The Dragon and the Regenerator

The Flower Cafe had been garnering a steady success in Chicago, thanks in part to their most dedicated employee. Xiao was pretty as well as competent in all the skills needed to perform the menial tasks in both its botanical gardens and its dining area, and today they were having a special treat at the beach- a one day Pay-What-You-Want sandwich event. They featured all their stock sandwiches as well as a few new ones, priced whatever the people want to pay.

Dressed in the cafe's attractive pink service uniforms, Xia and another female colleague worked with their sandwich cart from ten in the morning to five in the afternoon, getting much attention but not much money. This was to be expected of a Pay-What-You-Want event after all; some of their customers were people down on their fortunes, only able to spare no more than a quarter for a fine ham and cheese sandwich, while a few strapping young male surfers would pay more than the recommended price for a chance to chat with Xia.

Xia worked industriously and politely throughout the day, though whenever she was not working, she was keeping an eye on a nearby science laboratory. She pitched the idea to the Flower Cafe’s owners as a marketing event, but really, she was here because of other reasons.

Late afternoon, and the ingredients are nearly exhausted. A few people were still trying to catch up to order some sandwiches- Xia volunteered to clean up and bring the stall back to the cafe. Of course it was just now that she was keeping a close eye of the lab.

They only ever attacked at night... She thought, the enemy she faced becoming a burden on her mind.

Ragnar was a drifter someone that people never really paid attention to which is exactly how he wanted it, he was not someone to be noticed by the average person they were not suppose to understand or acknowledge his existence he was meant to be a ghost. Ragnar was an average looking man though a bit more wild with his hair both on his head and face, his hair a simple dark brown long in nature or at least for a normal male it was hanging just passed his shoulders with a well made braids in it on the right side. It stuck out in several places making it look wild but not dirty just as if he hadn't taken a comb it in some time, a full thick beard upon his cheeks and chin dark brown with a tinge of red to it showing only in a certain light or if once decided to look at him closely. He was not of average height for a man at five foot four inches but he was in no way small, his form still managed to weigh in at over two hundred pounds of thick powerful muscle which was easily visible through the worn dark red t shirt upon his body. A pair of baggy blue jeans on his lower body and some steel toed boots on his feet, even with the thick form he had he did not look any different than anyone else, his eyes hazel in color had a piercing quality which was the only thing different about him it was like he was looking through things rather than at them.

He never stayed in one place too long perhaps he was cautious or perhaps it was just a paranoia that built up over time, he didn't really care as long as it kept him off of every one else's radar. Today was a pretty slow day for him, there was nothing dangerous going on around him and after a bit he tended to grow bored rather quickly so he went for a walk just to get himself out of the abandoned warehouse that he was currently using as his base of operations. While on his walk he found an interesting food event a whatever you want to pay for food, it wasn't often that one saw something like that so he decided to get a couple of sandwiches for himself after all even the deathless had to eat if he wanted the energy to do anything. He pulled out five one dollar bills which were rather crumpled as he kept them in his pockets rather than in a wallet, he did not need a wallet as he carried no cards of any kind, no ID, no credit cards, no pictures of family or pets he had nothing because he was nothing. He approached the stall waited his turn "two sandwiches please" his voice deep and gravelly almost rough though it was just his natural tone many thought he was trying to be the tough guy type. While he made no comment about it he did notice that the young woman at the stall kept looking over at a certain building while she was working, he found that a bit odd as her eyes seemed more focused than they should be, perhaps he was just reading too much into things because he currently had nothing to do or perhaps there was more to her than serving sandwiches.

Xia hardly paid heed to her customers as the sun went down, observing as the laboratory personnel went home one by one, until only a single car remained in the parking lot. It was evident when she didn't even ask what type of sandwiches he wanted, automatically making Ragnar a couple of bologna and mozarella on rye sandwiches. "Oh... uh... here you go sir." She took Ragnar's money with a smile. "Enjoy."


Night fell and the mobile store closed. Xia was last to leave, packing up the equipment on the stall and putting a padlock on it, then parking it in a nearby alleyway. Once it was dark, she took the long way around the block, effortlessly jumping over the security fence, then jumping up onto the roof. Xia was a bit shaky on her landing, rolling with the jump, but otherwise was fine... she would enter through the roof door.

The young woman was definitely preoccupied with something as she didn't even ask what kind of sandwiches he wanted and made an odd combination of meat, cheese, and bread by most peoples standards but Ragnar didn't care. He had eaten a lot of things that mos people would never consider eating before but you did what you had to in order to survive he thought to himself as he took his sandwiches without a word, though he didn't just leave the area instead he found a little bench about one hundred yards away from her to watch her as he ate. She was preoccupied but there was more to it than that he thought to himself as he took a bite of his sandwich, she kept looking at that building and there were only a couple of reasons that one would continuously look at a building while they were working. She didn't seem overly distressed so he crossed out relationship problems, she wasn't angry either so he crossed off some kind of vendetta, he looked over her form once more. He noted that she seemed to be quite tall and fit for a young woman, she probably had enough muscle to smack around guys her size, he looked at the building as well analyzing the outside to see what he could find out. It wasn't the usual office building type and sometimes people with lab coats would come out, so either it was some kind of medical facility or a science facility of some sort, now what would a fit young woman want with either of those he wondered as he took another bite of his sandwich, the first conclusion that came to mind was she wanted to steal something from it.

Granted it wasn't the only possibility that there was but without more information it was the most logical conclusion to Ragnar, once he was finished with his food he decided that it was time to go get the necessary equipment to stop this would be thief if he was right. He left coming back when it was dark so his black armor would be less noticeable as it would hard to follow her if people were pointing at him because he was in armor in a world where it wasn't seen very often. It seemed that he right believing that she was no ordinary girl as she hopped the security fence like it was nothing, he waited until he saw he enter through the roof door before he shot out a wire to the roof of the building pulling himself on to it easily. He followed as quietly as he could and switched on his night vision sight to make it easier to see, he would need to take every precaution as he had no idea who she was or what she could do, either way he doubted that his presence would be welcome in such a situation.

The building remained quiet despite the presence of armed security. No alarms were tripped, and security cameras seemed to not register the intruder. There was a reason for all of this, as Xia moved with a little help, passing through unlocked doors and services areas. She would eventually open one more door, and come face to face with a blonde female scientist in a lab coat.

"There you are! Thank Ellie you're here. I can hardly contact anyone outside... did you bring any friends?” She asked with an Australian accent, pressing the codes to clear Xia for entry.

"No. The hero team I am with are not involved with the aliens... yet. Ellie says it is better fewer know about them.” She said, relieved to see a familiar face.

"She’s real smart then. All I know is that since we started... our research... I've been under surveillance for awhile now, even... and I can't trace the source."

"What is the research about?" Xia asked, though got no answer as she was ushered inside. She rubbed her arm slightly, noticing the temperature dropping quite quickly.

The scientist said little, and only turned on the lights in the chilly room. All around were about a dozen irregular blocks of blue ice, containing lobster men, alien beings Xia were all too familiar with. "...After the earthquakes at the resort, we moved our samples to our laboratory here in Chicago. The science we’ve collected from studying them is nothing short of miraculous.”

“Are they...?” Xia touched the frozen lobster men, encased as they were in ice, but their forms nonetheless whole. Their visage unsettled the dragon girl, who still has vivid memories of fighting even fewer of them.

“Cryogenic suspension. Carbon dating suggests they’ve been preserved for nearly sixty million years... their technology defies comprehension, but if we could learn how they did it...” The scientist explained, leading Xia to the central terminal in the room.

“They are dangerous. I have fought them. They are very strong.” Xia said in a serious tone, her eyes falling on each of the lobster men in the room. Thankfully they were unarmed, but this did not mean they were any less a threat.

“They’re frozen... I don’t think they’re a threat now. But regardless, here is the data. It’s vital you get it to Ellie.” The blonde scientist removed a portable drive from the computer and handed it to Xia.

“I will... what is that?” Xia pocketed the titanium encased drive on her costume, when she picked up the outline of a much larger block of ice dominating the center of the room.

“That... that is the largest of the specimens we found at the dig. We call him... the Crab Commander.” Harriet said, activating the spotlight on the largest block of ice in the cold room.

“...You are not joking.” She said, looking up at the monstrosity encased in ice, a four armed crustacean monstrosity that stood on two hind legs. Within this large underground freezer warehouse, it easily towered ten more feet over its eight-foot lobster man cousins, and in each arm it carried a curved sword, of almost organic make that they matched its thick carapace in composition.

Unless one followed Xia very closely, moving around in the laboratory was not easy. The security guards on the outer perimeter were average as you could get, but once inside, they were packing heavy armor, machine guns, and high-tech surveillance equipment, like expecting to fight a war.
And trouble would be coming very soon. Out on the waters of Lake Michigan dark, sleek sailing barges emerged from beneath the water, extremely close to the shoreline. The menacing, angular designs of the ships defied aerodynamics as they cut through the air, flying on anti-gravitational engines, to disembark their deadly cargo of tall, dark, thin and swift warriors wielding mighty alien weaponry.

...Inside, the security guards mobilized from the security center towards the entryways into the building, only to find several of their own dead, at the feet of turncoats armed with machine guns. They opened the gates to permit the dark warriors to enter the building unopposed.

“...For the masters!” they said, in a broken, coerced voice as the dark warriors poured into the laboratory complex, opening fire with their splinter rifles, peppering the light security personnel with poisoned needles, putting them to sleep. The battle for the ground floor had now begun... and Ragnar would find himself caught up in the center of a much wider conflict.

Why did it have to be so dark out? And how had Shade even ended up out here anyways? Usually he'd find a nice well lit subway tunnel or hotel room to sleep in but not tonight. No tonight he'd gotten to wandering, feeling a sense of security in the warm air and friendly atmosphere. And now look where it had landed him. trembling and aimless outside of some ominous research facility in Chicago. To make things worse it was now the dead of night and not only was there a very real threat of the loonies that crawl out of the woodwork when the sun goes down, there were also the monsters that haunted Shade's mind. Out here in the pitch darkness of the night he could feel eyes on him from everywhere. Every dark corner beckoned out to him to enter its mysterious and deadly depths. The poor creature shivered at the thought. All he wanted to do was find shelter and the only place that seemed to have it was the research facility in the distance.

As fast and as silently as he could will his form to move, Shade whisked off in the direction of the facility. Not two seconds later were his fears realized and his psyche set ablaze. Out of the adjacent body of water rose a fleet of massive organic ships. Their grotesque and angular forms looming silently with deadly purpose in his direction. Then on tangled cords they dropped forth beasts of the sea onto the awaiting beach. In their hand they wielded grizzly devices of war and violence. The scene was something straight from one of Shade's nightmares and it didn't take him long to turn tail and bolt. If he had ever doubted the safety of the facility before, that thought was long gone now. He needed to get out of the dark and into someplace bright and sturdy. The research facility now feet in front of him was just that place.

Quickly he dissipated his form into a fine stream and seeped through a crack in a slightly ajar doorway. Already he felt safer as the fluorescent lights shone down on his inky figure. But now that he had light he needed distance and without breaking stride he began to fume down the hall, his body trailing dark shadowy tails behind it as his bright red eyes zoomed down tight corridors and narrow passageways. He didn't care who saw him or shrieked, and oh did they ever. Alarms began to sound within the compound and guns began to fire on him. Apparently this place wasn't so safe after all. And letting out a childish scream Shade closed his eyes and slammed into the nearest door he could find, busting through it and colliding with a the tall dragon girl roughly his age. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there." his voice hissed out solemnly through his perpetual toothy smile. "Please don't let them know I'm here. There are monsters outside and I think they're coming for me." Shades form dropped as though on its knees as he pleaded, his childish fear ringing through his otherwise eerie voice. He was so caught up in pleading with this woman to protect him, that he did not even notice the frozen abominations that surrounded him within the room...

The power and lights of the outer facility go out, and Fang Spawn poured in through multiple doors and windows. The fish-amphibian hybrids were nothing more than ravenous beasts, driven by hunger, light and sound. They were quick to overwhelm the outer defences, ripping less prepared men to pieces, but the laboratory’s inner facilities were now on lockdown, all points of access sealed off.
The security personnel held the crucial hallway to the inner lab, where they would not be flanked. The reinforced door was slowly being dissolved by some alien substance, and here the elite guards would make their stand.

The security team quickly and quietly form two lines of four gunners, the vanguard wielding high capacity submachine guns and advanced ballistic shields, while the ones in the back carried heavy machine guns and assault rifles. As the monsters burst through the inner door, their disciplined fire rips through the beasts systematically, their numbers negated in this hallway. Dozens of Spawn perish for every inch of hallway taken, the beasts climbing over their dead fellows in a mad scramble.
When the shooting stopped, the entire hallway was ankle deep in blood and guts, and the smoke from gunfire completely removed visibility. Their commander quickly tells them to reload, and in practiced movements they do so; a second blast door slowly rises from the gore, sealing up the security hallway as large, crustacean figures come into the hallway...

“Harriet, Get yer ass outta there. Those lobsters are here!” The commander on the other side of Harriet’s radio urged her to leave, and she was only happy to do so. But, her focus was on the intruder that managed to bypass security and enter this fortified area.

“How did you get in here? How do we know you aren’t one of the aliens?” She was quick to point a gun at Shade’s face, despite not knowing if it would even affect him. Everyone was tense, and suddenly coming in here did not help things.

“He doesn’t smell like one of them.... but we can’t be sure. Are you being hunted?” Xia asked, knowing about the aliens’ agenda of capturing metahumans for whatever nefarious purposes. “What’s your power?”