Present Day
Tibet: The Tiger Shrine

     A cool wind blew softly through the blades of grass surrounding the Tiger Shrine.  It was a beautiful day; the sun shone brightly overhead, and birds chirped happily.  With all of the monks away on a retreat in the forest, the Shrine was at total peace.  Unfortunately, it wouldn’t last.
     A man walked briskly up to the double doors of the Shrine.  His physical features were completely covered by the long brown hooded robe and cloak he wore.  With each step he seemed to be striking the ground.  Finally, he reached the double door entrance to the Shrine; he raised his covered arm up, threw open the doors, and burst inside.
     Upon entering, the man stopped to look around.  The inside of the ground floor of the Shrine was done in marble.  There was basically nothing to the floor for the first seventy-five yards.  The side walls were tastefully fashioned to be pillar shaped, almost Greek or Roman in design.  Nothing but space was in between the pillars.  A fine, silk red carpet extended from the door up to the seventy five-yard point on the floor.  For the last twenty-five yards of the floor, there were short sets of steps leading up a few feet to a raised area.  On the back wall, there was a large sculpture of a tiger's head, also golden.  This tiger seemed to be emerging from the back wall, with only his head and front paws having penetrated through.  His mouth was wide open, in what would be a fierce yell.  His eyes were circular rubies, which brilliantly captured the sunlight that filtered in through the pillars.
     The man focused on seven neatly arranged platforms positioned in front of the back wall. They were holographic image emitters; each one projected an image of one of the warriors who had died during the course of the Killer Instinct 8 tournament.  The man directed his attention to one in particular; that of Fulgore-X.  He walked directly up to it and stopped.  He examined the image for a moment, then bent down and picked up an object that was resting on the emitter.  He brought it up close to his hidden face; it was a Killer Instinct insignia pin.  After examining it for a few moments, the man spoke.
     “He lives.”
     Failing to restore the pin, the man turned around and quickly left the Tiger Shrine.

Ultratech Brazil

     Jeremiah sat comfortably in the chair positioned in front of the main computer terminal.  The large video screen barely displayed a map of the interior of Ultratech Brazil.  There were a lot of little red dots scattered about the structure; they were heat signatures of every living thing within the building.  Jeremiah had been keeping track of two in particular.  He believed them to be the heat signatures of Fulgore-X and his human friend.  If his assumption was correct, then there was good news; the two signatures had parted ways.
     “Excellent.”  Jeremiah said to himself.  “This will make it easier to eliminate them both.  Then, I can proceed with my master plan.”
     It was a simple plan.  Jeremiah didn’t want anything unreasonable at all.  All he wanted was for him and his fellow rejects to be normal human beings again.  To accomplish that, the facilities and resources of the New York Ultratech would be needed.  There was a cargo plane stashed in a secret hangar within the Brazilian Rainforest.  Jeremiah would use this to transport himself and a few of his best warrior rejects, including Riptor, back to America.  From there, he could drive a supply truck straight into Ultratech.
     If the Ultratech Brazil crew was any indication, Jeremiah and his followers would be able to slaughter the New York crew and takeover Ultratech within a matter of hours.  Perhaps not even that long, as the information Riptor possessed would probably be an invaluable asset.  Next, Jeremiah would use the Ultratech teleporters to bring the rest of the rejects to New York.
     The whole plan hinged on the theory that what could be done could be undone.  Ultratech medical science had transformed ordinary human beings into a motley crew of freaks and mutants.  Surely the whole process could be reversed.  Isolating the remaining human DNA and obliterating the rest should do it.  Or perhaps by continuing to cross human DNA with their current pool, the life form could be brought back to around 98% of being human again.  If all else failed, reconstructive surgery could at least make the exterior look human.  Jeremiah didn’t know exactly how, but he was sure that there was a way.  Once they had been reverted back into humans (or at least the closest thing), Jeremiah would simply release them, to slip back into society and resume normal lives.  Some of the rejects even had families they could go to.
     Jeremiah understood that there would be some that could not be helped.  That there was no procedure in existence that could turn them back into humans.  For these unfortunate souls, Jeremiah would simply release them into the general population.  They would eventually be killed, of course, but before that happened, they would be able to extract some small measure of revenge by killing as many innocents as possible.  That would teach Ultratech to think twice before using souls as pawns in their own twisted game.
     Jeremiah’s thoughts were rudely interrupted by the sound of the door opening behind him.  He didn’t bother to turn around; he already knew who it was.
     “Hmm.  Welcome to my humble abode.....Fulgore-X.”  Jeremiah spun around to face the cyborg.  He was grinning.  “I’d ask what brings you here, but I think I already know.”
     “I’m sick of your little game,” Fulgore-X said, “and I don’t intend to play it anymore.  I’m here to finish things.”
     Jeremiah stood.  “Well, I’m not surprised.  I had hoped that you would be a good sport and play along, but I can’t say that I’m disappointed.”
     Fulgore-X advanced into the room.  “He’s standing where I need to be.”  he thought, looking at the main computer terminal.  “No matter what, I can’t let that terminal be destroyed in the fight.”  He remembered his main objective; to configure and activate the inverted plasma shield that would protect South America when Ultratech Brazil exploded.  He assumed a basic fighting stance.
     “Well, you wanted me, so here I am.  Now I’ll show you exactly why you are a reject.”
     Jeremiah laughed.  “I hope you can back up those big words of yours.”  He raised his right arm, pointing the raised opening on his forearm at Fulgore-X.  “You know, there are some advantages to being half organic.  This, for instance.”  From the outlet, a thick set of tentacles shot out at Fulgore-X.  They were too fast to dodge; they wrapped themselves around Fulgore-X’s arms, legs, and waist.  Jeremiah sent a plasma energy pulse through the tentacles, causing Fulgore-X a great deal of pain.  The cyborg struggled, but the tentacles had a tight grip on him.
     “Can’t go backwards,”  Fulgore-X thought, “only one other option!”  He grabbed the tentacles that had attached themselves to his wrists, turned sharply to his right, and used them to fling Jeremiah into the computer terminals off to the side.  Fulgore-X advanced on him quickly, pummeling him with a series of punches.  After a brutal unleashing, the cyborg jumped backwards, and shot a barrage of plasma storm shots into Jeremiah.  He stopped after there was too much smoke rising from the terminals to see.
     “It couldn’t have been.....that easy.....”  Fulgore-X thought.  To confirm his suspicions, when the smoke cleared, it was revealed that Jeremiah had shielded himself by forming a barrier out of his tentacles.  Out of nowhere, Jeremiah flung his tentacles out.  They wrapped themselves around Fulgore-X’s ankles, and with a swift motion, the cyborg was knocked down on his back.

Reactor Room

     The trip back to the Reactor Room had been a lot scarier than any other experience Orchid had had within Ultratech Brazil.  Even though she hated him, and although he wasn’t at full power, Orchid had to admit that she felt a lot safer with Fulgore-X at her side.  He was a powerful, intimidating presence, and for once, he was on her side.  However, the trip went uneventfully, as Orchid hadn’t been attacked by any rejects, and more importantly, there were no surprise appearances from Fulgore 2, Little Orchid, or any other figments of Orchid’s imagination.
     “Divert the power, drain the conduits, divert the power, drain the conduits.”  Orchid repeated to herself as she entered the Reactor Room.  Exhaling heavily, she crossed the room quickly, wanting to accomplish her task as soon as possible so that she could leave.  She accessed the computer interface on the plasma reactor, and began trying to divert the power that was needed for the plasma shield generators.  Unfortunately, her attempt was not successful.
     “’Insufficient power for the transaction you requested’?”  Orchid read aloud.  “That’s impossible!  There’s more than enough plasma here!”  Orchid tried again, and failed again.  Becoming extremely frustrated, she removed the rifle from her back and tried again.  Still nothing.
     “Insufficient power, dammit!”  Orchid swore.  She sighed deeply.  “This reactor is in poor shape.  The relay conduits are probably shot all to hell.”  She tapped the side of the terminal nervously.  “Maybe.....if I drain the external conduits first, I’ll be able to force enough juice through the relays and divert the power.  It’s worth a try, at least.”
     There were six external conduits in all.  The access ports were on the side and back walls; there were two to a wall.  The access ports were circular openings, no larger than four or five feet in diameter.  They were closed by a metal door, and beyond the door, there was a long crawl space that ran on top of the conduit.  About five feet into the crawl space, there was a computer interface embedded into the left side.  Just beyond the interface, there was a red line that marked where the blast door would come down.  Once the conduit had been drained, the blast door would have to be lowered to disconnect Ultratech Brazil from the places where the conduit lead to.
     Leaving her rifle at the reactor interface, Orchid wandered over to one of the access ports on the right wall.  She opened the door and stuffed herself inside the crawl space.
 

    Fulgore-X crashed through one of the computer terminal columns positioned in the center of the Control Room.  Jeremiah stood over him, arrogantly.
     “I must say, I’m very disappointed.”  Jeremiah said.  “I did not expect this to be so easy.”
     “Sorry to disappoint.”  Fulgore-X said sarcastically.  He remained on his side to collect himself.
     Jeremiah continued.  “Yes indeed.  I thought this was going to be an epic struggle between two great warriors.  However, I find myself thoroughly unfulfilled by this encounter.  I’m having to toy with you just to derive some pleasure out of this fight.”
     “He’s as dumb as Gargos.”  Fulgore-X thought.  “You never play around with your enemy.  That’s something I can take advantage of, at least.”  The cyborg stood shakily.  He had been weakened to begin with, but this fight wasn’t helping his health at all.  “The worst part is, he isn’t even all that good.  My martial arts program is still badly corrupted.  So, I’ll just have to find other ways to defeat him.  For one, those tentacles have to go.”
    Fulgore-X backed off, hoping to get a specific reaction out of Jeremiah.  He got it; Jeremiah threw his left arm out, shooting his tentacles at Fulgore-X.  Quickly, Fulgore-X sidestepped them, and grabbed them with his left hand.  Keeping the tentacles taunt, Fulgore-X charged at Jeremiah.  With a swift motion, he used the claw on his right hand to cut the tentacles off at the base of the opening on Jeremiah’s arm.  Before Jeremiah could react, the cyborg buried his right elbow into his stomach, knocking him backwards.  Deciding to take it one step at a time, Fulgore-X back flipped away.  Realizing that he was still holding the severed tentacles, Fulgore-X dropped them at his side.
     Without warning, the severed tentacles jumped up off the floor on their own.  They wrapped themselves around Fulgore-X’s neck, and bound his hands and feet together by the wrists and ankles.  Fulgore-X was surprised, to say the least.
     Jeremiah corrected himself.  He looked at the opening on his left arm for a moment; then, with a small shake, a new set of tentacles sprouted out of the arm.
     Jeremiah grinned.  “As I said before, Fulgore-X, being organic does have its advantages.”  He shot his new tentacles out at Fulgore-X, wrapping the cyborg up even further.  Sending an energy pulse through the tentacles, Jeremiah blasted Fulgore-X with a potent dosage of power.
     Fulgore-X struggled with the tentacles, but he couldn’t gain any ground.  “Dammit!  I can’t get out of these things!  The only way....I have to use a plasma flare, but....it’ll only weaken me further.”
     Jeremiah increased the concentration of the power he was blasting Fulgore-X with.
     Fulgore-X managed to free his index and middle fingers on his right hand.  He pointed them at Jeremiah, then down at the ground.  In one quick motion, Fulgore-X pointed his fingers upward.  Unexpectedly, several pillars of plasma energy shot up from the ground.  Suddenly, the entire room was filled with intense blue light.  It was a devastating attack known as a plasma flare.  In terms of efficiency, it was second only to the super plasma storm.  Even in Fulgore-X’s weakened state, it was still a powerful attack.
     When the light died down, the room was at peace.  The floor and computer terminals around Fulgore-X had been blackened, but other than that, the room had not been affected.  Fulgore-X was on one knee where he had originally been standing.  Ashy remnants of the tentacles that had imprisoned him fell all around him.  Jeremiah stood a few feet away from where he originally was.  He had a surprised look on his face, for a moment, then he restored himself, and regrew the tentacles that had been incinerated in the attack.
     “Well, he’s still got some fight left in him.”  Jeremiah thought.  “How exhilarating!  However, I mustn’t underestimate him.”
     Fulgore-X looked up, over Jeremiah’s shoulder, at the main computer terminal.  The power indicator button for the shield generators still blinked.  It meant that the generators still weren’t receiving power.
     “Dammit Orchid, what the hell are you doing?”  Fulgore-X thought.
 

     It was the sixth and final conduit that Orchid had to drain.  It was located on the left wall, near the back.  Orchid was really jumpy; while draining the fourth conduit, she could have sworn that she heard something.  Orchid investigated the room thoroughly, and once more while draining the fifth conduit, but she didn’t find anything.  Orchid convinced herself that it was just a hanging light fixture hitting the wall outside of the room, or maybe she was just imagining the whole thing.
     Orchid opened the door and climbed into the crawl space.  On her hands and knees, she slowly pressed forward to the computer terminal.  As she had done with the previous five, she began to work the terminal in order to drain the conduit.
     Suddenly, a powerful feeling overcame Orchid.  During her time as an agent in the Organization, she acquired the ability to sense life forms within ten or twenty feet of her own existence.  This sense was currently blaring throughout each cell of Orchid’s body.  It was intense to the point that Orchid had to stop working the terminal.  She rested on all fours in the crawl space, breathing heavily.
     “You double checked, remember?”  Orchid said to herself.  “It’s just your nerves.  It’s just this place.”  She swallowed hard, then finished draining the conduit.  The blast door came down in front of her.  Her sixth sense flared again, racing through her veins.  She turned around, something that was not an easy task within the crawl space, and began to crawl out of her little hole.
     Orchid’s head had just emerged from the opening when she heard the air ripping to the right of her head.  That, combined with her strange feeling, told Orchid to act first and question later.  She ducked back into the crawl space, just as a clawed hand whizzed past.  Orchid’s retreat was almost quick enough, but not quite as the thumb of the attacking hand dug into her jaw, opening a large cut.  Orchid backed off as far back into the crawl space as she could, pressing herself against the blast door.  A tall, bird like creature appeared in front of the opening.  It had thin, yellow eyes and a long, red beak.  It was covered in black, slimy feathers.  It had unusually long arms, with sharp talons at the end.  The bird creature reached into the crawl space, desperately trying to claw Orchid.  While evading her attacker, she could see another attacked beyond the bird thing.  It looked like some sort of wolf-human hybrid, with mangy brown fur.  It reminded her of Sabrewulf.
     Orchid angrily reached for her rifle, and was surprised when she grasped nothing but air.  “That’s right!”  She exclaimed.  “I left it at the reactor!  Dammit!”
     The bird creature started to climb into the crawl space, continuing to claw at Orchid.  She kicked at it the best she could.  She managed to get it back outside of the crawl space; then, she closed the door to the opening, imprisoning herself inside.  No sooner than the door came down, both creatures began to slam on it.  After only a few seconds, Orchid could see her side of the door already starting to warp.
     “They’ll be through that in no time!”  Orchid said, in fear.  She glanced behind her, and almost cried.  “I’m trapped in here, with no rifle.  What am I going to do?”
 

     Fulgore-X blocked a set of punches from Jeremiah, then counterattacked with a short kick.  Before Jeremiah could recover, the cyborg rushed in, grabbed him by the chest plate, and flung him towards the back of the room.  Fulgore-X advanced on Jeremiah almost before he hit the ground.  He stood over him, ready to strike.  Jeremiah stood up quickly, and turned to face Fulgore-X.
     Fulgore-X nearly turned Jeremiah inside out with the snap kick.  He placed it perfectly; Jeremiah flipped over at least twice before hitting the ground.  He didn’t look like he was getting up any time soon, but Fulgore-X knew better.  Jeremiah wasn’t human anymore, and his skull was protected by armor plating.  The snap kick only stunned him, at best.  Fulgore-X only needed a few seconds, anyway.
     The cyborg rushed over to the main computer terminal.  The power indicator still flashed.  Fulgore-X put his frustration aside for a moment to concentrate on the task at hand.  Working quickly, he reconfigured the plasma shield generators to emit a high-level inverted plasma shield. He also configured it to be absorptive; that way, the shield would remain active for at least a few minutes after Ultratech Brazil had been destroyed.  Fulgore-X finished his configurations, took another look at the flashing power indicator, then turned back to Jeremiah, who was already getting up.
     “Round three.”  Fulgore-X thought.  “Fight on......”
 

     The bird creature reared back, and with a fierce punch, he punched through the door to the plasma conduit.  Reaching inside, he activated the release button, and withdrew his hand before the door raised upwards.  However, looking inside, the bird creature found that Orchid was no longer inside.
     “What the hell?”  The bird creature said, in a high pitched, raspy voice, “How did she get out?  Where did she go?”  He climbed inside of the crawl space, while the wolf man remained outside.  The bird creature crawled up to the blast door, and looked around, searching for some sign as to where his prey went.  He soon found it; one of the floor panels had been crudely pried up and replaced hastily.
     “No.....”  The bird creature whispered.  From outside, the discharge of a plasma weapon could be heard, followed by a weak howl of agony.
     Orchid stood behind her two attackers, holding her rifle.  The wolf man, having been shot, slid down the wall, dead before he hit the floor.  The next target would be easy; it was trapped within a small space, as she had been a few minutes ago.  She mercilessly filled the crawl space with multiple bursts of plasma energy from her rifle.
     Another victory under her belt, Orchid exhaled heavily.  She turned around quickly, went over to the computer interface on the plasma reactor, and again attempted to divert the necessary power to the plasma shield generators.  This time, she was successful.  Realizing that many rejects were probably advancing on her position at that very moment, Orchid turned and quickly left the room.
 

     Jeremiah whipped the tentacles from both arms towards Fulgore-X.  The cyborg jumped over them, and remained in the air for the moment.  Normally, this was a perfect opportunity to strike the enemy with a barrage of plasma storm shots, or a super plasma storm blast, if needed.  However, Fulgore-X was extremely drained, and using plasma energy techniques would only weaken him further.
     From the air, Fulgore-X could see that the power indicator on the main computer terminal finally stopped blinking; it now glowed a constant red.
     “It’s about time!”  Fulgore-X thought.
     Somewhat distracted by the status of the power indicator, Fulgore-X allowed Jeremiah’s tentacles to wrap themselves around his ankles.  Jerking both arms backwards, Jeremiah flung the cyborg across the room.  Fulgore-X crashed into the main video monitor, without breaking it somehow, then fell on top of the computer terminal before hitting the floor.  Fulgore-X still didn’t want to use his plasma energy techniques, but he really didn’t have a choice.  He jumped up quickly, and as Jeremiah was turning around, he fired two or three plasma storm shots into him.  No sooner than he fired them, Fulgore-X spun around and accessed the terminal.  Quickly, he activated the inverted plasma shield.
     Outside of the building, the ten plasma shield generators emerged from the ground.  They were no more than simple black boxes, about the size of a shoebox.  Together, they emitted an inverted plasma shield, in the shape of a dome, which encompassed Ultratech Brazil.
     Back inside of the Control Room, Jeremiah shot the tentacles from his right arm out, and grabbed the right arm of Fulgore-X.
     “I’m really getting tired of that.”  Fulgore-X thought.  “I’d really enjoy beating the hell out of this amateur.  However, in my current state, I’m not entirely sure that that’s possible.  Now is not the time to let pride blind my decision.  Pride was one of the things that destroyed Fulgore 2.  My mission has been accomplished; I should leave.”
     Fulgore-X really wanted to stay and continue the fight.  Nonetheless, he decided to make a strategic retreat.  Fulgore-X charged at Jeremiah with his left hand, his right still wrapped up by the tentacles.  He pressed his fingers up against Jeremiah’s forehead, and initiated a plasma flare; it was weak to the point that it was nothing more than a powerful flashlight, but it gave Fulgore-X what he needed.
     Jeremiah roared, as the plasma flare blinded him.  He withdrew his tentacles, and covered his eyes with both hands.  Because his eyes were cybernetic implants, he was able to regain his vision quickly.  Looking around, he discovered that Fulgore-X was gone.
     Jeremiah smiled.  “Strategic retreat, eh?  That’s okay.  Your path will have to cross mine again before this day is over.  And now, I know I can beat you easily, Fulgore-X.”
 

     Orchid walked down the hallway quite unsure of herself.  She didn’t have a destination, she didn’t know if she was going the right way, and she didn’t even know if there was a right way.  For the moment, her only goal was to put as much distance between her and the Reactor Room as possible.  Fulgore-X’s only instruction to her was “I’ll find you.”  What the hell did that mean?  What was she supposed to do?  Where should she go?
     “Lost, little girl?”  Fulgore 2 asked, from behind her.
     Orchid closed her eyes and swelled up with anger, then calmed down peacefully.  “You again.  Why are you here?”
     “Well, you looked lonely, and I thought you could use a little company.”  Fulgore 2 replied.
     “I don’t need your companionship.”  Orchid scoffed.  She turned to face the imaginary cyborg.  “You’re not even real!  So you can go back to whatever crevice of my brain you came from.”
     “I’m as real as I need to be.  Besides, you feel better already having me here, don’t you?  I mean, with Fulgore-X no longer at your side, you need another protector, right?”
     “I can take care of myself!”  Orchid started back down the hall.  “If I promise to commit myself to an institute after all this is over, will you go away?”
     Fulgore 2 leaned over her shoulder.  “You and I both know you’d never do that.  You’ve got too much pride for that.  Besides, you’re not crazy, not crazy at all.  Jeremiah probably just filled you up with drugs.  And it’s really hot in here.  You’d be crazy not to be hallucinating.”
     “Exactly!”  Orchid exclaimed.  “Once I get out of here, I’ll be fine.”
     “Yes, well, you still have to find a way out of here.  Do you even know where you’re going?”
     “No.  But Fulgore-X has some kind of a plan, and he said that he would find me.”
     “Ah, so you and Mr. X have become friends now, right?”
     “Hell no.  I hate him just as much as I hate you.  I just need his help in order to get out of this building.  Then, I’ll kill him.  Then, there will be no more Fulgore cyborgs.  Nada, zip, zero.”
     “You know....”  Fulgore 2 leaned in closer to Orchid, “Fulgore-X went to go fight Jeremiah.  In his weakened state, he could have been defeated.  He could be dead right now.  Then, what would you do?”
     Orchid stopped for a moment.  “I’m an agent in the Organization.  I’ve been in worse situations before, and I’ll deal with this now.”
     “Of course you will.  After all, you’re one of the professionals, right?”
     “Yeah, this is not a problem at all.  In fact, if Fulgore-X really were dead, it would make my life that much more easier.”
     Suddenly, Orchid’s sixth sense flared up.  She stopped moving again.  Fulgore 2 stopped as well.
     “What’s up?”  The imaginary cyborg asked.  “Something’s coming, isn’t it?  Now would be a good time to get your rifle.”
     “Good idea.”  Orchid said, taking the rifle from her back.
     “Tell you what,”  Fulgore 2 said, while backing off, “seeing as how I’m not really real and can’t fight, I’ll leave now as I’d    only be a distraction.  I’ll try to visit you again before you leave though.”  Fulgore 2 retreated into the shadows.
     Orchid looked around, tightly gripping her rifle.  This particular stretch of hallway didn’t have any side turns; it was just straight ahead and straight back.  There was a door a few yards ahead, and maybe two behind, but it was hard to tell with the lack of light.  Orchid crept ahead forward, one shaky step at a time.  She eventually came to a junction, where the hall went either left, right, or straight ahead.  She went through the junction, still looking around.
     Something came flying at her, from behind her and to her left.  It was fast; Orchid didn’t even have time to get a shot off with her rifle.  She hit the floor and skidded backwards a few feet.  Sitting up, she was horrified when she laid eyes on her attacker.
     It was in the shape of a human, but it’s body mass looked like some sort of purple, glowing blob.  Orchid was reminded of Cinder, or even Glacius, but this thing was a whole lot messier; it left behind a trail of slime as it advanced on Orchid.
     Orchid jumped up and fired a few hasty shots from her rifle into the blob, but they were only absorbed.  Orchid gave the rifle a funny look, then took it by the barrel and swung the handle at her attacked.  It went right through the blob’s chest.  Out of options, Orchid began to retreat, however, she backed into something.  Orchid spun around only to face a new attacker.  Out of all the ones she had encountered thus far, this one was the closest to human yet.  He had mangy brown hair, and some sort of mask over his face, with holes only for eyes.  Orchid could only see white behind the eyeholes.  He wore some sort of black jumpsuit.  He was tall, and he looked to be strong.  To confirm Orchid’s thought, the man gave her a tremendous backhand across the face.  Orchid stumbled backwards, landing at the feet of the blob.
     “Yep, super strength, that’s why he’s a mutant.”  Orchid thought.  She looked up to see the blob sending his arm down, trying to smother her.  Orchid rolled out of the way.  She jumped up, turned around, and fired a few shots from her rifle into the chest of the super strong man.  They had no effect whatsoever.  Orchid gave her rifle a look.
     “Doesn’t this thing work?”  She wondered.
     The man brought both his arms up, and sent them down forcefully into Orchid’s shoulder.  Orchid went down to one knee.  The blob gave her a slimy kick from behind, and she went stumbling into the chest of the strong man.  The man tried to grab her, but Orchid backed off, and jump roundhouse kicked him in the face.  It didn’t phase him at all.
     Orchid was beginning to become frustrated.  She pitched forward and flipped over the strong man.  After landing, she delivered a spin kick to the small of his back; once again, he was unaffected.  Orchid backed off while adjusting her rifle to it’s highest setting.  Just as Orchid finished, the man turned to her and forced his right shoulder into her stomach, knocking her backwards.  She hit the ground, but as she skid backward, she fired a volley of shots at the man.  This finally proved to be effective, and the man fell lifelessly to the ground.  She was about to do the same to the blob, but he proved to be quicker.  He fired a small ball of himself from his hand at Orchid.  It traveled at such a high velocity, that when it struck Orchid’s rifle, the weapon was knocked a good ten feet down the hall.  While still on her back, all Orchid could do was to back away, trying to get to her rifle, as the blob approached.
     From out of nowhere, Fulgore-X appeared in the hallway.  He hit the blob with a massive jumping roundhouse kick, with a force so great that the blob was thrown into the right wall and he exploded upon impact.  Fulgore-X turned to face Orchid, while droplets from what was left of the blob fell all around him.
     Orchid had been completely consumed by instinct.  She jumped up and charged at Fulgore-X with a right punch.  Fulgore-X caught her hand by the wrist, and began to squeeze it tightly.  Howling in pain, Orchid came to her senses.
     “You....can let go now....”  Orchid said in between her teeth.
     Fulgore-X actually tightened his grip, and held on for a few more seconds before finally releasing Orchid.  She withdrew from him quickly, favoring her wrist while going further down the hall to retrieve her rifle.  Fulgore-X watched her, and waited for her to return to him before speaking.
     “What took you so long?”  Fulgore-X asked, referring to Orchid’s delay in diverting the power to the plasma shield generators.
     Orchid pouted, still holding her wrist.  “I was attacked, okay?  I almost didn’t make it out of there alive.”  Her eyes darted to the purple stain on the wall, and she slowly realized that Fulgore-X had saved her.  Any small form of gratitude she might have unwillingly displayed was quickly negated by her pulsating wrist.  “So, you’ve activated the inverted shield?”
     “I have.”  Fulgore-X replied.
     “Well then now what?  And how are we going to get past the shield?”
     “Now, we need to go to Research and Development.  There is a tool there that we need.”  Fulgore-X began to walk away, further down the hall.
     Orchid had to job a few steps to catch up with him.  “Mind filling me in on some of the details?”
     “I will elaborate as soon as I think details are necessary.”
     Orchid frowned.  “Naturally."
 

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