. Her head now flopped uselessly from halfway down her neck, and she leaked petrol.

Cortes drew his hands back with a yell. The pain of the burns momentarily almost blocked out the pain from the slices to his body. His clothing was in tatters and his skin underneath torn and bleeding. A part of his mind knew he might soon go into shock. He had to stop Nessie before then. He lashed out; swinging a fist into the machine’s lolling head.

The head flopped around, and some circuitry sparked. Nessie lunged forward, but she seemed unable to exactly pinpoint him.

Cortes took a step back. That won’t work. You’ve got to think… He picked up a rock, and threw it at a part of the machine’s body that looked important. What am I supposed to break?!

Nessie stepped forward again, and swiped a clawed hand at Cortes.

It barely missed, and Cortes nearly stumbled over as he stepped back. Run! His mind knew this was the best course of action, but his body wouldn’t respond. Nessie would soon work out where he stood.

“Aran!”

Cortes spun around, just in time to see his brother running into the clearing, followed by a larger crashing shape he couldn’t yet make out.

A light on Nessie’s damaged head flashed, acknowledging an audio pick up; she turned towards it.

“Christophe?” Cortes turned halfway. He was starting to shake.

The light on Nessie flashed again, pinpointing a closer target. Her undamaged central computer, located in the middle top of her back, calculated an exact trajectory and best mode of attack. The machine planted a foot firmly in the dirt, then spun, her tail arcing out and around her body, the heavy, spiked weight on the end swinging right for Cortes.

“ARAN!” Christophe shouted again, his eyes going wide.

It made no difference. Nessie’s heavy metal tail slammed into the centre of Cortes’ chest with an audible crack, tossing him roughly to the ground. His body rolled a few times before coming to rest.

Christophe ran to his brother and dropped to his knees beside him. “Aran…?!” He shook his brother’s shoulder, but he didn’t respond. Was he even breathing?

Nessie stomped closer.

Christophe started, then stood up and stepped over his brother’s still body. “Back OFF!” He snarled, wishing he could tear the machine apart with his bare hands, but still thinking clearly enough to be aware this was impossible.

Mahad crashed into the clearing. Christophe had ran ahead of him and he’d found it difficult to keep up through the thick brush with his larger body. He took notice of Cortes on the ground. Then looked up at Nessie. She didn’t scare him; he’d smashed apart these things before. Mahad didn’t hesitate as he gathered himself, and threw himself into the machine’s body. Claws, teeth, he dug them both into the machine’s body until it lay twitching, dismembered, and no longer a threat on the garden’s floor.

----

“This garden is ridiculous!” Dahlia growled. “The wall’s impossible… and I haven’t seen another gate…”

“Wait!” said Lena. “We don’t need a gate…” She stopped, lifted her arms and gathered in sunlight. Forming a ball or Seijin energy, she flung it at the nearest wall. The brick exploded, showering the two in powder and small stones.

“Careful!” Dahlia exclaimed, covering her head. She hadn’t suggested doing just that, because they didn’t know where Cortes, Mahad, and Christophe were inside. Lena could have hurt them. Still, it was done now, and had been getting to the point where they probably needed to try something drastic.

Dahlia waited for the dust to settle just a little, then climbed up over the left over rubble, and peered in. “Alright, I don’t see anyone. Let’s try to find them, but be careful you can’t use your…”

Lena climbed up the rubble next to her, and then climbed down the other side. “Mahad might need help…”

“… powers under all the bush…” Dahlia growled, following Lena as quickly as she could.

----

Nearly back to his plush office, Julian heard the explosion. He ran to a window, peering outside just in time to see the dust cloud rising from the side of the garden. “Damn it…” he muttered.

His secretary rushed up next to him at the window. “Good heavens! What was that?”

“The pirates…” Julian growled. His mind switched into gear. His plan hadn’t worked, he would have to compensate. “They’re not trying to help us… they just threatened me. And I can bet they’ve just caused that explosion. Call Jack and his men right away, Martha. Get them to meet me down at the old garden as soon as they can.”

----

Dahlia had caught up to Lena just before they reached the central clearing. She placed a hand on the younger girl’s shoulder to remind her to be careful. They didn’t know what they were running into, but that didn’t seem to be slowing Lena any.

She halted suddenly though, and Dahlia nearly ran into her back. The machine that had attacked them lay inert on the ground and in flames. Mahad stood next to it, panting, human, and amidst a pile of dark fur.

“Mahad!” Lena ran up to him and threw her arms around him.

“Hey…”

Dahlia glanced at Mahad for a second, but then her eyes quickly fell over on Cortes and Christophe.

Christophe gripped his brother’s shoulders, and shook them. “Aran…?!”

There was no response. The man’s jacket was bloodied and torn, and he was unconscious.

“Christophe…” said Dahlia, kneeling beside him. “What happened?!”

“That!” Christophe snarled, pointing a finger in the direction of the burning machine, all without taking his eyes off his brother.

Mahad and Lena had now turned their attention to their Captain also. They didn’t know how to help though, and simply stood at a distance.

“He’s not breathing… and I don’t think he has… a pulse…” Christophe let Cortes drop carefully onto his back on the floor, and tore at the already ripped jacket, pulling the material away from his brother’s chest.

“Do you need any…?”

“No!” Christophe cut off Dahlia. He started pushing on Cortes’ chest, trying desperately to get his heart started again. “… eight, nine…” Christophe knew the impact from the machine’s tail had already snapped ribs, for all he knew he was shredding his brother’s lungs with broken bone. It’s alright… you’re supposed to break bones to perform CPR, aren’t you?

Suddenly, Cortes shuddered and drew in a gasp of air.

“Aran!” Christophe exclaimed.

Cortes responding with a fit of coughing, spitting up flecks of blood and grasping onto the nearest thing, which just happened to be Christophe.

“It’s okay…” said Christophe. He pulled him up off the ground and held him close. “It’s okay, just breathe…”

Even just breathing seemed to cause Cortes a great a deal of difficulty.

Dahlia reached out a hand to touch her Captain’s shoulder, but then drew it back, thinking better of it as she saw his skin was torn there too. “We need to get him to the hospital…”

“Are you kidding?” exclaimed Mahad. “They didn’t let Cheng in last time. What makes you think they’ll let Cortes in now?”

“They have to…” Dahlia growled. “I don’t know if the Vector can fix this. Besides,” she reached for her laser bow, “I have this. I’ll make them let us in.”

“But then he’ll be okay, right?” Lena asked, hanging ever so slightly behind Mahad.

“I’m… fine…” Cortes spluttered.

“Hey, keep quiet…” Christophe ordered.

“Cheng…”

Christophe sighed. “… will be fine. Right now, we have to worry about you.”

----

Wayan pulled back around the corner of the wall and drew in a sharp breath. He’d followed and located Cortes and the rest of the crew just after they’d left the mayor’s office. He’d followed them down, and overhead everything the mayor had told Cortes.

Watching – or at least hearing – what had ensued in the garden, had shaken him. But at least now he knew what was going on. He would go out to where the Sphere had their base, find whoever was responsible, and make them change him back.

But first, he wanted to make sure everyone else was okay. What had been in that garden?

Wayan crept over the rubble of the wall Lena had destroyed, and made his way cautiously though the thick bushes. He didn’t know what was in there, nor did he want any of the crew to see him.

Within a moment, he had come to the clearing in the centre.

“Damn…” Wayan growled, drawing a breath in through his teeth.

A quick look around proved that what Wayan assumed was the creature had been destroyed. A pile of smoking, twisted metal lay a few feet away. But Cortes was hurt, probably quite badly.

For a moment, Wayan was overcome with the urge to step out from the bushes. But then he remembered why he had to stay hidden.

He gritted his teeth, and drew back deeper into the bushes. Dahlia was with Cortes. As was Mahad and Lena. And, for some reason, Christophe had turned up. They would have to look after him.

Wayan suspected that would be their first priority. It was up to him to take care of the werewolf stuff, and stop whoever was behind it.

With that thought, he took one last look at Cortes and the rest of the crew, then turned and headed out of the garden.

He had to do this himself.

Wayan never looked back, but perhaps if he had, he would have realised that the pirates were about to need help.

----

“Come on,” said Christophe, trying to pull Cortes closer to him. “We need to get him out of here…”

“Alright, everyone get your hands up!”

The pirates whirled around.

Jack and Daniel, the two policemen, stood there along with Julian. They both had guns raised in front of them.

“Hey, wait a minute…!” Dahlia growled. She swung her own weapon up.

Lena’s hand’s lit up with Seijin energy.

“Alright, just take it easy…” said Daniel, taking a half step backwards as he saw the girl’s body start to glow. He didn’t really want to be thrown into a wall again.

“Come on, arrest them!” Julian shouted. “I told you, they tried to attack me; that’s why I had to set the garbage ‘bot on them… and look what happened to her!”

“That’s not true!” shouted Lena. “We did nothing! You set that monster on us for no reason!”

“Such a pity…” said Julian. “Teaching you to lie like that at such a young age…”

“What!?” said Lena, her mouth hanging open.

“There’s no need for an argument…” said Jack, trying to keep his voice steady. “Now, whatever happened here your Captain’s hurt… I think he needs a hospital…”

“First thing here someone’s said that makes sense…” Christophe growled, continuing to clutch his semi-conscious brother to his chest.

“Didn’t you hear me?!” Julian snapped. “Whatever happened to him was his own fault. I want you to arrest them. Put them somewhere where they can’t hurt anyone else!”

Jack glanced back at the mayor, and then threw a look at his colleague. “Daniel, I think we’d better get them in the transport. Get them away from here and someplace safe so they don’t cause the mayor anymore trouble…”

Daniel nodded slowly.

“He needs a hospital!” Christophe snarled. What was wrong with the people on this bloc!?

“He’s right,” Mahad growled. “I really think you should listen to us…” His body was starting to tense. He could feel the power from the spliced werewolf virus building inside him. He wasn’t sure whether he should let it out.

“Careful, Mahad…” said Dahlia, throwing a glance over at him. She turned back to the policemen. “Look, he really does need help…”

“Perhaps he should have thought of that before he came here, sticking his nose where it didn’t…” said Julian.

“Will you just shut up!?” snapped Christophe. If he hadn’t been protecting Cortes, he felt he would have got up then and there and sent Julian flying. Never mind the guns trained on him and the other pirates.

“Listen to me,” Jack growled, his voice loud as he tried to take control of the situation. “You’re dangerous; we have to arrest you. It’s our job; we have to protect our bloc. Now your Captain isn’t going to get far without some medical help, so I suggest you come with us. We’ll help him, but you have to cooperate.”

“Provided,” Julian growled, “you keep them locked up. All of them.”

“We do know how to do our job, sir,” Daniel growled.

“You be careful…”

“What do you say!?” shouted Jack, eager to drown out any further discussion between the mayor and Daniel. “Are you going to come quietly?”

Mahad and Lena both exchanged looks. Each of them seemed tense and ready to attack. They just weren’t sure if it was the best course of action.

Behind them, Christophe stood up. He had Cortes in his arms. “We’ll come,” he said.

“But…” started Lena.

“We don’t really have a choice…” explained Dahlia, lowering her laser bow.

“It’s about time…” Julian sighed.

Christophe glared at him hard.

“Alright,” Jack sighed, lowering his weapon. Daniel had the pirates covered. “Follow us. We’re taking you to our prisoner transport. And no funny business.”

The pirates followed the policeman, ushered along by only a single charged gun. It wasn’t really the gun that kept them there.

Cortes half opened his eyes, and was only partially aware of what was going on. He only knew that it was his fault. He hadn’t been strong enough to protect his crew. Or to get Cheng back. On that thought, and overcome by exhaustion, he let his eyelids slip shut.

At least he could still feel that Christophe had him.

----

Wayan dashed into the cargo bay of the Saint Nazaire. He’d barely got past the repair station’s engineers. They had been trying to tell him something about finishing the work on the ship’s engines, and possibly something about payment. Wayan had shouted he’d get back to them.

He skidded to a halt next to one of the Mosquitoes, and found and pressed the release on the small ship to open the hatch. He would find this Sphere base. It couldn’t be difficult.

“I thought I heard your voice…”

Wayan jumped, turning around to catch sight of the Vector. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

The older man sighed. “I’m sorry… Wayan, what are you doing?”

“I just found out!” said Wayan, sounding almost excited. “The werewolf virus… it’s something created by the Sphere… they were experimenting… if I can find the base I can stop them. I can make them fix me.”

“The Sphere is behind this?” mused the Vector. “Somehow, that doesn’t really surprise me. But that means you have to be all the more careful. What are you planning to do, just take off in a Mosquito and fix everything yourself?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Yes, Wayan. It is. What about the rest of the crew? Don’t they know about this? Wouldn’t it be a better idea to wait for them to help? Even if this is only a small Sphere base, launching an attack with the Saint Nazaire would be far wiser. Much more so than a single Mosquito…”

“They know, yeah…” Wayan trailed off.

“They’re not going to hate you for what happened to you Wayan. You’re sick; it’s not your fault…”

“It’s not that… not entirely. Look, after I overheard… it was what the bloc’s mayor told them. Cortes got hurt. I don’t think everyone else is going to have time for this…”

“What happened to him, Wayan? You should have stayed and helped…”

“He’s got plenty of help!” Wayan almost shouted. Then he calmed down. “They don’t need me. I’ve got to fix my own problem. They can worry about Cortes; they shouldn’t have to worry about me…”

“Wayan, this will just cause more trouble. It won’t hurt to wait, and we should check on Cortes. Where is he?”

“I don’t know…” Wayan growled, suddenly feeling guilty. “Look, Vector. I have to do this. I’ve already hurt Cheng; I don’t want to hurt anyone else. I have to fix it. That’s what I’m going to do, and you can’t stop me.”

The Vector sighed. “No, I guess not…”

“I’m sorry, really…” With that, he opened the hatch to the Mosquito, and climbed inside.

“Wayan. Just promise me one thing?”

Wayan activated a few of the Mosquitoes controls, then looked at up. “Yeah…?”

“Be careful. And as soon as you find anything out, radio back? I hope by then I can find out if Cortes is okay. And perhaps more to help you. This isn’t something you should have to do alone.”

Wayan smiled. “That’s two things. But alright, I promise.”

“Good…”

Wayan shut the hatch to the Mosquito. The Vector stepped back as the small ship dropped from the roof, stabilised itself in its own artificial gravitational field, and then jetted out the Saint Nazaire’s open hatch.