(Truth be spoken, I'd rather be watching some straight Tracer ships right now, but unfortunately that's not possible...)

(Off topic! let's get to it!)

I was woken up by my maid. I shot up, startling her back. She tripped over something and fell over, dropping the tray she was holding, spilling the contents on the floor. "Are you okay!?" I asked, worried. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said, getting up and picking up the tray. 

"I'll...Get you some more breakfast." I shook my head. "No, I'm fine. Besides, I want to talk to you." I said. She put down the tray and sat on a chair next to me. I was just now beginning to look at her. She was a little shorter than me, and she had a thin body. Her face was cute, and she had a huge, poofy ponytail. 

"What's your name?" I asked, examining her baseball cap. She smiled and blushed. "My name's Christina." She replied. There was a knock at the door, and Christina went to open it. In came a trooper in a hoodie, holding a box. 

"Here are your effects, general." He said, dropping the box on my lap. He promptly left. I opened the box, And as soon as I opened it, Echo flew out, did a lap around the room, and landed on the backboard of the bed. I looked through the rest of the box, and found my sword, Magnum, and Tommy gun were inside it. I set the box aside next to my bed. "What's happening today, Christie?" I asked. 

"Oh!" She said, startled. "There are going to be people visiting you from now until lunch, then from lunch until dinner." She replied. "Speaking of which, they should be here any second. I'll open the door for the first person." She walked over to the door and opened it, then she stood in the doorway, waiting for people.

About a minute later, Scout entered the room, and Christina closed the door behind him. I was surprised he didn't try to flirt with Christina on his way in. "Yo, what's buzzin', cousin?" He exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood. I grinned and moved my legs so he could sit on the bed. 

"How are you?" He asked. I held up my useless metal hand. "I've been better." I responded. He immediately stared at the metal hand. "You have a METAL HAND?" He asked, getting excited. "That is SO COOL!" I grinned, then I tucked the hand under the covers. 

"Not that cool when you can't move it." I said, my smile falling. Scout's face fell as well. "Oh." Scout's face immediately perked back up. "You know what this means!" Scout said, pointing two fingers at me. 

I was about to ask him, but I realized what he was hinting at and scowled. "Don't you-" I started, but it was too late. 

"Looks like you've got a mech-HAND-ichal replacement!" Scout exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. My only response was flopping my face onto the bed. Christina giggled, and Scout proceeded to spit out more hand-related puns.

After 30 minutes of hand puns, Scout had to leave. "Let me know if you need a HAND!" Scout said as he walked out the door. In came Andr, who threw herself on me, wrapping her arms around my body. 

"Thank goodness you're okay." She said.

 "CAN'T- BREATHE" I choked, and Andr released me. 

"S-sorry..." She muttered, sitting on the bed. 

"It's fine." I replied. "I know everyone is real excited to see me alive." 

Andr looked at my hand. "I can't believe Tamson would do this to you." She said, worry in her voice. I put my right hand on her shoulder.

 "He's not himself." I said. "His mind's been altered by the Shadows." She looked at me, and I gave her a reassuring smile. 

"Timeist made that design, you know." She said, nodding towards the metal hand. "I figured." I replied. "He is the head technician." Andr hung her head. "I should go." She said, walking out the door.

I waited until late in the evening to make my move. I silently got up out of bed, trying to make no noise. I quickly switched out of my bed dress into simple combat clothes. I clipped on my belt with holster and sheath, and put my Magnum in the holster, and a simple knife in the sheath. I put on my combat mask, which was a combination of a gas mask, a pilot helmet, and a motorcycle helmet. 

I slowly walked down the stairs of the officer's corridors and into the main hall. I never realized what building on the IJL campus I was in, but I soon realized I was in the officer's mansion. I quietly exited the building and quickly but quietly rushed across the grass to the airfield. I walked over to the landing pad where the Nightowls were held. 

The Nightowls were a model of stealth bomber that had been remodeled with rotating turbine engines in the wings for controlled takeoffs and landings, but the turbines were built in a way that made them completely silent. 

I hopped into the cockpit of one of them and started it. I slowly lifted it off the ground and into the sky. I then flew off towards the direction of Death Island. "Gotta finish what I started." I told myself. 

"Time to find that egg."

...

I landed the jet on a ridge near the mountains where the Shadows were mining. I noticed a small toolshed near the entrance. I activated the lights on my helmet and walked over to the shed. I opened it, and saw inside it were various mining tools, flashlights, and helmets. I grabbed a pickaxe and headed down into the mine. As I walked down through it, the air got colder and the mine got darker. When I was engulfed completely in darkness, I saw a light up ahead. As I walked, the light got closer and closer. Soon, the light disappeared. I followed the direction it came from, but all I found was a dead end.

 "Unless..." I said softly... 

I took the pickaxe and slammed the pick into the rock in front of me. I did it again and again until the rock broke away and revealed a small, glowing shape in the rock. "The egg!" I exclaimed. I yanked it out of the rock and dropped the pick on the ground. I slowly exited the cave, and when I could see moonlight, I switched off the lights on my helmet. As soon as the lights went out, I was blinded. 

Several spotlights shone on my face, and I could hear a helicopter above me. I then heard Drakmir's electronic voice speaking into a megaphone. 

"Attention Idiot! Put the egg down and surrender!" I hesitantly reached for my Magnum, but when I looked past the lights, I could see dozens of Shadows manning 50 caliber mounted machine guns. I decided to kneel down, and place the egg in front of me the Helicopter hovered above the ground, and two burly Shadows exited it. One of them snatched the egg and stuffed it in a bag, the other forcefully picked me up by my arms and cuffed me. 

I was thrown onto the helicopter and strapped into a seat next to two men in armor. The two Shadows did not get on the helicopter, and they took the egg with them. Across from me was Drakmir, and next to him were two other men in armor. The helicopter took off, and one of the men shoved a headset onto my head. 

Drakmir touched a button on his helmet, and I could hear his voice in my headset. "This is my crew of bounty hunters," He said. "Nano, Executor, Famish, and Tracker." I looked away from him, dreading what came after we landed. I already knew where I was being taken. They would take me before Shadowfax, the king of the Shadows.

...

We landed on a helicopter pad that was part of an elevated walkway to the castle. When we landed, Drakmir left the helicopter, and snapped his finger. Nano ripped the headset off my face, and pushed me out of the copter. He held my cuffs as he forced me to follow Drakmir into the castle. Two large Shadows opened the doors, and Drakmir, Nano, and I entered. The royale hall was huge, and it was a long walk down the carpet to sit before the throne. I could hear Shadowfax's deep voice sounding from down the hall. 

"Ahh. Ranger Celticus Diamondback. Finally we meet in person." 

(God, where did I come up with that full name?)

Drakmir stopped Nano in front of the throne. 

"Remove his effects." Drakmir said.

Nano and two shadows began removing things from me.
They took my Magnum and my knife, and my holster, sheath, and belt. Nano took off my helmet and threw it on the floor before the throne. Nano hit me in the back, forcing me to kneel. 

"What do you want with me!?!" I shouted at Shadowfax. 

"Quiet!" Drakmir shouted, taking position behind me and hitting me in the head. 

"Enough, Drakmir. Show our guest some respect." Shadowfax spoke. I scowled up at him. 

"What do you want!?" I said again. Shadowfax leaned over to look down at me. "I would have beheaded you already If you weren't so important to me," He paused before his next words. "Son."

"WHAT!?!?!" I asked in surprise. "How am I your son!?!?!" 

Shadowfax made a tsking sound. "Adopted, technically. You have no real parents." He replied. "SHINA!" he shouted. "GET DOWN HERE AND MEET YOUR BROTHER!" He looked up at the stairs behind him, where I could hear footsteps and Shina's voice. 

"Brother? What broth-" Her voice cut off as she reached the bottom of the stairs and saw me. "Ranger!" She shouted, running towards me. She embraced me, and Drakmir raised his arm to hit me, but Shadowfax stopped him 

"What are you doing here?" She asked. "He was captured trying to return something that is valuable to us." Shadowfax said. "Something that is much more valuable to another..." Shadowfax continued. 

"A Dragon."