It was clear that the group of dragon riding mall crawlers would become the hit of the season. To hear Viddie say it, they had taken the whole of the Mall culture and impacted it to leave their distinct footprint on it.

The neighboring communities, most especially the science labs where Creepie had been created or altered (he still wasn't really able to tell anyone quite what it was), took note. Attack after attack, it seemed like the science guys were getting funding from somewhere.

Call would probably have said something - had she known. But she was off doing some other important work. The work she'd do would impact them all, some day.

One fine day however, the fight for the Mall gained a new defender in the form of a small slip of a pale colored dragoness. Static electricity danced between her neck tines and immediately everyone knew that she was meant to stay. She held herself on two legs, always watching everything around her.

"Well, do you think she could stay?" Asked Fix, who seemed to be the most appropriate caretaker of this exotic little girl. Since she'd found his dragon Amphithorinath fascinating anyway, DJ and Velcro conferred with the others, and she was given equal status to the rest of the dragons. No one would ride her - she was barely big enough for that. And besides, her electric tines made it hard for anyone to stay on her back too long - their hair would stand up if they remained!

Toko was her name - she'd only told Amphi. But most people called her Livewire or Sparky, or lint trap for that matter... She could walk through a dusty shop and clean it instantly by virtue of generating a little static and then running outside. A cloud of dust would follow her - and she would get a good cleaning by the few brave souls who liked getting shocked every couple minutes.

She was fierce and able to defend her part of the Mall with Amphi well enough, she pulled her weight. Some day, everyone knew, she and all the other females would probably start pairing off with their favored males. When that day would come though, no one could guess.

Shortly after Toko's arrival, another dragoness settled in the Mall. However this one took a liking to both Pearlie and Velcro. She seemed to combine the loves of both strange girls: pretty colors, and little thingies. However the group of Mall Crawlers had no idea that she'd arrived, until several days later.

Why? Well, that'd be because she was a shapeshifter. She had fair skin and oddly dyed rainbow hair, and came wearing quite a few little bangles (which was why Velcro liked her right off) but also seemed quite picky about the types of objects she'd put on (which was why Pearlie fell for her). But a few days later, the soft-voiced girl who'd come from out of the blue took both young women aside.

"I have a bit of a confession to make," she said. Her dark eyes shifted from one to the other, "I'm not really what I appear."

"It's okay if you're gay," blurted Velcro, "lots of folks here are."

The blush that went over 'Anne's' cheeks went through several odd colors - green and blue included - before settling down to a nice peachy pink. "Er, um... no, no, that's not ... I'm ... um, I guess I'm straight..."

"Well that's good," Pearlie glanced at Velcro who was still pondering why she'd have blurted out such a thing in the first place.

"No, I'm ... not human..."

That brought a bit more of a pause into the conversation. She fiddled with the beaded necklaces around her elegantly long neck. Then, that neck got longer and longer. And pinker. "I'm kind of a dragon."

She wasn't a big one, but not as small as Toko. Perhaps around the same size as Noir, who was begining to take interest since he'd been flying overhead at the time. He perched up there on one of the second story pillars, and watched the girls.

"Well ... COOL!" Velcro said, jumping up and down suddenly. "That's soooo cool! Because you can totally get dressed up with us and then you can fly!"

Pearlie agreed a bit more sedately. Soon though they announced this to the rest of the dragon riders. However they kept it from the main group of non-riders in the mall. They thought that perhaps, a shapeshifter among them might weird them out a bit too much. Plus, if any of them happened to go missing and get questioned by the still-annoying scientific community - they'd want to capture her!

So Anbananhar became part of both the mall and the dragon mall.