Frankie backed up a couple of paces.  By that shrill, cackling voice, there was only one possibility for what had happened.  He backed himself against a wall, bracing for support as he tried to determine what exactly was going on.  "Perhaps we can come to an accommodation?"  Frankie asked, keeping his voice strong even as his bleeding body sank to its knees.  One of the soldiers who had tried to check up on the situation had been blown just a few paces from Frankie.  He could smell the ozone... and the blood.<br/><br/>Frankie slowly pulled himself towards the fallen soldier, batting it slowly into his arms with his stubs, as if to embrace it.  "If I go with you into the Abyss, will you call off your attack?"  Frankie asked, hoping to start a negotiation, or at least give himself enough time to heal.  He had nearly been completely drained of ichor, and even if he regenerated he would be little more than a paralyzed hulk.<em>At best</em>, he reminded himself.