Ark

Alto opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. "And I was having such a good dream," Alto thought as he sat up and looked around the room.

Scattered around the room were four other boys, his four brothers, his four friends. All of them looked the same with their black hair and pale skin but Alto knew that deep down each one was different.

Alto closed his eyes and again looked around the room. With his eyes closed he could see everything different. The entire room gave off a gray glow and each boy gave off a special color that was all their own. With his eyes closed, Alto focused on the one giving off a bright orange glow and smiled. Alto slowly got up and snuck over to the orange glow.

"Nice try Alto," said the boy. "You tiptoe louder then a ton of bricks hitting the ground."

Alto looked down at the boy with the orange glow and then opened his eyes to find the boy grinning up at him. Alto smiled back, "Good morning Sharp."

"Ooh sure, good morning," giggled Sharp as he reached up and pulled Alto down next to him. "When are you gonna learn that you can't sneak up on the blender."

"The blender," chuckled Alto. "And here I thought you were more of a Chameleon then a blender. Could you crush some ice for me oh blender?"

Sharp rolled his eyes and then reached over and attacked Alto, tickling him anywhere he could get to.

"Will you two shut up!" shouted one of the boys that were just a few feet away. "Some of us are still trying to sleep!"

"Jeez, don't get your panties in a knot Bass," said Sharp. "It's not a crime to have a little fun."

"I was up all night and I just got in two hours ago from Rhaandaran," groaned Bass as he rolled over. "So keep it down!"

Just then Tempo called from the other room, "Alto, you have a piece to practice."

"I'll be right there!" Alto called back.

"Go see what assignment he's got for you," said Sharp has he pulled Alto into a sideways hug. "Hurry back to us when you're done with the task."

"Will you two cut that out!" shouted Bass. "I can hear the amorousness dripping off of your words!"

"Bass leave them alone," said one of the other boys. "I think they're cute together."

"Yeah you would Tenor," replied Bass. "Just keep it down; I don't want to hear it."

Alto returned the hug and sighed, "I'd better get going; I'll see you when I get back."

Alto got up, leaving a very disappointed Sharp behind, and went into the main control room where Tempo was waiting for him.

"Here," said Tempo has he handed Alto a special metal plate with strange markings on it. "There are five energy patterns burned into that plate. Find and eliminate all of these patterns. This task may take you more then a day and I know I don't have to tell you to be careful."

"Are these patterns people?" Alto asked softly.

"You know I can't answer that question," replied Tempo. "No matter how many times you ask it. Just make these patterns stop glowing. Good luck. Now blinders on!"

Alto went over to a nearby cabinet and pulled out several things he would need, then he put a special mask on that just covered his eyes and blocked out all light, "Okay Tempo, set the beat man."

Tempo typed a few commands into the computer console in front of him making the transporter system come to life. Seconds later Alto was gone.

~~~

Stepan walked into Nyo's room, striped out of his jumpsuit, and then carefully got in bed next to Nyo. Feeling that Stepan joined him Nyo rolled over and enveloped Stepan in a hug.

"I've been waiting all night for you to get back," Nyo said softly with his eyes still closed.

Stepan sighed as he melted into Nyo's embrace, "After I finished modifying those cloaking devices to mask Cory and his families energy patterns Ark hit me with a whole list of things I needed to see to before it would let me come back."

"What did it send you off to do?" whispered Nyo as he started to nibble on Stepan's ear.

"It just wanted me to re-link a few systems whose grids got fused from the standby," giggled Stepan. "After I was finished I was just in time to fit Cory and his family with the modified cloaking devices; they left about fifteen minutes ago. Ark also had me set the first part of your plan in motion; I went back to the Clan Compound and set up a fake pattern generator there."

"Are you all mine for a little while then?" Nyo asked in a hopeful voice.

Stepan smiled, "If you can keep me awake, I'm not sure how long I'll last."

"I'm gonna need to have a word with Ark about working you too long," said Nyo. "I want to be able to spend as much time with you as I can."

"Well it looks like I'll be around for a while," grinned, Stepan. "I just want you to promise me something."

"What's that?" said Nyo.

"I was having Ark read me information on this Metronome Assassin group while I was working and they sound really dangerous," replied Stepan. "And from the records that Ark has been able to piece together from different assassinations it thinks that the assassin that was dispatched to go after Cory and his family can do some really strange things with metal."

"Strange things with metal?" asked Nyo.

"Every assignment that this assassin, whose name seems to be Alto, has carried out always involves metal being twisted in some strange way. Ark speculates that he can manipulate metal with his mind and bend it to his will," said Stepan. "Which is why I want you to be really careful, I want you to come back to me. I just found you and I really don't want to lose you, ever."

"I'll be okay Step," Nyo said softly. "I want to come back to you and I don't plan on ever leaving you. I promise to be as careful as I can though."

"I'm going to hold you to that," said Stepan as he turned his head and kissed Nyo softly on the lips.

~~~

Tyne sat alone in the Council Chambers with his eyes closed and the lights dimmed, lost in thought. He was slowly going over what he had learned in the last few days and how his life had changed.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Cyna said softly as the holographic projector came to life.

Tyne looked over at Cyna and grinned, "Your hair finally matches your eyes; that's a good shade of purple."

"Thanks," giggled Cyna. "How are you holding up?"

"I don't really know," sighed, Tyne. "This is the first time I've really just sat down and digested what's been happening. So much has happened and I feel almost lost."

"You? Lost?" said Cyna. "Now there's a first. You were always the solid one, never lost and never without an answer."

"Okay smartass," grinned, Tyne. "I'm just not sure I'm ready for this. I mean I was just starting to get use to the idea of Nyo being in charge and then suddenly I'm the head of the resurrected Founder Council. And then on top of that, now the family that I'm beginning to adopt as my own is in danger from something else that I don't understand either."

"Sometimes you don't need to understand the why or the how as long as you understand what's important," said Cyna. "What's important to you Tyne?"

Tyne thought for a minute, "Well this family is important to me, they mean so much to this world. But I care more about just a few of them then I do all of them I suppose."

"Oh? And why is that?" said Cyna.

"Rusty..." whispered Tyne."I love him. But because of that I also love who he loves and cares for, which is why I feel more responsible for helping this Clan now then I did before I met any of them."

"And?" pushed Cyna.

"You know me too well," sighed, Tyne. "Anyone else would have been happy with just that."

"I know," said Cyna. "So?"

"Well I'm having three problems still," replied Tyne. "The first of these is Cory and his family but that's being worked on. The other two are more personal."

"Am I one of them?" asked Cyna.

"Yes," Tyne said softly.

"Does this have to do with Me AND Rusty?" said Cyna.

Tyne looked down at the floor, "Yes."

Cyna sighed, "Tyne what's wrong, I thought we covered this already."

"Well it's just that well you're still here and yes I know I'm allowed to be with Rusty and I want to be with Rusty but what about you?" replied Tyne. "I know you told me to not worry about you but I still feel like in some way we're married and if that's the case then am I breaking our vows by falling in love with Rusty?"

"Tyne, I may be here in a mental sense but you're only bound to me until I'm dead," said Cyna. "Physically dead. And well I am, so it's okay for you to be with Rusty. I can understand what you mean though, but if you remember Rusty said that I'm still going to be a part of your life as well as a part of his."

"Does that constitute three people in one relationship?" asked Tyne.

Cyna shook his head, "Don't worry about it Tyne, all you need to know is that we love you. You don't need to worry about the technical difficulties."

Tyne smiled, "Fine, I'll let you worry about it then."

"Good," grinned, Cyna. "Now, you know it's still early in the morning don't you?"

"Ummm...yeah."

"Then why are you in here?" said Cyna as he gave Tyne the 'you know where you should be' look.

"I know where I should be," replied Tyne. "And I want to be there, I just couldn't sleep."

"Well then get out of here," grinned, Cyna.

Tyne got up from his chair, "Can I talk to you about that last thing I'm confused about later then?"

"I expect you to," answered Cyna.

"Okay good," said Tyne. "Hey Ark, could you do me a favor?"

< What would you like me to do, Tyne? >

"Could you teleport me in right next to Rusty?" asked Tyne.

< Actually, he is in the shower right now. >

"Hey that works Ark, just go for it," Cyna called out.

Tyne's eyes got really big when he heard Cyna reply but before he could say anything Tyne vanished from the Council Chamber.

~~~A Few Hours Later~~~

Nyo, Dmitry, and Dominic suddenly appeared in the Clan Compound's CIC with equipment in hand.

"Okay guys, lets get set up," said Nyo as he went over to the nearest console. "Stepan's fake pattern generator seems to be working perfectly so our assassin may not be far off. Get the containment equipment set up."

Dmitry and Dominic instantly began working on setting up the equipment that they had brought with them.

"This is a lot of stuff just to restrain one person," said Dmitry. "Wouldn't handcuffs be just as good?"

"Ark said that this assassin can manipulate metal," replied Nyo. "So handcuffs would probably be a play toy to him."

"What does all this stuff do then?" asked Dominic. "I mean doesn't all of this equipment contain metal?"

< It is special equipment developed in the second cycle that was designed to restrain and contain Telepaths and Psychokinesists. It uses a special dampening field what blocks the effects of those two subspecies. So I had Stepan modify it so that it will block all genetic effects and not just the known ones. It should prove effective. >

"Your use of the word 'should' makes me feel so much better Ark," said Dominic.

"Don't worry Dom, Eyes and Giggle will protect us," Dmitry said as he pulled Dominic into a hug.

"Well if this equipment doesn't work we'll just keep him unconscious," Nyo added. "We'll be just fine guys."

"So what's our plan of attack? Are we just going to cover the doors and wait?" asked Dmitry.

"Yeah that's pretty much it," replied Nyo. "There's not much else we can do. If the assassin takes the bait then he'll show up here no matter what; this is the only place giving off the energy patterns he would be looking for."

"And if he doesn't take the bait?" asked Dominic.

< Then he will never find his target. >

"Yeah, what she said," grinned, Nyo.

< She? >

"Oh come on Ark," giggled Dmitry. "We all know you're a girl."

< Dmitry, I will choose a gender the day that you learn to teleport yourself where you need to go without me. >

"Aww Ark, that's not that hard to do..." Dmitry started to say. "...it might just take a little practice."

Dominic gave Dmitry a strange look, "DT, I know you're good but you're not that good."

"Okay you three, behave yourselves," said Nyo.

< You three? I was not misbehaving, I was...Nyo I am detecting motion outside of CIC. >

"Could it be one of the parents?" said Dmitry.

< No, I had Stepan talk to them last night when he set up the pattern emitter. They have been instructed to stay away from CIC. >

"This is it then," replied Nyo. "I'll take the front, Dominic will cover me; Dmitry take the back."

~~~

Alto looked down at the plate of metal he had been given and studied the bright colors that he saw on it. He then looked back up at the building he was at. For some reason he could see the colors he was tracking even from outside of the dull gray that the building was giving off. It was strange, most color patterns were never seen beyond a wall and here he was seeing them from within the main building in a major complex. Something didn't seem right to Alto but he slowly approached the building as instructed anyway.

He slowly made his way to one of the doors to CIC near one of the covered walkways; he then held out his hand and closed it quickly into a fist. The metal door instantly warped itself and created a hole in its middle just big enough for Alto to enter. Alto quickly jumped through the hole and closed it behind himself. Once he was sure the hole he made was closed back up Alto quickly crossed the hallway to the next door that would lead him into the main room of the building.

"Okay the patterns should be just on the other side," Alto thought to himself. "Almost done."

He once again reached out and warped the door to make a hole for him to pass through. Alto again jumped through this hole and then quickly stood up on the other side. But suddenly the energy patterns he was tracking disappeared and were replaced by three strangely bright ones.

"Damn it, it's a trap!" Alto muttered to himself.

"Freeze!" one of them shouted. "Stay where you are. Any sudden movements and we'll take you down!"

But Alto didn't want to listen; instead he quickly reached behind himself and mentally pulled at the door. Instantly the door broke into hundreds of metal shards and with a flick of his wrist he sent every one of them at the three bright patterns. As soon as he did Alto pulled out his knife and lunged at the pattern that had spoken a second ago. He dodged some kind of electrical volley that emitted from the pattern and then he jumped into the air towards the pattern. As his knife hit its target Alto glimpsed another bright electrical blast and suddenly felt a white hot searing pain in his stomach that threw him backwards. Alto groaned in pain as he hit the ground. He couldn't see how bad he was hurt without taking off his blindfold.

"Secure the subject," he heard the pattern that he stabbed yell as Alto saw his pattern fall to the ground.

Alto watched as one of the patterns ran up to him while the other went over to the fallen pattern. Alto didn't want to be restrained but he could hardly move as the pain in his stomach seemed to be getting worse.

Alto wanted to know why he was in so much pain, so he reached up and as the pattern reached him he pulled off his blindfold and opened his eyes. But as he went to look down at his stomach Alto got a glimpse of who the fallen pattern belong to. Suddenly everything seemed to slow down; Alto got a clear view of what he had done with his knife. A silver skinned boy was down on the ground bleeding badly with a younger boy leaning over him looking worried. Alto instantly thought about all the other energy patterns that he had made disappear before and he finally realized what he was.

As tears came to Alto's eyes he called out to the boy leaning over the silver boy, "Don't pull out that knife, it'll make the bleeding worse." Alto then looked up at the pattern that had come over to restrain him to see that it was another boy. Alto could see the anger in the boy's eyes, Alto could see that the boy wanted to hurt him and as Alto continued to think about all the patterns, no, all the people that he had killed Alto agreed. Alto stared back at the boy and then whispered, "Please, just kill me."

The boy held out his left arm and Alto could see some strange thing on his arm that began to give off light. Suddenly energy shot from it and then everything went black.

~~~

"I told you to restrain him not kill him!" cried Nyo from where he was lying on the floor.

"I just stunned him," Dominic replied as he proceeded to restrain the assassin. "He'll need medical attention from the blast you gave him Nyo."

"I...I figured as much," replied Nyo as he clenched his teeth in pain.

"Nyo I'm relieving you of command," said Dmitry.

"But..." Nyo started to say.

"No buts, Ark teleport Nyo and the assassin to the medical bay at once," Dmitry said cutting Nyo off. "Dominic go with them so you can keep an eye on the assassin, I'll handle clean up here in CIC."

Dominic nodded, "I'll call you if I need your help."

Suddenly everyone but Dmitry vanished from CIC. Dmitry looked down at the blood on the floor where Nyo had been and sighed.

"Tyne," Dmitry mouthed into the sub-vocal.

"Go ahead Dmitry," Dmitry heard Tyne say.

"We've got the assassin, he's been taken to the medical bay due to injuries that he received when we intercepted him," reported Dmitry. "Also, Nyo was stabbed and has also been taken to the medical bay."

"I'm heading to the medical bay now," replied Tyne. "Where is Dominic?"

"I sent him with them to keep an eye on the assassin," mouthed Dmitry. "I've stayed behind at CIC to clean up."

"Okay, after you're done let me know," said Tyne.

"Should I inform Cory that we have the assassin?" asked Dmitry.

"No, he doesn't need to be told," answered Tyne. "Besides, this assassin is not the only assassin Metronome has. I'll send a few of the guys that got Phasenmorphs yesterday up there to help you as soon as I can just in case more assassins arrive."

"Understood," replied Dmitry as he stood up. "Okay Ark, where do they keep their cleaning supplies."

~~~

Nyo breathed in deep and then winced in pain; it felt like his shoulder was on fire.

"Careful Nyo," Nyo heard Stepan say. "Take it slow, and don't try and sit up yet."

Nyo slowly opened his eyes to find Stepan staring down at him, "Hi Step."

Stepan frowned, "You said you weren't going to get hurt."

"I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to get stabbed," Nyo replied softly. "How bad is it, it feels like my entire shoulder is on fire."

"Well you were in surgery for over four hours; four hours and seven minutes to be exact, I counted as I paced outside. It wasn't just a stab wound, when you were stabbed it looks like the knife started to almost come apart in the wound," said Stepan. "We think that when you shot the assassin the force of him being pulled away from his weapon caused parts of the knife to want to fly with him, as if he was trying to grab onto something to break his fall."

"Am I going to be okay?" Nyo asked.

"I'd be a lot more upset if you weren't going to be," answered Stepan. "The Medbots said you'll make a full recovery though."

"I really am sorry Step; will you forgive me for getting hurt?" Nyo said quietly.

"Yes," replied Stepan. "But only if you promise me that you'll take it easy the next few days while your system recovers and your body heals."

"I promise," said Nyo.

Stepan smiled, "Good, now what do you want us to do with the assassin? We had the Medbots work on him too because Dominic said that you wanted him alive. They actually almost lost him at one point, the damage that you did with just one blast to his stomach was rather...I don't know if impressive is the word or not. But if you keep him around after you're done with him he's going to have some pretty bad scarring on his stomach."

"Where is he now?" Nyo asked with a sigh.

"We've kept him sedated and restrained in the bed three over from you," Stepan said as he looked to his left. "He's right over there."

"Am I allowed to get up and talk to him?" Nyo asked.

Stepan sighed, "I'd rather you rest, can I just bring him over here instead?"

"Sure, that'll work," said Nyo.

Stepan signaled to the nearby Medbots and they instantly started moving the bed with the assassin on it closer to where Nyo was at. While they were moving the assassin Stepan adjusted Nyo's bed so that he was sitting up. Dominic then came over to Nyo's side with his Phasenmorph ready just in case.

Once everyone was ready Nyo nodded to the Medbots, "Go ahead and wake him up."

~~~

Alto slowly woke up and took a deep breath with his eyes still closed. Suddenly everything that had happened came back to him as he saw the energy pattern that he had stabbed sitting before him with two others around him. Alto opened his eyes and found that the one he stabbed was staring right back at him.

"Hi, I'm Nyo," Nyo said to Alto. "I'm glad to see that we're both still here."

"I'm not, you should have just killed me," said Alto as tears began to run down his cheeks. "I am glad to see that you're okay though."

Nyo ignored Alto's comments and continued, "Let's start with hearing about you. If I like what you tell me I'll be happy to answer any questions you have. So let's start with your name and go from there."

Alto sighed, "My name is Alto; I'm one of five 13 year olds in Metronome. I can manipulate metal through thought."

"Yes that much we knew already other then your name," replied Nyo. "The things I'd like to know go along the lines of where is Metronome located, who within Section 31 does Metronome report to, and how will Metronome react when you don't return."

"Right, sorry," Alto said softly. "But I'm afraid I only know the answer to the last one. If I don't report back after a week then another agent will be sent out. I don't know who it is we report to, only Tempo knows that, and I've always been transported to where I need to go so I have no idea where our base of operations is located."

"That's not good enough," Nyo said sternly. "You have been arrested because you were trying to assassinate the Patriarch of Clan Short of Vulcan and his family. I expect to get more out of you and I will."

"I didn't know I was an assassin, I didn't know who I was assigned to kill," said Alto. "I'll give you any information you want but I can't answer questions that I don't know the answer to."

"Fine, who will they send after you and how can we stop them?" asked Nyo.

"They will either send Bass, Flat, or Sharp," replied Alto. "They won't send Tenor unless they have to."

"Why would Tenor be last?" Stepan asked.

Alto looked over at Stepan, "Tenor can control zero-point energy. While this is a very useful skill it's also very dangerous because Tenor only has control three fourths of the time."

"So he's unstable," stated Stepan for which Alto nodded in reply.

"What about the others?" asked Nyo.

"Bass uses focused super sonic shockwaves, Flat can teleport short distances, and Sharp can blend in with the environment as well as make himself invisible," replied Alto.

"Okay, and how do we stop them?" said Nyo. "I need to know their weaknesses so that I can stop them and if need be kill them to keep them from harming anyone else."

Alto gave another sigh, "Don't wear any glass when facing Bass, he uses that to his advantage. He's also arrogant so too many people attacking him at once will cause him to mess up. Flat has no emotions, at all; plus he's fast. Try getting him in a small space. If he has nowhere to go then it's easier to catch him. For Tenor all you have to do is talk to him, he's a smart guy and would rather listen to reason if he's faced with more then he can handle then cause chaos."

"And Sharp?" said Nyo.

"I..." Alto paused for a second and then looked down at his lap. "I won't tell you unless you promise me something."

"And what if I refuse?" asked Nyo.

"Then you can do what you like to me, I won't tell you," replied Alto.

"What is the something?" said Stepan.

"Promise me that you won't hurt him," Alto said quietly. "I don't want him to get hurt or worse."

"Why do you care more about what happens to Sharp and not the others?" asked Stepan.

"I...I love him," Alto replied just above a whisper.

Dominic, who had been watching up to this point, finally spoke, "If we can get you to help us catch all of them then we promise not to hurt him."

Nyo turned to Dominic, "Dominic, he's an assassin. We don't have to..."

"It would be no different if it were me asking the same for Dmitry," interrupted Dominic. "I believe him when he says that he didn't know that he was killing people. Ark told us that all they see when they're on a mission are energy patterns. Everything gives off a pattern, even holograms. Besides, I'd rather have him working with us to catch the rest of them if we can; it will make things go so much smoother and I personally don't want to see a repeat of today. We don't need anyone else injured too."

Nyo thought for a minute, "Alright, I can agree with that."

"Good," said Stepan. "So Alto what do you think?"

Alto looked shocked, "You...You want me to work with you?"

"Things will go faster and better with your help," said Dominic.

"Do you trust me though?" asked Alto.

Dominic gave Alto an emotionless stare, "I trust that if you hurt anyone that it will weigh on your conscious to the point where the guilt will do more damage then I can do."

"Fair enough," Alto said quietly as he tried to scoot away from Dominic. Alto winced in pain though and closed his eyes. "What was done to my stomach?" Alto asked as he gently clutched his stomach. "It feels like it was set on fire."

"I hit you with a mid-range Phasenmorph blast," replied Nyo. "It was an electrical blast and it did burn your stomach. Bad enough, even, that you won't forget the incident I'm afraid."

Alto reached up and wiped his eyes, "You really should have just killed me though, after all I'm responsible for. I suppose I at least deserve whatever mark will be left on me. What will you do with me when you've caught all of my brothers?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," said Nyo.

< Nyo, I was able to get an estimated location of where Bass and Tenor are currently located. I have been keeping track of all transporter activity on the planet for the last two days and I was able to at least trace what kind of transporter system Metronome is using. >

"Can you track where Metronome is located?" asked Nyo.

"I am still having trouble doing that. The system is one that I have only ever seen twice before in respects to what kind of transporter it is. It is a prototype transporter system being worked on by Star Fleet Transportation, it still has a very large number of problems with losing data but it is used for interstellar transports and is almost untraceable if you want it to be. >

"Almost untraceable?" said Stepan. "What's the 'almost' part?"

"It's probably the amount of energy used," Alto said quietly.

< That is correct, Alto. For a transporter system to be capable for interstellar transports it needs a very large amount of energy. I will be trying to find the Metronome base of operations based on that information. >

"Hey strange voice," said Alto.

< You may call me Ark. >

"Okay, Ark," replied Alto. "Look for recent activity, Bass just got back from an off planet mission the morning I was dispatched."

< That was this morning. Thank you Alto, that will be helpful. >

"What about where Bass and Tenor are currently located?" asked Dominic. "Where are they?"

< They were sent to San Francisco. Originally they were supposed to be going off of research that Sharp was supposed to do for their target. I believe that Sharp finished his research a few hours ago. >

"Then we need to move now so that we can catch them while they are still on a mission," said Dominic. "Ark, let Dmitry know that we need him if he's finished up at CIC. Stepan, you're with me as is Alto. Let's move!"

Nyo grinned, "You guys heard the boy."

~~~

A man in his mid fifties, dressed ever so neatly in a pinstripe suit, came bursting into a small office. He slammed the door behind him and briefly leaned against it to catch his breath. After less then a second he rushed over to the desk in the office and pulled the top drawer open. The man quickly retrieved a gun and frantically began loading it. Just as he got it loaded the walls shook and the wooden office door shattered as if it was made of glass. The man quickly pointed his gun at the door and fired. He kept firing until the chamber was empty but as he lowered his gun he jumped back against the wall as he realized that all the bullets were floating a foot from where they had left the barrel of the gun.

Two black haired, blindfolded boys slowly walked into the room and looked over at the man as if they could see him. Then one of them smiled, faced the man, and then clapped his hands in the man's direction. Before the man could make a noise his head exploded and his body slumped to the ground.

"Mission accomplished," the boy said as he lowered his hands. Then the boy reached up, pulled off his blindfold, and took a deep breath.

"Bass, what are you doing!?" the other boy said almost in panic. "We're not supposed to take off our blindfolds for any reason!"

"Jeez Tenor, don't be such a baby," replied Bass. "I like getting a look at my handy work. I mean how many times do you get to make a guys head explode?"

"What! What are you talking about?" Tenor said as he started to back away from Bass just a little.

Bass chuckled, "Oh come on, we're killers. We kill people on these missions Tenor, just like we just killed this guy here. Made his head go 'POP'! God I love it!"

Tenor shook his head, "That's not true."

"Okay then what do you think we do on these missions?" said Bass as he started to take a few steps towards Tenor. "Chase bunny rabbits? Exterminate bugs? Liberate the refrigerator?"

Tenor took another step backwards, "We eliminate energy patterns, nothing more."

"Tenor, we give off energy patterns, remember?" Bass continued as he got closer. "Come on, take off the blindfold and have a look. After you get past the blood you'll start to see it as a work of art."

"Don't come any closer!" shouted Tenor as he continued backwards. "I'm warning you!"

"What are you gonna do? Kill me just like you help me kill the man in here?" grinned Bass as he got even closer. But then the smiled faded from his face as he suddenly realized that he couldn't move. "Come on Tenor, let me move again," Bass tried to say but he couldn't move his mouth so it sounded muffled.

"I'm not you Bass, if you're telling the truth I don't want to know," Tenor said as his breathing became quicker and quicker. "I...I've neutralized so many energy patterns, I don't want to know, I DON'T WANT IT TO BE TRUE!!!" Tenor screamed and then slid to the floor crying. Suddenly everything began to float a few inches off of the ground.

Bass also looked scared now, "Tenor, keep it together. Its okay, they deserved to die anyway! Don't go losing it, breath man, breathe!"

"Shut...up...shut up!" screamed Tenor. "It's not true! And even if it was there's no way for you to make that decision! You...you..." Tenor's breathing became heavier, "You...you're...evil!"

"Tenor take it easy, you know me," Bass said in a shaky voice. "Breath, take it slow! I'm a good person, just like you. I just like my job!"

"I said shut up!!!" Tenor screamed at the top of his lungs. Suddenly Tenor collapsed on the ground and Bass let out a scream as suddenly he and all the furniture in the room and surrounding hallway turned to dust and fell to the floor.

As everything settled the small group, consisting of Alto, Dominic, Dmitry, and Stepan, at the other end of the hallway came out of the shadows.

"Well, that takes care of Bass for us," muttered Dominic.

"Another one bites the dust?" added Dmitry in an almost questioning tone.

Dominic rolled his eyes, "Let's get Tenor back to the Medical Bay before he wakes up and realizes what he's done."

"Th...that's a good idea," Alto said quietly.

"Are you okay Alto?" asked Stepan.

"I just can't believe that he killed Bass," Alto replied.

"After what Bass was saying to him, if Tenor didn't do it I would have," said Dominic.

"Ark, take us to an empty bed," said Dmitry has he did his best to prop Tenor up against himself.

"Actually Ark send us all there," added Stepan. "We don't want to be here when the authorities get here."

< Stand by. >

Suddenly everyone vanished, leaving nothing but dust behind.

~~~

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP

Tempo reached over and connected the incoming transmission, "Yes Maestro."

"How goes the masterpieces you have been given to perform?" said the voice.

"We've run into a problem," replied Tempo. "We have not heard back from Alto at all and the two agents that were sent on the second assignment haven't returned. They were only supposed to be gone for about twenty minutes after Sharp gave them the location and information."

"It appears that my mighty Metronome has at last lost its ability to keep the beat, the Patriarch is still alive and they are making all attempts it seems to pretend that nothing has happened. Alto has never gone astray before," said the voice. "Send Flat to find out what happened to Alto. In the meantime keep Sharp there, we do not need to lose track of all of them."

"What about Bass and Tenor?" asked Tempo.

"They eliminated their target but we found interesting results at the scene," said the voice. "Dust found at the scene includes Bass' DNA, very large amounts of it. We believe that Bass is dead."

"Wha...What about Tenor?" said Tempo.

"Until we can prove otherwise assume he too is dead," the voice responded.

"Could the same thing have happened to Alto?" Tempo asked.

"Leave me to speculate that, now carry out your assignment," said the voice.

"Right away Maestro," replied Tempo. "I shall report back when I have more to tell you."

"I shall be waiting," said the voice.

Suddenly the communication link went dead. Tempo sighed and then rolled over to the door to his right.

"Flat, get ready to go; you have an assignment," Tempo called into the room.

Flat nodded and then calmly got up off of his mat and went to get ready.

"And what about me?" Sharp asked from where he was laying on his mat.

"You are to stay here," replied Tempo.

"Tempo, what's happened to Alto?" said Sharp.

Tempo just shook his head and then rolled away without saying anything.

~~~

Tyne sat in the medical bay watching the Medbots do what they could to help their newest arrival with his head tilted to one side. Every now and then the Medbots would stop moving and hover just above the ground for a second before being set back down again.

"Looks kinda funny doesn't it?" asked Dmitry as he walked over to where Tyne was sitting and sat next to him.

"I'm wondering if that's what happens when he's asleep what will he be like when he's awake?" said Tyne. "What did they say his name was again?"

"Alto said that his name was Tenor," replied Dmitry. "At least his name isn't Soprano. Imagine all the jokes that could go with that one."

"Ark says that he controls fields of zero-point energy," said Tyne as he watched the Medbots being levitated again. "But from what the Medbots are finding so far he only has control as long as he has control of his emotions; if he gets upset then all control would be gone."

"That's probably what we saw happen with him and Bass," said Dmitry. "I guess that Bass didn't know when to stop pushing him."

Tyne sighed, "I'm actually kind of worried about having him around. What if something happens and he accidentally kills someone?" Tyne looked over at Nyo sleeping in one of the other beds and then he looked down at the floor, "I don't want anyone else to get hurt, I don't want us to lose anyone else."

"You mean you don't want to lose anyone else," stated Dmitry. "I can agree with that but what are we going to do with him? What are we going to do with Alto?"

"I haven't decided yet," Tyne said softly. "I was thinking of having a Council meeting over it and until then giving them permission to stay with Ark keeping an eye on them."

"That sounds like a cool plan," said Dmitry. "What do you think Cory will say though? I mean Alto was supposed to kill him and his family."

"I'm not sure," replied Tyne.

Just then one of the Medbots came over to Tyne.

"Sir," said the Medbot. "We have finally have him stable enough that he is sleeping soundly. But we have found another possible problem."

Tyne gave the Medbot a worried looked, "Good problem or bad problem?"

"That is for you to decide sir," replied the Medbot. "When he lost control, before he was brought here, the stress of it seems to have blocked most of his memories. We are still running tests to see how much has been blocked."

"Hmmmm....thank you number 17, keep me posted," said Tyne.

The Medbot nodded and then headed back over to his patient.

"So where did Dominic take Alto?" Tyne asked Dmitry.

"They went back up to CIC to fix the damage to the door that Alto caused," replied Dmitry. "Alto volunteered to fix it since he was the one that broke it into a million shards of metal."

< Tyne, I have the location of the Metronome base of operations. >

"You were able to isolate where it was?" Tyne said excitedly.

< It helps that someone that is not authorized to be in the Clan Compound just transported to outside of CIC. >

Dmitry jumped up, "Another assassin! Dom's up there!"

< I have already notified Dominic. He and Alto are standing by anticipating the attack. >

"If we have the location of their base and one of the two assassins left is up there then now is the time," said Tyne as he got up. "Dmitry, you're with me."

~~~

"Keep an eye out," Alto called to Dominic as they rushed to get into position. "It'll either be Flat or Sharp. If it's Sharp you won't see him but I will. If it's Flat then we'll both only see glimpses when he's not teleporting around." Alto closed his eyes and started scanning the room.

"I assume you'll handle it if it's Sharp," replied Dominic. "But if it's not how am I supposed to fight something that neither of us can see for very long?"

"That's why we are only in CIC," said Alto as he continued to scan the room with his eyes closed. "The smaller the area the easier it is to catch either one of them."

"What do they use as weapons?" asked Dominic.

"Well Sharp uses a set of knives that I made for him and Flat uses a..." Alto started to say.

Suddenly an electrical bubble wrapped itself around Dominic as his Phasenmorph reflected a shotgun blast.

"It's Flat!" Shouted Alto as he ducked behind one of the computer consoles.

"Ark, erect force fields around the doors!" Dominic called out as he ran to the middle of the room.

"Dominic! Get down!" Alto cried as Flat appeared for a brief second and fired off another blast at Dominic before vanishing again. Once again the shotgun blast was reflected. "We need to get him cornered!"

Dominic grinned, "We've got him already. Alto, yell out if you see him again..."

"ON YOUR LEFT!" screamed Alto.

As the sound of another shot went off Dominic quickly took his Phasenmorph arm and slammed his fist down onto the floor. Instantly a bubble of energy erupted from the Phasenmorph and quickly expanded through the room. A scream was heard as it threw the shotgun wielding assassin back against the wall.

Alto and Dominic rushed over to where Flat had fallen only to find him pointing his shotgun right at Alto.

"Alto, you have betrayed us," Flat said as he pulled off his blindfold and tried to sit up but found that his legs didn't want to move. "What did you do to me?"

"Your legs won't be able to move for about ten minutes," replied Dominic. "Lower your weapon and we won't kill you."

"I do not believe you," said Flat. "Your emotions cause you to act illogically and I have no reason to trust that you will keep your word. The only choices I see that I have are to either kill Alto and lose my life or just lose my life. I would rather take down our betrayer with me. Besides, he is in love and love is a useless feeling that has probably caused this flaw in his judgment. To kill him will also prevent it from happening to Sharp."

"Flat, don't do this," pleaded Alto. "If you just lower your weapon we really won't hurt you."

Dominic slowly lifted his Phasenmorph as Flat began to pull the trigger, "Good bye Alto."

But suddenly Flat let out a gasp and a hole appeared in his chest; a second later a knife appeared in the wound. Holding the knife there appeared a boy that looked very much like Alto and Flat. The boy then got closer to Flat as he pushed the knife deeper into Flat's chest.

"I won't let you hurt anyone anymore," Sharp whispered into Flat's ear. "And I won't lose the boy I love because of you."

Sharp twisted the knife and then pulled it out; causing Flat to drop his gun and clutch his chest.

"I did not see you," gasped Flat. "You are not supposed to be here, you..."

Flat let out a sigh and then went limp. Sharp then set down his knife and slowly stood up and faced Alto and Dominic.

~~~

Tyne and Dmitry suddenly appeared on the Metronome transporter pad and quickly surveyed the room. There were computers everywhere and at one of them there was, what looked like, a sixteen year old boy in a wheelchair working away.

Tyne signaled to Dmitry to start circling in on the boy's left side while Tyne started to take the right. But as soon as they started to move the boy sat up straight and quickly turned his chair around. The boy looked shocked but then instantly rolled over to a glass box on the wall.

"Don't move!" Tyne called out. "Don't move or we'll take you down!"

The boy didn't listen; instead he punched the box and quickly pressed the red button inside. As soon as he did all of the computers in the room began to spark and burst into flame. Then the boy pulled out a gun, put it to his head, and was about to pull the trigger when Dmitry fired off an energy blast and knocked the gun out of the boy's hand. Tyne rushed forward and pulled the boy and his chair away from the burning computers.

"Jeez, 'don't move' means 'don't move' not set the place on fire and kill yourself," said Dmitry. "Are you Tempo?"

The boy nodded his head as he began to cry, "What are you going to do with me?"

Dmitry leaned over and sniffed, "I think ya might need a bath, so we'll get you one of those."

Tyne chucked a little, "If Dominic was here I think he'd be rolling his eyes."

"Yep," grinned, Dmitry.

"Well we're not going to hurt you," Tyne said to Tempo. "But we are going to take you back with us; we have some questions that we'd like you to answer. After that we'll just play it by ear, okay?"

Tempo nodded, "Okay."

"Great," replied Dmitry. "Ark, take us home!"

"Ark? Who is Ar...?" Tempo started to ask but suddenly all of them vanished before he could finish his question.