April 13th, 2224
Mega City

"Yes. This is for Cole in case something goes wrong with the chip. It'll deactivate him momentarily - if we're going to do the operation, I think we have to keep him semi-conscious or removing the chip might not work," Katrina informed him, slapping the energy charge into the gun.

"I won't ask for the details, since I wouldn't understand it anyway," Snipe said, glancing at the time. "How are we suppose to find him again?"

Katrina leaned forward to look out the front window. "I think a good place to start looking is up ahead at one of the diplomatic military buildings. It would be a good place for Mac to lay low with all the fighting."

"And you think Cole is smart enough to find it?" Snipe asked dubiously, but as they pulled up in front of the building and the sounds of shots were being fired, he grimaced. "Yeah, okay, maybe he's just lucky."

Katrina gave him a nasty look, then handed him a second EMP gun. "I'm going to see if he's okay. You stay here and keep the car ready in case we have to get out of here in a hurry."

Snipe raised his eyebrow. "Since when did you become the leadership type?" he asked.

Flashing her best smile, Katrina opened the door and slid out. "I learned it from my dad," she said, then closed her door. Hurrying over to the entrance of the building, she saw the door had been knocked in and that there was a secretary talking to some soldiers.

Katrina glanced at them, seeing the two soldiers had their backs turned to her as they tried to calm down the babbling secretary. Taking a deep breath, she hurriedly ran across the room and through another smashed doorway into a hallway, where she saw numerous soldiers walking away - also, thankfully, with their back to her. As she paused, she saw a door on the right side of the hallway had been smashed in. Stepping through the doorway, she saw a set of stairs that had been shot up pretty bad.

Deciding that Cole must have gone up that way, Katrina pocketed her EMP gun and hurriedly ran up the stairs until she reached the stop. Stepping through the doorway, she glanced down the hall at another set of doors knocked open. Cole was standing over someone - and his katar had been activated. Sliding up behind Cole, feeling her heart beating harder and harder in fear, she looked over Cole's shoulder at the body of Vice President Mac, chopped up into little pieces. Cole was standing there with the man's blood dripping off his hands.

"That's right.... I'll kill them all...." Cole told the corpse, a cheerful tone to his voice.

Unable to stop herself, Katrina winced, her hand going up to her mouth. "Oh my God..." Cole turned to look at her and the two stood there a moment before Katrina uttered some more words. "Cole ... no..." she said, looking up at his face.

His face began to twist into an insane smile as he looked at her. "And I can kill you next," he said, the same cheerful tone of voice lingering there. He stepped toward her and Katrina found herself stepping back involuntarily. She realized that it wasn't the real Colephantus standing before her, but the product of the chip inside his head. Which meant she had to disable him now.

Katrina reached down to her pockets and pulled out the small EMP gun, aiming it at Cole's chest. As her finger tightened around the trigger, Cole moved forward in a blur, his hand arcing out and slapping the gun from her grasp. They both turned to watch it sail through the air and smash through the window, falling out of sight to the ground below. Their gaze turned back to look at each other and Cole shook his finger at her. "I don't like those things," he said in a nasty tone.

Colephantus charged forward, throwing a fist at her face. Katrina fell back instinctively on her training from her mom and ducked down low, rolling past Cole to get behind him. She threw a kick at his back, hitting him directly and sending him stumbling forward. It didn't hurt him, but it set him off balance, allowing her to start running for the door.

However, Cole anticipated that and threw out his leg, tripping her. As Katrina fell toward the floor, she threw out her hands, allowing them to take the brunt of the impact as she hit the floor. A small grunt escaped her lips and she rolled as Cole brought his foot down where her head had been. As she began to get to her feet, Cole slammed her in the back, sending her stumbling against the deck in the room.

Holding her breath, she listened to Cole approach her from behind, then rolled to the right as his fist came down on the desk, smashing right through it. She punched him twice in the face, but it didn't slow him down - she didn't have enough power behind them and he was too crazy to care. He merely backhanded her, sending her stumbling back.

Desperate, Katrina reached behind her and activated her sabre. Holding it front of her, she slashed at Cole warningly, trying to keep him back. Cole began to laugh. "Oh, what, you're really going to cut me up, Kat? Give me a break." He activated his katar and slashed down at her.

Nimbly holding up her sabre to parry the blow, Katrina cut him along the arm as she backed away, holding the sabre out in front of her. Cole eyed his wound, then smiled at her. "You are just like a cat. Scratching." He lunged forward, but Katrina stepped to the side. Annoyed, Cole swiped out at her from the right side, but she already had the sabre in place, deflecting the blow again.

Stepping forward, Cole lunged forward, trying to impale her with the sabre, but Katrina's arm was already in motion, her sabre slammed into the katar and forcing it into the ground. Instead of going for a killing blow, which was wide open to her, she kicked him in the face. Cole freed his katar, then shook his head. "This isn't a fight you can win if you aren't going to play right. Which is to the DEATH," he said and blurred forward, punching Katrina hard enough to send her against the wall.

Katrina blinked her eyes, flashes of light blinding her for a moment. But as her vision cleared, Cole was already there, knocking her sabre across the floor. His free hand jerked forward and grabbed her neck, slamming her further against the wall; his grip tightening as his other arm brought the katar up to her chest, burning the fabricate of her clothing.

Cole smiled at her, watching her struggling to take breaths from his crushing grip. He then looked at her chest, then at the katar burning her shirt. "Man, did he have a thing for you. The dreams I could tell you about. Me? I could care less, you know? But... it doesn't mean I can't have some fun with you first, right? Prolong your death," he said, bringing the katar back to finish the job on the shirt.

Gasping for another breath, Katrina suddenly brought her knee straight into his groin with enough force to make his grip loosen. As Cole's eyes widen in shock and pain, she reached out and grabbed a picture from the wall, bringing it around and smashing it straight into Cole's face. Letting her go as he stumbled and flailed to the side, Cole reached out and grabbed the remains of the desk for support.

"You bitch. I'm going to slice you up and kill you," Cole said in anger, his smile vanishing for the first time. He rushed at her, but Katrina moved to the side, her leg sliding out to trip him off balance. As he flailed, he grabbed her arm, and they both fell straight toward the window, smashing through it and falling toward the ground.

Katrina tried to stop herself, but it was too late as they both began to fall toward the ground, their speed picking up. Colephantus' smile returned and he began to laugh. Suddenly, twisting and planting herself firmly on top of him, she gripped him return as he held onto her. Cole's smile vanished in confusion, then in acknowledgment as he smashed into the sidewalk, cracking and beaking it up. His reploid body took the full blunt of the impact, but despite that Katrina slammed into him, then bounced off and landed on the sidewalk next to him.

Neither of them moved, Cole laying there silently and Katrina gasping for breath, her lungs burning as she knocked the air out of them. She looked up at the top of the building from which they fell and saw Snipe looking down at them. Her vision blurred some, but it was obvious he was going to have to find a way back down to help her. She was on her own for a few more minutes.

Unable to take a breath, her lungs screaming at her, Katrina reached out and grabbed the sidewalk, trying to get herself up as Cole began to stir. However, he recovered quickly, sitting up and staring at her. Reaching out, he grabbed her by the neck as he stood up. As he dragged her along, he walked across the street to where a small public pool was located. Kicking in the gate to the pool, he strolled in toward the water.

Recovering her breath, Katrina grabbed a comm from her pocket and smashed it into his face as he dragged her along. Howling in pain, Cole let her go, grabbing his face and removing the broken pieces of the comm. link. Falling to the ground, Katrina rolled to her feet and kicked him in the back, then swung around and punched him in the back of the head.

Cole stumbled forward, swinging out blindly at her, trying to find her. Katrina ducked the swing and gave him a left hook again. She was just buying time at this point, since she wasn't strong enough physically to hurt him.

Stepping back, Cole reared back and punched her hard in the face, sending her falling to the ground and forming an immediate red whelp. Reaching down and grabbing her by the throat, he lifted her up in the air and slammed her down on the diving board with enough force to break the board. Crying out in pain, Katrina was helpless as he turned and shoved her head first into the water.

Gurgling under water, Katrina realized he planned to drown her. Struggling to free herself, she pounded on his arms that were holding her throat and keeping her under the water. As he held her there, Cole whistled a jaunty tune.

Until suddenly a fist hit him in the face, causing him to slide across the ground. His grip on Katrina released, she came up out of the water, gasping for air in pain.

Looking up, Cole saw Snipe standing there - right as the man's foot came smashing into his face and sending him back to the ground. Snipe reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small EMP gun and fired at Cole.

Rolling to the side, Cole heard the blast hit the ground behind him harmlessly. Aiming his plasma cannons at Snipe's hand, he opened fire, hitting him right in the back of the hand and sending the gun flying up into the air; it landed somewhere near the towel stand.

Snipe shook his head, grunted, then ran forward, punching Cole again in the head, sending him stumbling back. As he brought his fist around for a second time, Cole grabbed his arm and held it place. Then, bringing his other hand around, slammed it right into Snipe's head. "Well, well, Snipe. My old teacher. Come to see what I've learned? Quite a lot, actually," Cole said, grinning. He reared back and punched upward, hitting Snipe in the chin and flipping him backwards onto the ground.

Coughing, Snipe rolled to his knees. "Jesus, what is it with people when they go evil or insane? Do they just naturally become stronger or something? Maybe I should try it sometime," he said, getting to his feet and eyeing Cole.

"No, Snipe, it's just that you're an old human," Cole said, swinging his fist around at Cole's face. Snipe ducked the punched, then slammed his fist into Cole's nose, moved in close, then slammed his elbow into Cole's nose.

Stepping back, Cole winced and backhanded Snipe away. Then he turned and spun around, sending his boot around in a wide arc to kick Snipe in the head, sending him falling to the ground. As Snipe rolled to his feet, Cole moved in to drop kick him, but the man grabbed Cole's leg and threw him backwards.

"I'm going to kill you, Snipe," Cole said as he hit the ground. "I'm going to gut you and slice you up. Then I'll play with your insides!"

"And I thought you were annoying when you were a good guy," Snipe said dryly, dashing forward before Cole could completely recover and kicking him in the face again. As Cole slid back, he reared forward and rolled into Snipe's leg, sending him falling to the ground. He then got to his feet and elbow dropped Snipe in the back, reaching out and grabbing the back of his Snipe's head.

"I'm going to crush your skull in like an egg," Cole said, squeezing. Roaring in pain, Snipe elbowed Cole in the face, then shoved him into the pool. As Cole sank into the pool, Snipe stumbled along the ground, trying to get some feeling back in his body, when suddenly a EMP bolt flew over his shoulder into the pool water, electrifying the entire water. Cole's mouth opened up in a scream as his body was shocked violently, bubbles flowing up from his mouth as he gurgled. Then, after it finally ended, his body fell to the bottom, looking a little charred.

Snipe turned his head to look at Katrina standing there, having recovered the EMP gun. She stood there, breathing heavy as she pointed it at the pool, some blood running down her face from her nose. Finally, she let her hand drop to her side and she took deep breaths.

"You know, Kat, that could have killed him..." Snipe said slowly.

"I know," Katrina said grimly. "Lets get him out."

A Nearby Abandoned Warehouse
Mega City

"You know, Kat, I thought we were going to bring him back to Slasher," Snipe said with a grunt as he applied another layer of chains.

"We don't have the time. He'll be awake again soon and we can't keep hitting him with EMP blasts. We could kill him. Plus the military is all over the area, trying to find him since he killed the Vice Preisdent," Katrina said calmly, going over the tools she had.

"Are you sure we have to do this with him awake?" Snipe asked, standing there as he eyed a third set of chains. Shrugging, he walked over and grabbed them, too. As he walked back over, he began to apply them.

"Yes, we have to do it with him awake," Katrina said, looking over at him as he worked on tying up Cole to the table. "Alright, I'm going to pop open his head now. Try to keep him steady." She grabbed a prying device and moved over to Cole's head, gently running her hand across his white hair, then moved the device against a small hole located there. She began to strain, then forced the head up, revealing Cole's robotic brain.

"Frankstein, anyone?" Snipe said dubiously, moving over to look at them. By then, Cole's eyes had begun to flutter open, focusing on them both.

"Y-You... I'll kill you all...I'll KILL YOU," Cole raged, straining against the chains as he stared at Snipe.

"Yeah yeah, that's nice," Snipe said, rolling his eyes. He glanced over at Katrina, who was busy staring at the inside of Cole's brain.

Cole stiffened. "What's that little bitch doing? I'm going to kill you, Kat. I'll make you a wall piece. You know that, right?" Katrina ignored him as she continued to look. "He hated your guts, you know that, right? He use to tell Blue how he wished you would die - that you were a no good whore. How'd you like that - whore?"

Katrina turned her face away, then walked over to the tools. As she shuffled through them, Snipe turned to look at Cole sharply. Cole just smiled at him coldly. "I'll kill you all... and then I'll make finger paint with your blood."

Snipe leaned back, then reared forward and smashed his fist into Cole's face, dazing him into a semi-conscious state. Katrina shot him a glare from the side. "What? I was just stretching," Snipe said.

Katrina brought a few more tools over, setting them near Cole's head as she shined a light inside. She stood there, glancing in silently, then made a slight gasping sound. Snipe perked up. "What? That's not a 'hey, this is so great' gasp...." he stated.

"Slasher was right. This chip is activated to his self-destruct system. If I remove it wrong, I could kill him and us," Katrina said, her resolve fading. "And if I do it too much the other way, I could wipe out his entire personality and memory."

"Right. So, either we all blow up or he goes totally blank. Not that the latter would be much different from the normal Cole," Snipe said, smiling at her.

"JOHN!" Katrina shouted, anger apparant on her face.

Snipe blinked, then lowered his head. "Right, I'm sorry. I was just trying to make light of the situation," he said softly.

Katrina let out a small sigh, then rubbed her face. "I know, I'm sorry ... I just think I'm in over my head."

"Kat, if anyone can do it, you can do it. I believe in you," Snipe said, looking up at her. "You can do anything you set your mind to - in fact, you'll bring Cole back out of this perfectly normal."

Nodding her head, Katrina reached into her bag and pulled out a different type of tool. She leaned forward, then brought the tool toward Cole's head, clapping onto the sides of the chip. "I need you to bring the flashlight around here and point it at his head for me, John."

Snipe nodded, grabbing her light and shining in at Cole's head. The two of them stood there for long minutes as Katrina wiggled the chip, trying to pry it loose. But over and over again there would be a clicking sound, indicating that either the self-destruct sequence was about to start up or that she was about to mindwipe Cole permenately. During the entire time, Cole would drift in and out of conscious, babbling about murdering things.

After 15 minutes of trying to get the chip to move, Katrina set back, ignoring the sweat pouring down her forehead. "It's not moving. I have to think of something else," she said quietly. Glancing around, she nodded at her bag. "Get me the freeze spray."

Snipe moved over to the bag and shuffled around in it, pulling out something. "Is this it?" he asked, showing it to her.

"No, that's an oil spray," Katrina said. Snipe coughed, then went back to looking, pulling out another one and holding it up. "Yes, that's it. Bring it over." As he walked back over to her, he handed it over.

"So what's the plan?" Snipe asked, glancing at the head.

"I'm going to try to freeze the circuits around the chip, perhaps delaying any signal they would try to send out. If we can get the chip out before the signal is sent, then we'll be okay," Katrina said. "In theory."

"Wait, wait, in theory?" Snipe asked incredulously.

"I didn't study in mechanics. I'm a scientist. In theory," she said, glancing at the chip, "it should work."

Snipe sighed. "If I miss Andrea's first time walking because I'm a bloody smear on the wall, I'm so not going to forgive you," he threatened.

Smiling, Katrina brought the spray up and sprayed it into Cole's head, freezing the area around the chip. Then, bringing the tools around, she clamped onto the chip once again, trying to wiggle it out slowly. Time passed quickly as she slowly worked on moving it out, having to work slowly and delicately. The spray around the chip began to melt.

"Time's running out, Kat..." Snipe warned.

Katrina didn't bother to responding, clenching her teeth as she worked on bringing the chip out. It slid forward a little and she realized it was going to be sending out the deadly signal now. If she didn't pull it out, the spray wouldn't stop the signal. Taking a deep breath, she jerked it out of Cole's head, sending it falling to the floor. The signal stopped.

"You did it!" Snipe exlaimed, wrapping her up into a hug. Katrina began to laugh into his shoulder - laughing harder and harder until she began to cry.

Cole was safe.

The Downtown District
Mega City

However, once again, Colephantus had demonstrated an incredible lack of intelligence and an overwhelming approach at stupidity. News on the holovid showed that Vice President Mac had been murdered, by none other than Cole himself. And with President McCabe kidnapped by Death Star's forces, it threw the government into chaos, leaving the duties of running the government to the generals of the army.

"I can't believe it," Slasher said calmly, looking at the footage of the murder. "I always said, 'Cole, you cannot get any dumber', but then he finds another level of stupidity."

Cheryl stood at his side. "Doesn't that mean you're just dumb for thinking he can't get any dumber?" she asked him.

Slasher sighed, looking at his wife. "You pain me so," he said. He looked back at the holovid. "But now that he's gone and killed the Vice President, anti-reploid sentiments will be rising. There might be an all new surge of hated on the humans' side."

"We'll manage. Even if we have to hit everyone with a hammer until they see that peace is the way to go," Cheryl said.

"I like how you think, but I can't afford that many hammers," Slasher said, turning the holovid off as he walked over to a table.

"We can improvise," Cheryl said, running her hand along his arm.

"As much as I would like that, we have a rat watching us," Slasher said flatly. They both glanced over at Ratshoot, a reploid rat, who sat on the table, eyeing Cheryl's chest. Sighing, Cheryl reached out and slapped the rat off the table.

"Lets talk more ... privately," Cheryl suggested, taking Slasher's hand and leading him up the stairs of the building to a floor that none of the reploids were occupying at the moment. Once they got up to the top, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "You're worried. I can tell."

Slasher sighed, glancing around. Then, in a rare moment for him, he let his defenses down. "I don't know what to do anymore, Cheryl. This war just keeps getting crazier and each side just hates the other more. And Cole manages to nullify any progress we make. For once ... I honestly think I'm out of plans."

Cheryl leaned against the wall. "What about Wiendigo and Gravedigger?"

"They sent me a signal a few hours ago. They're coming back soon. I would assume that means Death Star is almost done with his campaign outside Mega City," Slasher said.

"Then that means he'll be coming back here. And then we can punch him in the face until he gives up," Cheryl said firmly.

Slasher smiled. "I like your plan."

They both moved in to kiss when they heard a cough. They turned to look at Ratshoot staring at them from the floor. "I'm going to guess, rat, you don't have a good reason for being here," Cheryl said darkly.

"Nope," Ratshoot said.

"Leave," Cheryl demanded. Ratshoot gave a little shrug and scattered away from the two. She sighed. "Now, you were telling me that you liked my plan..."

April 14th, 2224
An Abandoned Warehouse
Mega City

Then he groaned, remembering everything that happened. He struggled and turned, looking around and seeing Snipe standing over him with a huge crowbar. "Are you sane?" Snipe demanded, eyeing him.

"Uh... yeah?" Cole asked, eyeing him carefully. Snipe shrugged and tossed the crowbar over his shoulder, then moved to untie Cole from the table. Cole sat up and rubbed his arms, looking at Snipe's face. "I'm sorry about that."

"Don't mention it," Snipe said.

"No, really, I'm rea---" Cole began when Snipe held up his hand.

"I mean it. Don't mention it. I'd like to forget about the entire matter," Snipe said firmly, dropping his hand.

" ... I understand," Cole said slowly, looking around the warehouse. "Where's Kat?" he asked.

"She's asleep. Her body needs healing after those wounds you inflicted upon her," Snipe said, stoic in response.

"... I didn't want to hurt her. I couldn't stop myself," Cole began, but then sighed and looked at his hands. "She must hate me."

"No, quite the opposite. She cared enough about you to come to your rescue, let you beat her to a pulp, then remove a chip from your head," Snipe corrected him, walking over to the floor where his coat was laying. He picked it up, slipping it on. "I'm going to go to the spot where Katrina told me that Slasher was at, see if I can meet up with him and inform him about what happened to you. You stay here - you're a really unpopular guy now that you cut up Mac. Your face is all over the holovid."

Cole nodded. "I understand."

Snipe nodded his head, then opened the door to the warehouse, walking out into the daylight. He closed the door behind him and was out of sight.

Sitting there for a few more minutes, Cole slid to the ground and walked over to a spot in the corner where he saw Katrina. She was huddled on the floor, her face red and swollen. Her neck also had Cole's finger marks around it. Sighing, Cole sat on the floor next to her, feeling the guilt swell up in him. He had done this - chip or not.

Groaning in her sleep, Katrina turned restlessly, until finally she opened her eyes and looked up at Cole. A smile came across her swollen face. "You're okay, Cole," she said, the happiness in her voice.

"Yeah ... thanks to you," Cole said, looking at her. "I'm really sorry for everything."

Katrina sat up, looking at him. "It's okay, really. I'm just glad you're alright. The chip is gone and I went ahead and destroyed the tracking devices, too."

"Thanks, Kat..." Cole said, looking at her. "I don't know why you would do something like this for me, though."

Katrina's smile faltered some. "You're my friend, aren't you? We agreed to be friends."

Cole sat there, then decided to push the issue. "Honestly, Kat, all the things I said and did to you last night ... it would have made more sense for you to kill me." Katrina sat there silently, looking at him. "Why did you really do it, Kat?" he asked again.

Katrina took a deep breath, then looked at Cole. "Because I l---" she began, but suddenly he cut her off. He wasn't even sure why, but something in him made her stop right there, before something was said that couldn't be taken back.

"I'm sorry," he said. Katrina looked at him, confused. "Do you know about Blue? I know I brought her up last night."

Katrina nodded slowly. "Yes. She was your partner when you were working for the police."

"I slept with her. And I ... I love her," Cole said, looking up at her again. "I want to find her and get her out of this mess."

A silence filled the air between the two. So Cole looked at her. "And you have Junior, don't you? He loves you."

Katrina looked away from Cole, at the wall. She mumbled softly. "Yes, I have Junior..." she said softly.

Cole looked at her. "Did something happen?" he asked her. Katrina closed her eyes, picturing the last thing that happened between her and Junior.

Junior stood in front of his shuttle, looking at Katrina. "Come with me," he asked her, glancing back at her shuttle. "There's a whole galaxy out there in trouble. We could help it together."

Katrina hung back, looking at him, then at the ground. "I can't, Junior. My home is here. My parents are about to get offically married in a few weeks. I want to be here with my family and friends."

Junior nodded, walking up to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry I can't stay, but I'm sure you'll do fine here." He gave her a kiss on her forehead, turning to walk to his shuttle.

Katrina stood there, closing her eyes as she listened to the shuttle take off and fly up into the sky. She opened them again only after it was completely gone.

Katrina shook her head. "No ... nothing's wrong," she lied to him, glancing at the wall again. Cole was silent, just looking at her, and time passed like that for a time. "So, you love Blue," Kat began, her voice not as strong as before.

"Yes, I do," Cole said. "I wish things could be different, but..."

Katrina smiled. "We each have our own seperate lives, right? I'm happy for you and I hope you can change her mind."

"Thank you, Kat. For everything. You'll always be my friend."

"Always."

The McCormick Residence
Outside Mega City

Taking some scissors, she cut the bedsheet she had stolen from her dad's bed and made it a respectable length. Nodding with satisfication, she then carried it to her room, passing Hotaru.

"What are you doing?" asked Hotaru, her birth mother.

Michiru smiled. "A science project," she lied to her mom.

Hotaru reached out and gave her a pat on the head. "Well, stay out of trouble, then." And with that Hotaru left to the living room to talk to Em, her other mom.

Waiting until Hotaru was out of sight, Michiru looked around, and grabbed a headband from the exercise machine, using her scissors to cut out two holes in it.

Moving the materials to her own bedroom, Michiru laid them all out on her bed, then grabbed a nice pink shirt. Grabbing a bottle of glue, she made a shape with the glue, then took glitter and shook it on the shirt until it stuck on the glue, forming a glittery version of what she made.

"Alright," Michiru said outloud, "it's time." She put on the shirt, then a nice pair of pants to go with it. Fashion was always important. She then tied the bedsheet around her neck and put the headband around her eyes, adjusting the holes to match up.

Grabbing some of her dads tools for fighting, she opened the window next, then leaped out the window, landing on the ground. She posed in the daylight with her cape, mask, and catgon glitter symbol on her chest. "It's time to help people," she said dramatically.

The Downtown Pub
Mega City

His friends nodded. "Where did they carry him off to?" one of them asked.

The man nodded over his shoulder. "I saw them heading in the direction of the warehouses. If we look around enough, I'm positive we can find them easily."

In agreement, the men begin to pay for their drinks when a man walked up, holding a cig in his hands. "Ah don't suppose you blokes have a light on hand for this fag?" the man asked them.

The men squinted up at him. "What are you implying fellow?" one of them demanded nastily.

The stranger held up his hands easily, then pointed at the cig. "My fag. Do you have a light?"

One of the men rolled their eyes, then waved his hand at the stranger. "Get out of here, you stupid idiot."

The stranger sighed, then reached behind him and grabbed a pool stick. He swung it around and slammed it into the back of the head of one of the men, sending them hitting the bar counter. The other men stared in surprise, then began to stand up.

Laughing, the stranger kicked out one of their stools, sending them falling to the ground, then brought the pool stick down on his head. The stick broke, but the man wasn't getting back up again. Spinning the broken stick in his hand, he swung out and hit the other two men in one fell swoop, sending them crashing to the floor.

Reaching down, he felt around in their pockets until he located a match. Rubbing it against a man's rugged face, he lit the match and brought it up to his cig, lighting it up. "Bloody rude," he told the unconscious men. Taking a drag of the cig, he reached into his pocket and threw out a 20 to the bartender.

As he walked out the door, he held up his hand and did a little wave. "Cheers, mates," he called out. As Pope exited the bar, he glanced around, then began to walk in the direction of the warehouses.