Part a of the story by BHS and Napalm

   Napalm shuffles through the various papers and print-outs, occasionally glancing at the sleeping dog, checking him now and again. After what seems most of the day, but only is the first chunk of the morning, Blue moans and wakes up.
   Blue blinking and rubbing his eyes asks, "What time is it?"
   Napalm notices that the sun has started to peak in the window. Turning back to the stretching dog, he replies, "Dawn..." Napalm appears to be particularly interested in the paper he is looking at and seems to be reading at an abnormally fast rate. Blue blinks again. Napalm suddenly stops, his eyes fixed straight ahead, they begin to glow, and the paper slowly slips from his grasp.
   "Nap? Hello, I'm awake here" The dog starts to get out of the bed to head over to the wolf, walking slowly. The wolf continues to stare straight ahead, not noticing the paper that he dropped or the dog calling to him, his eyes glowing even more brightly. The dog makes it to the wolfs bed, and grabs his shoulder, more for support at the moment. "Napalm, what's wrong?" He realizes the wolf isn't responding and picks up the paper he dropped. Napalm mutters out a word, softly so that the dog isn't sure he heard anything, but filled with hatred. "WHAT, tell me wolf." Blue reads the paper, raising his eyebrows as he reads it. "Is this true?" Napalm stands
slowly, still not entirely aware of the dog's presence again. The dog stops the wolf, looking right in the eyes.
   The wolf speaks, but more to himself than anyone around him. "...Morlong.....it has been eons since I've heard that name.....We thought he was surely destroyed...how he could have survived all these years..." He shakes his head slowly, covering it with his paws. He breaks out of it and seems more himself.
   "Is this true, this connection between the Awardings and someone
named Morlong?"
   Napalm takes the paper back and re-reads it, only taking him a few seconds. "It would seem so....I wish it were not..but I fear it is...."
"Who is Morlong." Napalm sits back down on his bed. The dog sits beside the wolf. "What is up, talk to me, friend."
   "You remember that ancient enemy I mentioned to you a few nights
back....the one we thought to be surely destroyed..the only one who ever posed a serious threat to our kind?"
   "Yes" The dog tries to remember all the talks the last couple of days as his head is still pounding.
   "That (mild emphasis) would be Morlong....."
   "I thought you said he was dead." Blue reviews the paper.
   "This says there was contact with the Awardings."
   "It would appear I was mistaken.."
   "This isn't good news"
   "It is not." The wolf suddenly stands up. "Well, we can't do much at present, we have other business." Blue slowly stands as the wolf looks over at him. "Are you fit to travel?"
   "Yea, I need breakfast first, find anything else in this pile?" the dog rubs his stomach as the wolf nods.
   "Ok, but have it brought here."
   Blue picks up the phone, orders some food. "Do you want anything?" Napalm shakes his head. The dog asks it to be sent to the room. "Okay breakfast is on it's way." Blue looks at the papers. "Did you find anything else interesting?" Napalm keeps looking over the papers, noding and hmming as he goes. The dog hears footsteps and is at the door just as the bellboy knocks, takes the food and some letters and sits back on a bed. The wolf places down the last of the pages he was reading and looks at the dog.
   "Ok, this is the condensed version." the wolf says as he hands some personal letters to Blue. The dog looks through the letters as he listens to Napalm. "The Awardings were somehow approached by Morlong several decades ago. Morlong knew of your families hidden talents and wanted to use them against us."
   "Oh? How?"
   "Through the Awardings science and some magics supplied by Morlong and his followers, they experimented with your father and Richgast, but they never quite got the results they wanted." Blue growls slightly. "Richgast was only there for the control and super strength experiments, and expendable test subject. Your father, however, passed on the essential traits to you that allowed them to release your buried abilities, as well as giving you a terrible bloodlust."
   "How can people use people like that?"
   "Morlong is not a person....he's a monster"
   "I guess so."
   "Anyhow, that leads us up to now. What exactly the Awardings gained is rather sketchy, but it could have something to do with his true form..and the magic that hid it."
   "Hmmm."
   "Anyhow, that's all I can gather or infer from those papers. Are you about ready, we have a friend to meet." Napalm smiles for the first time today.
   Blue finishes the food. "Yea, and my brother is doing well. Cherok made it back safely."
   "Good, good...."
   "Okay, so how do we get there?"
   Napalm smiles, "well.....It's not gonna be easy...."
   "What HAS been?" The dog stands a little quicker. "I'm feeling better."
   "Ok, then out back and we can get underway."
   "Okay." Blue follows the wolf. Napalm stops in the alleyway, looks both directions then grabs the dog and takes off veritcally until they are well out of sight. He positions the dog on his back and transforms once again into the phoenix he is, the dog resting comfortably on his warm (but not TOO warm) back.
   "Hold on tight" Blue holds on tight. Napalm takes off in a direction with surprising speed, making a red blur across the sky, trying to position his head to take the brunt of the wind, as to not dislodge his rider. He slows and begins to decend after a short while. "Ok, we're here...kinda." Napalm decends through the clouds over a large mountain range.
   Blue looks around. "Oh?"
   Napalm swopes down toward the ground at a dizzing speed, looking for all the world like he's going to crash into a mountain, then banking at the last second, pulling a hard turn into a hidden cave entrance that just accomodates his wingspan. He lands and lets the dog off. The dog looks at where he is as Napalm walks past the dog, now in his wolf form, spreading a soft red glow across the cavern. Blue follows the wolf, watching. The wolf walks down a smaller passageway at the end, just large enough that they can walk single file through it. They continue to walk over the uneven, and obvioulsy seldom used passage, stepping over rocks and ducking under low passes as he goes. The dog wonders if this is natural or handmade and nearly hits his head on a rock, not looking where he's going. They finally reaches the end after about an hour of walking and stops in large, domed and well lit cavern with a fair sized, but rather primitive looking dwelling in the center of it.
   "Hmmm, looks interesting. What's in there?" Blue points.
   "You'll see" Napalm smiles and wolf toward what appears to be the back of the house, and opens the door. Inside there is a surprisingly high tech laboratory. At a far table there is an owl, shorter than either the dog or wolf, but having feathers of exactly the same flame color as the wolfs fur. He pushes his glasses back as he carefully poors on beaker into another. "Hello Devion!!!!!"
   Napalm grins broadly until the owl looks up with a surprised chirp, dropping both beakers onto the floor. Recognizing that look of surprise and shock from years of experience, he dives for cover, yelling "Look out!!!!!!!" Blue looks at napalm, then dives behind something. They hit the ground and looks back in time to see the house shaken by a deafening explosion, fire shoots from all the rear first floor windows and the owl flies through another one. Napalm stands and takes a few steps left, catching the owl on his way down.
   The owl expells a breath laden with smoke and coughs a bit. "Why hello there Napalm, its been a long time."
   Napalm sets the owls down and gives him a friendly hug. "How have you been? I can see you are as clumsy as ever."
   "Good, good. So what brings you by?"
   The wolf indicates the dog, "This is my friend, Blue." The dog nods to the owl as Napalm introduces him. "He needs your help."
   The owl extends a singed wing and shakes the dogs paw. Blue shakes
back.
   "What exactly can I do for you?" the owl asks, not noticing the wolf brushing the black off.
   "Well, I have this problem." Blue starts, watching the wolf brush off the owl. "I have been altered genetically to now have a bloodlust that I don't want." Napalm chuckles and then moves to the side of his two friends.
   "Ohhh..genetic bloodlust you say....thats a neat trick...I never did quite master that one. I made a nice banana daquiri though, did Napalm ever tell you about that?"
   The dog rolls his eyes. "I really would like to get rid of the bloodlust, but leave the rest of my inhearted genetics alone.
   "What other genetic traits do you have?"
   "Well, true to my name, I can toss mini-suns, start fires, dazzle with colours, and resist heat. I've also found out my line has been inhanced to be stong and agile."
   "Ohhh..start fires? Wow, I'd like to see that"
   "Uh.. haven't we had enough fire for one day?" as the dog looks at the smoldering dwelling beside him.
   Napalm whispers something to Devion. Devion widens his eyes.
   "Oh yeah! I can, can't I." He looks to where the dog is looking. "What? Oh that little thing. Nothing major. Happends every day or so."
   "Oh great." Blue mutters out. "So can you help me."
   "With what?" Devion asks blinking and adjusting his glasses. Napalm whispers something to him again. "Oh yeah!" The dog lets out a sigh. Devion brightens up. "Sure I can, just let me go into my lab...follow me." Blue glances at Napalm as the wolf grins and shrugs, following the owl back into his house. The dog follows the two in.
   The dog whispers to the wolf, "Nice friend you have there...how often does he blow things up?" The owl walks ackwardly through the destroyed room, taking little notice of the destruction, going into a front room and going down a set of stairs.
   Napalm whispers back, "Only about 3 or 4 times a week" Blue shakes his head. The owl pushes a button at the bottom of the stairs, causing a pannel to slide open, revealing a laboratory more emense and elaborate than any most mortals have seen.
   Blue gasps out, "Kewl!"
   Napalm nods. "It's nice, I'm glad he doesn't blow this one up too often." The dog looks at the wolf at the word `often'. The owl grabs a tool form a table near the back and approaches the dog, grabbing his paw.
   "Hey, what's that" Blue demands.
   Devion looks up, almost as though he were surprised you said anything. "Oh? This?" he says, holding up the tool. "Its a DNA sampler, I'll need a sample to study."
   "Okay, I like to be told what's happening, I've kinda had a bad experience with people just poking me." The owl nods and continues, obviously not really paying a great deal of attention. He takes the sample and goes back to a bench, working feverishly.
   "We might as well make ourselves comfortable, he could be a while." the wolf says with an old familiarity. The dog follows the owl, watching all he's doing. The owl turns and runs directly into the dog, knocking off his glasses in the process. The dog grunts out as Napalm steps up and places the glasses back on the owls face.
   Blue dusts the owl off, "Sorry."
   "We're just as well staying out of his way." Napalm says to the dog, "I know you don't trust easily, but I give my word he will do everything in his power to help you." The owl goes on hurriedly as if nothing had happened. Blue looks at Napalm as he looks back.
   "If you trust him, then okay, but I still don't like just letting someone do stuff without me knowing."
   "I know, but you wouldn't understand half of it anyway, goodness knows I don't and I've known him most of my life." Blue sighs, watching the owl work as he stands by the wolf. "Come on, there are refreshments upstairs..or there should be." The dog follows the wolf. Napalm goes up the the top floor and opens a small refrigerator, tossing the dog a canned soft drink and opening one for himself. The dog opens it and drinks it slowly, pacing the floor. "We are for a little bit of a wait most likely..you can't rush genius they say." Blue looks at the wolf, then keeps pacing.
Napalm sits in a dusty, but comfortable chair, thinking to himself.
   "Wait a second...Do you remember WHY we were talking about Morlong the other day?"
   "Not at the moment." Blue replys as he paces.
   "Angel....the missing phoenix..."
   "OH, yea, now I remember"
   "The whole disarray that caused her disappearance reminded me of him... He must have had something to do with it..but what?"
   "I don't know...because you thought he was dead." Blue looks at Napalm. "Now of course, we know that he was in league with the Awardings, but what could a mortal give to someone like that?"
   Napalm tries to think very hard. "The Awardings obviously had technology and connections that Morlong needed....but how Morlong has even survived is...wait...oh NO!"
   "What?!" Blue stops and looks with concern at Napalm.
   "The reason we made a final and descisive assualt on Morlongs fortress all those years ago....we had to stop him before he made on final discovery."
   "What discovery?"
   "The secret to stealing life force." Napalm swallows hard.
   "OH?" Blue looks at the wolf, closing the distance.
   "That's how he's still alive, he's beens sapping life from those around him."
   The dog gasps in horror. "Can he do that?"
"He must be...how else could he have survive for...milenia past his time?"
   "I don't know. I'm not the expert on this matter."
   "Then I'll assume thats what he has been able to do...we'll have to consult the Eldest Phoenix about this though, Morlong IS his specialty."
   "Okay, I'll help you, you know that. Because I don't like that guy, if he helped the Awardings at all."
   Napalm nods, "Your support means alot...I'm not sure how much of a difference it will make but..all the phoenix's failed to kill him once, we are gonna need to do it right this time."
   "Oh yea." the dog responds. Napalm looks at the dog and smiles warmly. Its been seldom enough he'd had a friend like this and now he could really use one. He starts to lean back into a more comfortable position when his thoughts are disturbed by yet another explosion rocking the house. Blue tosses his drink up as the explosion hits, spilling soda all over.
   "What was that." Blue asks as he starts to clean the soda out of his fur. Napalm gets up and starts to head leisurely to the basement lab, to see if Devion needed any help but stops short.
   "Hmm....well, considering who's home we're in I'd think it was Dev...but that one seemed..different."
    "This could get old fast." The dog slurps more soda out. Napalm nods and starts to head down the steps when a voice applified many times resonates through the cavern and house.
   "Devion," the voice started, "I bear a greeting from the high mighty Lord Morlong. He kindly invites you to....die." The voice is followed by hollow and wicked laughter.
   "Not like he could talk quieter, huh." Blue asks Napalm. Napalm rushes back from the stairs and looks our the window to find the source of the unearthly voice. Blue rushes after..looking out into the cavern.
   "Then we might not have heard hi..." the wolf replies as he looks out the window}..it." Napalm stares with shear hatred at a cloaked form standing near the small passage that they had come from just moments ago, his eyes taking on their natural red glow. Blue looks at Napalm to ask him a questin, then halts as he sees the look in his eyes. He looks back at the cloaked form trying to see who it is. Napalm seems about to act when the main door opens and Devion steps out, in his dirty lab coat and smudged glasses. Blue looks down at Devion.
   Devion pads over to the figure. "Hello, can I help you?" The figure does not move at all, then the cloak's hood shifts and a bleached white skull can be seen by Devion.
   "Yes," the figure says in it's loud unearthly voice, "you can." The figure makes a motion with its bony hands with surprising speed and an incredible light flies from his fingers, striking Devion and sending him flying across the cavern. Devion acts surprised as the figure knocks him across the room, grunting as he hits the floor and rolls once. He then stands up slowly. Napalm makes a terrible noise of shear hate and flies full force through the glass, ignoring the various cuts he recieves from it. Blue turns away from the flying shards of glass, and runs down the stairs to the main doors.
Devion tries to take a step forward, but falls back on his rump. The figure seems surprised by the presence of the red wolf and senses the immense power that tells him this is no ordinary wolf, but an ancient being. However this knowledge doesn't help him avoid the wolf as he slams into him. Blue runs out the main doors and heads towards the figure and Napalm. Napalm slams the dread mage and himself into the cavern wall, with a sickening crunch of breaking bone. Devion starts searching around for his glasses. The dread mage pushes the wolf back with unnatural force and seems about to cast something, but its left arm lies broken on the ground and it seems unable to make the neccesary motions for the spell. Blue
concentrates on the dread mage, putting up circling colours to distract him. Devion finds his glasses and starts to head over to the group, rubbing his rump. Napalm halts his filght through the air and hovers there, smiling as he sees the mages inability to cast.
   "Devion, Code 5!!!!!" Napalm yells out as Devion nods and prepares. Napalm see's the nod and they both proceed to place both paws and wings in front of them. A large red glow appears before each of them and then simultaniously they start to fire red balls of glowing energy at the dread mage, which can do nothing but start back with its empty eyes. Blue dives totally clear of the area. As the first pair of energy spheres impact the dread mage shatters, the chamber shaken again and again by the continuous bursts of energy.
   "Uh..guys..he's gone." Blue mentions as he sees the figure shatter. Napalm and Devion both stop at an obviously preplanned interval and each fall to the ground, though the wolf falls a bit farther....
   "Ufff!" the wolf grunts as he hits the ground. Blue runs over to see to the wolf. Devion lands on the ground, his glasses bounce off again.
   "Napalm, are you okay?" the dog asks with concern. Napalm looks up just long enough to see the very large crater made by their efforts and the remains, or lack of them, of the dread mage. Napalm manages a weak acknowedgment. The dog picks up the wolf and carries him into a chair. The wolf smiles weakly to thank his friend, resting comfortably to regain his strength.
   "See to Dev will you?" the wolf weakly motions. The dog runs out to divion to see how he is. Devion makes some owlish sounds as he tries to find his glasses....
   "Devion, are you okay?"
   "My glasses, where are my glasses?" Devion is on the ground searching. Blue picks up the glasses and hands them to the owl.
   "What...oh, thanks." The dog then helps the owl inside. Napalm is standing unsteadily in the doorway to the kitchen as the two enter, he makes slow but increasingly steady progress too the refrigerator.
   "Okay, now what or who was that?" Blue puts the owl in a chair. Napalm takes out two cans from the very back marked with a very large X on them and tosses one toward Blue.
   "Thats for Dev." Napalm pops the top on his and, taking a deep breath in preperation, downs the entire thing. "It will help him recharge." The dog pops the top and hands it to the owl. Devion drinks it down. The wolf walks back into the main living room, his eyes as wide as they possibly can be and his actions very nervous and agitated. "Anyhow, as to your question, that was what we've come to call a dread mage. It's a re-animated corpse of a former servant of Morlong's, probably one that either displeased him or simpy died when the tower was destroyed."
    "Oh. Guess he's a dead dread mage now." Napalm laughs in a slightly higher pitch than normal, as does the owl, obviously both under the effects of whatever was in the cans. The dog sniffs the remains in the can.
   "Hehe, I forgot how concentrated this stuff was." Napalm slowly starts to come down to a more normal state. "A power blast like that will really drain you."
   "That was...intense. What was it that you did?"
   "It's a blast of raw energy or something similar."
   "Oh, it seemed to work."
   "It's basically what allows us to create and explosive fire ball, but we don't add the flame to it. No need with an undead creatures as him."
   "Guess not."
   "Of course, as I believe you noted...we kinda over did it. I think a Code 3 would have been enough..but I didnt want to take chances."
   "Yes," Devion adds, "the code 3 would be a little better. I haven't seen one of those for a while.
   "Yeah, we havn't code 5'ed for a while."
   "Well, I haven't used that much energy for something in a long while."
   "I would imagine not, oh, and in case you were wondering, yes, we do have reason to believe Morlong IS in fact alive."
   "OH, really, this is not good news."
   "You could say that again...but don't. We will have to go to see the eldest phoenix after you find that cure."
   "Oh, yea, the cure."
   Blue pads over to the owl. "You found the cure?!" The dog looks hopeful.
   "Well, yes, of course I did. Now we just need to get the necessary ingredients and you'll be as good as new."
   "I just want the bloodlust gone."
   "Yes, and that's all you will lose. I AM a proffessional after all."
   "I beleive you."
   Napalm looks over and comments, "Now, we just have to heat you up to about 6056 degress, Kelvin."
   "Oh." The dog looks at the wolf drolly. Napalm shrugs.
   "Oh...." Devion blinks, "we cant really do that can we...."
   Blue returns looking at the true proffessional, "Anyway, the cure, sir."
   "That WAS the cure, or part of it rather. The antidote will only work in a plasma state, that means its gotta be VERY hot. But I..uh...forgot to consider your..mortality into this..you really can't survive temperatures like that..."
   "Don't worry bout me, doc...just show me the cure."
   "But...you'll die....I mean...what kinda cure...."
   "Dont worry Dev," Napalm says with a smile, "he's not exactly a normal mortal."
   "I said," the dog states with more force. "don't worry about me, doc." Napalm winks at his ancient friend and pushes him gently toward the lab's basement stairway. Devion goes toward the far corner and opens a very large door. Blue follows.
   "Well, if you're ready, hop in." Devion motions.
   Blue hops in. "I'm ready and willing." Devion takes a large needle from a side table and fills it with a mixture of drugs. Devion gives some instructions to Napalm to for the oven settings before climbing into the small room as well and closeing the door. Napalm waves at the two from the small round window as he secures the door latch. The dog sits and waits. The wolf sets the oven properly and the chamber starts to rapiddly heat up. The owl looks at the dog skeptically, fully expecting for him to suddenly burst
into flame. The dog looks back at the owl with a smug smirk. Devion becomes self-conscious and glances down at a small temperature gauge.
   "Ok, its about time...I have to give you this in..well..uh.." the owl cocks his head towards the dogs rump, "..there.
   "Uh, okay." Blue moves around. The owl coos and hoots softly as he is rather uncomfortable, but the shot is done with precision and skill and is over fairly soon.
   "Ok, now that thats over with you jus sit here and bake for a while till thats done working."
   "Okay, tell me when I'm done." Blue grins. The owl takes takes out a small deck of cards, obviously made of some very heat resistant material.
   "Play rummy?" the owl asks with a wink.
   "Hmm, rummy .... " The dog acts the con man. "Never heard of it."