"There's only one speed. Mine. You can't keep up, don't step up." the big bald man said, and Jim gritted his teeth when people that would have made it stepped back out of fear. He knew most expected him to step back as well, but he was ready to leave this place, had practically grown up here. He had to get out, and this Riddick was just his ticket off this rock. When Kyra looked at him strangely, he just picked up a dropped rifle and checked the cartridge before grabbing another mag, daring her to say anything.

And then they were moving, and there was no time to talk, no time to think. Everything they had was set toward running, and running fast. The Guy kept giving him looks, but he pressed on, surpassing them most of the time. And then there was shooting and Kyra was screaming and if he was weaker, he would have gone for her, but she was angry, not hurt, so he kept going. Stay ahead of the light, stick to the darkness. That was the only mantra he had for now.

Later, there was a battle, a game. 'Who's the Better Killer?' They were all players, with Kyra and Riddick as the obvious best, but Jim was a close third, stealing one of the strange concussion weapons early on. And then they all lost. He stayed with Kyra, both of them scared to death about what had happened to Riddick, but confident that he was okay, simply because Kyra believed in him. However, that didn't stop them from accepting the Necro Curse. Belief, after all, meant nothing when all that stood between them and death was a painful procedure that left them altered, but still alive.

When he woke up, everything was different. He still remembered his home, his first family, Crematoria, and Kyra, but it was all somehow less, like someone had put glass between him and his memories. But that was okay, because he had Lord Vaako, who had been assigned as his tamer, despite Dame Vaako's vehement protests. It was amazing, learning everything from Vaako, who he learned had once been called Leonard, many years before. He felt he got the better end of the deal, even with having Dame Vaako's acid tongue to deal with; the Lord Marshal was frankly hideous.

It had been nearly a week since he'd escaped and taken the Mark, and he was finally being allowed out of his rooms on his own, though Vaako still usually accompanied him, and he began to work on his master. He would be deliberately enticing, trying to get him away from Dame Vaako. The woman was a viper, trying to poison Lord Vaako and ultimately take over the Necromongers herself, hiding behind false ambitions and pretty lies. And finally, he was successful, at least in part.

They were alone in the throne room, which was strange, but Jim didn't question it, not when Vaako pushed him roughly to his knees and then sat on the throne, opening his pants. Both of them were in court-dress, making it much easier than the armor would have been. Vaako was perfect, thick and long, and Jim bent to his task with abandon, instinctively stopping his own noises; the throne room was cavernous and carried noises too easily.

Vaako, however, was nowhere near as quiet, bucking into his mouth with sharp breaths and muttered curses, petting his hair with misplaced tenderness. Jim had no illusions about what he was, a simple Breeder who was being used to scratch an itch. It was nothing he hadn't been used for before, after all, and he welcomed the possible return to something familiar.

Until, of course, Vaako dragged him up and behind the throne, going out the back door as he closed up his pants. The Lord Marshal wandered in, followed by the other generals in full battle dress, and Jim knew what he was supposed to do before Vaako even opened his mouth.

"Watch and wait," he rasped quietly, feeling a frission of pleasure at the approval in his master's eyes. There had to be some kind of obedience drug in the cocktail he was given, because he was never this subservient before. But when Vaako melted away, he did as told, and as it was revealed that Riddick was here, he crept in, looking for Kyra. He found her too late, far too late. And then the Lord Marshal was dead, and Riddick was the victor. While Jim wasn't entirely displeased with the turn of events, he and Dame Vaako shared one point of view: Vaako would make an excellent Lord Marshal, though of course he didn't want his master killed later.

And when Vaako immediately divorced his Dame when Riddick made it possible, Jim was hopeful and happy that he might have a chance with his former master. He was right.