The engine room was dark. The lights were out. There was also a light haze from a broken pipe. This is not the first thing one would notice if they were to walk in, though. One would first see a person chained up to part of the engine. Then they would probably notice a boy lying unconscious near the door. Finally, they would look up and see an old man holding a young girl by her throat, slowly tightening his black handed grip. Things were starting to get fuzzy for River. The man’s grip was tightening to the point of no end. With that and the furious blows he had dealt her made River unable to struggle the least. She did not see the boy in the background prop himself up on his shoulder. “I do believe your escapade is going to end now, Misss Tam,” the man explained. “The universe will have but one more hinder in it. Then all will be perf-” Suddenly, the man gave a jolt. He seemed to be trying to move all ways at once. River felt his grip loosen, then fail. She fell to the floor, gasping life giving oxygen. Strength started to flow back into her arms and legs. She looked up, past the contorting man (which by now looked almost comical) and saw the boy, having all white in his eyes. A strained expression was on his face. Sensing that he was somehow doing this, but would not be able to do it for long, River decided to give it a shot. She landed another hard kick into the old man’s neck, and a follow up punch to his stomach. This did absolutely nothing. This assault would have choked a normal human being to death, if not killing him instantly. She hit two major organs. “Legs...” River looked up. The boy was talking. “Hit the damn ass in the legs!” While finding this weird, River decided to try it. She attempted to hit the man in the right leg with a flying round kick, but he blocked her. The boy was losing control. A quick palm heel strike to the face, and he wasn’t doing so shiny anymore. This time she got a piece of shattered scrap metal and swung it as hard as she could. If he tried to block this, it would go through his arm. He tried, but couldn’t come around fast enough. The large, sharp scrap went right into his left leg. He stopped struggling. He stopped everything. The boy gasped in releif. River went over to him. “Are you ok?” she asked. He looked at her like she was insane. “Oh, yeah, I am JUST dandy. I think the broken sternum is hip this time of year.” She sighed with relief. He was still weird- good. Now, there was something else... “Kaylee!” River thought outloud. She went over the ship’s mechanic to check on her. She was still unconscious, but ok. River turned her attention back to the boy. He had a aye-ya lot of explaining to do. But, to her astonishment, he was gone. “How does he do that?” River asked herself. She went over and unlocked Kaylee, carried her into the kitchen area, and went down to the cargo bay. In the distance, she saw the mule coming. Little late...

If the ratings are good enough, i will right another series explaining all this...