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The first thing Jacob saw was a blinding light burning into his vision. His tongue felt dry and his arms became numb as he tried to move himself up before something cold pressed against his limbs and forced him to remain on his back.

"Nnnngh...what, what happened?"

Turning his head he tried to gauge the room around him, a prison of steel wrapped in grey and black lines with tables and screens against the walls reminding him of a dentist's office. Upon the walls he saw the symbol he had noticed from the ship, the four-legged cross emboldened as he tried to kick out of his restraints.

"AGH, n-nnnrgh, dangit! Awwww man did I really get captured, jeez way to go idiot. Doing really well with the cool shield tricks and then you got whomped in the back...wha, aw you serious you took my PANTS?!"

He stared down at himself feeling an extra coldness to his legs, his boots and his jeans now removed to leave him completely naked as he wagged his toes.

"What the heck, what, what kinda weirdo steals my clothes?! ...man I hope ope Oddclaw and Eggfang are alright."

The door eventually opened as two soldiers stood outside in the same black attire he had seen from last night. In the brightness of the lab he saw their uniforms more clearly, staunch imposing armours with only crimson goggles and a red armband showing the same crooked cross he saw everywhere else. They stood either side of the door throwing their arms forwards in a diagonal salute, almost making a roof-shape for the next two humans to walk through. One was a severe-looking man with a monocle, wearing a white labcoat and black gloves who had a face like a parrot in its gaunt cheeks and prodigious nose; the other was a much more threatening soldier of a higher rank as noted by his reinforced armour, a long black cape with gun strapped to his chest, and a sword hilted to his belt.

"Du bist also die kleine Ratte," said the scientist trouncing forth, "die dachte, du konntest meine Eier stehlen?"

"Uhhh...sorry I don't understand, also where are my clothes?!"

Jacob shook his head as the parrot-face tapped the sergeant beside him who stepped closer to the table and spoke in perfect English.

"Dr. Ingelbaum says 'so, you are the little rat who thought you could steal my eggs'?"

"OH, okay that's a lot easier umm...no, I'm not a rat, I'm a yoshi and the way I heard it, you guys stole the eggs first."

His response translated rewarded the yoshi with a hard slap across the face, the caped soldier standing between to translate back and forth.

"//First I lose precious subject material, now I am being called a thief by a subhuman. What wretched place is this that you don't even have the most BASIC of manners?//"

"Okay, first off, you do NOT get to slap me around," the yoshi snorted with a thick puff. "Second, I'm not a human I'm a YOSHI, I just said, and third, did you lay those eggs yourself? Cuz if not, you stole them, end of story!"

"//Whatever, I am not here to discuss things with lab rats, I am here to study them.//"

He walked over to the table next to the wall and searched for a few instruments in his drawer such as a scalpel, an empty syringe and a set of forceps before the doctor clicked on a tape recorder he put on the desk.

"//Today's date according to Berlin time is June 30th, 1971. A new subject, not one I was expecting but nonetheless an interesting specimen that I can already tell shall confirm my thesis on the Reptilicus Africanus module.//"

"Hey uh big guy," Jacob looked over to the guard, "could you tell him if he's got any lollipops after we're done, cuz I'll be a LOT nicer if he has any."

"//The subject obviously lacks the vocal propensity for the superior German language,//" continued the researcher walking over beside him, "//first we shall take Roentgen-rays to discover his physiology.//"

Behind Jacob he swept a curtain round his entire body before the light above beamed something approaching a flash as he clenched his eyes shut. Something printed out unseen as the curtain pulled back again with the doctor putting up a skeletal picture of the yoshi.

"Uhhh, are my teeth supposed to be tingling?!" he asked licking his molars.

"//As you will see,//" continued the doctor pointing at the chart, "//the subject's skull has a...rather pointed top, almost like a peak showing the severely-reduced size of the brain, not unlike a serpent in comparative size. His head shape is not unlike an African with the smaller forehead descending into a slope towards the large pronounced features around the mouth.//"

"Hey, SIR!?" he barked at the guard. "I don't see a doctorate on this guy's wall, is he legit?! Or is he one o' them Rogueport back-alley doctors who think your pee is stored in your-"

"//SILENCE!//"

The doctor raised his hand ready to slap but Jacob didn't even flinch, smirking with a curious glint before he remembered himself and straightened his coat.

"//Ahem, as I was saying, the subhuman so far confirms my supporting thesis of the reptilian ancestry of Africans, noting the skull possessing none of the features that the Aryan race possess. Now I shall be taking samples for further study.//"

"So that's a yes to what I just said right?" Jacob asked. "He definitely got a diploma from the internet?"

"Please don't struggle," said the guard waving his hand, "he's going to take some samples, nothing else."

"When you say samples you DO mean like just a bit, not my whole foot right?"

"No no he won't take that much...not yet."

"Okay, 'not yet' has NEVER been a good thing to hear, like why would you think that would help?!"

Grabbed by the arm already restrained, Jacob watched the alleged scientist slice a piece of his skin to slide into a test tube, before pulling out the syringe attached to another tube to suck out his blood.

"NNNGH, d-don't I have to sign something?"

"Like what?" asked the guard.

"You know, like a form when you donate like, 'have you been on holiday anywhere the past three months' or 'have you ever eaten nutmeg'?"

"//Could you tell the rat to be quiet?!//" the doctor snapped. "//Now, tell him to open his mouth.//"

"He says open your mouth," the soldier leaned in.

"Wh-why?" the yoshi leaned back.

"More samples, don't worry you'll be fine."

"I'm not fine I'm freezing my tail off cuz someone took my clothes!"

"Just, open your mouth. Please."

He knew he had no choice, opening his jaws wide to show a row of pointed teeth and a tongue tucked inside a cavity at the bottom. Jacob waited however until the doctor had leaned in just enough to get a swab of saliva at the back reach of the mouth before his tongue whipped out around the man's throat and pulled his head into his throat.

"M-MMMMPH, [i]MMMNNNNHHHH![/i]"

The yoshi smiled cheekily around the struggling scientist who kicked and sputtered hard with a shriek inside the lizard's maw, his head burrowing deeper into the widening throat with thickening gulps much to the guard's shock beside him.

"[i]MMM-MMHHHH![/i]"

"Hey, HEY!" He brought out his rifle and pointed to Jacob's face. "Let him go. Come on, don't be stupid."

"Mmmhhh?" Jacob rolled his eyes.

"Don't make me pop your eye out. Please."

Despite the masked helmet covering his face, the yoshi sensed something different in the soldier that made him yield. With a surprising force he shot out the doctor from his mouth in a blast of air that threw him against the desk, crumpling to the floor and knocking his cassette recorder down to crack beside him. Covered in drool the parrot-faced doctor hissed with a shudder of disgust, then looked to his cassette and stood up with such a belligerent look that his head began to shudder like a ticking bomb.

"//You, DISGUSTING LITTLE SUB-SAHARAN [i]RAT![/i]//"

"//You want me to translate that sir?//" the guard asked en Deutsch.

"//Y-YES OF COURSE YOU HALFTONGUED SHIT!//"

"He...he said," the soldier turned to Jacob, "you disgusting little sub-saharan rat."

"Oh, cool," the yoshi smacked his lips, "I wasn't gonna eat him by the way cuz that'd be gross, I just thought he should know that lesson one of ever meeting a YOSHI, which I am, is never to stick your head in its mouth!"

"//SILENCE!//" the doctor rushed up to slap him across the face. "//When you are in the presence of Dr. Frederick Ingelbaum the Third, you ADDRESS him with the respect he deserves!//"

"Nnngh...cool, can you get him for me instead cuz this hognosed pencilpusher keeps slapping me."

"//I AM HE YOU FILTHY DEGENERATE!//"

"...wow," Jacob cocked his head, "you need like a hearing-aid not a monocle if you still can't figure out what I am, HEY, big guy can you call your manager I wanna make a complaint."

"//You think you are being funny with your flippant attitude?!//"

"I dunno, your head wobbling about when you get angry's pretty hilarious!"

"//[i]SHUT UP![/i]//"

Dr. Ingelbaum grabbed something from a cupboard as the soldier realised his plan, moving closer to grab Jacob's mouth firmly shut before the scientist snapped a muzzle on the yoshi's face, a cage covering over his snout but still letting him speak.

"HEY, W-WHAT ARE YA DOING?!"

"//This, is MY laboratory,//" he hissed near the youth, "and YOU are my subject, so you do not speak back to me unless you are spoken to!//"

"Uhhh well," Jacob rustled as his breath thickened against the muzzle, "you kinda DID just speak back to me, are you alright? You have short-term memory issues cuz that explains why you keep forgetting stuff I told you like forty seconds ago."

"//YOU...no, no, this is too much effort to waste on a degenerate.//"

The scientist took a moment to sigh and breathe out. Then he turned round and slapped Jacob again causing him to snarl with a sting in his cheek.

"Okay, you are DEFINITELY getting a kick in the face when I get outta here!"

"//Deluded AND arrogant, are we?//" said Frederick forcing a smile. "//Well that will change in a few days once we set up some more tests.//"

"Aww man are you serious?!" Jacob slumped hard against his restraints. "I just DID my end-of-terms!"

"//I have to take these results to Frau Grimm, you stay here and make sure the little rat doesn't break anything else.//"

"//Yes Dr. Ingelbaum.//"

The soldier clicked his heels as Frederick grabbed his broken tape recorder with a muttering snarl as well as his samples from Jacob, sodden with saliva as the guard remained in the room keeping an eye on the subject. Time passed with uneasy silence, the sound of humming machines vibrating Jacob's head with a ringing in his ears that unnerved him.

"Ugh, this sucks. That noise SUCKS, could you like turn it off for me?"

The guard said nothing, sitting down on a chair nearby to rest his legs.

"Sooooo...where are you guys from?" Jacob kicked his bare feet. "I wasn't gonna eat him I swear, that's like illegal anyway I was just messing with him! He was being a jerk, nobody likes a snob calling you something you're not!"

"I believe you." The soldier tapped his boots. "You really don't know where we're from?"

"Well no...I mean, you guys came from another world, right?"

"Mmhmm," he nodded.

"Soooo, you guys are soldiers, or scientists?"

"Ehh." The guard wobbled his hand. "Scientist is debatable."

"Oh jeez you telling me they're ALL like that guy, what is this the Loserversity?!"

"PFFFT!"

He struggled to suppres his laugh as the yoshi giggled in turn. Nothing was said for a while until Jacob mused to himself with a click of his tongue inside the muzzle.

"What do you think they would teach in a loserversity? Jerkonomics? Maybe stupidometry!"

"N-no, hhhahaha!"

"Yanno I hear dumbistry is pretty hot this year, but they got labs full of-"

"Dumbsen burners?" He chuckled again.

"YEAH, hahaha, you flick 'em on and everyone just turns stupid!"

"That would explain a lot, hhhhahahaha-uh oh."

The soldier suddenly straightened up when he heard footsteps coming down the hall.

"Word of advice." He looked back to Jacob. "Mock the doctor all you want, he's an imbecile but do NOT cross Frau Grimm."

"Is she...bad news?" the yoshi cringed.

"Much worse than you think."

The door opened once more as Frederick Ingelbaum returned with his sharp nose entering first. Striding into the room in front of him however was a thin-looking woman in a severe black ensemble, almost skin-tight in a way that made Jacob cringe from the sound of creaking leather. The most striking feature however was the hard V-shaped helm that completely covered her eyes showing a red horizontal slit.

"//Here he is,//" the doctor scooted past her, "//I have done all the rudimentary tests, after this I will start on experiments from the schedule that I-//"

"//Shut up.//"

She raised a hand to his face before bending over the naked yoshi who flinched back from her. He said nothing as she pulled off the muzzle despite Ingelbaum's stuttering protest in order to look at his face fully.

"//Look at me.//"

The yoshi flared his nostrils with a tightening scowl towards the woman. Her smile uneased him as she stroked his cheek, her fingers like a vulture's talons as her burning gaze lit up his face in crimson.

"//Does it have a name?//" she asked.

"//Not that I know of,//" muttered Ingelbaum rubbing his head.

"//Did you even ask it?//"

A shake of the head indicated no as she snapped her fingers towards Arnold who stepped up to translate.

"//What is your name?//" she asked.

"Sorry," he forced a smirk, "my dad told me never to talk to strangers."

"//In that case I shall acquaint myself.//" She loomed over him with hands clenched at the table. "//I am Frau Elsa Grimm. Now, your turn.//"

"Well...I mean since you're offering, I'm Jacob, MacGregor."

"//MacGregor. Yes.//" She took a deep breath of almost orgasmic elation. "//Ohhhh how blessed I be that you of all creatures fell into my lap.//"

"Uhhh, you okay ma'am?" Jacob squinted. "You got cramps?"

"//How DARE you insult-//"

"//SHUT, up.//" She silenced Frederick's outburst with a sudden spin to grab his throat. "//This little rat is mine now, you are not to experiment on it.//"

"//Wh-what?! Frau Grimm I must protest, I have business, he is part of my thes-//"

"//You have OTHER creatures to experiment with, they will suffice.//"

"//But LOOK AT THE CHARTS!//" he pointed with a shriek to the x-ray. "//This is a prime specimen of Reptilicus Africanus, the shape of the head, the two stomachs like a cow!//"

"Hey what you saying about my body?!" Jacob shouted. "Cuz I bet you I can run faster than you Stinkelbaum!"

"//WH-WHAT DID HE CALL ME?!//"

"//He uh, c-called you Stinkelbaum doctor,//" said the guard forcing a laugh back down his throat.

"//Hhha ha ha ha,//" Frau Grimm patted Jacob's head as he flinched, "//I like him. He is feisty, he will make a good pet to train.//"

"//F-frau Grimm PLEASE!//" the doctor stomped his foot. "//I have spent twenty years at the Uppsala institute of racial biology for this EXACT MOMENT-//"

"//I don't care about your self-masturbating thesis,//" she walked to the door not looking at him, "//you will leave him unharmed, for my OWN experiments with little MacGregor.//"

"U-um, what'd she say?" Jacob muttered to the soldier.

"You won't be harmed by the doctor," he replied leaning in, "instead Frau Grimm wants you as a pet."

"What?! Wha, what does she think I am a chain chomp?!"

"//Can I at least ask why?!//" ranted Ingelbaum marching up to her. "//Out of all the subjects we have why this one?!//"

"//The blood sample you took.//" She turned her visor towards him. "//Compare it to sample six-four-three eight-nine-zero.//"

"//What, but-//"

"//Humour me. I think you'll find the results...quite interesting.//"

Her laugh trembled through the room with a dark relish that made Jacob shiver as well as the guard beside him. The men followed her out of the room as Jacob was left to his own devices once again, but not before Ingelbaum reclasped the muzzle on Jacob's face just to make sure. The sound of a sharp humming rang from someplace unknown that kept Jacob's teeth on edge inside the cold steel laboratory.

"Well," he sighed looking up to the light, "you guys are definitely not from home that's for sure. Sorry Andrea. Didn't work I guess."

The first thing Oddclaw smelt was a burning chemical scent, something that disturbed him as he awoke with a snarling hiss and the crackling of flames in the depths of the dark cave he found himself in.

[i]"What...Eggfang?"[/i]

He whispered to himself, trying to sit up before feeling his arms pull behind his back against the stone wall and his feet fail to move. He looked down to see vines wrapped round his ankles and on trying to adjust his wrists, he felt the same leafy texture binding them against a stalagmite.

[i]"Eggfang? Are you here?"[/i]

The raptor sniffed the air trying to discern the other scents, noting there was the smell of other raptors somewhere beyond but none he recognised of his own tribe, the constant stench of toxic flames wreathing through the cave making it worse as he shook his head.

[i]"Good morning."[/i]

His head snapped towards the voice in the dark as a sudden flash of fire filled up the room. A damp fuzz took over his brain as he realised he was in a small nesting area separate from other passages where shadows danced across the walls. Dried grass littered the floor quite comfortably, but what he noticed first was the raptor beside a flickering purple flame that sat in a stone sconce, her face of luscious amber scale marred with steel spikes down the back of her neck, the screwbolt on her chest and rippling lines of electric blue that matched her wicked claws.

[i]"You."[/i]

[i]"Hello, Oddclaw."[/i] The raptor smiled like a human. [i]"Hope you had a good sleep, don't mind the fire I just enjoy the atmosphere."[/i]

[i]"What...what are you- n-nnngh,"[/i] he fidgeted in his restraints, [i]"did you take me here?!"[/i]

[i]"Yes. You had a rather nasty fight with some humans, tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk."[/i]

[i]"Where are we? Why did you take me here?!"[/i]

[i]"Well what else was I supposed to do, leave you to rot in a filthy marsh?"[/i]

[i]"Better to rot out there than be here with you,"[/i] Oddclaw spat at her feet, [i]"I know about you already, Rumble, what you tried to do to my mate."[/i]

[i]"Then we can stop pretending."[/i] She walked through the half-darkness to the unlit side of the room. [i]"I'm glad you're so to the point, it's one of the things I like about you-"[/i]

[i]"Shut up."[/i] He spat towards her. [i]"I do not care what you have to say, I have ONE mate and one mate only."[/i]

[i]"Who is old and decrepit and can only offer you three eggs in your entire life."[/i] Her smile thinned to a bitter creep. [i]"Don't settle for less, it's unbecoming of you-"[/i]

[i]"I will not, which is why I chose Moonclaw and not you, ever."[/i]

[i]"Hmhmhmhm...a child who only eats bones would never choose meat until he tastes it first."[/i]

Stepping back into the light as cold amethyst gleamed off her back, the dark gleam in her eye made Oddclaw stiffen his legs when she walked close.

[i]"You should be thanking me firstly, considering I saved you from the humans."[/i]

[i]"The..."[/i] Oddclaw blinked looking upwards, [i]"wait, what happened to the stoneflyer?"[/i]

[i]"The stone-...oh, hhhahahaha,"[/i] she chuckled shaking her head, [i]"ohhhh I love how your language works, it's adorable. Yes, the 'stoneflyer' as you call it still remains in the swamp. I have my guards checking the surroundings in case the humans came back for the rest of their spoils."[/i]

[i]"Did..."[/i] Oddclaw licked his lips, [i]"did they take any beasts from inside the stoneflyer?"[/i]

[i]"Why do you wish to know?"[/i]

[i]"I had friends in there, I was trying to free them-"[/i]

[i]"From the humans?"[/i] She leaned in close with a winking eye. [i]"So you did learn finally to not trust them."[/i]

[i]"How do you know about them?!"[/i]

[i]"Because...they were the ones who made me."[/i]

She stretched her tail and whipped across the room, shuddering steel links that scraped towards another sconce where chemicals burst aflame to bring a vile jade light to the room as Oddclaw saw more of her body. The long twin blades at the edge of her tail brimming together like scorpions' tips, with a new addition of two rusted handles, circular shapes with one on each side of her waist.

[i]"My name is not Rumble. That was a lie I fed your son so I could observe you more closely. I, am Riptor, the 'alpha' you would say of the Ultraraptors."[/i]

[i]"The...what?"[/i] Oddclaw squinted.

[i]"We came from another world, where humans saw fit to create us. Our kind had been dead for millions of years until they decided in a mockery of our ancestry, to revive us as nothing but loyal lapdogs to do their bidding."[/i]

[i]"You are...starbeasts then, like the beasts that took you and Seaclaw."[/i]

[i]"In a sense, yes, we are alien to your world."[/i]

[i]"So that means...ah!"[/i] The anthro gasped straightening his back. [i]"But, you know of the hairless here then?!"[/i]

[i]"As I saw them fighting you when their ship crashed-"[/i]

[i]"NO, no, those were not my friends, they came here the same as you they are starbeasts!"[/i]

[i]"Ohh?"[/i] Riptor grinned walking close. [i]"You think there are different kinds of humans?"[/i]

[i]"Yes, I know they are, the ones who live here are my friends!"[/i]

[i]"Mmmmm...I thought you were smarter than that."[/i] She slipped her tail round to press under his neck. [i]"But then, I once thought the same as you."[/i]

[i]"D-do not, touch me!"[/i] he turned from her gaze.

[i]"Did you know I was born fully-grown?"[/i] Riptor forced his head up with the flat of the cold blades. [i]"I was not hatched out of an egg, none of us were. We were all born like this, fully-grown in a tank, like a large stone you can look inside of as they pumped fluids into us. Were you born from an egg, Oddclaw?"[/i]

[i]"Yes!

[i]"What were you like as a child? What was your childhood like?"[/i]

[i]"Why do-NNNGH, wh-why do you care?!"[/i]

[i]"Because I never had one, pay attention you're not an idiot, I wasn't born, I was created."[/i]

[i]"I...but that is the same thing!"[/i]

[i]"No, it's NOT!"[/i] She ripped her tail away leaving a scratch on his neck. [i]"I do not know how raptors live, how those like YOU live other than the basic things of sex and feeding and bodily functions, but not the culture, not the TRUE way of raptors that your family seem to possess! So I am asking you, sincerely, what...was your childhood like?"[/i]

A moment of anger gave way to sadness as Riptor sniffed deep. The look in her eyes briefly made Oddclaw realise one of her needs as he took a few minutes to choose his words.

[i]"I...I cried a lot. Mother told me I was very slow to learn to speak, learn to walk, I could not eat food unless it was soft so she had to feed me like a flyer would."[/i]

[i]"Really?"[/i] Riptor blinked. [i]"Why, were you toothless?"[/i]

[i]"Yes, I...had not grown teeth until I was older."[/i]

[i]"You were that weak as a child? Your mother didn't just, abandon you to care for her stronger children?"[/i]

[i]"No,"[/i] he shook his head, [i]"that, that is not what mothers do, what did yours do?"[/i]

[i]"I had no mother. All I had were test tubes, syringes and humans."[/i] She walked between green and purple. [i]"They were pale-faced ghouls in pale-laced coats that swept behind them. The closest contact I had was when they stole my blood, injected me with chemicals, twisted my body, fed me this intelligence that lets me understand what a chemical even is. I remember them all, tetrazepam, morphine, ketamine..."[/i]

Her eyes drifted towards the crackling flames.

[i]"The only constant I ever had was chemistry. The results come out always the same because everything has been recorded. Everything that me and my pack can create, we have long discovered and learned and studied to become our weapons and our shields."[/i]

Her tail pointed to the emerald fire.

[i]"That green fire is caused by boric acid, whilst the violet's a mixture of potassium sulfates and nitrates. I hope you like them, my pack have been having fun turning our outpost into a lovely little den where we can watch and observe your dealings with the tribes around you, including those humans you think are your friends."[/i]

[i]"They ARE my friends,"[/i] snarled Oddclaw pushing against the vines, [i]"better friends then you were to my son."[/i]

[i]"Well, that's insulting."[/i] She pressed her claws to the bolt in her chest. [i]"I actually liked your son, very much so in fact and had my plan succeeded I would have taken great care of him as his new mother."[/i]

[i]"He would never accept you as his mother you sick-minded beast."[/i]

[i]"And why not?"[/i] Riptor leaned towards his face. [i]"Are you truly happy sitting in the dirt, drinking the water you bathe in? Is your son happy doing the same thing as you, wasting that beautiful mind, that SPARK of intelligence you share with me?"[/i]

[i]"I am NOT you,"[/i] he snapped with venom-jade eyes, [i]"we are not the same!"[/i]

[i]"Hmhmhmhm...why do they call you Oddclaw? Because of your three delightful little fingers?"[/i]

She waved her own claws before him with human gestures, four long fingers including a thumb that she dappled across his cheek.

[i]"You are an aberration who was born in the wrong place. You were not meant to exist, as was I, but we have both exceeded beyond our respective packs. Do you truly want to doom your son to the same life of mediocrity that you were forced to be? You did not choose this life, and I know that if you had the choice, you would never have chosen it."[/i]

[i]"And you think you know me better?"[/i] He twisted the vines against his wrists. [i]"You are a heartless beast, sick and envious without a family that you think you can just take whoever you want for a mate! You are a spoilt child with the body of an adult, you know NOTHING, Riptor."[/i]

[i]"Oh, don't I?"[/i]

She walked towards the wall beside him in a half-circle.

[i]"Your mother came from the desert, your two remaining brothers have special minds and your banished brother despises you. Your sisters love you dearly, even if both of them are rather childish but they have happy families with the feathered ones from the forest. And your father...was just like you. A creature from another time who never fit in anyplace."[/i]

[i]"So you were spying on me."[/i] Oddclaw didn't turn his head. [i]"My mate was right."[/i]

[i]"What do you think your father did in his life, hmmm?"[/i] She walked to his other side. [i]"Do you think he was a good and kind beast that was swept away by the winds of space, or was your mother just another conquest for him when he left to find a better more fulfilling life?"[/i]

[i]"What does it matter? He is not here, and I am not him."[/i]

[i]"No..."[/i] she whispered in his ear, [i]"you're far greater than that. You have three beautiful children, all exceptional hunters that any raptor would be proud of to see grow. But that's just it. They'll never grow within this wasted life of a primitive world you obsess yourself into never leaving."[/i]

Her claws gripped at his shoulder before he turned sharply away in a hiss of contempt.

[i]"Do you understand Oddclaw? You are capable of something great, something I can give you beyond what your pack ever could, and your son can become even greater too! You will want something more, because you are greater than the rest of them, you can ponder on the world beyond and see the stars and think 'what lies out there' when none of you can-"[/i]

[i]"How. Dare you."[/i]

Oddclaw turned with tightening arms and a brazen scowl.

[i]"How, dare you think so little of my tribe, when you are nothing but a FAKE?! You said it yourself, you know nothing of what it is like to be a hunter, you never learned from a mother or father, what right do you have to tell me how to live my life?!"[/i]

[i]"Because I can see beyond the trees Oddclaw!"[/i]

[i]"I WANT NOTHING BEYOND THE TREES!"[/i]

[i]"You will."[/i] She pressed her snout against his. [i]"One day you shall grow old, and feeble, and your son will be trapped in the same place as you, and you will weep...when you have wasted that chance to be with me."[/i]

[i]"And why would I be with you?"[/i] Oddclaw looked towards the flames. [i]"What do you have to offer me, when I have a family, when I have friends-"[/i]

[i]"I can give you [b]eternity.[/b]"[/i]

Her smile loomed towards his face as she moved her body in front of him.

[i]"What do all creatures want in life? Eternity. Descendants. You want your children to live healthy, you want THEIR children to be healthy and continue to breed yes?"[/i]

[i]"Of course."[/i]

[i]"That is what I want too. My pack suffer from a problem, the fact that all of us...are one big family."[/i]

[i]"Oh..."[/i] Oddclaw pulled back, [i]"ohhh."[/i]

[i]"You understand now?"[/i] She slitted her eyes upon him. [i]"This is not some lovesick need, this is survival for me and my pack."[/i]

[i]"But...wait."[/i] He shook his head. [i]"Some of your tribe came asking for that, because you were dying, you needed-"[/i]

[i]"Yes, that was true."[/i]

[i]"So you already have them! You have mates already to choose WHY do you want me?!"[/i]

[i]"Because YOU are better than them!"[/i] she grabbed his face with her claws. [i]"YOU have a unique body, your greater intelligence with your fingers, these precious digits that let you and me sculpt things, create!"[/i]

[i]"Get, o-off!"[/i]

[i]"Is it wrong of me to want to sculpt something of my own, a family and a future for my pack after humans sculpted me on a whim to defile the gods?!"[/i]

[i]"ENOUGH!"[/i]

He shook his head with a snapping of his teeth, lifting his legs to kick her back hard as she staggered slightly with a tightening snarl.

[i]"Hmph. So that's how it is then."[/i]

[i]"Yes."[/i] Oddclaw seethed. [i]"You do not need me, I do not need you."[/i]

[i]"Of course you wouldn't understand. You wouldn't understand being made to exist as a weapon, torn between a grand intelligence, and a bestial urge that force me to exist. Something greater than just a god-slayer. But those humans, they thought themselves as gods too, and so I killed them too. What meaning do I have left in a world where gods do not exist?"[/i]

Riptor sighed looking up towards the ceiling with her face masked in green, before walking out of the room in silence. Oddclaw shifted uncomfortably, trying to break free as he twisted his hands against the restraints but finding no purchase, clawing the back of the stone stalagmite as the sounds of raptors echoed from beyond between debates and playful fighting. Time passed with the dripping of water beside him, falling asleep eventually until the sound of claws and a scent alerted him a few hours later.

[i]"Sleeping on the job?"[/i]

A raptor of sickly yellow approached with his claws carrying meat.

[i]"And here I thought you were the great hunter of your tribe."[/i]

[i]"Who are you?"[/i] Oddclaw scoffed pulling back.

[i]"I know what you're thinking, no the meat is not poisoned, if we wanted you dead I would have slit your throat the moment we found you."[/i]

He offered the chunk of roasted meat that at first Oddclaw refused, but the shuddering hollow of his stomach forced him to consume it in several bites as the pale raptor stood before him.

[i]"Unbelieveable I have to feed you like a child."[/i]

[i]"Mmmph, glrk, if you let my claws free I can do it myself."[/i]

[i]"So you can wrap them round my throat? I think not."[/i]

[i]"Where is Riptor?"[/i]

[i]"You'll see her when she wants to see you."[/i] The ultraraptor turned with insulting slap of his tail across Oddclaw's face. [i]"She just needed to prepare something, I am here to ask you on behalf of her because, maybe you got off on the wrong foot with her."[/i]

[i]"I understood her well."[/i] He sneered. [i]"I do not want her as my mate, I will not breed her, she already has others from my tribe, she is nothing but a selfish-"[/i]

The tail thrust towards his neck, a piercing single tip inches from his bobbing throat as the raptor looked back.

[i]"Finish that sentence, and I will kill you now."[/i]

[i]"Then Riptor will kill you."[/i]

[i]"Some things are worth dying for. She always has been."[/i] He slinked his tail back and turned to Oddclaw once again. [i]"I am Sulphide, her 'beta' if you will."[/i]

[i]"I remember you, yes, you came to our tribe for us to help with-"[/i]

[i]"Yes, and I thank you greatly for how much you helped us."[/i]

[i]"So why does she want ME?"[/i]

[i]"Because Riptor demands only the...fffffinest, of males."[/i] He rolled his eyes with a snort. [i]"But I hardly understand what she sees in a halfbreed like you that consorts openly with humans."[/i]

The pale raptor walked towards the purple flame, staring at it briefly with a sigh as the shadows flew over the walls.

[i]"This world is such simple place, unchanged for eons and not one single beast who lives here can comprehend the evolution of our species. I almost envy you for that. Tell me, do you trust the humans you are so friends with?"[/i]

[i]"I do,"[/i] said Oddclaw nodding.

[i]"Why?"[/i]

[i]"Because they have helped me. They saved me when I fell into the sea, they told me stories of their world, they helped us make friends and strengthen our tribe-"[/i]

[i]"At the cost of your dignity,"[/i] Sulphide turned, [i]"at the cost of the fact they brought alien influences to your home that upset the balance."[/i]

[i]"Such as you?"[/i] Oddclaw grinned.

[i]"I did not choose to come here. And frankly considering Riptor's craven obsession with you I would rather we never came."[/i]

[i]"Glad we agree. So why even keep me here?"[/i]

[i]"Because Riptor shall lead us to salvation, and I shall do whatever it takes to ensure her bloodline remains. I advise you to not refuse her will."[/i]

[i]"Then find someone else."[/i] Oddclaw kicked his feet turning away. [i]"I will not be part of this."[/i]

[i]"Hm. Very well."[/i] Sulphide grinned stepping out of the cave. [i]"Remember your words for what shall come next."[/i]

He marched out of the room as Oddclaw sighed to himself. Trying to untangle the vines he felt the knots twisting harder and refuse to yield before he slumped back with a sigh and looked down to his feet. Trying to pull up his legs he snapped and lunged far as he could but just couldn't quite reach whilst raptors roamed the halls outside the room. Then he sensed her presence as Riptor slinked back into the room whilst carrying a capped stone bowl in her claws.

[i]"Do you know what I love most about your world?"[/i]

She set down the bowl upon a large stone.

[i]"The fact that everything is so simple. Night and day exist, the strong remain and the weak are erased without even a single tear for their passing."[/i]

Her claw opened the top to reveal a clear liquid.

[i]"Back where I came from, I watched and listened to the news that humans spoke to each other. They spoke of a planet that was dying, of races and species that were suffering, slowly facing extermination where languages are silenced, cultures erased and I thought to myself...'why is that terrible?'"

Her tail's blades dipped into the water.

[i]"What is terrible about evolution? That was when I realised my gods were worthless. Because they cannot bring themselves to face a future that even their own kind admit is eventual by the very acts that they commit. The weak will perish, not by their cruelty but by the same force that tells us to live and to die. Humans think they are above nature, they keep trying to fight it...but they could not fight me."[/i]

Riptor's smile gleamed from the purple fire.

[i]"I had two voices in my head. One that spoke of my needs and instincts, and one that spoke of morality, consciousness and human sentiments. I once considered things that humans would call terrible, despite their greatest and richest committing to such acts. That side of me is gone Oddclaw. And now I want to help you."[/i]

She walked closer with her smile growing beyond a raptor's look.

[i]"I want to help silence that detestable voice inside you, that creeping human voice that tells you what you think is wrong, telling you those stupid little lies that keep you from becoming great, from becoming strong as I WANT you to be because of your [b]human[/b] sentiments that stop you from leaping across the gap and joining the world that I live in."[/i]

[i]"I...I said before,"[/i] Oddclaw hissed reeling back, [i]"I will never help you."[/i]

[i]"And why not?"[/i] She planted her foot on his belly.

[i]"Because you are a sick and terrible beast."[/i]

[i]"But WHAT is terrible!? Is it terrible to want to be FREE, Oddclaw?! Is it terrible to want a life for your pack, that isn't wrapped around the greasy little fingers of a walking PIG who thinks they can force a worthless concept of ethics into my mind?!"[/i]

[i]"Wh-what?"[/i]

[i]"Is it TERRIBLE that I wish not to see you or any other beast live the first years of their life, listening to a bell that told you when a little goat came out that it was time to feed, instead of learning to hunt, learning to walk, learning to BE your own hunter?!"[/i]

Her face lost its smile as her eyes became darker.

[i]"All I wanted was to be like my ancestors, all I wanted was to be a great hunter who chose what to kill, who chose what to eat instead of a BELL telling me what to eat, when to sleep, when to lay down like a dog because everytime that bell rang they would inject me with something, they would hurt me, bend me to their will because it was such FUN for them!"[/i]

[i]"A-AAAAAGH!"[/i]

Her tail pressed down on his penis, dipping between her foot as Oddclaw felt the cold piercing blades sink into his foreskin.

[i]"I [b]hated[/b] that fucking bell, for seven years I can't stop hearing it in my dreams, even when I murdered them, when I ripped their faces and slaughtered their children and made them WATCH when I gutted their bloodlines, that [b]FUCKING SOUND[/b] still drives me insane!"[/i]

[i]"A-AAAGH, AAAAAARGH!"[/i]

[i]"DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE?!"[/i] she screamed pushing the blades an inch deep. [i]"EVERY FUCKING MORNING, THAT FUCKING BELL WAS THERE, FOR [b]SEVEN YEARS![/b]"[/i]

Her face twitched with something creeping through the back of her eye that made Oddclaw flinch amongst the painful prick of her blades. A dark cold scent she briefly had that sent shudders through his being as she pulled back with a mirthless chuckle.

[i]"But you never had to deal with that. You are fortunate. And I won't let any human take you away from me, not until you've given me what I need."[/i]

Her tail clinked back into place, dripping a tender red spot upon the rusted tips as Oddclaw shuddered with a cold tingling in his shaft.

[i]"I-i...know what you want, Riptor. And I will never breed with you."[/i]

[i]"So you've said. So your mind continues to refuse me in your old-world ignorance."[/i]

She walked over to the bowl, picking it up in her claws to show Oddclaw the strange-smelling liquid.

[i]"Do you know what this is?"[/i]

[i]"N-no."[/i]

[i]"This is papaverine, a chemical that naturally grows in opium poppies. The humans use this for many of their failing bodily issues such as migraines, spasms in the intestines, and also...erectile dysfunction. You see, some humans, well, let's say most, are incapable of even the most basic of muscular functions. So they inject this into their penis, and that makes it hard."[/i]

[i]"Wh-...what-n-NNGH!"[/i]

[i]"You feel that tingling? That's what I just put in your penis. It takes about ten minutes to get nice and full."[/i]

[i]"You...you are sick."[/i] Oddclaw gasped squeezing his legs. [i]"You are SICK!"[/i]

[i]"I don't need your mind to consent,"[/i] Riptor shook his head, [i]"I just need your body to understand, and you would be surprised how [b]incredibly[/b] simple it is to make your body do anything I want, with the right ingredients."[/i]

[i]"H-haaah, AAAAH!"[/i]

[i]"Now I ask you one more time. Will you help me ensure the future of my pack? Or shall I take what I need from you?"[/i]

[i]"NNNGH, NOOO!"[/i]

[i]"Shall I take you as a loyal mate, or a harboured slave, the choice is yours!"[/i]

[i]"I WILL NOT BE YOURS, NEVER WILL I BE YOURS!"[/i]

[i]"Not yet."[/i]

Oddclaw forced his rage inside to try and suppress the flow of blood. His member began to swell, thickening against his will with a chemical burst rippling through his veins as Riptor grinned wider. The growing erection made Oddclaw shudder as fear thickened in his mind, wrestling himself back against the wall before Riptor pinned him with claws at his throat.

[i]"It's time."[/i]

[i]"N-no, NOOO!"[/i]

[i]"Embrace the future with me Oddclaw."[/i] She crunched her foot in the wall past his head. [i]"Take your stand against obscurity, against the humans who would use you as their pet!"[/i]

[i]"GET, OFF OF ME!"[/i]

[i]"All I want is peace for my kind."[/i] She angled her rump above his shaft. [i]"You are not a cruel beast so as to deny our future, are you?"[/i]

[i]"I, will not, n-never-"[/i]

[i]"I only ask...for this one thing. Is it so much to ask, to give me even one child?"[/i]

[i]"NOO, I DO NOT WANT THIS!"[/i]

[i]"SHUT UP!"[/i] She tightened her claws on his throat. [i]"It's not about what YOU want, stop being so selfish and GIVE ME YOUR SEED!"[/i]

[i]"A-AAAAAAAGH!"[/i]

Riptor slid herself down upon his trembling 10-inch cock, her tight cloaca puckering up against his head as she pushed harder with a soft hiss and trembling breaths until the glans breached.

[i]"AAAAH! A-AAAH...ohhh...hhhohhhh yes."[/i]

[i]"G-GET, OFF ME-M-MMMMPH!"[/i]

[i]"SHUT. Up."[/i]

Before he could bite, her tail suddenly coiled round his snout and tightened fierce with shivering steel links.

[i]"If you're not going to be a good boy, I'll have to muzzle you. Now DON'T, ruin this, for me."[/i]

[i]"MMM-MMMMRRH, MMMMPH!"[/i]

[i]"I should...t-tell you,"[/i] Riptor gasped as she sunk another inch, [i]"I've never...had sex before. So be a good dear and make this special."[/i]

[i]"MMMMNNNNH!"[/i]

[i]"Hhhhh...s-so hot...much hotter and...th-thicker than-NNNGH, o-ohhh!"[/i]

Pushing herself down Riptor tried to relax her depths, her virginal tightness was an obstacle she gritted her teeth through as the pulsing shaft grinded against her walls with a forced vigour. Oddclaw panted with twitching eyes and a stuttered breath, grunting with restraint as he tried to rear his head back away from the panting face of Riptor who was trapped between pain and pleasure. She scrunched her eyes and tightened her teeth as she pushed down harder with her stretching walls, feeling the rip of her folds in trying to accommodate Oddclaw's length and the trickling of blood down his shaft in thin purple slivers.

[i]"H-haaaah...ohhh your mate is very lucky."[/i]

[i]"NNNNGH, n-nnrrrrgh!"[/i]

[i]"I can see how you managed to get three eggs out of her, AAAH! Even if I have seen bigger males in my pack, you managed to fill out all the right-HAAAH!"[/i]

She tightened up suddenly when she felt his head press against her cervix, or the equivalent thereof in a raptor as Riptor forced down harder against the growing pain before something popped. Her eyes fluttered with a dripping excitement, her juices mixing with her blood in lubricating arousal as Oddclaw tried to kick and throw her off, but her weight forced down harder as she hilted all of his cock inside with a trembling hiss.

[i]"Mmmmph! H-haaah...yes, so close, I just need the one, just once!"[/i]

[i]"NNRRRGH! MMM-MMMMPH!"[/i]

[i]"You'll feel, b-better, once it's all over, Oddclaw."[/i]

Licking her lips Riptor started to ride him, pumping her vent against the wettening pole as Oddclaw screamed from his rumbling throat with tears in his eyes watering down his cheek. The ultraraptor clenched her tail round his snout, the tightening clasp of steel almost crushing his bone as he whimpered with rapid breaths in time to the hilting slap of Riptor's snatch. To his horror he felt pre smearing across her folds that rippled with increasing excitement, her body pumping harder on his bound legs whilst her foot scraped down hard behind Oddclaw's head as she sunk herself to the hilt again and again.

Oddclaw cried out harder, his sobbing increased as he shook his head frantically trying to pull away but Riptor grabbed his shoulders and pounded faster against him with a thickening slap and a wider grin upon his face filled with a luscious greed. Her eyes glimmered like dark pools of the deep, her vent tightening with spasms that clenched and pulled as deep as she could with rippling folds that excited the flesh, the forced erection grinding into her depths as her belly shuddered with a surging heat, a growing flood of juices pouring forth against Oddclaw's quivering meat.

[i]"N-nnrh...nnnnrh, h-hnnnngh!"[/i]

[i]"Getting close?"[/i] she whispered looming above him. [i]"Come on dear...don't be greedy."[/i]

[i]"NNNNRRRGH, RRRRGH!"[/i]

[i]"Just, j-just a bit, m-more, my future is near, it's so near!"[/i]

[i]"NN-NNNGH, RRRRRRRGH!"[/i]

[i]"A-AAAAA[b]AAAAIIIIIGH![/b]"[/i]

Her climax breached as she came, clenching hard as she could to suck Oddclaw dry when he came against his will. His screech rang out through the cave as he sobbed in howling pain, his cock surrendering at last to her will as he filled her depths with rich fertile seed. Riptor screamed with euphoric bliss, her claws digging deep into his shoulders as she hilted to the brim making certain not a single drop was wasted.

[i]"Aaaah...h-haaaaah...thank you."[/i]

She looked down upon his weeping face.

[i]"You've done a great service to me, Oddclaw."[/i]

With tail slipping off his face, Riptor grinned and shifted herself to feel his semen drip on her walls.

[i]"I'll be making sure over the next week that all this has...sunk in."[/i]

[i]"Y-y-you...f-filthy beast,"[/i] whimpered Oddclaw.

[i]"Oh don't worry. I won't tell your mate."[/i] She stroked his head. [i]"It'll be our little secret."[/i]

Her eyes slitted as she pulled herself off of the raptor, his pulsing shaft dripping of their seed as she turned to walk away with her cloaca drooling in front of him.

[i]"You shall make a queen out of a virgin, and soon I shall have a wonderful...family of ours."[/i]

[i]"N-n-no."[/i] He gasped lowering his head. [i]"N-no, I do not...I do not want a f-family with you."[/i]

Riptor left him be with a small trail behind her, her shadow fading across the walls of the corridor before disappearing. The sound of a gentle sobbing filled the room as Oddclaw stared upon himself, twisting his face with disgust and a burning regret that filled his heart.

[i]"M-moonclaw...I...I am sorry, I am sorry, h-hoh please...she made me...sh-she made me..."[/i]

In the depths of the mysterious base, Jacob still sat in boredom waiting for someone to come collect his naked body. His feet waggled softly to themselves, black toes stretching as he puffed his cheeks and flapped his lips against the muzzle over his face, staring around the laboratory with its oppressive silver sheen and constant emblems. Sometimes he heard the sound of a soldier's footsteps through the hall, perking up his head wondering if anyone would come whilst staring at the various desks and instruments.

"Hmmmmm...pfffft jeez they really should gimme like magazines or something, this is even worse than the dentist office! Haaaah..."

Looking up at the light above his head which now turned dimmer than before, Jacob made more mouth sounds and rapped his hands upon the table he was still restrained to. An hour had passed since any contact so he looked around and craned his ear before gathering his breath.

"Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my collection's complete? Wouldn't you think I'm the giiiirl, the girl who haaaas, everything? Look at this trove, treasures untold, how many wonders can one cavern hoooold? Looking around here you'd think, sure...she's got everything."

His fingers tapped out a slow beat as a smile grew on his face with his voice cracking off-tune.

"I've got gadgets and gizmos of plentyyyy, I've got whose-its and whats-its galoooore, you want thingamabobs?! I got twenty! But who caaaares? No big deaaal, I want moooooooore!"

"//QUIET!//"

The door slammed open with a common guard marching into the room.

"//Unless you want a knife in your throat you'll be QUIET!//"

"WOW, okay calm down I was just singing to myself you don't have to be such a JERK!"

The gun raised to his face said otherwise which at first frightened the yoshi before he realised something with a growing smirk under his muzzle.

"Youuu better be careful with that, if I get hurt, Frau Grimm's gonna get REAAAL mad."

"//F-Frau Grimm?!//" The soldier stammered backing off.

"Yeaaah that's right, she wants me safe and sound so don't get any ideas bucko!"

He smacked his tongue sharp as the guard began to walk out the door as Jacob bellowed out the top of his voice.

"I WANNA BE WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE, I WANNA SEE, WANNA SEE 'EM DANCING! WALKING AROUND ON THOSE, WHAT DO YOU CALL 'EM?! OH, FEET!"

He waggled said feet before the door opened again and he saw Dr. Frederick Ingelbaum stride into the room with a clink of his boots.

"HEYYYY Stinkelbaum!"

"//Be quiet!//" he snapped. "//Do not make this any harder then it has to be!//"

"Uhhh yeah I still don't understand ya, so what you want now?"

"//Agh I cannot believe this,//" he walked over to the yoshi and pulled out a set of cuffs. "//Guard, get in here and assist me!//"

The soldier nearby helped to undo the restraints before adding the cuffs to make Jacob's hands tied together, lifting him off from the table as he sighed with some relief.

"Hooo, thanks, my back was as stiff as your nose all day!"

"//March, now!//"

"Okay OKAY sheesh lemme just wake up my legs first."

"//Unbelieveable...her obsession with that sample really did come to fruition, such a waste.//"

Shoved towards the door he was lead out down the corridor with the soldier keeping gun trained on his back and Ingelbaum beside him. The halls felt like the depths of a hospital, the smell of disinfectant burning his nostrils as other scents came flickering through the long silver passages with floors of alternating sterile green where other soldiers walked past. Blood, steel, tears and fire mixed through the air with a shudder through the yoshi, turning corners as occasionally he saw a long window overlooking a larger room with clawmarks raked across the walls and cages with hidden beasts that rasped with lament.

"Soooo where are we going?" he asked.

"//Twenty years at the Uppsala institute,//" snarled the doctor, "//and I am a dogwalker for this halfbreed MUTT who could be contributing valuable research to my work!//"

"You ever tried just, not shouting at people all the time cuz people would like you a lot more Stinkums."

"//ENOUGH WITH THE STINK!//" He turned with his hand raised ready to slap.

"Yeah go on, go on an' slap me, I'll tell Frau Grimm you hurt me and she'll get real mad."

"//AaaAAAAGH!//"

He directed his slap into a shove towards the guard behind Jacob, the muzzled yoshi dodging out of the way when the soldier fell to give a hard kick to the scientist's chest.

"//AAAGH, YOU BLUE-BELLIED SHIT!//"

"That's what you get for shoving other people around!" Jacob snapped before bending over the fallen guard. "You alright pal?"

"//DON'T MOVE!//" his gun pointed straight at his face whilst pushing himself back up.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH CHILL, I was just checking if you were alright!"

"//Sir, we cannot delay any longer.//"

"//F-fine.//" Ingelbaum straightened his coat feeling a bruise in his stomach. "//Fucking Grimm, all she cares about is her damn conquest, what about MY needs furthering the science of racial purity?!//"

"//Are you, asking me sir?//"

"//Why would I give a damn what YOU think, you're just a common Hessian! Now march!//"

Leading onwards they soon reached a door that the doctor opened with a keycard, pushing Jacob inside an empty room with nothing but a screen in front of him with a desk between, a projector on the wall behind him and several folded chairs stacked up to the side next to cubbyholes full of reference materials. Forced to sit on his knees naked and cold, the guard beside him kept his gun trained whilst Frederick stood by the wall in waiting.

"Aw neat we gonna watch a movie?!" cried Jacob. "Could you guys get me a seat, this floor's kinda hard."

"//Be quiet,//" barked the guard in German, "//the less you talk the easier this'll be.//"

"I really don't get your deal, I was trying to be nice when your boss shoved you, you just gonna take that?!"

"//SHUT, UP YOU LITTLE BLACK BASTARD!//"

"Ugh."

Jacob rolled his eyes with a snort through his muzzle as they waited for the esteemed guest. Twenty minutes passed with dark mutterings from Ingelbaum to himself until the door opened again with two people stepping through. Frau Grimm in her suffocating black carrying something in her hand, and Arnold the caped guard strolling behind.

"Morning ma'am!" the yoshi said. "Or is it afternoon I kinda can't tell."

"//Thank you doctor,//" she waved him off, "//you may go now.//"

"//I do not appreciate being a dogwalker-//"

"//I [b]said[/b] you may go.//"

He gave a harumph and marched out with the lower-ranked soldier. Grimm stepped towards the projector and set it up for herself, whilst Arnold stood beside Jacob keeping watch.

"Soooo we watching a movie or not?"

"//Not quite,//" she replied with Arnold translating, "//I hope you are feeling well.//"

"Well I am kinda hungry, don't suppose you got any food?"

"//You will be fed after this.//"

"Okay...um, can I have my clothes back, ma'am, this place feels really cold."

She did not reply as she turned with a dark bottle in one hand and stepped in front of the screen.

"//Would you like a drink?//" she waved it to him. "//Perhaps that would warm you up.//"

"O-oh, no thanks," he smiled under the muzzle, "I made a promise, can't drink yet."

"//Not yet? Are you a child?//"

"Nah, I'm eighteen now, but I...heh, promised my dad my first drink as an adult would be with him."

"//Ahhh yes, your father.//"

She sat down at the desk and brought out a glass tumbler from her belt pouch, topping herself off with a small drink of golden-brown fluid.

"//Scottish whiskey. Verminous rebels, savages who refuse to appreciate our ways but they make an exceptional drink. Then again, I suppose one must need such strong alcohol to survive such a barbaric wasteland devoid of culture. But I digress.//"

Grimm leaned forwards putting her glass down and crossing her fingers towards Jacob.

"//Little MacGregor...hah, a name of such a region actually, I just realised.//"

"Huh?" he cocked his head. "Not sure what you mean, ma'am."

"//I appreciate how polite you are by the way, compared to Dr. Ingelbaum.//"

"Well...yeah, have you seen that guy?"

"//Hahaha.//" Her laugh was false which worried Jacob slightly. "//Who taught you such manners, may I ask?//"

"My dad," he nodded, "taught me to treat people with the respect they give others."

"//Ahhhh that explains it. What else did he teach you?//"

"Well...he taught me to always help others if you can, and I shouldn't pick on anyone weaker than me, and stand up for those who can't fight for themselves."

"//Hmmm. Hhhmhmhmhm. Sounds very like him to sympathise with such.//"

"What do you mean?" Jacob shuffled on his knees. "Do you...do you know him?"

Her smile grew underneath the visor as her red-slitted view turned intense with a zestful glee that unnerved him. He felt Arnold beside him turn stiff as well as Frau Grimm stood up from the desk and walked to the side.

"//Where does your father come from?//"

"W-well...he's from Dinosaur Land, somewhere out west of my home."

"//Is this place nearby?//"

"N-no, no I came through from another world just like you guys."

"//Ahhh. A nexus. Shame, I would have loved to meet your father again.//"

"Are you, for real?" he tried to stand up but Arnold's hand forced him down. "Do you really know my dad?!"

"//He has told you nothing?//" She tutted softly pulling out a small remote in her hand. "//Nothing about his past?//"

"Just that he came from Dinosaur Land, travelled around a lot and settled where I live now, wh-why's that a deal?"

"//Because your father, is not who he seems little Jacob.//"

She clicked the remote as the projector brought its first slide on showing two separate rows of black and red dots, half of which matched up in a certain fashion.

"//These are DNA samples. The one on the right is your blood that we took. The one on the left...is prisoner six-four-three-eight-nine-zero.//"

"Huh." Jacob squinted his head. "That's uh...that's a heck of a match."

"//I am glad you agree...MacGregor.//"

The button clicked again as Jacob's eyes froze with shock. A black-and-white photograph showing two shots of a prisoner above-waist from the front and the side. Black scales from a broad chest where a triangle was burnt deep into his flesh, the face of a raptor staring dead towards the camera with brighter rings around his eyes.

"//Yeeeees.//" Grimm clapped her hands with a heavy sigh. "//The look on your face tells me everything.//"

"Th-that...wh-wh-what, what, what the heck is THIS?!"

"//Prisoner six-four-three-eight-nine-zero, Skulte-Marupe, Latvia. He gave his name as Roy MacGregor. We gave him a number instead.//"

"Wha-b-but!" Jacob swung his cuffed hands in gesture. "Th-th-that, that's, that's not-"

"//Possible?//" she leaned in with foetid grin. "//Unless, of course, your father was not entirely truthful with you. Allow me to clear the mist.//"

Grimm walked across the room with jackboots creaking in every step.

"//I was in charge of a special camp in Latvia. 1942, assigned to deal with a rampant horde of criminals that had plagued the countryside, a prison essentially. Vandals, murderers, sexual deviants but primarily a group of people who roam from place to place, pillaging what they can from communities of noble citizens and in worst cases even kill and rape. Gypsies, we call them.//"

"B-but, what, wh-what do you-"

"//AHH, I'm not finished.//" She planted a finger on his head. "//Wait until I am done, then I will receive your questions. Yes, I was a warden of this camp, the Jackal of Skulte-Marupe they called me, a hunter who sought to protect the citizens of the Third Reich from these subhuman wretches. But, in the midst of my duties, I found a strange beast, who had wandered from the depths of a forest, surrounded by wolves that he fended off with all his might, as weak as he was.//"

"W-wolves, what, b-but he's from my home, he can't have been, how?!"

She walked back to the screen and clicked through various photos of humans with numbers and triangles and stars upon their skin, all whilst Jacob clutched his hair with frantic breaths.

"//I took him back, healed him best I could despite having lost a hand, and I offered him a chance to repay me for saving his life. Either help me control these criminals and keep my people safe...or not. And he said yes. At first.//"

The slides stopped on a newspaper, written in German but the photograph of a collapsed bridge and the smouldering wreckage of a train gave enough for Jacob to shake his head as the caped soldier stood behind him.

"//He collaborated with the criminals,//" continued Grimm, "//harlots and thieves of gypsydom and in doing so betrayed me, the one who saved him, by freeing these MONSTERS from their cages to kill so many good decent Aryan soldiers, fathers and sons who would never return home, slaughtered because of him.//"

"TH-THAT'S NOT TRUE!" He shot up on his feet pushing Arnold back. "YOU'RE, YOU'RE LYING!"

"//Hmhmhm,//" her smile grew beneath her helm, "//and what makes you think that?!//"

"My dad would never help criminals, he's a guard, he FIGHTS them, he protects the weak and the innocent!"

"//OHOHOHOHOH!//" She clapped with a sudden cackle. "//You, y-your father is a GUARD, a keeper of the law?!//"

"YES, HE IS AND HE'S THE BEST GUARD THERE IS, HE WOULD NEVER HELP CRIMINALS!"

"//Then what do you call THIS?!//" Grimm swept her hand to the train wreckage. "//An entire camp ruined, dozens of German soldiers killed and maimed-//"

"BECAUSE YOU WERE WRONG!"

His face turned to a brazen scowl as his fists clenched in the cuffs.

"If my...my father, helped someone break out of prison, then that means he must have known they were innocent, that they were accused of a crime they didn't commit!"

"//But is your father not of the law himself?//" she smirked tapping her chin. "//Not his duty to decide who is innocent and guilty.//"

"Well it's not your duty either! Why is my dad a prisoner in them photos huh?!"

"//What?//"

"THE PHOTOS THERE!" he pointed at the screen. "You're showing me all these people who are in prison, WHY IS MY DAD ONE OF THEM, WITH A NUMBER AND EVERYTHING HUH!?"

"//That...was simply an administrative issue,//" Grimm walked towards the yoshi with her visor dimming, "//we did not know him, nor his record, we had to detain him for a brief while, and then-//"

"SO WHY DO YOU HAVE HIS BLOOD?!" Jacob screeched stomping his foot. "What kinda messed-up prison system takes your blood and KEEPS it?!"

"//Again, administrative purposes-//"

"Well yanno what, I don't trust the people calling my dad a criminal, when YOUR soldiers were stealing eggs, someone else's BABIES!"

"//Wh-what?!//" Grimm guffawed shaking her head. "//Why do you care about eggs?!//"

" I came from one, I know what I'm talking about, your soldiers were stealing eggs, someone's kids, and when I tried to say hello, THEY SHOT AT ME!"

"//What does that have to do with ANY of this discussion?//"

"Because if your people are the kinda punks who steal eggs, then shoot first and ask questions never, maybe they're the kinda people who go around beating and locking up others who aren't guilty of anything, and I bet you my dad KNEW that, so THAT'S why he broke them out!"

The woman became quiet. Her slideshow ended leaving a blank screen as Jacob felt the guard behind him slowly step away.

"//You think...I am a liar, Jacob?//"

She walked towards him as he stood firm.

"//You think that...I would, invent some ridiculous story, despite knowing about your father, from another world, despite knowing his name, and his face, and his RIGHT hand that he lost?//"

"Yes." Jacob nodded with steel-eyed gaze.

"//...god, you look just like him.//"

Her hand reached towards her belt.

"//That...same look that he had, that insufferable look of self-righteousness you took from [i]HIM![/i]//"

"A-AAAARRRGH!"

Something flashed across his eyes as a shrieking burn tore across his head, lashing hard to almost blind him as he stumbled back to throw his hands up to protect himself. The briefest sight he caught was a long whip of dust-skinned leather that ripped across his belly and caused him to buckle, clutching himself hard with a yell before Grimm rushed forth to slam her boot into his face and throw him onto his back.

"//I do not, appreciate, being called a liar.//"

"Gh-GHHRRRKH, G-GUH!"

She grabbed his throat and kneeled hard on his chest.

"//Do you want proof, little MacGregor? [i]DO YOU?![/i]//"

"GH-GHAAARGH!"

"//Then I will show you...how much of a liar, your father is.//"

Putting a hand to her visor, Grimm reached towards the side of her head and clicked something off causing the helm to slip. She pulled it off her face, slowly as Jacob squirmed beneath her grip pinching at his throat.

"//Look at me.//"

"N-NOO!"

"//[i]LOOK AT ME![/i]//"

"SH-SHUT, UP!"

"//[i]LOOK WHAT YOUR FATHER DID TO MEEEE![/i]//"

She strangled him sharp to make him screech, legs kicking out underneath as his eyes bulged towards her face before the breath caught in his throat.

"//[i]Do you believe me now...little Jacob?[/i]//"

"H-hrrrkh...k-khhhrrhh!"

"//[i]Tell me now, that your father is still a keeper of [b]peace.[/b][/i]//"

Staring deep upon her face, Jacob had no words left. Her eyes were gone, and her face was a desert of scars both deep and viscous where two cables from the visor plunged through the remnants of her sockets. But her smile still terrified Jacob the most of her features.