Augustus literally flung the DBR9 into the parking garage of the arena, he screeched to a halt only inches from Kizmat and flung the door open, Kali slid out and Gray stayed in the car, convinced that if he moved right now he might not stop being sick. Augustus grabbed hold of Kizmat’s arm; Kizmat had already noted the change in his son’s physical appearance.

“Where’s Charon?”

Kizmat seemed slightly disorientated and unsure of what the hell was going on.

“They’ve already rushed her to the hospital.”

Augustus dragged him toward the car.

“Come on we’ve got to go…NOW!”

Kizmat pulled his arm away.

“It’s the best hospital in the Creature world, why do we need to hurry exactly?”

His question was never answered because a huge black hearse peeled into the underground garage and came to a halt just kissing the rear bumper of the DBR9, Damien flung the door open and stepped into the eerie orange lights of the garage. Kizmat growled and moved towards him, Kali placed her hand on his chest and Augustus looked between his father and grandfather an exasperated look on his face. Damien walked round both vehicles and stopped just short of where Kali stood.

“Right, what’s this little meeting all about and where IS Charon?”

Gray finally made it out of the back of the DBR9 without throwing up and took hold of Damiens arm, causing him to half turn to look at the rather green looking assassin.

“Hospital but its worse than that, the chip in her arm is more than just a simple microchip, we need to get to her before she wakes up from the sedation.”

Damien frowned.

“What will happen when she wakes up? Is it gonna be like Armageddon sort of bad or just slightly pissed off police type bad?”

Gray glanced at his watch and then at Augustus, Augustus was the one who answered.

“Eva corp. have designed a chip that will turn any living organism into a cybernetic slave, all it needs is a host and an activation code, it was their back up should the unthinkable happen and Charon won in both worlds. Well guess what? We won in both Worlds and they’ve activated the chip, which just happens to be sitting in Charon’s arm right now. Luckily, she’s asleep at the moment but we don’t know for how long. Now can we get a move on or are we going to stand here discussing the pro’s and con’s of cybernetic technology in a human host and its effect on the environment or are we going to sort something out by driving to the hospital?”

Damien turned without saying a word and got back into the hearse and wound down the window.

“Well shit! Come on who’s riding with me?”

Gray looked at the hearse, then back at the DBR9 and jumped into the passenger seat with Damien. Kali shoved Kizmat into the passenger seat of the DBR9 and then ran round and got in the hearse with Gray and Damien. Augustus pushed the button in the DBR9 and the engine roared into life, Damien was already peeling away from the parking spaces and Augustus followed matching Damien driving manoeuvre for driving manoeuvre.

Ten minutes later, the two vehicles flew pell-mell into the parking lot of the hospital and all five climbed out of their respective vehicles. Damien took the lead with the others tagging in along behind him, he marched through reception and the accident and emergency waiting room and the others followed wondering why they weren’t stopping to ask for directions. Kali followed Damien without question but Augustus was puzzled.

“Uh…. Shouldn’t we ask where she is?”

Damien snorted.

“Most sedation will last a total of thirty minutes at the most.”

He looked at his own watch and continued to stride authoritatively through the corridors.

“Charon’s recovery time is almost half that of an average human and we’ve been…what? I reckon about fourteen minutes in total in getting here from our respective starts. Do the math.”

Augustus’ face began to take on the terrible realisation, they were all here because it would probably take all of them to keep Charon under control. Damien paused for a couple of seconds as though getting his bearings.

“Left. Something’s kicking off down here.”

They all listened as they walked; Kizmat was the first to hear what Damien was listening to.

“Shit!”

Kizmat’s walk turned into a sprint and he was the first to the door where a doctor came flying through the doors and smacked right into the wall to Kizmat’s right side, he was dead. Damien stepped over the body and through the doors, closely followed by Kizmat and then Augustus, Kali and Gray.

What Damien saw disturbed him deeply but he didn’t show it. Charon’s left side had turned a dull greyish green and her left eye was pure black, no white was left at all and she was holding another doctor up in the air with one hand. She stood and her head turned towards Damien.

“Scum, cesspit pool of a creature. What is your designation?”

Damien edged slowly closer.

“MY name is Doctor Damien Death but you ought to know that already. What’s your name?”

Kizmat shifted uneasily, his temper getting the better of him.

“You know what her fucking name is you moron!”

Damien turned and glared at him.

“You know what, shut the fuck up!”

Augustus shook his head.

“Now is not the best time okay?”

He looked at them both imploringly while Kali looked on in mild interest.

“Boy’s, boy’s, boy’s, come now put the testosterone back in your damned pants and focus on the issue at hand yes?”

Damien sighed and turned back to the thing that had been his daughter.

“What is your name?”

Charon, the part that was still functioning that is. Well sort of because she felt a bit groggy and confused as to why she was holding a doctor in mid air with one hand, tried to respond but instead heard a foreign voice come out of her mouth and she knew it wasn’t right but she was so tired. Maybe it was all a dream and she should go back to sleep and wake up again later. Hang on though? Why could she see so many people she knew in one place? What were all those damned numbers scrolling up the inside of her left eyelid? Damn it, remember woman, what were you doing before the hospital? She listened to the odd voice.

“My DESIGNATION is Evangelion MKII experimental human cybernetic being. I am perfection and you are not.”

Damien frowned. Why were only one eye and one side affected? He noted quickly that her blue eye was still and hadn’t moved, it looked unfocused, and he realised the sedation was still wearing off. He changed tactic in the hope Charon was still awake in there.

“I want to speak to Charon not designation Evangelion MKII.”

There was a pause, as the black eye seemed to move quickly back and forth like an eye moves in REM sleep.

“There is only Evangelion, there is no designation Charon Death.”

Damien grinned.

“I didn’t say Charon Death, I said Charon. Now, Charon Angel Death put that man down before you hurt him!”

This time there was a much longer pause, Charon was now properly awake and searching through her own mind for some control over the cybernetics that were slowly trying to grow through her own organic body. What was it Gray and Augustus had said about hacking cybernetic systems? Find a low-level routine and follow it through security, piggybacking Gray had called it. She had control over the right side of her body so she swung a fist at the cybernetic arm. She noted that an error message had begun to scroll up the inside of her left eyelid, she now grabbed for her own left arm and pulled at it. The other part, the cybernetic part tried to turn but it now only had control over the left leg, Charon lifted her right leg and kicked hard at her left and found it mildly amusing that she couldn’t feel any pain on that side. Damien and the others took advantage and grabbed for her left side, Gray grabbed a syringe and plunged it into the left hand side. Charon would have rolled her eyes and for one moment she found herself in control over her speech and she took the opportunity before she passed out again thanks to Gray.

“Drugs don’t work on the cybernetics, only on me, you might want to try localised EMP…”

The right side slumped and the left side dropped the doctor as it needed to try and balance the now useless right side which it had now lost control of.