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Edwood had already shown up before both as ally and antagonist. In his first appearance he'd been in the employ of Franklin Fullmoon, trying to use Drusilla's clanmates to attack Arja and Simoni.\n\nIn his second appearance he was working at a supernaturals bar in London called the Wolfshead Pub and had reconciled with Nelen and Drusilla (though he didn't know it was her) after saying that he only took the job because it offered enough money to get out of mercenary work.\n\nFinally, he redeemed himself from his initial appearance by driving back Franklin and Clan Fullmoon at Hanuman's Temple, using his music to control a streak of tigers and have them attack the warriors, forcing them back.\n\nNelen has been using him to keep an eye on things while they were away, the older merc having worked with him on several occasions before.\n\n\nSandra was introduced in the last sidestory, To Bite a Predator, where she tried to get Lupe to come along with her for a bit of bad touch, not knowing that she was a werewolf and winding up getting bitten by her. Having been infected with lycanthropy, Lupe insisted the group bring her along since her biting Sandra made her one of her pack, child predator or not. Nelen reluctantly agreed, reasoning that leaving a werewolf behind was too much of a risk and that an autopsy of her body might reveal too much to the mundanes about the supernatural world.\n\n\nSpooky was introduced in Dreams of the Past as Trixie's cousin, a goth girl who was fascinated with Natasha and her status as a vampire. Despite being a goth she's always very perky and excitable, perhaps due to the fact that she's become ghoul to a creature she idolizes. She's a practicing wicca, despite Nelen's insistence that wiccan magic does not work.","description_bbcode_parsed":"We wanted to do a bit more with some of the minor characters. Edwood had already shown up before both as ally and antagonist. In his first appearance he'd been in the employ of Franklin Fullmoon, trying to use Drusilla's clanmates to attack Arja and Simoni.

In his second appearance he was working at a supernaturals bar in London called the Wolfshead Pub and had reconciled with Nelen and Drusilla (though he didn't know it was her) after saying that he only took the job because it offered enough money to get out of mercenary work.

Finally, he redeemed himself from his initial appearance by driving back Franklin and Clan Fullmoon at Hanuman's Temple, using his music to control a streak of tigers and have them attack the warriors, forcing them back.

Nelen has been using him to keep an eye on things while they were away, the older merc having worked with him on several occasions before.


Sandra was introduced in the last sidestory, To Bite a Predator, where she tried to get Lupe to come along with her for a bit of bad touch, not knowing that she was a werewolf and winding up getting bitten by her. Having been infected with lycanthropy, Lupe insisted the group bring her along since her biting Sandra made her one of her pack, child predator or not. Nelen reluctantly agreed, reasoning that leaving a werewolf behind was too much of a risk and that an autopsy of her body might reveal too much to the mundanes about the supernatural world.


Spooky was introduced in Dreams of the Past as Trixie's cousin, a goth girl who was fascinated with Natasha and her status as a vampire. Despite being a goth she's always very perky and excitable, perhaps due to the fact that she's become ghoul to a creature she idolizes. She's a practicing wicca, despite Nelen's insistence that wiccan magic does not work.","writing":"[b]This story takes place immediately following Part 19: The Knight, The Magician, and the Nightside[/b]\n\nIts early evening at the Barjar residence... and its almost scary how quiet it is. With almost all the supernatural residents gone the maids have taken to watching Netflix in the evenings due to the fact that they actually run out of things to do! Down in the almost empty harem quarters Edwood is polishing Jackie, his rune-inscribed guitar, as the TV goes over the news featuring some American celebrity getting mobbed at an airport in London. \"Huh... think I know that guy...\" he mutters as he sees a familiar bearded man in a black hat on the screen, then goes back to working on his instrument.\n\nIn Natasha's 'room' there was still a girl, though. Natasha of course slept in her coffin, having no real need for the room, but Tiffany ‘Spooky’ Smith was more than happy to take the bed, the perky young goth/ghoul sat on the bed watching TV, pouting as she looks over to see the empty coffin where usually her mistress would be climbing out of right now. \"Boooring…\" she sighs, not even seeing the glimpse of Natasha on the news thanks to her watching yet another vampire movie to distract her from the blend of genuine longing and withdrawal that ghouls feel when their owner is away, a bit like a puppy really. She’d snuck along with the team when they were coming back from Texas and, having decided that a mundane living with them was about as safe as a mouse living at a cat shelter, Natasha had allowed her to feed on her vampiric blood to the point where she became a sort of pseudo-undead. A ghoul had a small portion of the powers of a vampire, but none of the drawbacks… so long as they kept feeding on vampiric blood.\n\nSpeaking of puppy, Sandra was still getting used to her new lupine self, the woman walking around the house stark naked since it was so empty (seemed despite feeling more at home in her human form, she shared Lupe's distaste for clothing now). She had just left the kitchen, having satisfied her most recent craving for raw meat (or 'FOOOOOD, BLOODY FOOD' as she put it), scaring away a poor maid who was making her own soup. Needless to say she was still having issues balancing the wolf and the human, and being without her alpha and packmate sure wasn't helping!\n\nEdwood hears Sandra bellowing upstairs and rolls his eyes, \"Jeezus friggin' keerist Nelen. I dun mind babysittin' yer boss, but askin' me ta keep an eye on that too is a bit too much...\" he mutters, putting the guitar polish away as he adjusts the knobs at the top of his guitar, testing the strings with a finger... and almost snapping one as a loud crash echoes from upstairs. Part of him thinks 'probably just that damn werewolf', but another part of him that's managed to keep him alive through years of mercenary work says 'the hell it was!'.\n\nWith a speed that would surprise someone who only saw an aging rocker, he's on his feet, pulling the backpack that contains his amp on over his shoulders before plugging Jackie in. He stomps his way up the stairs from the basement just in time to see one of Rajesh's mundane guardsmen stumbling back past the entrance to the harem quarters bleeding from several sword wounds, the metalgician quickly turning to face where he came from.\n\nSandra's head snaps to the the direction of the crash, nope, wasn't her. She sniffs the air as she walks over in the direction of the sound, Spooky coming out of her room with a little huff, \"Sandra keep it down!\" she pouts, \"Stupid dog...\" she adds glumly, Sandra just reminding her of Lupe, who in turn reminds her of Natasha... it was complex being a hormone addled vampire blood addict...\n\n\"Wasn't me…\" she replies as she makes her way in the direction, Spooky frowning and moving to follow. If it wasn't the wolf, and Edwood was downstairs, and none of the maids could have done it, that wasn't good... Then her nose picks up the smell of blood, Sandra growling right away as her fangs start to emerge...\n\nStanding in the hall is a young Indian man, dressed the same as one of Rajesh's guards, but holding a long and sharp looking dagger. Another one of the guards tries to tackle him but he nimbly steps aside, trips the man at the last second, and kicks him as hard as he can to send him cartwheeling down the hall to land in a stunned heap. Edwood doesn't waste any time, flicking on the amp and striking a chord on Jackie, sending a shockwave out towards the attacker. It stuns him, but Edwood can't do more than keep an attacker unbalanced with such an ability and it seems most of Rajesh's guards are already down. \"Fuggin hell...\" he mutters, using another shockwave attack to try to keep the assassin distracted.\n\nSandra growls, claws coming out as she squats down \"Who are you?\" she says as she arrives, followed quick behind by Spooky, who lets out a shriek as she sees the knife. Still, she does try to help, holding her hand up and chanting something about mother moon or Apollo or... well she was kinda mashing like three religious views together as she 'chants', blinking as she looks around, seeing that nothing happened. \"Damn it!\" she curses. Ironically enough out of any form of magic she could choose she picked Wicca, the one that never ever works.\n\nEdwood rolls his eyes at her and sends out another shockwave as the assassin looks around, sees the two others, and senses that they're supernaturals as well. The ghoul isn't too big an issue, but the werewolf... even a new werewolf is dangerous. He waits for Edwood to pause between attacks, then dives back into Rajesh's study and smashes through a window, falling out and landing in the bushes outside. Edwood goes in and looks out the window, then over at Rajesh. The diplomat is injured, his sleeve torn and a bloody gash on one arm, but it appears he's otherwise unhurt. The assassin must have missed when aiming for a more vital spot. \"You alright man?\" asks Edwood.\n\nSandra growls, diving out the window after him as the wolf instincts take over, he was in her territory and attacked someone in her 'pack', he had to pay for that! Spooky, thankfully, does have a few legitimate talents, mainly 'she remembers what magical things do'. \"Here.\" she says, reaching into her black purse and pulling out a small jar with a leaf paste that smelled rather minty in it, \"This'll help the wound heal fast and clean...\" she says, handing it over to Rajesh.\n\nEdwood looks at her, \"That another one of those 'wicca' things?\" he asks before looking back outside, watching her sniff around the grounds... but the assassin seems to prove hard to locate. For some odd reason Sandra can't pick up any smells other than what's normally there, even with her enhanced senses its almost like the attacker was never really there at all.\n\nSpooky huffs and shakes her head, \"Noooo, jerk.\" she pouts, \"It's from Arja's temple, I keep a jar with me for when Nat...\" she blushes at that, \"Sometimes it's hot when I feed her myself...\" she says, leaving that image right there as Sandra whines, climbing back in the house. \"Can't smell him…\" she frowns, looking around \"Who the hell was that? He wasn't normal for sure, especially if I can't even get a whiff of him...\" she rrfs, tilting her head in a doglike manner.\n\nEdwood shrugs, \"Fucked if I know, he looked like the rest of the guards ta me.\" he nods, then looks up as a maid looks into the room in a panic. She babbles something in Hindi, which Rajesh translates as 'Someone is attacking the maid's quarters'. Ed doesn't need more than that, waving for the other two to follow him as he heads out of the room after the woman.\n\nSandra and spooky are right behind him, \"The maid quarters is a good bit away…\" Spooky comments, \"Sandra would have seen tracks or a trail… is this guy a teleporter or something?\" she asks as Sandra shrugs, her claws coming out as her eyes turn yellow, the girl shifting further into her wolf form.\n\nEdwood just shrugs, saving his breath for a fight when they arrive and all duck into the room... only to find a group of maids looking up from watching the latest episode of Orange is the New Black. They seem confused until they look behind them and see another maid disappearing into the hallway, then slamming the door shut. Edwood dives at it and tries to open it, only to find it's been barricaded from the outside. \"The fuck!?\" he yells, pounding on the door, \"Son of a bitch we got two of 'em?!\" he growls, stepping back and slamming his foot into the wood, making the door shake but little else.\n\nSandra lets out a louder growl at that, \"That's it!\" she snarls, her body bending and breaking as she shifts into her full 'battle wolf' form, brown fur sprouting all over her body as her muscles grow out, the woman shifting into a near eight foot bipedal wolf form as she takes in a few deep breaths. \"I don't care how many there are I'm not gonna let them mess with this house!\" she growls, slamming herself into the door at full force! Spooky, meanwhile, ducks for cover, she may not be much help as a 'witch' but she sure knew a fully pissed werewolf tackling down a door wouldn't end well.\n\nThe door, and the chair that had been holding it, are splinters by the time Sandra manages to stop herself, but the maid is long gone (behind them one of the maids turns to her friend and says, in Hindi, 'I'm not cleaning that'). Edwood immediately heads back towards Rajesh's office, hoping the man at least had the sense to get to his panic room (after everything that has happened he sure as hell hopes he has a panic room), only to be stopped when a familiar figure steps into the hallway infront of him and Sandra.\n\n\"Why you wait?! Monkey father in trouble!\" barks the small werewolf girl as she paws at the ground, her yellow eyes staring at the two of them. Lupe has appeared infront of the group, her tail thrashing behind her as her ears perk up.\n\nSpooky blinks, \"uh, what...\" she says as Sandra narrows her eyes, leaning in to take a deep sniff of 'Lupe'…\n\nLupe frowns, barking at them, \"What wrong?! Bad thing here! Hunt!\" she barks back, but she seems to be stepping backwards as Sandra breathes in... smelling nothing at all. Lupe growls, then immediately turns and runs from the group, claws scrabbling on the ground as she dives forward into the building.\n\nSandra lunges forward as soon as Lupe moves to run, hoping to take advantage of whatever this thing was in a smaller form it may not be used to... \"Not Lupe!\" she growls angrily, \"You don't smell like anything at all!\" she snarls angrily as Spooky gasps, \"Shapeshifter!\"\n\nEdwood blinks, then narrows his eyes, \"Cover your ears girls!\" he yells as he twists a knob on his backpack, then strikes his guitar strings. A shrill piercing sound echoes through the building as the fake Lupe lets out a loud scream and falls to the floor, kicking and writhing. Nearby the glass in some framed pictures cracks as a few windows shudder and vibrate, the werewolf girl's body taking on a sudden metallic sheen as she flails and howls. Eventually the sound fades and in place of Lupe is a very strange sight indeed. The creature is small and slender, looking totally genderless, with shiny metallic skin and a face like a large flat mirror that reflects the faces of whoever looks into it. \n\n\"A fuggin' mirrorskin...\" mutters Edwood, stepping towards the unmasked assassin, \"Anything they can reflect in their face they can copy.\" he nods, noticing that the creature dropped a framed photograph when it changed back, one showing the group standing together in Washington DC shortly after Sandra had joined with them. It must have found it, recognized the relationship between Lupe and Sandra, and tried to use her form to trick the werewolf. Werewolves tended to stick by their packmates, but it hadn’t counted on the ruse being uncovered so quickly.\n\nSandra snarls angrily, \"I'm gonna bite it's throat out for impersonating my alpha!\" she roars, grabbing the creature's neck firmly to keep it under her. Spooky blinks a bit, \"Uh, wolfy, maybe wait until we figure out why it's here? I'm assuming these things don't just, like, wander out of India's Jungles and start impersonating people?\"\n\nEdwood nods, \"Damn right they don't, that things a fae.\" he replies, stepping towards the creature as it 'looks' up at Sandra's face, the werewolf's own snarling visage reflected in it's mirror-like head. \"They tend ta sell themselves as assassins an' theives fer hire since, yanno, they can just look like whoever they need ta.\" he nods, looking down at the creature, then yelling, \"SANDRA! LOOK OUT!\" as the creature's hand suddenly jabs up into the werewolf's side, it's metal fingers wrapped around the hilt of a dagger.\n\nIt slides in just under her ribs and Sandra's side explodes in pain, a burning sensation going outwards from where the dagger landed as the mirrorskin takes the chance to scurry out from under her and dive away down the hallway, changing shape again as it goes to reflect the maid from earlier.\n\nSandra falls back screaming in agony, shuddering and writhing as her eyes screw shut, \"Oh fuck…\" Spooky whispers, making her way over to Sandra quickly \"Silver?\" she asks as she pulls the healing paste out again. Sandra was immobilized with pain, not used to feeling that level of attack on her 'combat' form. Clearly the mirrorskin came prepared…\n\nEdwood nods and goes to the stricken werewolf, gripping the hilt firmly, \"Alright girl, hold still. This is gunna hurt like ah bitch.\" he nods, then in one quick motion pulls the blade free as he steps aside for the ghoul. \"Fuck...\" he mutters, tossing the blade away, \"How th' hell are we supposed ta find that thing now? It could be anyone in th' whole city!\"\n\nSandra just groans as Spooky rubs the paste over the wound, the edges looking almost burned thanks to the silver... \"Well, it's after Arja's dad... Arja's dad is in the panic room, it'd make sense that it'd try to get in down there, right?\" she points out.\n\nEdwood nods, \"Yeah, but it won't be able ta get in. Nelen told me he warded th' room himself.\" he nods, then blinks, \"... ya don't think he'd have a mirror in that room would ya?\" he asks, sounding worried as he starts to move, \"Them things can travel through mirrors.\" he explains, picking up speed as he heads back to Rajesh's office, the panic room being hidden behind a bookcase in there.\n\nSandra whines in pain, able to stand, but staggering a bit as the paste takes time to heal her. Spooky shrugs \"I've never been in, I mean, it could, if it has, like, a sink and first aid cabinet it would...\" she says, the bookcase already ajar as Rajesh had hidden in the room as soon as the trio had driven the assassin away the first time.\n\nEdwood looks inside through the bulletproof glass window, then curses as he sees Rajesh holding a curved Indian sword as the mirrorskin slinks towards him, holding another dagger in it's shining metal hand. \"Fucking hell!\" he yells, grabbing the door handle and pulling on it as hard as he can... but the thing was built and tested using Drusilla's strength and he's no giantkin, the door doesn't even budge.\n\nSandra growls, \"What's the fucking code?!\" she demands, too new around to get the code herself as Spooky winces, \"Nat kept the code for both of us...\" she whimpers, obviously assuming if there was danger she'd be with her...\n\nEdwood pounds on the door as Rajesh deflects another blow from the Mirrorskin's weapon. He was trained in swordfighting as a boy, but its been ages and he's not as young as he used to be... \"Fuckfuckfuck...\" he growls, then looks at Sandra, \"Oi, you feel up ta fighting?\" he asks the werewolf.\n\nSandra nods, wincing, \"Yea, it hurts, but I can manage, you want me to bust the door down or something?\"\n\n\"Or somethin, yah.\" he nods, the door was too strong for her to break down without help... but... \"Been a while since I did this.\" he nods, turning up the volume on his amp as he holds Jackie ready. \"Awright, try ta keep yer cool, this might fuck with yer head the first time...\" he nods, raising his arm, then bringing it down as he starts to play.\n\nEdwood can only control animals (or people who have been specially 'prepared' for it), but he can ENHANCE others. As he starts into his song (Hard as Iron by Judas Priest if you were curious) and the loud and fast notes pound out of the amp he's wearing on his back, both Sandra and Spooky feel a sudden rush of energy through their bodies. Their hearts beat faster and their blood pumps hotter as Sandra is even able to ignore the burning pain from the silver in her side. Her muscles feel thicker, her claws feel sharper, and her fangs feel longer. Fuck the door, she feels like she could tear the whole wall down!\n\nSandra takes in a few deep breaths as she feels the sudden power surge in her. Her eyes drift away from the door to the wall nearby. It was incredibly strong and warded too, but it was concrete rather than a god knows what alloy, she roars loud enough to rattle the windows as she slams her fist through the concrete like it was foam, her other fist joining it before she pulls her arms back harshly, trying to tear a hole in the wall as Spooky gets ready to rush in and tackle the attacker.\n\nThe Mirrorskin's reflective face snaps around as the wall gets ripped apart like rice paper, the music pounding throughout the building as Edwood's hands blur along his guitar. He can control who he enhances, basically able to aim it at whoever he wants when he starts playing, so Rajesh and the Mirrorskin aren't affected other than sheer shock at the sudden display of lupine ferocity. The fae assassin hesitates for a moment, then dives back towards the mirror in an attempt to escape.\n\nSandra roars, slamming her fists out at the mirror, trying to shatter it to keep the mirrorskin in the room. The only exit was the hole she just tore in the room, it'd be cornered! Spooky, meanwhile, uses her own amping up to charge the mirrorskin, dive tackling at it to try to hold it down!\n\nThe fae falls backwards as the mirror explodes into a rain of glass shards, cutting off it's escape, but the creature manages to kick Spooky hard enough in the chest to knock the wind out of her despite Edwood's magic as it darts between Sandra's legs, scrabbling into the office again. It dives through as a fae, but lands as Simoni in her Garuda form, the shapeshifter's head snapping towards the window it dove through before... but last time it didn't have wings!\n\nSandra snarls angrily, \"Shit! Stop it before it flies!\" she barks, Spooky reaching in her purse and grinning as she grabs a glass orb of green gel... The item was something Stephy had picked up at the Goblin Market during one of his visits to Arcadia, designed to be used by Arja. It could be heated to extreme temperatures and thrown to burn through things, basically acid in a globe! It was a pretty extreme solution, but hey, she didn't have many others. As soon as the creature in Simoni's form turned and looked about to jump, she hurls the glass ball at it, trying to cover its back in burning acidic liquid! Well, that's one way to say 'stop stealing my friends' faces'...\n\nThe creature's eyes widen as it sees the orb fly towards it, trying to block it with one of it's wings... it succeeds, but the orb shatters on impact! The mirrorskin screams in agony, rather disturbing given that it also sounds exactly like Simoni, as it writhes on the floor, trying to rub the acid off onto the carpet as it's feathers' fall away and it's transformed arm bursts out in blisters and reddened skin. It's definitely not flying anywhere now!\n\nEdwood's song finishes, part of his magic is that once he starts that he -has- to finish playing, and he walks over to the writhing Mirrorskin, putting his boot firmly on it's chest. \"Right, what th' fuggin hell is going on? Why is Franklin sendin' assassins after Arja's dad now?\" he demands as 'Simoni' glares up at him, eyes watering as 'she' clutches 'her' arm. \"... who the hell is Franklin?\" she hisses through her teeth.\n\nSandra and Spooky wince, not to mention Rajesh who just heard what is as basically as can be his daughter screaming in pain... but at least the creature is down. \"Wait... who DID send you then?\" Spooky asks as Sandra steps on the creatures leg to keep it in place.\n\n'Simoni' glares up at her, \"Not telling you anything ghoul!\" it spits, still struggling as it tries to squirm free.\n\nEdwood smirks in a rather nasty way, \"Good eyes there shiny, recognizin' she's ah ghoul... which means she's got a vampire fer a friend.\" he leans down, keeping his boot on it's chest, \"So here's th' deal. Ya tell us who sent ya, or when her friend gets home we hand yer fairy ass over with a big fuggin Christmas bow on it an' she gets ta drain ya dry. Fae are ah pretty big treat fer vampires yanno.\" he sneers.\n\nThe fake Simoni's face pales as she struggles harder, \"You wouldn't...\"\n\nSpooky grins, nodding, \"Mhm, we would. Nat would loooove a yummy fae she can suck dry. She used to drink fae a lot ya know, she'd tell me all these stories about how yummy you guys are…\" she giggles wickedly, \"So, what's it gonna be, you gonna leave with a bruised ego and have to hide, or are you going in the fridge?\"\n\n'Simoni' glares at her, though she's starting to sweat. The fae have a lot of reason to fear vampires after all. Edwood leans down, pressing his boot down hard enough for the creature's ribs to creak, and then it finally yells, \"Alright! I'll talk! It was Murukan! Murukan Pallab!\" it yells, it's arm starting to ooze onto the floor from the acid eating into it, causing Rajesh's eyes to widen in recognition.\n\nMurukan is one of his political rivals and has been trying to get Rajesh's position as diplomat for some time now. He's only in it for the wealth and prestige mind you, and apparently he's perfectly willing to use an assassin to arrange for a sudden vacancy in the position.\n\nSpooky frowns as Rajesh explains who that is, \"Wait... what…\" she says as he leans down to look at the creature wearing his daughter's face, \"And how did a pampered corrupt asshole like him even know where to hire a...\" he looks over to the girls, \"Fairy assassin.\" Spooky pipes up, Rajesh nodding, \"A fairy assassin...\"\n\nIt glares at him, \"This is India, the country accepts magic as fact.\" it replies, \"He has magicians on his payroll, one of them contacted me...\" it growls, still clutching it's arm as the acid finally begins to go inert, leaving it reddened and missing in chunks, but otherwise whole. \"Said that his daughter and her friends would be gone and Rajesh would only be guarded by a bunch of mundanes who don't know a cantrip from a hex. Should've been easy...\" she grumbles.\n\nRajesh sighs softly, but nods, \"I suppose it was arrogant to think I'm the only one among my peers with access like this…\" he says, frowning, \"Well, you clearly underestimated these three, they've proven very capable in their own ways.\" he smirks, crossing his arms \"I suppose this is a matter for other... gifted... types to handle, I'll have to tell Murukan that his little visitor failed, I'm sure he'll enjoy that, I imagine you types cost a good bit?\"\n\nEdwood nods, \"Oh yeah. Fae aren't paid in cash usually, this guy probably went into it fer some big weird pricetag.\" he looks down at the assassin, \"Guys, look away for a minute would ya?\" he asks, then when they do there's a sudden loud crunching sound from behind them. When they look back the mirrorskin is laying dead on the floor with a rather flattened chest, Edwood leaning against the table, \"Sorry 'bout dat, but fae contracts tend ta be 'until death' types. If ah didn't stomp 'im then he'd have just tried again first chance he got.\" he explains. Thankfully it also changed back when it died, the creature having resumed it's true form. He may not have had any cold iron on him, but a crushed rib cage tends to do the trick.\n\nSpooky pouts a bit, \"Aw, I was hoping to knock him out and leave him for Nat…\" she whines, but nods, \"I guess if it's for the best\" she grins, taking out a small glass bottle and scooping in some of the fae's silvery blood before it can evaporate (Fae blood plus air usually results in quick dissolving with just some silvery flecks left behind) \"There we go, still a nice little snack for her!\" she says proudly.\n\nEdwood rolls his eyes at that, then reaches into a pocket and takes out a battered cell phone that looks like it hasn't been replaced since 2005. \"Awright, gotta call Nelen. Told 'im I'd let 'im know if shit went down here.\" he nods, walking out into the hallway.\n\nSeveral thousand miles away on a plane just passing into Northern Africa, Nelen's smartphone starts playing 'The Magician' by Bruce Dickinson. Nelen looks down at his pocket, then pulls it out and answers. \"Ed, talk to me.\" he says, then nods, \"Hang on, hang on.\" he says into the phone, then waves for Arja, Simoni, Natasha, and Lupe to come over. He puts Ed on speakerphone, then lets him tell the group about the Mirrorskin, it's target, and who hired it. \"... So yeah.\" says Edwood's voice, \"We took care of it, but guess Franklin' ain't the only one after yer group.\"\n\nArja frowns as she hears the description, \"Ugh, it figures he'd do that…\" she huffs, shaking her head, \"Thanks guys, you three really did help a lot there.\" she replies, as Spooky nearly hip checks Ed on their end to tell Natasha she saved her some fairy blood on the other end, \"We can deal with Murukan when we get home, we'll be handling Franklin soon enough, we can put some corrupt asshole on the backburner for a time...\"\n\n\"Ow! OW! Awright! Keep yer damn fangs on I'll tell 'er!\" he yells, \"Right, Dracula-girl. Yer pet said she managed ta bottle some fae blood fer yas before it went bad.\" says Edwood, \"Right, ah'm gonna go now. Gotta get this body outta here and hidden somewhere before Rajesh can get someone ta come out and do repairs on his place.\"\n\nNatasha giggles happily as she hears that, clapping, \"Ooh this was a good night then!\" she teases as Arja rolls her eyes, \"Thanks Ed, good job.\" she smiles.\n\nEd hangs up as Nelen puts his phone away, \"Huh. Never got to tangle with a Mirrorskin before, those things are pretty rare.\" he nods as Stephy peeks his head up over the back of his chair, \"Yeah, I heard Sera talking about them before. Apparently they're a type of changeling that the True Fae use for political assassinations in Arcadia. Though its hard to keep them in line since they can change shape like that, lots of them use it to escape back to Earth.\" he nods.\n\nDawn looks out the window, having dozed off in Nelen's lap in her animal form, then says, \"Hey guys, I think that's the airport under us.\" as Nelen looks past her out the window, \"Yep, looks like we're almost to Morocco. Here's hoping we don't run into anything too weird in that tomb.\" he sighs, leaning back in his chair.","writing_bbcode_parsed":"This story takes place immediately following Part 19: The Knight, The Magician, and the Nightside

Its early evening at the Barjar residence... and its almost scary how quiet it is. With almost all the supernatural residents gone the maids have taken to watching Netflix in the evenings due to the fact that they actually run out of things to do! Down in the almost empty harem quarters Edwood is polishing Jackie, his rune-inscribed guitar, as the TV goes over the news featuring some American celebrity getting mobbed at an airport in London. "Huh... think I know that guy..." he mutters as he sees a familiar bearded man in a black hat on the screen, then goes back to working on his instrument.

In Natasha's 'room' there was still a girl, though. Natasha of course slept in her coffin, having no real need for the room, but Tiffany ‘Spooky’ Smith was more than happy to take the bed, the perky young goth/ghoul sat on the bed watching TV, pouting as she looks over to see the empty coffin where usually her mistress would be climbing out of right now. "Boooring…" she sighs, not even seeing the glimpse of Natasha on the news thanks to her watching yet another vampire movie to distract her from the blend of genuine longing and withdrawal that ghouls feel when their owner is away, a bit like a puppy really. She’d snuck along with the team when they were coming back from Texas and, having decided that a mundane living with them was about as safe as a mouse living at a cat shelter, Natasha had allowed her to feed on her vampiric blood to the point where she became a sort of pseudo-undead. A ghoul had a small portion of the powers of a vampire, but none of the drawbacks… so long as they kept feeding on vampiric blood.

Speaking of puppy, Sandra was still getting used to her new lupine self, the woman walking around the house stark naked since it was so empty (seemed despite feeling more at home in her human form, she shared Lupe's distaste for clothing now). She had just left the kitchen, having satisfied her most recent craving for raw meat (or  'FOOOOOD, BLOODY FOOD' as she put it), scaring away a poor maid who was making her own soup. Needless to say she was still having issues balancing the wolf and the human, and being without her alpha and packmate sure wasn't helping!

Edwood hears Sandra bellowing upstairs and rolls his eyes, "Jeezus friggin' keerist Nelen. I dun mind babysittin' yer boss, but askin' me ta keep an eye on that too is a bit too much..." he mutters, putting the guitar polish away as he adjusts the knobs at the top of his guitar, testing the strings with a finger... and almost snapping one as a loud crash echoes from upstairs. Part of him thinks 'probably just that damn werewolf', but another part of him that's managed to keep him alive through years of mercenary work says 'the hell it was!'.

With a speed that would surprise someone who only saw an aging rocker, he's on his feet, pulling the backpack that contains his amp on over his shoulders before plugging Jackie in. He stomps his way up the stairs from the basement just in time to see one of Rajesh's mundane guardsmen stumbling back past the entrance to the harem quarters bleeding from several sword wounds, the metalgician quickly turning to face where he came from.

Sandra's head snaps to the the direction of the crash, nope, wasn't her. She sniffs the air as she walks over in the direction of the sound, Spooky coming out of her room with a little huff, "Sandra keep it down!" she pouts, "Stupid dog..." she adds glumly, Sandra just reminding her of Lupe, who in turn reminds her of Natasha... it was complex being a hormone addled vampire blood addict...

"Wasn't me…" she replies as she makes her way in the direction, Spooky frowning and moving to follow. If it wasn't the wolf, and Edwood was downstairs, and none of the maids could have done it, that wasn't good... Then her nose picks up the smell of blood, Sandra growling right away as her fangs start to emerge...

Standing in the hall is a young Indian man, dressed the same as one of Rajesh's guards, but holding a long and sharp looking dagger. Another one of the guards tries to tackle him but he nimbly steps aside, trips the man at the last second, and kicks him as hard as he can to send him cartwheeling down the hall to land in a stunned heap. Edwood doesn't waste any time, flicking on the amp and striking a chord on Jackie, sending a shockwave out towards the attacker. It stuns him, but Edwood can't do more than keep an attacker unbalanced with such an ability and it seems most of Rajesh's guards are already down. "Fuggin hell..." he mutters, using another shockwave attack to try to keep the assassin distracted.

Sandra growls, claws coming out as she squats down "Who are you?" she says as she arrives, followed quick behind by Spooky, who lets out a shriek as she sees the knife. Still, she does try to help, holding her hand up and chanting something about mother moon or Apollo or... well she was kinda mashing like three religious views together as she 'chants', blinking as she looks around, seeing that nothing happened. "Damn it!" she curses. Ironically enough out of any form of magic she could choose she picked Wicca, the one that never ever works.

Edwood rolls his eyes at her and sends out another shockwave as the assassin looks around, sees the two others, and senses that they're supernaturals as well. The ghoul isn't too big an issue, but the werewolf... even a new werewolf is dangerous. He waits for Edwood to pause between attacks, then dives back into Rajesh's study and smashes through a window, falling out and landing in the bushes outside. Edwood goes in and looks out the window, then over at Rajesh. The diplomat is injured, his sleeve torn and a bloody gash on one arm, but it appears he's otherwise unhurt. The assassin must have missed when aiming for a more vital spot. "You alright man?" asks Edwood.

Sandra growls, diving out the window after him as the wolf instincts take over, he was in her territory and attacked someone in her 'pack', he had to pay for that! Spooky, thankfully, does have a few legitimate talents, mainly 'she remembers what magical things do'. "Here." she says, reaching into her black purse and pulling out a small jar with a leaf paste that smelled rather minty in it, "This'll help the wound heal fast and clean..." she says, handing it over to Rajesh.

Edwood looks at her, "That another one of those 'wicca' things?" he asks before looking back outside, watching her sniff around the grounds... but the assassin seems to prove hard to locate. For some odd reason Sandra can't pick up any smells other than what's normally there, even with her enhanced senses its almost like the attacker was never really there at all.

Spooky huffs and shakes her head, "Noooo, jerk." she pouts, "It's from Arja's temple, I keep a jar with me for when Nat..." she blushes at that, "Sometimes it's hot when I feed her myself..." she says, leaving that image right there as Sandra whines, climbing back in the house. "Can't smell him…" she frowns, looking around "Who the hell was that? He wasn't normal for sure, especially if I can't even get a whiff of him..." she rrfs, tilting her head in a doglike manner.

Edwood shrugs, "Fucked if I know, he looked like the rest of the guards ta me." he nods, then looks up as a maid looks into the room in a panic. She babbles something in Hindi, which Rajesh translates as 'Someone is attacking the maid's quarters'. Ed doesn't need more than that, waving for the other two to follow him as he heads out of the room after the woman.

Sandra and spooky are right behind him, "The maid quarters is a good bit away…" Spooky comments, "Sandra would have seen tracks or a trail… is this guy a teleporter or something?" she asks as Sandra shrugs, her claws coming out as her eyes turn yellow, the girl shifting further into her wolf form.

Edwood just shrugs, saving his breath for a fight when they arrive and all duck into the room... only to find a group of maids looking up from watching the latest episode of Orange is the New Black. They seem confused until they look behind them and see another maid disappearing into the hallway, then slamming the door shut. Edwood dives at it and tries to open it, only to find it's been barricaded from the outside. "The fuck!?" he yells, pounding on the door, "Son of a bitch we got two of 'em?!" he growls, stepping back and slamming his foot into the wood, making the door shake but little else.

Sandra lets out a louder growl at that, "That's it!" she snarls, her body bending and breaking as she shifts into her full 'battle wolf' form, brown fur sprouting all over her body as her muscles grow out, the woman shifting into a near eight foot bipedal wolf form as she takes in a few deep breaths. "I don't care how many there are I'm not gonna let them mess with this house!" she growls, slamming herself into the door at full force! Spooky, meanwhile, ducks for cover, she may not be much help as a 'witch' but she sure knew a fully pissed werewolf tackling down a door wouldn't end well.

The door, and the chair that had been holding it, are splinters by the time Sandra manages to stop herself, but the maid is long gone (behind them one of the maids turns to her friend and says, in Hindi, 'I'm not cleaning that'). Edwood immediately heads back towards Rajesh's office, hoping the man at least had the sense to get to his panic room (after everything that has happened he sure as hell hopes he has a panic room), only to be stopped when a familiar figure steps into the hallway infront of him and Sandra.

"Why you wait?! Monkey father in trouble!" barks the small werewolf girl as she paws at the ground, her yellow eyes staring at the two of them. Lupe has appeared infront of the group, her tail thrashing behind her as her ears perk up.

Spooky blinks, "uh, what..." she says as Sandra narrows her eyes, leaning in to take a deep sniff of 'Lupe'…

Lupe frowns, barking at them, "What wrong?! Bad thing here! Hunt!" she barks back, but she seems to be stepping backwards as Sandra breathes in... smelling nothing at all. Lupe growls, then immediately turns and runs from the group, claws scrabbling on the ground as she dives forward into the building.

Sandra lunges forward as soon as Lupe moves to run, hoping to take advantage of whatever this thing was in a smaller form it may not be used to... "Not Lupe!" she growls angrily, "You don't smell like anything at all!" she snarls angrily as Spooky gasps, "Shapeshifter!"

Edwood blinks, then narrows his eyes, "Cover your ears girls!" he yells as he twists a knob on his backpack, then strikes his guitar strings. A shrill piercing sound echoes through the building as the fake Lupe lets out a loud scream and falls to the floor, kicking and writhing. Nearby the glass in some framed pictures cracks as a few windows shudder and vibrate, the werewolf girl's body taking on a sudden metallic sheen as she flails and howls. Eventually the sound fades and in place of Lupe is a very strange sight indeed. The creature is small and slender, looking totally genderless, with shiny metallic skin and a face like a large flat mirror that reflects the faces of whoever looks into it.

"A fuggin' mirrorskin..." mutters Edwood, stepping towards the unmasked assassin, "Anything they can reflect in their face they can copy." he nods, noticing that the creature dropped a framed photograph when it changed back, one showing the group standing together in Washington DC shortly after Sandra had joined with them. It must have found it, recognized the relationship between Lupe and Sandra, and tried to use her form to trick the werewolf. Werewolves tended to stick by their packmates, but it hadn’t counted on the ruse being uncovered so quickly.

Sandra snarls angrily, "I'm gonna bite it's throat out for impersonating my alpha!" she roars, grabbing the creature's neck firmly to keep it under her. Spooky blinks a bit, "Uh, wolfy, maybe wait until we figure out why it's here? I'm assuming these things don't just, like, wander out of India's Jungles and start impersonating people?"

Edwood nods, "Damn right they don't, that things a fae." he replies, stepping towards the creature as it 'looks' up at Sandra's face, the werewolf's own snarling visage reflected in it's mirror-like head. "They tend ta sell themselves as assassins an' theives fer hire since, yanno, they can just look like whoever they need ta." he nods, looking down at the creature, then yelling, "SANDRA! LOOK OUT!" as the creature's hand suddenly jabs up into the werewolf's side, it's metal fingers wrapped around the hilt of a dagger.

It slides in just under her ribs and Sandra's side explodes in pain, a burning sensation going outwards from where the dagger landed as the mirrorskin takes the chance to scurry out from under her and dive away down the hallway, changing shape again as it goes to reflect the maid from earlier.

Sandra falls back screaming in agony, shuddering and writhing as her eyes screw shut, "Oh fuck…" Spooky whispers, making her way over to Sandra quickly "Silver?" she asks as she pulls the healing paste out again. Sandra was immobilized with pain, not used to feeling that level of attack on her 'combat' form. Clearly the mirrorskin came prepared…

Edwood nods and goes to the stricken werewolf, gripping the hilt firmly, "Alright girl, hold still. This is gunna hurt like ah bitch." he nods, then in one quick motion pulls the blade free as he steps aside for the ghoul. "Fuck..." he mutters, tossing the blade away, "How th' hell are we supposed ta find that thing now? It could be anyone in th' whole city!"

Sandra just groans as Spooky rubs the paste over the wound, the edges looking almost burned thanks to the silver... "Well, it's after Arja's dad... Arja's dad is in the panic room, it'd make sense that it'd try to get in down there, right?" she points out.

Edwood nods, "Yeah, but it won't be able ta get in. Nelen told me he warded th' room himself." he nods, then blinks, "... ya don't think he'd have a mirror in that room would ya?" he asks, sounding worried as he starts to move, "Them things can travel through mirrors." he explains, picking up speed as he heads back to Rajesh's office, the panic room being hidden behind a bookcase in there.

Sandra whines in pain, able to stand, but staggering a bit as the paste takes time to heal her. Spooky shrugs "I've never been in, I mean, it could, if it has, like, a sink and first aid cabinet it would..." she says, the bookcase already ajar as Rajesh had hidden in the room as soon as the trio had driven the assassin away the first time.

Edwood looks inside through the bulletproof glass window, then curses as he sees Rajesh holding a curved Indian sword as the mirrorskin slinks towards him, holding another dagger in it's shining metal hand. "Fucking hell!" he yells, grabbing the door handle and pulling on it as hard as he can... but the thing was built and tested using Drusilla's strength and he's no giantkin, the door doesn't even budge.

Sandra growls, "What's the fucking code?!" she demands, too new around to get the code herself as Spooky winces, "Nat kept the code for both of us..." she whimpers, obviously assuming if there was danger she'd be with her...

Edwood pounds on the door as Rajesh deflects another blow from the Mirrorskin's weapon. He was trained in swordfighting as a boy, but its been ages and he's not as young as he used to be... "Fuckfuckfuck..." he growls, then looks at Sandra, "Oi, you feel up ta fighting?" he asks the werewolf.

Sandra nods, wincing, "Yea, it hurts, but I can manage, you want me to bust the door down or something?"

"Or somethin, yah." he nods, the door was too strong for her to break down without help... but... "Been a while since I did this." he nods, turning up the volume on his amp as he holds Jackie ready. "Awright, try ta keep yer cool, this might fuck with yer head the first time..." he nods, raising his arm, then bringing it down as he starts to play.

Edwood can only control animals (or people who have been specially 'prepared' for it), but he can ENHANCE others. As he starts into his song (Hard as Iron by Judas Priest if you were curious) and the loud and fast notes pound out of the amp he's wearing on his back, both Sandra and Spooky feel a sudden rush of energy through their bodies. Their hearts beat faster and their blood pumps hotter as Sandra is even able to ignore the burning pain from the silver in her side. Her muscles feel thicker, her claws feel sharper, and her fangs feel longer. Fuck the door, she feels like she could tear the whole wall down!

Sandra takes in a few deep breaths as she feels the sudden power surge in her. Her eyes drift away from the door to the wall nearby. It was incredibly strong and warded too, but it was concrete rather than a god knows what alloy, she roars loud enough to rattle the windows as she slams her fist through the concrete like it was foam, her other fist joining it before she pulls her arms back harshly, trying to tear a hole in the wall as Spooky gets ready to rush in and tackle the attacker.

The Mirrorskin's reflective face snaps around as the wall gets ripped apart like rice paper, the music pounding throughout the building as Edwood's hands blur along his guitar. He can control who he enhances, basically able to aim it at whoever he wants when he starts playing, so Rajesh and the Mirrorskin aren't affected other than sheer shock at the sudden display of lupine ferocity. The fae assassin hesitates for a moment, then dives back towards the mirror in an attempt to escape.

Sandra roars, slamming her fists out at the mirror, trying to shatter it to keep the mirrorskin in the room. The only exit was the hole she just tore in the room, it'd be cornered! Spooky, meanwhile, uses her own amping up to charge the mirrorskin, dive tackling at it to try to hold it down!

The fae falls backwards as the mirror explodes into a rain of glass shards, cutting off it's escape, but the creature manages to kick Spooky hard enough in the chest to knock the wind out of her despite Edwood's magic as it darts between Sandra's legs, scrabbling into the office again. It dives through as a fae, but lands as Simoni in her Garuda form, the shapeshifter's head snapping towards the window it dove through before... but last time it didn't have wings!

Sandra snarls angrily, "Shit! Stop it before it flies!" she barks, Spooky reaching in her purse and grinning as she grabs a glass orb of green gel... The item was something Stephy had picked up at the Goblin Market during one of his visits to Arcadia, designed to be used by Arja. It could be heated to extreme temperatures and thrown to burn through things, basically acid in a globe! It was a pretty extreme solution, but hey, she didn't have many others. As soon as the creature in Simoni's form turned and looked about to jump, she hurls the glass ball at it, trying to cover its back in burning acidic liquid! Well, that's one way to say 'stop stealing my friends' faces'...

The creature's eyes widen as it sees the orb fly towards it, trying to block it with one of it's wings... it succeeds, but the orb shatters on impact! The mirrorskin screams in agony, rather disturbing given that it also sounds exactly like Simoni, as it writhes on the floor, trying to rub the acid off onto the carpet as it's feathers' fall away and it's transformed arm bursts out in blisters and reddened skin. It's definitely not flying anywhere now!

Edwood's song finishes, part of his magic is that once he starts that he -has- to finish playing, and he walks over to the writhing Mirrorskin, putting his boot firmly on it's chest. "Right, what th' fuggin hell is going on? Why is Franklin sendin' assassins after Arja's dad now?" he demands as 'Simoni' glares up at him, eyes watering as 'she' clutches 'her' arm. "... who the hell is Franklin?" she hisses through her teeth.

Sandra and Spooky wince, not to mention Rajesh who just heard what is as basically as can be his daughter screaming in pain... but at least the creature is down. "Wait... who DID send you then?" Spooky asks as Sandra steps on the creatures leg to keep it in place.

'Simoni' glares up at her, "Not telling you anything ghoul!" it spits, still struggling as it tries to squirm free.

Edwood smirks in a rather nasty way, "Good eyes there shiny, recognizin' she's ah ghoul... which means she's got a vampire fer a friend." he leans down, keeping his boot on it's chest, "So here's th' deal. Ya tell us who sent ya, or when her friend gets home we hand yer fairy ass over with a big fuggin Christmas bow on it an' she gets ta drain ya dry. Fae are ah pretty big treat fer vampires yanno." he sneers.

The fake Simoni's face pales as she struggles harder, "You wouldn't..."

Spooky grins, nodding, "Mhm, we would. Nat would loooove a yummy fae she can suck dry. She used to drink fae a lot ya know, she'd tell me all these stories about how yummy you guys are…" she giggles wickedly, "So, what's it gonna be, you gonna leave with a bruised ego and have to hide, or are you going in the fridge?"

'Simoni' glares at her, though she's starting to sweat. The fae have a lot of reason to fear vampires after all. Edwood leans down, pressing his boot down hard enough for the creature's ribs to creak, and then it finally yells, "Alright! I'll talk! It was Murukan! Murukan Pallab!" it yells, it's arm starting to ooze onto the floor from the acid eating into it, causing Rajesh's eyes to widen in recognition.

Murukan is one of his political rivals and has been trying to get Rajesh's position as diplomat for some time now. He's only in it for the wealth and prestige mind you, and apparently he's perfectly willing to use an assassin to arrange for a sudden vacancy in the position.

Spooky frowns as Rajesh explains who that is, "Wait... what…" she says as he leans down to look at the creature wearing his daughter's face, "And how did a pampered corrupt asshole like him even know where to hire a..." he looks over to the girls, "Fairy assassin." Spooky pipes up, Rajesh nodding, "A fairy assassin..."

It glares at him, "This is India, the country accepts magic as fact." it replies, "He has magicians on his payroll, one of them contacted me..." it growls, still clutching it's arm as the acid finally begins to go inert, leaving it reddened and missing in chunks, but otherwise whole. "Said that his daughter and her friends would be gone and Rajesh would only be guarded by a bunch of mundanes who don't know a cantrip from a hex. Should've been easy..." she grumbles.

Rajesh sighs softly, but nods, "I suppose it was arrogant to think I'm the only one among my peers with access like this…" he says, frowning, "Well, you clearly underestimated these three, they've proven very capable in their own ways." he smirks, crossing his arms "I suppose this is a matter for other... gifted... types to handle, I'll have to tell Murukan that his little visitor failed, I'm sure he'll enjoy that, I imagine you types cost a good bit?"

Edwood nods, "Oh yeah. Fae aren't paid in cash usually, this guy probably went into it fer some big weird pricetag." he looks down at the assassin, "Guys, look away for a minute would ya?" he asks, then when they do there's a sudden loud crunching sound from behind them. When they look back the mirrorskin is laying dead on the floor with a rather flattened chest, Edwood leaning against the table, "Sorry 'bout dat, but fae contracts tend ta be 'until death' types. If ah didn't stomp 'im then he'd have just tried again first chance he got." he explains. Thankfully it also changed back when it died, the creature having resumed it's true form. He may not have had any cold iron on him, but a crushed rib cage tends to do the trick.

Spooky pouts a bit, "Aw, I was hoping to knock him out and leave him for Nat…" she whines, but nods, "I guess if it's for the best" she grins, taking out a small glass bottle and scooping in some of the fae's silvery blood before it can evaporate (Fae blood plus air usually results in quick dissolving with just some silvery flecks left behind) "There we go, still a nice little snack for her!" she says proudly.

Edwood rolls his eyes at that, then reaches into a pocket and takes out a battered cell phone that looks like it hasn't been replaced since 2005. "Awright, gotta call Nelen. Told 'im I'd let 'im know if shit went down here." he nods, walking out into the hallway.

Several thousand miles away on a plane just passing into Northern Africa, Nelen's smartphone starts playing 'The Magician' by Bruce Dickinson. Nelen looks down at his pocket, then pulls it out and answers. "Ed, talk to me." he says, then nods, "Hang on, hang on." he says into the phone, then waves for Arja, Simoni, Natasha, and Lupe to come over. He puts Ed on speakerphone, then lets him tell the group about the Mirrorskin, it's target, and who hired it. "... So yeah." says Edwood's voice, "We took care of it, but guess Franklin' ain't the only one after yer group."

Arja frowns as she hears the description, "Ugh, it figures he'd do that…" she huffs, shaking her head, "Thanks guys, you three really did help a lot there." she replies, as Spooky nearly hip checks Ed on their end to tell Natasha she saved her some fairy blood on the other end, "We can deal with Murukan when we get home, we'll be handling Franklin soon enough, we can put some corrupt asshole on the backburner for a time..."

"Ow! OW! Awright! Keep yer damn fangs on I'll tell 'er!" he yells, "Right, Dracula-girl. Yer pet said she managed ta bottle some fae blood fer yas before it went bad." says Edwood, "Right, ah'm gonna go now. Gotta get this body outta here and hidden somewhere before Rajesh can get someone ta come out and do repairs on his place."

Natasha giggles happily as she hears that, clapping, "Ooh this was a good night then!" she teases as Arja rolls her eyes, "Thanks Ed, good job." she smiles.

Ed hangs up as Nelen puts his phone away, "Huh. Never got to tangle with a Mirrorskin before, those things are pretty rare." he nods as Stephy peeks his head up over the back of his chair, "Yeah, I heard Sera talking about them before. Apparently they're a type of changeling that the True Fae use for political assassinations in Arcadia. Though its hard to keep them in line since they can change shape like that, lots of them use it to escape back to Earth." he nods.

Dawn looks out the window, having dozed off in Nelen's lap in her animal form, then says, "Hey guys, I think that's the airport under us." as Nelen looks past her out the window, "Yep, looks like we're almost to Morocco. Here's hoping we don't run into anything too weird in that tomb." he sighs, leaning back in his chair.","pools_count":0,"title":"Side Story 8: The B-Team","deleted":"f","public":"t","mimetype":"application/msword","pagecount":"1","rating_id":"2","rating_name":"Adult","ratings":[{"content_tag_id":"5","name":"Strong Violence","description":"Strong violence, blood, serious injury or death","rating_id":"2"}],"submission_type_id":"12","type_name":"Writing - Document","guest_block":"t","friends_only":"f","comments_count":"0","views":"32","sales_description":null,"forsale":"f","digitalsales":"f","printsales":"f","digital_price":""}