Chapter 1: The Perfect Crime

At long last, Trevor rolled over in bed for the final time. Having been awake for an hour already, he looked up at the ceiling, and decided that it was time to actually get up. Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he finished rubbing sleep out of his eyes and was ready to face the day...at least, he would have been if he wasn't just wearing boxers. He was well aware that the other tenants did not want him walking around with only those on (although he suspected that the women did not really mind), he rose and walked to his new closet. Deciding on a break from the usual outfit, he donned a pair of tan cargo pants and a navy blue T-shirt. His boots remained part of his outfit, though. They were just too damn comfortable to forgo.

Finishing up by brushing his tail smooth and styling his hair, he exited his room and made his way to the kitchen. Breakfast was in order for the hungry fox. Upon arriving, he discovered that Wolf was there, reading a magazine. Trevor sighed inwardly. If Wolf was reading a magazine, then there was nothing exciting to do. Plodding into the room, the lupine turned his gaze to the newcomer, to the clock, and to Trevor again. Finally, he picked up a nearby cell phone and dialed a number. "Who're you calling?" Trevor asked.

"Time," was the reply, "That clock is off." Trevor looked at his watch, which must have been off as well, for it read the same time as the wall clock. After a few seconds, Wolf disconnected his call.

"So, what time is it?" Trevor asked again.

"The right time. You're up two hours early."

"Weird..."

After a couple of minutes, Trevor had pulled together a suitable breakfast: eggs, bacon, a couple bagels, and orange juice. "Hey, you gonna share all that, right?" Wolf half asked, half stated.

"Why? You want some?"

"If I didn't would I have bother asking?"

Trevor laughed, unable to argue. "Sure thing, Wolf." Ariel was somewhat stunned at how well they had gotten along. Even Wolf wasn't sure how well he'd tolerate the "New Guy Who Looks a Lot Like Fox McCloud But Is Ten Times As Cool." Shockingly enough, they had quite a bit in common, from their choice in music to the taste in alcohol. It was almost frightening. What was frightening was that they had known each other only a few days, and already acted like age old friends, which they would no doubt end up being.

The scent of hot food apparently lured Boomer into the kitchen, although any number of things could have lured her into the kitchen from wherever she was. She looked at the duo, eating and talking. "Wow, they're eating together, what a surprise," she said, "And there is no beer involved. That is a surprise." Wolf was about to say something, but Trevor shoved a piece of bacon into his mouth before he could, probably for the better. He really wasn't in the mood to be eating his eggs off the floor. What surprised everyone was when Ariel entered. She was an early riser (compared to Trevor), and would no doubt be off somewhere else. But, here she was.

"Ah, Trevor, there you are. I was worried when you weren't in your room," she said.

"Yea, I've gotten that today already," he replied. Ariel sat down, and took Wolf's orange juice, to which he objected by eating more eggs.

"Well, you're skills have certainly proven...broad, and you've caused no trouble for the week or so you've been here. It's time for your initiation," Ariel said, grinning slyly.

"Initiation?" Wolf repeated, "Is there a paddlin' involved?" Trevor retorted by punching him in the arm.

"No, there is no paddling, but if you pass, then you will be a full fledged Black Dolphin," Ariel said, rolling her eyes at the two beforehand.

"What do I have to do?"

"Simply retrieve a stolen item."

Trevor was slightly surprised. "That's it? I'll do it," he said.

"Excellent..." Ariel said, grinning wider as she stood to make preparations for the trial. It hit Trevor just then.

"Ariel?" She turned around to face him. "Simple, anyone could do it, or simple for you?"

Ariel just laughed and left the room. Wolf watched her leave, and then looked at Trevor, who only said, "Shit."

"Can I have your sound system?" Boomer asked.

"Shut up Boomer..."

Chapter 2: Oh, That's Not Good

"Ok, so I have to break into the museum, grab the sword, and return here without being incarcerated?" Trevor said, restating what Ariel had told him, "Why do you make that sound so easy?"

"Because it is. I want to see you back here by 1300," Ariel replied.

Trevor looked at the wall clock, and then back to Ariel with a disbelieving look. "That's two hours from now."

"And you just lost ten seconds." Trevor knew he wouldn't this fight, so he simply hurried to the hanger, grabbing a jacket and sliding his com-link into place. Unlike most Lylatian com-links, this one was much more compact: Just an earpiece with a mic, but it still had the same range, despite being half the size.

"Boomer, please prep a shuttle for launch," he requested, running now.

"A shuttle? Don't you want the Taipan?"

Trevor rolled his eyes. "No, I don't want the Taipan. When that sword goes missing, they have an alert out after 15 minutes, and they'll go after unique ships first. No one will care about some plain, ordinary shuttle," he said.

"Ah. It'll be ready when you get here," she replied. The link closed. Trevor ran faster, his strides increased in length by his psionic powers. It took him another five minutes to depart from the New Atlantis, now under cloak. Trevor glanced at his watch. The timer read 1:54:36:05, though he ignored numbers after seconds. He was under the gun now. Setting the shuttle for auto-pilot, he took out a small bottle of spray-in, temporary hair dye and made his hair red. After several more minutes, he reached the designated planet and disembarked. Shoving the name of the museum into his pocket, he bolted out of the docking station.

1:33:56:98

"Excuse me, sir," Trevor said, flagging down a passerby, "Can you tell me the shortest route to this museum? I'm supposed to meet my girlfriend there in about 30 minutes." After some directions, Trevor thanked the man and continued running. Displeased with the crowded, winding streets, Trevor ducked into an alley and scrambled up the fire escape, only really using it because it provided platforms to jump from. Once on the rooftops, he put on his jacket and sprinted again, leaping between buildings, some of the gaps more than 18 feet wide. Finally, he stopped about a kilometer from the museum and checked his time.

1:02:23:86

Judging from the publicity, the sword was the main exhibit today. Oh, the's not good, Trevor thought to himself. He had sixty one minutes to steal a highly guarded exhibit in approaching twilight. Wasting no more time, he took off, leaping across the last few rooftops, landing atop the museum. Lot's of skylights, all of them locked, and the one he needed to open under heavy guard from the floor.

0:59:35:46

Sprinting to another of the skylights, he found it unguarded, no one in the room. Silently thanking his master, he removed some tools from his jacket pockets and set about picking the lock. Having it open, he dropped into the room.

0:58:05:32

Ariel probably could've done that in half the time. Wasting not a moment, Trevor hit the fire alarm and jumped back up to the skylight, climbing out and dashing back to the one over the sword exhibit. The room had emptied, and only one security guard remained, probably the ensure that no one stayed behind. He began to pick this lock as well, certain that all of them had silent alarms. Hopefully, the fire alarm would take care of that. The window opened, he replaced all his tools and pulled out another bottle of spray-in hair dye, this time blue, and changed his hair color again. Placing the bottle back into his jacket pocket, he climbed in the window. Clinging to it, he saw that there was only this one guard. Approaching sirens promised a sad ending if he didn't hurry. Swinging and relinquishing his grip, he dropped into the room, connecting a flying kick with the back of the guard's head. He went down and Trevor dashed over, making sure he was out cold. Quickly donning sunglasses and arming himself with a cutting torch, he dashed over to the display, and sliced through the glass with ease. Tucking the torch away, he folded the velvet around the sword and picked it up...and realized he could never jump high enough to get back out the same skylight. Cursing, he checked his time.

0:55:17:97

Spotting stairs towards the back, he ran for them. A pair of guards came down it with guns drawn, having heard the noise. Trevor planted his foot into the stomach of the closest and spun, catching the other in the temple with a kick. Both went down. Trevor ran up the stairs, and found a window on the top floor. Unlatching and opening it, he backed up twenty feet, dropped his head, and legged it. At the edge of the window, he jumped, making it almost to the next roof top. Quickly pulling himself up, he took off in a run and glanced.

0:51:01:39

Trevor cursed and ran faster, silently asking his goddess for wings. He saw a small, sporting goods store, and took a detour, ducking inside through one of the rear windows. Grabbing a duffel bag, he quickly stuffed the sword inside, and climbed back onto the roof, resuming his marathon.

0:49:57:00

Again, he pushed himself as hard as he could. Finally, he reached the first alley he had climbed up, and removed his jacket, stuffing it into the bag. Again, he dyed his hair red, and hopped down into the alley. Wiping some sweat from his brow, he took several deep breaths, and walked out on the street, returning to the dock. He wanted to run, but had to look inconspicuous. After several, minutes, he managed to get clearance to take off (since nobody could've gotten to the station in that little time), and finally relaxed.

0:23:07:09

Trevor was happy. If he flew as fast as he could, he would just make it.

Chapter 3: Are You Serious?

"Think he'll make it?" Wolf asked Ariel. Both were awaiting Trevor's return in the hanger, eager to see how he would do. The biggest difference was that Ariel was holding nothing, while Wolf had a beer in each hand, both of them unopened.

"Maybe, maybe not. We'll see," she replied. Wolf looked at her for a minute, and ventured forth.

"You'll let him on even if he doesn't make it, won't ya?"

Ariel grinned and nodded. "If you think I'll pass up talent like that, you need your head checked."

Wolf just laughed. She was still amazed at his change in attitude since he joined the Black Dolphins. When he first arrived, he had an attitude, was difficult to control at times, and above all, wasn't a spokesman for personal hygiene. While he still had an attitude at times, he was much easier to be around. Sure, most of it was probably due to their finely developed relationship, but Ariel knew that Mariko's brief psychotic episode, her pregnancy, and Trevor's arrival helped him mature as well. Speaking of Trevor, he was just now docking. Wanting to see if he had succeeded, both she and Wolf walked over to the shuttle to greet him.

Trevor stepped out, looking very glad to be back. What first caught eyes was that his hair was red, and couple spots where it looked slightly blue. Second was the duffel bag he did not have when he left. Seeing Ariel, he passed the bag to her, saying, "Two minutes, thirty five seconds. Did I pass?"

Ariel looked in the bag, and then at him. "No, you failed," she responded.

"I failed? Are you serious?"

"If I was, would I be grinning like this?"

Trevor considered the thought for a moment. "Knowing you, it's entirely possible. I need a shower," he replied at last, walking off.

Wolf stopped him before he got far. "This'll help," he said, passing him one of the beers. Thanking him, Trevor continued his trek.

After he had gone, Ariel turned to Wolf. "Should I ask him about his hair?"

"I wouldn't." Wolf took a sip from his bottle, and put an arm around Ariel's shoulders, pulling her in close. "Does he get to stay?" he asked her.

Ariel looked at him as though he had lost his mind. "What do you think?" she said. Wolf just kissed her softly and quickly, and led her out of the hanger.

* * *

Everyone had gathered in the briefing room for the "initiation ceremony." In actuality, Wolf suggested that they all make a nice "Welcome Aboard" dinner for Trevor, and then spend the rest of the night drinking. Everyone agreed that it sounded like a fine idea, although Mariko passed on drinking. It would be bad for the baby. At last, the guest of honor arrived, and turned everyone's head. They seemed rather focused upon his hair. "Purple?" Wolf asked in disbelief.

"Apparently, if you mix two colors and add water, the resulting combination is semi-permanent. Well, guess what I learned about spray-in dye today..." He let his sentence "die" and sat down.

"Yes, well..." Ariel began, "We are here today to welcome Trevor Lee to the Black Dolphins." Everyone welcome and congratulated him for about five seconds.

"Yea, thanks for letting me join," Trevor said to them all, "And, you know who you are, please stop stealing my towels when I'm taking a shower." Silence for a moment.

"Who's up for gettin' this guy dinner?" Wolf asked.

"Yo." Everyone raised their hands.

It took a few minutes, but they had managed to pull together a fine dinner. Even Wolf showed some culinary skill, pan frying fish and flavoring it with beer. Overall, everyone was happy about dinner, and the meal was filled with delightful chat and even a few dirty jokes. Even with six people, there were still leftovers, although the guys promised to fix that in the morning. Amazingly enough, everyone still had room for dessert: a delightful apple pie that Ariel and Shade had been working on since Trevor left. Afterwards, the entire group sat in the lounge, relaxing and talking some more. Somewhere in the midst, Wolf made an off-hand remark to which Boomer responded by hitting him with a pillow. He hit back with one of his own, and before long, it had escalated into a full-fledged pillow fight. True, everyone but Mariko had slightly impaired motor skills, but that didn't stop them. Eventually, everyone stopped when they were out of breath and almost out of energy. Trevor tried pointing out to Wolf that his room was the other way, but since the lupine was not listening, Trevor just shrugged and passed out on his bed.

All in all, he felt that his training day had gone well, even if he might wake up with a hang over. Well, nothing's perfect, but so what? He was a Black Dolphin, he had friends, and he was having fun. Regardless of the state of his mind in the morning, Trevor was happy, and that's all that counted.