*All characters copyrighted to Poseidon Simons

Chapter 15

The Search

Continues...

 

                Kia made one more call after hanging up on Don, "Yeah...Sarah, could you ask Babe for a favor?  A friend of ours just went missing and he's kind of new to the city...we can't find him...and if it's just us looking this could take a week or more."

                "I'll ask...what's the name?"

                "Griffin.  He looks like a muscular version onf Don.  Thanks, Sarah."

                "Sure...oh, he's here right now.  Why don't you just ask him?"

                "Sure..."  She waited as Babe was put on the phone, "Hey...could I ask for your help?"

                "Uh...okay..."  Babe said, wondering just what she needed.

                "Great!  See, a friend of ours went missing and we can't find him without taking over a week to search.  His name is Griffin and he looks like a muscular version of Don.  Can you help?"

                "I'll do what I can."

                "Thanks, Babe.  You're the best."

                "No problem..."  Sarah's voice came next.

                "And I'll watch for him whenever I go out, okay?"

                "That'd be great...thanks, Sarah."

                "Sure!"  She hung up.  Kia did likewise and went into another store to look for Griffin.

 

                Kain surveyed the damage when they'd gotten Griffin under control.  Out of the twenty-one robots that had rushed Griffin, only three remained, counting Kain himself, "Beremin wasn't kidding when he said he'd built the ultimate fighter.  I think I might have finally gotten my money's worth!"  Kain glanced around, "Get Griffin restrained.  There's no telling how long he'll stay out.  And you,"  He pointed to one of his men who was just now coming out, "get four more men and clean up this mess.  The sooner it looks like nothing happened in here, the better."  He glanced down at Griffin, who was unconscious on the floor, "Soon I'll have YOU under my control too."   Kain stalked away, content with his new prize.

 

                "Ugh..."  Griffin groaned and held his head...it was ringing again..."Damn machines...I hope they all rust..."  He blinked a couple times to clear his vision and looked around.

                "Wha...he's awake!!!!  Someone knock him out, quick!!!!!"

                "What the..."  Griffin glanced down.  Some dragon with gray scales had just clamped a metal ring or something around his leg, "Hey!  Get away from me!!!"  Griffin reached down to grab the dragon, but he was stopped in mid-grab, "What the hell?.."  He looked at his chest.  It had a ring around it as well, which was preventing him from reaching anything below his knees.  The dragon below him backed away, undoubtedly frightened out of his wits.

                "Someone knock him out!!!!!"  The dragon shouted again, "Kain!!!!  He's up!!!!"

                Griffin scowled and pulled at the ring around his chest.  The metal was incredibly strong!  The ring looked thin...weak, maybe made of tin, or something easily bendable, but when he pulled on it, it stuck as strong as steel or better!.."What is this?.."

                "The same stuff I'm made out of.  The strongest synthetic metal made.  You won't break out of that.  I promise."

                Griffin stared in shock at the figure before him, "Who the hell are you?.."

                "Kain.  Impressive...you woke up only a few minutes after being hit harder than if one of these men had pounded you with a sledgehammer!  I'm going to enjoy having you around...tell me, how fast do you recover from sickness?"

                "Why would I tell you?"  Griffin asked, scowling at Kain.

                "Because if you don't, I'll kill you.  I'm going to ask you as many questions as I can think of, and if you DON'T answer, I'll have someone come in here and shoot you.  We can find out most of the stuff I want to know by taking you apart, anyway.  Cooperate, and we won't have to go to such extreme measures."

                "When I get my hands on you..."

                Kain laughed.  Hard, "How are you going to do ANYTHING?!!  You're strapped to the strongest metal in existence!"

                "I still have this..."  Griffin smiled as he sent Kain crashing into a wall.  His body glowed as the power from his chip flowed through his body, "So long as I have THAT, not even a bullet can touch me."

                Kain picked himself up and grinned, "Who said anything about bullets?"  His arm suddenly changed into a cannon!  Kain chuckled, "You have guts, Griffin.  I'll give you that.  But, do something like that once more and you WILL get shot."

                "I can pull a gun out of anyone's hand before they have a chance to pull the trigger."

                "Not if the gun is PART of someone.  You're forgetting about my robots...about ME."

                Griffin shrugged and used his chip to flip Kain around, "I can keep you that way for days."

                "And I have robots at my command that can overwhelm you.  You fought most of them, remember?"

                "I also tore most of them apart.  From what I saw, there should only be two others left.  I'm not counting you."

                Kain sighed, "Fine then.  You want to kill yourself, that's fine."  Kain pressed a button on his arm, "I've just signaled the last remaining robots in this building as WELL as every single man who knows how to shoot a gun.  When they get here, I only have to give the word, and they'll shoot you.  Put me down, cooperate, and you'd be surprised how nicely you'll be treated.  Keep up your little defiant act, and you'll die today.  What do you pick?"

                Griffin held Kain up for a moment longer, but set him down, "Alright...you win.  What do you want?"

                Kain approached him, "That's better..."

 

                "Nothing yet?"

                "Nothing...we can't fnd him, Don."

                "But he HAS to be SOMEWHERE!!!!!"

                "Maybe he left the island?  Babe's swept over everything we missed, and he couldn't find him.  Griffin isn't in Yann city."

                Don sat down on a nearby bench, "But why would he leave?!.."

                Kia asked her own question, "Well, if you were completely new to some place, what would you do?"

                "What?  Why ask me?  We're looking for Griffin!"

                "Well?  What would you do?"

                Don sighed and thought about it, "I'd probably look for some place quiet...or at least familiar.  Away from all the noise so I could get myself calmed down..."

                "So he's not in Yann city.  If he was anything like you, he'd be looking for some spot to hide out, too.  Anyplace you can think of?"

                "That I'd go?  I'd go to the first spot that looked like no one had ever been there."

                "And...are there any places closeby that might fit that description?"

                "Uh...a few..."

                "So let's look there!  Come to my place.  We'll all meet there before we head out.  Sound good?"

                "Sure..."  Don shut his phone and headed off, "I still can't figure why he'd run away...that abandoned building was quiet..."

 

                "Alright.  I'll check."  Babe sighed and began scanning some semi-remote areas around Yann city.  Most of his searching proved negative, but he found two spots where there were people.  The first one he ignored because it looked like a crowd, the second, when he investigated...by flying HIGH over them, was just some teens partying...and the description he'd been given didn't match a single person there, "But the only other place I've checked is crowded worse than that party!  I thought they said he wanted to be somewhere alone!"  There was another reason.  He didn't WANT to go to that other spot...that's where Kain used to live...he didn't want to be reminded of that madman in any way if he could avoid it, "But what if he is down there?..I have to check, just to make sure.  He probably isn't..."  Babe began to descend.

 

                "SIR!"

                Kain spun around, growling, "What is it?!  I'm BUSY!!!!"

                "Something's approaching the factory sir!  It's too fast to be normal!"

                "What the--NOT NOW!!!!!  Hide EVERYTHING!!!!!  Get everyone and dress up in the workmen outfits!  He can't think that this place is ANYTHING but a normal foctory now!!!!"  Kain glared at Griffin, "Damn you..."

                "What'd I do?"  Griffin asked, looking truly perplexed.

                Kain unlocked him and started pulling him down a hall, "Your friends.  Who were they?!"

                "Just some people I met...OW!  Cut that out!"  Griffin tried to pull away, but Kain's grip was too strong.

                "Names!  I need NAMES!!!"

                "Poseidon...James...uh...Kia...Pik...Ace, and I think--"

                "DAMN!!!!!!!"  Kain threw Griffin forward, "Of all the--Do you know what you've done?!!!!"

                "Not really..."  Griffin rubbed a sore shoulder.  He'd been thrown pretty hard, "Something you hate, obviously."

                "The PROTECTOR is on his way here!  If he finds out I'm here then all my plans will be ruined!  Damn you, if I didn't need you so much I'd kill you right now!"  He grabbed Griffin again and hauled him farther into the factory, tossed him into one of the excercise rooms, and locked the door, "I don't care what you do in there, but if you try to get out, my men are on orders to kill you.  I'll be back."  With that last warning, Kain left, finding a spot where he could hide with the machinery, "Eggs...he eats eggs, and look at him!  His immune system is PERFECT, with simple excercise, he has muscles at least as large as James Elias, and only gets BETTER!!!"  Maybe there was a way to copy those interesting attributes...but with eggs?  He couldn't!  That--that wasn't right!.."But then again...I don't EAT much anymore...Griffin would make the perfect test subject since he already eats them...the question is, where would I find them?  SHOULD I find them?  I can't just TAKE an unborn child!..I wonder..."  If this worked, the benefits would be GREAT!..but he'd be killing off unborn children...where would he find an egg?.."When Babe leaves, I'll talk to Griffin.  Maybe he had a specific kind of egg...he couldn't have had an anthro egg...he was the only one off the island."  Yes...he'd do that.  There had to be some reason eggs worked so well for him!