It might have been different if his fellow teammates viewed him as an equal. It was obvious that they didn't. On the same mission that the team discovered the nest they also discovered a tunnel that led to the vampire underground. Even though he was allowed to assist in the retrieval of the eggs, he was left behind when the team went to face the vampires.

His teammates viewed him as a computer geek. He had his value but he also had his place.

"Geekboy!" he hissed as he remembered Sedona's jibes.

However that was about to change. All he had to do was recover the missing eggs and he would be the hero. At least that's what he thought.

He had traced the threatening message back to Transverse University. Now he could have easily made a more thorough search at home. He could have bypassed all the University firewalls and security measures with little difficulty. However that wouldn't have been a challenge worthy of a hero.

He approached Transverse University with exhilaration. Every fiber of his being sparked with anticipation. He walked right into the Computer Science department and took a seat at the first empty station. Furiously he began typing away at the keys. A few moments later he located the computer terminal. The name was Dr. Curt Connors, professor of biology.

He looked coldly at the rolled up sleeve of his lab coat where his arm once had been.

Soon! he thought.

He approached the tank containing his lab rat. He cringed when he remembered the squealing the rat had released when he had removed its hind leg. He could have put the poor creature to sleep but he feared it might not wake up. He did not want to remove another limb from another animal. He actually sympathized with them.

He carefully filled the syringe with the Troglodyte solution and injected the rat. Little did he know he had gained an audience. For as he injected the rat, Duane peered through the tiny window in the door to Connor's lab.

Duane watched with fascination. The rat was missing a hind leg and it cowered in the corner of the cage as Dr. Connors shoved the syringe toward it. It squealed as if it was being killed as the needle pierced its skin. Then the squealing only grew louder as the missing leg suddenly re-grew itself.

"Yes!" Dr. Connors screamed triumphantly. "I have done it!"

Connors was so excited he almost forgot to grab a new syringe. The solution had worked. Now he needed to test on himself. He shoved the needle into his flesh. A few moments later he screamed in agony. He fell on the floor and curled into the fetal position. Duane was tempted to run in and assist the poor doctor but before he could react the screaming had stopped.

Dr. Connors rose from the laboratory floor and flexed his re-grown arm. He tested the fingers wiggling them experimentally.

"It worked," he whispered. "Finally everything is going to be all right. Not only do I have my arm back but this discovery is going to get me out of this dead end town."

Duane barely had time to duck around the corner as the excited doctor exited. He watched to make certain the doctor was gone before he entered the lab. He searched frantically for the eggs but only found the leathery membranes that used to serve as the egg's shells. Disappointed he turned to leave the lab. Only as he did he noticed the lab rat experiencing another transformation. The rat was no longer a rat. It was a lizard. A lizard that looked very similar to a Troglodyte.

At that moment Duane put two and two together. With horror he ran to find Dr. Connors. He just hoped he could do it before it was too late.

*(last issue)

It wasn't long before Spinner made his way to the Hat Trick, a local dive that he frequented. As he entered the establishment he bumped into another patron. A man wearing a white lab coat.

"Again?" Sedona challenged.

"Of course." Torrance growled and leapt back to his feet.

"Come on," Sedona pressed. "Your obviously stronger."

Torrance charged and Sedona barely dodged the assault.

"And we both know you're faster!" she continued. "So why are you always on the floor."

"Shut up and fight," Torrance growled.

"You're going to have to earn that!" she taunted.

Torrance's temper flared as he charged in once more. Before he even realized it had happened, claws burst from his fingertips and penetrated Sedona's soft flesh. Sedona looked in disbelief as Torrance followed through by lifting her from the ground and tossing her across the room. The sudden shock caused Torrance to regain control.

He rushed to Sedona's side and Leslie followed him. Blood trickled down Sedona's arm from the claw wound. Then a faint white glow surrounded the wound. The blood disappeared and so did the marks. The white streak in Sedona's hair suddenly doubled in width and her eyes glowed red.

Torrance shook his head thinking the recent blows might be causing him to see things. However Leslie soon confirmed that he was not.

"Sedona, what is going on?" Leslie demanded.

"I'm not sure," Sedona replied. "I think it has something to do with this."

Sedona pulled down her T-shirt and there positioned just above her breast was the mark of 'I'.

"Hey, Duane!" he heard someone call.

Duane followed the sound of the voice until he located Daniel standing on the sidewalk.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"I'm looking for a guy in a lab coat," Duane explained.

"I just saw him," Daniel replied. "He just went into the Hat Trick."

Duane looked across the street at the bar.

"Let's go," Daniel offered. "I was about to go in there myself. You can watch my back." "Really . . . " Duane said in disbelief.

"Sure," Daniel responded and the two began to cross the street. However before they made it across they were interrupted. Daniel looked in total surprise as Spinner came flying through the wall of the Hat Trick and into the street.

Duane was even more shocked when he peered through the hole in the wall and saw the humanoid lizard tearing up the bar. Duane searched the street frantically until he located a payphone.

Daniel, on the other hand had different ideas. There were innocent people in there. Scum of the earth maybe, but they didn't deserve to die at the hands of this monster. He rushed in through the front door and grabbed the first weapon he could find, a leg from a broken table. He gripped the make-shift weapon and struck the reptile across its snout. The beast howled in pain and backhanded Daniel.

Daniel flew through the back wall of the bar and into a stock room. He stood up trying to shake off his aching muscles. As he stood he almost tripped on a rolled up throw rug. As he kicked it out of his way he noticed a trap door on the floor. He pushed the discovery aside as he closed in on the lizard once more.

"I'm a werewolf!" he explained. "So was my father and his father and so on." "That's your problem," Sedona stated, snapping her fingers.

"I know," Torrance moped. "It always has been."

"No," Sedona protested. "Your problem isn't that you are a werewolf. It's that you deny that you're a werewolf."

"What?"

"Your blood is a gift. Not a curse," Sedona continued. "You are so afraid of it that you repress it and because you're always holding back, you can never win a fight."

"You saw the way I lost control just then!" Torrance returned. "What if I hurt one of you?"

"What if you hold back and some monster kills us?" Sedona shot back. "Besides if you don't practice releasing the wolf, you'll never control it."

"Maybe you're right," Torrance agreed reluctantly.

Leslie's cell phone chimed in, startling the three friends.

"Hello?" Leslie answered. "Hold on, Duane. What?" she gasped. "We'll be right there."

"Hurry!" he called out. "Daniel's holding him off but he's not going to last much longer."

The four friends ran into the bar. Daniel swung the table leg like he had been born to wield it. He matched the Lizard's attacks blow after blow doing his best to defend himself. Sweat poured off of his body and it was apparent that he was getting tired. Each block came slower yet the Lizard was not slowing one iota.

Sedona wasted no time in rushing the creature. She slammed it with her most devastating punch. It shook it off and slapped her out of the room and into the stockroom in the back. Duane's eyes grew wide with fear and he ran after her.

"The game is about to change!" Torrance declared.

He rushed the Lizard with his claws already exposed. The Lizard howled in pain as the claws scraped across his scaly flesh. The beast slapped Torrance just as he had the others but was surprised that Torrance stood firm. Torrance punched the reptile in the heart and it staggered back. Torrance followed up with another punch and fur began sprouting on his arms. His canine teeth grew longer and sharper and he could fell his ears growing pointy. The Lizard didn't have a chance as Torrance released his own beast. The Lizard fell unconscious on the floor.

Torrance stood over his fallen opponent and howled victoriously. Leslie smiled and pulled out her cell phone.

As she slammed down the phone she shook her head in disbelief. Reluctantly she picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hello?" she spoke. "This is Dark Child. We have another one."