The Breed

By Dream Janus

Disclaimer: All rights are protected and the story cannot be reproduced without permission.

This story is a work of fiction and contains scenes of gay sex between consenting individuals. If you find this offensive, are under the age of 18, it is illegal wherever you are to read this, stop reading now. Leave this site. If you are offended by harsh language, please exit this page immediately. You have been warned. This work of fiction is property of myself and may not be copied or used in any way without my express consent.

Much thanks and appreciation goes to Rubilacxe and Flyboy38 my editors and second & third set of eyes.

Note from Dream Janus: I now have a presence in Yahoo groups.

On Yahoo it is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dream_janus_stories/

If you want, I can be emailed at dreamjanus@yahoo.com.

2^nd note from Dream Janus: For a portion of this chapter the names Ray and Toban as well as Ray/Toban will both be used. Please remember that these names represent the same character, though at different times in his life.

Chapter 28 "Cold Fury"

The month after Toban took care of his uncle was stressful for George, Rex, Kar, Shanny and Davey. On the other hand Toban appeared to be having some sort of a party, He spent every weekend night at Club Maximum, every day going to school and doing the required work and every evening with the triplets. George and Rex took over most of Toban's Conclave duties and had Kar watch Toban's actions and behaviors. The only other thing that changed was that Toban refused to go to Antino's office for his regular feedings.

The sixth weekend after destroying his uncle, Toban was again at the club. He had taken up dancing continuously on the main dance floor. It actually had began to draw the attention of the customers, to have a shirtless, muscled man/boy dancing for hours on end, drew the attention of the whole club. Bill the manager attempted several times to have Toban withdraw from the dance floor. At first Toban ignored Bill but when he arrived carrying a Maximum Blast (orange juice, blood and grapefruit juice) Toban growled and snarled at Bill. Being he was a friend of the conclave and an employ of the both the Conclave and Toban, he headed to his office to make a couple of calls.

When Bill reached his office, he connected for a conference call. He dialed the phone for both Antino and George. When each call was answered, first by George and then by Antino he introduced himself and asked that they hold the phone for a conference call.

"Masters we have a major problem here at the club." Bill said simply when the conference call was established.

"Is Toban still there?" George asked. "Have him help with the problem."

"I am sorry to say, but his highness IS the problem," Bill said in a slight fearful whisper.

"Double damn," both George and Antino swore at the same time.

"I will be there in five minutes!" Antino said with the intentions of taking the Conclave access from his own house directly to the club.

"I will be there in about ten," George echoed. He also planned on using the tunnel systems.

"I will be waiting at the entry," Bill acknowledged. He then thought and added, "Do I need to clear the club?"

"I would rather you not doing so, but it may require that," George answered.

"The number of Breed here is about 70%, so protecting the innocent should not be a problem," Bill responded with only a moderate amount of confidence.

"Protectant, your words are comforting, but your emotions give me pause," Antino responded using Bill's title, both as a calmative and a way to stroke his ego.

After the call was terminated, Bill divided the security into human and breed groups. Breed groups were divided and sent to protect the front door, back door and clear out the area around the underground entrance. The humans were put in the main part of the club, so they could assist in the protection of the other humans and be protected by the Breed customers. Bill then identified the most powerful member of the Breed and walked over to her.

"Pardon me, my lady," Bill bowed slightly as he approached the beautiful vampire, he had identified. "The club is having small problem."

The woman whose name was Anastasia nodded and then asked, "And what would you want from me?"

"I am sad to say that his highness the Shade Prince is having some form of issue and may become dangerous to others," Bill began. "I have already contacted the Ancient as well as one of the Prince's Zoméa have been contacted and are on their way."

Anastasia smiled benignly at Bill, "So you need me to tell everyone else to be ready to for trouble?"

"Yes, my Lady, if you would," Bill responded.

[The Shade Prince is having problems. Do not approach as the Ancient and other help are on the way, be watchful of the humans.] Anastasia projected. [Pass it to the other races.]

Several people in the club looked directly at Anastasia and nodded. It was a testament to Toban's mental state that he had not heard the transmission but kept on dancing with his eyes closed. The people who heard the transmission were all vampires and a few of them began to verbally relay the message; always with the final phrase of "Pass it to others."

By the time Antino had reached the underground entrance to the club, every Breed in the club had been notified. Antino was surprised that he had not been met at the entrance by Bill -- surprised but far from angry. He walked into the club and was quickly met by the Breed security.

"His highness is still dancing, Ancient," a tall, blonde vampire security guard explained, showing due respect by having his head bowed and his eyes down.

"Lead the way," Antino said with a wave of his hand. He was then led toward the main part of the club.

George emerged from the tunnels just after Antino was led away and instead of worrying about finding help, he walked quickly toward the heart of the club. His visage was grim and very upset.

Bill stood behind the juice bar watching the Shade Prince very carefully. He had hoped that another offer of a Maximum Blast might tempt Toban off of the dance floor quietly and safely, but again he was growled at and even given a swift swipe of his hand. Bill then retreated to his present position for his own safety.

Bill breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted Antino. He took an even deeper breath when he saw George. Bill thought it was best for him to remain behind the bar and appear to be busy. Within a minute he was talking to the customers as if nothing was going on.

Antino felt the presence of George as he walked onto the dance floor. It comforted him that he would not have to deal with this situation alone. When he looked at Toban the first thing that he noticed was that he could not feel anything from Toban's mind. As Toban's sire Antino should have felt something, but it was as if Toban had put up a barricade around his mind. When George joined him, Antino directed him to get behind Toban.

Antino waited for George to get into position behind Toban and then he attempted to push into Toban's mind. The only thing Antino was able to feel or see was a deep and bottomless darkness. The mental control was too complete and powerful for the Ancient to deal with using just simple vampiric telepathy. He stared into Toban's continuously closed eyes and began to draw on his power as the Ancient.

Every Breed in the Club regardless of race felt slightly displaced as Antino combined a portion of their powers with his own and drew it inward. George winced since he was the closest and the most power was taken from him. When Antino felt that he had drawn enough power he struck again.

The mental energy pulse was so strong that it forced Toban to open his unseeing eyes and stare directly at Antino. It also was so strong that Antino was mentally sucked into the world that was Toban's mind. The first thing that Antino noticed was that his mind was divided into five separate sections all working at the same time.

The first section held a small and young Ray crying while holding a small toy panda bear. The second section held the image of a youthful Ray attempting to do work in school and running to a strange looking musical instrument -- he repeatedly ran back and forth. The third section held the image of a teen-aged Ray working in the Conclave gyms on developing his powers. The fourth section held a room of mirrors, each mirror reflecting a different, but grown aspect of Toban. The fifth and last section held a perpetually repeating scene of the battle between Toban and James, though this scene was more horrendous than what had happened in reality.

Outside of their minds, in the club, George had grabbed the limp body of Toban and moved him off the floor. With a simple look he directed the human security guards to pick up Antino's body and follow him. They moved both bodies to the VIP section, clearing out the Breed from inside it. Toban and Antino's bodies were placed on the floor next to each other.

Back inside Toban's mind, Antino dropped in the first section and walked to the young Ray. "What is the matter little one?" He asked.

"My aunt says I am a bastard mutt," sobbed little Ray. "And my uncle slapped me when I asked what it meant."

Antino realized immediately that this was a memory. He found it to be appalling and destructive to the young pup that Ray was at the time. "Well, they both were being mean and were wrong," Antino said in a mock child-like way. "Do you want to go with me and find an adult to help you?"

The child Ray smiled and extended his hand. Antino helped him stand and then began to walk toward the second section. When they arrived Antino and the young Ray went and addressed the youthful Ray. "Why are you running back and forth like this?" Antino asked.

"I have to live up to my uncle's image for my grandparents," the youth sadly explained. "She wants me to be him; she even calls me his name sometimes." The youth said softly speaking about his grandmother, Iris.

"Well that is just silly," the child Ray said in an out burst. "You ain't him and besides he is a mean man with a nasty wife."

The youthful Ray looked between the two and then leaned down and hugged his child counterpart. The two Rays merged and became the youthful Ray, but without the worries of living up to the expectations of others. By now Antino understood that each of these aspects were pieces of Ray and Toban that had never fully healed and because of the fight with James they came out and had been allowed to grow too strong.

Antino took the hand of the youthful Ray and began walking toward the next section. During their trip to the third section they heard random thoughts and felt the emotions of the hidden people. When they finally reached the third section, Antino again asked what the teen was attempting to do.

"I have to be the best at this or George and the Ancient won't like me any more and I will always be stupid, bastard mutt." The teen image huffed and puffed as he continued to exercise physically and work with his mental abilities at the same time.

"LOOK AT ME!" Antino ordered. "I am the Ancient and I love you!" He then reached out roughly and pulled the teen to him and into a tight hug. "All that I ever expect and expected out of you is and was your best, Mike, Rex, George and I all love you for who you are. REMEMBER THAT!

"We gots to love ourselfs too," echoed the youthful version of Ray who then reached out and hugged his older version. Again the two versions merged, leaving the older one remaining.

Antino now felt as if at least a portion of the present situation was his fault. It was his fault that Ray had been selected and then he had not watched close enough to realize what Ray was doing to himself. Antino promised himself not to allow it to happen again.

The teen version of Ray actually was excited to go to the next section and hugged close to Antino as they traveled. Again as they traveled they were assaulted by words in the form of titles and alternative names. "Master, Ray, Lord, Toban, Prince, Heir, Vampire, Shadow Lord, Ghoul, Ray, Wolf, Mutt, Bear, Bridge, Child, Monster, Toban, Adult" -- the words repeating over and over again. Antino quickly had an idea of what was coming next.

The fourth section was filled with mirrors and resembled a carnival's house of mirrors. In this section the only representation of Ray/Toban was inside the mirrors. Each of the mirrors was lit by an overhead light for a few moments and then another lit randomly. Each mirror held an aspect of the life of Ray/Toban. There was a mirror that had him with school books, another with a baritone saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, and contra-bass clarinet: each of the instruments he played. There was a mirror that held the baby version of Ray, and several other mirrors that held his wolf, bear, ghoul, vampire, Zomé, Shadow Lord, Arena Fighter, Heir apparent, Father, shadow, Council leader, mutt and Bridge self images. Antino noticed that there was a single mirror that held an image but was broken and the glass littered the floor: Toban's human self image.

Antino realized that each represented the aspects of Ray/Toban that he could not fully bring into himself and the light represented the aspect that was presently controlling Ray/Toban's mind. Antino decided to work on the broken mirror first, he drew the teenaged Ray with him and they began sorting through the broken pieces of glass. As they worked, the teen Ray became impatient and accidentally cut himself on the glass. When a single drop of blood fell, the broken mirror merged with the teen, leaving a blank wall where the glass had been.

The teen Ray smiled and then cried as the humanity refilled his soul. Then silently the teen walked to each mirror as the light illuminated it and smashed the mirror. Each time he did this he was cut, drawing that aspect into his self. Finally he arrived at the last mirror, the one representing the mutt and sadly turned away from it and looked at Antino. "Can you deal with this one; I don't want to be a mutt anymore?"

"Sorry my sweet boy but it is not for me to do," Antino explained. "Remember you do not have to touch it to destroy it."

The teen smiled and then looked at the mirror. With a simple wave of his hand, Toban reduced the mirror back to its component sand. A moment later he then waved his hand away from him and the sand blew down the now dark hall. Once the sand was gone the last mirror was replaced by a blank wall.

In the blink of an eye they appeared in the fifth and last section. Antino looked at the fighting Toban and Toban teen. "Is this how you remember that day?"

Both Tobans nodded at the same time. "It was very painful to have to do all of this. I wanted to love my uncle and aunt, even though they hated me," the fighter Toban explained.

"Remember that they both were traitors and would have seen you and the rest of your family murdered in the war," Antino said softly.

"They were always bad to me," the other Toban agreed, thinking of his aunt and uncle. It finally appeared to Antino that Toban had cleared his emotional issues. Antino finally lowered his defenses and kissed both of the images of Toban in relief.

In the real world George noticed that Toban and Antino began to stir at the same time. He was happy to see that it appeared to be over. George stood up and then helped both Toban and Antino to their feet as they became aware of their surroundings. Without a second thought George drew both his Zoméa and the Ancient into a tight grateful hug. Without thinking he kissed both of them on the side of the head.

Antino weakly snickered as he drew back from the embrace. "I would take it that you are glad to see us, old friend?"

George blushed and smiled, "Oh yes, Antino, I am." He then kissed Toban on the lips and whispered, "I am glad to see you are back from wherever you went."

Days later Toban had returned to his old self and was happy again. The mansion was filled with laughter as he chased Davey and Shanny down the upstairs hallway. Rex held Adam and Christopher, Kar was holding Betty when they were almost ran down by a hyper Davey wanting to see his brothers and sister.

Rex slowly handed Christopher to the excited boy. He immediately held the youngest as if he were made of glass. After a few moments Davey calmed down and placed a gentle kiss on the baby's forehead and they both smiled. Rex and Kar both realized that there would be a special bond between the two boys which would survive time.

Shanny immediately wanted to hold a baby as well, and looked expectantly at Kar. He smiled as she continued to blink at him silently. Finally she put her hands on her hips and cocked a pose showing she was unhappy.

"It might help to tell us what you want YOUNG lady," Rex chastised her, all the while attempting not to loose his stern looking face and collapsing into giggles.

"Papa Kar, can I hold Betty please?" Shanny finally asked, never once acting as if she had done anything wrong.

Kar began laughing and slowly turned the youngest lady of the house over to her very protective sister. Again it was very obvious that there was a strong bond between the sisters. That left Adam to bond with one of them. It appeared that Adam would never bond with just one member of the family, but equally with all of them.

Over the next month Toban returned to feeding on Antino regularly. Their time was spent not only feeding but with loving touches and the occasional kissing. They were not hiding anything from the Zoméa and only hid their extra activities from the members of the Breed, who had no need to know. They never once progressed into having sexual relations as that was the unspoken agreement between them and the Zoméa.

On the fifth week after Toban's breakdown, he and Antino were again in the Ancient's office preparing to feed when an emergency message was delivered by the computer system's AI. The message read:

Traitor Marcus located. Location: 87123 North West Chambers, limited guards and present in a processing plant, unsure of product, clones suspected. Attack force is suggested -- 3 warriors, 2 assassins, 2 telepaths and 3 cleanup crews."

Antino and Toban both heard the message and were mostly in agreement over who should be in the Attack force. Warriors would be Toban and Rex, the conflict was over Antino being one of the Warriors; the assassins would be George and Kar, the telepaths would be Tearle and in his first mission for the Conclave, Steve. The clean-up crew would be contacted and the attack would start that evening. Antino would not allow Marcus to get away.

Within half an hour the Attack force had been assembled. The only issue was dealing with Steve's mother, she at first believed that Steve was going out as a typical teen to get in to trouble. When she recognized Toban's voice on the phone, she knew something else was going on. She was told that Steve had a job to do and would be paid after it was completed. The woman was smart enough that she accepted and allowed him to go without another word.

Antino explained to the group that the assassins would deal with any guards at first so they did not have to watch their rear. The warriors would deal with any problems after they entered the building. The telepaths would act as communications and deal with anything from a distance with assassin backup. When Marcus was found, Antino would deal with him personally.

"I am responsible for that traitorous cur's actions and I will deal with it myself," Antino said with a slightly angered growl.

Fifteen minutes later three cars arrived just outside the woods that surrounded the processing plant. The first car held George and Kar, the second held Tearle and Steve, and the last car held Antino, Toban, and Rex. Within a few seconds of arriving, George and Kar both transformed and Kar took to the shadows.

The warriors began their transformations as well. Rex's color was now an ashy grey instead of his old coloring, he bounded into the forest as far as his paws would carry him. Antino's transformation was from a very handsome human looking man to a sharp featured, feral looking creature with no human-like kindness.

Toban's transformation was even more dramatic and new in its appearance. Toban's feet grew into the animalized mutations that he held in the arena, raising his height to an astounding seven foot five inches. His legs and torso grew in mass to four times their normal size, totally covering him in shadow energy fur. Toban's back and shoulders also grew to four times their normal size with the same shadow energy.

Toban's face became vampire-like in its feral nature. It was covered by continuously moving shadows. His ears became a cross between wolf and bear, stretching to the top of his head, the appearance was almost bat-like in form. All four of his fangs extended and dripped the combination of shadow energy and salvia, a deadly combination.

Antino and Toban ran into the forest and toward the plant directly. Tearle and Steve walked slowly toward the plant but attempted to remain toward the shadows. The telepathic link was projected by Steve and received by Tearle.

Outside the plant were several guards. They were on guard but so spread out that they were not very efficient in their protection. The inside of the plant was even worse protected; there were only three guards for 5 floors. The plant was indeed a cloning plant, but was new and not in full production.

Dressed in an Armani suit Marcus sat in the office on the top floor talking with a Regia'an scientist who was upset at having to explain his work to Marcus. The scientist believed, rightly so, that one of the two of them was baby sitting the other. Marcus believed that he had been sent there to find out why it was taking so long for the plant to be fully operational. Neither man was happy being there.

George directed Kar's attacks to take out the majority of the outside guards from a distance. They would remain outside taking care of the other guards and anyone that escaped from the plant itself. George would make sure that the rest of the team was able to enter the building while Kar began looking for the remaining guards.

Toban and Rex entered the building first and waited for the telepaths to catch up with them. Antino entered the building with the telepaths. He directed them to safe but accessible locations so they could act as the group communications and attack from a safe distance if needed.

Within fifteen minutes the three warriors had cleared all but the top floor of all the workers, scientists, and guards. Most of the scientists were willing to change sides, so Rex became the guard over the turncoat scientists. He was not happy but followed orders without question.

When they arrived at the top floor, it was found to be mostly vacant. There were no guards and only one worker on the entire floor. This alerted Antino that something was not right about the situation. "There has been too little opposition, something is off," He whispered.

Toban nodded and sent a telepathic message to George and Kar. [The situation feels wrong and we need one of you as backup, just in case something goes very wrong.] The telepathic message also revealed their location.

[Understood,] came a stereo response from both George and Kar.

A moment of silence then Kar responded, [George is on his way].

During that conversation, Antino was scanning the whole floor looking for Marcus. In the moments that it took Toban to have his telepathic conversation, Antino found Marcus' scent and charged after him. He was over fifty feet away before Toban realized what was happening.

[We have a problem,] Toban broadcast quickly. [Antino has taken off for Marcus]

A moment later Toban heard George running at full speed up the stairs. When he arrived Toban pointed at the hallway Antino had ran down. With a nod George and Toban ran after him.

A moment before Antino arrived at the office where Marcus was sitting silently finally tired of talking to the Regia'an scientist Marcus felt the Ancient's presence and became terrified. "Get your ass out of here!" He screamed to the scientist, "the Ancient is here!"

Antino felt the fear grow in the office that housed Marcus and one other. His anger grew and became an unbridled fury. Antino began using the Ancient power. He drew energy from the Breed within a mile radius. Every member of the assault team, Marcus, and a family of Wererats living in a nearby sewer felt the energy leave them.

A furious Antino burst through the office's metal door, ripping the door off its reinforced hinges and sending it sliding across the room and into a filing cabinet. The filing cabinet was left with a dent in the bottom drawer that could not be repaired. The scientist scurried across the room and away from Marcus and out of Antino's sight.

The combined Ancient energy crackled from Antino's eyes and flew across his hands. His eyes were blood red and rage filled. Antino walked toward Marcus with a cold calculated plan to kill him.

Marcus dropped to the floor with his hands palms up and with his head bowed in the Breed universal sign of submission. He had hoped to play on Antino's nearly human sensibilities with the desire to retain his life at least. What Marcus did not know was that his fate had been sealed months ago and the final nail in his coffin was delivered at the Conclave Council in which Antino sanctioned the wolves. Antino could not allow the sanction to stand until his own wayward child had been dealt with.

"Your begging will not save your existence, Marcus," Antino growled. "Stand and prepare for Hellock Naråêĥ, you filthy traitor."

"I refuse Hellock Naråêĥ, I demand Mõąnar," Marcus whispered.

"No Mõąnar, I as Ancient give you no choice," Antino roared.

Marcus realized that he had no way of escaping and hoping to return again to continue his treachery. He stood slowly with his hands remaining in the position of submission. Marcus refused to even look Antino in the eyes. He realized after centuries of hearing Antino speaking about his beliefs about respect protocols, that it would upset Antino beyond anything else. Marcus had decided that he might just be able to rile the Ancient so much that he would make some mistakes and cause him to be able to defeat Antino, thus becoming the Ancient himself.

Antino was indeed infuriated by Marcus' actions but realized his intent and controlled his emotions. He was beyond even giving his talkative blood child the rope to hang himself more by talking or acting out. Antino lunged at Marcus knocking him on to the floor. It was an intentional act to give Marcus the idea that his plan had worked.

Marcus was only partly ready for the attack and protected his neck. That was his first mistake -- Antino was not after his neck but his ribcage and heart. Marcus attempted to throw Antino off of him only to find that the Ancient had latched onto him with claws. Antino began to dig deeply into Marcus' sides drawing blood.

Marcus screamed in agony as he tried to pull Antino's claws from his sides and ribs. He found that they were deeply embedded so he struck at the side of Antino's head attempting to dislodge him that way. The strike to the head only infuriated Antino further and he flexed his claws digging deeper into Marcus' suit covered flesh.

Antino focused for a brief second and activated his Ancient power, creating a nearly shadow-like ability. He began pulling life energy directly from Marcus by their bloody skin contact. He gained more and more energy as they rolled around on the dirty floor.

Toban and George entered the office moments after Marcus struck Antino. For the briefest moment both Toban and George felt the draw to attack Marcus for daring to strike the ancient. Both of them restrained themselves at the last moment, dividing up so they could each block one of the two exits from the area.

Both Toban and George were aware of the huddled trembling scientist but knew the man was not one to attack them -- he would rather hide or run. Toban bared his fangs at the scientist, keeping him huddling and out of their way. George paced back a forth trying his best not to interfere with the battle between Marcus and Antino.

Marcus took a cheap shot and punched Antino in the nuts. That shot was enough to cause Antino to loosen his grip on him. Marcus took the opportunity to attack Antino's neck with an off centered bite. The bite connected with Antino's jugular vein but only one tooth actually hit, causing only a slight nick to the vein and a small tear of the neck itself.

Marcus pushed off of Antino hoping to do more damage than he actually was able to do. His claws connected in a wild swing with Antino's left arm, slicing the skin badly. Marcus then attempted to bite Antino again on the opposite side. The Ancient was able to stop this with a right upper cut to Marcus' jaw. The hit dislocated Marcus' jaw.

The Vampiric healing factor was extremely fast for Antino and his wounds healed as he fought. Marcus was not as lucky and was attacked by Antino as he reset his jaw. This attack was a second upper cut aimed at the jaw. This time Marcus' jaw broke and partially tore away from his skull at an odd angle; badly tearing Marcus' face in the process.

The shock of his jaw being shattered and badly mangled caused Marcus to stop his attack and stand stunned for a moment. The moment was enough to allow Antino to attack him again. With a swift hit from the other side, Antino was able to not only break Marcus' jaw on the other side but knock the jaw across the room, where it landed near the frightened scientist.

The scientist screamed and back pedaled like a crab from behind the desk and toward Toban. Toban cocked his head to the side with growled laugh as the scientist actually grabbed his leg in hope of being saved from any personal harm. He cringed and began crying when Toban said, "We will deal with you next."

Marcus began to sway as his suit coat, pants, and the floor around him flowed blackish red with the massive lose of blood he was having. Antino could have rushed in with the final blow but had already decided to torture Marcus until the last possible moment.

"My poor child, no longer able feed," Antino began. "You could have taken over one day, but you decided to be a traitor instead."

"I never intended Toban to be raised so quickly in the ranks," Antino confided, knowing that Toban would hear.

Marcus fell to his knees into the bloody pool, his mute form pleading for death.

"It was my intention of making him president of the Conclave Council after raising you to heir apparent," Antino continued. "But you decided to stab us all in the back."

"It was my intention to make Toban the leader of the South Western region Conclaves," Antino said looking at Toban signifying that it was indeed true.

Marcus was now silently sobbing, tears running down his face.

"But," Antino said softly, "you decided to be a traitor to me, your father."

Without a sound or any warning Antino spun around with his claws fanned out. He struck with the precision and accuracy of a sword with the force of twenty men. The claws and fingers slid into Marcus' neck, cutting his throat and both veins. Marcus's neck was bared open to a second slice which separated the remainder of the mutilated head from his spine. The head just fell behind Marcus' body with the sound of wet cement.

The moment that the head hit the bloody floor Antino began to howl in pure agony and pain. Though it had to be done, even the Ancient's emotions felt the loss of a child. The death of Marcus caused memories of an ancient pain that none, save Elzabeth could understand. In that moment of pure pain, agony and hatred Antino could not feel the massive arms of Toban rap around him, attempting to bring comfort.

George turned to the scientist that was huddling at the spot Toban had just left, and growled. "You have two options" He then raised a fur covered hand "1. Renounce your allegiance to your masters telling us of their plans and live; or 2. Die a quick and nearly painless death."

The scientist whimpered as his bladder lost control of itself. He then whispered, "I choose to live."

[I need someone to come pick up a sniveling mass of humanity and deliver it to operations,] George projected toward Tearle and Steve.

[On the way,] both Tearle and Steve responded.

Three hours later the team had left the plant to the clean up crews plus a research and discovery team. They retired to Antino's home in the Swan Lake area of town. Even though he was only partially lucid, Antino held onto Toban like a life preserver and mumbled.

Finally he said softly so only Toban could hear, "I am sorry — I was trying to remove you being a temptation for me."

"I know and I understand," Toban whispered back.

"I really really love you," Antino whispered again.

"We know," George, Kar and Rex all said softly so that Antino could hear.

The shock of the Zoméa knowing his secret was too much for the Ancient and he broke down crying, "I am so sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for," Kar said lightly touching Antino. "We are only sorry that things could not have been different."

The telephone rang and Steve went to answer it in the hall. For several minutes he was silent and then that silence was broken with, "YOU HAVE TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!" A few moments later he returned with a report.

"Ancient," he said with reverence, "the plant was only partly functional and the clones were all in early development, they are being examined." He then paused. "A letter was found in the room that the scientist and he were found."

Steve was slightly afraid to continue. "It said that Marcus was sent there to be slaughtered, even though he did not know it." When Antino did not say anything he continued. "The letter was addressed to Antino the Ancient and it was directly from the Regia'an Queen."

Antino then responded, "Contact Elzabeth, Charlett, Marie, Sherry and Simon, plus Sal'var and any of the other Regia'an expats that want to help." He then stared at the group. "I would ask that any of you that want to help can, but it is not an order."

Everyone in the room knew what was going to happen and was ready for a fight. Toban turned to Kar and shook his head. "Ancient I ask that Kar be excused so he may stay with our children."

Antino nodded, "Agreed -- we need to protect those children."

Over the next three days, everyone Antino had listed was contacted and agreed to be part of the task force. Mr. Sal'var (Salvar) rounded up another five Regia'an expatriates like himself, each had issues directly related to the queen that they want to deal with. Each group never congregated in groups larger than five, so that any remaining spies and traitor would not suspect anything was going on and report back to the queen.

During school Toban, Kar, and Steve were overheard by other students planning their portions of the upcoming attack. The freshman Ghoul Sam and several others, including humans quickly began having "Friends of the Bridge" meetings and making their own plans to help Toban, Kar, Steve, and the others fight the Queen. These meetings were kept hidden from Toban and the others, but several interested teachers joined the student meetings, as helpers not as teachers.

The final plans were identified as being five days later. There were to be several waves that hit the Queen's complex: distracting the guards, confusing the employees, taking out those that could not be distracted or confused into inactivity and attacking the Queen directly. It was known by everyone; Breed and Human alike, that only the elite (Toban, George, Antino, Charlett and Elzabeth) as the humans began to call them, would attack the Queen directly.