Destiny in Darkness

a story of the world of Zoolok

"Right this way, Mrs. Dosco," said the orange tabby cat wearing a soldier's uniform bearing the insignia of a corporal.

"Thank you," Inaril Dosco said, allowing him to lead her toward the visitation room. Glancing covertly at her as they walked down the drab hallway side by side, the soldier thought that she was quite an attractive cat, with silky gray fur, a pink nose, and emerald green eyes. She was wearing a long, low-cut dress of dark blue, and around her neck hung a large brooch or amulet of some sort, with an oval-shaped black stone in a gold setting that lay atop her cleavage. Something about the brooch caught the soldier's attention. Normally, he would have expected the black stone to reflect the ceiling lights as they walked along beneath them, but it appeared to be completely nonreflective. What was more, he could have sworn that there was something even blacker moving inside it. He shook his head, certain that his eyes must be playing tricks on him.

"According to our records," the soldier said, "this is the first time you've visited your husband."
"That's correct," she said, nodding.

"Forgive my curiosity, but why have you waited so long? He's been here four months!"

"I've been out of the country, traveling," she replied. "I only received word a week ago that he was still . . . among the living."

"That's an apt way of putting it," the soldier replied, grimly. "Must have come as quite a shock to you, after being told that he was dead."

"A tremendous shock," said Mrs. Dosco.

"So, are the two of you still married, then?" the soldier asked.

She looked at him. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, marriage vows normally end with 'as long as you both shall live.' I'm told it's unclear whether any of these creatures are still legally married to their spouses anymore."

She frowned. "I still consider myself married to my husband, corporal, and I still love him, no matter what he's become."

"That's very admirable of you, ma'am," the soldier said, "all things considered."

They arrived at the steel door at the end of the hall. The soldier unlocked it for her, and they entered the room. It contained several wooden tables with chairs on each side. Seated at one of them was a short, squatly built hedgehog with a long, pointed snout. He wore a white T-shirt, made bumpy in the back by his dorsal spines, and brown pants, and his clawed feet were bare. That he was not a normal member of his species was demonstrated by the red glow of his small, beady eyes and by the pair of long, needle-like fangs descending from his snout. He was the room's sole occupant.

"Hello, Ososi," Mrs. Dosco said, smiling at the hedgehog, who simply nodded, regarding her with those glowing red eyes. She turned to the corporal. "Might I be alone with my husband?"

The corporal shook his head. "I'm not allowed to leave you alone with him, ma'am."

"But I was told he can't harm cats," she protested. "Surely, I have nothing to fear from him."

"I'm sorry, ma'am. Regulations." Privately, he wondered why a beautiful cat like her would marry a hedgehog. Oh well, there was no accounting for taste.

Inaril Dosco sighed, went over to the table, and sat down on the opposite side from the hedgehog. His red eyes widened slightly as he looked at the amulet she was wearing. Its inner darkness began to pulse, and he heard her voice in his head. "Thank you for not exposing my deception, Ososi Dosco," she thought.

"No problem," he thought back. "And please, call me Sparks. I must confess, though, I'm a little puzzled why you wanted to see me. I don't recall ever meeting you before. And how did you manage to fool them into believing you're my wife? I've never even been married!"

"It was a simple matter to bribe a clerk at the Hall of Records to insert a forged marriage license into your file, so when I asked to see you, they would check and find it. Please, say something aloud, so the guard doesn't start getting suspicious. Tell me you've missed me."

Sparks did so, then continued thinking. "Okay, now I know how you did it. But I still don't understand why. Who are you?"

Aloud, she told him she'd missed him, too. Mentally, she replied, "I am Elila Shantar, also called Eventide, and I am a thief. A quite extraordinary thief, if I do say so myself."

"Ah, I think I remember reading about you," Sparks thought, while they both kept up a mundane verbal conversation for the guard's benefit. "You were caught by the Heroes of Zoolok a couple of years ago, weren't you? Something about holding a bunch of people hostage in a movie theater."

She nodded. "Yes, I was recently released from prison."

"So what do you want from me?" asked Sparks.

"I believe we may be able to help each other," Eventide said. "I know you are a nos, a dead body magically reanimated by the ancient Elinian cat goddess Ba-vast using something called the Eye of Destiny. I desire this object."

Sparks looked wary. "What for?"

"I am a student of the occult," said Eventide. "I collect magical artifacts. That is how I came into possession of the Amulet of Darkness." She gestured at her amulet. "Surely, you must have sensed its power."

Sparks nodded. "I felt it the moment I saw it, just like I could feel the power in the Eye of Destiny. Must be because I have magic in me as well."

Eventide leaned closer, her green eyes shining. "Where is it?"

"Why should I tell you?" Sparks asked. "What's in it for me?"

"Your freedom, for one."

Sparks shook his head. "They'll never let me out of here. I killed a cop. I didn't mean to, but I did."

"Once I have the Eye of Destiny in my possession, that will no longer be an issue."

Sparks smirked. "And how do I know I can trust you?"

Eventide shrugged. "What have you got to lose? You've already said they're never going to let you out. If you help me, you at least have a chance to be free, and some chance is better than none. If I don't keep my word, you're no worse off than you are now."

Sparks considered this and finally nodded. "The last time I saw the Eye of Destiny, the Heroes of Zoolok had it. Their science guy, Dr. Teshobi, used it to heal me after a squirrel nos named Kialo Ortrum broke my back."

Eventide growled, looking disappointed. "That could be a problem."

"But they might have given it to someone else," Sparks added.

She raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"The Contessa Batori. She's a nos too, created thousands of years ago, and she's a friend of theirs. I saw her picture in the paper recently, and standing beside her was a platypus named Digby Rasklin. He used to be a stoker on the Delphinia, the ocean liner I was radioman on. According to the paper, Digby and the Contessa are a couple."

"I still don't see why they would entrust her with the Eye," said Eventide.

"Nos can't have sex," said Sparks. "I tried once, and, well, it didn't turn out so well." The hedgehog looked embarrassed. "But Ortrum told me that the Eye could temporarily energize a nos so their body worked like it did when they were alive!"

Eventide nodded. "Meaning they could have sex again."

"Exactly! Now, Digby was there when Teshobi used the Eye to heal me, and Digby is sweet on the Contessa. You think the Heroes wouldn't let her have it so she could have sex with her boyfriend?"

Eventide chuckled. "Sounds like something those saps would do."

Sparks nodded, grinning. "So, find the Contessa, and you'll find the Eye!"

"That shouldn't be too hard," said Eventide. "Thank you, Sparks. You've been most helpful." She rose to leave.

"I'm warning you, Eventide," said Sparks, standing up, his eyes burning brighter, "if you double-cross me, I'll find a way to get even. I'm immortal, so no matter how long it takes, I'll find a way!"

She smiled. "Don't worry, Sparks, I won't forget you." She turned and left the room as he stood there, glaring impotently at her back.

The bedroom was huge and opulent, containing many decorative objects from Zoolok's past, its walls adorned with ornate tapestries depicting classic scenes. Here, a big-horned sheep in gleaming armor knelt as he was knighted by a bear king. There, a ferret captain stood upon the deck of a sailing ship as it plowed through crashing seas on a voyage of discovery. Surrounded by these, in a four-poster bed so big one could become lost in it, lay a platypus.

He was as burly an example of his species as one could ask for, with a powerful, muscular body, the result of years of shoveling coal into the hungry boilers of various steamships. That body was covered with dense brown fur, with a slightly oily sheen, that shed water easily. His rubbery black bill lay upon a soft silk pillow as he slept, and the lower half of his body was concealed by a silk sheet. His small black eyes opened as he heard footsteps approaching.

Into the room came a white female bat in a purple robe. She was tall, with the slender build and long, thin arms typical of her kind, and her eyes were blood red. Her bare feet padded along the hardwood floor, which creaked slightly, as it was quite old, though not nearly so old as the one who trod upon it. Before her she held a silver tray laden with toast, jam, scrambled eggs, and sausages with her long, spidery fingers, the vestigial webbing between which was the only remnant of her species' aerial ancestry. As the platypus sat up, rubbing his eyes with his black webbed hands, she set the tray down on a table beside the bed and stood gazing at him, smiling, her chin bracketed by her small, gleaming fangs.

"Thanks, Contessa," the platypus said, smiling back.

"You are welcome, Digby," the bat said, in an oddly-accented voice that didn't quite fit any known language. She sat down on the edge of the bed, watching him.

"Care to join me?" Digby asked, spreading some jam on a slice of toast.

She shook her head, her huge ears waggling a bit. "I have already eaten."

Digby nodded, munching on his toast, and looked around the room. "There are times when I still can't believe this is real."

"There are times when I cannot believe you are real," said the Contessa, watching him eat.

The platypus chuckled. "Me? I'm nothing special. Just a working-class mug."

The Contessa nodded. "You are uncultured and uneducated, completely lacking in social graces, oafish, boorish, crude . . ."

"You forgot I swear like a sailor," Digby added.

"And vulgar," said the Contessa. "And you have made me feel something I thought I would never feel again." She took his hand in hers and kissed it.

"You're welcome," said Digby, and put his thick arms around her seemingly frail body, pulling her to him and pressing his bill to her lips. She responded in kind, her long fingers caressing the back of his head.

Their kiss was interrupted by the sound of a tremendous impact that shook the walls of the room, causing a beautiful, centuries-old vase to topple from its stand and plummet to the floor, shattering into fragments.

"What the hell was that?" asked Digby, looking shocked.

"It came from the study!" said the Contessa, springing off the bed and dashing out of the room. Digby threw aside the sheet and ran after her, naked but unconcerned. They raced down the hall and into the study, where they found the floor littered with books that had fallen from the shelves. In one wall, a painting had been swung away to reveal a safe, whose crumpled door lay upon the floor, deformed by some terrific force.

"The Eye is gone!" cried the Contessa. She saw that a window was open and ran to it, leaning out and looking down. In the leaf-strewn driveway below, a sleek sports car was pulling out. She growled and leaped out the window, falling three stories and landing on the grass in a crouch. Rising to her feet, she ran toward the car as it sped away, leaving her behind. The Contessa stopped running, glaring after the receding car as dead leaves swirled around her feet.

"The coastline of Karhied should be visible at any moment," said the wildebeest officer as Adeni leaned against the angled glass window, peering out at the wispy clouds and churning sea below.

The teenage female hawk in the candy-pink blouse and skirt nodded to the officer, thinking he looked quite dashing in his navy blue uniform jacket, white trousers, and gold-trimmed cap, then turned to the teenage male hawk standing beside her. Raoim Coromek was wearing a tan jacket and slacks, green shirt, and black tie, his clawed yellow feet bare, as he stood gazing out the window, his scaly hands in his pockets. "This is so exciting!" Adeni bubbled.

Raoim simply bobbed his head. "Yeah, I guess it would be to someone who's never traveled by air before."

She rolled her yellow eyes, exasperated. "Oh, sure, mister big-time superhero who's done everything!"

He smiled at her. "Not everything. There's still one or two things I haven't done."

"Well, this is my first time," she huffed, "so I intend to enjoy it!" She turned back to the window, brown-feathered arms folded.

Raoim took his hands out of his jacket pockets and placed them on her shoulders, nuzzling her feathered cheek gently with his yellow beak. "Sorry, Adeni. I didn't mean to put you down."

The hawk girl remained unplacated. "I still haven't forgiven you for running off to Itusto without telling me, Raoim Coromek!"

"You had school," he reminded her.

"I could have taken a week off," she said stubbornly.

"During finals? Anyway, you would have been bored."

She turned and stared at him. "Bored? In the most romantic city in the world?"

"There was nothing romantic about what me and Sidewalk did there. It was all walking around and asking questions. My feet are still sore!"

"And those sore feet saved my life," came a deep voice from behind them. They both turned to see a tall tiger wearing a finely tailored gray jacket and slacks over a black vest, white shirt, and blue-and-red striped tie.

"I'm Volthawk, a member of the Heroes of Zoolok," said Raoim. "Saving people is my job."

"Hi, Sidewalk," said Adeni, smiling at the tiger.

"Hello, Adeni," said Sidewalk Shaver. "See the coast yet?"

She shook her head. "No, but that officer said it should be coming into view any minute."

They all stood gazing out the window as the airship Regilanta flew along, five thousand feet above the storm-whipped waves of the Hargaskan Ocean. After three days of nothing but clouds and sea, anything new would be a welcome sight.

Adeni gasped and pointed as a line of green appeared through the gray murk. "There it is!" Raoim and Sidewalk nodded, and all three watched as the line solidified into a rocky, windswept coastline. As they flew on, the airship casting its huge shadow across the quaint, rustic countryside, fields and lines of trees became visible, and then a small town with roads radiating out from it.

After a time, a flat, gray square half a mile on each side became visible in the distance, and the wildebeest officer announced that they would be landing in fifteen minutes. The trio left the observation deck, went to their cabins to collect their belongings, and then assembled with the rest of the passengers before the boarding ramp in the airship's belly. The drone of the Regilanta's six propeller engines ceased as the airship dropped its guide ropes to the crewmen on the ground and slowly sank toward the vast concrete landing pad in utter silence. The crewmen dragged her toward a metal tripod mooring mast, where her nose was locked into place, and secured their ropes to iron rings embedded in the concrete, binding the great airship to the ground. Then there was a loud clunk as the boarding ramp was released and dipped toward the ground, its fall slowed by pneumatic stoppers, until it thudded softly against the concrete. The wildebeest officer opened the gate, and the passengers began to disembark.

"I can't believe we crossed the whole Hargaskan Ocean in just three days!" said Adeni as they walked toward the airport terminal building carrying their bags. "A liner takes six!"

Raoim glanced over at the enormous hangers that housed other airships. "Do you suppose air travel will ever replace sea travel?" he asked.

"I doubt it," said Sidewalk. "A liner can carry a lot more people than an airship, and the fare is much cheaper. Fortunately, your friend the Contessa was footing the bill for this trip."

"She's not my friend," Raoim reminded him. "I've never even met her."

"Is she really a contessa?" asked Adeni.

"So I hear," said Raoim. "I really don't know that much about her, just what Firefox, Europa, Ken-Jo, and Omega Mouse told me."

"Well, this Eye of Destiny must be pretty valuable for her to pay for three tickets on an airship to have it recovered," said Sidewalk.

"Trust me," said Raoim grimly, "it is."

Before the airport terminal building stood a muscular platypus, and Raoim smiled and waved as they approached. "Hello, Digby!" he said.

"Hello, Mr. Coromek," Digby replied. "Nice to see you again."

Raoim made introductions. "This is Sidewalk Shaver, and this is Adeni Rynbel, my girlfriend."

"Pleased to meet you both," said Digby. "If you'll come with me, I'll take you to the Contessa."

They walked to the parking lot, and Digby led them to an elegant, old-model sedan. Stowing their suitcases in the trunk, they climbed in, the two hawks sitting in the back while Sidewalk rode shotgun. The platypus fired up the car's steam engine, and it rolled noiselessly out of the parking lot and onto a country road.

"So, how's it going, Digby?" Raoim asked as they drove.

"Things are going fine, Mr. Coromek," Digby replied. "Still getting used to being a 'gentleman of leisure' after working all my life."

"You sound like you're from Nexasho, Mr. Rasklin," said Adeni, noting the platypus's accent.

Digby nodded. "Hatched and raised in your own hometown, Miss Rynbel. And please, call me Digby."

She smiled. "Only if you call me Adeni. So, how did you come to be with the Contessa?"

"We met aboard the ocean liner Delphinia some months back," Digby replied.

Sidewalk looked at him. "The Delphinia? Isn't that where the nos came from?"

Adeni gasped. "Those horrible, blood-drinking monsters?"

Digby's mouth tightened. "Yes, that's right."

"You fought some of them, didn't you?" asked Sidewalk, turning to Raoim.

Raoim nodded. "Yes, when they attacked Heroes Headquarters, and one nearly sank his fangs into my throat!"

Adeni shivered, hugging herself. "How gruesome!" Raoim put an arm around her and comforted her.

"Well, you needn't worry about them, Adeni," said Sidewalk. "They're all either dead or locked up in an internment camp."

"If you ask me, they should have all been destroyed!" said Adeni emphatically.

Raoim just nodded.

"Digby," said Sidewalk, "there's something I'm still not clear on. Why hasn't the Contessa reported the theft of the Eye of Destiny to the police?"

"The Eye has kind of a checkered history, Mr. Shaver," the platypus replied. "It was dug up in the Elin river valley by an archaeologist, and its ownership is questionable."

"Meaning that if the police get hold of it, she might not get it back."

"Exactly."

"Does she have any legitimate claim to it?"

"As much as anyone does. The archaeologist who discovered it is dead."

"What about the Ministry of Antiquities?" asked Sidewalk. "I hear they take a dim view of looting other countries' treasures."

"They don't know the Eye is here," said Digby.

"I see," said Sidewalk.

Raoim broke into the conversation. "The Heroes of Zoolok entrusted the Eye to the Contessa."

The tiger turned to look at him. "Why her?"

"Because we felt she was the most qualified to look after it."

"You may want to reconsider that," said Sidewalk. He turned back to Digby. "Do you have any idea who might have stolen it?"

The platypus shook his head. "None. No one was even supposed to know she had it. That's why we didn't tell the Ministry of Antiquities about it. We figured the less people who knew, the better."

"Well, obviously someone found out," said Sidewalk. "If we can figure out who, that'll put us on the right track toward getting it back."

"That's what you're here for, Mr. Shaver," said Digby. "Mr. Coromek recommended you personally."

Sidewalk glanced at Raoim. "I'll have to remember to thank him for that."

An hour or so later, they arrived in the small village of Ineshy, and Digby parked the car in front of a building whose architecture belonged to an earlier century. A plaque beside the front entrance identified it as the Batori Clinic. They all exited the car and went inside. Behind a desk in the lobby sat an aardvark wearing a white nurse's uniform. He smiled as they approached. "Hello, Digby," he said.

"Hi, Oado," said Digby. "Where's the Contessa?"

"She's in the children's ward," Oado replied.

"Thanks," said Digby, and led his companions down the hall and through a pair of double doors.

Immediately, their nostrils were tickled by a strong antiseptic smell as they entered a large room lined with beds, several of which were occupied by children of various species. The Contessa, dressed in a white lab coat, was sitting beside a bed containing a rhinoceros boy about eight years old, holding a stethoscope to the boy's gray chest as he breathed deeply in and out. She withdrew the instrument and smiled at him. "You are doing quite well, Ustom," she said. "You should be able to go home tomorrow."

"Thanks, Contessa!" the boy said, grinning.

She patted his head, rose, turned around to see Digby and the others, and walked over to them.

"Contessa," said Digby, "allow me to introduce Mr. Sidewalk Shaver, Miss Adeni Rynbel, and Mr. Raoim Coromek, a.k.a. Volthawk, one of the Heroes of Zoolok."

"Welcome," she said. "I am Contessa Batori."

"Honored to meet you, Contessa," said Sidewalk.

"Likewise," said Adeni, looking starstruck.

"You're a doctor?" asked Raoim, astonished.

She nodded. "It is a family tradition. This hospital was founded by an ancestor of mine over two centuries ago. Several generations of Batoris have practiced medicine here."

"I bet they have!" said Raoim, and Sidewalk and Adeni both looked at him, puzzled.

"Please, come into my office," the Contessa said, leading them out of the ward, down a hall, and into a small office whose walls were lined with books. She turned to face Sidewalk, the bat almost as tall as the tiger. "I am told you are the best private detective in Nexasho."

"More or less," said Sidewalk.

"Then I trust you will have no difficulty finding and returning my property," said the Contessa.

"That depends on who took it," said Sidewalk. "Digby tells me you have no idea."

The Contessa shook her head. "None whatever. The thief escaped in a car. I never saw them."

"You didn't by any chance get the license number."

"I did, and I called the police and told them that the car had nearly run me down while I was out jogging. They told me that it had been reported stolen, and then called back later to tell me it had been found abandoned."

"Sounds like a dead end," said Sidewalk. "May I see the crime scene?"

"Of course. My home is a few miles outside the village. Digby will drive you there. I will be along later. I have patients to attend to."

"I'll see what I can find out from it," said Sidewalk. "Besides you and Digby, who else knew you had the Eye?"

"The Heroes of Zoolok, of course," the Contessa replied. "And an otter named Keref Zibaeri."

"That name sounds familiar," Sidewalk mused.

"He's Europa's boyfriend," said Raoim, "and First Officer on the Delphinia."

Sidewalk raised an eyebrow. "The Delphinia again?"

Raoim nodded. "They met aboard her during that nos business. They've been dating ever since."

"Then it's possible he may have told someone," said Sidewalk.

"Not likely," said Raoim. "He's a pretty trustworthy fellow."

"Unlikely," said Sidewalk, "but not impossible." He turned to Digby. "Shall we go to the Contessa's house?"

The platypus nodded, turned to the Contessa, and kissed her. "See you later," he said, smiling.

She smiled back and stroked his sleek head with her long, webbed fingers. "See you later, my love."

Digby, Sidewalk, Raoim, and Adeni left the office, and the Contessa watched them go, her fingers drumming on her desk.

In a hotel room in the city of Tatrolozu, some hundred miles east, Eventide sat crosslegged on the floor, head bowed, concentrating. Before her lay the Eye of Destiny, a glowing green gem set in a golden scepter about twelve inches long. She uttered several incantations that were supposed to activate magical objects, but none seemed to have any effect on the Eye. It just lay there, glowing but inert. She sighed, opening her eyes, and glared at it. Clearly, unlocking its power would require more research. She considered contacting other practitioners of magic she knew, but decided against it. They might desire its power for themselves.

She was about to pack it in for the night and get some sleep when she noticed something odd. The black radiance of the Amulet of Darkness she wore around her neck was pulsating, something it had never done before. What was more, the Eye of Destiny's green glow was also pulsating, and the pulsations appeared to be synchronized with each other. As she watched, fascinated, an image appeared in her mind, an image of a wormlike creature squirming in a tunnel full of filthy muck. Four limp, useless limbs hung from its body as it pulled itself along on its belly, and a long, ratlike tail dragged behind it. It took her a moment to realize that it was actually a rodent of some sort, with fangs protruding from its muzzle where incisors would normally be. Its large eyes were solid white, and its hairless body was blackened and burned. As she watched the thing in horror, a small lizard scampered in front of it, and the creature lunged, seizing the lizard in its mouth and draining it of blood, then tossing it aside and continuing to crawl along. The image faded.

"Well," said Eventide, her green eyes blinking. "What the hell was that all about?"

The Contessa's manor house stood like a brooding, ivy-draped sentinel a few miles outside Ineshy. It was a majestic three-story building surrounded by fields and meadows where herd lizards grazed placidly. Sidewalk estimated from its design that the structure was at least three centuries old, probably older. Much of Karhied was like that—old buildings, old towns, old cities. There were monuments here that dated back to prehistoric times, mysterious remnants of lost cultures whose purpose was unknown to anyone living.

"My goodness!" said Adeni, staring at the mansion in awe as they pulled into the driveway. "The Contessa owns this?"

Digby nodded as he killed the engine. "This and all the lands around it. King Deur awarded the county and title to the first Contessa Batori for distinguishing herself in battle against an invading army over six hundred years ago."

"I would have liked to have met her!" said Adeni excitedly.

Digby just smiled.

They exited the car and ascended the stairs to the front door, where they were greeted by an aurochs butler. "Welcome home, Master Digby," the big bull said. "Shall I have some rooms made up for your companions?"

The platypus frowned. "I've asked you not to call me that, Dron. No 'sir' or 'master' with me. Just plain Digby, or Mr. Rasklin, if you must. And yes, three rooms."

Dron nodded. "Sorry, Mr. Rasklin, force of habit. I'll see to it at once."

The butler led them into the main hall, a cavernous room with finely carved hardwood furniture, suits of armor for various species, intricately woven rugs on the floor, a magnificent crystal chandelier hanging above, and a yawning fireplace that Digby, Raoim, and Adeni could have stood upright in, around which twin stairways curved upward to a landing. "It's like something out of a movie!" said Adeni, looking around in wonderment.

"It does take some getting used to," said Digby as they made their way through it.

"I bet," said Raoim. "Especially for someone who used to shovel coal for a living."

Adeni looked at Digby in surprise. "You used to shovel coal?"

Digby nodded. "I was a stoker aboard the Delphinia."

"That explains your muscles," Sidewalk commented.

"How did you meet the Contessa?" asked Adeni. "I mean, you would have been down in the boiler room, and I'm pretty sure passengers aren't allowed down there."

"During that nos business, things got a little crazy," said Digby.

"Yeah," said Raoim. "Europa told me they were rampaging through the ship, killing people right and left."

Adeni shivered. "How awful!"

"It wasn't much fun," Digby said. "Come on, the study is this way." He led them up one of the stairways and down a hall while Dron went off to attend to his duties.

When they arrived in the study, Adeni gasped at the sight of the smashed safe. "What could have done that?" she asked.

"Good question," said Sidewalk. He glanced at Digby. "Has anything been touched?"

The platypus shook his head. "We've kept everyone out of here since the theft."

The tiger walked over to the safe and crouched down to inspect the bent door lying on the floor before it. "No burn marks; no sign that any explosives were used," he observed.

Raoim came over and crouched beside him. "This is a Mosrat high-security safe, best in the world. You could line it with enough dynamite to blow this whole room apart and not even put a dent it."

Sidewalk looked around. "And yet nothing seems to be damaged but the safe. You'd need a jackhammer or some kind of battering ram to break that thing open, but there's nothing like that here." He rose and turned to Digby. "When did you first become aware that the theft had occurred?"

"Three days ago, when me and the Contessa were having breakfast," the platypus replied. "There was an impact like a wrecking ball hit the house, and we ran in here to find out what it was."

"How long did that take?" Sidewalk asked.

"Five or six seconds."

"By which time the thief had already gone out the window, without leaving behind any apparatus they might have used to smash the safe. Curious." Sidewalk went over to the open window and looked down. "Three-story drop to the ground." He reached out and tugged on the ivy lining the wall. "Sturdy enough to hold someone, provided they're not too heavy."

"Someone like me," said Raoim, going over to the window and climbing up onto the sill.

"Careful, Raoim!" said Adeni, alarmed.

He smiled back at her. "Relax, Adeni, I'm a professional."

"A professional lunatic, you mean!" she retorted angrily.

The hawk ignored her and lowered himself down from the window, his clawed hands on the sill while his clawed feet gripped the ivy beneath, his light avian build making it relatively easy for him.

"See anything?" Sidewalk asked, peering down at him.

"The ivy's definitely been disturbed," said Raoim. "There are vines on the left side of the window that've been torn away from the wall."

Sidewalk nodded. "So it's a safe bet the thief used the ivy to enter and leave."

"He must have," said Raoim, "since he didn't leave any rope or grapple behind. Hello, what's this?" He reached over and plucked something from one of the vines.

"Found something?" Sidewalk asked.

"Yeah," said Raoim. "Pull me up."

Sidewalk did so, hauling the hawk back through the window, and they both inspected the little tuft of gray fur Raoim was holding between his clawed fingers. Sidewalk took a magnifying glass out of his jacket pocket and examined the fur closely. "It's from a cat."

"You sure?" Raoim asked, eyes going wide.

"I should hope so, being a cat myself," the tiger said. He noticed the look on the hawk's face. "Mean something to you?"

Raoim nodded. "A gray cat thief with an interest in magic items. That spells 'Eventide.'"

Sidewalk raised an eyebrow. "Magic items?"

Raoim realized what he'd just said. "Damn it!"

Sidewalk frowned. "Is there something you're not telling me, Raoim?"

The hawk sighed and glanced at Digby, who was looking at him with an annoyed expression on his billed face. "Remember your promise," the platypus said.

"I know, I know!" said Raoim. "Okay, the Eye of Destiny isn't just an archaeological relic. It has magical powers."

The tiger narrowed his eyes. "What kind of magical powers?"

"Among other things, it creates nos."
Sidewalk nodded. "I was beginning to think it might have something to do with them. Too many connections to the Delphinia."

Adeni gasped. "You mean it's responsible for those creatures?"

"Yes," said Raoim. "It's where they come from."

"Why would the Heroes of Zoolok entrust something like that to the Contessa?" asked Sidewalk.

"I told you, we felt she was the most qualified to look after it."

"But you haven't said why."

"I'm not at liberty to," said Raoim. "Like Digby said, I was sworn to secrecy. I'm sure you can understand."

"I understand that as of this moment I'm off this case," said Sidewalk. He turned to Digby. "I'll send you my bill in the mail."

"Sidewalk, wait!" said Raoim, grabbing his shoulder. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you the Eye was magical, but it wasn't something we wanted getting around!"

The tiger growled at him. "I don't like it when people withhold information from me!"

"There was no reason you needed to know! As far as we knew, it was a simple burglary!"

"Did it never occur to you that perhaps the Eye was stolen by someone who wanted it because it was magical? Someone like this Eventide person?"

"We didn't know there was a supervillain involved!" Raoim protested.

"Well, now you do," said Sidewalk, "and that puts this way above my pay grade. Supervillains and monsters are your department, not mine!"

"Sidewalk, listen," said Raoim. "Eventide collects magic items, and she knows a lot about them. She can't be allowed to keep the Eye! Who knows what she might do with it?"

Sidewalk eyed him coldly. "Then you'd better get your fellow Heroes over here and force her to give it back, hadn't you?"

"None of them is a detective!" Raoim cried. "That's why I started hanging out with you in the first place! We need your help, Sidewalk! Besides, I saved your life, remember? You owe me!"

The tiger stood there glaring silently at the hawk for a moment. "All right," he said at last. "I'll help. But once this is over, we're even, understand?"

Raoim nodded, swallowing. "I understand."

"Now," said Sidewalk, "it's been a long day, and I'm tired. I'm going to take a nap before dinner. In the meantime, I suggest you get on the horn to your fellow Heroes, Volthawk. We may be needing them." And with that he left the room.

Raoim looked over at Adeni. She was frowning at him in disapproval. "You should have told him," she said, then turned and left as well. Digby shook his head and followed her, leaving Raoim alone in the study.

Day was slowly fading into night as the sun sank below the horizon, causing Batori Manor and the stately oaks around it to cast long shadows across the ground. As a cold wind whistled between the trunks of the ancient trees, swirling the fallen leaves and presaging the chill of the night to come, one of those shadows began to move. It oozed across the lawn like a thing alive until it reached the east wall and merged with the shadow cast by the mansion, disappearing from view. Then it reappeared on the other side of the wall, inside the mansion, and began slithering down the hallway, moving from door to door, searching.

Stripped to the waist, his black webbed hands wrapped in bands of cloth, Digby was busy socking the hell out of a punching bag in the small gymnasium on the first floor. As a means of keeping in shape now that he no longer had to shovel coal for a living, he'd set up the gym shortly after he'd come to live in the mansion and now worked out here regularly. Anxiety clawed at his brain as he repeatedly slugged the sawdust-filled bag. Volthawk had come perilously close to revealing the Contessa's secret. He had actually been relieved when that tiger detective had taken himself off the case, only to have Volthawk drag him back on. And why the hell had he brought his girlfriend along? That hadn't been part of the deal. The more people who knew the secret, the greater the chance of it slipping out. He growled as he continued pummelling the bag. None of this was working out the way he'd planned. He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't notice a shadow detach itself from the wall and coalesce into a solid form.

"Digby Rasklin," came a woman's voice from behind him. He whirled to see a gray-furred female cat standing by the wall, dressed in a skin-tight indigo outfit with a white belt, a gold brooch with a black stone in it hanging around her neck.

"You must be Eventide," Digby said, panting from his exertions.

She nodded. "That is correct."

"Drop by to steal something else?" he asked bitterly.

"Actually, I am here seeking information," she replied.

Digby laughed, walking over to the weight-lifting set that his shirt and jacket lay draped across. "And what do you think I can tell you that you don't already know?"

She eyed him warily as he reached for his jacket. "I warn you, if you have a gun in there, it will do you no good against me."

"Relax," said Digby, "I don't carry a gun. I was just getting a cigarette. You want one?"

"No, thank you," Eventide said. "I don't smoke."

"So, what is it you want to know?" Digby asked, taking a silver cigarette case from a pocket of his jacket. He opened it and removed a small glass vial of clear fluid, uncorking it and swallowing its contents.

"That wasn't a cigarette," said Eventide, narrowing her eyes.

"No, it was for my knuckles," said Digby. "They get pretty sore after a workout." He took a cigarette from the case and lit it.

"The Eye of Destiny gave me a vision," said Eventide. "I thought you might be able to help me understand it."

"Did it now?" asked Digby, puffing on his cigarette. "What sort of vision?"

"It was a rodent of some sort, perhaps a squirrel," she said. "He was burned, blind, hairless, and couldn't use his arms or legs. I think he was a nos."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, for one thing, he had fangs, and he drank the blood of a small lizard."

Digby nodded. "Sounds like a nos. And why do you think the Eye showed him to you?"

"I'm not sure. I've been trying to figure out how it works, but I haven't been having much luck. None of the usual incantations seem to work."

"And you think finding this squirrel will help?"

"I can't imagine any other reason the Eye would have shown him to me."

Digby exhaled a cloud of smoke. "If the Eye wants you to know how to use it, why doesn't it just tell you?"

"Perhaps it lacks the ability to do so," Eventide replied. "Magic items aren't people. They have very limited mentalities, defined when they're created."

Digby nodded. "Assuming you're right, and this guy is the key to using the Eye, why would I help you? After all, you stole it from us."

Eventide smiled. "You're under the misconception that you have a choice in the matter, Mr. Rasklin." Her brooch began to glow with a black radiance.

Digby charged at her with a speed that seemed impossible for someone with his stocky, lumbering build, fist raised to strike. Eventide gasped with surprise, barely managing to create a wall of solid darkness before her, which he rammed his fist into, shattering it into ebon shards that quickly dissipated. "Impossible!" she cried. "No one short of Omega Mouse is that strong!"

Digby smiled and drew back his fist for another blow. A bolt of darkness shot from her hand, hitting him in the chest and hurling him across the room and into the wall, shaking it and cracking the plaster where he struck. Digby fell to the floor and lay still.

Cautiously, Eventide approached the platypus. He appeared to be unconscious. The Amulet of Darkness emitted its black glow, and she peered into his mind, seeking the information she desired.

"Digby?" came Volthawk's voice from down the hall. Eventide cursed and turned as he ran into the room. He stopped short, staring at her. "Eventide!"

"Hello again, Volthawk," she said, smiling at him. "It's been a while. Are you sure you want to tangle with me? You went down pretty fast the last time we fought."

Volthawk growled. "I was wounded then. I'm not now." His body began to crackle with electricity.

"You're also not wearing your costume," Eventide observed. "I thought you needed it to control your powers."

"You need to keep up," said Volthawk. "Things have changed." He raised his hands and lightning shot from his fingers toward her.

Eventide erected a shield of darkness, deflecting his lightning bolt into the wall, where it seared the plaster, leaving a black smoking mark. Then she raised her hand, and Volthawk's shadow reached up from the floor, wrapping dark tendrils around him. He struggled as they squeezed him, groaning with pain.

"You always were a glass cannon, Volthawk," she said, smirking. "All offense, no defense."

At that moment, Sidewalk and Adeni ran into the room. Adeni screamed, "Raoim!" when she saw Volthawk being squeezed by his shadow, and Sidewalk drew his revolver from his jacket, aiming it at the cat.

"Let him go!" the tiger roared.

Eventide laughed. "You don't really think that silly gun can hurt me, do you?"

"Only one way to find out!" said Sidewalk, and fired. A shield of darkness sprang up before Eventide, and the bullet ricocheted away. Then Sidewalk noticed one of the tendrils pressing down on the voltage regulator Volthawk wore on his belt. Grabbing Adeni around the waist, the tiger dashed out of the room, ignoring the hawk girl's protests. A moment later, the tendril crushed the regulator's casing, and there was a brilliant flash and a deafening concussion as all the electrical energy in Volthawk's body was released at once. Eventide went flying backward, striking a wall, as everything flammable near Volthawk was ignited by the searing heat of the blast.

Eventide rose groggily to her feet, stunned by the impact, and looked around, blinking. Fire was spreading through the room. She glanced over at Digby, who was still lying on the floor unconscious, and caused the shadow cast by his body to lift him up and carry him out into the hall. That done, she turned her eyes to Volthawk, who was also lying on the floor unconscious. There were no shadows anywhere near him. Shrugging, she melded into her own shadow on the wall and disappeared.

Sidewalk and Adeni watched in amazement as Digby's body was carried out into the hall by its own shadow, which then returned to normal. The tiger knelt beside him. "Digby, are you all right?" he asked.

The platypus groaned and sat up, rubbing his head. "Boy, that girl really packs a wallop!"

"What about Raoim?" cried Adeni.

Sidewalk looked at the doorway. Orange tongues of flame were licking around it. "There's no going back in there," he said, ruefully.

"We can't just let him die!" Adeni cried.

Digby got to his feet. "I'll get him."

"You'll be roasted alive!" Sidewalk protested.

Digby shook his head and charged into the room as Sidewalk stood at the doorway, staring in horror. His clothes and fur catching fire, the platypus ran through the raging inferno, picked up Volthawk, and ran back out into the hall. Sidewalk ripped a tapestry down from the wall and wrapped them both in it, smothering the flames. Then he knelt beside Volthawk as Digby laid him down on the floor.

"Oh my god, he's all burned!" cried Adeni, gazing down at the young hawk's smoking body. "He'll die!" Sidewalk rose and put his arms around her, holding her as she sobbed. He knew enough about burns to know she was right. Nobody could survive this.

"No, he will not," came the voice of the Contessa from behind them. She walked past them and knelt beside Volthawk. As Sidewalk and Adeni gaped at her, she sank her fangs into Volthawk's neck.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sidewalk demanded.

"Don't you see?" cried Adeni. "She's drinking his blood! She's a nos!"

Sidewalk lunged at the Contessa, but Digby grabbed him and held him fast. "It's all right," the platypus said.

"All right?" asked Sidewalk, incredulous. "She's killing him!"

"No, she's saving him," Digby said.

As the Contessa lifted her blood-fringed mouth from Volthawk's neck, the burns on his body began to heal, charred blackened flesh turning pink. Sidewalk noticed that the same thing was happening to Digby. "What in hell is going on?" the tiger asked.

"All will be explained," said the Contessa, picking up Volthawk and rising to her feet. "But we must leave here before the entire house is consumed."
Sidewalk nodded and took the numb Adeni by the hand, leading her away. Digby followed, and last came the Contessa, carrying Volthawk. Behind them, the flames began spreading down the hallway, devouring the walls of the ancient manor.

By the time the fire engines arrived, the mansion was completely engulfed in flames. Sidewalk, Adeni, the Contessa, Digby, and Volthawk stood watching it burn, their faces illuminated by the glow, the last two draped with blankets provided by the firefighters, as their clothes had been destroyed. A short distance away stood Dron, the aurochs butler, along with the other servants, whom he'd ordered out of the house as soon as he'd realized the danger. The firefighters battled valiantly to save some part of the mansion, water arcing from their hoses, but it was a losing battle, and in the end they could only watch helplessly as the walls began to crumble, sending up showers of sparks into the night sky, where they swirled like fireflies.

Adeni moved to put her arms around Volthawk, then stopped, remembering it was dangerous to touch him without his regulator. He glanced at her and smiled. "It's okay," he said. "That blast drained me dry. It'll be at least a day before I can build up enough juice to hurt anyone."

She smiled back and hugged him, rubbing her beak against his. "I'm just glad you're alive."

"You can thank the Contessa for that," said Volthawk.

Adeni looked at the bat uneasily. "Thank you."

"You are quite welcome," said the Contessa, her white face expressionless as she watched her home disintegrate.

"Yes, how exactly did you do that?" Sidewalk asked her.

"My bite injects the subject with a chemical that stimulates the body's regenerative ability," she replied. "As a result, tissue damage heals rapidly."

"So, you're like a snake in reverse," said Adeni, "healing instead of killing."

"An apt comparison," said the Contessa.

Sidewalk nodded. "Okay, that explains why Raoim's burns healed, but what about Digby's? You didn't bite him. Is he a nos, too?"

The platypus shook his head. "The Contessa gives me the chemical in vials I keep in my cigarette case. I downed one before I fought Eventide. Besides making me heal fast, it increases my strength, speed, and stamina."

"Which leads to my next question," said Sidewalk. "What was Eventide doing here?"

"She said the Eye of Destiny gave her a vision," said Digby. "She wanted to figure out what it meant."

Sidewalk raised an eyebrow. "A vision of what?"

"Kialo Ortrum. He was second officer on the Delphinia, before Ba-vast turned him into a nos."

"And who is Ba-vast?"

"She was the cat goddess of a civilization that existed in the Elin river valley thousands of years ago," said the Contessa. "She created the nos to be her servants."

"Wait, you mean she was real?" asked Sidewalk, astounded. "An actual person?"

"Not exactly," said the Contessa. "She channeled her spirit into a host body through a ring. The last such host was the archaeologist Dr. Mari Kallia, who found the ring while excavating ruins in the Elin river valley."

"Hmm, I remember reading that Dr. Kallia died on the Delphinia during that nos business," said Sidewalk.

"More accurately, she died on an island where several of the Heroes of Zoolok, their arch-enemy Maxoran, Digby, and myself fought Ba-vast and her latest batch of nos."

"Yeah," said Volthawk, looking annoyed. "I heard that was a real doozy of a fight. I'm still sore I missed it."

"I'm not," said Adeni, hugging him tight.

"And how does Ortrum fit in?" asked Sidewalk.

"He was Ba-vast's second-in-command and escaped with the Eye after she was defeated," said Digby. "For a while, he worked as an assassin for a crime boss in Nexasho while he tried to figure out how to use it to make new nos."

"Did he succeed?" asked Sidewalk.

"Not completely," said Volthawk. "He could reanimate dead bodies, but they were just mindless husks with no wills of their own. I fought one when he attacked Heroes Headquarters to try to get Ba-vast's ring—a gorilla named Rondo."

Sidewalk stared at him. "A gorilla nos?"

Volthawk nodded. "Yeah, he was tough! But in the end, we destroyed him."

"And what about Ortrum?"

"He fell off a skyscraper after being immolated by Firefox. We never found his body, though. It was washed into the sewers."

"Eventide said in her vision he was burned, blind, and his arms and legs were broken," said Digby.

"Falling sixty stories while on fire will do that to you," said Volthawk.

"Is Ba-vast's ring still at Heroes Headquarters?" Sidewalk asked.

Volthawk shook his head. "After Ortrum tried to steal it, Omega Mouse put it someplace where no one will ever find it. We wanted to make sure she would never live again."

"A wise precaution," said Sidewalk. "So, the Eye gave Eventide a vision of Ortrum. Why?"

"Maybe so she could find him?"

"Why would she want to do that?" Sidewalk asked.

Digby answered. "She said she thought he might be able to help her figure out how the Eye works."

"But to what end?" asked Sidewalk. "She doesn't seem to be particularly evil. I saw her use her powers to save Digby from the fire."

"But not Raoim," said Adeni, sourly.

"Eventide can meld with and animate shadows," said Volthawk. "If there weren't any near me, then she couldn't have done anything to help."

Adeni looked at him. "You really think she would have?"

Volthawk nodded. "Even after all the times we've battled, I don't think she'd just leave me to die, not if she could help it. She's not that cruel."

"But she broke your regulator!" Adeni protested.

He shrugged. "That was probably an accident. It's a new thing, and she's been out of circulation for a while. And I don't advertize that that little box on my belt keeps my powers under control, for obvious reasons."

All conversation ceased as Chaid, Ineshy's jaguar fire chief, came walking toward them, a grim expression on his spotted face. "I'm terribly sorry, Contessa," he said, doffing his helmet and holding it against his chest. "My crew and I did our best, but it was hopeless."

The Contessa simply nodded. "Thank you, Chief Chaid. Your efforts are appreciated."

Chaid turned around to face the glowering ruins. "A damned shame, Contessa, losing something that's been in your family for so long."

"It was only a house," the Contessa said. "I can always build another. The important thing is that nobody was hurt." She went over to Dron and the other servants. "Thank you, Dron. I will see to it that you and all my staff are well compensated."

Dron bowed. "Most kind, my lady."

She turned to Chaid. "Chief Chaid, if you could provide transportation back to the village, Dron will arrange accomodations for my servants for the night. I will cover all expenses."
Chaid nodded. "No problem, Contessa."

As she turned to go back to the others, her huge bat ears detected the sound of something moving through the night air—something large. She glanced up and was treated to an extraordinary sight. Above them, growing larger as it descended, was a sleek, silver object about thirty feet long, with eight wheels, a blunt rounded nose, and a tapering tail. Beneath it, holding it up, was a black mouse with a white muzzle, wearing a red jerkin, trunks, boots, and gloves, a white omega symbol emblazoned on his chest. He landed, holding his burden above his head like a murine Atlas, and let its nose tilt downward so that the front wheels touched the ground. The wheels turned, pulling it forward until all eight were on the ground and the mouse was out from under it. Then a door in the side of the vehicle flipped down, revealing a flight of stairs on the door's upturned side, and four individuals emerged and descended the steps to the ground. There was a female panda wearing a sky-blue leotard, boots, and cape; a red-eyed green boar wearing an olive drab tank top, khaki trousers, and brown leather boots; a female red fox wearing a red leotard and boots; and a male armadillo wearing only a brown kilt, a curved sword slung at his hip. The Heroes of Zoolok had arrived.

"Is everyone all right?" Omega Mouse asked Volthawk, walking over to him.

"Everyone's okay, thanks to her," Volthawk replied, indicating the Contessa with a nod.

"You appear to be a bit underdressed, Raoim," said Firefox, noting that the hawk was wearing only a blanket.

"That's because I got a bit burned, Datura," said Volthawk. He glanced at Digby. "By the way, thanks for dragging me out of there. That's one I owe you."

The platypus shrugged. "You'd have done the same for me."

"What about your regulator?" the panda asked Volthawk.

"It was destroyed by Eventide, Europa," Volthawk replied. "That's what started the fire."

Omega Mouse nodded and turned to face the smouldering ruins of the manor. "Looks like we got here too late," he said, sadly.

"Still faster than anyone else could have," said Sidewalk, coming over to join him. "How long did it take you to cross the Hargaskan Ocean?"

"Two hours," Omega Mouse replied. "We would have been here sooner, but the heat from atmospheric friction puts an upper limit on how fast I can carry the Ark."

"Sorry the rest of us slowed you down, Omega," said Firefox, dryly.

Omega Mouse glanced at her. "We're a team, Datura. Besides, we had no way of knowing the urgency of the situation."

"What exactly is the situation?" Europa asked.

Volthawk proceeded to fill the Heroes in. When he had finished, Omega Mouse mused, "So, she's after Ortrum, hmm?"

"Pity he's still alive," said Sidewalk. "If you can call that living."

"Nos are not easy to kill," said the armadillo. "Burning and beheading are the only sure methods."

Firefox folded her arms. "I did my best, Ken-Jo. Falling sixty stories while on fire would be enough to kill most people. That said, it doesn't sound like he's in very good shape."

"Eventide can fix that," said Europa. "The Eye of Destiny can restore nos."

"Then we'll just have to find him before she does," said Omega Mouse.

"You mean we're going back to Nexasho?" asked Firefox, lowering her ears. "But we just got here!"

Omega Mouse frowned at her. "This isn't a vacation, Datura. We came here on business."

Ken-Jo of the Stone put a clawed hand on Firefox's red-furred shoulder. "We can do Tatrolozu together some other time, my love." The fox put her arms around the armadillo and snuggled up against him.

"Should we not tell the local police to be on the lookout for Eventide, Omega?" Europa asked.

Omega Mouse shrugged. "For all the good it will do. She's as slippery as an eel. I doubt they'll have any luck catching her." He turned to the Contessa. "Do you want in on this?"

"I appear to have nowhere else to go, for the moment," she replied. "And I do feel somewhat responsible, since you entrusted the Eye to my care."

"What about your patients?" asked Adeni.

"There are other doctors who can cover for me in my absence," the Contessa said.

Omega Mouse glanced at Digby. "I assume that means you want to come, too."

Digby smiled. "Try and stop me! I've tangled with that bastard Ortrum three times now. This time, I'm gonna finish him off, once and for all!"

"I'd like to help, too," said Sidewalk. "If I can."

"At this point, any offer of help is appreciated, Mr. Shaver," said Omega Mouse. "By the way, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Raoim has spoken very highly of you."

"I hope I can live up to my legend," said Sidewalk, grinning at the hawk.

"All right, Heroes," said Omega Mouse, "let's get back to Nexasho."

The other Heroes, plus the Contessa, Digby, Sidewalk, and Adeni, ascended the Ark's ramp, which then rose until it was flush with the hull. Omega Mouse crouched down and lifted the huge vehicle above his head as the firefighters and the Contessa's servants looked on in wonder. Nobody noticed as a shadow oozed along the ground and slithered up onto the Ark's metal hull. Then the mouse rose into the air, holding the Ark above him, and flew off into the night sky.

Adeni glanced at the Ark's window next to her but saw nothing besides a reflection of her own beaked, feathered face. It was pitch black outside, which was to be expected, since it was night. The Ark's forward cabin was eerily silent and still, save for the occasional movements of its nine occupants. She glanced over at Volthawk, who smiled back at her and squeezed her scaly yellow hand in his. Of course, this was nothing new to him. He'd traveled this way many times before. This wasn't her first time in the Ark either—Raoim had taken her aboard it once before, just to show it to her. But then, it had been sitting in its garage at Heroes Headquarters in Nexasho. It was hard to believe that it was now traveling at more than twice the speed of sound some eighty thousand feet above the Hargaskan Ocean. On the Regilanta, there had been some buffeting from time to time and the constant drone of the motors, though one tuned that out after a while. But here, there was no sound or sensation of movement at all, as there was virtually no air outside and their source of propulsion was a flying mouse. Adeni shook her head. Being the girlfriend of a Hero of Zoolok certainly took one to some amazing places.

She looked over her shoulder at the Contessa, who was standing leaning against the bulkhead that separated the forward cabin from the rear compartment, which contained medical and laboratory facilities. There were only six chairs in the cabin, so Slash had generously offered the Contessa his seat when they had boarded, but she had declined, saying that she was content to stand. Adeni supposed that being dead meant she didn't get tired. That was something else that was hard to believe—that she, Adeni, was looking at a walking, talking dead person.

Adeni unbuckled herself from her chair, rose, and went back toward the Contessa, carefully skirting Ken-Jo, who was sitting in a lotus position on the floor, deep in a meditative trance, and gave no sign of being aware of her.

"May I speak to you privately?" Adeni asked the white bat timidly.

The Contessa regarded her for a moment with those unblinking red eyes, then nodded. "Of course." They went together into the rear compartment, and Adeni closed the door.

"I wanted to thank you again for what you did for Raoim," said Adeni.

The Contessa smiled, her small fangs gleaming, making the hawk girl shiver. "It was nothing."

"It wasn't nothing to me. When Digby pulled him out of the fire, and I saw how badly he was burned, I thought . . . I thought . . ." She shivered, hugging herself, unable to continue.

"I understand," the Contessa said. "It cannot be easy for you, being in love with someone in such a dangerous line of work."

Adeni swallowed, her eyes bright with tears. "I worry about him all the time! Whenever he goes off on a mission, I'm afraid I'll never see him again!"

"I wish I had some comforting words for you," said the Contessa. "But there are none. You must either accept the situation for what it is, or take yourself out of it."

"You mean leave him?" asked Adeni, aghast.

"If being his girlfriend is making you miserable."

"Could you leave Digby?" Adeni asked accusingly.

"He will leave me, someday."

Adeni swallowed. "Because he'll get old and die, and you won't."

The Contessa nodded. "Until then, I will enjoy what I have with him."

"Aren't there any others like you around?" Adeni asked.

"Not until recently. I am the sole survivor of the nos created by Ba-vast when she ruled the Elin River valley thousands of years ago."

"What happened to the others?"

"She destroyed them when we rose up against her."

Adeni's eyes widened. "So you've been alone all this time? You must have been very lonely."

The Contessa shrugged. "One gets used to it. Especially when one has no choice."

"I can't even imagine what it would be like to live so long. All the things you must have seen!"

"Actually, it becomes rather tiresome, watching the same things happen over and over. That is the curse of immortality."

"Then why have you kept going?"

"Because every so often, I find something that interests me."

Adeni smirked. "Something . . . or someone?"

"It can be a person."

"Like a certain platypus?"

The Contessa smiled. "Digby is my current infatuation."

Adeni nodded. "And Raoim is mine."

"And I wish you both all the best."

Adeni smiled. "I have to admit, Contessa, when I found out you were a nos, I was terrified of you."

"That is quite understandable."

"But now, I think maybe you're not so bad."

The Contessa patted her shoulder with one webbed, spidery hand. "You should get back to your seat. We will be landing soon."

Adeni nodded, and they went back into the forward cabin.

At Heroes Headquarters, while Volthawk and Digby went off to get dressed, Dr. Maklin Teshobi—the Heroes' science advisor, a beaver who generally wore thick round glasses and a lab coat—spread a large map of Nexasho's sewer system across the table in the conference room for the other Heroes to examine.

"Looks like we have a lot of ground to cover," said Omega Mouse grimly as he studied the map, which looked like nothing so much as a huge plate of spaghetti.

Teshobi nodded. "It's been four months since Ortrum disappeared," he said, in a high, nasal voice. "He could be virtually anywhere."

"And scanning for his mind in a city this big is hopeless," said Europa.

"The search will go faster if we split into teams," said Sidewalk.

"Why is time an issue?" asked Firefox. "Eventide is still in Karhied."

"By plane, she could be here in less than a day," the tiger replied. "And the Eye of Destiny is feeding her visions, which gives her an edge on us. Besides, as you pointed out, Ortrum is in pretty bad shape. He shouldn't be too hard to handle."

"Mr. Shaver is correct," said Omega Mouse as Volthawk and Digby joined them, the former now in costume, the latter dressed in clothes borrowed from Slash, who was roughly the same build as the platypus. "We need to split up." Omega Mouse began pointing to spots on the map with a red-gloved finger. "Firefox and Ken-Jo will start here; Europa and Slash, here; Digby and the Contessa, here. I'll go solo, starting here."

"What about me?" asked Volthawk, sounding unhappy at being left out.

"Right now, you're powerless," Omega Mouse replied. "You'll stay here and help Dr. Teshobi and Mr. Shaver coordinate our efforts."

"Aww, gee whiz!" Volthawk whined. Adeni smiled and put her arms around him, glad to not have to worry about him.

"Coordination may prove difficult," said Teshobi. "The radio signals produced by your wrist communicators will not penetrate earth and stone, so you'll be out of contact when you're underground."

"Then we'll have to come up through manholes from time to time to check in," said Omega Mouse.

Firefox sighed. "This is going to be a long, damp, dirty night."

Ken-Jo smiled at her. "All part of the glamor of being a superhero."

She stuck her tongue out at the armadillo.

"All right, Heroes," said Omega Mouse. "Let's move out!"

Eventide wrinkled her pink nose at the stench of decay as she waded through the filthy, knee-deep water. The brick ceiling of the tunnel curved above her, water dripping down from it, as small lizards scattered before her. She considered herself a person of refined tastes; slogging through a sewer was most certainly not her idea of fun. She held up the Eye of Destiny before her and turned this way and that. The gem glowed slightly brighter at one point in the arc, so she proceeded in that direction, tail flicking in agitation.

She paused, ears perked up, as she heard something sloshing up ahead. She pushed forward, then stopped, green eyes going wide. Even though the vision had prepared her for it, she was still shocked by the sight of the hairless pink thing wallowing in the muck before her. Its skin was covered with terrible burns, which would have kept it in a state of constant agony had it still been able to feel pain. Its huge eyes were white and sightless, and a pair of needle-like fangs descended from its blunt muzzle, while its arms and legs hung limp and useless from its torso, its whip of a tail trailing in the fetid water behind it. Only with considerable imagination could one recognize that this hideous, wretched creature had once been a squirrel.

Sensing her presence, it raised its head and hissed, and Eventide could see that there was a deep gash across its throat that had severed its vocal cords. Trembling, she raised the Eye before her with both hands. She still had no idea how to activate it, but then words suddenly came to her mind, an incantation in the long-dead Elinian language. She spoke them aloud, and at once a tendril of green light snaked from the Eye to the thing lying before her. As she stared in amazement, its burns began shrinking away to nothing as reddish-orange fur sprouted from its pink skin. Its eyes changed from white to scarlet, the gash in its throat sealed up, and its limbs began to move as the shattered bones melded together. Slowly, the squirrel rose to his feet, his body covered in tiny wet spikes of fur, his huge tail drooping like a drenched flag, drops of water hanging from his whiskers. He stared at her, his crimson eyes unblinking.

"Kialo Ortrum?" Eventide asked anxiously.

Ortrum screeched and sprang, clawed hands outstretched, fanged mouth open wide.

"Stop!" she cried, and the squirrel froze. Eventide breathed a sigh of relief. He was a nos, and nos had to obey cats. She was in control here. "Can you talk?" she asked him.

Ortrum's face remained blank, uncomprehending.

"Go on, say something!" Eventide commanded.

Ortrum uttered a barking squeal, as squirrels do when they're excited.

Eventide frowned. While Ortrum's body had been fully restored, his mind had apparently regressed to a feral state. Not surprising, considering what he'd been through, but it was his mind she was after. She used the Amulet of Darkness to peer into his thoughts and recoiled at what she saw. There was nothing there but raw, primal bloodlust and the desire to rend flesh. She severed contact immediately.

Eventide leaned back against the wall of the tunnel, arms folded, and considered what to do while Ortrum crouched before her, unmoving. The man he was must still be in there, somewhere, buried beneath a layer of primitive savagery, but how to reach it? Europa or Maxoran might be able to do it, being telepaths, but she could hardly turn to them for help. Then, a thought occurred to her. Amnesiacs could sometimes be cured by exposing them to familiar things that reawakened their dormant memories. It was worth a shot, anyway.

As Eventide considered what she knew about Ortrum's past, the Eye of Destiny began glowing again, brighter than before, and green tendrils of light snaked out of it, touching several of the small lizards that were busy foraging for food. Instantly, the creatures began to grow and their bodies to change. In a matter of seconds, they were nine feet long, with horned heads, mouths filled with razor-sharp teeth, fearsome claws, and spikes growing out of their backs.

"What the hell?" asked Eventide, gaping. The creatures looked at her, hungrily, and for a moment she feared they might attack. Then, they turned and ran off down the tunnel. She stared after them, then at the Eye of Destiny. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

The Eye merely glowed in response.

"I hate this," growled Firefox as she floated down the sewer tunnel, keeping well above the black, slimy water. "I hate this a lot!"

"At least you do not have to walk in this disgusting filth," said Ken-Jo as he splashed along beneath her, the light from his belt buckle piercing the darkness.

"On the plus side for you," said Firefox, "armadillos like being underground."

"I can think of places I would rather be," said Ken-Jo.

Firefox smirked. "Like at home? In bed?"

He nodded. "With you."

Firefox flew down and turned off her fiery aura, landing in the water beside the armadillo. She put her arms around him, her claws scraping against his shelled back as she pressed her mouth to his long, narrow snout. Ken-Jo responded in kind, kissing her as his hairless, muscular arms held her close against his bare chest.

"Marry me," Ken-Jo said.

She blinked her amber eyes and pulled her mouth back from his. "What?"

"I love you, Datura Vulma. I have never felt about anyone the way I feel about you."

Firefox looked flustered. "I . . . I didn't realize your feelings for me were so strong, Ken-Jo."

Ken-Jo smiled. "I know that we are different species, from different countries and vastly different backgrounds, and former adversaries, but none of that matters to me. All I care about is being with you."

"I need time to think about this," said Firefox, swallowing.

"Take all the time you need, my love," Ken-Jo replied. "There is no hurry." Then his long, rabbit-like ears pricked up, and his body stiffened. "Someone is approaching."

They let go of each other, and Firefox activated her aura and rose into the air as Ken-Jo drew his sword. Around a bend in the tunnel came a pair of huge, horned lizards with spiked backs.

Firefox gasped. "Holy shit!"

The creatures hissed and charged.

Firefox raised her hands, and a gout of searing flame shot from them, engulfing one of the beasts. It continued galloping forward, ignoring the few flames left clinging to its body after the splashing sewer water put most of them out. Ken-Jo moved to interpose himself between Firefox and the creatures, whirling his blade before him as he concentrated on making himself as hard as stone. One of the beasts lunged at him and clamped its teeth down on his bare shoulder, but it could not penetrate his skin. Ken-Jo turned his sword sideways and thrust the tip into the creature's left eye, piercing it and driving his blade into its brain. The beast slumped into the rancid water before him and lay still.

As Ken-Jo pulled his blade free, the second monster slammed into him, knocking him off his feet and sending him flying backward. Instinctively, Ken-Jo curled into a ball, rolling through the water and sending up a spray that doused Firefox, putting out her fiery aura. The creature then swiped at her with its claws, forcing her to dodge with the nimble grace of the dancer she had once been.

"A little help here?" Firefox cried, narrowly evading another swipe as she tried desperately to reignite her aura. The armadillo sprang to her aid, his blade raised high above his head, and brought it down across the back of the creature's neck, cleanly severing its head from its body. The monster collapsed into the muck as he landed with a splash beside it.

"Are you all right?" Ken-Jo asked, turning to Firefox.

She nodded. "I'm fine. Thanks for the save."

"You are quite welcome," Ken-Jo said, looking down at the two dead monsters. "Where did in the world did these come from?"

"What, you've never heard of sewer lizards?" asked Firefox.

Ken-Jo stared at her. "Sewer lizards?"

"Yeah, little kids flush their pet lizards down the toilet and they end up in the sewers."

The armadillo shook his head. "That does not make any sense. These are storm sewers. Sewage is handled by an entirely separate system. Nor does it explain their immense size."

Firefox shrugged. "All right, you tell me where they came from."

"I do not know," Ken-Jo replied. "However, they cannot have been here long, else someone would have noticed them."

"You think we should we report this to the others?" asked Firefox.

"To do that, we would have to find a manhole and ascend to street level, which would consume valuable time that could be better spent searching for the source of these monsters. I find it hard to believe that their presence here is mere coincidence. In any case, if there are more of these things, I have every confidence that our companions can handle them."

Firefox nodded and pointed down the tunnel. "Well, they came from that direction, so I guess that's where we go."

"Let us proceed, then," said Ken-Jo. He turned and began walking down the tunnel as Firefox reignited her aura and floated along behind him.

Slash and Europa were also slogging through the filthy sewer water, the boar unconcerned, as he was a former soldier who was used to getting dirty, and the panda suppressing her distaste with her highly disciplined mind. Sensing mental emanations ahead, Europa placed a hand on her companion's green-furred shoulder, stopping him. "There are two minds approaching," Europa said. "Savage. Feral. Hungry."

Slash nodded and crouched, waiting, the titanium claws strapped to his thick forearms gleaming in the dim glow of their belt lights.

Two huge lizards came splashing around a corner and, upon sighting the Heroes, raced directly toward them. Europa reached out with her mind, touching those of the lizards, and they both froze in their tracks, paralyzed. Then she delved into their primitive reptilian brains, sifting through their memories. Reading the minds of animals was always difficult, as they did not remember things well, but recent events sometimes left impressions on their nervous systems that she could interpret.

"Eventide is here," Europa said. "She has found Ortrum and restored his body, but not his mind. She used the Eye of Destiny to create these monsters from ordinary lizards." When Slash looked at her quizzically with his blood-red eyes, she added, "I did not know it could do that either. I am beginning to wonder if there is anything it cannot do. In any case, I know the path these creatures took through the sewers to get here. We can follow it back to their source, though I fear Eventide and Ortrum will be long gone."

Slash nodded. "D-d-done h-h-here?" he asked.

"Yes," said Europa, turning away. "Do what you must." She suppressed a shudder at the sound of two wet schlucks behind her. Any killing—even of animals—was repugnant to her, but these creatures could not be permitted to roam freely and cause harm. Fortunately, Slash did not share her aversion to blood.

The deed done, they ran down the tunnel in the direction the lizards had come from.

Digby and the Contessa waded down a sewer tunnel together, both now dressed in jumpsuits the Heroes of Zoolok had provided, belt lights illuminating their way. "Well, at least you are back in your natural element," the Contessa commented as they splashed along.

Digby looked at her. "What, a sewer?"

"I meant water."

"Oh," said Digby. "You know, I never really liked swimming that much. Funny, huh?"

"Hysterical," the Contessa replied. "This, of course, explains why you chose to be a sailor."

Digby chuckled. "Shoveling coal into a boiler is hardly being a sailor. I wouldn't know a rudder from a rubber."

The Contessa smiled. "And yet you still swear like one."

"Yup, oafish, boorish, and crude, that's what you called me."

"You forgot vulgar."
"Oh yeah, right. Vulgar." He looked at her. "Is that why you keep me around? Because you think I'm funny?"

She shook her head, her huge ears waggling. "That is not the reason."

"Good. I don't like to be laughed at. I get enough of that just from being a platypus. Kids at school used to make fun of me all the time. 'Are you a bird or a mammal?'"

The Contessa nodded. "Children can be cruel. For what it is worth, I think you are very handsome."

Digby smiled. "It's worth a lot! I don't hear that very often. And I think youuurrrrrrkkk!"

He never had a chance to finish his sentence, as his shadow suddenly seized him from behind, locking its arms around his neck. As the Contessa whirled toward him, Kialo Ortrum came charging around a corner, leaping upon her, and the two nos went down together into the filthy water while Digby struggled with the animated shadow holding him. Eventide sauntered around the corner, holding the Eye of Destiny and smiling. "We have to stop meeting like this," she said.

"You're the one who keeps coming to me!" snarled Digby, his muscular body straining against his shadow.

She nodded. "By the way, you never had a chance to thank me for saving you from that fire. You're welcome."

"You mean the fire you started?"

"That was an accident. I apologize. I never meant for anyone to get hurt."

"Then why are you working with Ortrum? He's a murderer!"

"He also has something I need," said Eventide. "Once I have it, he's all yours."

Suddenly, Ortrum stood up, the wet squirrel looking around wildly, his crimson eyes burning in the dim light. "What's wrong?" Eventide asked, concern in her voice.

Digby smiled. "I think I can guess."

As Eventide and Ortrum stood looking bewildered, a spidery, webbed white hand appeared in the air in front of Eventide and seized the Eye of Destiny, ripping it from her gloved hands. The cat shrieked, and Digby's shadow returned to normal as Eventide's shadow wrapped around the Eye, trying to pull it back. Digby charged toward Eventide, but Ortrum tackled him, and they both went down into the water. Slowly, the Contessa began to appear, bit by bit, as if emerging from some invisible doorway. The bat snarled, clutching the Eye with both hands, trying to wrest it from the shadow's grasp.

"So, you've learned the old black magicians' trick of entering the fourth dimension!" said Eventide, grinning. "Interesting. But you're a nos and I'm a cat, so let go of the Eye—I command it!"

The Contessa snarled, scarlet eyes blazing. "Go to hell, you stupid child!"

Eventide blinked. "What? But, how can you . . . ?" She glanced over at Digby and Ortrum, who were twisting and writhing together in the water, then back at the Contessa. "Your boyfriend needs to breathe. Ortrum doesn't. He can hold Digby under until he drowns."

"Is that what you want?" asked the Contessa.

Eventide shook her head, and the Contessa noticed a slight glow in her eyes, like the green glow of the Eye of Destiny itself. "No, but it's what's going to happen unless you let go!"

The Contessa glared at her for a moment before releasing the Eye, which Eventide's shadow reeled back to the cat's hands. Then the shadow grabbed Ortrum, lifting him out of the water and thrusting him up through a manhole above. The Contessa ran to Digby, pulling the choking platypus up out of the water, as Eventide melded into shadow, ascended up through the manhole, and vanished into the night.

Europa, Slash, Ken-Jo, Firefox, and Omega Mouse all arrived a few minutes later to find Digby and the Contessa sitting on the walkway at the edge of the sewer, wet and bedraggled, the platypus still coughing from nearly being drowned.

"Did you run into those monsters, too?" asked Omega Mouse, landing beside them.

The Contessa shook her head. "We encountered Eventide and Ortrum themselves."

Firefox blinked. "Eventide is here in Nexasho? But how?"

"I fear we may have brought her," said Europa. "It would have been a simple matter for someone with her abilities to stow away aboard the Ark. And I saw in the mind of one of those creatures that she has used the Eye of Destiny to heal Ortrum."

"Well, that's not good," growled Firefox. "But where did those giant lizards come from?"

"That was her doing as well," Europa replied. "Apparently, the Eye can transform ordinary animals into giant monstrosities."

"Good grief!" exclaimed Omega Mouse. "What else can it do?"

"One thing it seems it cannot do is restore one's mind," said Europa. "Ortrum's appears to have regressed to a bestial state."

The Contessa nodded. "He was like a wild animal when he attacked us. Unfortunately, we were unable to prevent Eventide from escaping with him."

"So, this night has been a total loss," said Firefox, disgustedly.

"Not quite," said the Contessa. "I did learn something that could potentially be significant."

"What was that?" Omega Mouse asked.

"I suspect that the Eye of Destiny may be exerting some sort of influence over Eventide. When I fought her, I noticed a green glow in her eyes similar to the light from the Eye itself."

Europa nodded. "That would explain her recent actions. In the past, Eventide has always tended to avoid violence and bloodshed. Teaming up with a ruthless killer like Kialo Ortrum is uncharacteristic for her."

"She said he had something she needed," said Digby, "but she didn't say what."

"So, what do we do now?" asked Firefox.

"I suggest we return to Heroes Headquarters," said Omega Mouse, "and try to anticipate Eventide's next move."

They all went up through the manhole above and headed off down the street.

Usttia Ortrum gazed wearily at her big-eyed, bucktoothed reflection in the yellow window of the evening train, the sole passenger in her car due to the lateness of the hour. She was a red squirrel, wearing a shawl, a faded flowered blouse, and a pleated skirt that did not match the blouse. Her clawed feet were bare. The train squealed to a halt at its stop in a run-down section of Nexasho. She rose from her seat as the automatic doors slid open, and then stepped out onto the platform. She stood there by herself, watching the train get smaller as it pulled away, then turned and descended the iron steps down to the dark, deserted street. She hurried past the lanky coati who hung out at the corner. As always, he tipped his hat to her as he smiled and asked if she could spare some change. There had been a time when she would have happily obliged, but that time was gone. She had nothing to give him.

Arriving at her building, she produced a key from her purse, unlocked the front door, and went into the lobby, pausing to collect her mail. There was a note from her landlord saying that her rent was overdue. Sighing, she took the elevator to the tenth floor, walked down the hall to her apartment, unlocked the door, and went inside. In the living room of the small domicile, three squirrel children sat on the carpet before a large radio, listening raptly to one of those dreadful horror programs. They hadn't heard her come in over the sound of some actress screaming.

"Tinc!" Usttia barked angrily. "Cyhup! Why isn't Isl in bed?"

All three children started and jumped up, turning to face her, their eyes wide. Tinc, the eldest, swallowed, his fluffy tail flicking. "He wanted to stay up and listen to Turn Out Your Lights, mom!"

"You know that show always gives him nightmares!" Usttia scolded the boy. "He'll stay awake all night and be half-asleep in school tomorrow!" She turned to Cyhup. "Get your brother off to bed!" The girl nodded and led her younger brother away, glad to be out of there, while Tinc stood squirming before his mother's wrathful gaze, his hands thrust into the pockets of his shorts.

"Ever since your father died," said Usttia, "I've had to work long hours to support us. That's why we have to live here, instead of where we used to. You're the eldest, Tinc, and that makes you the man of the house. I depend on you to look after your brother and sister when I'm at work."

Tinc nodded, tears welling up in his big black eyes. "I'm sorry, mom," he said, his throat tight.

Usttia sighed and came over to the boy, kneeling before him and putting her furry arms around his small body. Tinc embraced his mother and laid his head upon her shoulder.

"I miss dad so much!" Tinc sobbed, trembling against her.

Usttia nodded, stroking behind her son's ears. "So do I, honey."

Tinc lifted his head and looked into her eyes. "Isn't there a chance he could still be alive? I mean, they said he was washed overboard. He could have drifted ashore somewhere!"

"Don't you think he would have tried to reach us if he were still alive?" Usttia asked.

"He could be marooned on some island!" Tinc insisted. "Then he'd have no way to let us know he was okay!"

Usttia squeezed the boy's shoulders. "Tinc, you have to accept that your father is gone. I have."

Tinc squealed with impotent, juvenile fury and tore himself away from her grasp, crying as he ran out of the living room. Usttia glanced at the picture on the coffee table showing her husband in his uniform, smiling at her. She stood up slowly, went into the kitchen, opened the refrigator, and took out a platter of honey walnut bread, cutting herself a slice. Then she sat down at the table and ate in silence.

"Mrs. Ortrum," came a velvety female voice from behind her. Usttia whirled in her chair, staring in disbelief as a gray cat wearing a skin-tight indigo bodysuit and white belt stepped out of the shadows of the doorway to the pantry, holding a golden scepter that was tipped with a glowing green gem.

"Who . . . who are you?" Usttia asked, shivering. "How did you get in here?"

"I am called Eventide," the cat said, smiling, "and I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise?" asked Usttia. "What are you talking about?"

Eventide glanced at the kitchen window. "Come in." Through the window climbed Kialo Ortrum, eyes glowing crimson, incisors replaced by needle-like fangs, wearing only his fur.

Usttia rose from her chair, staring at her husband, mouth hanging open. "Kialo?"

Ortrum stood gazing back at her, and Eventide intently studied his face for some sign of recognition. There didn't seem to be any. Then his lips pulled back, and his eyes narrowed. He took a step toward his wife, his tail flicking excitedly.

"Stop!" Eventide commanded, and Ortrum froze.

Usttia found her voice and looked at Eventide, terrified and bewildered. "What is this? What's going on?"

Eventide frowned, gazing at Ortrum. "I had hoped that seeing you might bring back his memories, but it doesn't appear to be working."

"But . . . they told me he was dead!" cried Usttia.

"He is," said Eventide.

Usttia blinked. "What?"

Eventide looked at her. "Your husband is a nos, Mrs. Ortrum."

"A nos?" Usttia gasped.

Eventide nodded. "Call your children. Let's see if that works."
"My children?" asked Usttia, horrified.

"Don't worry," said Eventide, "he's under my control. No harm will come to them."

Usttia shook her head. "No! I don't want them to see him like this!"

Eventide scowled. "Call your children, Mrs. Ortrum, or I'll go and get them myself."

Her voice quavering, Usttia called out each of her children's names. A moment later, Tinc came running into the kitchen, and stopped in his tracks when he saw his father. "Dad?" he gasped, eyes wide.

Ortrum turned his head, gazing at his son, blankly. A moment later, Cyhup and Isl joined Tinc, and his face took on a confused expression. He looked back at Usttia, questioningly.

"Dad!" cried Tinc, rushing to his father and throwing his arms around him.

"No, Tinc, keep away from him!" Usttia cried, terrified.

Tinc looked back at his mother, grinning. "I told you he was still alive! I told you!"

Ortrum stared at Tinc, his clawed hands hanging limply in the air as the boy hugged him. "T-Tinc?" he asked.

"Yes!" said Eventide, grinning. "It's working! He's starting to remember!"

Slowly, Ortrum's arms wrapped around Tinc's body, and he stroked behind the boy's ears with one hand. "Tinc," he breathed, as an avalanche of memories rolled over him. Pacing anxiously in the waiting room while Usttia was in labor. The infant squirrel boy cradled in his arms for the first time. Holding Tinc by his hands as he learned to walk. Tinc's fourth birthday party, when he'd eaten too much ice cream and gotten sick. Seeing him off on his first day of school. Teaching him sailing in the smelly water of Nexasho harbor in that crappy little sailboat he'd eventually sold for firewood. Nursing him through that bout of pneumonia that had nearly killed him. He rubbed his muzzle against his son's. "Tinc! My boy! My son!"

Tinc looked up at his father, tears soaking his cheek fur. "I knew you'd come back, dad!" Ortrum smiled down at his son, ruffling his headfur.

"Mommy," said Cyhup, "why are daddy's eyes red?"

Ortrum's expression suddenly changed from happiness to horror. He pushed Tinc away, turned, and leaped out the kitchen window. Eventide snarled, stepped into the shadow of the pantry doorway, and vanished.

"Dad!" Tinc cried in anguish, running to the window and sticking his head out to look down. Though his family lived on the tenth floor, he could see no sign of his father. "Dad!" he yelled again, desperately, his voice echoing in the spaces between the adjacent buildings.

High above him, Ortrum clung to the wall, head downward, his claws embedded in the brick, gazing down at his son and biting his lip. Then he turned and scampered up the side of the building, reached the roof, and was gone.

Kialo Ortrum bounded from rooftop to rooftop, tail streaming behind him, effortlessly springing across the gaps between the densely packed buildings. Eventually, he reached the edge of the city block and stood gazing out across the wide avenue, unable to go any further.

"Welcome back," came Eventide's voice from behind him.

He turned to see the cat standing there with the Eye of Destiny in her gloved hands, and snarled, his eyes burning crimson, his tail flicking furiously. "Who are you? What do you want?"

She tilted her head. "So you don't remember anything before a few minutes ago?"

"It's all just images that don't connect," Ortrum replied. "The last thing I remember clearly is fighting Digby Rasklin in a swimming pool on the roof of Simparion Tower. He threw me out of the water, and then Firefox . . ." His voice trailed off as his crimson eyes widened.

"Set you on fire," said Eventide, finishing his sentence. "You ran and fell off the edge of the building to the street and were swept into the sewers. That was four months ago."

He nodded. "And then you used the Eye to heal me."

"Yes, and by the way, you're welcome. Unfortunately, your mind had regressed to a feral state. I brought you to see your family, hoping the shock of recognition might reawaken your memories, and it seems to have worked."

Ortrum growled. "I didn't want them to see me like this! Not until I was ready!" He whirled and rammed his fist into a brick wall, punching a hole in it, then spun back to face her. "Again, who are you and what do you want from me?"

"I am called Eventide," she replied, "and I require your knowledge."

Ortrum's eyes narrowed. "Knowledge of what?"

She held out the Eye of Destiny. "This. I understand you spent several months studying it, experimenting with it."

He nodded. "Yes, I wanted to learn the secret of creating nos."

Eventide's eyes glowed slightly brighter. "Did you?"

Ortrum smirked. "Why do you want to know? Thinking of whipping up some?"

"The Eye of Destiny is the most powerful magic item I've ever encountered." She gestured at the amulet on her chest. "It makes my own Amulet of Darkness look like a trinket by comparison! I want to know everything it can do!"

Ortrum folded his arms. "Why should I help you?"

Eventide smiled. "I could force you to. You're a nos, so you have to obey my commands. But I'd much rather have you as a willing partner instead of a slave. I think it would be beneficial for both of us."

The squirrel chuckled. "Well, since you're giving me a choice, I might as well choose partnership."

"Wonderful! Let's retire to my hideout and we can get started. And I'll find you some clothes."

Ortrum looked embarrassed. "No need to bother."

"What?" asked Eventide, puzzled. "Why not?"

"Because I can't wear any clothes. Ba-vast ordered me to go naked as a sign of my subservience to her."

Eventide blinked. "But . . . Ba-vast is gone!"

"It doesn't matter. The compulsion is still there. Every time I try to put clothes on, I find I can't!"

"Well, then, I countermand her order!"

Ortrum sneered at her. "Don't you think I've tried that? It doesn't work. Ba-vast's orders supercede all others!"

Eventide looked flustered. "I see. Well, at least you have a nice body."

Ortrum smirked, hands on his furry hips, tail swishing. "Fancy it, do you?"

She shrugged. "It's not unattractive, even if it is dead."

Ortrum grinned, his fangs gleaming. "You know, the Eye can make it function as if it were alive."

"Yes, Sparks mentioned that."

The squirrel's expression instantly became twisted with hate. "You've talked to that traitorous little bastard?"

Eventide nodded. "He's in the nos internment camp. I went to see him, posing as his wife. That's how I found out the Contessa Batori had the Eye of Destiny."

Ortrum's eyes widened. "The Contessa! I remember fighting her and Digby in the sewer!"

"They're here in Nexasho, searching for the Eye with the Heroes of Zoolok and a tiger detective named Sidewalk Shaver."

Ortrum growled. "Oh, what I wouldn't give to kill those two! And Firefox! And Sparks!"

"Anyone else on your list?" Eventide asked, dryly.

"I took that miserable hedgehog into my confidence, gave him a home and made him part of my team. Hell, he wouldn't even be a nos if I hadn't ended his mortal life! And he repaid me by slashing my throat with his fangs and cutting my vocal cords!"

Eventide smirked. "It's almost as if nos have no sense of morality or something."

Ortrum scowled at her, then grinned. "Still, at least I broke his back!"

Eventide shook her head. "It's not broken anymore. Dr. Teshobi used the Eye to heal him."

"Damn it!" Ortrum looked at her hopefully. "Maybe you could go to the camp and kill him for me?"

"I'm not interested in your personal vendettas, Ortrum," Eventide said, disdainfully. "All I care about is learning how the Eye works."

Ortrum snarled. "So much for being partners!"

"I draw the line at murder!"

"He's already dead!"

"So are you!"

They stood glaring at each other for a moment; then Ortrum sighed and looked away. "I'm sorry. It's just that seeing my wife and children again . . . moved me." He hugged himself, tail flicking.

"I saw how you looked at your son," Eventide said. "You still love them, don't you?"

Ortrum nodded. "Nos don't have much empathy. We're predators . . . killers. Ba-vast created us to terrorize the populace and keep them in line. But when I looked at Tinc, and remembered all the things we did together, as father and son . . ." His throat grew tight, and he couldn't finish.

Eventide bit her lip. She hadn't realized that nos could still have those kinds of feelings. She came over, placed a hand on his shoulder, and squeezed it gently. "I live at 1412 Orchard Street, apartment 6A. Come see me when you're ready, Kialo." And she melded into her shadow, which then flowed like a living oil slick over the side of the building and down to the street.

Ortrum stood on the rooftop, watching that patch of darkness weave its way along the street, avoiding the pools of light from the streetlamps. Then he spotted a horse coming the other way, alone. The squirrel grinned, licking his lips, and began climbing down the side of the building.

"Still no luck?" asked Omega Mouse as he entered the room at Heroes Headquarters that Sidewalk Shaver, Volthawk, and Adeni were using as a base of operations in the search for Eventide and Kialo Ortrum.

Sidewalk slouched in his chair and tossed a police report on top of a pile of similar reports on the table. "Nothing," the tiger growled, lighting himself a cigarette and puffing on it, sending gray smoke up to encircle his head. He had doffed his suit jacket, his sleeves were rolled up, and his tie hung loose around his neck.

"We've been reading missing persons reports from the police in every precinct in the city," said Volthawk wearily. "You wouldn't think there'd be so many!"

Omega Mouse nodded. "Nexasho is a big town."

"And I've been going through every one of its seven daily newspapers for any stories about unusual sightings, missing pets, or anything else that might not get reported to the police," said Adeni, the hawk girl looking as tired as her boyfriend. "So far, it's all added up to a big, fat zero." She glanced at Volthawk accusingly. "Heck of a way to spend my vacation!" Volthawk just shrugged and gave a sheepish smile.

"Welcome to the glamorous world of detective work," Sidewalk said with a smirk. "How are things going on your end, Omega?"

"Europa, Slash, Firefox, Ken-Jo, and I have been checking Eventide's known past associates and hangouts," the mouse replied. "We've yet to learn anything useful."

"You think they may have skipped town?" Volthawk asked Sidewalk.

The tiger shrugged. "It's possible, but according to Eventide's profile, she's always operated pretty much exclusively in Nexasho. All the people and places she knows are here, so this is where she'd be most likely to go to ground. It's where she'd feel safest and have the most resources she can draw upon if she needs them." He looked at Omega Mouse. "How are Digby and the Contessa coming along with the hobo angle?"

"They're out there among the city's indigent population right now," Omega replied.

"I don't know what they expect to learn from a bunch of drunken bums," said Adeni disgustedly.

Sidewalk glanced at her. "Some of my most useful tips have come from drunken bums."

"And we know Ortrum has preyed on them before," Omega pointed out.

Volthawk nodded. "They're safe targets because nobody misses them and or reports their disappearances to the police."

Adeni smirked. "I bet slumming with winos is a new experience for the Contessa."

"She's thousands of years old," said Sidewalk. "Do you really think she's never dealt with destitute people before?"

"It would help if we knew what it was that Eventide is trying to do," said Volthawk in exasperation, "and how she thinks Ortrum can help her accomplish it!"

"Eventide has always been obsessed with the acquistion of magical artifacts," said Omega Mouse. "All her crimes have centered around either obtaining or understanding them."

"And Ortrum spent months learning how to use the Eye of Destiny to create nos," said Sidewalk.

"But Ortrum is an animal now!" Volthawk protested. "All he's good for is tearing out throats!" He shivered, remembering how Sparks had almost done that to him.

Sidewalk's ears pricked up as a thought struck him. "Maybe we've been going about this all wrong." He picked up the telephone and dialed Information. "Could you give me the number for the Hargaskan Line, please?"

"What do you want with them?" asked Volthawk as the tiger jotted the number down.

"Ortrum was second officer aboard the Delphinia," said Sidewalk, hanging up and dialing the number. "The Hargaskan Line probably still has his personal information on file."

Volthawk shrugged. "What if they do? How does that help us?"

Sidewalk motioned him to be quiet. "Hello, Hargaskan Line? May I speak to someone in your personnel department? Thank you. Hello, I need some information regarding a former employee of yours. Yes, I'm aware you don't give that out, but I'm calling from Heroes Headquarters and this is part of an official investigation." He sighed and put his hand over the mouthpiece, looking at Omega Mouse. "She doesn't believe me."

Omega Mouse held out a red gloved hand, and Sidewalk put the phone in it. "Hello, this is Omega Mouse," the mouse said into the phone. "The gentleman you just spoke to is assisting the Heroes of Zoolok in an official capacity. If you like, I can take sixty seconds out of my busy schedule of fighting crime and come down to your offices to confirm this." After a moment, he handed the phone back to the tiger. "She said she recognized my voice from the radio."

Sidewalk grinned. "Hooray for modern technology." He spoke into the phone. "Hello again. Yes. The employee is Kialo Ortrum. Fine, I'll wait." He twiddled his pencil between his fingers as he waited for the woman on the other end to retrieve the file. "Did he have any next of kin?" The tiger began scribbling again. "A Mrs. Usttia Ortrum and three children. And their address and phone number? Thank you very much." He hung up, dialed again, listened for a moment, and frowned. "Her number has been disconnected."

"It's been more than half a year since he died," Volthawk said. "She might have moved."

"Find out if she left a forwarding address!" said Adeni, excited at having something to contribute.

"Already doing it," said Sidewalk, dialing. After a quick conversation with Mrs. Ortrum's former landlord, he hung up. "Got it."

"I still don't understand the point of all this," Volthawk complained.

"People who've lost their memories can sometimes regain them by seeing familiar things," said Sidewalk. "Eventide might take Ortrum to see his family."

Omega Mouse nodded. "It's worth a shot."

The tiger rose, rolled down his sleeves, tightened his tie, and donned his jacket. "Would you mind coming along, Omega? On the off chance we run into Eventide and Ortrum, it would be nice to have the world's greatest hero by our side."

The mouse grinned. "I think I can take time out of my busy schedule of fighting crime to do that."

They all left the room together, and a gust from the closing door blew some papers off the table.

Digby and the Contessa made their way toward the Tired Repose Mission, a former luxury hotel that had long ago been abandoned and fallen into disrepair, located in the northern slums of Nexasho, the poorest and most run-down section of the city. The double doors read, "Welcome. Open Day and Night." The bat and the platypus passed through them and walked into what had once been the hotel's lobby and was now a meeting hall, where indigents of many species sat staring at the pair with hostility and suspicion. Though they were both dressed in shoddy, threadbare clothing, they lacked the air of hopeless, furtive desperation that characterized the mission's usual residents.

Digby started as one of the mission's patrons bumped into him, and whirled around. "Oh, I beg yer pardon, sir!" said a short, skinny, shabbily dressed musk deer, in a soft, lilting voice, smiling to the platypus apologetically and raising his hat, his small tusks gleaming on either side of his muzzle. "How clumsy o' me!"

He turned to leave, but was stopped by the Contessa's webbed, spidery white hand seizing his shoulder. "Give my friend back his wallet, thief," she said, quietly. Digby patted himself down and discovered that his wallet was indeed missing.

The musk deer glared at her in indignation. "Who're you callin' a thief, whitey? Ye'd better have some proof before ye go makin' such accusations!"

"The proof is in your pocket," said the Contessa, firmly.

The musk deer sneered at her. "That's what you say, me dear. I says different. What are ye gonna do about it?"

"Make you give it back," said the Contessa, squeezing his shoulder slightly and causing him to gasp in pain.

Immediately, a dozen of the mission's residents were on their feet, among them a bear, a hippopotamus, and a hartebeest, all of whom were quite large. They closed in around the pair from all sides, glaring at them menacingly. "Ye might want to reconsider that," the musk deer said, smugly. "We folks here may not have much, but we do look after our own."

Digby held up his webbed hands, smiling placatingly at the crowd. "Now now, people, there's no need for violence."

The Contessa grinned at the musk deer, her fangs gleaming. "And you will no doubt share your ill-gotten gains with all of your companions."

"I can't see how as that concerns you," said the musk deer. Then his smile faded as he noticed several people in the crowd giving him decidedly unfriendly looks.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen!" came a stentorian voice from the entrance. "Just because we're at the bottom of the barrel doesn't mean we can't be civilized!"

Everyone turned toward the speaker. There in the doorway stood a portly rooster wearing a ragged pinstripe suit and a battered top hat, a pink carnation in his lapel. "Cloed!" cried Digby, running to the rooster and throwing his arms around him. "Good to see you again!"

Cloed smiled and patted the platypus on his back. "Good to see you, too, Digby. It's been a while." He turned his gaze upon the crowd. "Now, what seems to be the cause of this unpleasantness?"

"This person," said the Contessa, pointing at the musk deer, "stole Digby's wallet."

"Did you do that, Quayt?" Cloed asked, frowning.

"I did no such thing!" Quayt protested.

Cloed lumbered toward him. "Then you won't mind submitting to a search of your person to prove your innocence."

Quayt pulled himself up to his full height, which was a head shorter than the rooster's. "I don't have to prove my innocence! The law of the land says a man is innocent until proven guilty!"

Cloed glared down at him. "We have our own laws, Quayt, as you well know, and one is that we don't steal from our own!"

Quayt pointed at Digby. "He's not one of us! I saw his picture on the society page, standing next to her," he gestured at the Contessa. "She's an aristocrat, she is, and he's her kept man!" Digby winced at this.

"He is also my friend," said Cloed. "If you steal from him, you steal from me." He held out a clawed yellow hand to the musk deer. Quayt glanced at the crowd, made a disgusted noise, pulled Digby's wallet out of his coat pocket, and handed it to Cloed, who offered it back to Digby.

The platypus shook his head. "Let him keep it. He needs it more than I do."

"As you wish," said Cloed, shrugging and returning the wallet to Quayt, who seized it eagerly. Then Quayt looked at the other vagrants glaring at him, sighed, and started shelling out bills to them.

"Now, then, Digby," said Cloed, turning toward the Contessa, "if you would be so kind as to introduce me to your lovely companion?"

"I guess there's no point in trying to remain incognito," said Digby, "thanks to Quayt. Cloed, this is the Contessa Batori. Contessa, Cloed."

The rooster doffed his hat and bowed deeply. "Your servant, my lady."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, sir," said the Contessa, smiling at him.

"So," said Cloed, "what brings an aristocrat to such base environs as these?"

"We are assisting the Heroes of Zoolok," the Contessa replied.

Cloed blinked. "The Heroes of Zoolok? Well, naturally I'll be happy to help any way I can!"

"You remember a few months ago," asked Digby, "when you told me about a pair of nos who were preying on hobos?"

Cloed shivered and nodded. "Indeed I do! There was a blue jay and a hedgehog. I myself was one of their victims. But it was my understanding that they had both been apprehended and locked up with all the other nos."

"There is another one loose in the city," said the Contessa. "A squirrel."

"Is there?" said Cloed, looking thoughtful.

"This mean anything to you?" asked Digby.

"It occurs to me that some of my long-time acquaintances have been absent from their usual haunts recently," said Cloed. "I thought nothing of it at the time. After all, winos are not the most reliable of people. But in view of what you have just told me . . ."

"Were all these disappearances in a particular area?" asked the Contessa.

Cloed nodded. "Yes, the Olddeng district."

"That's just a few miles from here," said Digby, glancing at the Contessa.

"Sounds like a lead," she replied. She smiled at the rooster. "Thank you for your assistance, sir. Please permit me to reward you." She opened her purse.

"Please, Contessa," said Cloed, "the satisfaction of knowing I have helped my fellow man is reward enough for me." As she shrugged and began closing her purse, he hurriedly added, "However, it occurs to me that some modest monetary compensation would enable me to help them even more." The Contessa nodded and handed him a couple of notes large enough to make his eyes bulge. "You rob me of words, my lady!"

"I am quite certain nobody could ever do that," said the Contessa, smiling. "There is one thing that puzzles me, however. Clearly, you are a man of some erudition. How did you come to be in this state?"

Cloed sighed. "It is a sad tale, Contessa. I was once a man of some importance, a member of the establishment, as they say. But I committed an indiscretion. I'll not bore you with the sordid, embarrassing details. Suffice it to say, it resulted in me falling from grace. And so, here I am, along with the rest of society's debris."

"I am sorry," said the Contessa.

The rooster smiled. "Don't be. I have no one to blame but myself. And here, at least, I am not on any clock, nor subject to any will save my own. I go where I want, when I want. I have complete freedom, something I sorely lacked in my previous life."

The Contessa nodded. "I am glad that you are happy, then. Thank you for your help, Cloed. The information you have given us may save lives."

"Let us hope," said Cloed.

Digby and the Contessa exited the mission and went out onto the street. "We should call the Heroes and let them know what we have learned," the Contessa said.

Digby simply nodded, his hands in his pockets.

"Is something troubling you?" the Contessa asked.

The platypus looked at her. "Quayt called me a 'kept man.'"

"And it bothers you that he used so invidious a term?"

"Well, he wasn't wrong, was he? If it weren't for you, I'd still be shoveling coal!"

"You never asked me for anything, Digby. I came to you."

He nodded. "Yes, because you felt sorry for me."

"Because I thought you deserved better than the hand fate had dealt you. And you are free to leave at any time." Her throat clenched. "I wish you would not, though, as I am very much in love with you. And it has been so long since I loved anyone. You cannot imagine how long."

Digby put his thick arms around her slender body, and they stood there on the sidewalk holding each other for a time.

The radio was blaring some show about gangsters and detectives, and little Isl was sitting before it wearing only shorts and suspenders, shooting imaginary targets with finger guns, his fluffy tail twitching, while Tinc and Cyhup worked in the kitchen getting dinner ready for when their mother got home from work. There came the sound of a knock on the door of the apartment, and Tinc sighed, dusted the flour from his furry hands, went to the door, and opened it. His big black eyes went wide, and his bucktoothed mouth fell open. Before him stood Omega Mouse and Volthawk, along with a tiger in a suit and tie and a teenage hawk girl in a white blouse and pleated skirt.

"Hello," said Omega Mouse, smiling at the boy. "Is this the Ortrum residence?"

Tinc continued to stare, utterly transfixed. Finally, he nodded slowly.

"May we come in?" Omega Mouse asked.

"S-sure!" Tinc managed to say, backing up to let the quartet in. Cyhup came out of the kitchen, and she, too, stopped and stared when she saw who the visitors were, while Isl remained oblivious, engrossed in his radio program.

"I take it you recognize me and Volthawk," said Omega Mouse. "This is Adeni, and this is Sidewalk Shaver."

"Hello," said Adeni, smiling at the two squirrel children. "What are your names?"

"I-I'm Tinc," said Tinc, "and this is my sister, Cyhup, and that kid listening to the radio is my little brother, Isl."

"How do you do?" asked Cyhup, curtseying to the visitors.

"Is your mother at home?" asked Omega Mouse.

Tinc shook his head. "No, sir, she's at work."

"When will she be back?" asked Sidewalk.

"Not for another hour or so. Cyhup and I were just making dinner."

"I see," said Omega Mouse. "Tinc, we're here about your father. Has he been here, lately?"

Tinc's eyes widened again, then he shook his head vigorously. "No, sir! My father's dead! He drowned at sea!"

Omega Mouse frowned. "Are you sure about that?"

Tinc nodded. "Absolutely, sir!" Cyhup opened her mouth to speak, but a warning look from Tinc silenced her.

"Look," said Volthawk, "we know he didn't drown at sea, and so do you. He's here in Nexasho, and we have to find him."

"Why?" asked Tinc. "What do you want him for?"

Volthawk started to speak, but Omega Mouse motioned him to be quiet. "Something happened to your father at sea, Tinc," Omega Mouse said. "He's not himself anymore. He may hurt people. And we have to find him before he does."

Cyhup swallowed. "What do you mean he's not himself anymore?"

Omega Mouse looked up at Sidewalk with a pained expression. "They have a right to know," the tiger said.

"A right to know what?" asked Tinc angrily. "What aren't you telling me about my dad?"

Omega Mouse sighed. "Do you know what a nos is?"

Tinc nodded. "I read about them in the paper. They're monsters who drink blood."

"And they were created on the ship your father served aboard," said Volthawk.

Tinc looked wildly back and forth between the visitors. "Are . . . are you saying my dad is one of them?"

Omega Mouse nodded, his throat tight. "I'm afraid so, Tinc."

Tinc shuddered. Then he shook his head. "No, he can't be! My dad isn't a monster! He's a good man! He'd never hurt anyone!"

"Tinc . . ." Adeni began.

"My dad is dead!" Tinc shouted, glaring at them. "He died at sea! He hasn't been here! Now go away!"

Isl had finally come over to see what was going on, and gasped at the sight of two members of the Heroes of Zoolok, his black eyes going wide. "Omega Mouse and Volthawk! Wow!"

Tinc whirled on his brother. "Go to your room, Isl!"

Isl stared at him. "But . . ."

"When mom's not home, I'm in charge!" yelled Tinc. "Go to your room, now!"

Isl scowled and sulked off to his room. Tinc turned back to the visitors, and his young voice was ice cold. "Please leave our home."

Omega Mouse, Volthawk, Sidewalk, and Adeni all looked at each other, then turned and left. Tinc closed the door behind them and locked it.

"Why didn't you tell them the truth?" Cyhup asked.

Tinc glared at her. "Mom said we weren't supposed to tell anyone, remember?"

Her eyes widened. "But, that was Omega Mouse and Volthawk!"

"I don't care who they were! Mom said!"

Cyhup nodded. "Do . . . do you think it could be true, what they said about dad?"

Tinc shook his head. "No, it can't be! You saw dad! He hugged me and kissed me! Would a monster do that?"

Cyhup shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe monsters can love, too."

"He's not a monster!" Tinc screamed at her.

Cyhup swallowed and nodded.

Outside in the hallway, Omega Mouse slumped against the wall. "Well, that was horrible."

Sidewalk nodded. "Yes, it was. But at least we know Ortrum has been here."

"Do you think he got his memories back?" asked Adeni.

"Hard to say," said Sidewalk.

Volthawk nodded, scowling. "Tinc clearly isn't going to tell us anything."

Omega looked at him. "Give the kid a break. What if someone told you your father was a monster?"

"My father is dead," said Volthawk.

"So is his," said Adeni.

"We might have better luck with his mother," said Sidewalk.

"But we don't know where she works," said Volthawk.

Sidewalk shrugged. "Then one of us waits here until she comes home. I nominate me."

"Seconded," said Omega. Then his wrist communicator buzzed. "Yes? Hello, Contessa. Okay, we'll be right there." He glanced at Sidewalk. "We've got a lead on some missing hobos in Olddeng."

"Good luck," said Sidewalk. He lit a cigarette as the others headed for the elevator.

In a darkened room, Eventide and Ortrum sat on the bare wood floor in lotus positions, heads bowed, eyes closed, the Eye of Destiny lying between them. "Oh mighty Ba-vast," the squirrel chanted, "great and terrible goddess, mother of all cats. Grant us the insight to use thy power so that we might work thy will!"

"I can feel it opening up to me!" said Eventide, trembling with excitement. "I'm entering the fourth circle of awareness!"

Ortrum opened his crimson eyes. "Fourth? I never made it past the third!"

"I may have a greater affinity because I'm a cat," said Eventide. "No, no, I'm losing it!" She sighed, then opened her eyes, gazing at him. "Your mind is like a stormy sea, Kialo. Your thoughts keep drifting."

Ortrum's mouth tightened. "Ever since I saw my wife and kids, I can't stop thinking about them."

Eventide frowned. "That is not conducive to our purpose. Magic is as much a matter of emotion as intellect. We can't afford any distractions. We need to focus!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Ortrum snarled, glaring at her, fangs gleaming. "I've been trying to put them out of my mind, but I can't! It keeps circling back to them!"

Eventide placed a hand on his furry shoulder. "I can't do this without you, Kialo. You have a special bond with the Eye. It created you. But neither of us has a strong enough will to master the Eye alone. We need to be of one mind."

Ortrum nodded, placing a clawed hand on her opposing shoulder. "One soul."

Their mouths came together, cat and squirrel kissing passionately, arms around each other. Ortrum reached down and grasped the Eye, and vitality flowed into him. His still heart began to beat again, and his dead body began responding to her closeness in male anticipation. Then he opened his scarlet eyes and drew back.

"What's wrong?" asked Eventide, puzzled.

"I'm sorry, Elila," Ortrum replied, shaking his head. "I can't."

She raised an eyebrow. "Fidelity? It's a little late in the game for that, don't you think? Sparks said it was you who told him the Eye could enable nos to have sex again, so you must have done it."

Ortrum sighed. "Yes, I did, lots of times. But those were just hookers. They didn't mean anything to me. This is something else. We're talking about you replacing Usttia in my heart."

"And you still love her," said Eventide, scowling, her tail swishing in feline annoyance.

"She's my wife, the mother of my children! I've shared things with her that I've never shared with anyone else!"

Eventide folded her arms. "Well, this is inconvenient."

Ortrum shrugged. "I can't help how I feel, Elila!"

"So, where does that leave us?"

"Maybe, in time, I could learn to love you," Ortrum suggested.

"I don't wish to wait that long!" Eventide snapped as she stood up. "I'm going to bed. You may join me if you wish. It wouldn't have to mean anything, I'd just enjoy the company of a handsome squirrel."

Ortrum looked away. "Maybe some other time. There's some books in your library I'd like to study."

Eventide shrugged. "Suit yourself. Good night." She turned and walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Ortrum stood alone in the room for a moment, his big fluffy tail flicking. Then he went to a window, opened it, and clambered out.

A yellow moon loomed overhead, punching a hole in the night sky, as Firefox and Ken-Jo stood on the doorstep of an apartment building in Nexasho's Olddeng district, waiting for an answer to their knock. The wooden door coated with peeling paint finally opened and an old weasel woman peered out at them. Her eyes widened behind her glasses when she saw who her callers were.

"Excuse me, ma'am," said Firefox, smiling. "Sorry to bother you so late. Have you seen either of these people?" She held up photographs of Eventide and Kialo Ortrum to her.

The woman shook her head. "No, can't say as I have. Are they crooks?"

Firefox nodded. "Dangerous ones. If you do see them, please contact the Heroes of Zoolok."

"I will, dearie," the woman said. "Bless you Heroes and all the good work you do."

"Thank you very much, ma'am," said Firefox, as the door closed. She and Ken-Jo turned and descended the stairs to the street.

"This must be the twentieth building we've checked," said Firefox disgustedly as they walked along the sidewalk.

"Twenty-third," said Ken-Jo.

She sighed. "I hope the others are having better luck than we are."

"They could hardly do worse." The armadillo glanced at her. "Have you considered my proposal?"

"I'm not sure this is the best time to discuss it, Ken-Jo," Firefox replied.

"Considering we lead lives where death is ever close at hand," said Ken-Jo, "is there any better time than the present?"

"You could say that about anyone," Firefox pointed out.

Ken-Jo nodded. "True, death can find anyone at any time. But most do not actively seek it."

She stopped and turned to face him. "I'm just not sure I want to get married."

"I see," said Ken-Jo, his long face impassive.

"And it's not because we can't have children," Firefox added quickly. "I never thought of myself as mother material anyway. I'm a vain, selfish flibbertigibbet."

"I think you do yourself a disservice," said Ken-Jo. "I have seen you show great courage and selflessness when the need for such arises."

Firefox smiled and looped her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his bare chest. "You always say the nicest things, Ken-Jo." She pressed her mouth to his, and he wrapped his thick arms around her waist.

"Taking a break?" asked Europa, as she and Slash came walking toward them.

Firefox nodded to her. "Union rules. Every twenty-three buildings, we get to kiss."

"Not unreasonable," said Europa.

"A pity Keref is at sea," Ken-Jo commented. "You must have scanned at least that many buildings by now."

"Unfortunately, Eventide's mind has always been difficult for me to pin down," said Europa. "I believe her magical amulet shields it from my powers."

"What about Ortrum?" asked Firefox. "Or are nos also resistant to telepathy?"

"Not that I have noticed," said Europa. "But even so, I have been unable to locate him."

"Could Eventide's amulet also be hiding him, somehow?" asked Ken-Jo.

Europa shrugged. "Possibly? I confess, I know very little about magic."

"I worked as a magician's assistant once," said Firefox. "I can tell you how the sawing a lady in half trick works."

Europa gave her a hard look. "I meant real magic, Datura."

"I know what you meant, Gemma," said Firefox. "It was a joke." Then she started as Digby and the Contessa suddenly appeared right in front of them, both still dressed in shabby clothes. "Ah! You have to teach me how you travel through the fourth dimension, Contessa!"

"I would," the Contessa replied, "but it takes longer than you are likely to live."

"Have you learned anything from speaking with the local indigents?" Europa asked.

Digby nodded. "They're scared to death. There's been a bunch of disappearences in this area over the past week."
"Sounds like Ortrum's doing," said Firefox, grimly. "But where are the bodies of his victims?"

"He could be hiding them someplace," said Ken-Jo, "or disposing of them in a furnace."

"But he's an animal!" Digby protested. "He can't think or plan!"

"He may have regained his faculties," Ken-Jo reminded him.

"Or Eventide could be doing it for him," suggested the Contessa.

"Either way," said Europa, "we know he's using this area for a hunting ground. Perhaps we can lay a trap for him."

"You mean with one of us as bait?" asked Firefox.

Europa nodded, surveying the group. "Digby and Ken-Jo both belong to uncommon species, which would make them easy to spot. Slash, the Contessa, and myself all have distinctive fur colors, but those can be concealed with dye."

Slash raised a hand. "C-c-can't hurt m-m-me," the boar said. "T-t-tried b-b-before."

"Yes," said Europa, "Slash and Omega Mouse are both invulnerable to Ortrum's fangs. That makes them the logical choices." The others all nodded in agreement.

On a nearby rooftop, Kialo Ortrum watched and listened as the heroes planned their strategy. The squirrel grinned, then bounded away, leaping from roof to roof with blinding speed.

Usttia Ortrum entered the lobby of her apartment building to find a tall, well-dressed tiger standing there smoking a cigarette. He ground it out in the ashtray by the elevator and came over to her. "Mrs. Ortrum?" he asked, in a deep, baritone voice.

"Yes?" she asked, looking up at him, his striped face reflected in her huge black eyes.

"My name is Sidewalk Shaver," he said. "I'm a private investigator."

She nodded. "Are you from the insurance company?"

Sidewalk looked surprised. "The insurance company?"

"Yes, they've been holding up payment on my late husband's life insurance policy. Since his body was never recovered, they want proof that he's really dead."

"I see," said Sidewalk. "No, ma'am, I'm not from the insurance company. I'm working with the Heroes of Zoolok."

Her eyes widened and she looked uneasy. "The Heroes of Zoolok? What do they want with me?"

"They know your husband isn't dead—at least, not in the conventional sense."

Several emotions crossed the squirrel woman's face in quick succession: fear, then guilt, then anger. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said at last. "My husband died at sea. Now, if you'll excuse me." She pressed the call button for the elevator.

"Yes, Mrs. Ortrum, your husband did die at sea," said Sidewalk. "Then he was resurrected as a nos. He was seen here in Nexasho a few days ago, working with a supervillain known as Eventide."

Usttia ignored the tiger as she waited for the elevator to arrive. When the door slid open, she went inside, and Sidewalk followed, standing next to her as she pressed the button for the tenth floor. "He's killed dozens of people, Mrs. Ortrum," he said as they rode up together.

She whirled, glaring at him. "How dare you? Kialo Ortrum was the sweetest, kindest, gentlest man who ever lived! He could never kill anyone!"

"The creature he is now can, and has," said Sidewalk. "Nos aren't like you and I. They have no conscience, no sense of right and wrong."

"How can you be so sure of that?" she demanded. "How do you know there aren't some traces of the people they were still inside them somewhere?" She stared straight ahead at the door. "You didn't know Kialo. He was a devoted, loving husband and father. When our son Tinc had pneumonia and we didn't know if he'd live, Kialo never left his side. He sat there by his bed for days, talking to him, reading his favorite stories to him." She hung her head, her tail flicking.

Sidewalk swallowed and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently. Giving people bad news about their loved ones was the part of his job he hated most. "I don't doubt he was everything you say, Mrs. Ortrum. But I also know he's now a killer. And I know he'll kill again if he isn't stopped. It's a tragic thing that's happened to him. He didn't ask for it. But that doesn't change the reality of the situation."

The elevator stopped, the door opened, and Usttia and Sidewalk stepped out into the hall. She sighed in resignation. "What is it you want, Mr. Shaver?"

"Has your husband been here?" Sidewalk asked.

She nodded. "Yes."

"Does he remember who he was?"

"I-I think so. He called our son Tinc by name." She looked up at the tiger, her black eyes glistening. "Oh, Mr. Shaver, if you'd only seen the joy on his face when he recognized Tinc! For a moment, he was just like he was before!"

Sidewalk nodded. "Thank you, Mrs. Ortrum. You've been very helpful."

Usttia grabbed his sleeve. "You won't let them kill him, will you, Mr. Shaver? It's like you said, it's not his fault! He didn't ask for this!"

Sidewalk bit his lip. "I'll do what I can, Mrs. Ortrum, but I can't make any promises. If he comes back, please contact the Heroes of Zoolok. And remember, regardless of how he looks and acts, he's not the man you married anymore. He's a danger to everyone, including you and your children."

Usttia nodded and went to her apartment, unlocking the door, while Sidewalk turned and headed back to the elevator. She went inside, closing and locking the door behind her.

"Mom!" came Tinc's gleeful voice from the living room. "Look!"

She turned around and gasped. Kialo Ortrum was crouched in the living room, his three children around him. She squealed in terror.

"Usttia, wait!" he said, holding up his hand. "I promise, I won't hurt you!"

She swallowed, nodding and staring at him. He was naked, as before, but his eyes and teeth were normal. He looked just like he always had. He stood up and walked over to her, smiling, until they were face to face. Then she moaned and threw her arms around him, clinging to his furry body tightly. "Oh, Kialo!" she cried.

He put his arms around her and held her close, caressing her back with his clawed fingers. "It's so good to see you again," he said, rubbing his muzzle against hers. They kissed, and their children giggled, as children always do when they see their parents kissing.

With a crash, the door burst open. In it stood Sidewalk, pistol drawn. Ortrum snarled at him, his eyes turning red, his incisors changing into fangs. He lunged at the tiger.

"Freeze, Ortrum!" Sidewalk ordered, and the squirrel stopped in his tracks, glaring at him with those baleful red eyes.

"Remember, you promised!" Usttia cried.

Sidewalk nodded, though he hadn't actually promised her anything. He lifted the wrist communicator the Heroes had given him to his muzzle. Before he could speak, however, pain exploded in the back of his head as Tinc whacked it with the baseball bat his father had given him on his last birthday. As it was only a child-sized bat, it didn't cave the tiger's skull in, but it was enough to lay him out cold on the floor. Ortrum growled, crouched beside Sidewalk, and lifted him up, preparing to sink his fangs into the tiger's throat.

"Dad, no!" cried Tinc, eyes wide with horror. Ortrum stopped, looking at his son, and his throat tightened. He glanced up at Usttia, then at the other two children. They all wore similar horrified expressions.

"They'll come looking for me," said Ortrum, picking up Sidewalk's unconscious body and hoisting it over his shoulder effortlessly. "I have to go." He ran to the open living room window.

"Dad, wait!" cried Tinc, running after him.

Ortrum looked back at his son and grinned. "Thanks for the save, son," he said. "I'll see you soon." He leaped and was gone.

Tinc ran to the window and looked out. Ortrum was descending the building's iron fire escape, bounding easily from landing to landing, even with the tiger's limp body flapping about over his shoulder. For Tinc, the fire escape was an impossible jump from the window—but there was a drainpipe nearby that ran down the side of the building.

"Tinc, no!" cried Usttia, running toward him.

"I gotta, mom!" said Tinc. Tensing his legs, he jumped, grabbing for the drainpipe with one hand. He almost didn't make it, but his fingers managed to lock around the thin iron pipe. His small body swung from it, making it shift sickeningly as its old, rusty brackets groaned, mortar dust dribbling from around the bolts holding them to the brick wall.

Tinc hung there by one hand for a moment, ten stories up, his heart frozen with terror. Then he grasped the pipe with his clawed fingers and toes, turned himself head downward, and began scampering down it, just like one of his tree-dwelling ancestors. Usttia leaned out the window, calling for him to come back. She would have gone after him, but she was far from certain that the pipe could support her weight. It could barely support Tinc's.

Tinc reached the street just in time to see his father remove a set of keys from the tiger's jacket pocket and then toss him into the back seat of a convertible parked in front of the building. Unaware that his son was watching, Ortrum sat down in the driver's seat and began warming up the engine. It would take about a minute for the car to build up a full head of steam. Tinc snuck up to it and put his feet on the running board on the passenger side, grasping the top of the door with one hand and keeping his head down so his father wouldn't see him. When the pressure in the car's steam engine reached operating level, Ortrum threw it into drive and tore off, his son hanging on for dear life.

As the car raced through the dark streets of the city, Tinc noticed Sidewalk's arm sticking out over the side. The boy reached up with one hand, removed the communicator from around the tiger's wrist, and stuck it in his own pocket. After several minutes, the car came to a stop before a huge, dilapidated building that loomed up against the night sky like a weary ghost. Tinc ducked down low to avoid being seen as his father lifted the tiger out of the back seat, slung him over his shoulder, and carried him to the building. There was the sound of wood splintering as Ortrum tore the door off its hinges and went inside. With trembling fingers, Tinc switched on the communicator and began speaking quietly into it. "Hello? Heroes of Zoolok? Can anyone hear me?"

Eventide groaned as her phone rang. Who the hell could be calling at this hour? Who even knew where she was? She rolled over in bed, reaching for the phone, not bothering to open her eyes. It was really too bad Ortrum wasn't here with her, she thought to herself, as he was quite handsome, and it had been some time since she'd been with a man. She found the phone and lifted the receiver to her face. "Hello?"

"Ready to try an experiment?" came Ortrum's voice on the other end.

She sat up suddenly, her green eyes blinking. "Kialo? Where are you?"

"At a phone booth by the gear house of the old Fifth Street drawbridge. No one will disturb us here."

Eventide knew the place. It had been abandoned years ago, after the city had built a new suspension bridge across the Zoba River, making the old drawbridge obsolete. For some reason, they'd never gotten around to demolishing it. "What kind of experiment?"

"We're going to try our hand at making a nos," said Ortrum cheerfully.

Eventide frowned. "I thought we agreed there'd be no killing, Kialo!"

"Oh, don't start getting all squeamish on me, Elila," Ortrum sneered. "What do you think I've been doing at night? Knitting? I need blood, you know. Anyway, it's that tiger PI who's been dogging you. I'd think you'd be happy to see him gone."

Eventide swallowed, her stomach turning. "Kialo . . ."

"Look, I'm going to kill him either way. We might as well get something useful out of it. Be here in ten minutes." He hung up.

"Kialo!" Eventide yelled into the dead receiver, then slammed down the phone angrily. She threw the covers aside, got out of bed, and strode across the room, her gray-furred body nude. This had gone far enough, she thought. The squirrel was becoming a liability. Besides, she'd already progressed farther with the Eye of Destiny than he had. True, she still needed help mastering it, but there were others she could turn to, others who weren't so eager to commit homicide.

She draped the Amulet of Darkness around her neck, and her indigo costume suddenly appeared on her body. Then she picked up the Eye of Destiny and gazed into its green, glowing depths, its unearthly light reflecting in her eyes. Was it really so bad, getting rid of that tiger detective? After all, he had been a nuisance to her. He'd even dared to shoot at her, the impudent fool! Yes, the world could definitely get along with one less annoying PI in it. She smiled, melded into her own shadow, and was gone.

"'Ey, 'ow about that one, Eesto?" whispered the kangaroo wearing an overcoat and a newsboy cap.

His companion, a similarly dressed canary, peered around the corner of the alley at the subject of the kangaroo's interest. "Just a bum," the bird said, scowling. "Probably got nothing on him but fleas and the smell of cheap whiskey."

The kangaroo shrugged. "'E might 'ave some money. Anyway, it ain't like we can afford to be picky. We 'aven't seen anyone out on the streets all night!"

Eesto nodded. "Yeah, Olddeng has been a ghost town lately. Okay, Splog, do your thing."
Splog dropped to a crouch and sprang, sailing clear across the street and landing squarely in front of a small figure wearing a ragged overcoat and a broad-brimmed hat. The kangaroo whipped out a switchblade and held it up before him, the steel edge glinting under the streetlights. "Nice night for a walk, 'ey?" he asked, grinning unpleasantly.

The figure made no move, merely glanced to its left as Eesto ran over, effectively cutting off any escape, not that there were many who could outrun a kangaroo anyway. "Don't be stupid!" the canary growled, also brandishing a switchblade. "Just give us your money and you won't get hurt!"

The figure shook its head, its face hidden in the shadows beneath its hat. "You two are idiots," it said. "Haven't you heard about all the disappearances in this neighborhood?"

"And there'll be another one unless you 'and over your money!" snarled Splog, taking a menacing step forward.

The figure sighed, removed its hat, and let its coat fall open, revealing its true identity. Splog and Eesto both gasped. "Omega Mouse!"

Omega Mouse glanced up. "False alarm," he said. "Just a couple of lowlifes." Splog and Eesto looked up as well. Firefox, Ken-Jo, Volthawk, and Adeni were standing on a nearby rooftop, gazing down at them. They both whimpered, dropped their blades, and raised their hands in surrender.

"I almost feel sorry for them," said Adeni.

"Do not," said Ken-Jo. "They are criminals. They deserve no pity."

Firefox smirked at the armadillo, folding her arms. "That's rich coming from you, lover."

Ken-Jo regarded her, unfazed. "Did I ever ask for pity or make excuses?"

"So, what are we gonna do with them?" asked Volthawk.

Omega Mouse shrugged. "Lock them up in the Ark, I suppose. They'll be safer there, in any case."

"I'll take care of it," said Firefox. She burst into flames and flew down to the street, leaving a burning contrail behind her. Landing before the two terrified thugs, she pointed at one of the switchblades lying on the ground. A thin bolt of fire shot from her finger, melting the weapon into slag. She did the same to the other one, then looked at both of the thugs, her tail swishing. "Children shouldn't play with knives," she said, smiling. "Someone could get hurt."

Adeni sighed and shook her head. "I hope Europa's group is having better luck."

Suddenly, all the Heroes' wrist communicators crackled with the sound of a young and desperate voice. "Hello? Heroes of Zoolok? Can anyone hear me?"

"Tinc?" Omega Mouse asked into his communicator. "Is that you?"

"Yes!” Tinc replied. "My dad has Mr. Shaver! I think he's gonna do something bad to him! You gotta save him!"

"Where is he?" asked Omega Mouse.

"I . . . I'm not sure! I saw him take him into some big old building!"

"Well, that narrows it down!" said Volthawk, scowling.

"Dr. Teshobi," said Omega Mouse, "can you locate Sidewalk's communicator using the interferometer?"

"Just a moment, Omega," said the voice of the beaver, who was back at Heroes Headquarters. A long moment passed. "Ah, there we are. Looks like the gear house of the old Fifth Street drawbridge."

"That thing's still standing?" asked Firefox, surprised.

Ken-Jo shrugged. "Demolition costs money."

"They should have asked me," said Omega Mouse. "I'd have done it for free. Europa, has your group been following this?"

"Every word," the panda replied.

"Then rendevous with us at the Ark, on the double. Tinc, you sit tight. Under no circumstances go into that building, understand?"

"Understood, sir!" Tinc replied.

"What about them?" asked Firefox, indicating Splog and Eesto, who were still standing with their hands in the air, looking miserable.

Omega Mouse turned toward the two thugs. "Gentlemen, this is your lucky night. We have more important matters to attend to. However, I strongly urge you both to reconsider what you're doing with your lives." And with that, he flew off.

"What he said," added Firefox, nodding, then flew off after Omega Mouse, leaving the kangaroo and the canary standing by themselves in the street.

Splog and Eesto exchanged glances. Then they bolted, the kangaroo bounding down the street as the canary struggled to keep up with him.

A shadow slithered into the dark, dilapidated interior of the long-abandoned Fifth Street drawbridge gear house, and Eventide rose out of it, holding the Eye of Destiny. A large arcane design had been gouged into the crumbling wooden floor by a clawed finger, and at the center lay the unconscious form of Sidewalk Shaver, with Kialo Ortrum standing over him, arms folded across his furry chest. "Shall we start?" the squirrel asked, his tail flicking impatiently.

"Do you really think we can do this?" asked Eventide, walking toward him, her eyes glowing bright green.

Ortrum shrugged. "If we fail, he dies. If we succeed, he becomes a nos. Either way, it's a win for our side."

Eventide nodded. "Your logic is impeccable, Kialo. Let us proceed."

His eyes burning crimson, his muzzle sporting needle-like fangs, Ortrum looked down at the tiger. "Goodbye, Mr. Shaver."

Tinc, who had been watching fearfully from behind a huge spool of rusted cable, ran out from behind it. "No, dad, don't, please!" He interposed himself between Sidewalk and Ortrum, looking up at his father. "I've been telling everyone you're not a monster, dad. Please, prove I'm right. Show me you're not a monster. Please?"

Ortrum looked down at the boy, seeing his own fanged, red-eyed face reflected in his son's huge black eyes, and got down on one knee to be face to face with him. "Tinc, try to understand. If I succeed, he'll be a nos, like me! He'll never grow old, never die, and he'll be strong and almost invincible! And then, I can do the same for you, and your mother, and Cyhup, and Isl! We'll all be together, forever!"

"But . . . you said you were gonna kill him!" Tinc protested.

"Death is just a stepping stone, Tinc," said Ortrum, smiling at him reassuringly. "Look at me! I died and now I'm back! And it'll be the same for him. And for you." He grinned and ruffled his son's headfur. "Don't you want to be like your old man?"
Tinc bit his lip, shivering. "I just want you to be like you were!"

"I'm better than I was," said Ortrum, eyes blazing with excitement, "and you will be, too! You'll be able to do things you could never do before! No one will ever push you around again! Won't that be great?"

Tinc swallowed, wanting to believe what his father was telling him, while Eventide watched, tapping her foot. "Can we get on with this, please?" she asked, annoyed.

Ortrum glared back her. "Do you mind? I'm talking with my son!"

"The longer this takes, the greater the chance of one of those damned Heroes barging in on us!"

At that moment, the wall of the gear house facing the street exploded inward, and there in the opening stood Omega Mouse, Europa, Firefox, Slash, Volthawk, Ken-Jo, Digby Rasklin, and the Contessa Batori.

Eventide groaned and rolled her eyes. "Or all of them!"

"Give up, Eventide," said Omega Mouse, hands on hips. "There's no way you and Ortrum can defeat all of us."

The cat smiled at him. "You forget, Omega Mouse, I have the Eye of Destiny." She thumped the scepter in her gloved hand, and the gem in its head glowed a bright green, which was echoed in her eyes.

"So did Ba-vast," said Omega Mouse. "It didn't help her, and it won't help you."

"Eventide," said Europa, "this is not you. You are not a killer. That evil thing," she pointed at the Eye of Destiny, "is controlling you. Please, I beg of you, relinquish it!"

Eventide grinned. "Come and get it, Heroes."

A tendril of green light snaked from the Eye to Ortrum, and he suddenly began to grow and change, his fangs becoming larger, his claws longer, his features more savage. He now stood over twelve feet tall and hugely muscled.

"D-dad?" asked Tinc, recoiling from him in horror.

"Watch your old man kick some ass, son!" said Ortrum, his voice much deeper now, his tail flicking excitedly.

"Heroes, attack!" shouted Omega Mouse, flying toward the two villains as Slash, Ken-Jo, and Digby ran behind him. Firefox shot a beam of flame at Eventide, while Volthawk hurled a lightning bolt, but she deflected both attacks with a shield of darkness that had appeared on her left arm. A psychic blast from Europa hit Eventide but had no noticable effect. Meanwhile, the Contessa concentrated, stepped into the fourth dimension, and vanished.

Omega Mouse slammed into Ortrum, but the giant squirrel was braced for it, his arms held up before him to block like the semiprofessional boxer he had once been. He absorbed the impact without injury, though it pushed him back a few inches, his clawed feet gouging rents in the floorboards. With the mouse momentarily off balance, Ortrum wound up for a haymaker. His fist struck with a colossal impact, sending Omega Mouse rocketing upward to burst through the roof and out into the night sky. "Ha!" chortled Ortrum, grinning. "Who's the strongest now, Omega Mouse?"

"We need to take that bastard down!" shouted Volthawk, glaring at the squirrel.

Europa nodded. "Prepare to coordinate attacks."

Firefox, Volthawk, and Europa were all about to blast Ortrum in unison when they found themselves encased in a hemisphere of darkness that none of them could see out of, the light from Firefox's flaming aura providing their sole illumination. Firefox and Volthawk both blasted at the barrier but found their powers unable to penetrate it.

As Slash, Ken-Jo, and Digby charged toward Ortrum, their own shadows rose up from the floorboards and wrapped around their arms and legs, holding them fast. Slash's titanium claws swiftly sliced through the shadow holding him, and Ken-Jo, though unable to use his sword, did the same with his natural claws, but Digby had to rely on his raw strength, which made it harder for him to break free. Slash and Ken-Jo closed in around Ortrum from opposite sides, both wary of the squirrel's greater reach. Ortrum lunged at Slash, who blocked and retaliated, his claws raking the squirrel's right arm. Exploiting the opening, Ken-Jo darted in and sliced through Ortrum's left thigh with his sword, then jumped back as the squirrel swiped at him with a clawed hand. Ortrum growled at the pair as they circled him just out of reach.

Eventide took aim at Slash, leveling the Eye at him, preparing to fire a magical blast from it, when the Contessa stepped out of nowhere and seized her from behind. "You again!" Eventide snarled.

"Yes, me again," the Contessa replied, and lunged at the cat's throat, fangs bared. A gorget of shadow suddenly appeared around Eventide's neck, blunting the bat's bite.

A moment later, the cat sank into her own shadow, which slithered across the floor away from the Contessa. Then she rose up out of it again. "You know, Contessa," she said, "what the Eye gives, it can also take back!" The Eye glowed, and a tendril of green light snaked out of it and touched the Contessa, who shrieked and convulsed, then collapsed to the floor. Eventide looked down at her, grinning. "Enjoy your rest, Contessa. It's long overdue."

"No!" cried Digby, running up and slugging Eventide across the face, causing the cat to spin about and drop to the floor.

Eventide glared up at the platypus, rubbing her bleeding muzzle. "How dare you, you stupid, muscle-bound, insolent lout!" She fired a mystical blast from the Eye, hitting him square in the chest and knocking him backward. Then she got to her feet and glanced over at Ortrum.

The monstrous squirrel was being harried by Slash and Ken-Jo, who were slowly whittling him down, one of them striking whenever he attacked the other, and both too fast and agile for him to hit. Enraged by his nimble persecutors, Ortrum raised his huge fists above his head and brought them down in a thunderous crash, splintering the wooden floor of the gear house and creating a shockwave that sent both his opponents tumbling away from him—and Tinc and Sidewalk, as well. It also broke the foundation of the apparatus holding the enormous concrete block that had served as a counterweight for the old drawbridge when it was raised and lowered. With a shriek of tortured metal, the block came loose and began to fall, the miniscule form of Tinc directly beneath it. Seeing a hundred-ton block of concrete falling toward him, the squirrel boy closed his eyes and raised an arm to shield himself, for all the good that would do.

Tinc waited for death, but death didn't come. Puzzled, he opened his eyes and looked up. There above him stood his father, holding up the block with his back and arms. "Run, Tinc!" Ortrum hissed through clenched teeth, trembling under the immense weight.

The boy shook his head. "No."

"I can't hold this for long!" Ortrum gasped.

Tinc threw his arms around his father's leg. "I'm not leaving you, dad!" Then he squealed as Sidewalk grabbed him and tore him loose from Ortrum's leg, dragging him away as the boy struggled and screamed, "No! No! No!"

Out from under the block, Sidewalk and Tinc stared at the incredible sight of the giant-sized squirrel supporting the huge concrete block, like some god of ancient legend bearing the weight of the world upon his shoulders. Except that Ortrum was not quite a god. He gritted his teeth as his body quivered, his knees buckling, about to succumb to the tremendous weight pressing down on it. "I love you, son!" he gasped. Sidewalk turned the boy's face away as his father groaned and collapsed.

The block fell, one edge smashing into the floor. Then it stopped, tilted at an angle. "Come out, Ortrum," Omega Mouse said, holding the block by one edge. The squirrel crawled out from underneath, and Omega Mouse let go, allowing the block complete its downward journey with a thunderous thud. Tinc pulled away from Sidewalk and ran to his father, throwing his arms around him and sobbing.

"I think I'm going to be ill," Eventide said. She raised the Eye, a tendril of green light snaked to Ortrum, and he was suddenly once again normal-sized, normal-looking, and fully healed. Then she sank into her shadow and disappeared.

Kialo Ortrum stood there holding his son as Omega Mouse, Sidewalk Shaver, Slash, Ken-Jo, Firefox, Volthawk, and Europa stood watching them. The squirrel looked around at the Heroes, red eyes unblinking.

"I think you know what comes next," said Omega Mouse quietly.

Ortrum simply nodded. "It's fine." He turned his gaze to Sidewalk. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Sidewalk replied.

Volthawk looked at Digby, who was standing over the Contessa's body, head bowed. "Is she?" he asked Europa, swallowing.

The panda nodded. "I sense no mind. She is gone."

Apartment 6A, 1412 Orchard Street, Olddeng, had once been a nice place, but it had long since decayed, along with the rest of Nexasho's north side. Only the ornately carved moldings at the junctions of the walls and the ceiling hinted that it had once been one of the city's more prestigious addresses. The landlord—a rather slovenly pig—obligingly unlocked the door, and Sidewalk, Adeni, Ortrum, Tinc, and the Heroes of Zoolok entered the apartment, Digby having taken the Contessa's body to the Ark. So overwhelmed was the pig by the presence of such distinguished visitors that he didn't even comment on the fact that Ortrum was naked. Once inside, they began searching for any clues to Eventide's present whereabouts.

"Are you sure we can't get you some clothes?" Adeni asked Ortrum, studiously avoiding looking at the squirrel.

Ortrum sighed, standing behind Tinc with his hands on his son's shoulders. "I told you, I can't wear any. Ba-vast's orders."

Firefox giggled. "At least you don't have to worry about catching cold."

Tinc looked up at his father, concern on his young face. "What's going to happen to you, dad?"

"I imagine they'll put me in the internment camp with all the other nos," Ortrum replied.

Tinc swallowed. "For how long?"

"A long time, son. I've done a lot of bad things."

"Will . . . will I be able to come see you?" Tinc asked, squeezing his father's hands.

"That's not up to me to decide."

Tinc looked over at Omega Mouse. "Can you help?"

"I promise I'll do what I can," Omega Mouse replied.

Sidewalk pushed a drawer shut angrily. "Nothing! There's nothing here to suggest where she might have gone." He looked over at Ortrum. "Didn't she mention anything about a backup hideout?"

Ortrum shook his head. "If she had one, she never told me about it."

"Oh, she has one," said Volthawk. "If I know Eventide, she probably has several. But she'd keep them secret from him, in case he got caught."

"Yeah, that makes sense," said Sidewalk.

"So, where does that leave us?" asked Firefox.

Ortrum shrugged. "I could try scrying for her."

Everyone looked at him. "You can do that?" Ken-Jo asked.

"It's a bit of magic I picked up during my months of research," Ortrum said, grinning.

The armadillo glared at him. "You mean when you weren't committing murders for Blackbeak, or kidnaping hobos to turn into nos?"

Europa noticed that Tinc was trembling, his eyes wide, and looked at Ken-Jo. "Not in front of the boy."

"Why are you willing to help, Ortrum?" asked Sidewalk suspiciously.

The squirrel looked down at his son, then back at the tiger. "Why do you think?"

"Do you need anything?" asked Omega Mouse.

Ortrum shook his head. "It's all here." He went over to a strange design drawn on the floor in a corner of the room, sat down crosslegged with it before him, closed his eyes, and began chanting softly in a language nobody could understand, though perhaps the Contessa could have, had she been there.

"I recognize that symbol," said Europa.

Ken-Jo nodded. "It was on the floor of Ba-vast's cabin on the Delphinia."

"It's the ancient Elinian symbol of knowledge," said Ortrum, his eyes still closed. "They used it in many of their magical rituals. Now, please be quiet. I need to concentrate."

The squirrel continued chanting, and after several minutes, an image began to form in the air in front of him, fuzzy at first, but gradually growing more distinct. It was a group of small buildings in a fenced-in compound. "That's the nos internment camp!" gasped Omega Mouse.

Ortrum nodded. "That's where Eventide is headed."

"It makes sense," said Sidewalk. "There are dozens of ready-made servants there, waiting for her to command them."

"How do we know we can trust this vision?" asked Ken-Jo.

"You forget," said Europa, "I am a telepath. He speaks the truth."

"Then we need to get there on the double!" said Omega Mouse. "Come on!"

They all ran downstairs to the Ark, parked in the street below.

Sparks was in the middle of fixing a radio someone had sent him—the hedgehog having started his own mail-order radio repair business shortly after arriving at the internment camp four months ago—when he started at the sound of gunfire outside. Puzzled, he left his workbench and went to the door of his bungalow. Why should there be gunfire? The guards were all cats, so they didn't need guns to control their nos charges, and guns were next to useless against nos in any case.

Sparks peered outside at the compound. Several other nos had also appeared at the doors of their dwellings, likewise curious about what was going on. Among them, he noticed his friend, the blue jay Cyacit, with whom he'd shared an apartment in the north slums of Nexasho when they'd both been masquerading as normal people, trying to live something approaching normal lives. Like Sparks, the bird was wearing a white T-shirt and brown pants. That was all any nos wore, since they had no need for more, even in the depths of winter. Also like Sparks, his eyes glowed bright red, as here, there was no point in trying to conceal what they were.

"See anything?" Sparks asked Cyacit, walking over to him.

"My eyes are no better in the dark than yours are," the blue jay replied.

"What do you think's happening?" asked Sparks.

"Well, it's a cinch nobody's trying to escape. No point in shooting at a nos."

Sparks swallowed. "Do you suppose someone might be trying to break in?"

Cyacit shrugged. "Could be. There's no shortage of people who'd like to see us destroyed."

"You don't sound too concerned," Sparks said nervously.

The blue jay looked down at him. "I'm not."

As they both watched, several cat soldiers came running out into the compound, carrying rifles, and began shooting at . . . nothing. They were all firing in the same direction, but there was literally nothing there but darkness. Then, as Sparks and Cyacit watched in amazement, the nearby buildings began disappearing into the darkness, as if the night itself had come alive and was eating the camp. The soldiers began falling back, shooting as they retreated.

"What the hell is that?" asked a muscular white rabbit, coming over to join Sparks and Cyacit.

"No idea," Cyacit replied.

"Whatever it is, it sure has the guards spooked," Sparks remarked.

The rabbit sneered at him. "I wasn't talking to you, pipsqueak!"

Cyacit glanced sharply at the rabbit. "Lay off him, Keviano."

"The hell I will!" Keviano shot back. "It's his fault my petition for release was denied! If he hadn't killed that cop . . ."

"We'd all still be here," said Cyacit, sounding bored.

"Not you, Cyacit," said Keviano. "You were free, until this little creep got both of you caught. I don't know why you're defending him. He's the reason you're locked up in here with the rest of us for the next five hundred years!"

"Uh, guys?" said Sparks, pointing at the advancing wall of darkness.

Cyacit and Keviano both looked. Out of the darkness stepped a gray female cat wearing a skintight indigo bodysuit and a white belt, holding the Eye of Destiny in her gloved hands.

"Eventide!" cried Sparks, jumping up and down in excitement. "And she has the Eye!"

"Who?" asked Cyacit and Keviano, both looking utterly baffled.

Sparks grinned up at them. "My wife!"

"You've never had a wife!" Cyacit protested.

"I do now," said Sparks, smugly, "and there's a marriage license in the Nexasho Hall of Records to prove it! Gentlemen, meet my beloved bride, lover, and soulmate. And our ticket to freedom!" He grinned at Keviano, fangs gleaming. "Still hate my guts?"

The rabbit just stared back at him, speechless.

Eventide walked across the compound of the nos internment camp, dozens of crimson eyes staring at her, and stopped before Sparks. "Hello, darling," she said, smiling down at the little hedgehog, her eyes glowing green. "Miss me?"

"The minutes have seemed like hours, my love," said Sparks, grinning up at her. "How about a kiss for your devoted husband?" He stood on his toes and puckered his fanged mouth.

Eventide smirked. "Perhaps later." She glanced over at Cyacit. "So, you are Cyacit. I've heard a lot of good things about you."

"Oh, really?" the blue jay replied, sardonically.

She nodded. "Nebus Zemake of the Nexasho Tribune wrote a very nice article praising your heroism. He said you saved his life."

Cyacit snorted. "Don't believe everything you read."

"But you did, Cyacit!" Sparks chimed in. "We both fought that gorilla nos Kialo Ortrum sent after us!"

"Ah, yes, Ortrum," said Eventide, smiling. "I've been seeing a lot of him, lately."

Sparks giggled. "I bet you have, since he can't wear any clothes!"

Cyacit recoiled from Eventide, a look of disgust on his face. "You're working for that psychopathic squirrel?"

"Don't be ridiculous," said Keviano. "No cat would work for a nos."

"Actually," said Eventide, "we were partners, but no more. He is now in the custody of the Heroes of Zoolok."

Sparks shivered. "Which means he'll be coming here!"

Eventide glanced at him. "Does that worry you?"

"Of course it does!" Sparks whined. "He hates me!"

"Everyone here hates you," said Keviano, smirking.

Sparks shook his head. "Not like Ortrum! I betrayed him and slashed his throat!" He turned to Eventide. "You gotta get me outta here! We had a deal, remember?"

Cyacit raised an eyebrow. "You made a deal with her?"

Sparks nodded. "Yeah, I tell her where to find the Eye and she springs me!" He looked at Eventide. "That is what you're here for, isn't it?" he asked, anxiously.

Keviano smacked his forehead and slid his hand down his face. "Lord, you're a chump, Sparks!"

Cyacit nodded. "She's a cat. We're just tools to her."

Sparks swallowed, looking up at her. "Is that true? Is that all I am to you? A tool?"

Eventide leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. "Of course you are, my dear husband." She straightened up and looked around at the other nos who had gathered in the compound to stare at her. "In ancient times, Ba-vast, mother of cats, ruled the Elin River valley as a goddess, with legions of nos to do her bidding. That strikes me as a very satisfactory arrangement, one which I intend to replicate."

Cyacit chuckled. "A few dozen nos against the whole United Provinces Army—an army equipped with tanks, artillery, and airplanes? Good luck!"

Keviano nodded. "We wouldn't stand a chance."

"They'd wipe us out in a minute!" protested a female weasel nos.

"They're probably already mobilizing against us!" cried a male goat nos. Others murmured nervously in agreement.

Eventide leveled the Eye of Destiny at Keviano, and a glowing green tendril snaked from it to him. He began to grow, his clothes tearing apart as his muscles swelled and his fangs became longer, his fingers and toes sprouting long, sharp claws. In a moment the white rabbit stood towering over the crowd, now monstrous-looking and fifteen feet tall. He was also quite naked.

"Holy shit!" Keviano cried in a much deeper version of his normal voice, looking down at himself. Then he grinned sheepishly at the crowd, covering his groin with his hands.

"Still think you don't stand a chance?" Eventide asked, smiling up at him.

"You're going to need a lot of really big loincloths," Cyacit commented.

At that moment, several cat soldiers armed with flamethrowers emerged from the main building and began advancing toward the nos in the compound. The nos began drawing back in fear, as fire was one of the things capable of destroying them. Then the soldiers stopped, staring up at the giant rabbit in amazement.

"All right, you bloodsuckers," said one of the cats, "return to your dwellings." As all the nos—including Keviano—began meekly obeying, he turned his attention to Eventide. "And as for you, miss, this is a restricted area. I advise you to surrender and come along peacefully."

Eventide smirked. "Don't make me laugh." She gestured at the soldiers, and their own shadows came to life, wrapping around their arms and legs and covering their mouths.

"Remove their weapons," Eventide ordered, and several nos went over to the mute, helpless soldiers as they struggled, unbuckling their flamethrowers and divesting them of their other weapons.

"You still have a problem," said Cyacit, standing beside Eventide. "You're not going to get very far if your whole army can be stopped by one cat."

"Ah, but does a cat nos have to obey cats?" asked Eventide, grinning.

The blue jay shrugged. "I don't know. Ba-vast never made any cat nos. I wanted her to turn my tiger girlfriend Roazor into one, but Ba-vast said cats were too good for that."

"Let's find out," said Eventide, and began tracing a design on the ground.

The Ark, carried by Omega Mouse, landed on the road a few hundred yards from the nos internment camp. As its occupants disembarked, it was clear that something was amiss in the camp. Beams from searchlights swept across the dark sky, painting bright circles on the bellies of the clouds, and sirens blared, shattering the night's tranquility and drowning out the chirpings of crickets and the croakings of frogs.

"Looks like she's already here," Sidewalk commented.

Omega Mouse nodded. "And if she can do to other nos what she did to Ortrum, we're going to have a real fight on our hands."

Tinc looked up at his father. "You'll help them, won't you, dad?"

Ortrum smiled back at the boy. "I don't think they'd want my help, son. Even if they trusted me, I'd still have to obey Eventide."

"Perhaps not," said Europa. "I may be able to place a mental compulsion upon you that would enable you to resist her commands."

"Are you sure that'll work?" asked Ortrum.

"We can find out easily enough." She concentrated on him for a moment. "Give him an order, Mr. Shaver."

The tiger shrugged. "Stand on one foot."

The squirrel grinned back at him, both feet still planted firmly on the ground. "Go jump in a lake!"

"Well, that answers that," said Omega Mouse. "Firefox and I will do some aerial reconaissance to find out what we're up against. The rest of you be ready to move. We'll keep in touch via wrist communicator."

Firefox hugged Ken-Jo and kissed his long, narrow snout. "See you soon, lover!" she said excitedly to the armadillo. Then she and Omega Mouse flew off together while the others settled down to wait.

As Eventide finished tracing the design upon the ground, the goat nos and a male koala nos brought one of the struggling cat soldiers over to her, his mouth covered by part of his own animated shadow. She noted with some amusement that it was the same orange tabby who had escorted her to see Sparks when she'd come here pretending to be his wife. "Well, hello, corporal!" she said, smiling at him. "Nice to see you again!" The tabby stared at her, eyes wide, making frantic muffled noises as the goat and koala held him in their steel-vise grasps. Eventide stroked his ears with one indigo-gloved hand. "Don't be afraid, corporal. You'll only be dead for a moment. Then you'll be a nos, and live forever!"

"If you call this 'living,'" said Cyacit scornfully.

Eventide turned her head toward the blue jay. "Would you mind doing the honors, Cyacit?"

"Why me?" he asked, looking uneasy.

"Because you're the 'good' nos," Eventide said, smiling. "According to Nebus Zemake, you've never killed anyone. I think it's time you did."

Cyacit squirmed. "Find someone else."

Eventide frowned. "I want you to do it. You're a nos. You exist to serve cats. Now kill him!"

Cyacit's black-scaled feet clawed at the dirt as he struggled to resist, but the compulsion to obey was overwhelming. With every eye in the camp upon him, he took a reluctant step forward, then another, then another, until he was standing before the cat soldier. The cat whimpered behind his shadow gag, writhing helplessly as the goat and koala held him fast. "I'm so sorry," Cyacit said, his glowing red eyes filled with regret. He reared back his crested head and plunged his sharp black beak toward the cat's white-furred throat.

High above in the night sky, Omega Mouse and Firefox were both surveying the camp through binoculars. "Wow!" said Firefox. "That's one big bunny!"

Omega Mouse nodded. "And there's Eventide, just to the right of him."

"I see her," said Firefox. "And that's Cyacit beside her." Then she gasped. "Oh my god! He's about to kill a soldier!"

Omega Mouse didn't waste a second. He shot down out of the sky like a scarlet-and-black bolt and slammed into the blue jay, knocking him away from the cat soldier. Cyacit skidded across the compound, leaving a rut in the dirt. Omega Mouse whirled toward Eventide, glaring at her.

"Keviano!" she cried. "Kill him!" The gigantic white rabbit nodded, charging toward Omega Mouse, his big feet thudding on the ground. He swung a huge fist at the mouse, who ducked it and retaliated with an uppercut that connected with Keviano's jaw, knocking the rabbit upward half his height. Keviano landed on his back and lay sprawled on the ground, dazed.

As Omega Mouse turned back toward Eventide, he found his arms and legs suddenly wrapped in his own shadow. He strained against them, growling. "This shadow trick of yours has never been able to hold me for long, Eventide!"

She grinned, eyes glowing green. "That was before I had the Eye of Destiny. It can boost the power of lesser magic items, like my Amulet of Darkness." The ebon amulet hanging around her neck began to glow green as well, and the shadows holding Omega Mouse tightened, making him groan with pain. Then a blazing bolt from the heavens struck Eventide, and she screamed as flames washed over her body. These were instantly snuffed by shadows, and she looked up to see Firefox hovering in the air about twenty feet above her.

Firefox spoke into her wrist communicator. "Omega Mouse and I need backup, now!"

"It's going to arrive too late!" snarled Eventide, raising her hand and firing a bolt of darkness that struck the hero, who barely managed to erect a shield of fire to blunt the bolt before it sent her flying backward in a parabolic arc to crash through the roof of the main building. Then she turned her attention back to the still restrained Omega Mouse. "With you as a nos, nothing in this world can stop me!"

"You have to kill me first," said Omega Mouse, straining mightily against his shadow bonds, "and that won't be easy!"

"Nothing worthwhile ever is," said Eventide, grinning. A tendril of green light snaked from the Eye, touching first the goat, then the koala. Immediately, they both grew to the same size as Keviano, bursting out of their clothes in the process. They let go of the cat soldier, who stumbled away, whimpering, his mouth still gagged by his own shadow, as they examined their new bodies.

"Oh, I like this!" said the goat, grinning and flexing his muscles.

Keviano nodded as he came over to him, grinning as well. "Hell of a feeling, isn't it?"

The koala smacked his fist into his palm. "I feel like I could take on the world!"

"You will," said Eventide. "But first things first." She pointed at Omega Mouse, who now looked concerned. "Kill him!"

The nos internment camp was a converted army base surrounded by a steel chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. While any nos could have torn through this easily, or simply jumped over it, its purpose was not to keep nos in but to keep normal people out. Considering the great strength and resistance to injury nos possessed, building fortifications sufficiently sturdy to prevent them from leaving had been deemed too expensive, as well as unnecessary, given their natural subservience to cats. Therefore, the camp had simply been staffed with enough cat soldiers to keep its inmates under observation at all times. While there were those who complained that such measures were inadequate to protect the public from the danger posed by these creatures and demanded that they either be placed in maximum security prison cells or simply destroyed, others (the Heroes of Zoolok among them) argued that this would be needlessly cruel, as their condition was not their fault, and that being so confined for the rest of their immortal lives would be akin to damnation. The current system permitted the nos a certain degree of freedom, allowing them to enjoy being outside and receive visits from friends and family, and it appeared to work just fine, as there had been no serious problems since they had been interred here.

Until now.

"Remember," Europa said as Slash drove the Ark along the road to the camp, "Eventide is the true enemy. The nos are as much victims as anyone. Use the least amount of force necessary against them."

"Yeah," said Volthawk uneasily, reaching up and touching his feathered throat, remembering the sight of Sparks looming over him and preparing to sink his fangs into it. It was a memory that had haunted his darkest dreams ever since.

Ken-Jo frowned. His career as a mercenary and later as a servant of the archvillain Maxoran had taught him to dispatch his foes expediently and without remorse. But the Heroes of Zoolok had higher standards, and since he was now one of them, honor demanded that he abide by those standards. He glanced over at Ortrum, remembering how the squirrel had casually murdered a quagga security guard when he and his allies had attacked Heroes Headquarters. Nothing would have given him greater pleasure than to take Ortrum's head off right now with one swift stroke, just as he had done with the squirrel's creation, the gorilla nos Rondo. He turned his attention back to the road.

"Brace yourselves!" shouted Europa as Slash drove the Ark straight toward the steel fence gate. It crashed through the gate, barely slowing down, and trailed strands of barbed wire behind it until it ground to a stop before the main building.

Europa turned to Sidewalk, Tinc, and Adeni. "You three should stay here. This is going to be dangerous."

"You could probably use a cat along," Sidewalk remarked.

"He is right," said Ken-Jo. "We could."

"Very well," said Europa. She looked at Ortrum. "I can see in your mind a genuine desire to help. You can come, too."

The squirrel bowed his head. "Thank you."

Europa turned to Digby. "I take it you desire vengeance."

The platypus nodded. "Just try and stop me."

Tinc threw his arms around his father's waist. "Come back safe, dad!" Ortrum stroked his son behind his ears and kissed his forehead.

"That goes for you, too!" said Adeni, hugging Volthawk and rubbing beaks with him. Volthawk smiled, nodded, as the door ramp flipped down, and the Heroes of Zoolok and their allies poured out.

Keviano, the goat, and the koala were taking turns slugging Omega Mouse, as the leader of the Heroes of Zoolok remained bound by his own shadow, unable to fight back or fly away. Eventide and the rest of the nos looked on, all of them smiling save for Cyacit. The blue jay stood watching, clenching his scaly black fists, but made no move to interfere, knowing a single word from Eventide could stop him.

"World's greatest hero, my foot!" Keviano sneered as his huge rabbit foot slammed into the mouse's muzzle, whose white fur was already stained red. As Omega Mouse reeled from the kick, the koala slugged him, making him spit blood. Then the goat lowered his horned head and charged, ramming it into the mouse's torso and knocking him to the ground.

"Not so high and mighty now, are you, Mr. Hero?" the koala taunted, kicking Omega Mouse in the side. Keviano joined in, kicking his other side, as the mouse writhed on his back, groaning and gritting his teeth against the pain.

The sound of something crashing through the fence surrounding the camp caused the beating to stop momentarily. "It seems the rest of the Heroes have finally decided to crash our party," Eventide said, "and they probably brought that damned tiger with them, which makes you lot less than useless." She glanced across the crowd of red-eyed faces disdainfully. "While it would be fun to watch you all bounce back and forth between me and him, I really haven't the time for such silly games." She turned to Keviano, the goat, and the koala. "Keep on beating him to death. I'll handle this." She melded into her own shadow, and it went oozing across the ground in the direction of the breach.

As soon as she had left, Cyacit ran over to the three giant-sized nos. "Wait! Stop!" he shouted.

"You know we can't, even if we wanted to," said Keviano, his fist slamming down on Omega Mouse.

"And we don't want to!" the goat said, stomping on the mouse with one cloven hoof.

"We owe him our lives, what's left of them," Cyacit said. "He convinced the authorities to spare us. Without him, we'd have all been destroyed. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

The three giants hesitated for a moment, realization dawning on their faces. Then Keviano ground his teeth and raised his fist again. "I've . . . gotta . . . kill him!"

Cyacit leaped at him, grabbing Keviano's thick arm as it came down and trying to hold it back, but the rabbit's strength was vastly superior, and all Cyacit accomplished was to lessen the blow slightly. The blue jay looked around desperately at the other nos. "Please, if there's any trace of the people you were still inside you, don't let this happen!" Nobody moved, and Cyacit felt grief welling up inside him.

Then, the female weasel nos ran up to Cyacit and seized Keviano's arm as well, adding her strength to the blue jay's. She was quickly joined by several more nos, while others mobbed the goat and the koala. The three giants struggled against the restraining arms of the smaller nos, like herd lizards beset by a swarm of snapper beetles, throwing some of them off only to find them quickly replaced by others. Even so, it was obvious that the smaller nos were fighting a losing battle. Despite their greater numbers, they were no match for the giants' enormous strength, which sent them flying across the camp faster than they could rejoin their companions.

Sparks, forgotten by everyone, watched the melee, peering around the side of a storage shed. While he had no particular fondness for Omega Mouse, he did care about Cyacit. Even after Sparks's murder of a police officer had landed them both here, the blue jay had continued to stick up for him, though all the other nos despised the hedgehog for costing them any chance they might have had at freedom. While he could have added his strength to that of the other nos, he didn't see what meaningful difference it would make. But perhaps he could help in another way. He turned and ran toward his bungalow.

Europa, Slash, Volthawk, Ken-Jo, Digby, Ortrum, and Sidewalk ran toward the compound of the nos internment camp, Slash and Ken-Jo leading the charge. As they passed through the shadow of one of the buildings, it suddenly became as viscous as tar, trapping their feet and freezing them in place. Eventide rose out of it, solidifying before them. "You really need to be more careful where you walk," she said, smiling.

Instantly, Europa fired a psychic blast at her, while Volthawk hurled a bolt of lightning. Eventide deflected the latter with a shield of shadow, and while Europa's mental attack gave her a headache, it didn't incapacitate her. Slash, Ken-Jo, and Ortrum quickly cut themselves free of their shadow bindings and charged at Eventide, Slash and Ortrum attacking with their claws while Ken-Jo cut with his sword. Their attacks hit only empty air, as she sank into her shadow and disappeared, reappearing with Ortrum between herself and the other two. Her glowing green eyes fixed upon the squirrel. "Defend me, Kialo," she said.

Ortrum's fanged mouth grinned savagely at her, eyes burning crimson. "Go to hell, you witch!" As Eventide stared back in astonishment, he lunged, his claws tearing through her costume and into the flesh beneath. Eventide gasped and staggered backward, bleeding from several deep gashes. She raised a gloved hand and fired a bolt of darkness that tore through the squirrel's chest, severing his spine. Ortrum looked down at the gaping hole in surprise. "Wow!" he said. Then he collapsed to the ground, his legs useless.

Slash and Ken-Jo charged at Eventide, but a dome of solid shadow appeared around them, imprisoning them and hiding Eventide from Europa and Volthawk. Meanwhile, Digby had managed to tear himself free from his shadow binding and was helping Europa and Sidewalk free of theirs, while Volthawk vaporized his with a blast of electricity. "Much obliged, Digby," said Europa, smiling at the platypus, who simply grunted and nodded in return.

"This isn't going too well," remarked Sidewalk.

Europa nodded. "You have a talent for understatement, Mr. Shaver." Then her wrist communicator buzzed, along with those of Volthawk, Digby, and Sidewalk, and she glanced down and switched on the receiver. "Hello?"

"Heroes, this is Sparks," came the hedgehog's tinny voice.

Europa blinked. "Sparks? How did you know our frequency?"

"I'm a radio bug, remember?" Sparks replied. "Eventide turned three nos into giants and they're killing Omega Mouse! The other nos are trying to stop them, but they won't for long! You need to get to the compound, fast!"

"Understood," Europa said. Then her mouth fell open as she and the others watched Eventide's form rising above the dome of shadow she'd created over Slash and Ken-Jo, the cat growing until she was twenty feet tall.

"Holy shit!" said Volthawk, glancing at Europa. "We can't leave Slash and Ken-Jo to fight her by themselves!"

Europa nodded, her throat tight. "Omega Mouse would be the first to agree."

"I'll go," said Sidewalk. "I'm the only one who can be spared."

"We'll keep her busy," said Volthawk. "Good luck!" He raised his hands and fired a massive bolt of electricity at Eventide, making her growl in anger.

"Same to you!" said Sidewalk, setting off toward the compound as Eventide's attention was fixed upon the tiny Heroes annoying her.

"I think she's coming around!" came a voice to Firefox's ears from some faraway place. She slowly opened her eyes to see the heads of six cats hovering over her, looking down at her with concern on their feline faces. Then she groaned at the pain radiating from her right arm. She looked over at it and saw that it was in a sling.

"Don't try to move your arm," a yellow female cat ordered her. "The doc says it's broken."

Firefox sighed. "Terrific. And I'm right-handed."

"You're lucky that's all that was broken when you came through the roof," said a Siamese whose shoulder patch showed that he was in the United Provinces Army's medical corps.

Firefox sat up and looked around. "Who's in charge, here?"

The yellow female cat answered. "I'm the CO of this camp. Major Saref Aerethoa."

Firefox nodded. "How long have I been out?"

"Just a couple of minutes," Aerethoa replied.

"I need to contact my team," said Firefox. She looked down at the wrist communicator on her left wrist. It was completely smashed. She sighed again. Then she noticed an orange tabby corporal standing off to one side, watching them. It was the soldier Cyacit had been about to murder before Omega Mouse had stopped him. His mouth was still covered by a black splotch. "You haven't been able to get that thing off of him?" she asked.

Aerethoa shook her head. "We tried pulling it off, but it won't budge. The doc tried to cut through it with a scalpel, but the blade snapped."

"Makes sense," said Firefox. "Eventide was using her shadows to bind Omega Mouse. Anything that could hold him would have to be virtually indestructible." The tabby whimpered at this.

"Major!" said a caracal lynx private who was standing by an open window with a pair of binoculars. "The nos are fighting each other!" Firefox and Aerethoa ran to the window and looked out, the major taking the private's binoculars.

"More precisely, the normal-sized ones are fighting the giants," Aerethoa observed.

"There are three giants now?" asked Firefox. Then she saw Omega Mouse lying on the ground, battered and bloody, still bound by Eventide's shadows. "Oh my god!" she gasped. "Omega Mouse is hurt!"

Aerethoa nodded. "Those giants were beating the hell out of him while you were unconscious. I don't see Eventide, though."

"Then we can attack!" said the caracal private eagerly.

Aerethoa gave him an admonishing look. "The last time we did that, the soldiers all ended up like him!" She pointed at the gagged corporal. "Five of them are still out there, stuck like flies on flypaper."

"But Eventide's gone!" the caracal protested.

"We don't know that," Aerethoa shot back. "She could be hiding in any shadow!"

"Screw it," said Firefox, activating her fiery aura. "I'm going after him!"

"With a broken arm?" asked Aerethoa, raising an eyebrow.

Firefox looked at her. "He'd do the same for me. Maybe I can burn those shadows off him."

Aerethoa shrugged. "You're a civilian. I can't tell you what to do or not do. Good luck."

Firefox flew out the window and shot across the compound. The three giant nos were being swarmed by smaller ones, pulling them off, and hurling them every which way. No one appeared to be paying any attention to Omega Mouse. She flew over to him, landed, and aimed her left arm downward, projecting a bolt of searing flame at the shadows holding him to the ground. Eventide's shadow bindings had never been this tough before. She gritted her teeth as she poured it on, the beam of fire growing white hot. Her lips pulled back in a grin as she saw the shadows holding the mouse beginning to part like taffy.

The vibrations she felt through her feet warned her that something was wrong. She spun around to see the three giant nos charging toward her, fangs gleaming, red eyes blazing. There were no longer any normal-sized nos around to stop them. Firefox swallowed, raising her left arm. She hadn't wanted to harm these creatures, but she no longer had a choice, though her chances of killing all three of them before they killed her looked remote. Of course, she could have flown away, but that would mean leaving Omega Mouse to die, and she couldn't do that, either. The rabbit was the nearest, so she took aim at his huge, white-furred body. "Stay back!" she warned him. The rabbit's expression betrayed his fear, but he kept coming, unable to resist the compulsion driving him.

"Stop!" shouted a deep, baritone voice. "Whatever Eventide told you do, I countermand it!" Firefox and the three giant nos all looked in the voice's direction. There stood Sidewalk Shaver at the edge of the compound, panting hard. The three giants ground to a halt and stood still, and Firefox sighed with relief and lowered her arm.

"Am I glad to see you!" said Firefox, smiling as the tiger walked over to them.

"You can thank Sparks," said Sidewalk, slipping off his jacket and slinging it over his shoulder. "He sent a radio message telling us what was happening here."

The rabbit groaned. "Oh, no! Don't tell me I owe that little creep my life!"

Firefox glanced up at him. "You'd rather be a charcoal briquette?"

"He's never gonna let me forget this!" the rabbit complained.

The goat nodded. "Now we're gonna have to be nice to him!"

"Forever!" the koala added.

Sidewalk smirked at the three nos. "How awful for you."

Firefox turned back to Omega Mouse and finished burning away the strands of shadow holding him while the other nos filtered back from wherever the giants had thrown them. She glanced up when she saw Cyacit among them, and smiled. "Hello, Cyacit. Nice to see you again."

The blue jay nodded, remembering how she'd flirted with him when he'd been a cadet aboard the Delphinia, shortly before he'd died. "Nice to see you, too, Firefox." He crouched down and helped Omega Mouse to his feet. The leader of the Heroes of Zoolok swayed unsteadily, looking punch drunk, one eye swollen shut. "You look like hell, Omega Mouse."

"Not as bad as you did after Ortrum got done with you," commented Firefox.

"Speaking of Ortrum," said Sidewalk, "he and the rest of the Heroes are fighting Eventide. You should probably join them."

"Can I help?" asked Cyacit. "I'd like to repay her for what she tried to make me do."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Omega Mouse slurred around a mouthful of blood. "She'd just turn you against us."

"Not if he's there," said the blue jay, nodding at Sidewalk.

"Which would paint a big target on my back," the tiger said. "No thanks." Then all their attentions were grabbed by the desperate, muffled noises coming from the five cat soldiers off to the side, still bound and gagged by their own shadows.

"What are we going to do about them?" asked Sidewalk.

"I can't burn away their bindings," said Firefox. "The heat I had to use to free Omega Mouse would incinerate them."

"We'll just have to figure out a way to free them later," said Omega Mouse. "Our first priority is Eventide." He glanced at Firefox's broken right arm. "Are you good to fight with that busted wing, Datura?"

She smiled back at him. "It'll take more than this to sideline me, Kesu."

Omega Mouse nodded. "Let's go, then."

They both flew off into the night sky.

"Wow, look at that!" cried Tinc, pointing, as he and Adeni sat together in the cockpit of the Ark. The hawk girl followed the squirrel boy's finger, and her eyes widened as she saw a giant-sized Eventide towering above the roof of a nearby building.

"Good lord!" she gasped.

"The Heroes are gonna need help!" said Tinc.

Adeni looked at the boy. "What can we do? We don't have any powers. We're just a couple of kids!"

"With the most advanced vehicle in the world!" Tinc reminded her, his buck teeth gleaming as he grinned.

Adeni looked down at the controls before her. She'd watched Raoim drive the Ark before. It wasn't that different from driving a normal car. Granted, she'd never actually done that either, but it didn't look too hard. She pressed the button that fired up the vehicle's engine. It was still hot from earlier, so it took only a few seconds for it to build up a full head of steam. Taking a deep breath, she put the Ark in gear and pressed a clawed foot down on the accelerator, and the huge vehicle lurched forward, picking up speed as it rolled toward the giantess in the distance.

Eventide grinned down at Europa, Volthawk, and Digby, while Slash and Ken-Jo remained trapped inside a dome of darkness and Kialo Ortrum lay helpless on the ground, his spine severed. "Gaze upon the new goddess of this world, Heroes!" she boomed. "Your powers are as nothing next to mine!"

"Words have never beaten the Heroes of Zoolok yet, Eventide!" Europa retorted. Inwardly, the panda quickly reviewed everything she knew about Eventide's capabilities. The key thing was that Eventide had no actual powers of her own. Everything she did came from magical artifacts, like the Eye of Destiny and the Amulet of Darkness. Somehow, they had to get those away from her.

"And so I back my words with deeds!" snarled Eventide, firing a bolt of darkness from her hand at Europa. The panda nimbly dodged as the bolt blew a hole in the ground some six feet deep. While the cat's attention was focused on Europa, Digby leaped toward Eventide and socked her in the belly, while Volthawk hurled a lightning bolt at her. Their attacks staggered the would-be goddess, who took an unsteady step backward, looking surprised.

"Did that hurt, Eventide?" Digby sneered up at her. "Good! All those back-alley brawls are finally paying off!"

She glared at the platypus. "Insolent cretin! I send you to join your lover!" She fired a darkness bolt that knocked him back through the wall of a nearby building. Then she was struck by a mental blast from Europa and another lightning bolt from Volthawk. She shrieked and whirled on the pair. "You will both die, then serve me as nos!" She fired a darkness bolt at Volthawk, knocking him back and stunning him, though his armored costume saved him from serious harm.

Inside the dome of darkness, Slash was slicing at the inner surface savagely with his titanium claws but achieving no success. He had cut through Eventide's shadow walls before, but this one was far more resistant than any of the previous ones. The boar grunted with fury as he hacked away at the seemingly impenetrable black barrier. Realizing that there was no other sound inside the dome, he paused. "K-k-ken-Jo?" he asked, unable to see the armadillo in the blackness. There was no reply. He took out his cigarette lighter and flicked it, lighting up the inside of the dome. Ken-Jo was standing nearby, perfectly still, eyes closed. "Y-y-you g-g-gonna h-h-help?" Slash asked, panting.

Ken-Jo gave no indication that he'd heard, and Slash growled in annoyance. Then, the armadillo opened his eyes, walked to the edge of the dome, and crouched, holding his sword with both hands on the pommel, drawn back as far as was possible. With a mighty shout, he thrust the blade at the black wall before him, and the tip plunged through it, causing the entire dome to vanish like smoke. Slash's red eyes stared at him. Ken-Jo was as strong as an armadillo could naturally be, but not nearly as strong as himself. "H-h-how?" the boar asked, astonished.

Ken-Jo shrugged and smiled. "I found a weak spot."

Their attentions were grabbed by the sight of a giant Eventide blasting at Europa, who was dodging desperately. Instantly, Slash and Ken-Jo charged at the giantess, the boar slicing at her right leg while the armadillo hacked at her left. As their attacks drew blood, Eventide howled in pain and immediately sank into the shadow of the building beside them, rising out of it about a hundred feet away. "Damn you!" she cursed, glaring at them. "How dare you cut me?" Then she noticed Omega Mouse and Firefox approaching from the air, and scowled. "Can't those miserable nos do anything right?"

"This is over, Eventide!" shouted Omega Mouse, his voice tinged with pain from a pair of cracked ribs he'd received during his beating. "Give up!"

"This is far from over, Omega Mouse!" Eventide shot back, raising the golden scepter with its glowing green gem, now tiny in her enormous hand. "I have the Eye of Destiny, and destiny cannot be denied!" She pointed a finger at Omega Mouse and Firefox, and they both found themselves englobed in a sphere of darkness.

"Europa," came Digby's gruff voice, causing the panda to turn, startled. The platypus was standing behind her, his clothes hanging from his burly brown body in shreds, destroyed when he was knocked through the wall. "Use your mind control power."

"I have tried that," Europa replied. "It does not work on her."

Digby shook his head. "Not on Eventide—on the Eye! Back in the Contessa's mansion, Eventide said that magic items have limited mentalities that are defined when they're created. If the Eye has a mind, maybe you can control it!"

Europa blinked. The thought of using her mental powers on a magic item had never occurred to her. She turned and focused her mind on the Eye of Destiny. Sure enough, there was a mind there, a very simple mind that cared about only one thing—creating nos. That was its sole reason for existing, and it was feeding Eventide whatever power she needed to accomplish this, bending her mind to its will in the process. Europa concentrated, exerting her will over that of the Eye. It was difficult, as the Eye was fanatically dedicated to its purpose and would brook no interference. She gritted her teeth and concentrated harder, blocking out all other thoughts.

Sensing Europa's tampering, Eventide turned her attention to the panda. "What are you doing?" she demanded. "Get your grubby mental fingers off the Eye! It's mine, do you hear, mine!" She caused Europa's shadow to rise up around her, squeezing her and making her cry out in pain. Slash and Ken-Jo rushed at Eventide, while Digby tried to pull Europa's rogue shadow off her. Ortrum dragged himself over to Europa to help, the squirrel and the platypus both using their great strengths to stop her shadow from crushing her to death.

As Slash and Ken-Jo closed with Eventide, their shadows rose up around their legs, binding them in place. "Don't you fools ever learn?" she taunted as they struggled to free themselves. "I can always stay beyond your reach!" She casually deflected a lightning bolt from Volthawk with her shadow shield. "And you can't hurt me either!"

"Look both ways," said Volthawk, smirking.

Eventide blinked. "What?"

A second later, the Ark slammed into her from behind, knocking her flat on her face. Simultaneously, the shadows holding Europa, Slash, and Ken-Jo and the sphere of darkness around Omega Mouse and Firefox vanished.

Eventide lifted her head groggily to see Omega Mouse, Firefox, Volthawk, Slash, and Ken-Jo standing before her. "Ready to give up now?" asked Omega Mouse.

She shook her head, getting unsteadily to her feet. "No. I still have the Eye. I can still . . ." Her eyes widened as the green glow in the Eye's head faded, along with the glow in her own eyes. "What's happening?"

Europa came walking forward, along with Digby, who had an arm around Ortrum's waist, the squirrel's useless legs dragging along the ground. "I have subdued the Eye's will with my own," the panda replied. "It can no longer do anything unless I wish it."

As she spoke, Eventide began to shrink. In a few seconds, she was normal-sized again. Digby darted in and snatched the Amulet of Darkness from around her neck. "I'll take that, thank you," he said.

Eventide gasped, her mind no longer clouded by the Eye's desires. "Oh no! Oh god, no!" She looked desperately at all the faces before her. "This wasn't supposed to happen! I never wanted to hurt anyone. I was only after knowledge!"

"Some things are better left unknown," said Ken-Jo solemnly.

Eventide hugged herself, trembling, and hung her head.

With a metallic clink, the Ark's door fell open, lowering slowly to form a stairway. Before it had even touched the ground, Tinc was out the door and running toward his father. "Dad!" he cried, seeing the gaping hole in Ortrum's chest. He threw his arms around his father, who gently stroked Tinc's head, smiling at him. Meanwhile, Adeni descended the stairs, ran to Volthawk, and hugged him.

Ortrum tried to speak, but the hole in his chest made it impossible for him to force air through his larynx. "Is he gonna die?" asked Tinc, looking up at the Heroes fearfully.

Europa shook her head. "He cannot die from such injuries. However, nor will he heal." She took the Eye of Destiny from Eventide's loose fingers. "At least, not without this."

"You can fix him, right?" asked Tinc eagerly.

"I do not possess the necessary skill or knowledge," said Europa. Then she nodded at Ortrum. "But he does." She offered the Eye to the squirrel.

Ortrum accepted the scepter, looked down at the hole in his chest, then looked at Tinc. He closed his eyes, mentally reciting an incantation, and the Eye glowed to life again, the glow suffusing his body. As everyone stared in wonder, the hole began to close up. In a matter of seconds, it was gone. The Eye's glow faded, and Ortrum got to his feet as Tinc hugged him.

"Thank you," Ortrum said to Europa.

"There was nothing to be gained by leaving you in such a state," she replied.

"Except to ensure that he never kills again!" growled Ken-Jo, clearly unhappy.

"I don't think that's going to be an issue, Ken-Jo," said Omega Mouse. Then he looked pointedly at Ortrum. "Is it?"

The squirrel shook his head. "No, it won't. In fact, I'd like to try to atone in some small way for what I've done, if you'll let me."

"How?" asked Firefox, suspiciously.

"By bringing back the Contessa."

"We have seen the nos you create!" said Ken-Jo, glaring at him. "Nothing but mindless husks!"

"True, I haven't been too successful in the past," said Ortrum, "but working with Eventide has increased my knowledge. I think I could bring her back to full consciousness. Anyway, there's nothing to be lost by trying."

Omega Mouse looked at Digby. "Your call."

The platypus hesitated, then nodded. "All right."

"Bring her body out here," said Ortrum. While the squirrel inscribed the Elinian symbol for knowledge in the dirt with his finger, Digby went inside the Ark, emerging a moment later carrying the Contessa's limp body in his arms. "Lay her down in this spot," Ortrum ordered. Digby did as instructed, and Ortrum sat down facing the body, holding the Eye with both hands. "Release the Eye, Europa."

"What if it tries to take him over?" asked Volthawk, alarmed.

"Then I shall shut it down," said Europa firmly.

Ortrum closed his eyes and began chanting in Elinian, the ancient sonorous syllables spilling from his lips as the Eye began glowing again. His brow furrowed in concentration as he focused all his will on the task before him, while everyone else watched with varying degrees of fear, excitement, and fascination.

As the squirrel chanted, tendrils of green energy snaked from the Eye and touched the Contessa's body, and it spasmed, red eyes snapping open as her mouth emitted a loud screech. She sat up suddenly, looking at the crowd around her. Her eyes fixed upon Digby.

"Contessa?" the platypus asked, swallowing.

"Hello, Digby," she said, smiling at him.

Digby cried out and ran to her, throwing his arms around the bat's slender body and kissing her, and her long webbed fingers caressed his broad back.

"Welcome back, Contessa," said Omega Mouse, smiling.

"Thank you," she said, getting to her feet. She looked over at Ortrum. "I am guessing I have you to thank for this."

"No offense, Contessa," said Ortrum, rising, "but I didn't do it for you." He looked down at Tinc, who smiled back up at him. Then he cast his gaze about his surroundings. "Well, at least you won't have to bring me here. Convenient."

"If you do enough good things," said Tinc, "like you just did, maybe they'll let you out someday!"

Ortrum smiled and shook his head. "I wouldn't bet on that, son."

"I should say not!" said Ken-Jo, folding his arms.

The Contessa glanced at the armadillo. "Have a care, Ken-Jo. Remember, I was once like him."

Ken-Jo frowned, but remained silent.

At that moment, Sidewalk Shaver, Major Aerethoa, and a group of cat soldiers came around the side of a building. Firefox noted that the orange tabby corporal was among them and that he was no longer gagged. "Everything back to normal, Major?" she asked.

Aerethoa nodded. "The shadows that were holding my men have disappeared, and the three giant nos reverted to normal size."

"Are all the nos accounted for?" asked Omega Mouse.

"All except Sparks. We haven't been able to locate him."

Volthawk rolled his eyes. "Oh, he would get away!"

"I doubt he'll go far," said Omega Mouse. "In the meantime, we have a new inmate for you, Major."

Ortrum handed the Eye to the Contessa and stepped up to Aerethoa. "Hello, Major. I'm Kialo Ortrum."

Aerethoa gazed at the naked squirrel and frowned. "Welcome to the camp, Mr. Ortrum. I'll see about getting you some clothes."

Ortrum just smiled and shook his head.

"All right, Heroes," said Omega Mouse, "let's head out. We have a prisoner to hand over to the police," he added with a glance at Eventide, "and two children to deliver back to their parents."

"Mind if I bum a ride?" Sidewalk asked. "My car is still parked back on Fifth Street—assuming it hasn't been towed by now."

"By all means," said Omega Mouse.

Tinc ran up to his father and hugged him, his big black eyes glistening. "I'll come see you soon, dad, I promise!"

Ortrum nodded and scritched his son's head. "I'm not going anywhere."

As the Heroes and their allies boarded the Ark, Volthawk turned to Adeni, smiling. "So, how did it feel to take part in a real superhero battle?"

Adeni squirmed. "Honestly? I was scared to death." After a moment, she asked, "Do you ever get scared before a fight?"

Volthawk smiled and nodded. "Every time."

Sidewalk glanced at him. "By the way, next time your team needs a detective, please ask someone else."

"But who could ever take your place?" Volthawk asked, in mock dismay.

Sidewalk chuckled. "I'm sure you can find someone who's up to the task."

The freight train clattered through the night along a pair of iron rails that stretched off to infinity, a mile-long caravan ferrying from city to city the goods that kept society running, along with a few other things. A small, stocky figure sprang from the embankment and through the open door in the side of a boxcar. It paused and looked around, assessing its surroundings. It was not alone.

"Hey, where'd you come from?" asked a bull sitting with his back against one wall, roused to wakefulness by the newcomer's arrival. The bull was dressed in dirty, ragged clothes, an empty bottle of whiskey lying on the floor beside him.

"Oh, I just hopped aboard," said Sparks, casually. "You don't mind sharing your car, do you? There's plenty of room in here."

"That depends," the bull said, getting to his cloven-hooved feet. He was more than twice the hedgehog's height. "You got any money on you?"

Sparks shrugged. "Afraid not."

The bull growled, tail swishing. "Nobody rides in Big Usk's car without paying the fare."

"I wasn't aware you owned this boxcar," Sparks said innocently. "I thought it belonged to the United Transport Company. You wouldn't by any chance be their president, would you?"

Big Usk glared down at the little hedgehog. "Wise guy, huh? Listen, twerp. You wanna ride in my car, you pay the fare. Otherwise," he jerked his thumb at the open door, "out you go!"

Sparks smiled up at him, and his eyes began to glow red. "Give it your best shot."