Euro-Jericho: It's not the Magic Kingdom.

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

Klaus was having a good day. He had finished the preliminary study on Ricky Rider and now he was going to be receiving Michael Stern very soon.

None of his preliminaries were cold or painful or cruel. It was a simple blood test to find the mutants' immunities, allergies, antibodies. It was also his first real chance to map out the mutants' genetic codes.

Ricky was recovering from his own self-inflicted injuries, but would be good to go in a day or two. Then the stress tests and power cap tests could begin.

In all honesty, Klaus was not cruel on his subjects. There was no random cutting or torture. No psychological stress or strain. He just wanted to see the most extreme effects of mutant power.

The mutants who showed promise of providing military or medical applications were kept so the labs could run tests to duplicate and cultivate the effects of the useful mutations.

The ones that proved to have no practical purpose were used in gene suppression experiments and gene altering experiments. The suppresion didn't seem to cause much more than mild anxiety in most subjects, but the removal of the mutant genome from the DNA caused a bit more than extreme trauma to the subject's body. All attempts at gene extraction ended in death.

But no matter.

Michael Stern provided him with a number of curious questions that he wanted the answers to.

The Doctor waited on the helipad on the roof of the Jericho Center in Warsaw. The helicopter landed. When the hatch opened a team of medics unloaded a stretcher with a person strapped down breathing with an oxygen mask. Michael Stern.

After them came a woman who looked like she spent too much time sunbathing. As she approached Klaus noted that her eyebrows were gone.

"Ah, I see you are in one piece." He shook her hand. "Come, let's go to my office and I will arrange for you your money. I would also like to know what happened during your apprehension of the target."

He guided her into the building and to his office. Once inside he shut the door and set up an audio recorder. He set it to record.

"Now, what happened during your apprehension of Michael Stern?"

[Veronica]

Veronica was moody. Her skin hurt and her eyebrows had singed off. She still smelled slightly of burned hair.

"I shot him in the arm with the Remmy 700. He ran into an alley. I shot him some more times with nine mil. Then I tackled him and hit him in the face. He did that teleport thing a few times and tried to fry me with a beam of light." She said, and put a cigarette to her lips. There wasn't much to tell from her perspective. I mean, sure, he put up a good fight, but that wasn't objective. Scientists were obsessed with being objective. Or something. Veronica hadn't spent a lot of time in school. In fact, pretty much the only real legal document she had was a birth certificate, and she had no idea where that was now.

"He passed out from blood loss. He dripped all over the damn place when we were fighting, but if you got new holes in ya every minute yer gonna bleed out." Veronica said, and fished for her lighter in her jeans pocket. Good thing he didn't put a beam on it, that would have been a pile of suck.

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

Klaus raised an eyebrow. "I see."

It could not be helped. He would have to start from square one with his research on Michael Stern.

"Very well. Here is the money as I promised."

He offered her a briefcase. "All cash, as I promised in the currency of your choice."

He allowed her a moment to see for herself that everything was in order. He would have let her count out every single note if it was her wish. Being a scientist he was also a skeptic and nearly always refused to believe something he had not seen with his own eyes.

"You may also keep the tranquilizer pistol. Use it as you see fit. You are also welcome to contact me at any time should you find need for more ammunition."

He checked some notes on his palm pilot. He would be having another one of his daily sessions with Ricky Rider soon. But first it was imperative that he saw Stern's wounds for himself.

"I will trust you to take your leave when you are ready," he said. "I have men outside waiting to escort you to the ground floor where you will be able to go wherever you would like."

He left her suddenly and unceremoniously and hurried to the OR. He scrubbed in quickly and walked to the operating table with full confidence.

Most of Stern's blood flow had stopped. The bullets remained in their wounds. They would go first. He removed them and brought Stern's bleeding under control. Now would be a perfect time to test one of his latest experiments.

Klaus reached for a small vial of clear fluid labelled Phoenix Tears.

In his research on mutants with healing abilities he discovered two variations. One was a personal healing mechanism. For the most part it was a hyper-acceleration of the body's normal healing process. It was so fast that most diseases and wounds stood little chance of being effective.

The other variation was in a mutant's abilities to heal others at accelerated rates. This usually happened by touch. The mutant in question produced an oil from the pores of their skin that had healing properties. When the mutant rubbed this oil on a wound, it caused the wound to heal at a break-neck pace.

He called this oil Phoenix Tears after Fawkes' tears in Harry Potter. He poured a few drops on the first wound in Stern's arm: the one caused by the sniper rifle. The bone formed together and the wound sealed up.

Klaus smirked. He applied the rest to Stern's body and had him swallow an amount for study later.

"Now he must be taken to a cell to recover. Have him strapped down and make sure there is no avenue of escape. No windows. Also blindfold him. I want him to have no idea where he is or even where the door to his cell is located."

The doctor removed his surgical gloves and mask then went to see his other recent addition--Ricky Rider.

[Ricky Rider]

It was obscene how dark it was in Ricky's cell. There was no light, not ever, not even when people came and visited him. He presumed they were wearing night-vision goggles or something, as they never had any trouble finding him, subduing him, or playing God over him.

So far Ricky had received upwards of 20 needles, some to extract things from him, others to inject things into him. He'd been given a physical, too, and his injuries from falling down the stairs at this hideout had been treated. Three times a day he was fed, watered, and helped to use the bathroom. The rest of the time, he was free to sit in the back of the cell until he was visited.

He'd tried a few times to break out, but given his utter lack of combat training all his attempts had been futile and genuinely amusing to his visitors. He hated them, whoever they were. The only one he knew of for certain was the damned Euroguy who had chased him from the grocery store and drugged him up in the first place. Ricky spat in contempt as he heard an echoing from beyond the cell. Speak of the devil and he appears.

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

The hall lights were turned off as Klaus entered the wing. It was imperative that Ricky be given no quarter to use his powers. Klaus knew the facility well. It was his design and he knew it like the back of his hand. There was no need to see or be afraid. The Center was his. He owned it and everything in it.

The door to Ricky's cell slid open without so much as a sound. The doctor entered.

"Ricky, today I want to discuss with you the next phase of our research."

For the most part it had been simple tests. Blood tests. Ricky recieved an infusion of the immunity booster Klaus derived from one of the personal healing factor mutants and had adjusted to it well. Testing later on revealed that Ricky had evacuated the infusion a day or two later.

"Ricky, I have a mutant here whose power is to generate light. As I investigate the source of his power I would like very much to pair the two of you together in a series of field tests."

[Ricky Rider]

Ricky told Klaus exactly what he could do and where he could go, listening intently to the man's voice to try and figure out where he was. He hadn't heard anybody else come in...maybe he'd finally have his chance to get out. The doctor hadn't looked like much back in America, and Ricky couldn't imagine him experimenting with mutants if he were one himself. Ricky also couldn't see a big-brain like Klaus being capable of any sort of fighting.

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

Klaus had expected Ricky to refuse. "As you wish. There will be no further experiments until the other mutant has fully recovered. Bear this in mind for when I visit you next, Ricky. Your consent lets you see the world beyond these walls again. And things can go wrong during outside field testing."

Klaus left that bait dangling for Ricky and stepped outside. Once the door shut behind him the lights dimmed on until they were their usual full intensity.

He went to the far end of the wing where Michael Stern was supposed to have been transferred. He opened the cell and inspected the situation. Michael was strapped to a table which could be adjusted as Klaus saw fit. That would do nicely.

Dr. Heidegger checked breathing, pulse, and took a blood sample. He wanted to see if the Phoenix Tears were still in his system. There was also the project of mapping out Stern's genetic code.

"One gene. The same in every DNA map I have ever drew. And yet, each time it yields a different result in nearly every single mutant I study. Fascinating."

[Ricky Rider]

Ricky stampeded towards where he thought Klaus was, only to hit a wall as the door shut a few feet to his left. Ricky screamed a curse at wall and slid down it, sitting and peering into nothing. Getting out would be awesome, but he wanted it on his terms. Any more of this and he'd probably go blind.

[Stern]

When Stern awoke, he had no idea where he was or what day it was. There was nothing to see. The ambient light he gave off was low, but he could make it out past his blindfold.

"Anita?"

He had dreamt about her. That much was certain. He tried to get up to see where he was, but found himself held down by straps to what felt like a table.

Feet echoed outside. Then the feet grew louder and clearer. Someone had walked into his space. A door had opened somewhere nearby.

His first impulse was to light jump to the sound of the feet, but he held back. He needed to learn where he was and what had been happening. Whatever it was, Stern was certain he would not like it at all.

"Who're you?" He asked the footsteps.

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

"My name is Doctor Klaus Heidegger," the geneticist replied. "Welcome to the Jericho headquarters in Warsaw. I have been very interested in meeting you, Michael Stern."

The doctor strode over to the table and pressed a button under the tabletop. It moved forward so that Stern was strapped to it, but was no longer lying down.

"You are very interesting to me, Mister Stern," he said. "Your light powers are most peculiar. Especially the speed of light travel. You must tell me all about it."

Klaus smirked. "If I can find a way to harness your genetic abberation it may revolutionize transportation as we know it. Not to mention solar power."

[Stern]

Stern shrugged as best he could. "I don't know how it works. somehow I'm bio luminescent, so I figure at some point my skin must be clear. My hair is."

Stern glowered behind the blindfold. He could feel his goggles against his face as he changed his expression. That was good.

"I don't know how most of it happens. I just know I can do it. I suppose you'll have to find out for yourself."

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

Klaus returned to the entrance of the cell and opened the door.

"Prepare Ricky Rider to be sent to testing room 1013B. Send additional support for transporting Michael Stern. I need equipment for checking vital signs and other things."

Eventually he was going to have to get a tissue sample from Stern to test for the levels of melanin in his skin cells. He might as well do that while he was waiting.

"Mister Stern, I am afraid that I will need a small portion of your skin to study."

[Ricky Rider]

Ricky resigned himself to his fate as he heard the trooping of soldiers approaching his cell. These guys are ones he wouldn't be able to stop...no sense wasting energy. They grappled him roughly as they approached, and one clamped something onto his neck that made him cough. One of the soldiers fiddled with something to his right (he could hear a device beeping) and then they dragged him out.

The light was blinding and it made Ricky's eyes water. For the first few seconds he still couldn't see much, but as his eyes adjusted it became clear that he hadn't missed much. The halls were all the same, sterile white walls, and the only thing setting one door apart from another was the number printed on each one. They stopped before 1013B, opened the door, and pitched Ricky inside.

[Stern]

As soon as Klaus' words reached Stern's ears he willed himself to the source of the sound. His transformation was instantaneous and before anyone knew what was happening Stern was in the hallway. He tore the blindfold off his eyes and kicked Klaus the rest of the way in the room and let the door shut on him.

"I don't have to see where I'm going to light-jump. Write that down in your little science journal!"

Stern flared, blinding the guards and took off down the wing towards the stairs.

[Doktor Klaus Heidegger]

Klaus contacted the head of security. "Set the building to full alert. We have a mutant trying to escape. I want the whole facility shut down. All windows should be shielded, automated security online and every last member on the personnel roster on post."

Klaus clicked off the comm and shut his eyes tight as his mind raced to cover every possible angle. "Un-collar Ricky Rider and send him after the escapee. Ricky absorbs light as part of his mutation. Perhaps we can use that to our advantage. Be prepared to knock out or kill Ricky should he attempt to assist the escapee in anyway. Offer him freedom. He's been tagged so we can find him later if needed."

Klaus did not like this situation. Most insurrections ended a foot or so away from the cell door, but this could cause trouble. Stern's light-jump was especially dangerous if the mutant could find a window before the shields could be brought down over them. Plus letting Ricky go freely around the building was a terribly risk. But all worth it if he could keep them for later research.

[Ricky Rider]

No sooner had Ricky been tossed into the room than his collar deactivated and fell off. Ricky presumed the collar had been to keep him from trying anything during transportation, and looked about the room as a voice came over a loudspeaker.

"Ricky Rider, your objective is to find Michael Stern, a mutant you will recognize by his hair and goggles, and neutralize him. Stern can manipulate and become light, I'm sure I don't need to tell you what advantages this poses to you."

Ricky sneered, looking around for something that would indicate a control booth, or monitoring room.

"Your reward," continued the voice, "Will be freedom from this faciliity, provided you cooperate with our staff and keep friendly fire to a minimum. Know that we can neutralize you in the same manner as before. Make your choice wisely, mutant." The door behind him opened, and Ricky turned towards it. Taking this as a sign that Ricky would be cooperating, the voice made one final announcement. "Mister Stern was last located in the floor above. Turn left when you get out into the hall and you cannot miss the staircase leading upward. All elevators are locked down. Happy hunting."

Ricky stepped into the hall, turned as he'd been instructed, and sprinted for the stairway at the end, taking in light to ready his first salvo.

[Stern]

Stern bolted down the hall and flung open the door. Up or down? He had no idea where he was. If he went down he could get out through a lobby or reception area. Of course if he went too far down he might get stuck in a basement level or something. Up would be easiest since eventually he would have to find the roof.

There was a loud banging sound as the door one floor below blew off its hinges and slammed into the other wall in the stairway. The stairs turned back on themselves immediately between flights, leaving no space for him to look up or down and see what was in store for him.

With not solid way of knowing where he was going to end up, Stern decided to start running up the stairs.

With no time to focus his energy into an Archimedes blast, he'd have to settle for flares until he could find a better place to fend off his pursuers.

[Ricky Rider]

Ricky stepped into the stairwell and shielded his eyes from the flare. He kept his eyes on the floor, squinted nearly shut to keep himself from being blinded too badly and still allow himself to see the stairs.

He flew up them after the sound of feet hammering furiously on floor above him, gathering light for another blast. By the time they reached the roof, his arms were entirely obscured by the dark light that signified his power intake. The door to the roof slammed shut in front of him, and Ricky blew it away, watching it skid and bounce as he stepped calmly, confidently outside.

"Best give it up. You won't be leaving here today, Michael Stern."

[Stern]

Stern whipped around. "I'm going to tell you one time. Don't mess with me."

Stern's voice was low and dangerous. He took a fighting stance. His feet stood shoulder width apart with his knees slightly bent. His hands were up around his face and his elbows in to protect his chest.

"Get down. I got nothing to lose and I'm having a bad day. Don't make me take it out on you."

[Ricky Rider]

Ricky laughed so hard even his good eye squinted almost shut.

"You think you've been having it rough? Turns out I'm having a bad day, too. In fact, I think I've just plain been having a bad week." He set a grim smile on his face. "Let's see who's had it worse." The light flickered dimly around his body, and his shirt dissolved as a laserbeam streaked towards Stern.

[Stern]

Stern clenched his jaw and responded to the blast out of reflex. His glow intensified as he made the transition into light. Then he was back to normal. He hadn't moved.

Stern had apparently dodged the blast by phasing into light and back again. It was new on him, but he'd take it.

His next light transformation went somewhere. Stern materialized in front of Ricky and aimed two solid punches into his gut. None of this clubbing people on the back of the head. Stern wanted to rock someone's jaw.

[Ricky Rider]

Ricky looked stunned as his opponent became a pillar of light and then human again, and he remained so until Stern hit him twice in the span of a second. Ricky reeled back, wishing so badly for combat training, and then decided that he didn't need it. He began to absorb light unceasingly, ready at any moment to fire. Ricky punched back with an angry cry.

[Stern]

Stern felt something leaving him. It was strange, but he felt like light was being pulled out of him. Not good. Stern phased just in time to dodge the punch. This was going to be tricky.

Stern flared and used the light's intensity to hide his right hook to Ricky's face.

[Ricky Rider]

The flare wasn't nearly as bright as it should've been. Squinting was enough to protect Ricky from the worst of it, and he managed to get an arm between himself and Stern's fist. He shot a small burst from his fist as he retracted it from the earlier attack and kicked out at Stern's knee.

[Stern]

Stern phased to avoid the laser but took the kick in the knee just as he materialized. He turned his leg so it bent naturally and shoulder checked Ricky in the chest.

He followed through, moving with Ricky's body and swept his leg behind the other mutant so Ricky kept moving backwards, but his foot could not follow.

[Ricky Rider]

The boy stumbled backward, flipping over to his feet and rising with a punch and a laserbolt. He advanced a step and did it again with the other hand. Punch, blast. Punch, blast. Tee-dum, tee-dum. The darklight around him strengthened with each attack, even as Stern's true light diminished.

[Stern]

Stern phased and took a graze on his shoulder. He phased and found his side burning. After the third try he learned to block and then phase out. But it was getting harder to do.

He wasn't going to lose he had somewhere to be.

Stern blocked the next punch and trapped Ricky's arm so he couldn't get away. He rammed his knee into Ricky's side and followed with a palm strike up into Ricky's chin.

Ricky was absorbing his light. That's what it was all about.

"You need light? Well, go ahead and soak up the sun!"

Stern flared. Brighter and brighter. Three city blocks were lit up like daylight as Stern attempted to overload Ricky's powers. He was burning brightly enough, he could feel the edge of his light-jump.

Just a few moments more and then he'd jump out.

[Ricky Rider]

He fell to the roof under the weight of Stern's attacks, panting and trying to get a grip. He wasn't going to lose; he needed his freedom! Ricky's body was hidden in black light as he absorbed Stern's output. He could feel heat within his body as the energy he stored grew stronger, and it made him feel nauseous. Apparently, he had a limit to the amount he could have before needing to fire.

"Thanks for that, sunshine," he gritted, pointing both fists and unleashing a focused beam from each of them, not caring if he hit Stern, only that he bleed off this energy so he could take more. "Let's see how long it takes you to become a dwarf star."

[Stern]

Stern twisted his body to make a narrower profile as the two red beams lanced towards him. They dug into his chest and his back as they whizzed by, searing his flesh but at the same time cauterizing the wounds.

Now it was a simple battle of wills. Stern would continue to bring the sun and Ricky would continue absorbing the light and firing in his general direction. Eventually Ricky would tire and leave or Stern would jump out at the last second if he didn't pass out from fatigue first.

[Ricky Rider]

By now Ricky was entirely blinded. He started sweeping the lasers in case Stern had moved, shooting a third laser from his chest to bleed off the energy faster and give him a 3rd chance at hitting the light-maker. He felt foolish, but what else could he do?

[Stern]

Stern found himself suddenly accosted by a third beam. Where was it coming from? There was no avoiding it. Stern phased and willed himself forward.

The light shot over Ricky's shoulder and into the horizon. Stern was gone.