*All characters copyrighted to Poseidon Simons

Chapter 15

Escape!

Anna kept herself busy by staying out, shopping. Michelle hadn't come back yet...and Anna couldn't blame her. What the HELL had been wrong with Babe?! He'd lost it! She wished more than ever to have Bill back. He'd be able to help Babe...and she missed Bill...missed him greatly. Sarah was in the hospital, so she COULD go see her. But what was happening to Bill?

Maik stretched his back out. It STILL felt like it was bent over. He had to wear a back brace next time...ah well, "I wonder how everyone else is doing?" He wanted to get to the hospital. Most of them were there...and Babe...

Player looked around. What was he supposed to do? Ever since that robot had attacked them, Michelle hadn't left his side! He wanted to get rid of her somehow...but she would NOT leave him alone "Michelle...can't you go home?"

"But what if he comes after me again? I--I'm scared..."

Yeah? So was James! He didn't stand a chance against any robot, and Nino and Crystal weren't going to come out again. They'd said so. He held his forehead, "Look...I wanted to get over to the hospital...some of my friends are over there..."

"Can I come?" She was doing it again. That stare of hers...he couldn't say no!

"Yeah, sure..." He sighed.

Mary huddled by herself in the cell. She was feeling sick with worry over Griffy...over trying to get out...over many things. But what could she do? She was stuck here!

"Hey lady!"

"What?.." She asked the guard outside her door.

"I got some free time tonight...If you like, I could let you out for a bit so we could...y'know."

What the hell?..that voice sounded familiar...he was one of her employers! Ugh..."No...I'd rather stay in here!"

The guard laughed, "Suit yourself! I hear it gets lonely fast inside there!" With that, the guard left, knowing there was no way she could get out. Cameras were everywhere. The guard was only there because it had been something to do!

Mary fumed for a bit...but her anger died away...and once again, she found herself longing for company...damn that guard...

"Mary?.."

"ACE?!!!" His voice had been muffled, but she could recognize it anywhere. She leaned against the wall it had come from, "Ace, is that you?!!"

"Mary...oh thank god..." His voice got a bit louder...he must have leaned against the wall as well, "Mary, you alright?"

"No..."

"What's wrong?"

"Griffy...I don't know what happened to him..." She held back her sobs, "The rent for our home MUST have expired by now...he doesn't have a place to live..no food..."

Ace answered, "Hey...Griffy's smart. He's probably figured something out for himself...when we get out of here, I'll help you scour the whole island for him."

She nodded, unable to say anything else.

Ace stopped speaking as well...

Don and Alan were also on their way to the hospital...both kept their eyes wide open, hoping that they wouldn't run into any robots...Alan was a bit more jumpy than Don on account of him WATCHING a robot take Ace away. Johnny, Kim, and miraculously, Maiky, all kept quiet while they waited inside Don's pocket. Don glanced up at an apartment while they walked. It occured to him that no one had checked on Ace's mother since his kidnapping..."You go on ahead. I'll catch up."

Alan nodded and kept walking.

Don made his way up the stairs, then knocked on the door, "<Mrs. Jackson?.."

"Poseidon?.." The door opened a crack. From what he could see, her eyes were still moist from crying.

"Are you alright?.."

"I...I'm fine." She said quickly and shut the door.

Don frowned and knocked again, "Mrs. Jackson, can we talk?"

She opened the door a crack again, "I--I don't want to see anyone..."

"Mrs. Jackson!..open the door...you've been crying..."

She sniffed loudly before opening the door the rest of the way. She looked rather messy at the moment...her eyes were wet...the handkerchief in her hand was wrinkled so badly that there was no doubt it had been overused. Don walked in. She shut the door behind him, "Poseidon...has there been any news about Ace?"

Don shook his head, "No...but people are starting to come back...there's hope. The only ones left we know of that are still out there are Ace and Bill. He'll be back soon Mrs. Jackson...I'm sure of it."

Mrs. Jackson was shaking her head hard. She pointed at the TV, which was on, just muted. Don unmuted it...it was the news, of course.

"Some of the strangest occurrences have been happening lately. We've received a report from two of our men who were busy recording the return of Ralph Rance that the Protector himself not only openly ATTACKED some paramedics intent on helping the three released hostages, but also, directly after the attack, shouted to one of them for help before going into what appears to be a death-like state. The two reporters on the scene have asked that no one touch the Protector during this time, as he might come back to life and attack again, so there has been no attempt at discovering just who he is...the recently rescued--"

Don hit the mute button again, "Why would he attack them?.."

"I don't know..." Mrs. Jackson said shakily, "...but that's why I'm so sure it's going to take my son so much longer...with the Protector like he is..."

Don stopped her before she said any more, "Stop...Hold on...we should go see Kia and the rest. They'd enjoy knowing that you're still alright."

"Well, alright..." Mrs. Jackson gave in, "But only for a little while..."

"Sure." Don helped her get ready, and soon they were on their way to the hospital.

"Now...both my targets are in there...but there's too many people. Kia won't leave either one...damn it, how'm I supposed to kill those two?" So...Kain hadn't gotten the kid after all...oh well. But how was he supposed to get them? He didn't WANT to hurt anyone else, but still, he had a job to do. He could always force them all to go to sleep...he could smother the two amphibians while they were out...but then the cameras in the room would see who he was. Hm..."It's been a while since I used a mask...I think I'm gonna have to if I want to get this done with. What the hell?!" He growled, frusterated, as three more figures came into the room. A burrow dragon and those two women...Sarah Jovi had a body cast on, and It seemed Ania Cleave nearly had one as well. A leg was in a cast...great. Just great. With those two in their beds in that room, it would be almost impossible to maneuver! Why were these hospital people putting so many together?!!..oh no...now there were even MORE of them!.."Ace Jackson's mother? What's she doing here?..James Elias...Michelle Cleave...who that guy with Mrs. Jackson? DAMN IT! Why TODAY?!!!!!" He leaned back in the tree and sighed. This was going to be REALLY difficult. He'd thought of just going in the front entrance unmasked and finding a place to put it on while he was inside...with so many people, he'd be caught outside their door without a problem. He'd have to get in FROM the outside...namely the window. Damn it! This was going to take a LOT longer than he'd hoped..."But the money's still worth it. I'm still gonna get a nice fee for this. Even if it IS only half, that's more than enough for what I have planned." He was gonna need a nice LONG vacation after this, "Now, tonight there should be a lot less people, but if I do it then, Kia will probably take her son home. I need a way to keep her there..."

He picked up his phone and dialed.

Kia jolted when she heard the knock on the door. Most everyone else had already left for the night...and Kia was tired. She wanted to get home and put Ralph to BED. She opened the door, "MOTHER?!!!!!" She half-shouted. She tried to hide Ralph...but that was useless, considering she was holding him.

Her mother came in, "You can put him down, Kia. I SAW it on the news. That's your son."

Kia put Ralph on the floor, "Well--yeah...but how did--"

"Kia! Calm down...I can't force you to do what I think is right, so I'm PREPARED to live with this..."

"Mom...could you be quiet? Pik and his mother are asleep..."

Her mother frowned, but lowered her voice, "You know what I think about this, don't you?"

"Yes...but mother, I love him...I've never been happier..."

"Even so...I just don't see how you could even like THINKING of making children with him!"

"Mother, you've always said that...but I can't help it. I really do love him."

She just hmphed and sat in her chair. After a while, Kia's mother broke the silence, "I see...Kia, I...suppose I might...I might try meeting his mother...if you like..."

She kept herself from gritting her teeth while she said that. If this is what it took to kill these two amphibians, she would do her very BEST to play along. It would only be for a while...now if he would just hurry up...

She, unlike Kia, kept her calm when the window broke open and the canister was thrown in. Kia was too busy trying to grab Ralph and get out of there to notice the mask her mother was slowly putting over her snout. A few seconds later, Kia, and Ralph, were asleep on the floor. She took off the mask and glanced up at the camera...good. It hadn't seen that part. She feigned being asleep as he came in through the window...they had discussed this over the phone. No one was going to be able to put the blame on her while this happened.

She could hear him walking around. He stopped, and she knew he was in the middle of suffocating Pik...the first target. Next he would do Ralph, and that would be that.

CRASH!!

What the...she opened her eyes only slightly. Something with a very shiny body was hovering where the window used to be. She glanced around with her eyes barely opened and saw that her partner in this "crime" was already knocked out on the floor, "The Protector is HELPING THEM?!!!!" But he was a mountain dragon! He should understand the MOST of why she was doing this! Why was he trying to keep the bastard amphibians alive?! Of all the nerve!.."But there's nothing I can do about it...I'll have to let it go...today."

Babe glanced at Kia's mother before leaving. He wasn't entirely sure, but he thought she might have had a hand in this attempt on Pik's life...now back to the other problem. No one was around any more, so he could move around freely, but he had to find someone to fix him! He couldn't go to Sarah...the closer she was to him, the more Kain's prgramming tried to take over. He needed to find Bill, but Bill was at Kain's hideout. Going in there in his condition wouldn't help...it had taken a while to temporarily repair his systems as it was! While turned off, he'd kept one program running. It was slowly choking the programming Kain had done...like a virus. Because of this, Babe's own actions were slowed as well. He had a lot of trouble moving.

Bill was his only hope of getting back to normal...he grimaced and forced himself to fly to Kain's base. He didn't go in...he hoped Kain would LEAVE, then he could fly in and take everyone by surprise. All he had to do was rescue Bill, then he could get worked on...

Kain perked up when he scanned RS-01's presence, "He's back! Maybe now we'll get somewhere. He opened the doors for his robot, but the robot never came, "What is going on out there?!" He took off, homing in on RS-01's signal.

Babe watched Kain fly closer. The RADAR! How could he have forgotten about the radar?! Well, Kain wasn't suspecting anything...Babe could shoot at him. There was bound to be an exposed area on Kain's head!..but could he charge the cannon without Kain seeing it? If Kain saw it, how quickly could Babe fire? He wanted to run for cover, but that would be stupid, in his condition. What to do?! How was he going to pull this off?..

"There...done." Bill wiped his forehead and stood up. The robots were done. He was tired...he looked back at the entrance, expecting the guards to be walking toward him. What was this?..he smiled. The guards were sleeping. Apparently Bill was able to stay up much longer than they were. He crept past them as quietly as he could...managing to stub his toe in the process. He bit himself to keep from shouting until the pain passed. Out, alone, in the hallways, he quickly and quietly freed Ace and the woman, who, for some reason, hugged each other fiercely when they were free, "Huh...Ace doesn't have a girlfriend...does he?" Bill would think about that later. Right now he had to get out. this was his only chance! The three of them rounded a corner, jumping back when they saw a guard standing there, back turned from them...well, Bill and Ace jumped back. The woman just stood there for a moment, then walked forward.

Mary held up a hand behind her when she heard the two coming after her. This was something she had been wanting to do for AGES. She walked up behind the guard, and tapped him on the shooulder. He looked back, shock registering on his face when he saw her. She punched him as hard as she could, smiling wickedly as he fell to the ground, unconcious. "Damn that felt good. I ought to find the REST of my employers and hit them that hard!" She turned back without a word and rejoined Ace.