Adrian groaned at the piercing light stabbing his eyes as he slowly opened them. As far as hangovers went this wasn't the worst he'd ever had but it still hurt like hell and the worst part was he couldn't remember how he'd gotten it. It was rare enough for him to drink to the point of having a hangover much less not remember the party and he was a bit annoyed with himself.

He rolled over thinking he might catch a few more winks before before getting up for the day, he was on vacation after all and there was no one he had to keep a time table for, and realized he wasn't in his bed at the hotel. That, at least, had been comfortable as hotel beds went. This felt like he was lying on a bare plank of wood. Opening his eyes fully, Adrian sat up and took in his surroundings. At first what he saw didn't make sense, then he cursed as he realized what had happened. No wonder he couldn't remember the party, there had never been one. Someone must have knocked him out before bringing him to this place, Wherever this place was.

The room was small, no more than ten foot in either direction, with three of the walls made of bars, making him think of jail cells seen in old westerns. The cot he was on could have been another prop from one of those old movies, it being nothing more than a thinly padded piece of plywood that folded down from the cell's only wall. There were two more cells on his side of the room, one on each side of his, both empty, and three more along the opposite wall, one of which held a tiny, huddled form.

Adrian swung his legs off the side of the cot and stopped when he felt a weight on his left ankle. Looking down he saw a manacle attached to a heavy chain fastened to a ring in the floor, Adrian chuckled at the sight. Whoever his jailers where they seemed determined to keep him there. Too bad for them he had a few tricks up his sleeve. To be precise his tricks were more on the top of his head than up his sleeves but it didn't matter. The results would be the same either way and whoever had locked him away would pay the price of his foolishness.

Wanting to find out more about why he was there and who his captors were, Adrian moved toward the front of his cell, the chain bringing him up short, leaving a good six feet between him and the door. At this distance he would not be able to reach anyone who came to check on him unless they were right on top of his cell. Perhaps they had done some research on him after all even if they had missed some of the details. Though it was true his skill at escape wasn't quite as well known as his reach. Most people did not realize the fine control he had over his hair and only thought him capable of the most basic of grabs and brute force blows. The surprised looks on his lover's faces the first time they realized it wasn't his hands intimately caressing them were priceless and he'd only ever had one complaint. There was just no accounting for the hang ups of some people. But he was getting off track. He could think about delighting a lover later, when he was free of this place.

Standing in the middle of his cell, Adrian called out to the tiny form in the cell across the way, "Miss? Miss, do you know where we are?"

At first the huddled form didn't move and Adrian, thinking she might be asleep or unconscious, was about to call out again when a raspy voice, much to deep for the size of its owner, replied, "We're in Hell and I'm not a miss."

Adrian bit back his first response which would have been to point out it had gotten his companion's attention and instead said, "Sorry, it's a bit hard to tell from over here. I didn't mean any disrespect. I'm new to these parts, can you tell me exactly why it's hell?"

"They didn't tell you when they brought you in?"

"If they did I slept through it." Adrian quipped. "I don't even know how I got here."

The man rose from where he had crouched in the center of his cell. Even standing the man was tiny, being a good six inches shorter then Adrian's five foot ten. His build was so slight if Adrian had not heard his voice he would have thought the man was no more than a child. At least he would have until he saw the man's face. Given the lines in what parts of his face not covered by hair, Adrian guessed the man to be in his late fifties to mid sixties, about four decades older than Adrian himself. One eye was missing and by the fresh pink scars around the empty socket the loss had been recent. "What're you staring at?" He snarled when he noticed Adrian watching him.

"Don't worry, even if there was a reason to stare the personality does nothing for me."

The man threw himself against the bars of his cage snarling. "You're one to talk with that hair of yours. I never seen hair that long on a lady and what's up with it being green? You queer or something?"

"Or something." Adrian answered. He didn't know why the guy was trying to pick a fight but he wasn't going to play along. "Now if you want me to get you out of here you'll start answering my questions."

This got a laugh out of his companion. "You get us out of here? How are you going to do that? These bars are solid steel and even I can't bend them. What's a pretty boy like you going to do?"

In answer Adrian held up the manacle that had been around his ankle. He had been hard at work while they had been talking and while it was more difficult for him to pick a lock without concentrating on it, it wasn't impossible and the locking mechanism had been a simple one. To anyone who hadn't been watching his hair it would have looked like the manacle had come off by magic. For those watching they would have seen green locks separate themselves from the others and stiffen until they were effective lock picks.

"How'd you do that?" The man asked astonished.

"The same way I'm going to open the cell doors. Now if you want out of here, tell me what's going on."

"You've been brought here to fight."

"What do you mean to fight?"

"The men who brought you here, they operate a superhuman fight ring. Rich guys pay a bundle to see us tear each other apart. I'm supposed to kill you in the next match."

"And you just go along with it?"

"Not if I had my way but they've got this enforcer who's even stronger and meaner than I am. How do you think I lost my eye? It happened while I was trying to escape."

"Where's this enforcer of theirs now?" Adrian asked idly wrapping his hairs around the bars of his cell.

The other man shrugged, "No idea, I only ever see him when they feed us or when there's a fight."

Adrian tested the bars, even with his hair's unnatural strength he was unable to budge them but he had expected that. From the way his companion spoke the guy was some sort of brick and while Adrian's hair was strong it wasn't brick class.

"You seem to be taking this awful well. Doesn't it bother you that you're stuck in a cage?"

Adrian gave the man a broad smile. "Why would it bother me? I can get out any time I want. These locks are the old fashioned kind not electronic. I can open them as easily as I did the manacle."

"Then why haven't you?"

"I wanted to find out what I was dealing with first." Adrian set his hair to work on the lock to his cell. "How long have you been here . . . What's your name anyway?"

"The name's Frank and I've been stuck in this place about a month now. Been in four fights already." Frank frowned as a shadow passed over his face. "I had to kill my opponents . . . They would have killed me otherwise." Frank fell silent.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of there. Just as soon as I get this door open." The words were no sooner out of Adrian's mouth than the door popped open.

Frank's jaw dropped and Adrian gave him another broad grin. "Now let's get you out of there."

The cell door opened without a sound at Adrian's slight push. As old as everything looked he had almost expected the hinges to shriek but he was glad he was wrong. The longer he had before his captors knew he was free the better his chances of escape. At the moment he didn't have a plan and was running on instinct.

"Keep an ear out for anyone coming while I get you out of there." Adrian told Frank as he quickly crossed the distance between their cells.

While Frank listened for any sign of their captors Adrian went to work. First separating off thin locks of hair and then stiffening them until they were rigid enough to move the tumblers inside the lock. People were often amazed at the control he had but he found it no different than using one of his hands other than being able to create the tools he needed instead of just wielding them. Using his hair did have one advantage over using traditional picks. His sense of touch was much better with his hair and it was much easier to tell when his "pick" was in the right place. It was like using your fingers to push buttons instead of a stick.

Soon the door to Franks cell was open and he had joined Adrian in the middle of the room. "What's next?"

"Next we find the ones responsible for this and put an end to it." Adrian answered.

"How are we going to do that. If we run into their enforcer we're done for."

"Giving up so soon?" Adrian asked with a twinkle in his eye. "Don't worry, I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Their guy may be strong but there are two of us and I doubt they've ever run into anyone quite like me before."

Putting his ear against the door Adrian listened for any sign of life on the other side. At first he heard only a low murmur he couldn't identify then came the loud noise of an explosion followed by the sharp sounds of gunfire. One or more persons on the other side was watching a movie. It would be the perfect cover while he and Frank slipped into the room but something told Adrian they wouldn't be so lucky. He didn't know anyone foolish enough to put their back to a door beyond which they held prisoners. So unless the people on the other side were fools they would see Frank and Adrian as soon as they entered.

Adrian pulled back from the door and turned to Frank, "I can't tell how many there are but we're not alone. They'll most likely see us coming so we're going to have to move fast. I'll go through first and distract them. You follow and try to take them by surprise. Got it?"

Frank nodded his agreement and Adrian held up his hand. "On the count of three . . . one . . . two . . . three."

On three Adrian threw open the door and dove through, tumbling as he landed in the room beyond. Adrian was back up and moving before the large man sitting across the room had a chance to react. The TV Adrian had heard was sitting on a table between him and the guard and Adrian used it to his advantage, keeping the table between them as the guard made a lunge.

"Tsk, Tsk. So slow. See what happens when you watch too much television?" Adrian said lashing out with a fist made of hair and striking the guard between the eyes. He grunted in surprise but otherwise seemed unphased by the blow and a brief flicker of doubt crossed Adrian's mind. It had been a clean, solid blow and the guy hadn't even flinched. He wanted to look toward the door and see if Frank had followed him but he didn't want to give the other man away.

"Dense too." He said circling the table trying to get the guard to put his back to where Frank should be.

The guard lunged, sweeping the table to one side and sending the small television flying as he tried to reach Adrian but Adrian was ready for him. Using his hair as a spring he sent himself over the guards head. As he passed overhead he sent out another tendril and wrapped it around the man's throat. The guard clutched at his throat and tried to pull the offending hair away but Adrian was too quick. As fast as the guard could pull one lock away another had taken its place choking off his air until the guard lay unconscious at Adrian's feet.

Adrian looked around wondering where his backup was and saw Frank poking his head out of the other room. "Thanks for the . . ." Adrian stopped when he saw the odd expression on Frank's face.

Frank was staring at the guard on the ground with a look that was part terror, part deep satisfaction. Using his hair to carry the guard, Adrian walked back to the tiny man. "Frank, you okay? You look a little pale."

"I thought I could help you. I really did. But after what he did . . . to my eye . . . I just couldn't"

"Hey, it's alright. Let's get him in one of those cells before he wakes up." As if on cue the guard groaned. Once again Adrian wrapped a coil of hair around his neck. He hated to do it, he would have preferred a much cleaner fight, but he hadn't had much choice if he didn't want to wind up as paste on the wall.

Shaking off his demons Frank helped get the guard settled in a cell and Adrian locked the door behind them. "Are there any others here?" Adrian asked.

"Yeah, there's usually one other guy around. Unless a match is about to start. Then there's about half a dozen or so. I think our friend here is the only superhuman though so even if they're all here they shouldn't be a problem."

"Alright, let's get out of here then. We'll find a phone and call the police on these guys as soon as we're out of here."

Back in the guardroom Adrian cracked the second door and discovered it led outside. Stepping through, Adrian took in his surroundings. The building he was imprisoned in looked like nothing more than an old out building on a large estate. There were two other, identical, buildings but after a quick conference with Frank, Adrian didn't think he would find any more superhumans, there captors had just begun their collection for the next round of fights, but he wasn't leaving until he was sure he had rescued everyone.

Leaving Frank on guard, Adrian quickly searched the other buildings. Like the building he had awoken in both buildings contained cells though unlike his these were all empty. Adrian was returning to Frank when he heard a faint "Help! Is anyone there? I need help."

Returning to Frank, Adrian asked, "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, where'd it come from."

"I was hoping you could tell me. I checked all the buildings and they're empty. Did you hear or see anything that might tell us where they may be holding others?"

Frank thought for a moment. "I heard something about an aquatic battle but I haven't seen anyone aquatic looking."

"I didn't see any cells set up to hold anyone aquatic either. That means they're being held somewhere else but where?" Adrian looked around. Other than the three buildings used to imprison superhumans there was only one other building in sight. A large house, looking very much like an ordinary farm house sat at one edge of the property. The other end dropped off and Adrian could see a lake beyond.

"There." Adrian pointed toward the lake. Without giving Frank a chance to answer Adrian set off running. As he went he formed his hair into additional limbs he used to boost his speed. Soon Frank was left in the dust.

It wasn't long before a large boathouse came into view and Adrian knew his instincts were correct. If his captors were holding aquatic prisoners Adrian could think of no better place than a boathouse. With a target in sight Adrian picked up speed. He knew he was an odd sight, his long emerald locks carrying him forward instead of his legs but he didn't care. He had gotten over other people's ridicule long ago. Now he was glad of the extra speed.

Adrian had just about reached the boathouse when the door opened and an older man stepped out. The flash of movement as Adrian moved toward him must have caught his attention and he looked up from locking the door. When he saw Adrian his eyes widened and he began to run. If Adrian had doubted his guilt before he was sure of it now. Though Adrian had to admit if their positions were reversed he might have run as well at the sight of of a man using his five foot long, emerald green hair as a pair of legs running toward him. In moments he had caught up the fleeing man who put up no resistance when Adrian grabbed him.

"Please, my heart." The man cried as Adrian spun him around.

"You should have thought about that before you decided to kidnap people. Now, how many of us are there?"

"Only the two of you."

"Don't lie. Lying doesn't become you. I know there are are more of us. I heard someone call for help just a moment ago. I'll take it easy on you if you cooperate and tell me where the others are."

"What are you going to do if I don't tell you? I know you're not going to hurt me so why should I help you?"

"He might not hurt you but I will." A voice said from behind Adrian, He turned and saw Frank had caught up and was now standing just behind him.

The man in Adrian's grasp paled. "Look, I'm sorry about your eye. Tank gets a little carried away at times."

"Never mind my eye. Just answer the man's questions." Frank said.

"There are . . ." The man swallowed and tried again. "There are two more. In the boathouse."

"Thanks." Adrian said slipping the man's keys from his pocket with a lock of hair.

Adrian turned to Frank. "Can I trust you to put this guy in with the other one without hurting him?" He was sure he knew the answer but Adrian wanted to hear Frank confirm it. Something told Adrian Frank needed to hear himself say he wouldn't hurt the guy in order to believe it himself.

Frank thought about his answer long enough to give Adrian doubts about the wisdom of leaving his prisoner alone with him but then Frank gave a large sigh and nodded. "Yeah, he'll be safe. I never hurt anyone until they made me fight and I'm through with it now."

Adrian gave Frank his signature grin and tossed his captive Frank's way. "Then take care of this trash while I free the others. And be careful there may be more of this scum around."

As Frank trudged back up the hill with his burden, Adrian headed for the boathouse. Using the keys he had lifted he opened the door and went inside. Two cages hung suspended leaving only a foot or so between the top of the cage and the surface of the water. Looking down Adrian thought he could see a shape swimming around in one but the water was too murky to tell for sure if it was humanoid or not. That meant there was only one way to find out. He looked around for a mechanism to raise the cages and was rewarded when he saw each of the chains suspending a cage was connected to a winch.

The first cage began to emerge from the water and Adrian moved closer to see inside. The shape he'd seen had been moving but that didn't mean whoever was inside didn't need help. As the cage rose more and more of the figure inside was revealed and from what Adrian could see it was barely human. The scales and large fin on the back Adrian could have lived with, it was the madness in the creature's eyes that sent chills down his spine. Still, he couldn't leave it caged as if it were nothing more than a beast.

As soon as the cage was clear of the water, Adrian used a second lever to maneuver it over he dock. Once it was settled and stopped moving, Adrian left the controls and approached. While the cage had been in motion the being inside it had been still, now it raged and threw itself against the bars. Adrian tried to sooth it as he moved closer, telling it it was safe and had nothing to be frightened of but nothing seemed to calm it. When it tried to grab him through he bars Adrian decided it might be best to leave it caged until he had backup. He returned the cage to the water and started bringing up the second one hoping he would have better luck.

At first he thought the second cage was empty, he had raised it halfway and nothing. No movement, no emerging form, no calls for help, nothing but empty cage. He was just about ready to stop the cage when he saw the top of a head emerge. He called out, "Hello? Are you,hurt?"

Inside the cage something stirred and a woman's form rose out of the water, precariously standing in the swaying cage. She gave a start when she saw Adrian but quickly recovered. "Please, you have to help me. Their going to kill me."

"Whoa, take it easy. No one is going to kill anyone. I've taken care of them and the police should be on their way." Adrian started the cage moving toward the dock. As the cage moved closer he took in its occupant. The first thing he noticed was her body, trim and athletic, just the way he liked them. Her breasts were a little small for his liking but her ass made up for it, tight and round. The only downside he could see were the scales which covered every inch of her body he could see. "What's your name, hun?"

"It's Barbara. Barbara Mueller."

A few minutes later Adrian had Barbara free of her cage and they were headed out the door. They had barely stepped into the sunlight when a deep voice yelled. "This is Windstorm and Lightning Rod of the Justice Patrol. Put your hands in the air where we can see them and move away from the building."

"Now you show up. Where were you a half hour ago?" Adrian asked complying with the order. "I had to take this whole operation down myself."

A man in a medium gray, spandex body suit with a picture of a tornado on the chest stepped forward. His suit clung to him in all the right places and Adrian let his eyes travel the man's body, drinking in every inch of his well muscled frame. "Nice costume. It shows off your . . ." Adrian dropped his eyes to the man's crotch with a leer "Assets, nicely."

Windstorm's partner, dressed less like a comic book and more like a normal person, moved forward and glared at Adrian from behind her mask. "Adrian? Adrian Jakmanni? What are you doing here?"

"At your service ma'am, though you seem to have me at a disadvantage. Do I know you and if not could I get to? Your boyfriend here could join us."

"I'm sure we could come to an arrangement." Lightning Rod said in a sultry voice as she walked up to Adrian.

Adrian gave her one of his grins and was about to reply when she stopped him with a fist to his jaw sending him flying. He landed in an indignant heap on the ground rubbing his jaw. "What was that for."

"That Mr. Jakmanni, was for breaking my brother's heart."