[robopup24]

The Ferrikoon laughed at all of them. "You can't catch up! Ferrikoons are way faster than any of you!" She flew faster, enjoying herself, feeling the wind whip past her. Miana galloped, her hoovesteps making slight earthquakes everytime they hit the ground. Faster! More speed! The Gyrophant pushed herself until she thought she reached her limit. Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind.

"Ferri? Where's the finish line? Ferri!"

Ferri was too far ahead to hear her.

[Mojave]

Kazi caught up to Miana and yowled at her, a slight growling purr in its voice, "What, ready to reach it already?" It laughed and leapt on ahead, still gathering speed as Kazi had not started out at maximum speed.

Alexiel and Monima too were only just now reaching max speed, and they still had the energy to go on for a bit longer. They too laughed as they reached Miana, but did not speed on ahead. They wanted to be sure they could go whatever distance their companions could.

A: 19
M: 19
K: 24

[robopup24]

"Stupid Ferrikoon," Miana muttered under her breath. Could she go faster? She didn't know, but she'll try. She won't lose to the Kazi! Miana galloped faster, trying to pull ahead of the Khimera and the other Kuhna. "She didn't even tell us where the finish line was!"

Ferri was slowing down, getting rather tired from her fast sprint. Great. A chance to catch up!

[Mojave]

Kazi kept pace with Ferri and Miana, enjoying its time without a glitch. However, it had counted its chickens before they hatched. Without warning, its blood, normally a mixture of pink and purple, changed to solid purple. Also, it forgot why it was behind a running Ferrikoon, but instantly its hunting instinct came into play. A roar escaped its great jaws and Kazi leapt toward Ferri, hoping to catch her and pin her down. Snack time...

Alexiel and Monima noticed the change and, exchanging forboding glances, used their last bit of speed to catch up with Kazi. They both pounced, landing neatly on the Khimera's back and weighing it down. Kazi missed Ferri completely and landed on its belly. Both Monima and Alexiel growled back at Miana and Ferri, "Just keep back for a moment."

A: 20
M: 20
K: 25

[robopup24]

Ferri shrieked in terror as the huge Khimera leaped. Fortunantly, the two Kuhnas had interfered, right before she got sliced. "W-wow..." The Ferrikoon kept herself in the air, keeping a good distance away. "Erm, I'll stay here."

Miana said nothing. The Gyrophant made a slight movement, as if she was going to help them, but thought better of it. Miana stood there, watching. How strange. What could have caused Kazi to act so strange suddenly?

[Mojave]

"YOU two again!" Kazi snarled as it rolled out from under the two kuhnas, even Kazi's voice had changed to a deeper tone, almost more masculine. "I told you last time if you interfere with me again, it'd be the end of your puny hides." Kazi snarled and leapt at them.

Alexiel and Monima had lost their footing when Kazi had rolled away, but they managed to doge out of its way when it charged them. "Kazi, snap out of it!" Alexiel snapped. Monima remained silent, waiting for something.

"Snap out of what? I'm perfectly fine." "No you're not! You attacked a friend!" Monima replied impatiently. "Friend? Why would a khimera befriend a ferrikoon? They're nothing more than a snack." Kazi turned a cold eye to Ferri, and grinned cruelly.

A: 21
M: 21
K: 26

[robopup24]

Miana could not stay silent anymore. She stepped foward and snapped, "You heard them. Snap out of it." The Gyrophant glanced at Ferri. The Ferrikoon had flown a bit higher. The air seemed to tense... "Ferri is not a snack! If you want to eat her, you have to get past me." Sure, Ferri was annoying, but, she was still Miana's friend.

Ferri nervously said, "Yeah, whatever she said. Erm...don't eat me?"

[Mojave]

Kazi glared up at Miana thinking how foolish this beast was to mess with him. That's right... HIM. He knew his gender, no matter what those people had done to him.

Alexiel shook her head and pounced. She landed neatly upon the khimera's head and motioned for Monima. The white female joined her, and Kazi roared in rage as the two female kuhnas perched upon his head, secured between the metal spires upon his head.

Exchanging glances and a nod, Monima and Alexiel stood up on their hind legs and raised their paws. Together, they smacked Kazi in between the metal on his head.

However, it didn't help. Instead, Kazi snarled and shook his head, also rearing up on his back legs. It worked in getting Monima and Alexiel off, but Kazi suddenly just wanted to get away. He bounded off, leaving Monima and Alexiel staring after him, angry and slighty confused.

Alexiel snarled and stood up shaking herself. "Why didn't it work?"
Monima sighed and also stood up. "Before anything else happens, I think you two need to know the full deal with Kazibantu."
Alexiel growled some more but nodded her head, "Yes, because since the blow to the head didn't fix things, we might just be in for some serious trouble." They both looked up at Miana and Ferri, expecting them to back out with the excuse that they didn't want to know anything about their psycho companion.

A: 22
M: 22
K: 27

[robopup24]

Miana curiously looked at them, then at the Khimera running off. "I think you should tell us. After all, my owner is thinking about getting one..." The Gyrophant uneasily shifted. "We'll have to go after her...or is it him?"

"Not me." Ferri exclaimed. "That...thing tried to eat me!"

"Get some guts, will you?" Miana glanced at Ferri. "Just tell us then. I can tell this is serious."

[Mojave]

"Well.. not all khimeras are like Kazi." Monima began. "It's just.. its creators were really... I guess you could say strange." Alexiel added. The two looked at eachother and Alexiel noddd and curled up, watching everyone's reactions.

Monima took a deep breath and sat down. "Kazi is neither male nor female. It has none of the glands or body parts to either gender. Normally, if Kazi had just been born that way, it would have been okay.. I guess. But our friend's creators decided to mix techniques- as far as we can tell. Kazi has a mixture of programming and chemicals that tell it how to behave. But.. it was sabotaged. One of the creators wanted Kazi to be male, the other female. We guess they had a fight and did both, meaning that the body ended up without anything, the programs clash, and the chemicals mix and seperate."

"This is just guess-work, by the way. We're new to the family and we haven't gotten much of an investigation done about Kazi." Alexiel added, interrupting Monima.

"Yes, that's correct. But Kazi is typically okay as the chemicals and programming work seperately leaving the basic instinct of the beast in control. However, there are times when the male programming or chemical takes over and others where it's the female. Right now, it's the chemicals in Kazi's blood controlling it. When it's the programming, a blow to the head will fix it. We're not sure... how to get the safe Kazi back." Monima finished. She realized there were alot of holes in the story, but that was all she and Alexiel knew.

"But we're going after eh.... her." Alexiel rolled her eyes. "I refer to Kazi as a girl."

A: 23
M: 23
K: 27 (didn't do anything)

[robopup24]

"We'll help then." Miana glanced at Ferri. "Right, Ferri?"

"No way." Ferri turned her back on them. "Kazi, whether she or he, tried to eat me! Why should I help someone who tried to eat me?!"

"Because." The Gyrophant sighed. "Look, if anything happens, I'll protect you, okay? You don't need to panic. Geez...well, let's go follow Kazi then."

[Mojave]

Both Miana and Alexiel listened to this exchange, surprised. "We're not going to force anyone to come. There is a chance we cannot make Kazi change back. If that's the case, we're all getting away from it." Miana explained.

Alexiel nodded, but turned and followed Kazi toward Jawan. It seemed their family had a reputation of disturbing Jawan's peace.....

A: 24
M: 24