Chapter 5

Sarah was alone in the lab, tidying things up. Billy was certainly a genius but neat and tidy were definitely not his specialties. She knew James would be coming over, and she kind of figured Billy wouldn’t last long on a romantic date. She heard someone knock on the door, almost as if he were afraid of entering. “It’s okay James, you can come on in. Billy isn’t here at the moment.”

James walked in, looking around to make sure Bill was indeed absent. “How do you stand being in this lab at night? It’s so creepy.”

“Well it helps that I know what everything does and where all the machines are. Don’t worry, everything’s going to be fine. Just sit down and relax for a little while, he should be back soon. I promise you won’t get hurt, he said this was the only time he was available. And he said you could spend the night if you wanted.”

Johnny peeked out of his hiding place. Nothing much had changed since he last came to the lab. “Sarah, can you and Anna tell him to actually put more lights down here? James is right, all those shadows are creepy. He can afford all those experiments but he can’t afford a lamp?”

“Oh, hi Johnny. I’ll see what I can do. Has to be something around here somewhere. Maybe upstairs.”

Blake’ arm was starting to feel worse as the brace kept sparking. Protector flew him as fast as he could up to Billy’s place, which didn’t sit too well with the mirus dragon. All he ever heard was about how crazy the scientist in that building was. If he didn’t trust the metallic dragon so much Blake probably would have just tried to rip the thing off himself. He was set down just in front of the lab door. “Go in, tell them what’s wrong. Your arm will work again soon.”

“Wait, where are you going? I thought you were going to take me in, make sure someone was awake to help.”

“I won’t be far. Go, there’s nothing to fear.”

Protector took off and flew out of sight behind the building. Blake had no clue he actually flew in one of the second story windows looking for Sarah. He knocked, pushed the door open a bit, and stepped inside. “Hello? Anyone there?”

Blake heard a sort of growl and cautiously stepped in a little further. Protector said it was alright, he had to trust him. “PLAYER! NO! DOWN BOY!”

It was actually a kind of soft voice, but it was clearly shouting. Blake suddenly felt his head hit the floor as a very bulky, very… odd common dragon tackled him and sat on his chest, growling and baring his teeth. He completely forgot about the burning feeling on his arm and instantly focused instead on the crushing weight on his chest. “Ow. Someone, get this guy off me. Please. Can’t… breathe…”

“BAD PLAYER! NO! OFF! HEEL!”

Blake didn’t know how hard he hit his head on the floor, but it must have been pretty bad. He actually thought he saw a tiny anthro flying around the odd dragon’s head, trying to tell him to get off. That was impossible right? Then again, he always heard stories that this lab was filled with crazy stuff. He already had an anthro that thought it was an animal crushing his chest, why not a tiny one too? Lucky for Blake Sarah heard the noise and rushed down.

“James, get off him! Come on you, back off. Sorry sir, he uh… well… there’s no real easy way to explain why he does that. Come on James, sit on the couch.”

Blake finally managed to take a deep breath as the… what he could only assume to be insane common dragon named James got off him and sat on a nearby couch. It was odd, he was making an almost whining sound. Like he was some kind of pet. Now that he could breathe Blake remembered the rather hot arm brace. “Maybe you can help me. See, this thing on my arm, it’s kind of malfunctioning. And it’s getting pretty hot. Actually, it’s been burning me for a few minutes now. Protector told me someone here could help fix it.”

“I can do that. Go sit on the couch while I get some tools. At least I can take it off you so you’re not being burned.”

Blake blinked and stared up at the woman. Was she crazy? “You mean… sit and wait over there. With him. With the one that just about crushed me? When for all I know he’ll bite me the moment I get close?”

“Oh don’t worry. He doesn’t bite. Well, unless you try to put a collar on him. I need you sitting in the light, it’s best over there. You’re in a police outfit and you face thugs every day. And now you’re telling me you’re afraid of James?”

When she put it that way Blake kind of figured he had to go sit on the couch. Of course he didn’t sit right beside the odd common dragon, he was on the opposite end just to stay out of reach. Johnny was trying to stay out of sight for the moment. The officer probably already saw him, he couldn’t risk it again. James must be feeling pretty bad though.

Blake looked over to Player. He definitely looked sad, upset about something. And he had a good idea why. Blake moved a little closer. “Hey, it’s okay. No harm done. Guess I should have knocked more and waited for someone to answer the door. Anyway, I’m Blake.”

Player turned to look at this stranger. He leaned a little closer. Suddenly Blake found himself being licked by a very friendly and suddenly happy James. To him it was totally disturbing, being licked by some anthro he didn’t know at all. For James at the moment it was a perfectly normal way to say everything was okay and he liked this stranger. Johnny couldn’t help laughing at the sight.

“It’s not funny. Where are you anyway? I only see the big guy here.”

Fortunately Johnny was saved as Sarah came back with her tools. Another close one. Twice the cop almost found out about him. At least his attention was finally being distracted. “So Protector dropped you off here huh? Well, Billy does good work. I’ll get this thing off you, stop it from sparking, and he’ll be able to fix it up like new. Of course depending on when he gets back you might want to stay the night.”

Stay the night? With an anthro that thought he was an animal, and a voice he couldn’t seem to find the owner of? Not to mention possibly seeing an anthro smaller than anything he’d seen before. Maybe that voice belonged to the tiny anthro. “Thanks. I’ll stay out of your way until I can go. Wouldn’t want to bother anything or anyone. Uh, why does he act like an animal?”

“It’s a medical problem. Billy’s been trying to help him with it. He’s actually here for a few tests to see if there’s any real improvement I think. When he snaps out of it he normally won’t remember anything. Hold still, I’ve almost got this thing fixed. Must be pretty bad burns by now under it.”

Blake wasn’t going to admit just how much his arm was hurting. He wasn’t even looking at what Sarah was doing to fix it. All he wanted was the burning to stop, and maybe a few explanations around here. There was a clicking sound, followed by metal clanging on the ground. His brace was off, but Blake didn’t want to see the burns. “Thanks. Can you just wrap it or something? I’d rather not see how much damage was done. I’ll let my doctor worry about that tomorrow morning. And… can you tell your friend here to stop licking me?”

Sarah called out to him as she went off to get something for his arm. “Just throw a ball or something. He’ll play fetch.”

It sounded like a stupid idea, but then again this guy was acting like an animal. It was worth a try. The only thing he saw nearby was a weird… he didn’t know what it was actually but it looked like a helmet. And his arm brace lying on the floor. Well, it was already broken, why not? Trying hard not to move his burned arm Blake leaned down and picked up the still rather hot brace. “Go get it boy.”

Player just stared at him as he threw it across the room. “Who are you? Did I… did I go animal again?” Player saw the slobber on Blake’s face. “Guess so, he he. Um… should I go get that for you anyway?”

Blake’s turn to stare. He just changed so suddenly from a drooling slobbering pet into a mostly normal anthro. “If you wouldn’t mind. I… I think I’m gonna lay down for a bit.”

Blake couldn’t take it any more. This place was so strange. Sarah was the only normal person around. He just lay down on the couch when Player stood up and closed his eyes, passing out. Player looked over to his shoulder where Johnny had come back down to rest. “Was it something I said?” Johnny just shrugged.