The sound of both Aqwen and Wulkun slapping their scaly hands against their foreheads echoed through the cave. Kaleb winced at the noise, but Gor'kinak ignored it as he pointed a finger triumphantly.

"HA! He accepted! Send someone to go prepare the ring!"

Wulkun turned a sad look to Aqwen, who bit her lip and stomped off. Meanwhile, the old lizard said.

"Gor'kinak, he doesn't know what he just accepted."

"Some kind of physical contest, right? Essentially a trial by combat?" Kaleb said as walked toward the front of the cave.

"Simplistic. But basically correct. The ssllassichiiniilieikkkk was first introduced to the Brute Clans by the Council. They wanted us to have a way to solve internal conflicts without hurting each other. But of course, given our nature, we quickly turned it into a contest of strength."

"RAW strength." Gor'kinak emphasized, grinning evilly. "So your little toys will not be permitted. Nor will that monstrosity."

The big lizard pointed around Rhot's shoulder, straight at Kaleb's cybernetic arm. Kaleb was brought up short with that statement. In truth, he had hoped to rely on his gadgets and weapons during the fight. Looking at Wulkun and Gor'kinak, both lizards were probably aware of his misconception. His mind whirled as he tried to find an argument to let him keep his weapons. But even the ancient meaning of the Basilinoidian word was against him. It almost literally meant 'a battle without weapons.' The standard Basilinoids assumed it was a contest of the mind. However, the Brute Clans had clearly changed the meaning to suit their own way of doing things.

"Doc, I think you can take him." Two Gun whispered trying to cover a laugh.

Claire smacked her husband gently across the shoulders. "Stop that. You've seen the Professor at training. He's a brawler that relies on his size and metal arm to see him through a fight. That lizard is a foot taller than him and he'll be one-armed! That is in no way fair."

Kaleb rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It's not meant to be fair. At least in this case. Gor'kinak wanted a way to oust me from the clans. So now he has the excuse."

"Then fuck them. They can get their own weapons."

"Now that Rhot is here, they may be able to do that. But the downside for us would be we'd lose half our staff above ground. The Clans would no longer help us."

Kaleb's mind was still going through the implanted history, looking for an out. Unfortunately, the challenge was ironclad. The two participants would meant within a circle and the challenge would commence. However, there was something about the rules that tickled his brain as he reread through the flashing memories. Kaleb found what he was looking for and grinned.

"Both participants must be equally prepared for the challenge ahead!" He shouted.

"I am ready!" Gor'kinak stated solemnly as he raised his arms.

"Yeah, but I'm not. So the law dictates I get three days to prepare!"

Two Gun leaned in close to Kaleb and whispered. "Three days seems awkward…"

"Technically, it was 'until the third moon has risen.' But we're not exactly on the Basilinoid's home planet."

The old cowboy nodded as Wulkun and Gor'kinak both looked thoughtful. Rhot was still scowling down at the smaller elder. Probably deciding whether or not to stomp his head in. Kaleb's challenger glared over at the older Wulkun before scowling. Clearly, he'd thrown a wrench into the plans. But not a permanent one. Finally, the surly Clan Elder spun around on the spot and spat on the ground.

"You can have your three days. It won't make much of a difference. Soon you will be out of clan business and our young warriors shall come back to us."

With that, Gor'kinak stomped away as Kaleb blew out a breath. The seedlings of a horrible plan were already sprouting in his mind, and he needed to hurry. He was turning back to the table as Two Gun and Claire pushed in.

"So you bought yourself some time. Now what?" Claire asked.

"Now, I try to even the playing field before the time limit is up." Kaleb said simply.

"No weapons are allowed." Wulkun intoned, hobbling over with the help of Rhot.

The old lizard could move when he needed to. But apparently the bigger Elder was impatient. Kaleb sifted through the data slates and pieces of paper on the worktable as he tried to collect his thoughts.

"Is the Brute Clan's strength considered a weapon?"

"Of course not! We were born with it."

Kaleb shook his head. "No. It was forced on you by the Basilinoid high council."

Kaleb grabbed another syringe and summoned a dozing Milly from within his arm. The animal was hesitant to stick her nose up, knowing what Kaleb wanted. But eventually she came out as he promised treats. The alien animal lazily sprawled across the table as Kaleb prepared to take her blood. They already had plenty of fur and nail clippings from her back at the Hangar. He hoped Roy would hurry up with Daivor. He was going to need the gnome's help.

Gently as he could, Kaleb took a blood sample from Milly and placed it in another vial. The small blue marmot wasn't happy, but she only sent a small bolt of electricity at him before returning. She sank into his arm, and Kaleb collected the three vials he needed. Turning toward the analyzer, he almost ran face first into Two Gun and Claire.

"Weren't you two leaving? Seriously, this is going to get super boring for anyone watching."

"What's going to get boring?!" Rhot asked, sounding excited.

Kaleb looked around at his curious audience before he shrugged. The vials were still clasped in his hand. "I'm going to make a super serum."

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"In three days!?" Wulkun asked.

"Hopefully."

"Can you do that?"

"Lord, I hope so. Otherwise, a seven-foot tall lizard is going to pound my face in."

"Because you agreed to his challenge."

"Yes, Two Gun, I am well aware that I've dug the hole I'm trying to crawl out of. Let's be solution oriented here."

Kaleb marched around the group and toward the DNA analyzer. He was going to need to record the exact sequence chain of each of his samples. He was somewhat familiar with Milly's blood and even the blood of the Brute Clan. Assuming that the big lizard's DNA wasn't that different from his own. Slowing as he placed the samples inside the device, Kaleb rushed back to the table and got a third syringe. He quickly took his own blood sample and placed the vial alongside the others. He was going to need a base to work from.

He hit his first problem when he attempted to turn the machine on. The screen flashed for a second and then turned off dramatically. Wheeling around, he saw Rhot scratching the back of his head awkwardly. But before he could ask a question, the power surged back on for a few moments before quickly shutting down again. Whatever power supply Rhot was using was inefficient to run the equipment. Kaleb removed his lab coat and set it aside before he grabbed a nearby toolkit. He followed the power cables toward whatever generator the Brute Clan was using.

He found the massive, smoke-spewing thing outside the cave and nestled close to the cavern wall. The generator was old looking, with dirt crusted all over its vents and its cyclers sounding like they were about to blow. Two Brute clan lizards were lazing next to the generator, and as it whined down to a stop, one of the lizards would hit it. The generator would then cycle back up again before a giant plume of smoke seeped out of its metal seams. Kaleb wanted to smack everyone involved with the operation of the machine. But instead he simply moved closer to the brown metal box and ordered the Brute lizards to get out of the way.

"Do what he says!" Rhot's raspy voice said from behind Kaleb, so apparently his audience had followed him.

Kaleb overlooked the dented metal that the lizards had been punching into and searched for a maintenance hatch or something. He found a control panel nestled toward the back end of the generator and immediately turned the thing off. There were some shouts of confusion from off in the distance, but Kaleb ignored them as he switched on the generator's diagnostic mode. While that was running, he pulled out a crowbar from his purloined toolbox. He moved over to the dented plate of metal in the generator's side and started prying the bit of metal off. Normally he'd drill out the rivets and take them off that way. But quick and dirty were going to be the words over the next few days.

He had the thick piece of metal buckled nicely when an emerald green arm stuck into his view. The slim appendage got underneath the metal plate and yanked it clear off the side of the machine. Kaleb looked up and saw Claire standing just behind him. The metal plate was still in her hand.

"Thank you, Claire."

The tall woman smiled down at him but said nothing as Kaleb examined the inside of the machine. He wanted to groan as he noticed three of the generator's power cyclers had been damaged from the repeated punching. Well, two and a half. One was still in touch with its contacts, but it was continually falling out of place. Its fins were crunched in from repeated hits, and Kaleb turned to look at the two generator guards. The guards and Rhot all looked apologetic as Kaleb blew out a breath from his nose. Wulkun gave an uncomfortable cough, drawing Kaleb's eyes away from the sorry trio.

"Ahem… We have three more of these generators powering the compound."

Kaleb's eyes went wide with surprise before he stopped himself. That didn't make sense. Turning back to the generator. It had one… two… five cyclers total. That much power generation should have been enough for the entire mansion and then some. Then it hit him.

"Has the same… percussive maintenance been performed on those units?"

Wulkun wouldn't meet his eye, but the old lizard nodded slowly. "Yes."

Kaleb drew in a deep breath through his nose as he nodded. "Okay… Two Gun, Claire, can I have you both to do a supply run for me when you head back up?"

The husband and wife team looked at each other before shrugging.

"Sure." said Two Gun

"You just have to tell us what you'll need."

"I'll write out a list in a moment. First, I want to get this one up and running." Kaleb said, kneeling down to the toolkit and searching its depths.

Finding the tool he needed, Kaleb began removing the broken cyclers from the machine. One was crushed beyond all repair, but the other one could be stripped for parts to fix the third. He removed the cyclers while mentally going over a list of items he was going to need. Three power cyclers would be enough for the lab for now. But the other generators were going to have to be fully reworked. But all that could wait. He needed the lab operational so he could work on the serum. That was the important part right now. He needed to focus.

He bent the third cycler's fins back into position as gently as he could and then replaced the bottom and top contacts. He double-checked to see if it was seated correctly and then went back to the control panel. The diagnostic read was still live, and it was reading three cyclers. Which put the generator at sixty percent power. He put the machine into test mode and sent a jolt of power through it. The generator rumbled to life for a few minutes before it slowed back down to a stop. Everything was reading green, so Kaleb cleaned out the vents and then turned the thing on. It wasn't a one-hundred percent fix, but it would do for what he needed.

Collecting his tools, Kaleb turned to see that his audience had increased slightly. Aqwen was back with a collection of other Brute Clan lizards. Apparently, they were watching him do his repair job. When it became clear that he was finished, Rhot threw his head back and crowed with triumphant. The other large members of his clan joined in. But Kaleb shook his head at them as he marched back toward the cave. Claire and Two Gun right behind him.

Kaleb made a beeline for the work table and quickly wrote out what he needed. Turning, he handed the list to Two Gun before thanking the pair.

"It should all be in my lab, and if Roy is still there, you can get him to bring it down."

"Bullshit. We aren't missing your fight. Especially if you're going to go all Mutant first."

Kaleb waggled his head. "I don't think I'm going to be a mutant exactly. I'm just going to ingest an experimental serum based on someone else's formula using substitute ingredients. Really, I'd be lucky if it didn't kill me."

Two Gun snorted as Claire looked over her husband's shoulder at Kaleb's list. Quirking a black eyebrow, the tall woman gave Kaleb a questioning look.

"Paprika?"

"Trust me, I know. It's all about the quantities used and how they are mixed, though. So I should be in business."

Two Gun looked down the rest of the list, looking increasingly confused. But Kaleb put his palms up, stalling any other questions.

"You two are going to want to hurry, right? Jar-lock has the Face-Snatcher case, and you need to catch Roy and Daivor before they leave. So go! Please!?"

Two Gun sighed heavily before tipping his hat at Kaleb. Claire gave a wave before the pair ran out of the cave and out of the compound completely. Kaleb felt a headache forming right between his eyes as he looked around at the dark cave. The dirt walls and ceiling contrasted harshly with the high-tech equipment and he grimaced as some dirt sprinkled down on the Thermal Cycler. It wasn't pretty, but it was the lab he was going to use to build a super serum.

Yep, he was going to recreate something that the larger companies like K-Tech and TekNik had tried to create. Something that the military only handed out sparingly. A serum that could change the direction of not only the Brute Clan, but Kaleb's SG and even the Hunter's destinies. All from a dank, dark cave in the nicest part of the city's criminal underground.

Kaleb sucked in a breath before he blew it out in one breath. "Yep. This is a stupid idea."

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