Fire Down Below:

Part II

Chapter One

"Sure, the power of fire is capable of destroying. But many miss the part it plays in creation. It recreated me" ~ Zaphir Down, citizen of Corneria.

Finnius watched as nurses helped Finord to his feet and helped him along, he watched as Finord fell almost immediately and sighed. Finnius was in the Paraplegia Treatment Ward of the Corneria City Hospital, and was here for Finord's late night treatment. Finnius never told anyone about this, not even his close friends, he wanted it to be a surprise when Finord finally recovered. Finnius' thoughts were disrupted by his mobile ringing.

"Finnius! Flyer here!" the sound of Flyer's voice filled his ears. To Finnius he sounded more exited than usual.

"What's up?" Finnius responded casually,

"We have a situation, a real dire one" Finnius realised that Flyer wasn't exited, he was desperately worried, "We have a possible bomb endangering the Corneria City Hospital, and that includes Lyn and Falco Lombardi!"

"What?" Finnius almost dropped his phone,

"Falco was chasing Lyn when a bomb went off in the hangar, Lyn is hurt, we don't know how seriously" Flyer's voice was hurried, and each word he took sounded planned,

"Anyone killed" was Finnius' immediate worry,

"Mace" Flyer simply stated, "He was in the hangar that exploded",

"Oh my god!"

"That's not all Fin, we found a mobile phone near the scene. Falco has it!"

"Where's Falco?"

"He went in the ambulance with Lyn, they'll be in the hospital by now!"

"I'll be right there!" Finnius started to walk for the door,

"Good, I've already contacted Tourican and Zaphir, they'll be there as soon as they can as well.”

"Zaphir might come in handy with that bomb" Finnius said as he signalled to his brother that he had to go,

"Whatever Fin, just hurry!" Flyer finished. Finnius' mobile heard only a dial tone after that, so he hung his phone up and ran out the of the building, grabbing a cane on his way, be prepared Finnius he thought as he burst out to his car.

Tourican got out of the taxi, payed the driver, and walked towards the emergency entrance of the hospital. He was still worrying about Zaphir, and how she had gotten out of the taxi in a bad part of the city. Tourican was so worried that he only switched on to his surroundings when he was standing in the ambulance stopping zone. Tourican glanced around the area and much to his confusion saw Flyer waving his arms round, and then a Doberman in military police uniform was pointing at him.

"Tourican!" he heard Flyer call, "Get... hell..." the sound was muffled by all the people yelling and running,

"What?" Tourican called out,

"... phone!" was all he heard, the screaming had died down, but now the sound of a car speeding filled his ears. Glancing round, Tourican saw a mobile phone lying on the ground nearby, but foolishly he didn't put two-and-two together.

"What?! That phone?!" Tourican yelled as loud as he could, but the car sound was getting louder. It was a Tourican finished yelling that he was suddenly jerked sideways, just as the car had reached its peak of sound, and at that same time the phone exploded, sending pieces flying at Tourican's face, scratching it. It wasn't the force of the explosion that had sent him reeling, the pulling force was coming from his neck, and his feet were dragging painfully on the ground. Almost as suddenly as he had started moving, he stopped, as did the car noise. Holding his aching neck Tourican slowly turned and looked behind himself, and there he saw a grinning Finnius, in his car, holding in one flipper a hooked cane.

"Close enough for you Tourican?" he asked,

"Too close, but thanks" Tourican spluttered, barely able to speak.

"Tourican!" Flyer ran over to the car, closely followed by the hawk and Rudarius, "Are you okay?"

"A little hoarse, but fine" he wheezed in response,

"Hi, I'm Rudarius Cormack, and this is Sergeant Hawkins,

"Pleased to meet you two"

"Oh, and your foot's on fire" Hawkins calmly pointed out,

"Ah!!" Tourican nearly jumped straight onto the hood of the car as he kicked off his flaming boot, Flyer stamped out the fire for him.

"Tourican!" Lyn called out as she limped over to the crowd,

"Uh, Lyn..." Finnius could barely control a smile as he pointed out the fact Lyn was in a hospital gown, which don't quite cover all...

"Oh great!" Lyn folded her arms,

"Here" Flyer smiled as he handed Lyn his big coat,

"Thanks Flyer" Lyn smiled back, "Tourican? Why the hell didn't you move!"

"I couldn't hear over the sound of Finnius' car" Tourican looked at Finnius and frowned,

"Hey! You're alive either way!" Finnius defended himself,

"Oh whatever Tourican groaned, then suddenly went pale,

"Tourican?" Flyer looked into Tourican's eyes and saw they were glazing over, "Get some

paramedics over here, he's suffering from shock" Hawkins signalled to the nurses who were standing ready, who then rushed over and took Tourican away,

"Great," Lyn sighed, "Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Someone with a passion for explosives is blowing away Cornerians at random" Rudarius

explained,

"Is anyone else besides me hurt?" Lyn asked,

"Mace" Flyer frowned, "and a market owner".

"Oh well," Finnius yawned, "Let's go home"

"Sorry Fin, but we should stick around" Flyer sighed, "Just in case"

"Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna try and get some sleep" Lyn remarked as she walked back towards the hospital, "Though I probably won't because of the news".

"Hey guys!" Falco called from over at the spot of the explosion, "You should see this!"

Finnius, Flyer, Hawkins and Rudarius all ran over to where Falco was kneeling,

"I found the phone's serial number... intact and all" Falco handed it to Rudarius as he stood up, "You might be able to find the owner"

"Good find Mr Lombardi" the hawk half-smiled,

"Call me Falco please"

"It doesn't make a difference what I call you"

"Maybe not to you but..."

"Um guys?" Finnius interrupted, "Flyer and myself are gonna go see if Tourican is okay. Falco, you should come too, and leave these guys to their work"

"Okay" Falco nodded.

As the other two inspected the scene, Finnius dragged Falco and Flyer into the hospital, and when they stopped Finnius turned to Falco,

"What else did you find?" Finnius cast a suspicious eye at Falco,

"I'm glad you asked", Falco grinned, "In side of a case in some near the bomb was a set of

numbers, here" Falco handed them to Finnius,

"I take it you haven't figured them out" Flyer folded his arms,

"You'd be right there" Falco yawned and stretched his wings behind his head, "I'd love to stay and help you guys out, but I've got a mission to do tomorrow, and it's getting WAY late"

"That's cool, we can handle it" Finnius replied.

"We'd better get some rest too" Flyer suggested

"I'm going home, you want a lift?" Finnius held up his keys,

"No thanks, I'll stay at the hospital" Flyer yawned, "See you in the afternoon"

"Why afternoon?" Finnius frowned, suspecting an insult.

"That's when you wake up" Flyer laughed,

"I'll remember that" Finnius continued to frown,

"When you wake up"

Chapter Two

"Zaphir is truly an extraordinary individual... but she is also as weird as all hell as well" ~ Sergeant Finnius Krill, leader of the Special Forces Team 'The Pirate Killers'

The next morning Lyn awoke before her friends, and looked round where she was. To her left was Tourican, still in his military uniform from the mission against the pirates, and in a hospital bed. Lyn watched as Tourican moaned and turned in his bed, sweat dripping down his forehead. To her right was Flyer, who was hanging from a bar on the roof by his feet. To Lyn Flyer was confusing at times, she forgot quite often that he was a bat and that bats do that kind of thing, though that was probably because Flyer was the only bat she knew. Lyn was alerted to Tourican being awake when she heard a hoarse cry. Lyn turned and saw Tourican upright in his bead, panting heavily, and his eyes nervously scanning the room.

"Tourican? Are you okay?" Lyn jumped out of bed and rushed over to her friend,

"Huh? what?" Tourican looked at Lyn somewhat daftly and suddenly realised where he was, "Oh... I had a nightmare, nothing serious" Tourican feigned a smile, and Lyn could tell.

"Nothing more?" Lyn gave him a 'really?' look,

"Nothing more," Tourican replied.

By this time Flyer had awoken,

"Good morning" he said cheerfully as he landed on the ground.

"If you can call it that" Tourican groaned.

"Hang on" Flyer stopped halfway through putting on his coat, "Has anyone called Zaphir and told her what happened?"

"Not me" Tourican looked to Lyn "And I doubt Finnius did,"

"Oh great" Lyn rolled her eyes,

"I'll call her now" Flyer said and walked out into the hospital corridors, almost bumping into a nurse that walked by.

"Good morning" the nurse chirped, "I have some good news for you two"

"Finally" Tourican half smiled,

"We have checked you both thoroughly, and have found you both to be well enough to leave"

"Great!" Lyn jumped up and ran to the drawers where her clothes were, "I can't wait to get out of here and get who killed Mace"

"Same" Tourican walked over to get his from his set of drawers.

"I heard the news guys, and I'll meet you downstairs" Flyer poked his head round the corner of the doorway,

"Is Zaph there?" Tourican asked worriedly,

"No-one answered, so if you guys can get your gear on fast we can go and see if she's alright" Flyer's voice trailed off as he walked away down the corridor.

When Tourican and Lyn got out the front of the hospital Finnius and Flyer were talking to two police officers, both burly bulldogs,

"What's up?" Tourican asked, expecting to be questioned about the incident,

"Are you Tourican Down of the special forces unit, 'The Pirate Killers'?" one of the bull dogs asked,

"Yes I am" Tourican replied, "What can I do for you?"

"We have a prisoner asking for you" said the same bulldog who asked the question,

"What?" Tourican's face went from normal to confused, "Who?"

"A Zaphir Down"

"Zaphir?" again Tourican's expression changed, "Is she all right? Has she done something wrong?"

"She's in custody for the alleged assault of four citizens" the second bulldog replied, "And

unofficially... she is under suspicion for the recent bombings that have occurred"

"Oh my god! I was hoping this wouldn't happen!" Tourican placed a wing to his forehead and looked at Finnius, "Finnius! We have to get there! FAST! Let Flyer drive"

"Flyer?! You saw how fast and reckless he goes!" Finnius whined,

"NOW!!!" Tourican yelled, not threateningly, but desperately.

"Keys" Flyer smiled and held out a claw,

"If you scratch it..." Finnius grumbled and reached into his pocket.

"I'd say with Flyer driving, and not including the possibility of getting pulled over... I'd say we'll be there in about five minutes" Lyn laughed,

"Grrrrrr..." Finnius gave Flyer and Lyn a piercing stare.

"Keep that up and you will regret it" Flyer grinned as he took the keys.

Chapter Three

"At that moment we saw something in Tourican we may never see again... He actually cared about something..." ~ Lyn Veaver, pilot in special forces unit 'The Pirate Killers'.

Zaphir sat in the corner of her cell, her head buried in her wings, the hope of those wings

swallowing her up forever seemed high, as once more she played the scene out in her head...

"Hey little lady" the iguana sneered as Zaphir cautiously walked past,

"Err, hi" Zaphir mumbled,

"Excuse me ma'am, but our friend here said hello, and a women must show courtesy to a man" a beaver stepped out into her path. Zaphir went to go another way but saw the way back was blocked by the iguana, to her left was a bear, and to her right was an elephant. Zaphir could remember her heart sinking low.

"Hey buddy, I say we teach this little lady a lesson" the bear pulled out a small little box device which had a button on the side and two pieces sticking out on the front, each on the edges. The others did the same, and Zaphir remembered what these were from the hospital, with the patients that had to be restrained, and realised they were tazers, little close range weapons designed to stun a Lylatian and render them immobile, and at the mercy of the assailant, and to Zaphir, these assailants had none.

""Who wants the honours?" the bear laughed and pressed the button to his tazers, causing blue lightning to crackle between the two points.

"Me!" the beaver grinned evilly, and lunged at Zaphir. Zaphir suddenly twigged and a part of her mind took over, the same part the night she killed her father... she dodged to the side and grabbed the beavers furry arm,

"What the?" the beaver yelled in surprise, and tried to pull his arm free. Zaphir didn't even pause, she twisted the arm behind the beavers back, and with a sickeningly audible 'crack' snapped the bone. The rest of the assailants went for Zaphir without a second's pause, and as the iguana closed in Zaphir swung the beaver's body forward, connecting the two and sending them crashing to the floor. The bear brought his tazer round in a clumsy arc, and Zaphir easily ducked, but the bear brought it back and only just got her on the arm. Hurt, but still in control Zaphir grabbed the beaver's tazer and leaped at the bear, the tazer crackling in blue light, and before her opponent could react the weapon was rammed down his throat. Zaphir had only just taken her wing away before a huge fist sent her sprawling to the ground, and when her vision came back the elephant was standing over her, grinning a wide grin.

"Aw, did I hurt the little missy?" the elephant mocked in a baby-talk tone, before reaching down. Again Zaphir's body kicked into override, and she rolled through the wide zone between her final assailants legs,

"What the?" the elephant half turned, revealing to Zaphir a knife sheathed in his belt, and without hesitation she grabbed it and leaped onto the elephants back, the rest was a red blur...

Rudarius and Hawkins walked into the cell block, and Zaphir listened to what they said,

"I checked the MO, and it looks as though she's our bomber" the hawk appeared satisfied,

"Nah," the Doberman dismissed Hawkins with a wave of his paw, "It doesn't make sense. No one in their right minds would sacrifice freedom for no good reason!"

"She's a pyro!" Hawkins struggled to prove a point,

"Go fig?" all turned their heads to the source of the voice, a very angry Tourican, "If you'll excuse me I'd like to talk to my cousin"

"Sure" Rudarius grabbed his partners wing and dragged him out, closing the block door behind him,

"Hey" Tourican leaned on the bars of Zaphir's cell, Zaphir remained staring at the wall across from her,

"Zaph?" Tourican said her name again, this time Zaphir looked towards him,

"They... they attacked me with tazers" Zaphir stammered and rolled up one of her sleeves,

revealing a burnt area of charred feathers, "I... I...k... killed one of them"

"It was in self defence" Tourican replied, hiding his shock,

"You don't understand!" Zaphir sprang up and stormed over to the bars, "It's happening again!", Zaphir walked over to the wall opposite and leaned her head on it, "I'll get sent back to the institute!" she turned sharply back towards Tourican, and for a moment he saw her whole face, and the part normally covered by hair was a scar of scabs and scarred tissue. At the site of his cousin's whole face, Tourican took a step back.

"I'm not going back Tourican!" Zaphir screamed, "Do you hear me?!"

"I'll make sure you don't" Tourican replied,

"It isn't just the incident last night!" Zaphir continued, "This officer came in earlier and told me I was a prime suspect in a series of murders that I haven't heard about before!"

"I'll clear you" Tourican nodded, "I promise"

"Thank you" Zaphir sank to her knees and cried into her wings. Seeing no more need to linger, Tourican strode purposefully out into the main area of the station.

"Alright Hawkins," Tourican strode straight up to the hawk and looked him in the eyes, "Do you know where that phone came from?"

"I take it you are referring to the one that almost killed you? It came from an electronics store"

"Who runs it?"

"Well, one of the victims, that's all you need to know" Hawkins sighed,

"Well..." Tourican thought for a moment and continued, "Zaphir mentioned an officer, who is that officer?"

"One Lieutenant Macauly" Rudarius walked over,

"Thanks" Tourican ran outside to where the others were waiting,

"How'd it go?" Lyn asked

"Zaphir's being accused for blowing me up!" Tourican spat,

"Did you find out where the phone came from?" Finnius turned away from the speeding ticket Flyer was holding up,

"The market owner's electronics store"

"I'll start there" Flyer placed the ticket in his pocket and started to walk away

"Hold on!" Finnius called out, "My keys!"

"Oh yeah" Flyer threw them back to Finnius and walked round a corner,

"I've got some bad news too" Tourican frowned, "It appears Lt Macauly is the investigating officer"

"Crap" Lyn swore

"Who's he?" Finnius asked as he got into his car,

"He's the one who knocked Finord into traffic" Lyn snarled at the thought,

"Right then, You two go check on Macauly, I'll do some investigating of my own" Finnius ordered and started up his car,

"Where should we look?" Tourican asked,

"Try that officers nightclub, I think it's called 'Stripes'" Finnius replied before driving off,

"'Stripes' it is" Lyn said as she hailed a taxi.

A few minutes later Flyer was standing out in front of the marketplace, the electronics stall up the end, and the only way in was a gate with a huge lock on it.

"Easy" Flyer reached into his shoe and pulled out a small pin, "You served me well on Fortuna, don't let me down now" Flyer kissed the pin and placed it in the lock, and after a few seconds of twisting, the lock dropped off and the gate swung open. Flyer cautiously made his way up to the end and pulled aside the curtain of the electronics stall. Inside was a small group of tables, and an old wooden cabinet sitting up the back, on top of the cabinet was a key.

"Hmmm, I'm gonna regret this" Flyer muttered to himself as he picked up the key and placed it in the lock. Inside the cabinet was a small tin box, and around it was dried blood. Not thinking straight, Flyer reached in and grabbed the box, it was then he heard an almost inaudible 'twang' and too late he saw a knife drop at his wrist...

Tourican and Lyn got out of their taxi in front of the nightclub and walked up to the door,

"'Stripes' eh? Sounds sleazy" Tourican raised his eyebrow,

"How much do you wanna bet some drunk vomits on me?" Lyn groaned, "I'll wait outside"

"Better you do anyway, we don't want Macauly to recognise you" Tourican said over his shoulder as he stepped in through the door. Inside was a huge clump of tables in the centre surrounded by

a huge bar, and it was at this bar Tourican saw his target. Macauly was sitting at the bar staring into a glass of 'Spider's Bite' the most potent drink known, Tourican also noted that the peacock's left wing was bandaged, and seemed shorter than the right one.

"Lieutenant Macauly?" Tourican held out his wing,

"That's me" he turned and looked at Tourican, and seeing a military uniform puffed himself up to look more important, "And you are?"

"Tourican Down" Tourican shook Macauly's wing,

"Oh yeah, the pyros brother?"

"Cousin"

"Oh, sorry to hear"

"About Zaphir, how does it look?" Tourican asked,

"She's gonna go down for this one" Macauly smiled,

"No evidence supporting her NOT being the culprit?" Tourican asked again,

"Nope, sorry" Macauly replied,

"Damn," Tourican looked at Macauly's wing, "How'd that happen?"

"Some little punk with a knife"

"That's harsh" Tourican nodded as though he understood, but really he was glad

"And to top it all off! Someone spiked my crab! If I found out who I'll kill them" Macauly

slammed his good wing onto the bar,

"Thanks anyway" Tourican walked away, "Hope things look up for you"

"I bet you do"

Outside Lyn met with Tourican,

"What did you find out?" she asked eagerly,

"Nothing much" Tourican sighed, "Let's see if the others did any better"

Chapter Four

"Zaphir Down is a very interesting case, she's a pyromaniac all right, but there's a sort of charm about her, that sets her apart from the other patients I've dealt with. She still seems innocent." Dr Mendel Rutargis, psychiatrist in Corneria Psychiatric ward.

Back at the barracks, Finnius and Finord sat across from each other at their table.

"Sorry for leaving you at the hospital Finord" Finnius apologised meekly,

"And again I'm saying that's ok!" Finord smiled, "I had a good nights rest at the hospital"

"Fine" Finnius sighed, "If you say so"

Seconds later Flyer stumbled through the door, clutching a small box under his right wing, and his left claw was bleeding heavily, drenching his sleeve and dripping on the floor.

"What happened to you?" Finord asked, wide eyed,

"This?" Flyer looked at his claw absently, "I got it getting this" and he held up the box,

"I hope it was worth it" Finnius frowned,

"It was" Flyer casually remarked as he opened a cupboard and took out a first aid kit.

"What's in the box?" Finnius asked again,

"Wait till the others arrive " Flyer grinned as he wound a bandage round his claw,

"I'm still worried about your arm" Finord frowned,

"Could have been worse" Flyer finished dressing his claw and sat back down, just as Tourican and Lyn walked in.

"What did ya find out?" Finnius asked another question,

"Almost squat" Tourican replied, "That Macauly seems pretty sure it's Zaphir"

"I've got something which says otherwise" Flyer opened the box and took out a sheet of paper, "It appears the phone is Macauly's"

"I thought so" Lyn smiled at the thought of real revenge,

"Hold on Lyn," Tourican interrupted her train of thought, "It could be a setup, we need more conclusive evidence. Finnius?"

"I checked out this set of numbers Falco found" Finnius handed the sheet of paper to Tourican, "I drew a blank"

"Hey Flyer? What happened to your wrist?" Lyn asked,

"That damn box was booby trapped, a knife got my wrist"

"Macauly was missing part of his wing" Tourican remarked,

"Aha!" Lyn snapped her claw, "He was trying to get the evidence that pointed to him!"

"Settle Lyn" Tourican again spoke, "I'm gonna take a flight and think about this piece of paper"

"You do that" Lyn rubbed her paws together.

__________________

Back at the police station the Rudarius and the hawk were talking softly to each other, glancing around the room as they did so,

"How'd it go?" Hawkins asked,

"The dolphin didn't come up with anything" Rudarius replied, "How'd you go tailing Tourican?"

"They didn't get much from what I saw"

"What about the break in?"

"Obviously the freak" Hawkins folded his wings, "He got the box"

"Good" the Doberman smiled, "Then they should know what we know, and they'll be going to that nightclub"

"I'll stay here" Hawkins smiled,

"Ok then, see you around" Rudarius ran out the door.

As Tourican flew over the base he glanced at the surroundings below, and saw a familiar car drive off towards inner Corneria City.

"Dammit Lyn!" Tourican bashed his wing on the control console, setting off his auto map,

"Hold on" Tourican spoke out loud as he pulled the piece of paper Finnius gave him, "I wonder if...". Tourican punched in the numbers and the map pinpointed a small warehouse, close to the nightclub,

"Gotcha!" Tourican laughed, but that soon died in his throat as the words 'Too late' appeared on his screen and a ten second timer started ticking down,

Ten... Tourican hit the eject button once, nine... twice, eight... Tourican franticly started hitting buttons and hoping for the best, four... Tourican prayed to God that he would survive, one...

On the ground, many saw a small arwing explode and hurtle towards the ground in a ball of flame, the brief crimson light appearing after the plane connected with the ground...

"Sir! I have already told you! We can't move the suspect unofficially!" Hawkins argued,

"Look fool!" Macauly yelled, his eyes still on Zaphir, "She comes with me!"

"No!" Hawkins bravely placed himself between the two,

"Out of my way!" Macauly drew his pistol, and before anyone could react, Macauly blasted the hawks face across the room, spraying blood on Zaphir and himself.

"Now!" Macauly panted "Where were we?"

The team minus Tourican, arrived at 'Stripes' which was oddly quiet. As it was late in the day, and open earlier,

"Strange" Finord muttered from in the car,

"I'll say" Lyn leaned against the door,

"We should have waited" Flyer crossed his arms,

"I agree, what if Macauly gets so peeved at us for accusing him, he busts Zaphir anyway?" Finnius nodded,

"Oh my God!" Lyn yelled, drawing her pistol,

"What?" Finnius asked,

"I can hear people screaming!" Lyn yelled again, and pulled on the trigger, blasting the door open "Stand back for the rush!"

As expected, the doors lurched open, and a mob of drunken officers ran out into the street. Lyn reached out and grabbed a frantic turtle,

"What's going on?" Lyn asked,

"T-there's a bomb in that building!" the turtle shrieked, "We received a call and it said so! We tried to get out but..."

"There was a lock" Flyer finished for her,

"Yes!" the turtle nodded quickly, "Now please! Let me go!"

"Alright" Lyn released her grip and let the turtle disappear into the crowd,

"I'll regret saying this, but we'd better go in" Finnius tensed himself up,

"I'm regretting you saying that too!" Flyer rolled his eyes,

"You lead Flyer" Finnius ordered,

"Great" Flyer commented sarcastically, and walked in, closely followed by his friends. Inside the nightclub was a ruin, with glasses smashed, chairs toppled, and the odd pool of blood on the floor.

"Great" Flyer remarked again,

"We'd better spread out and look for the bomb" Lyn suggested,

"Good idea, I'll take the left bar" Finnius replied,

"I'll search the centre" Flyer quickly got his placing,

"Then it's right for me" Lyn sighed. But no sooner had the gotten to where they needed to look for the bomb, the bar erupted into flames, which quickly spread across the alcohol soaked floor.

"Crap" Flyer turned and watched as the only exit was blocked by flames,

"Agreed" Finnius yelled as the fire quickly surrounded them,

"We've got one chance!" Lyn yelled and ran for the exit, the others responded in kind. As one the team rolled out the doorway and back over to Finord, who was still in the car, but standing next to him was Rudarius,

"Don't worry" Rudarius held up a paw, "We've called the fire brigade. But you guys need to come with me"

Chapter Five

"Fire is a fitting end for a bomber" ~ Lyn Veaver, Pilot in the special forces team The 'Pirate Killers'.

"Well Zaphir, it appears as if your cousin is dead" Macauly laughed as his guard of thirteen finches stood with their weapons trained on the warehouse's entrance,

"You bastard! What kind of an insane Avion are you?" Zaphir yelled,

"Silence her" Macauly signalled to one of his lackeys, who responded by whacking Zaphir's beak in with a rifle butt, jerking her face sideways, and revealing her scars.

"Well, well, well" Macauly chuckled, "She has a reminder of her father!" he punched the scars with his good wing, "Does it hurt?"

"Come closer and I'll tell you" Zaphir snarled, but her face changed to that of pain when a rifle butt hit her in the stomach.

"Any last questions?"

"How about, why?"

"Easy!" Macauly pulled up a chair and sat facing Zaphir, "I am, or was, an informant to a pirate group stationed in the Meteor fields, my position was cut short when your cousin and his buddies killed them all" he spoke like the words were poison, "And now I'm to have my revenge!"

"That explains the ambush" Lyn called out as Flyer, Finnius, Rudarius and herself stood with weapons ready in the doorway,

"Right on time!" Macauly drew his pistol and grabbed Zaphir, "Kill them". Immediately the finches opened fire on the team, who replied with a barrage of their own shots, Macauly though did not hang around, he ran out a back door, his pistol against Zaphir's neck.

"Bastard!" Flyer swore as he leaped at a finch, his sword drawn.

Lyn sized herself up against a beefy finch,"You looking for a fight?! You just found one!" and started punching into her opponent,

"You okay Rudarius?" Finnius asked as he sent two finches sprawling with one sweep of his staff,

"I'm fine", Rudarius called back before knocking the jaw of his opponent out of place,

"Argh!" Flyer yelled as a laser shot connected with his bad wrist, before he brought the handle of the sword round knocking the sharp beaked finch flat.

The burly finch leapt at Lyn with huge enveloping wings, but Lyn responded with a swift

roundhouse kick to the chest sending her large assailant onto his back,

"I hope they're all this easy!" Finnius yelled above the battle,

"Where's Tourican when you need him!" Lyn yelled back before leaping at another finch.

"Sorry to say this my dear" Macauly aimed his flame pistol at Zaphir's head, "But you are no longer needed" and he started to squeeze the trigger. Suddenly, a bright green laser shot cut throw the air, and sent the pistol spinning to the floor,

"I can't let you do that Macauly" Tourican jumped down from a window and landed next to Zaphir,

"How?" Macauly spluttered,

"Easy" Tourican smiled as he took off Zaphir's bonds, "When the bomb ticked down I dumped all the fuel, so when the engine exploded, it barely did anything, and the emergency ejection override kicked in, launching me to safety. Zaphir, get his gun"

"No!" Macauly yelled and leapt at Tourican, "Not now!"

"Yes!" Tourican brought his pistol up and fired, knocking the peacock into a pile of petrol drums,

"Tourican!" the rest of the team ran in as Zaphir picked up Macauly's custom pistol,

"Wait!" Zaphir gasped, "He had another pistol! A laser one!" Tourican looked over in time to see Macauly raise his other pistol, but before he could fire, a rush of flame engulfed him and the petrol, roasting him alive.

"Zaphir! Are you ok?" Rudarius asked,

"I think so" Zaphir replied as she hugged Tourican,

"We've got a couple of guys we need to arrest" Finnius called from where the finches were,

"What about him?" Lyn pointed to the writhing, screaming body of Macauly,

"Leave him" Tourican raised an eyebrow.

Later in the hospital, Rudarius visited Zaphir in her private room,

"Hi" the Doberman handed her some flowers,

"Hi yourself" Zaphir groaned as she sat up straight,

"I'll cut to the chase with you Zaphir, I need you"

"You what" Zaphir leaned backwards in shock,

"Hold on, not like that. I need you for my team" Rudarius held up a paw,

"What kind of team? And why me?" she asked,

"Firstly, a covert team that infiltrates and does almost anything necessary to keep peace" Rudarius smiled as he placed the flowers in some water, "Secondly, we need an explosives expert"

"Me?"

"We've seen what you can do Zaphir" Rudarius, "We need you"

"But why now?"

"One of our members just died"

"You mean the hawk?"

"Yep"

"Do I have to join straight away?"

"Nope, you can spend time with your friends, just don't tell them about us until it's safe"

"hmmm" Zaphir thought for a moment, "I'll join, after a week I'll go with you to wherever

necessary to save Corneria"

"Believe me" Rudarius smiled, "We'll be going EVERYWHERE"

The End

*Authors note: The characters Rudarius Cormack, Zaphir and Tourican Down, and Flyer are all my characters, so if you wanna use them, you've got to ask. The characters Finnius Krill and Finord Krill belong to Finnius, so to use them you have to ask him. The character of Lyn Veaver belongs to Lyn Veaver, and, once again, to use her character you have to ask her. Finally, thanks for reading this, expect more from me in the future. Cheers!