The fire department brought donuts and coffee when they arrived- I may have been surrounded by carnage and chaos, but at least now I was fed. I gave Boom-Boom a Boston Creme donut to lick and nibble as I joined Detective LaLouf, Doctor LaLouf, Dr. Snively, and Cleetus to observe the strange footprints we'd spotted.

"They look like dragon prints," I said bluntly.

"Absurd," grumbled Laurence.

"The two guys who survived said pretty clearly it was a dragon that did this. I know I'm no scientist but ain't that fairly conclusive evidence?"

"Dragons don't exist," Laurence held tough to his views.

"They don't exist on EARTH," remarked Snively as he fiddled with some device in his hands, "but this is Mars. Perhaps if the form I have seen over the years is a dragon, why, that would explain the fire you said you saw last night, Cole!"

I nodded and looked to Detective LaLouf. "Told you."

The detective seemed lost in thought.

"Well then," Cleetus put his arm 'affectionately' around my shoulder but I could feel him dig his fingernails into my arm. "If that exonerates Cole, I think we're no longer needed here. Come on, Cole, let's go home. You're probably so worn out from all this social interaction that you never want to be seen in public again."

The last thing I wanted to do was leave with my bodyguard. He was planning to sever my head and bury my body on one of Mars' moons. I really preferred to remain a whole, intact human being.

I slid out of his hold. "Well, but I can't leave now," I explained, "I heard that poor man saw- he said it was a dragon. That same dragon burned down Martha Ann and Dan's. "

"Well, not necessarily," said Dr. Snively, "there could be more than one dragon. The one that you saw last night and the one that attacked Vice Villa could be completely seperate entities."

"Assuming dragons even exist," threw out Laurence, "which is still out for debate."

"Well," I continued, "my point being is I want to stay around. To help, you know? To get justice for Martha Ann."

"I thought Martha Ann was talking shit about you," said Detective LaLouf.

"I mean, she was, but she didn't deserve to die."

"Depends," Snively quipped as he pressed a few buttons, "what was she saying?"

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"It wasn't that bad," said Cleetus, obviously still defending me to get me alone to kill. "Cole, you're exaggerating. Besides, the best thing we can do to help Martha Ann get justice is to let the professionals handle this."

"'Professionals?'" Dr. Snively repeated, "I don't think any of us here are professionals. I've certainly never tracked a dragon before."

"IF dragons even exist," added Laurence.

"Laurence, we've got to admit the evidence is pretty convlusive," LaLouf crossed her arms.

"Lola! You...you're taking Sherman's side?"

"Something just massacred two groups of people in a span of less than twenty four hours. It's my job to keep people safe. Dragon, form, whatever it is, it's destroying humans and we already are so few as it is." She looked over to me. "I, for one, am going to need all the help I can get stopping this monster."

"And there's alot of equipment in the jeep still," added Snively, "I'll need all the help I can get carrying it."

I stepped forward. "Guess I'm your man! Both of you! However you want to divide my labor!" I hadn't ever been much of a volunteer but today was as good a day as any to begin being helpful.

Cleetus sighed, clearly annoyed. "Well," he slowly said, "let me know how I can help too...as long as I stay close to Cole."

Now it was my turn to sigh.

Suddenly, Dr. Snively let out a leaky fart in surprise. "Oh! Oh! It's working! I'm picking something up!"

"What is it, Sherman?" asked Laurence, "what are you picking up?"

"I set this device to pick up abnormal radio frequencies in a twenty mile radius. There's something coming from that way!" The doctor started walking in a hurry in the direction he had indicated.

"I..I have a jeep, Sherman," noted Laurence. "You don't have to walk..."

"I call shotgun!" I announced, ensuring my free lap for Boom-Boom.

We were off then on our pursuit. In hindsight, Dr. Snively should have had the passenger seat as he had the device that could determine where we were going; but my dibs were honored in true adult fashion. Instead, Snively returned to his spot from before in the back with Detective LaLouf in the middle and Cleetus behind me. I almost expected more whispered death threats but as the backseat riders still had to once again hold equipment on their laps, he was physically unable.

"Go left," instructed Snively, though he was muffled.

"What?" asked Laurence.

"LEFT," yelled LaLouf, followed by a "Jesus, Sherman, we gotta get you off of all those beans."

For what seemed like an hour or two of aimless driving, Dr. Snively suddenly began shrieking loudly.

"Here! Stop here!" He exclaimed.

"What?" asked Laurence.

"STOP," yelled LaLouf; at once the scientist slammed on the brakes causing "oofs!" to echo from the back. Boom-Boom and I looked at one another, grateful to be in the front seat this time.

"You sure this is the spot, Sherman?" Laurence asked as he disembarked from the vehicle.

"Yes! The device is highly accurate and going crazy! The readings don't lie."

"Looks...pretty barren and empty out here."

"Except over there," said Cleetus, pointing. He was right- it was hard to see as stones were piled around its perimeter but as one looked closer through the empty red expanse there appeared to be a large hole in the ground. There was no telling how deep it went. It was worth noting not far from the opening were little black pools of goo, just as we had seen before.

Dr. Snively showed no fear as he approached the hole, device stretched out before him. "Yes! The readings get stronger. It's coming from down there!"

I stared at the hole. Great that we had found the lair of creature- the dragon, as we were now calling it-but what exactly was the plan? It breathed fire. We were not fire-proof.

"Dragons live in burrows?" asked Cleetus as he scratched his head.

"Well," Dr. Snively replied with a partial smile on his face, "I suppose there's only one way to find out. "