A young man with dark brown hair and steel gray eyes walked towards the city aquarium. It was abandoned but was a meeting place. He knocked on the door. "What's the password?" a male voice asked.

"Green Blood" The young man replied.

The door opened and a crane person stepped into view. "Good evening, Dr. Shackles." The bird said.

"I'm here to speak with Dr. Cinderton, Dr. Cloudstorm. I got some news. Some people found out about the portal to the Wastelands of Guardaria." the man replied.

"Of course, enter." the crane said.

Dr. Shackles entered the room. He pulled up his black hood and looked at the room around him. He saw a werelioness who was looking through files in a manila folder. "Hello, Dr. Sunprance. Have you found the experiment living on Drillsbury Farm, yet?"

She gave him a stern look. "Yes, I did. It is experiment #3003. This one is trouble for you."

"And your point is?" Dr. Shackles asked.

"My point is you and Dr. Cinderton are sloppy!" she growled. "This phronxling has a grudge against you and you stepmother. He escaped the Wastelands and was recruited by Girda, the treacherous pegasus."

"Who is experiment #3003?" Dr. Shackles asked.

"Your friend turned enemy, Stanley Zekeman." Dr. Sunprance pointed out.



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Just as Dr. Sunprance was revealing Dr. Shackle's enemy, a humanoid phoenix lady entered the room. "Oh, Dr. Shackles, how's my boy?"

Sunprance shook her head. "You both have an angry phronxling that allied himself with Girda."

Dr. Cinderton replied, "Stanley won't get far with us."

Dr. Sunprance shook her head. "He is not one to give up so easily."

"Neither am I, Dr. Sunprancer." Dr. Cinderton responded. "I already have plans on how to deal with the twirp and his little army."

"Oh yeah, like what?" Dr. Sunprance asked.

The phoenix lady feigned shock. "Sunprance! You surprise me! You and I both put our heads together on this one! You're the best lioness scientist I could hire!"

"Mhm, or was it for my blue spectroit? It is awfully handy to freeze people in time just for your convenience." Dr. Sunprance said.

"OUR convenience." Dr. Cinderton corrected. "I am not only your employer, I am also your friend, Dr. Sunprance. Remember, I was the one who took pity on you because you and your husband were broke and living in a rundown apartment. You were both starving--and you were pregnant with your cub too."

The lioness remembered how terrible the apartment was. Leaky roof, her constantly getting spider bites (which she feared for her unborn cub), the floorboards that constantly creaked that scared her and her husband of falling through. "Yes, you are right, Dr. Cinderton. You really got me and my family out of a jam."

"By the way, how's your son doing?" Dr. Cinderton asked.

"Oh, he is doing just fine. He is adjusting to living with his own kind." Sunprance said, now looking relaxed.

Dr. Shackles chuckled and shook his head. Dr. Cinderton knew how to calm that cranky old lioness down. "So, what is the scoop? Are we attacking Drillsbury farms? Other people are getting ready to go there to get the portal."

Dr. Cinderton shook her head. "No, not without loosing too many doctors. We are going back to the Wastelands and setting camp there. I'll assemble the rest of our team there."

"So we let the prey come to us." Dr. Sunprance said.

"You got it." Dr. Cinderton nodded.

The lioness smiled, in a predatory way. It made Dr. Shackles nervous when he saw her smile while her frowning did not. It was the smile of a huntress who had her prey right where she wanted it to be. He supposed many werefolk, especially the carnivorous kind, beamed like that whenever things fell into place. "So, what is the plan, Dr. Cinderton?" Dr. Shackles asked.

"That's the best part." the phoenix said. "We plan as they make their move. Every step they take is one step closer for us to make our move."

A devilish grin crept up Dr. Shackle's face. He loved it when a good plan came into action, especially the clever ones.



End of Chapter