The Fictionals: Game of Minds (Villain and Axenia)

[Axenia]

The morning after

Casey didn't want to wake up, when her alarmclock went of she tried to hide underneath the covers. But it didn't work, it kept playing the same few lines over and over again. It was the lines from one of those irritating teenage girl popsongs, that she didn't know the name of. Her mother had found that damn thing quite amusing, and she had bought it for Casey as a get well present last time she had been ill.
   "Shut up, oh god please shut up." She talked into her pillow before turning her head and looking at the time. She was going to be late if she didn't got out of bed now, but her whole body felt too heavy. It had been a long night, first burning down the theatre and then fighting Ryan who had turned into a giant spider. And then the whole thing with Alistair. Just thinking about him made her heart beat faster, and a warm feeling filled her entire body. Why had she fallen in love with him, she really didn't want to, but it was too late now. her stomach turned when she thought about facing him today, she hoped he had figured out how she felt about him, the thought of telling him was terrifying. But she had promised him she would, and she was going to keep that promise.
   Her shower had taken longer than she had planned, but the feeling of the water had comforted her. When she finally stood in front of her closet panic started to spread through her. What was she going to wear, what would make Al notice her? She looked through the pile of jeans, sure some of them gave her a great ass, but that wasn't enough. She wanted to get his attention, make him notice her fit, hourglass shaped body. She smiled when she found a short black pleated skirt that stopped halfway down her thigh. It took her a while before she found a tight red low cut top. She looked at herself in the mirror, she smiled then grabbed a black permanent marker and wrote 'Burning down the house' on it. She laughed then put on a pair of black boots with a stiletto heel and started walking to school. Luckily her mother had not seen her, otherwise she would have forced her to wear something else. But desperate times called for desperate measures. she was fully aware of the fact that she looked like a hore, but how could he not notice her in that outfit.
   people were looking at her when she walked up the stairs, and she could hear them talking behind her back. But she had made her choice, and it made no point in regretting it now. She looked for Al, some part of her hoping to see him, another part afraid that she would. Lulu and Ryan were also nowhere to be found. but maybe it was just as well, although she would like to know what had happened after she left. Then she saw him in the crowd, the untidy hair and hazel eyes. She couldn't face him just yet, so she grabbed her books and headed for her first period. it was only when she entered the classroom she remembered that they shared that class. She sat down at the back of the class, her heart beating fast. Would he sit down beside her, or ignore her. She didn't know what would be worse.

The redhaired girl

She must have been new at school, otherwise he definitely would have noticed her before. After leaving school he kept thinking about her, almost turning around so he could see where she lived. But she hadn't been alone when he left, oh no, she had been talking to that jerk Alistair Croft. He really hated that guy, always thinking he was oh so clever, but now also because he had had the courage to talk to her. How he wanted to be able to walk up to her and introduce himself, but there was something about her. Her attitude was telling him to stay away, but the way she moved drew him in. She was dangerous and luring at the same time. Today he would talk to her, he had promised himself that.
   He had never been one of the popular guys, he played sports and was quite athletic, but they had never invited him into their group. What did he care, the girls seemed to like him. He had never been rejected and now his eyes were set on that redheaded wild girl, she would be his. So why did he doubt himself, he had never done that before. What was it about this girl that made him loose his tongue and his nerves.
   The minute he got to school he could see something was different, but what? It took him a while to realise that the theatre had been closed, warning people that due to a fire, entering was unsafe. He couldn't help but peek inside and was shocked. The whole thing had been burned down, charred seats were lying in a pile as if someone had started to try and clean the whole mess up, but had thought better of it.
   "Fantastic." He smiled and whistled while walking down the corridor. He had always hated the theatre, all those people trying to be actors. He had just turned the corner when she saw her, stopping in his tracks, just starring at her. She had looked wonderful yesterday, but today. The outfit showed of her body, and her red hair seemed to burn with the intensity of the brightest fire. While he stared at her he kept telling himself that she would be his, when the day was over she would be lying in his arms while he played with her hair and caressing her nude body. He nodded to himself, and walked over to her.
   "Hi there beautiful, my name is Jonathan Andrews. I noticed yesterday that you looked so lost, so why don't you let me..." His voice trailed of as she walked away from him, had she even noticed he was there? He looked around and saw the cause of her quickly departure, his confident smile turning into an angry glare. Alistair Craft had just arrived. He walked right over to him, bumping as hard as he could into his shoulder.
   "Watch it asshole, or I'll knock you right in to next week." He leaned in closer and whispered. "Stay away from that redheaded girl, or I swear I'll make you regret ever talking to her." He gave him another shove before walking to class.

[Villain]

Tuesday Morning

Alistair had woken up to the usual school routine. When him and Lulu had begun their double life of dealing with villains and other bizarre character he had found it challenging to adjust to a very normal morning routine of getting dressed, have breakfast with his mum and then walk to school. It was so mundane in comparison that he just couldn't get used to it and had shown his frustration by analysing every single cereal box that his mother put on the breakfast table before making smart little comments about his step fathers business suit. His behaviour had resulted in him being grounded for a week which Alistair now believed was fair of them for he had been a bit of an ass.
  'Alistair breakfasts ready!' His mother; Sarah Croft, called to him from the kitchen. Sarah had always been the highlight of Alistairs family life. He had a step father that he despised, uncles that were boring and cousins that teased him about being a geek, but his mother could never do him wrong. Even if she wasn't as smart as he was.
  He walked into the kitchen and sat down to a plate of toast and eggs. His mother stood over a frying pan, her blond hair tied back in a bun and her green eyes staring at the pan with such concentration that she almost seemed to develop the same sharp expression that Alistair adopted when he worked out a puzzle.
  'Dave's not here?' Alistair asked quietly as he munched on a slice of toast.
  'No he had to leave early, apparently the lecturers at his university are all required to attend a meeting on where they park their cars' She spoke and seemed to smile to herself as she watched her fry egg sizzle and pop.
  'Dave doesn't drive. He has a bike'
  'That's true but he wanted to show professionalism. He said he wanted to set a good example for you to learn from.' She replied with a heavy sigh.
  'Good example? I'm never late for school, I don't answer back to teachers, I'm polite and helpful to anyone who requests my help and have always tried to keep out of trouble' He knew the last part was sort of a lie but he still said the sentence with a degree of spite in his voice. He hated it when Dave tried to belittle him through his mother.
  'Alistair you know what Dave's like, but he cares about you and wants to see you do well.'
  'That's why he sent me to a boarding school with one of the lowest grade averages in the country' Alistair grumbled before dunking his toast into his egg yolk. His mother just sighed and shook her head before shoveling her fried eggs onto her own plate.
  'You have a letter.' She spoke and passed him a bright green envelope with his name on it as she sat down to eat with him, 'It came this morning, a boy delivered it. Friend of yours?' She asked curiously.
  Alistair stared at the envelope before slowly opening it. He cocked his head as he always did when observing something strange. The contents of the envelope were bizarre.
  'They're vouchers for Big Berts Pies and a hair cut at La Coiffeur' He said and frowned at the strange gift. He gave a questioning glance at his mum who just shrugged.
  'Maybe you have a secret admirer?' She suggested with a mischevious smirk.
  'A secret admirer who thinks I should have a hair cut and a pie?' He asked and threw the vouchers on to the table. His mother just shrugged.
  'Love works in strange ways Alistair. Now hurry and eat your breakfast or you'll be late for school'

At School

Alistair hated feeling confused because being confused meant he couldn't figure out what was going on and that went against all of his principles. He had stared at the vouchers through the entire journey from his house to school and then had continued to stare some more as he walked through the corridor. There was now nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something was telling him that there was something not quite right about the vouchers. As if their was a connection he wasn't yet aware of.
  Then his thoughts were interupted as a large boys shoulder plowed into him. He stumbled and almost dropped the vouchers, but he managed to stay on his feet and turn to face the boy.
  'Ok that had a lot of force behind it. It couldn't have been an accident. He did that on purpose' He thought and stared at the young man that was now squaring up to him and threatening him with physical violence if he didn't stop hanging about with a red haired girl.
  'Yeah. He did that on purpose. Alistair thought and looked over the boy. He noted the athletic build and the aura of pettiness that seemed to surround him. He took note of his dress sense and the smell of his deodorant. He gathered as much information as possible on the boy before coming to a decision; he was going to make this person pay for interupting his thinking.
  The boy was now walking away. Alistair put on a smile before trotting up behind him and saying on single sentence, 'So I take it your dad doesn't come to many of your soccer games? Must be a shame being the middle child.'

[Axenia]

The boy turned around and looked at him, his eyes narrowing and his mouth tightening. The boy, who Alistair recognised as Jonathan Andrews, wore a pair of faded jeans and a black tshirt that was clearly a number too small so it would show of his muscles and make him look bigger.
   "You stay the hell away from me geek, or should I call you a freak. You stay away from me and that new redhaired girl, she's mine and I'm not gonna let you spoil that." He pushed Alistair as hard as he could into the wall, closing his fist and raising it. Then he thought better of it and lowered it again just as a teacher walked around the corner. He straightened Alistairs vest, giving ham a hard pad on his chest.
   "Come near me again, and I'll make sure your worst nightmare comes true." He walked away from Alistair, making a dent in a locker as he walked by it. The bell rang and people started heading for their classes, some of them talking about what had just happened.

Casey sat in the classroom as the bell rang, her stomach tightening as she remembered that Al would walk through those doors at any minute now. The seat beside her was still available, she started locating her books to keep her occupied.

[Villain]

Alistair felt disappointed. He had expected a violent reaction but he hadn't been granted the chance to get to the boy.
  He had run into his fair share of bullies back at his old boarding school and they had threatened him with no end of tortures; like wet willies, swirlys, wedgies and other humiliating punishments. Alistair had never caved in to them because he had found a way to defend himself; blackmail. No matter how big the bully Alistair would be able to ward him off by getting inside the bully's had and exposing every dark embarrassing secret he had. It was simple providing the bully was wearing the right outfit and had the right evidence marked all over his clothes; like a smear of mud, a mark of ink or drops of spray paint.
  'Shame.' He sighed before brushing himself off and strolling towards his class room, 'I was rather looking forward to taking him down a peg or two.'
  He walked into his class room and without even looking sat down in the seat next to Casey. He would have noticed her but his mind was full of questions, like; who had sent him the vouchers that morning? Why had they given him them in the first place? Why did he just get attacked by a random jock? What had he done to upset the poor fool and what had he meant by stay away from that new redhaired girl?
  He glanced to his left and immediately got the answer to that final question. It all clicked into place so perfectly that he almost kicked himself for not realising it. Well...he would have kicked himself if he were able to think straight at that moment.
  'M-Miss Valentine?' He asked with a stammer before shaking his head violently as he realised his mistake 'I mean Casey...wow you look...' He struggled to find the words to describe what he saw.
  A couple of hours earlier he had seen the pretty red head dressed in casual clothes covered in rips and threatening messages. Now she was dressed in barely anything at all. His eyes glanced towards the low cut of her top before darting down to the end of her short skirt. This had thrown off every assumption he had made about her, before her fashion sense had said that she wanted everyone to stay away from her. Now it begged everybody to look.

[Axenia]

"Please don't, oh god, please don't" She whispered the words but it didn't help, Alistair sat down beside her. She waited for a hello, or any kind of reaction, but he said nothing. She couldn't help half smiling when he called her miss Valentine, she looked over at him raising one of her eyebrows. The teacher walked in just at that moment, so she leaned in closer to him.
   "Is something wrong Al, did everything go okay last night?" She leaned down to the other side to get a notepad, as she did so some of her thigh was exposed. He had stammered when he spoke to her, did that mean that he knew her feelings for him. She looked at him while finding a clean page on the notepad, trying to figure out what he was thinking.
   She tried to consentrate on what the teacher was talking about, but her mind kept wander off. She really didn't like school, she had always gotten low grades and rarely spend more than half a year at the same school. Suddenly she smiled, leaning close to him.
   " You know, you never did finish your sentence. I look...?" She gave him a teasing smile, enjoying having him close to her.

[Villain]

'Different' Alistair replied after finally managing to shake off the bewilderment. He scrambled for his own notepad and hastily began copying down notes. He felt irritated by the new feeling of confusion that ran through him. Two mysteries in one day and he didn't know the answer to any of the questions that they brought up.
  'You look very very different.' Alistair spoke uneasily. His mind was filled with thoughts of pies, hair cuts, the jock and Casey's exposed thigh. God what he would give for a stick of gum. Sherlock Holmes had used drugs and smoking to sharpen his mind, but Alistair preferred using a more healthy alternative. Chewing gum usually made his mind calm down and assess the facts more clearly.
  'We erased Ryan's portrait after you left.' Alistair spoke, trying to focus on answering her first question, perhaps it would clear the confusion, 'He seemed very grateful but I'm keeping an eye on him. Can't trust a guy who tried to kill us only a few hours ago.' He spoke and scratched down a few notes with his pen.
  'Lulu seems pretty happy that he's joined. I mean it's clear she-ok look why the change?' He asked quietly, unable to keep the question bottled up. He kept an eye on the teacher, not just make sure that he couldn't hear their conversation but also to tear his eyes away from her skirt.
  'Yesterday you didn't want anybody looking at you and now every guy in the class can't stop staring at your chest' Alistair whispered and pointed to several boys in the class room with the end of his pen. Each boy that he pointed to seemed to quickly glance back at Casey before turning back to the notes, a feeble attempt at trying to be subtle when checking her out.
  'And they're not even the worse ones. I just had an encounter with one of your fans. He seemed to want me to stay as far away from you as possible' Alistair spoke before shrugging, 'As you can see I was more than happy to oblige and am now sitting next to you in the hope that he won't feel threatened by my presence.'

[Axenia]

Casey just looked at him for some time, then down at her notepad. She wanted to scream right now, she didn't care about the other ones staring at her, all she cared about was if he was staring at her. She started writing down some few notes.
   "Who care if they stare at me, I'm not ugly you know, some might find me very attractive. Why do you care Al, do you have something against my outfit?" She had to be careful not to raise her voice to much, eventhough it was hard.
   "And what do you mean one of my fans, you talk as if I'm trying to get the attention of all the boys in school. Well for your information I'm not, there is only on person here I'm hoping will look at me for what I am, a beautiful, or at least pretty young woman." Her hands were getting warmer, she took some deep breaths to gain control of herself.

[Villain]

'Have I offended you?' Alistair asked, managing to risk a glance of Casey. He could hear the tone of anger in her voice, had his analysis been too blunt? People usually didn't like it when he told them what he saw, but he couldn't help it, that was his nature after all.
  'I'm not saying your trying to get their attention. I don't think your shallow in that way.' He spoke and frowned before jotting down another note about Victorian London. He hated history lessons. Out of all the lessons history was the subject that he knew the most about due to his fictional counterpart, so it usually resulted in him having to sit through lessons which explained everything he already knew.
  'And you are pretty, very pretty, there's no mistaking that. I just...well I didn't think...I...erm.' Alistair stammered before cursing inwardly. He had no idea what he was saying and that wasn't something he was used to either.

[Axenia]

Casey wiped away a small tear that had escaped her eyes, not looking at Alistair. She shook her head a bit, taking a deep breath. How could he be so blind, a master detective that couldn't even read someone he hopefully considered a friend.
   "I wanted to look good for you Al, I wanted you to see that I am more then just an accident waiting to happen. I..." She stopped, turning away from him. She couldn't look at him, but she could feel his hazel eyes on her. She cleared her throat a bit, glancing at his notes
   "Did you get that last part, I didn't hear it." Her pen was just drawing random lines at the edge of the paper. she suddenly realized she had writtin his name and crossed it out, hoping he hadn't seen it.

[Villain]

'You don't need to try and look good for anybody Casey. You're a beautiful girl already, you don't need anything else.' Al spoke and looked down at his notepad. He was still confused, something was beginning to nag at him again. A familiar feeling that had croped up now and again over the last twenty four hours. What could it be? It felt like it was staring him in the face everytime he looked at Casey.
  'Parliament finally gave consent for the MBW to construct a massive system of sewers. The engineer put in charge of building the new system was Joseph Bazalgette. In what was one of the largest civil engineering projects of the 19th century, he oversaw construction of over 2100 km of tunnels and pipes under London to take away sewage and provide clean drinking water.' Alistair recited quietly. He wasn't certain of it but he had the feeling that his teacher had copied that from wikipedia.
  His mind started to try and focus onthe work that was being set by the teacher; the solving of a hundred easy questions about the finger points of Victorian London. Simple things to answer considering he had had a past life living in victorian london.
  Once the questions were answered in a matter of minutes his thoughts went straight back to the mysteries that tormented him. This time however his thoughts were beginning to muddle together. He thought about Jonathan Andrews handing him vouchers and then telling him to date a girl that needed a hair cut. He thought about pies being posted through his door and Casey trying to attract the delivery boy that sent them. He thought about Dave paying Jonathan to deliver a pie to Casey on a bike when he could have used a car and then telling Alistair that he was setting a good example by getting a hair cut before the end of school.
  'Argh!' Alistair cursed loudly and his head hit the table. The teacher jumped at his sudden outburst and turned on the spot to see the source of the loud interuption.
  'Mr Croft the questions are challenging but please don't moan you'll get there eventually.' The teacher tutted and went back to marking papers for his other classes.
  'Why do people send people vouchers Casey?' Alistair mumbled against his text book, 'People don't do that when they're attracted to someone right?'

[Axenia]

Casey started a bit when Al's head hit the table. She laid a hand on his back, trying to give him some kind of comfort. Her fingers lightly grazed his neck. She had never seen him like that before, it was quite concerning. She raised her hand, looking at the teacher.
   "Sorry sir, but I think mr. Croft might be ill, let me take him to the nurses office." The look on the teachers face clearly showed he didn't liked to be interrupted.
   "Very well, you may be excused both of you." She put an arm around him, and lead him out of the classroom. She couldn't help but smile when they got out in the hallway, she reached up and carefully let her fingers touch his forehead where it had hit the table, looking him in the eyes.
   "You can thank me later for getting you out of class. You talked about some vouchers, well, if anyone sent them to you, perhaps it's because they want you to visit the place." She took a deep breath, it was now or never, she had to tell him before she lost her nerves.
   "Al, the reason why I... Well, I promised you that I would tell you why I have been acting strange and... Oh god this is hard... Al I..." She looked him in the eyes, moving closer to him.

[Villain]

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Alistair's mobile went off just as Casey stepped forward.
  Alistair had been able to relax as he was pulled out of the room. He had been was grateful for the change of scenery. He couldn't take one more minute of being bored and pestered by his own thoughts. He had listened to Casey's reasoning and when she had begun to explain herself he had listened carefully, but when his mobile went off he couldn't help but answer it.
  'Sorry hold that thought' He spoke and gave her an apologetic smile before tearing his phone out of his pocket and holding it up to his ear, 'Hello?'
  'You got my vouchers then Sherlock?' A muffled voice spoke on the other side of the phone. Alistair froze on the spot, the moment of relaxation shattered by the voice on the other end of the line.
  'I knew it...' Alistair growled and stamped his foot in frustration, 'I knew that those vouchers meant danger. That's what has been picking away at me all day!'
  'Your deduction skills don't seem to be in check. The real Holmes would have realised where they had come from within the first few minutes.' The voice chuckled malicious. Alistair could barely hear the voice over the sound of buzzing. The person on the other end was probably using something to manipulate the sound of his voice to hide his identity.
  'Why did you send them to me?' Alistair asked.
'To start things Holmes. Get the ball rolling a bit quicker.' The voice replied eagerly.
  'What do you mean?'
  'I mean that the games on now Holmes. Go to the library you'll find clue number two to what I have in store' He spoke before hanging up. He checked the phone number and wasn't suprised to see that the number had been withheld.
  'Library. Now.' Alistair spoke to Casey before turning on the spot and running down the corridor.

[Axenia]

Casey stepped away from him again as his phone rang, cursing under her breath. She studdied Al while he was speaking, frowning a bit. Something had upset him, but what?
   "Al wait a moment, whats going on?" She ran after him, wondering what caused him to run. She stopped when they got to the library, looked around for a moment.
   "Al, don't you think he might have been watching you, I mean, He called just after you got out of the classroom."

[Villain]

'Oh he's definately watching me. He may have altered his voice over the phone but I could sense the eagerness in his voice.' Alistair spoke as they stepped through the doorway of the old library and walked inside. They spotted the package immediately.
  On the desk of the room lay a large cardboard box with chains wrapped around it and a padlock. Alistair knew that it could be for no one else but him. He pulled his lock pick out of his pocket and walked up to the package before getting to work on the lock. It came away easily and the lid of the box opened automatically.
  It was a risky thing to do, the package could have been booby trapped, but the caller had issued this challenge to him personally. He doubted that the caller wanted to kill him in such an obvious way when he had so much excitement in his voice.
  'Well, well, what do we have here?' Alistair spoke as he reached inside and pulled out a leaflet for a dating service called; Star-cross'd Lovers. He immediately took down every little detail about the leaflet, starting with the large chunk of paper that had been roughly torn off the corner of the leaflet.
  'Yes...this person is definately wanting to see what I can do.' Alistair spoke before turning on the spot and walking towards the exit, 'We need to find Ryan Black'

[Axenia]

"Well that is not going to be that hard, a firedrill will get him out of class. Or a real fire if you want that." She smiled at him, looking at the leaflet. Why would someone send a leaflet for a datingservice, she couldn't see anything dangerous about the message, weird but nothing alarming.
   "Who send i Al, what's going on here?" She looked at the box and started getting annoyed. She walked over to one of the bookcases and took out a book, thinking for a moment to throw it at his head, then deciding to save it for whoever called and interrupted her. She finally had the courage to tell him and that damn phone got in the way. Maybe she should melt it, just for revenge.

[Villain]

'Ryan is about to be mauled by an animal' Alistair answered, turning back to Casey and walking up to her. He held the leaflet before her face and pointed at it, 'This leaflet is for a dating agency called Star-cross'd Lovers, it's a reference to Romeo and Juliet who are constantly referred to as star-cross'd lovers. So our mystery caller has informed us he's targetting the play and seeing as he knows us I wouldn't doubt it's Ryan he's going after'
  He moved his finger from the front of the leaflet to the corner, not bothering to note if she was still paying attention or not.
'This corner of the leaflet wasn't torn off by hand this has been bitten off. It's too jagged to be torn by hand and the tear marks are a little soggy from saliva' He held the leaflet up to his nose and briefly sniffed it, 'Plus if you smell the paper you can catch the faint scent of meat juice...possibly from a roast. More than likely a steak'
  He examined the leaflet, as if double checking his conclusion, before continuing his explanation. It felt good to have a clear head and regain the feeling of control.
  'The caller has left these clues to identify the target and the method he's using, but the question that remains is how?' He spoke and scratched his chin for a moment as he thought over the question, 'Seeing as I told Ryan to think about a way to make up for everything he's done I can imagine that Ryan has suggested an alternative stage area for their performance seeing as they no longer have a stage'
  'His suggestion will more than likely be to do the play outside. It's an interesting idea, it's more accessible by the audience and the actors and most importantly will not require a stage.' He turned back to the exit and motioned for Casey to follow him, 'It will also make him a prime target for a hungry wild beast that has been released on school grounds, especially the parts of school which are close to tree's and hedges.'

[Axenia]

Casey listened to what he had to say, trying to remember if she had seen that kind of stage before. Her head was spinning and she was starting to feel a bit unwell. She started following him but stopped, raising a hand to her head.
   "Al, I'm sorry, I can't join you, not right now. She walked out of the library, and catched up to him, grabbing his arm and turning him to face her.
   My parents won't be home the next week, if you need anything of me, don't hesitate to ask." She smiled at him, then started walking home. She thought of what he had said, about a beast attacking Ryan. Why was Alistair so worried, Ryan couldn't be killed, he was immortal. But he was right, it was the only thing that suited the description. Still she couldn't help looking at she trees and bushes as she walked by them.

[Villain]

'If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine.' Ryans voice called out amongst the trees and bushes. The entire cast of the play was standing amongst them watching Ryan say sweet words to a pretty young girl with chocolate colored hair.
  He had changed considerably since Casey had seen him last. His hair was longer and looked as if it had been dyed black, he also had the thin outline of a growing moustache and goatee. If it hadn't been for his perfect sparkling blue eyes Casey wouldn't have believed that he was the same person.
  'The gentle sin is this...' He spoke gently to the pretty girl who held his hands, she was staring longingly into her eyes and her cheeks were burning red. It was obvious that she wasn't just pretending to have affection for Ryan. He smiled and stroked her palms, closing the space between them as he whispered his next lines, '...my lips two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss'
  There was an awkward silence. The girl was now staring at Ryans mouth with a dreamy look. The rest of the cast were staring at the two expectantly for a moment before a sharp voice cut through the silence.
  'Cassandra it's your line!' Ms Vander called out from her directors chair. She was the only one sitting on a chair, the rest had to settle for the grass.
  'I don't pull you out of your regularly scheduled lessons just so that you can just stare at Mr Black!'

[Axenia]

Casey started walking over the grass to where everybody were sitting, she looked up at Ryan. She could feel that some of them were staring at her, she had her arms crossed and a serious look on her face.
   "Hey Romeo, I need to talk to you for a sek." Her eyes showed him that it wasn't a request but an order, she ignored ms Vander who protested against this interuption, looking Ryan in the eyes. After some doubt he followed her, she lead him some way away from the others.
   "I just wanted to let you know that Alistair is looking for you, I believe he thinks that some kind of beast has been sent to hurt you. Don't ask me how he knows, he has his own methods of finding that out, but I think you should try and talk to him." She turned from him. "And one thing more, stay away from bushes and trees."

[Villain]

Ryan was thrown by Casey suddenly interrupting their rehersal. Ms Vander looked as if she was about to leap out of her chair and strangle the girl. He held up his hands to signal for her to calm down before nodding to Cassandra, who seemed to almost faint from the small gesture.
  'Whats wrong? You haven't come to set fire to me I hope? Cause if you did it this time I would actually die.' Ryan joked but Casey just ignored him and told him what she had come to say.
  'A wild beast? Here? That's ridiculous no one would be able to do that without someone spotting them.' Ryan chuckled before pausing for a moment to think about it. Ms Vander was now calling for him, insisting that he stop womanising and to get on with rehersals.
  'I mean...thats not possible right?' Ryan asked before shuffling nervously on the spot. Now that his painting had been cleared he didn't have any protection against the many forms of death. He was just ordinary, sexy and charming Ryan Black.

[Axenia]

"Oh I believe it's possible if Sherlock says it is, with all you've been through Dorian Gray, you must know that everything is possible. If you want I can stay here to be of some protection, I can't promise that I will be able to save you if the Beast comes, but I can try." She still didn't smile, her mood had dropped ever since Al's phone had started ringing.
   "I could also try to make a painting of you, but I'm a poor artist and you would possibly look like a pig instead." She looked around, still trying to spot anything out of the ordinary.

[Villain]

Ryan was still for a moment as he considered the option. Ms Vander was shrieking for him to return, but right now the idea of being savaged by a wild animal was a little more frightening that an old bat telling him off.
  He watched Casey for a moment as he thought about whether or not to take her up on the offer. He wanted to refuse, she clearly didn't want to be here. He couldn't blame her, he had tried to kill her friend a few times, he was probably the last person she wanted to talk to right now. Plus he was staring at her chest in a very unsubtle manner.
  It was only when he tore his eyes away from her cleavage and looked her in the eye for a little longer that he thought about her behaviour and realised something that had been staring him in the face.
  'Wait...are you showing off your rack because you like the thinker?' He asked bluntly, suppressing the grin that threaten to break out, 'Is that why your here telling me this and not him or Lulu?'

[Axenia]

Casey glared at him, she really hated that he found her dispair amusing. She looked away from him, biting her lip. What the hell, she might as well confess to someone, and perhaps he wasn't that bad afterall.
   "Yeah, I didn't want it to happen, but I fell in love with Al. The real funny thing is that eventhough he's great at deduction, he doesn't have a clue how I feel about him. I tried to tell him, but got interupted. Look Ryan, do you want my help or not. I have nowhere else I have to be." She tried to loosen up a bit, but it did no good, she was still in a bad mood.

[Villain]

'Ryan Black you are needed on set!' Ms Vander shrieked and Ryan let out an irritated sigh. He turned back to the case a gave a small bow before smiling brightly at them. The small act seemed to immediately mesmerise them all.
  'I'm very sorry everyone but I just need a moment to talk to my sister. I'm sure that Cassandra and Hannah won't mind running through some of the nurse scenes while you wait for me.' Ryan glanced towards Cassandra who was still stood in the clearing that a dreamy look on her face, she nodded in response and looked at Ms Vander for reassurance. Ms Vander let out a frustrated sigh before nodding and motioning to a plump girl to join her on stage.
  'Let's walk and talk.' Ryan spoke softly and motioned for her to follow him. He led her away a little distance away from the trees and bushes and prying eyes of the cast before finally breaking the silence with a chuckle, 'You know I'm really not surprised he's not clocking on. The smart ones always over think so they never consider the simple things like basic attraction.' He spoke with a slight grin.
  'If you want to get him then maybe you should do what I do-I mean used to do whenever I tried to seduce a smart girl.' He spoke before curling his arm around Casey's waist and lifting her off her feet. He dipped her like a dancer would to their partner and stared into her eyes, his lips were inches from hers, 'Be more forward. Make a move and show him what you can do with your tongue.' He whispered, not caring that he might embarrass her with his language or that she might burst into flames at any moment.
  'At least that's what I would do.' He spoke as he put her back onto her feet and shrugged, 'Oh but a word of advice. That boy has probably never dated a girl in his life, so don't just tell him you love him, a big brain like his needs to be eased into the whole romance thing, especially if his prime concern right now is...well...saving my life.'

[Axenia]

Eventhough she didn't like to admit it, Ryan definitely could stir something in her. Her cheeks flushed and her skin started to get warm. When he finally let her go she breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment she thought of what he had said, about showing how she felt. Maybe he was right, it couldn't hurt and nothing else had worked. She smiled at him, one of her rare 'I hate it when you're right' smiles.
   "Fine, I'll try showing him how I fell next time I see him, but for now I'll stay with you, just to make sure nothing happens to you." She took him by the arm and started walking back with him, looking at him from time to time.
   "Do you enjoy the attention?" She was unable of understanding how anyone could enjoy all that attention, sure she had noticed the boys looking at her today, but it wasn't as she had hoped. She didn't like it, and the only person who she wanted to look at her, had done everything in his power to look the other way. But her talk with Ryan had made her determined, next time she saw Al she would kiss him, audience or not.

[Villain]

'I live for it.' Ryan spoke with a big smile on his face. He pointed to his growing facial hair and chuckled a little, 'When the last portrait go erased I ended up growing a bit of hair around my mouth. I thought it would make me less attractive so I kept it. Then on top of that I dyed my hair black to try and stand out less.'
  They were now getting closer to the rehearsal area. He could hear lines being spoken from amongst the trees along with the laughter of members of the audience.
  'I realised after I had done it that I was denying part of myself.' He said and shrugged at the thought, 'I know I can't go on using people or I'm just going to end up doing something stupid like I've been doing for the last couple of weeks, but I can't hide the fact that I am a stud.' He spoke before laughing a little.
  'I don't mean to sound big headed there but seeing as I'm Dorian Gray I think I can safely say that I'm quite good at being a sexy boy that everyone swoons over. So why shouldn't I enjoy the attention?' He asked before looking at Casey, 'I take it your not a fan of the boys staring at your huge chest and your round ass?' He asked bluntly. It was clear that although Ryan was an expert at charming people he still too rude and arrogant to be considered perfect.

[Axenia]

"Dorian Gray, you watch your mouth now, don't forget I can do serious damage to your pretty face now." Her eyes had narrowed, but she couldn't help smiling. He was quite blunt, maybe that was a characteristic trait for boys who had some kind of supernatural ability.
   "But to answer your question. No, I don't like them staring at me that way. I only wanted to get Al's attention, but he did everything he could not to look at me." She kept looking around as they walked, she didn't think somebody would try to attack him now, but one could never be too careful.
   They had everyones attention as they got back, she didn't to to anyone but merely sat down on the grass her eyes scanning the trees and bushes. still She was listening for the actors as they read their lines, some were better then others. Perhaps it would be best if she contacted Al and told him that she had found Ryan, that way he could stop looking for him. She opened her boot and to out her phone, there were no pockets in that outfit. 'Something Lulu would take care of quickly if she had been the one wearing it' She thought to herself. She stared at his number for a while, before she decided to text him.

Hey there Sherlock
I just wanted to let you know that I'm with Ryan right now, nothing has happend yet, and it doesn't look like anything will.
You can always join us if you like.
Casey

[Villain]

Ryan merely smirked as Casey told him off. He knew how to be polite and charming but Ryan didn't feel obliged to be that way around his friends. It was something he had took pride in because he felt it seperated him from his alterego. He still didn't know quite how he felt about the idea that his thoughts and emotions may not be his own but instead those of a fictional character.
  He sat in the grass and watched Cassandra and Hannah bounce lines off each other while the rest of the cast became a rabble of meaningless conversations and line reading. Ms Vander had now been led away by one of the stage hands, who was now informing Ms Vander that her idea of building a balcony amongst the trees was insane but bringing in some scaffolding to make a makeshift balcony would be entirely possible.
  He turned back to Casey and couldn't help but grin as he watched her tap away at her mobile. He had listened to her reasoning behind wanting to attract Al's attention and found it very amusing. This girl obviously had very limited experience with relationships and getting someone to like her. She had certainly set herself up with a challenge by trying to go after the brainiac.
  'Did you ever consider that the thinker weren't looking at you because he felt...I don't know, shy? embarased? Confused maybe?' Ryan asked as she wrote the text, 'That boy doesn't look like the type of guy to react well to seeing one of his friends wave her rack in his face and wear a skirt so short it's almost showing off her hip bones. God knows what would happen if you tried to jump that guy.'

[Axenia]

"Oh I just love your language Ryan Black." She smiled at him, finding him to be somewhat amusing. He certainly knew more about relationships that she did, she had only been in one once, at that had ended badly. He had made her angry and she had burned down his favorite toycar in the sandbox. She had only been 5 years old at the time, but a relationship was a relationship. She looked down at herself, starting to feel embarrassed about the way she looked.
   "I wasn't going to jump him, although the idea is quite interesting. I just thought that I might, you know, give him a small kiss. I have tried talking to him, it couldn't hurt." She was holding some grass in her hand and sat i on fire, watching it blacken.
   "But maybe I should jump him, sneak into his house at night jump into his bed and just..." She let the sentence hang in the air, but her cheeks revealed where her thoughts were. She laughed and looked at Ryan.
   "Don't comment on that one please, I could never do that. I'm not that big an idiot."

[Villain]

Ryan's eyes grew wider as she explained her ideas. His mouth dropped open a little and his eyes once again found themselves staring at her chest. When she laughed he stared back, almost drolling at the mouth for a moment, 'No...erm...please continue with that line of thought.' He spoke before shaking his head violently to rid himself of the impure thoughts running through his head. He wasn't Dorian Gray, he wouldn't go down that road again.
  'Look just pick your moment ok. You could kiss him now and it may be wonderful but it could also make things awkward between you. I'm not saying it will, but just bare it in mind.' Ryan spoke before planting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward a little, resting his chin on the palms of his hands, 'Then again I am very very curious what you'd do to him. Your a blazing fireball Miss Valentine but I bet behind the sheets you'll turn out to be lightning.'

[Axenia]

She laughed. Of cause he was right about her waiting for the right moment, she didn't want to spoil it between her and Al. But he was definitely wrong on that other point. She had never been with a boy, so she didn't expect much of herself. But teasing Ryan could be fun. She leaned in against him, her lips to his ear.
   "I would make his wildest dreams come true, and then, when he is begging for me to stop, then I'll use him some more, just to pleasure myself." She gently blew in his ear, then smiling as she looked at his reaction.

[Villain]

'Amateurish.' He chuckled and shook his head before reaching forward and trailing a single finger up her neck, 'First you start with the neck, kiss it softly, before then moving on to the bottom of the chin and up the jaw line. Then once your at the top of it you blow lightly into their ear.' He explained, watching her reaction as his finger completed the forementioned journey. He probably would have blown into her ear as well to prove a point, but he never got the chance, for at that moment he felt himself lurch back as something grabbed him by the back of his costume.
  Screams filled the air. Members of the cast pointed and gasped. No one stepped forward to help. Ryan was left alone for a moment to be dragged across the ground, thrashing left and right against his unseen attacker. He knew it was a beast, he could hear the creature snarling and growling as it chewed on the back of his cape.
  'Is that a wolf?' Someone exclaimed, Ryan couldn't make out who for all he could see was the images of fellow students pointing and gawking in a blurr of color as he was thrown about violently by the creature.
  He felt himself be thrown free of the jaws and tumbled across the grass floor. Luckily he managed to catch himself and roll onto his knees before looking onwards at his attacker.
  'Bloody hell.' He whispered as his eyes stopped spinning and adjusted on the beast. It was a wolf, but not one that should be roaming about in a school or even the town they lived in. This was a gray wolf, also known as a timber wold, a large grey and white beast with cold black eyes and large white teeth. He had once heard on a nature documentary that gray wolves grew over over six feet long, but this once was easily bigger by a few feet. It was so big that it looked like it could easily take down a bison single handedly.
  The wolf stared him down and bared its fangs as it reared its body and prepared to strike. Timber wolves were known to look similar to domestic dogs, but right now there was nothing about it that said it could be considered a cute little dog for small children and grannys.

[Axenia]

Casey was trembling as Ryans finger moved from her neck to her chin, she smiled at him and was about to say something when he suddenly disappeared. She heard the screams before she saw the wolf dragging Ryan after it. She got up and closed her eyes, within the blink of an eye her whole body were in flames. She didn't care that the other students saw her this way, what mattered was saving Ryan. She liked the boy, but more than that, she didn't want to disappoint Alistair. She threw a ball of fire at the wolf.
   "There is only one smell worse than wet dog, and that's burned wolf." She threw another one at the wolf, hitting it in the chest. She didn't know weather or not it got hurt by her fire, or even how long she could fend it of. She did not let the beast out of her sight, the screams behind her had gotten louder. Some of the girls were crying, praying that Romeo wasn't hurt.
   "God damn it Ryan this is not the time for sunbathing, get your ass out of the way." Another fireball flew through the air hitting the wolf. The grass burned where her feet touched it, she was using a lot of energy but there was nothing else she could do. She did not feel fear, merely rage. She moved closer to the wolf, making sure it wouldn't attack Ryan again.
   "Ryan, move. Call Al, tell him whats going on. I can't do it by myself, I need the braniac to figure out how to destroy this thing."

[Villain]

The first fireball got the wolf's attention. It jumped to the side to avoid the ball of fire and sprinted back a safe distance before turning back to face them. As it turned the second fireball plowed into it's chest and sent it hurtling back where it slammed hard against a tree before collapsing in a smoking pile at the bottom of the tree.
  Ryan was staring in shock, but not at the wolf, at Casey. She was insane! She had just ignited right in front of the entire cast and now over twenty people now knew that she was a freak! He wanted to curse but he found his voice had been stolen by the sight of the wolf smoking at the bottom of the tree.
  For a moment all that he could hear was people screaming. He could just about make out Casey yelling commands at him to get out the way, but he couldn't obey her. He felt frozen to the spot from the fear, shock and confusion that gripped him.
  It didn't help when the wolf got back up. It slowly got to its feet before turning to face Casey. The fur on the right side of its body had been burnt black but it still growled and bared its fangs. In that moment Ryan knew that something was about to go horribly wrong.
  'Casey wai-' He began but she had already thrown the next fireball. It sailed towards the wolf and struck it in the face, lighting it up and engulfing it in a fierce blaze. It was the final thing needed to get the students and Ms Vander running for their lives whilst shouting gibberish about burning people.
  The wolf stood amongst the flames. It didn't howl in pain or try to roll on the ground to put out the blaze. It just stood amongst the inferno.
  Then the flames extinguished and the entire clearing became covered with a thick layer of frost. The wolf was unharmed. It trotted forward slowly, its every step causing more frost to form around the blades of grass. It no longer bared its fangs like a wild beast, instead it now seemed to smirk, something which Ryan was sure dogs couldn't do but knew that was what he was seeing before him.
  'It's like us...holy crap it applies to animals too.' He breathed, new terror running through his veins. Casey had told him to contact Alistair but he couldn't even bring himself to move an inch.

[Axenia]

Her fire was fighting the frost coming from the wolf, she was beginning to feel the strain on her body. She needed Al, needed him to figure out what to do. Why wouldn't Ryan move, she couldn't take down this beast alone. For a moment her fire grew weaker, but she forced it to heat up again.
   "Ryan, move your fucking ass right now, call Alistair or I swear to God I will set your new mustache on fire." She gathered the last of her strengh, moving towards the wolf. This time she didn't threw a ball, instead she grabbed the wolf around the neck, closed her eyes an started intensifying her fire. The orange flames started turning blue, she hoped the wolf would eather change or disappear before her strengh ran out.

[Villain]

'I-I...' Ryan stuttered unable to move as the wolf advanced. He could feel the frost under his the palms of his hands and the toes of his feet. The frost was growing around them and clawing up his fingers and into his shoes. It was as if the frost itself was also a hungry wild beast that wanted nothing more than to eat them up.
  The wolf did nothing as Casey ran up to it and grabbed it by the neck. It seemed almost amused with the idea that she was still trying to burn him. As the orange flames turned blue however the heat finally managed to beat the frost and lick at the fur of its neck. It howled and swiped out with its paw, catching Casey in the stomach and shoving her back violently. It reared its body back and opened its jaws with a snarl.
  'A fire that tries to fight the cold of my master?' It snarled, 'Such a thing is an insult to my masters might!' He roared and jumped at Casey. The frost around them was now growing heavy and swirling around them as the winds began to pick up. It had been sunny mere moments ago, but now it felt like the middle of winter.
  'Mid leap. Can't defend.' Alistair spoke before plowing into the side of the wolf. His hazel eyes narrowed and teeth gritted as he threw his body weight against the beast and sent it tumbling across the ground. He dusted his hands off before looking back at Casey.
  'What happened to going home?' He asked before stepping back as the wolf got back to his feet, 'Never mind-Hold on a minute wolf you owe us some courtesy if your planning to kill us.'
  The wolf stared at the new boy and growled, angered by the new threat that he posed, 'I owe nothing to you...you...you...'
  'Son of Adam?' Alistair asked curiously. The angered look on the wolves face vanished and for a moment Alistair was able to see the astonishment in the creatures eyes.

[Axenia]

She got up as fast as she could, it was hard for her to stand but she wouldn't let that creature see it. Her fire had died out, and with no more strength left in her, she couldn't start a new one. The cold was biting into her, making every part of her body hurt. She half smiled at at Alistair, thanking God that he had showed up when he did.
   "I got a bit distracted, I had to ask Ryan for some advice." In a way that was true. she had never asked for his advice, but he had given it to her freely. Her eyes were still on the wolf, but something started creeping into her head, a darkness that swallowed every thought she had. She put a hand to her head, willing herself to keep standing.

[Villain]

'Ryan get up your embarassing us here.' Alistair snapped as he noticed Ryan was still sat on the ground trembling. The frost had nearly made its way up his arms and legs. When he finally noticed he sprung to his feet and brushed himself off before taking a deep breath and staring at the wolf that had just summoned a snow storm and talked.
  'Ok so...' Ryan began and then paused as he stared into the wolves dark eyes, 'Ok no I can't do this. Al he's a freaking talking wolf!'
  'No he's not Ryan.' Alistair spoke harshly before turning to the wolf and bowing a little in a mock gesture, 'He's a member of the secret police.'
  'Captain of the secret police' The wolf snarled, finally snapping out of its moment of astonishment.
  'Then you must be Maugrim.' Alistair spoke before shaking his head and sighing, 'Why on earth didn't I check the bottom of the box first? I was half way down the corridor before I realised I hadn't looked at the bottom of the damn thing' He muttered before crossing his arms over his chest, 'I found another two leaflets attached to the bottom of it. One advetising a wolf charity and the other was a public awareness leaflet from the police. It was a bit tricky to make the connection but when I saw what you were doing here it all clicked into place.'
  'That knowledge won't help when my jaws are around your throat' Maugrim snarled and took another step forward, 'The fire spirit is weak, the boy behind is a coward and you are not a warrior'
  'Correct we're pretty doomed aren't we?' Al chuckled and looked back at Casey. In the second he had turned back to look at her he mouthed three words to her; check your phone.

[Axenia]

She looked at him for a moment, puzzled. Then she slowly bent down and took the phone from her boot. She couldn't help but wonder if Alistair had gone mad, how on earth could something on her phone save them now? She looked down at her phone.

[Villain]

Elizabeth Sherman learned to control her power using a chant;
'The fire is not my enemy, it is a part of me, it is mine'
It may not allow you to control the fire properly but saying it may awaken some of your power.
If it doesn't work then on my mark I want you to hide behind Ryan.

'We really don't have much of a chance. After all your Maugrim, the Captain of the Secret Police! You've taken down hundreds of loyal subjects who have been loyal to the great lion' Alistair spoke cheerfully and gestured to the wolf with a smile, 'How is that old girl by the way?'
  'Our queen has surfaced and will bring the downfall of your world soon enough' Maugrim growled but did not make another move. Alistair knew he wouldn't make a move yet. Just like Ryan the previous night Maugrim couldn't help help but intrigued by where alistair was going with his talk.
  'Is she now? How interesting that she's been born to this world like us! I bet that that's her hundred year winter currently coating you right now isn't it?' Alistair asked but didn't wait for Maugrim to answer, he knew he was right.
  'So this really will be a pleasure because right now we have the honor of being slayed by you. Maugrim will soon tear at our unworthy throats and you'll be choking on the meet of feeble sons of Adam and daughters of Eve.'

[Axenia]

She looked at the message twice, then put her phone away. She was still so tired, closing her eyes was not a problem. Then she started whispering the chant, feeling her energy come back and her powers grow.
   "The fire is not my enemy, it is a part of me, it is mine." She lifted her head slowly, looking at the creature. She felt the heat returning to her, soon her body were engulfed in flames, blue flames licking her body and the fire was still intensifying. never had she felt like this before, so strong. She took a step forward, her lips curling into a cold smile.

[Villain]

'Or you could run away with your tail in between your legs.' Alistair spat. The smile on his face was gone. He stepped to one side, making sure to get out the way of the brilliant blue fountain of fire which Casey had become. The frost around the area was starting to melt and reveal fresh green grass once more. It almost looked like the frost was running away from Casey.
  Maugrim looked at the ground before him uneasily. He clearly hadn't been expecting the girl to grow so powerful in such a short moment. His black eyes stared at Casey, judging whether the battle was worth it, before eventually turning on the spot and beginning to walk away.
  'The White Witch didn't order you to attack us did she?' Alistair called out after the wolf.
'No. I acted on her orders but she made it clear that this was a request from her ally.' Maugrim replied, his  gruff voice sounding a bit bitter, more than likely due to the fact he was now having to retreat.
  'Did you get a name?'
  'No. I don't bother my Queen with pointless questions' He growled before sprinting off into the woods. Alistair watched him exit and didn't turn away until he was sure the wolf had left.
  'So...' Alistair began and turned on the spot to Casey and Ryan, '...how are we all feeling after that?'
  'You guys are incredible and weird.' Ryan blurted out. He was now gapping at Casey and Alistair as if they had just fallen out of space, 'I mean you! You freaking read minds!' He exclaimed and pointed a finger at Al, 'And you! You like go all human torch and light yourself on fire like a force of nature!' Ryan spoke after pointing at Casey.
  'I mean...just...wow! Freaking wow man!' Ryan stammered in language that seemed very unfitting of Dorian Gray.
  'Also do you burn your clothes off when you go that color? I'm really curious.' Ryan asked dumbly.

[Axenia]

Casey looked at him for a moment, then started to laugh. The blue flames disappeared and the stood in the clothes she had worn, her top had a hole burned in it in the side, and her skirt was darker. Other than that she looked the same, only a lot more tired.
   "My clothes doesn't burn, or at least, when I learn to have better control of the fire it doesn't. But I am very tired." Her eyes went to Al, and she walked over to him. She couldn't help herself but laid her arms around his waist and her head against his chest. She just stood there for a moment, listening to the sound of his heart.
   "Thank you Al, with out you the wolf would have torn me apart." She looked up in his eyes, her arms still around him.

[Villain]

Alistair was caught off guard by the hug. He looked down at Casey for a moment and let himself be hugged. Eventually he couldn't help but smile down at the girl. He curled his arms around her and returned the hug, forgetting everything for a moment and just enjoying the embrace. Her hair smelled of ashes and her body was hot from the flames, but he still enjoyed the hug none the less.
  'Your welcome, but I didn't do anything really, it was you who scared him off.' He spoke with a warm smile. That was until he noticed Ryan grinning at him in a cheeky manner, 'What?' he asked with a grunt.
  'I was just wondering how long the sweetness of this moment would last before you noticed her breasts are squished against your chest.' Ryan spoke with a mischievous chuckle and laughed as he watched Alistairs face go bright red. His arms dropped from around Casey and he squirmed a little on the spot.
  'Oh come on don't be like that, this may be the one chance to cop a feel and not look like a pervert' Ryan joked before laughing loudly as Alistair turned an even brighter shade of red, 'Look at him Casey he's so sh-'

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

[Axenia]

Casey let go of Alistair, a bit reluctantly. She felt sorry for Al, the way his face burned. Then she turned to Ryan, her eyes were everything but friendly. She blamed him for ruining the whole thing, and he was going to pay for that.
   "Ryan, why don't you just shut op, don't tease him like that." Her eyes went back to Al, then she looked at his phone. She had a bad feeling who it could be, the man who was putting them all through this.

[Villain]

'Sorry Casey couldn't help it.' Ryan spoke his laughter finally subsiding. He mouthed another apology to Casey before suddenly standing bolt upright and slapping his head with the palm of his hand, 'Wait a minute-crap! Al! The whole of my acting group saw! They saw Casey used her power! They saw her light up Al!'
  Alistair wasn't listening. He had now lifted the mobile to his ear and was now pacing back and fourth on the burnt grass. His sharp eyes glanced around the trees and bushes as he tried to spot where the caller could be watching him from. After a moment he answered the call.
  'I enjoyed the show, but that was rather tame in comparison to last night' The distorted voice spoke maliciously.
  'What do I win after completing that puzzle? Are you going to show your face now?' Alistair challenged. There was a dark scowl plastered on his face. Even if he couldn't see the caller he knew that he was hiding somewhere and watching them.
  'What you win is the next challenge. It should be waiting in your locker.' The voice explained before hanging up.
  'Al! Did you hear me? They saw her!' Ryan cried.
  'Ryan shut up. We'll deal with that later. I need both of you follow me back into school he's left me another clue and I really don't think this is going to get any easier' He said with a grim expression before turning on the spot and burying his hands into his trouser pockets. He was dressed in a white buttoned shirt like yesterday but instead of a grey woolen vest and matching trousers he now wore a brown waist coat and black suit trousers with hard black boots. It was an odd look, he looked like a school kid from a British school back in the fifties, but it was an outfit that Alistair felt comfortable in.

[Axenia]

Casey didn't waistone minute, she follow Alistair back to the school along with Ryan. She knew she would probably be en trouble, if news traveled as fast as usual the whole school would know by now. But she didn't care about that, all that mattered was getting whoever kept sending Al challenges. She gave Ryan a look that told him to keep quiet.
   "Ryan we don't have time to think about that now, if they ask about it, just say it's an optical illusion." She walked beside Al, not knowing what to say. If they couldn't come up with an explanation for her spontaneously bursting into flames, then she would have to move. The thought was killing her she finally had friends, something that she had never had. And she was in love for the first time ever.
   "Al I really don't like this. I think it would be best if we all stayed together until we get that bastard." As they entered the school she could hear the bussing from the other students, their eyes on her. She tried ignoring them, people moved out of their way as the walked down the corridor.

[Villain]

'I think that would be best. I still don't know whether the caller is just making these challenges up on the spot.' Alistair spoke as they marched down the corridor. He could feel the eyes of the students looking their way. He couldn't say he wasn't unnerved by it, he had never once considered what would happen if they were exposed. His brain automatically pictured secret scientific experiments on them and the rest of the cliche assumptions, but part of him thought it would be something less obvious than that.
  'What we have to assume.' Alistair began and cleared his throat as they pushed past a few students that blocked their way, 'That we're dealing with someone who has a lot of resources and is close to the centre of an organisation of villains.'
  'Do you think Moriarty is behind it?' Ryan asked timidly. He was keeping his head down as they walked. He didn't dare make eye contact with anyone.
  'Possibly. It would be the most intelligent gue-' Alistair stopped as someone stepped out of one of the class rooms and blocked there way. The person was a woman in her thirties with dark grey eyes and long black hair. She was dressed in a comfortable purple shirt with a black suit blaster and matching skirt. She looked down at the three of them from behind silver spectacles with an unsure expression on her face.
  'Mr Croft, Mr Black and I believe Miss Valentine?' She addressed them with a tone of authority, Casey would immediately notice that Alistair and Ryan were both standing to attention as the woman spoke. She would even notice that Alistair actually seemed nervous before the woman.
  'I've been hearing things from the teachers about the three of you.' She spoke with a grimace and shook her head.
  'Please Mrs Maple I know this is a dangerous issue-' Alistair began but the woman quickly silenced him with a dismissive gesture.
  'Mr Croft this is an issue that must be addressed.'
  'Miss Maple they're just rumours!' Ryan cried out desperately causing Miss Marple to look at him strangely.
  'Rumours Mr Black? Why would the teachers of my school make up rumours about you ducking out of rehearsals to flirt with Miss Valentine here? Or Mr Croft faking illness in order to take a trip down the library? Or Miss Valentine here using his fake illness to try and leave school herself? Honestly the conversation I've had with Ms Vander just now. She had no end of complaints!' Mrs Maple sighed and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.
  The three of them were now staring at the woman. Ryan's mouth was set at an odd angle, he looked somewhere between joy, confusion, disbelief and nervousness. Alistair just stared at the woman with a baffled expression.
  'I-I'm sorry Mrs Marple but...nobody talked of the fire?' Alistair asked uneasily.
  'What? You mean the bush fire that was started when the school gardener decided to burn leaves on school grounds?'
  'Er...yeah...that.'
  'Well it was a very minor issue Mr Croft I don't see how that concerns the three of you.' She spoke before folding her arms across her chest, 'Now listen to me. I hope not to have another talk like the one I just had with Ms Vander concerning you three, because if she does come to me again I will have to bring your parents in.' She warned and waggled her finger at them.
  'Now you three have a good lunch, behave yourselves and don't make me have to bring you to my office.' She spoke before walking past them and strutting down the corridor, telling off kids that were mucking about as she walked.
  'Our Principla didn't accuse of us being freaks.' Ryan spoke in a bewildered voice, 'We just got away with arson? How did we do that? Everyone saw us!'
  'I have no idea.' Alistair replied and for once he didn't seem to mind that he didn't know. He just sighed a breath of relief and wiped his forehead of nervous sweat, 'Somehow it seems no one has any recollection of what happened.'
  'But everyone was looking at us!' Ryan exclaimed.
  'Ryan ever girl looks at you already and as of this morning every man has been watching the bottom of Casey's skirt.' Alistair reminded him and chuckled a little at the thought that some miracle had just saved them from exposure.

[Axenia]

When Alistair mentioned her short skirt her cheeks went red, she already felt quite embarrassed wearing that damn thing. But how on earth did everyone manage to forget what had happened? She could only think of one thing, someone at this school had the ability to alter peoples mind. It was an insane thought, what made it worse was that she for a moment believed it could be Miss Maple. But she was wrong, she had to be otherwise Alistair would have known.
   But did it really matter who had made people forget? She was so relieved that no one remembered her little scene, that she was not known as the dangerous freak. She bit her lip a bit, an placed a lock of her hair behind her ear. She was standing close to Al, she couldn't consentrate on their problem right now, all she thought about were his arms around her. The way he smelled, how it had felt like he just for a moment enjoyed it too. There was something she had been thinking about, but she didn't know just how to put it. 'Well, you can always try.' She told herself.
   "Ehm Al, I was just thinking that... Well we can't stay at the library all night, I mean, our parent might get worried. But ehm, my parents are at some benefit tonight and won't be home until sometime tomorrow. So if you wanted you could tell your parants that your at a sleepover at my house? She couldn't help looking at Ryan, not knowing weather he still was to upset to immediately turn her words into something not suited for children. She was about to say something else when she felt a hand gently tap on her shoulder. she turned around, looking at a boy she had never seen before.
   "Hi Casey right? I'm Jonathan Andrews. I don't know if you have heard about the dance next Saturday, I was hoping I could convince you to go with me." he was smiling at her, waiting for an answer. She hadn't heard about the dance, and if she was going she would have preferred Al. She gave the boy half a smile.
   "Look James." His face changed, the smile were strained and his eyes went to Al for a moment, looking at him threatening.
   "It's Jonathan actually, but you can call me John if you like." She didn't care what his name was, she just wanted him to leave.
   "Jonathan. It's nice of you to ask, but I have no intention of going to the dance, that's just not my thing. But it's nice of you to ask though." She turned away from him before he could say something else, she really wasn't in a mood to talk to strangers.
   Jonathan was looking at Alistair, mouthing 'You'll pay for this' before he turned and walked away.

[Villain]

'That's an idea.' Alistair spoke, scratching his chin as he considered the proposal. Ryan had his head clutched in between his hands and was currently trying to figure out when he had gone insane.
  'Getting a base of operations besides the library would help matters.' He mumbled before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone, 'I'll just text Lulu and let her know where we're heading after school. Whats the address of your house?'
  Ryan by this point had now managed to stop whimpering and had realised what Casey had said. His face immediately lit up and he opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment Jonathan Andrews stepped forward and tapped Casey on the shoulder.
  Ryan watched the two with interest whilst Alistair tapped at the keypad of his phone. Anyone would assume that he wasn't paying attention to the scene, but Ryan noticed that Alistair kept glancing towards the two every few seconds.
  When she rejected him Ryan couldn't help but smirk inwardly, he knew what was going through the girls head. He was actually surprised that Alistair still didn't realise.
  Alistair had now stopped glancing at the scene and was now entirely focused on writing the rest of the text out. He didn't even glimpse at Jonathan as he made his threat.
  'Well...seems you have made another enemy' Ryan spoke as he watched the juggernaught stomp down the corridor, 'I would watch out. He looks like trouble'.
  'I would rather focus my attention on the first enemy I have made than the middle child who over compensates in everything else because he doesn't get enough attention at home' Alistair muttered, but whether Jonathan had heard him or not he didn't know or particularly care.

[Axenia]

Casey stared a moment at Ryan, why would that boy have something against Al? She knew Alistair had a way to get on peoples nerves, but that surely wasn't enough to call him an enemy. She shook her head, it was irrelevant to what they were facing right now. But she couldn't let it go even though she tried. She wanted to go to the dance, she had never tried that before, but she wanted to go with Al, and more than that, she wanted him to ask her. But she knew that was never going to happen, he probably didn't care about those things. Then she remembered that Al had asked her something before they got interupted.
   "My address is 736 Forest Road." She smiled at him, certain that he didn't even see that.

[Villain]

'Excellent. We'll meet up after class, but first lets get this next clue.' Alistair said and gave Casey a small smile before motioning for them to follow him. Eventually they reached his locker which he quickly opened and pulled his coat out of before rummaging through the top pocket.
  'Don't just search the top pocket Al. Search every pocket.' He muttered to himself and continued to search the rest of the coat. Once he was done riffling through the pockets he found himself with several pocket watches.
  'That's an expensive couple of gifts' Ryan spoke as he looked over the watches curiously.
  'They're not gifts they're clues.' Al spoke as he held them up before the two of them, dangling the chains off the tips of his fingers. There were four of them in total, all identical apart from the directions in which the hands points. It was the first thing that Alistair noticed.
  'Eight o'clock. Twelve o'clock. Four o'clock. Eleven o'clock.' He spoke, his sharp hazel eyes studying the faces of the pocket watches as they dangled in front of him, 'Your thoughts Ryan?'
  'Are they all times in which the crimes took place?' Ryan suggested.
  'Very likely, the wolf attacked in class time so it might have been around eleven and I think the vouchers were delivered to me at around eight this morning.' Alistair spoke before huffing as he stared at the four o'clock and twelve o'clock watches. He checked his watch before frowning and pocketing them, 'That's odd.' He spoke simply.

[Axenia]

She looked at the watches in his had, having no idea what he ment. She didn't have a watch, so she had no clue as to what time it was.
"What's odd?" She spoke, trying to get a better look at the watches.

[Villain]

'Well two things...first one of the watches says twelve o'clock.' Alistair spoke and leaned back against his locker and folded his arms across his chest, 'The time right now is around one o'clock so-'
  'Oh god we missed a crime.' Ryan gasped and began clutching his head in between his hands again aas his sanity began to fall apart all over again.
  'No we didn't. Our caller called me at twelve, he would have left clues before twelve if he wanted us to stop his crime at twelve.' Alistair spoke, managing to reassure the easily excitable Ryan.
  'So that must mean that it could be refering to twelve o'clock tonight or twelve o'clock tommorow. It could be any day in the future at twelve o'clock.' He spoke before scratching his chin again, 'But here's whats odd. He said this was the clue. He gave me times but nothing else. What am I supposed to work out from just the times he's going to commit crimes or send unspeakable evil after us?'
  Ryan stared blankly at Alistair before turning to Casey and mouthing the words; 'This is the guy you like?' to her. At least thats what she would hope he had said. He could have possibly asked; 'This is the guy you want to screw?'.
  'Lets go get lunch. We probably don't have long before class starts again' Alistair spoke and let out a sigh, 'Wolf attacks. Leaflets. Phone calls and now pocket watches. Our caller certainly has a flare for the odd.'

[Axenia]

Casey smiled and the look she gave Al was admiring and full of adoration. She had never met anyone like him before. She nodded at Ryan, biting her lip.
   "yeah that's the guy." She laughed a little, counting on Al to be too deep in thought to have heard what she said. They had just sat down to eat when the bell told them it was time for their next class. Casey stood up and went over to Ryan, kissing he's cheek.
   "See you later mr. Gray, you too mr. Holmes." She didn't kiss him eventhough she wanted to, instead she walked to class

[Villain]

Alistair and Ryan sat staring at each other for a moment. Ryan was grinning like an idiot at the kiss where as Alistair now staring at him with a perplexed expression.
  'When did you two start dating?' Alistair asked causing Ryan to let out a frustrated sigh and bang his head against the cafeteria table.
  'You have no clue do you?' Ryan asked, not caring about the throbbing pain in his head.
  'No clue about what?'
  'Great ass and giant breasts and she decides to wear a short skirt and top the day after she meets you.' Ryan spat whilst poking Alistair in the shoulder.
  'Is she confident with her style now that she has a friend?'
  'Argh! God damn it Alistair!' Ryan cursed resisting the urge to pull his hair out and instead getting up from the table and walking to class. Seeing as he was a year older than Alistair and Casey he wouldn't be in the same class. He was a little disappointed but also a little glad. He needed a break from all of the madness.
  Alistair wiped his mouth of the remainders of the beef stew they had served for lunch in the cafeteria. Something began to nag at him as he walked to his biology class. He wanted to believe that it was because he still didn't know how an entire class had managed to suddenly forget what happened, but he knew it wasn't just that.

  Beep! Beep!
 
  His phone went off again as he received a text from Lulu. He pulled his mobile out of his pocket and began to read the message as he walked to class.

Heya Al!
Having a sleep over at Casey's sounds like fun!
Apart from the whole; dangerous caller thing. That kind of sucks.
I'm up for it but I'll have to come later on I'm getting a hair cut after school
Give my love to Casey and Ryan
Lulu x

  'Mr Croft your phone needs to be switched off' Spoke Professor Kernick as Alistair approached the door of his biology class room. He nodded to the small bug eyed teacher with round spectacles and pocketed the phone before taking a seat at the back of the class room. He had the feeling that someone was glaring at him as he sat. Whether it was the mysterious caller or Jonathan Andrews he didn't know or care enough to check.

[Axenia]

Casey was tired, as she sat in the classroom she could feel how the fire had drained her. She barely listened the the teacher talk about some math problem that were too complicated for her to figure out in the first place. When school was over she sat on the steps and waited for the others, on her way home she didn't talk much, her thoughts were occupied with how she was going to show Al how she felt. She let them into her room. Her entire closet was lying in a pile on the bed, otherwise it was nice and tidy. She had forgotton about the pencil drawing lying on her desk. It was of Alistair, his name was written below the portrait drawing and tiny hearts had been drawn on the paper as well.
   She started putting the clothes back in the closet, grabbing a pair of torn jeans and a white tanktop and excused herself for a moment.

[Villain]

Ryan had been the heart of the conversation when they had walked to Casey's. Alistair still seemed in deep thought so Ryan had done everything in his power to make as many inappropriate jokes towards Casey's bust size as possible. It seemed to work well for occasionally Ryan noticed Alistair blush and even caught him staring at her chest at one point. It wasn't exactly the help Casey was looking for but it was something.
  When they were led up to Casey's room Ryan was tempted to make a hundred more inappropriate comments, mainly comments revolving around the idea of three people sharing the same bed, but by this point Ryan knew he would just be pushing his luck.
  'What's got you in such deep thought?' Ryan asked after Casey excused herself. He sat on the cleared space on the bed and watched as Alistair paced back and fourth in the middle of the room.
  'The time...it said four o'clock and twelve o'clock, but because he gave no other clue he could have meant any time in the future. We could be waiting on an scheduled on a different day.' Alistair spoke before circling the room, 'Yet I feel uneasy. It's that feeling of having missed something.'
  'Must be feeling that a lot today' Ryan muttered.
  'Something! Just right in front of me!' Alistair cursed and clutched his head, 'Damn it what the hell is it!' Alistair growled before slamming his fists on the desk.
  Then he saw it. The picture that had been draw of him. A hundred different thoughts ran through his head at once. He couldn't think straight. His mind was just a rabble of thoughts and emotions as he stared at the portrait and the hearts which surrounded his name.
  'Surprise.' Ryan spoke in a bored tone, 'Took you long enough to guess.'
  'I...what? Why is this...?' Alistair spluttered as he pointed at the drawing before looking towards Ryan.
  'She's still in the bathroom. Maybe you should go ask her while she's in the shower washing her hair.' Ryan suggested but couldn't be bothered to laugh at his own teasing. He just slumped back against the bed and waited for Al to ask him all the questions that he should already know the answers to, like; so she really likes me? When did this happen? Why me? Does she think I'm cute?
  'Hair.' Alistair blurted out.
  'What?' Ryan asked and sat up as he stared at the young man that now stood over the desk staring into thin air, 'She does have lovely hair Al but how about you say something smarter. Like; 'maybe I should ask Casey out?'
  'Hair. Oh god...' Alistair breathed. He seemed to be turning white and his hands were shaking. He bashed his fist against the side of his head and let out a frustrated roar, 'STUPID STUPID ALISTAIR!' he roared before clutching his head.
  'Wow Al calm down!' Ryan yelled as he sprung to his feet and restrained the enraged boy.
  'Ryan he's gone after Lulu!' Alistair cried out. Ryan could hear the fear in Alistair's voice. It was sending shivers down his spine. He had never figured Alistair to be the type of guy to be afraid after the incident with the wolf. He had figured Alistair didn't feel fear.
  'And I know who he's sent and Lulu won't see it coming.' Alistair said fearfully, he almost sounded like he was about to break down, 'Ryan he's sent two of the worst monsters in the book to get her.'

[Axenia]

The shower was amazing, to be able to get rid of that burned smell she always had after using fire. She just stood under the water for a moment, enjoying the water that ran down her body. She was just getting out of the shower when she heard Alistair shout from her room. She quickly dried herself, and started getting dressed. She was putting on her tanktop when she entered the room, pulling it down over her chest.
   "What's going on, what happened?" She looked at Ryan who was still holding Al, then she noticed her drawing that had moved a bit. When she saw tho look on Al's face she got worried, she had never seen him like that before.
   "Ryan I think Alistair will be able to calm down and tell us what is wrong." She didn't say it to Ryan, her eyes were on Al the whole time. She walked over to him, looking him in the eyes.
   "Tell me what's wrong, if we don't know, then we wont be able to help." His behavior was anything but normal, he was usually calm and collected.

[Villain]

'It's Lulu Casey. They're going after Lulu' Alistair spoke before glancing towards the cloak on Casey's bedside table. So stupid, why hadn't he been checking the time?
  'We've got twenty minutes to get to her before they get there first' He spoke and broke out of Ryan's grasp before pulling out his mobile and typing in Lulu's numbing before pressing call.
  'Al would you mind explaining?' Ryan asked as he dusted himself off. He was trying not to look nervous but Al's outburst had thrown him completely, 'Whose going to get her? Who has the caller sent?'
  'Pies and hair cuts. So freaking obvious.' Alistair cursed at himself as the call went to Lulu's answering machine. This was bad, she might already be there.
  'Alistair explain it to us!' Ryan shouted, his fists clenching in frustration as he watched the young man curse at his mobile phone.
  'I've been an idiot. The caller didn't give me a clue at lunch because the watches were the clue. These are pocket watches, the same type of watches that the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland used. It was so bloody obvious!' Alistair barked as he punched the number in again and rang Lulu's phone.
  'He didn't give me a clue to the culprit because he already had. The vouchers from this morning' Alistair spat as he pulled out the vouchers from his pocket and threw them at Ryan and Casey. Vouchers for pies and hair cuts covered her carpet floor.
  'You're still not answering us!' Ryan barked before walking up to Al and turning him to face him and Casey, 'Who is going after Lulu?'
  'Sweeney Todd.' Alistair spoke and watched as Ryan turned white and let go of Alistair before taking a few steps back, 'The demon barber of fleet street and his accomplice Mrs Lovett. The serial killer duo that slaughtered innocent people in their barbers shop before cooking their bodies in pies' Alistair said, his voice trembling as he watched the call go through to voice mail again.

[Axenia]

Casey was turning white. This was terrible, only twenty minutes. she didn't know how to get there on time, if only... Well, she would get in a whole heap of trouble if her dad found out, but there was a way. She ran into the livingroom and grabbed a set of keys, then got back to her room.
   "Al, you know where she is, I can't take both of you and I think you'll be the biggest help. No offence Ryan, but Al know her better, and well, you tend to freeze up. She pulled Al with her, threw a helmet to him. There was only one, so she had to do without. She took him out to the garage where a motorcycle stood.
   "I'm not licensed to drive it, but my father has shown me how. She opened the door and got on it, starting it op. It was a little to big for her, she could hardly touch the ground.
   "Hurry up Al, get on."

[Villain]

'W-wait what?' Ryan asked as he watched Casey pull al out of the room, 'You can't leave me behind! What if something goes wrong? I mean do you even know where your going?'
  'Lulu's parents are over protective of her. They'll take her to same hair salon as always; Frizzy Cuts.' Alstair replied while pocketing his mobile phone.
  'Then if they're over protective then maybe theres nothing to worry about. They wouldn't take her to a dangerous place to get her hair cut would they?' Ryan asked hopefully.
  'They've been going to that same salon since she was seven. It's a place they trust.' Alistair spoke 'Ryan just stay here and keep an eye on the house, we need someone to guard the base of operations.' He said and looked back at him before giving him a grim smile and waving before following Casey into the garage.
  He stopped as he saw the bike. His mouth fell open for a moment, he was so stunned he almost dropped the helmet when it was thrown to him. He put it on and climbed onto the bike behind her.
  'This is unbearably cool.' Alistair spoke, his voice muffled by the helmet.

[Axenia]

Casey let her foot press the gear pedal down once, setting the bike in first gear. She enjoyed the roar the bike made when she laid her right hand on the gashandle and turned it. The butterflies in her stomach had awakened, not from the bike, but from Al's arms around her waist. She looked back at him, smiling a bit.
   "Hang on as tight as you can, and follow the bikes motions, otherwise we'll wish the beast had torn us apart." She let go of the clutch and the bike was flying out of the garage and down the street. She didn't stop for red light, zigzagging between the cars, using contra steering to throw the bike down in each turn making the footrest scratch the asphalt. She kept looking at the small clock, counting down until four a clock. They got there just two minutes before, Casey quickly jumped of the bike.
   "Quick Alistar, get to Lulu" She took the helmet, hanging it on one of the side mirrors.

[Villain]

Alistair had never been on a motor bike before, but he was quite sure that the way they were driving was far from safe. He followed Casey's instructions and leaned left and right to match the motions of the bike. It was a difficult job and not just because he had never ridden on a motorbike before. He had never been so close to a girl before, he could feel the outline of her waist beneath his arms. He was glad he was wearing the helmet because it was doing a good job of hiding the blush in his cheeks.
  When they stopped Alistair tore the helmet off his head before quickly running a hand through his messy helmet hair and jumping off the bike. He kept the helmet under his arm as he walked over the pavement and up to the hair salon.
  Frizzy Cuts was a small innocent looking building painted a sickly pink and yellow with smiles and polka dots covering the windows. Lulu had told Alistair how much she hated going to get her hair cut there, it looked like the type of place to take children for their first hair cut. It was hardly the place to bring a young woman for her hair cut, but her parents had fallen in love the place and wouldn't have it any other way.
  Alistair pushed through the wooden door and stepped through. The moment he did his breath caught in his throat as he stared at the sight before him.
  Lulu was sat tied down in a leather barber shop chair and her head was being pulled back by a large thin man with ghost white skin and styled dark brown hair. At first glance he would have looked relatively normal; he was dressed in a fine white buttoned shirt, black bow tie and black trousers making him look civilised and professional. It was only when you noticed the look of utter madness in his eyes and the apparent joy in his face as his long shriveled fingers clutched the sharp pair of scissors that you realised that this man was insane.
  Lulu's mother seemed to be unaware of what was happening, she just sat quietly on the chairs that lined the window near the entrance of the barber shop. It was only when Alistair looked a little closer did he realise that the woman had been drugged. The eyes that lay behind the thick glasses her mother wore were shut tight and her head was balanced at an odd angle on top of her thing neck. Bits of her blond wavy hair were stuck to her face from where she had slept on it and lying in her lap was a spilt glass of water. No doubt it had been drugged before she drank it.
  Sitting next to Mrs Carol was a stick thin woman wearing a homely brown dress and a kitchen apron. Her hair was held back with a hair net and she was wearing rubber gloves. She grinned broadly at Alistair when she registered that he had entered the room. Her mouth was full of yellow crooked teeth and her eyes looked yellow and venomous.
  'Mr Todd we're not alone' She cackled and rubbed her gloved hands together excitedly, 'Seems the boy has finally gone an worked out the riddle. Took him long enough.'
  Sweeney Todd tune his head to look at Alistair and beamed at him before pressing the blade of the scissors to Lulu's throat. Alistair wanted to lunge at him and knock him down before he could do anything, but he knew that this man couldn't be taken lightly. The moment he jumped Sweeney would slit Lulu's throat and then with the grace of a gazelle turn on the spot and plunge the scissors into his stomach.
  'Good day to ya sir. A pleasure to be meeting the great Sherlock Holmes' He spoke, his cocky accent making every word sound even more insulting, 'You cut it mighty fine young sir. You've only got about a minute and a half until I'm ordered to kill her. The clock is ticking young sir.'
  'Let her go or my friend Casey will burn this place to the ground.' Alistair growled, but that just made the two of them laugh.
  'With you and the two Carols inside it? Oh no I think not young sir.' Sweeney chuckled, 'But if she believes that fires gonna be of any use I do encourage her to try it out on myself and Mrs Lovett here.' He spoke and nodded towards Mrs Lovett before turning back to Lulu, who seemed surprisingly calm despite having a blade pressed to her neck. In fact Alistair could almost swear she was grinning too.

[Axenia]

Casey entered Frizzy Cuts, her eyes immediately went to Alistair, and then to the tied down Lulu. What scared her most wasn't that Lulu sat tied to a chair with a pair of scissors to her throat, but that all of this had begun to seem normal to her. She knew the timing was bad, but she couldn't help but laugh a little. her eyes studdied Mr. Todd for a moment, then the went to Mrs. Lovett. Casey didn't start any fire, she simply went over to Mrs. Lovett and sat down next to her, grabbing a magazine and started turning the pages slowly.
   "Isn't it hard Mrs. Lovett, loving a man that will never love you back?" She asked, her eyes still on the magazine. She found a fragrance sample and tried it on her wrist, smelling it and then wrinkled her nose.
   "You shouldn't try that by the way, it smells awful. But I'm really curious, how long are you going to let yourself be fooled by the thought that he may someday love you? I only want to know because it fascinates me." She turned to look as Mrs. Lovett.

[Villain]

A moment of awkward silence followed after Casey asked her questions. Mrs Lovett's mouth hung open as she stared at the girl while Sweeney Todd seemed to nervously fondle the scissors against Lulu's throat.
  'You little tart...' Mrs Lovett finally spoke, 'How dare you talk to me like that you little tramp! What do you know about me and my dear Sweeney!' She screeched and seized Casey by the top of her white tank top.
  'Now now Mrs Lovett, she's trying to provoke you!' Sweeney hollered, his eyes looking frantically from Lulu to Mrs Lovett. Alistair couldn't help but be impressed, just one simple question had rattled there cages. He wished he had thought of it sooner.
  'Mr Todd I think my friend has asked a genuine question' Alistair spoke with a smile. Now he could press them and maybe stall them for time, 'I mean you two can't be the genuine Mrs Lovett and Sweeney Todd. They're just your fictional counter parts-'
  'They're our names. We don't go by the silly given names that you brats go by!' Mrs Lovett snapped her hands climbing up the collar of Caseys shirt towards her neck.
  'Oh really?' Alistair asked with a hint of intrigue 'Well if that is the case then surely the good Mrs Lovett knows of her unfortunate end at Sweeney Todds hands in the old stories?'
  'Lies! They're all lies! Mrs Lovett and Sweeney Todd were lovers and partners in crime!' Mrs Lovett hissed, her hands shaking with rage and climbing further up Caseys collar.
  'Mrs Lovett they are provoking you!' Sweeney barked. A bead of nervous sweat rolling down his head.

[Axenia]

Casey stayed calm, looking at Mrs. Lovett. She actually felt pity for the woman, and in some way she thought she knew how Mrs. Lovett felt. she too loved a man who probably would never feel the same way, but at least she hoped he would be honest about it.
   "You are partly correct Mrs. Lovett, you and Mr. Todd have always been partners in crime, but you have never been lovers. You love him, it's so easy to see, you love him with all of your heart. But he? his love will forever belong to his wife. I'm so sorry to be the one telling you this, but you know I'm right don't you? Think about it Mrs. Lovett, has he ever givin you a compliment, has he ever noticed if you changed your hair, or wore something else? He hasn't has he? If you think he loves you, if you know that he cares for you, and is not just using you to do his dirty work, then ask him something. Ask him what clothes you wore the last time you two were alone together, if he loves you, he would know the answer. If he doesn't then you will know that he doesn't pay you any attention." She was scared, but she wouldn't show it. She wanted to look at Al, to know that what she was doing wasn't some terrible mistake. But she forced herself to keep her eyes on the woman.

[Villain]

Mrs Lovett looked torn at that point. Her hands were so close to throttling Casey that Alistair was sure that she could feel the fingers pressing down on her neck. Then, ever so slowly, Mrs Lovett turned to Sweeney Todd and gave him a questioning look. A desperate look that demanded he answer her questions and prove him wrong.
  Sweeney stared back blankly. For a moment Alistair was sure that Mrs Lovett would demand answers, but unfortunately Sweeney Todd knew what to do.
  'Your forgetting yourself my dear' He whispered softly before gripping the scissors, 'Allow me to break you from their spell!' He roared before turning and throwing the scissors at Casey. They soared through the air with the force of a bullet, if it hit Casey it would impale her.
  'Rotation moving forwards. Approach at right angle.' Alistairs brain thought at rapid speed as he jumped in the objects path. His hand swept upwards in one fluid motion, 'Intercept.' His hands closed around the scissors, but rather than pluck them from the air he went with the force of the object and steered it in a different direction, 'Use the motion and counter He thought before the scissors soared through the air and stabbed Sweeney Todd in the shoulder.
  'NO!' Mrs Lovett roared and jumped to her feet, putting her hands over her mouth as she looked on in horror as Sweeney howled and clutched at the scissors in his shoulder.
  'Casey get Lulu!' Alistair barked before pouncing forwards and tackling the wounded killer to the ground. For a moment Alistair truly believed that the improvised plan would be enough to stop them. After all they were killers but they were mortal and now lacked one hostage. It had been a very naive thought for him to have.
  'Mrs Lovett restrain that flaming tart!' Sweeney spoke and with renewed strength shoved Alistair off him with such force that Alistair sailed through the air and crashed into one of the barbers chairs. Mrs Lovett immediately sprung to life and jumped at Casey, closing her arms around the girl before she could react.
  'Clever plan.' Sweeney spoke as he got to his feet. He was grinning with excitement despite the wound he had suffered. It was as if the scissors in his shoulder didn't matter in the slightest, 'Your mistake was assuming me to be mortal.' He spoke and reached into his pockets before pulling out two barbers razors. He flicked out the blades and admired their shimmer before standing behind Lulu's chair.
  'Wait....stop...' Alistair moaned as he crawled out of the wreckage of the barbers chair. Lulu was still restrained, she wouldn't be able to defend herself.
  'I'm sorry kiddies.' Sweeney spoke as he lifted the razors back and stared down at Lulu, 'I'm afraid times up.' He spoke before the blades descended on the girl.

Slice!

  Alistairs eyes were wide with terror. An alarm clock in the corner of the room was beeping away to singal that it was now four o'clock. Lulu's head fell to the floor.

[Axenia]

"NOOO!!!" Casey screamed and fought to brake free, tears running down her cheek. Not Lulu, not that sweet girl. She knew it wouldn't help bursting into flames but she couldn't help it. The anger, the hurt, it all filled her up and the fire was her only relief.
   "Let go of me... Oh god Lulu." She didn't know how to react, she had never seen one she cared about die before. Her fire went from red to an icy blue. Her thoughts immediately went to Alistair, what if they killed him too, she didn't think she would be able to bear that.
   "Al get out of here, please, take the motor bike and drive." She looked at him pleadingly

[Villain]

Alistair brain was scattered as he stared at the severed head on the floor. So many confusion thoughts ran through his head. What had just happened? Why was Lulu's head lying on the floor? Why had Sweeney been able to ignore the scissors in his shoulder? Why was Mrs Lovett not bursting into flames when Casey ignited? Why was Lulu's head on the floor? Why was Lulu dead? Why was her head on the floor? How could she have died? Why hadn't he stopped him? Why was she dead? Why was she dead?!
  He could feel hot tears running down his cheeks. Her head had such a calm look on its face, it even looked happy to be disconnected from it's shoulders. That wasn't right. Lulu's face shouldn't look calm, it should be bright and cheerful like the first time that they had met. He could still remember how happy she had looked when she had cornered him at the library. They had never met but Lulu had had the confidence to bound up to him and ask one simple questions; 'Can we be friends brainiac?'.
  A roar of pure rage bellowed from Alistairs throat. He soared from the wreckage and swiped wildly at Sweeney. Unfortunately not one of the punches hit. Sweeney was avoiding all of them and cackling while he did it. Seeing the boy enraged seemed to be more amusing to him than a good joke.
  'Afraid you only have yourself to blame young sir' He spoke before dropping one of the razors and grabbing Alistair by the throat, 'Don't be sad though. All three of you will be reunited.' He spoke before leaning forwards and whispering into Alistairs ear, 'We'll bake you, her and the fireball in the same pie.'
  Something even deeper seemed to snap as he whispered the ominous notion into his ear. His feet kicked out and arms flailed like a rabid animal. His eyes were filled with cold hate as his body wriggled and thrashed with such ferocity that even Sweeney seemed to become surprised by the force behind the raging detective.
  'Mrs Lovett kill the fire fairy!' He yelled out and growled as Alistair managed to land a fist against his chest. It wasn't enough to hurt him, but it was becoming annoying. This needed to be dealt with quickly.
  'As you wish my dear!' Mrs Lovett spoke, her arms still wrapped around the flaming girl. The fire was licking at her body but Mrs Lovett didn't seem at all phased by it. It seemed as if she couldn't feel the heat of the flames at all. She lifted one of her hands to Casey's throat and began to squeeze, 'It's time I shut you up you little prostitute.'
  'Now now isn't this rather vulgar language to be using in such a dainty barber shop?' A strange civilised voice spoke, cutting through the chaos of the saloon and silencing the rabble. Alistair kept struggling for a moment against Sweeney's grip, but then he noticed that Sweeney was no longer paying attention to him.
  'What in the name of the devil?' Sweeney whispered, his face filled with horror as he stared at the sight. Lulu's head was now floating a metre off the group and grinning broadly at them.
  'Why don't we all just sit down and behave for a moment?' Lulu's calm and surprisingly masculine voice asked before it turned in the direction of Mrs Lovett and opened it's mouth before shooting a large cloud of blue smoke at the woman.
  She screamed and let go of Casey immediately before the two of them were flung into the chairs where Mrs Carol still slept soundly.

[Axenia]

Casey fell to her knees as Mrs. Lovett let go of her, gasping for air and her flames dying out. How could this be possible, what the hell was going on. She didn't even notice that her top had caught on fire, only when she felt it fall down a bit did she notice that one of the shoulderstraps were burning. She quickly put it out and looked at Lulus head floating in mid air. Lulu was dead, this couldn't be possible. Slowly she got up to stand next to Alistair, not even noticing it she took his hand in hers.

[Villain]

'This is witch craft.' Sweeney breathed as he backed up against the wall of the hair salon and stared at the floating head. He gripped the remaining razor in his hand and pointed it at the head in a threatening manner. The head just seemed to keep grinning at him.
  'There is a great streak of violence in every human being.  If it is not channeled and understood, it will break out in war or in madness.' Lulu's head spoke and turned upside down in the air, 'Mr Todd when you point that razor at me are you declaring war or are you simply mad?'
  'Don't you mock me you foul creature!' Sweeney roared before looking towards Alistair and Casey. Alistair mouth was hung open at the sight of the floating head, his hand gripped Casey's tight. This was unreal. He had known Lulu for a long time and she had never once mentioned that she could survive getting her head chopped off.
  'You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.' The head spoke and continued to spin in air before stopping abruptly and giving Sweeney another wide grin, 'Do you fear that you've lost control? Because I would heed my words if you feel that you have.'
  'Shut up!' Sweeney roared again before lunging forward at Alistair with the blade raised above his head, 'I'll deal with you once I've chopped him down!'
  'I thought as much.' The head spoke before glancing behind Sweeney, 'You can slay him now Alice. It spoke before the sound of a blade slicing through the air was heard.
  Sweeney let out a loud yell and dropped the razor before clutching at his back. He fell to the floor and wriggled on the spot. There was now a huge slash mark on his back that had cut through his clothes and dealt a nasty cut. Standing behind him, beaming like an angel and with body in tact, was Lulu.
  'I want to make a hair cut joke' She spoke with a grin before scratching her head and shouldering the silver sword she held in her right hand, 'But I really can't think of one, can you?' She asked before stepping over Sweeney and walking towards Alistair and Casey.

[Axenia]

"Lulu, I could just kill you myself for that trick." Casey let go of Alistairs hand and ran to Lulu, grabbing her and holding her tight. She gave the girl a kiss on the cheek before letting her go.
   "How on earth did you do that, don't ever scare me like that again you stupid girl." She said before holding her tight once more. It took some time before she was able to think rational again, letting the blond girl go so she could let Alistair have a go at her. She looked at them, Lulu and Alistair together. Once over the first joy of seeing Lulu alive, she started thinking about the last clock, the one that said twelve o clock. What was going to happen there, who was going to be the victim? Alistair had gotten the first leads to this sick game. Ryan had been the first to get attacked, and then Lulu. But maybe whatever happened at twelve wouldn't be an attack, the caller must know that they were all paying attention by now.
   She went over and grabbed the helmet that lay on the floor, then walked outside to the bike. She was definitely going to be grounded if her father found out, but it didn't matter, Lulu was alive. She got on the bike and waited for the two of them to join her outside, wondering if they could all fit on it.

[Villain]

'Sorry. I had to-' Lulu began to apologise as Casey let go of her, but was interupted as Alistair raced forward and pulled her into a tight hug. She stared into space, stunned by the sudden display of affection by the always serious Alistair.
  'Don't do that again.' Alistair mumbled against her shoulder. She could feel him trembling against her.
  'Al I-' She began.
  'NEVER!' Alistair cried. His voice sounding choked as he held onto her. She smiled for a moment, feeling tears building in her eyes as she was embraced. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him for a moment before stepping back.
  'I won't. I'm sorry for tricking you.' She spoke before gesturing to Sweeney, who still lay on the floor behind her, 'I saw through them Al. I knew they were evil people, I've always been able to see what peoples inner selves are like. So I pretended I needed to go to the bath room and let my double over there take my place.' She spoke before gesturing the floating head.
  'A pleasure to meet you my boy.' It spoke before winking at him and spinning rapidly in the air. It began to grow in size and sprout blue fur and eventually a body before finally stopping in mid air and landing on the floor. It had now turned in a fluffy blue cat with large eyes and a wide grin of pearly white teeth. Alistair knew at once what the creature was, but it still stepped forwards and bowed, 'Cheshire Cat at your service.'
  'He's good at pretending to be me and pretending to get his head chopped off' Lulu chuckled, Alistair just nodded and smiled greatfully before wiping his cheeks of the tears that had dripped down.
  'Come on lets go wake up my mum and get out of here' Lulu spoke and made her way to the door. Alistair turned to follow her, but as soon as he took one step forward he felt a hand wrap around his ankle.
  'Where do you think your all going?' Sweeney growled as he gripped Alistairs foot tight in his hand. He slowly got to his knees and glared up at Alistair with eyes filled with fury.
  Lulu leveled her sword towards the door. Mrs Lovett had now stepped in between her and the doorway and was now smiling maliciously.
  'Silly kids. The fun's just begun.' She spoke before raising her hand and blowing into the centre of it. A cloud of dark smoke sprouted from the palm of her hand and began to grow slowly like a wild fire.
  'What are you?' Alistair spoke as he looked from Mrs Lovett to Sweeney Todd who was now getting to his feet, 'You should be dead.' Alistair spoke as he watched the man reach up to the pair of scissors and pull them out of his shoulder.
  'Silly silly kids. You're so green.' Sweeney chuckled, 'You've had your abilities for only a few years and have only known each other to learn from'
  'We've had our powers for much longer than you kiddies.' Mrs Lovett spoke and twirled her fingers threw the smoke, 'And we've made so many delightful friends...like the witches from fairy tales that feed on human flesh who were kind enough to teach me about their magic.' She spoke before licking her lips, 'I must admit I've grown fond of the pies I bake, especially since they now unlock new dark gifts'
  'You're helpless children boys and girls' Sweeney spoke as he tossed the scissors over his shoulder, 'You don't even know the extent of your power and how much a name can effect you. Even a nick name which has stuck to you for so very long'.
  'Sweeney Todd...' Alistair breathed and clenched his fists as he watched the killer grin broadly and roll up his sleeves, '...the demon barber of fleet street. It's more than just a name isn't it?' Alistair asked.
  'Oh yes...' Sweeney spoke, '...so much more' He chuckled and ran his tongue over his new demonic fangs and ran his new black claws over his red scaly flesh. It was a form that he never knew that he had possessed until Mr Spring had enlightened him about the power a name could have over you, but he had to admit that when he had first transformed into the red scaly demon with black horns sprouting from the top of his head, he had never felt more alive.
  'Cheshire...could you get Casey?' Lulu asked timidly as she raised the sword point to Mrs Lovett's hand. The cat nodded, its grin still not fading as he looked over the scene before him and vanished into thin air before reappearing outside.
  'Sorry my dearest dove but I'm afraid you're going to need to burn some things' He spoke with a chuckle as he sat on the handle bars of the motor bike.

[Axenia]

Casey looked for a moment at the cat, deciding weather or not to get of the bike. She leaned forward and looked at he cat,, taking a deep breath looking it in it's eyes.
   "I can't burn them, so what good am I? I can't be of any use to Lulu or Al, my abilities are useless here. Now, get of my bike." She looked at the cat, her eyes hard and cold. When the cat didn't move she pushed it off, starting the bike. She sat for a moment, feeling guilty for not trying to help. But what could she do? Her fire couldn't hurt them, and she had nothing else. She irritably got of the bike, and walked to the door. She couldn't help her friends, but perhaps this could be her ending and free her from the fire. She knew it was a part of her, and accepting that had made her stronger.
   When she got to the door she saw  Mrs. Lowett standing in front of Lulu who had her sword raised. Casey looked at Lulu for a moment, not knowing what to do. Then she walked up to Mrs. Lowett, grabbing her hair and pulling her head back, placing a hand on her throat.
   "Would you mind stopping that, it's kind of irritating to look at." When Mrs. Lowett tried to grab her, she let the flames engulf both of them, blinding Mrs Lowett.
   "Now Lulu, while she can't see." Casey shouted to the blond girl.

[Villain]

Cheshire vanished into a puff of blue smoke as he was pushed off the bike. Casey would probably catch a glimpse of him grinning in the wing mirrors of her bike before she made up her mind and walked back into the hair salon. As she engulfed Mrs Lovett in flames all hell broke loose.
  Sweeney charged at Alistair with his horns stuck out in front of him like a charging bull. They were lucky that the attack was so wild and wreckless otherwise Alistair would have had to think of something more brilliant than simply pushing himself and Lulu to one side.
  Mrs Lovett had been in the middle of conjuring a spell. Whispering words of dark magic and evil sorcery into the smoke that drifted from her rubber gloves. She had been about to thrust her palm forward when the flames enveloped her.
  'Foolish tart! Casting a fire protection spell on myself was the first spell I ever crafted!' She hissed and swatted at the fiery mess before her.
  It was the perfect distraction, for at that moment Sweeney Todd charged through the blaze and slammed into Mrs Lovett sending her smashing through the door way and out into the street. Sweeney had now straightened up and was now looking around confused, unsure of what had just happened.
  'Lets try this again!' Lulu shouted and leaped forward with the sword raised high. It came down in an arc on Sweeney, sending another deep agonising cut through his body while the strange sound of snicker-snack rang out through the salon. He let out a roar and turned on the spot, leaking demonic blood all over the salon floor. It was surprising that even in her drugged state Mrs Carol hadn't woken up due to the chaos before her.
  'He's not dropping Al!' Lulu exclaimed and held the blade up again to pierce it through the demon who had now pulled out two more barbers razors from his pockets. His forked tongue ran over his fangs as he stepped forwards towards Lulu and Alistair and he chuckled darkly.
  'He must be resistant to weapons no matter how magical they are.' Alistair spoke grimly as he picked up his bike helmet from earlier and held it above his head in a threatening manner. His eyes narrowed on the demon, trying to figure out some sort of weakness, perhaps shouting holy prayers or blessing holy water or throwing crucifixes at the beast would stop it, but that seemed silly and very unlikely.
  'The contemplation of things as they are, without substitution or imposture, without error or confusion, is in itself a nobler thing than a whole harvest of invention' Cheshire whispered into Casey's ear. He had appeared again floating next to Casey's shoulder with the same wide grin on his furry face, 'You said your fires can't burn him. Which is true, demons swim in fire you know?' He spoke before circling her head slowly in the air, 'But you can swim in water, yet it would be very bad for your health if you were to drink too much wouldn't it?' He asked and winked at the girl before vanishing again in a cloud of smoke.

[Axenia]

Casey stared at the grinning cat, it took a moment for her to figure out what the hell he meant. How could she make him drink the fire? She couldn't, and his mouth wasn't open enough for her to throw a fireball. She could only think of one thing left. She ran towards him, bursting into flames as she ran. She jumped and grabbed him from behind, swinging in front of him and closing her legs around him. She was looking into his eyes, not registering anything around her but the demon.
   "Open wide." She forced his mouth open and gathered all of her energy. Blue flames shot through the demon's throat, as he screamed his mouth opened wider, allowing her to put her hand in his mouth. He bit down and she screamed in pain as the fangs pierced her hand and wrist. She remembered that Al, Lulu and Mrs. Carol was there, she kept her eyes on the demon.
   "Al, get Lulu and her mother out of here and run, this is going to get a hell of a lot worse." She didn't wait for any answer, didn't even notice if they left. She closed her eyes and let it all go. Everything around them started burning, the stones of the buildings exploding not able to deal with the heat. The asphalt started mealting and an inferno took out the entire street before she was done. The demon started burning, turning to ashes before her eyes. She didn't know what happened to Mrs. Lowett, all she knew was that after the demon was gone she was alone. She was breathing hard, her clothes was burned and gone in some places. Her hand was aching and bleeding, everything around her was still in flames. She started walking down the street back to her home.

[Villain]

'Casey hang on a minute!' Alistair yelled out as she jumped onto Sweeney's back. He wanted to object but he knew deep down that he had no real idea of how to combat this monster. He watched in horror as Casey thrust her arm down the creatures throat. Lulu tugged at his shirt sleeve and pulled him over to where her mother sat.
  It was difficult work hauling Mrs Carol out of the building. Casey's flames made quick work of the hair salon and sent waves of painful hot air shooting in their direction. By the time they had managed to drag her outside Alistair had to dump Mrs Carol onto the ground and immediately duck and roll to put out the fire that had started on his shoulder.
  Sweeney howled in agony as he swiped at the girl that gripped him tightly. He bit and choked on her hands and attempted to slice and cut at her, but as soon as he got the blades within an inch of her throat they melted and exploded into shards of hot orange liquid which vanshed amongst the blue fire. He felt a burning pain erupt under his fire proof scales, sending them shooting off in different directions like bits of popping pop corn. Soon the flesh and muscle and eventually the bone beneath was charred black and vanished into the inferno. There were no parting words, no curses of revenge, the demon of fleet street had met his end at the hands of the all powerful force of nature that was Casey Valentine.
  'She's amazing.' Lulu coughed as she looked up at the burning building. The pink paint had been torched black and the polka dots had been reduced to grey spots in shattered windows. Clouds of fire burst from every doorway and window. Alistair could hear people screaming and shouting behind him, soon the fire engines would arrive to deal with the inferno before it destroyed anything else.
  'She is.' He agreed and picked himself up off the floor, 'Hopefully she can get out of there before it collapses and-' Alistair began before a shrill murderous cry echoed through the air. He turned to his left and saw Mrs Lovett marching towards them with blood running down her forehead, she must have been knocked out after the charge from Sweeney Todd.
  'YOU MURDEROUS LITTLE CRETINS! I'LL ROAST YOU ALIVE IN PASTRY!' She screeched, her mouth breathing clouds of wispy black smoke over the pavement.
  'Oh for gods sake can't these people just stay down?' Alistair roared in frustration and began to march towards Mrs Lovett.
  'Al what are you doing? She'll kill you!' Lulu cried out. She was still sat on the pavement clutching her mother in her arms and fanning her face in an attempt to wake her up.
  'Yeah. Probably will. She has powers and I'm just a thinker' Alistair mumbled, but his eyes didn't leave Mrs Lovett's. They were still as sharp as ever and filled with determination. His stride didn't break and his fists remained clenched.
  'I'll eat you alive.' Mrs Lovett hissed, her voice beginning to sound ethereal and frightening as she pointed at Alistair with one of her gloved fingers, 'Your whore killed my beloved!'
  'No she didn't.' Alistair growled and raised his fist.
  'Yes she did! I'll slay you!' Mrs Lovett screamed, her features becoming more darker by the second.
  'No you won't!' He barked at her.
  'Yes I will! One touch boy! That's all I need and you'll suffer like all the rest! I'll avenge my beloved' She screeched and waved her hands through the air.
  'He's not dead.'
  'Silence you dirty liar!'
  'He's not!' Alistair roared and threw the fist, but rather than punch the witch he pointed to her side, 'He's right there.' He spoke before nodding towards the homicidal barber that stood by Mrs Lovett's side smiling happily at her. Mrs Lovett let out a squeak of surprise, her eyes widening with shock as she let out a cry.
  'Mr Todd? You're alive?' Mrs Lovett asked with a look on her face that resembled the type of look someone would have if they had been slapped with something smelly and oddly shaped.
  'No but I appreciate your affections my dearest.' Sweeney Todd spoke cheerfully before turning into a fluffy blue cat that grinned at the witch before vanishing into the air. In that short moment of surprise Alistair made his move.
  He jumped forward and grabbed Mrs Lovett's wrist before shoving the palm of her hand into her face. The woman let out a shriek as she swallowed a cloud of her own disgusting black magic.
  'You dreadful little boy! I'll strangle you! I'll-' She cursed and swiped at empty air before suddenly freezing on the spot and clutching her chest, 'Oh no...oh no I just-'
  'Cast your own spell on yourself.' Alistair spoke as he turned away from Mrs Lovett and walked back to Lulu, who was now staring at Alistair with a mixture of shock and joy, 'It's been nice knowing you Mrs Lovett.' Alistair spoke but didn't turn around to wave good bye to the killer, not even when she let out a piercing scream as her spell bound and twisted her form, 'I'm sure you'll make a lovely pie for some pigeons' He spat before crouching beside Lulu.
  'Can you stand?' He asked and took her hand in his. Lulu was now staring at what was once Mrs Lovett, but was now a small freshly baked brown pie.
  'A spell to turn people into pies. That's really strange.' Lulu spoke before hoisting her mother up off the pavement floor.
  'You need to go. Authorities will be here soon, but make sure to come over to Casey's.' Alistair instructed and turned back to the burning building and started searching for any sign of Casey.
  'I will. After all the chaos I fancy having a sleep over with pizza, pop corn and stupid movies' Lulu chuckled before looking over her shoulder as Cheshire appeared behind her, 'You can get me home can't you Cheshire sir?'
  'If I must Alice.' He spoke with a warm chuckle before circling her and her mother and covering them both in blue smoke. They vanished instantly into thin air, leaving Alistair alone outside the burning building.
  Alistair looked left and right to check if anyone had seen what had just happened. They had been lucky, most people were too distracted by the flames which shot out from the roof of the building. Their magical battle didn't appear to be of much interest at all.
  'Twelve o'clock' Alistair whispered to himself before turning away from the building and walking away, 'We'll have to do something about that.'

A few minutes later

'Do you need a ride?' Alistair asked Casey as she walked past him on the pavement. He figured that she must have been exhausted otherwise she would have noticed him clumsily pull up on her dads motor bike and almost mount the curb. He pulled the helmet off his head and smiled at her.
  'You've really got to stop saving us Casey. It's making us look back' He chuckled before tossing the spare helmet he had tied down on the back seat to her.

[Axenia]

Casey was exhausted, her legs were heavy and she felt like she could hardly move them. The thought of a wonderful shower was what kept her going, she smelled like burned wood. She smiled a little to herself, 'well at least you don't smell like burned bacon'. People were screaming and shouting behind her, luckily no one had seen her leave the inferno. The sound of firetrucks were coming closer, it had taken them long enough she thought. It wouldn't do them any good, if they came too close their trucks would stick in the asphalt. It had to burn itself out, all the firedepartment could do was to make sure it didn't spread anymore than it already had.
   When she couldn't hear who had talked to her, she hadn't been paying attention. While she turned around two fireballs had appeared, one in each hand. She took a breath of release when she saw that it was Alistair, and couldn't help but laugh when she saw that he was sitting on her fathers bike. She was so happy to see him that she didn't even think about what she did next. She caught the helmet he threw to her, but insted of putting it on and jumping up behind him, she walked over to him. She looked in his eyes, laying a hand around his neck and pulling him closer to her. Her hand was still warm. The helmet fell to the ground as her other hand rested on his cheek.
   "I'm so glad you're okay." She lifted herself on her toes, then very slowly her lips touched his. She kissed him, her hand moving from his cheek to his messy hair. After a little while she let go of him, looking into those wonderful hazel eyes. She didn't wait for him to react. She took the helmet from the ground and put it on, jumping up behind him and pressing her body gently against his.
   "Would you mind driving me home, I don't want my dad to find out that his bike has been out on an adventure." She could feel he wasn't used to driving it, but he did fairly well. When they got back to her house she jumped of and laid the helmet next to the bike. She was wondering weather Alistair would mention the kiss, or if he would rather forget that it had happened.

[Villain]

Alistair stared into space as he registered what had just happened. The kiss had jogged his memory reminding him of the picture that lay on Casey's desk of him. The feeling of her soft lips against his made him remember why it was such a hard feeling to understand.
  Sherlock Holmes had never been one to care about love in the stories. To him love was the opposite of reasoning and rationality which was everything that Holmes believed in. To him love was an annoyance or at the very least an idea that he could not see himself falling victim to and it was because of this that Alistair's rational mind never comprehended that someone may like him.
  He started the engine of the motor bike and slipped on his helmet before driving the bike as carefully as possible towards Casey's house. The thoughts that revolved in his head seemed to help him steer the vehicle. His mind was now so focused on the complicated matter that the steering the motor bike seemed a rather simple problem.
  'Would you take me as a marrying man Watson?' Alistair thought to himself as he recalled the words his fictional self had spoken in the stories that concerned his opinion on love. Now more than ever he wished that his old friend was by his side, maybe he would be able to tell him what he should be feeling.
  Soon they pulled up outside of Casey's house. Lulu and Ryan were sat outside on the pavement in front of her house with cans of soda. They grinned and waved at the two before applauding as Alistair pulled up in front of them.
  'The heroes return! We all made it out alive!' Lulu cheered and raised a can of coke above her head with a wide pearly grin.

[Axenia]

Casey smiled at Lulu, but clearly her mind was somewhere else. She looked down at herself, seeing her burned clothes and her wrist and hand still bleeding. She looked over at Alistair.
   "Al I'm sorry, I just... I was happy to see you weren't hurt. Just forget it happened okay, I won't do it again, I promise." She had a hard time looking at him, and she couldn't look at Ryan who probably had guessed what had happened. She walked up to the front door.
   "You don't have to sit out here, I just have to take a small shower again, burning down half a block really makes me smell quite awful." She went inside and grabbed the some clothes from her closet before taking another shower.
   The water was wonderful, but she couldn't enjoy it. How could she have been so stupid kissing him, he clearly didn't think of her in that way. She remembered how he had looked when he had thought Lulu was dead, how he had hugged her. She wasn't jealous, well maybe a little, but not because she thought there was something between them. They seemed to be like brother and sister, and she was just a mutual friend. She hadn't known him for that long, but after all they had been through, it seemed like an eternity.
   She turned off the water, grabbing a towel and started drying herself. She listened for the voices of her friends, making sure they were still there. Of cause they were there, why wouldn't they be? They had to stay together, 12 o' clock would come soon enough and who knows what that psychopathic caller had imagined for them.
   She put her pants on, thin white cotton pants that fitted tightly around her ass and thighs, and a pink longsleaved tshirt with buttons, the top ones open. she was barefooted as she walked out of the bathroom, looking around at her friends, but avoiding looking Al in the eyes.
   "So, whose in the mood for pizza?"

[Villain]

there was a moment of silence as the three of them absorbed what Casey had just said to Alistair. They watched her walk inside and for a moment Lulu and Ryan looked back and fourth from Alistair to the doorway Casey had just gone through. Eventually Ryan decided to break the silence.
  'All right! Alistair just made out with Casey!' He cheered and chuckled as Lulu punched him in the arm.
  'Ryan don't be mean Alistairs going to be really confused now!' She hissed but couldn't help but let a sly smile break out over her face as she looked at Alistair.
  'You two knew?' Alistair asked, his cheeks burning and eyes firmly fixed to the ground as he scratched the back of his head.
  'Of course we did. You would have to be dumb, deaf and blind not to be able to sense that Casey was into you.' Ryan muttered and rubbed the patch of his arm that Lulu had just hit.
  'What am I supposed to do?' Alistair asked and looked at them both pleadingly, 'I've never really...you know...thought about girls like that.'
  'You don't have to tell me twice.' Lulu muttered and rolled her eyes before getting up off the pavement and handing Alistair a can of soda. She gave him a small sympathetic smile and patted him on the shoulder, 'Just go with it. Be honest with her and tell her that you're not sure how you feel and spend some more time with her. Just see how things play out.'
  'Or alternatively you could go upstairs now and hop in the shower with her.' Ryan teased before letting out a yelp as Lulu threw her can of soda off Ryan's head.
  'No don't do that. She's not a piece of meat.' Lulu snapped at Alistair, which confused him more because he was sure Ryan had been the one to say the inappropriate comment.
  'But Lulu I...Sherlock never-' Alistair began.
  'You're not Sherlock and I'm not Alice. We're just incarnations of the characters, they don't define us. You can love if you want Alistair.' She said before smiling and wrapping an arm around his shoulder before leading him towards Casey's house, 'Come on lets go put a movie on. Something dumb but funny to keep you from thinking too hard...like finding nemo!'
  'Nemo? You mean the science pirate who was captain of the Nautilus from two thousand leagues under the sea?' Alistair asked as they walked through the door way with Ryan following them whilst nursing a large bump on his head.
  'No the CGI fish that gets lost.' Ryan groaned as he shut the door behind them, 'God help this one Lulu. He takes everything too damn seriously.'

A few minutes later

Casey had found the three of them spread out in front of the television watching computer generated fish crack jokes and swim a lot. Lulu lay on her stomach in front of the tv, she seemed to find the whole thing rather entertaining. Ryan on the other hand was sat on the corner of one of the sofas clutching his head in between his hands. It was clear that he would rather be watching something with naked human girls and a lot of raunchy scenes. Alistair just stared at the pocket watch that he held in his right hand. He was sat in an arm chair chewing on a stick gum with his mobile phone balanced on the left arm of the chair.
  When she entered the room and asked her question all three of them turned in her direction and stared at her as if she were some sort of saint.
  'Yes please' Lulu spoke.
  'God yes' Ryan growled.
  'More than anything in this world.' Alistair spoke and for a moment seemed to gaze at Casey. As if studying her just a little more closely. Hopefully she wouldn't notice.

[Axenia]

She smiled and went out into the kitchen, finding the phone in the refrigerator. She Called the pizzaplace, annoyed when the put on some music while she waited to place her order. But her mood was better, they had taken care of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lowett. The song they played was 'walking on sunshine'. She couldn't help it, she started dancing to the music, not a pretty sight. Not even noticing that she was singing along, although not very loud. When it was finally her turn she leaned over the desk, placing their orders.
   She was standing on her toes to reach the small jar with money her mother always left for Casey when her mother and father went out. She got back into the living room and sat next to Ryan.
   "Please don't tell me you are suffering from moral hangovers." She smiled at him, noticing the bump on his head. She moved in front of him, looking at it more closely.
   "Do you want something cold to put on it, or an aspirin?"

[Villain]

'You could let me grab your ass, that may help.' Ryan suggested with a cheeky grin before shaking his head, 'I'll be fine, I just got clotted by a soda can because I was too honest.'
  'He was rude.' Lulu corrected.
  'Rude. Honest. Same thing.' He spoke before glancing towards Alistair who had now gone back to staring at the watch before checking his mobile. He looked busy in thought, he could practically see the cogs turning in his head as he stared through the pocket watch in his hand. He looked so serious that Ryan knew he couldn't miss this opportunity to tease Al.
  'Oh crap.' Ryan spoke as he pretended to drop his mobile phone. It fell to the ground and bounced off he floor a few times before landing a little distance in front of Alistair, 'Butter fingers. Would you mind getting that for me Casey?'

[Axenia]

Casey didn't even notice that Ryan had dropped it on purpose, she looked over at the phone. She got on her She bend over to pick it up, not even noticing that her cleavage was clearly showing as she did so. She let a hand run through her hair as she straightened up, letting it fall down a little messy but not in a bad way. She returned the phone to Ryan.
   "Don't drop it again, I'm not you maid." She went into her room for a moment, when she got back she was holding a magazine in her hand. She dropped it in Ryan's lap, raising one eyebrow. She knew how he was, and she didn't mind.
   "I know it's not the real deal, but knock yourself out." It was a porn magazine with a beautiful naked blond girl on the cover. She smiled a little, as she sat down next to him again.

[Villain]

'Superb.' Ryan breathed as he watched Casey bend over before Alistair. He managed to suppress the laugh that wanted to break out as he watched Alistairs eyes widen from the sight of the girl bending over. He was sure that he would have collapsed on the floor in hysterics if he hadn't been so busy watching Casey's ass stick out into the air.
  'Sorry Casey won't happen again.' Ryan chuckled, biting down on his lip as he watched Alistairs stare follow Casey out the room. He had learned something today; Alistair may have a big brain and a confusing take on love but he was still a normal horny sixteen year old teenage boy.
  'That was mean.' Lulu called back to Ryan. She hadn't turned around once during the whole incident but she knew that when she had heard Ryan chuckling that he had misbehaved.
  'What was? I just dropped my phone.' Ryan said in a mock innocent tone. He looked over at Al and smirked at him before miming a groping motion in front of his chest before mouthing; 'double D's do you think?'.
  Alistair's face went bright red as Ryan mouthed the question and he quickly turned back to the pocket watch.
  'Guess that's a yes.' Ryan thought to himself.
  When Casey reentered the room Ryan couldn't help but watch Al carefully as she took a seat next to him. The poor lad looked like he was trying very hard to concentrate, but Ryan's teasing had clearly got to him. He could quite clearly see Alistairs eyes glance towards Casey's rear as she walked into the room.
  'You're a ton of fun Casey.' Ryan spoke without actually realising what Casey had put in his lap. When he finally noticed the porn magazine he let out a cheer before opening it and flicking through the pages.
  'Hallelujah. There is a god.' Ryan said with relief and stared at the images for a moment before pausing as he considered what Casey had just done, 'Hold up. Why have you got magazines like this?' He asked and leaned back in the sofa, an amused expression on his face as he questioned the girl, 'Don't tell me you like the ladies too Casey? If you do then you and me may have to become best friends.'

[Axenia]

"Now why do you think I have a magazine like that? I might still be a virgin Ryan, but I am curios and I don't plan on being a virgin forever. And before you come up with one of your smart answers, no, I'm not gonna let you change that. And to answer your other question. I do like the female body, and I'm not ruling out to share a man with a beautiful woman for a night. Now shut up and have fun with the magazine, there are more under my bed if you get tired of that one." She had noticed the way Ryan had looked at her chest and her ass. It had amused her a bit, but she had also noticed that Alistair had stared at her.
   "And by the way Ryan, you are right, it is a double D." The doorbell rang and she walked out to the door, when she got back she was holding their pizza.

[Villain]

'I love her.' Ryan spoke as Casey walked out of the room, 'Alistair I swear that if you don't make a move then I will do everything in my power to get her and Lulu into bed at the same time.'
  'Braver men than you have tried.' Lulu called back to him. She had trouble picturing the time she had believed Ryan to be a charming and friendly gentlemen. After spending the last few hours with him the polite young man she knew from Wind in the Willows was a stranger who had become lost to time.
  'See! Lulu's making this a challenge for me!' Ryan said with glee and lay back in the sofa with a broad mischievous grin plastered on his face that seemed even brighter than before. He held up the magazine before his eyes and looked over the pages with satisfaction, 'She's got excellent assets Al, you'd be a fool to pass it up'.
  'She's also a girl with thoughts and feelings.' Lulu spoke sternly. If Ryan said one more sexist comment she would have to kick his ass.
  'Casey is a pretty and very nice girl. I'm not going to be an idiot about this.' Alistair said as he glanced over the pocket watch and held it up to the light, 'I'll do it with the respect and courtesy she deserves.'
  'Good to know.' Ryan spoke before turning towards the door as it opened, 'Hey Casey everyones agreed to play truth or dare. You up for it?'
  It was amusing how fast Alistair could go from serious to surprised as he dropped the pocket watch out of shock.

[Axenia]

Her eyes narrowed as she studied him for a moment. She could tell right away that they probably hadn't even talked about playing truth or dare, and she was afraid of what Ryan might come up with. But at the same time she was very curious.
   "Sure, if everyone else is up for it." She placed the pizzas on the table and sat down on the floor. She looked around at the others, wondering weather or not they would agree to the game.

[Villain]

'They sure are aren't you?' Ryan asked as he looked around the room at Alistair and Lulu, who were now staring at Ryan quizzically.
  'I think we should spend our time preparing for the next call.' Alistair said and held up the pocket watch again, but before he could study it Ryan leapt to his feet and nabbed the device off him.
  'It's six o'clock and you haven't had a phone call yet. You're not going to figure out anything else until that guy rings, so relax and have fun for a moment' Ryan pleaded before tossing the watch onto the sofa behind him.
  'I really don't think that's a good idea. Lulu tell him.' Alistair spoke and looked at Lulu, who had now switched off finding Nemo and was now helping herself to pizza with one hand while counting money for her share of it with the other.
  'I want to play. I want to see where Ryan's going with this.' Lulu replied simply and smiled at Alistair as his mouth dropped open. He had expected Lulu to be behind him one hundred percent. What had made her become such an evil genius?
  'Great! Then why don't we let Casey decide who goes first since it's her house.' Ryan spoke as he fished out a couple of bucks from his pocket and placed them in Casey's hand, all the while grinning like a hyena.

[Axenia]

The took the money and put them back in the jar, she looked around and feeling like having some fun she turned and looked at Alistair.
   "Truth or dare Al, and don't overthink it."

[Villain]

Alistair glanced nervously from Casey to Lulu and Ryan. The two of them were grinning broadly at him as they watched him squirm in his seat, 'Erm...well I think-'
  'She said don't over think!' The two barked at the same time causing him to jump in the chair.
  'Fine dare then!' Alistair spoke with a sigh. Never had he wanted more for a psycopath to call him.

[Axenia]

The first time they had kissed it was awkward, and now she decided to make it even more so. She walked over to him, looking him in the eyes
   "Kiss me" She bit her lower lip nervously.

[Villain]

'Wait what?' Alistair asked, unsure if she had heard her right. Surely she couldn't have asked him to do that in front of his friends. That would be weird...wouldn't it?
  'Sorry did I hear you right?' Alistair asked with a nervous chuckle, glancing towards Lulu and Ryan who were now grinning mischevously at him.
  'You heard the girl Al, pucker up.' Ryan chuckled before munching on a large slice of pepperoni pizza. Wiping his growing moustache of the grease and chewing on it before smiling broadly at the shocked young man.
  'Ooo this is going to be something. I should get the camera.' Lulu spoke with a giggle as she chewed on her own slice of pizza, not caring that drops of tomato sauce and cheese were dripping onto her patch work dress. Her blue eyes were full of excitement as she watched the nervous boy look frantically around the room.
  'Come on guys you can't be serious.' Alistair pleaded while his eyes glanced at Casey's lips. It didn't help that when they weren't looking there they were looking down at her chest and the bulging cleavage.
  'Al don't be lame, you'll get to pick next and I swear whatever you pick we'll do.' Ryan said in a stern before clicking his fingers, 'Now kiss the damn girl already!'
  Alistair gulped and slowly got to his feet in front of Casey. This was new. He had never been in a situation where he had to kiss a girl before. He had never felt so nervous. The fear he had felt when faced with Sweeney's demonic form seemed like childs play in comparison to the nerves he felt now.
Slowly he laid his hands on Casey's shoulders before leaning forward and gently brushing his lips against hers. He could feel the eyes on him and could hear the laughs and squeaks that they were holding back, but right now he decided to just push it all back.

[Axenia]

Casey closed her eyes, leaning in against him. She didn't care about Ryan and Lulu at that moment, she wanted to take in the feel of his lips against hers, the taste of him. She raised herself on her toes meeting his kiss. Her arms wrapped around him, holding him close to her body, letting him feel the gentle pressure of her chest against him. She held him loosly after a while, letting him choose when to end the kiss.

[Villain]

Alistair was stunned by the feeling that the small action gave him. Her lips were so soft and sweet and her body was so warm. The way her arms held him and the feel of her brushing against him felt unreal. He could barely comprehend the glorious sensation that filled him as they kissed.
  'So Lulu...fancy giving that a try with old Dorian?' Ryan asked and waggled his eyebrows at Lulu before taking another slice of pepperoni.
  'I would rather drink an entire can of mock turtle soup than kiss you Ryan.' Lulu replied rudely but her face was still sweet and innocent as she smiled at the sight before her.
  'I have no idea what that is so I'm going to just take that as a maybe.' Ryan spoke before scarfing down the next slice in the most undignified manner possible.
  After a minute or two Alistair broke away from Casey and slowly and calmly sat back down in the arm chair. His face was bright red and he seemed to have a dopey look on his face. For once the sharp features didn't look so serious.
  'Er...right...Ryan truth or dare?' Alistair asked as he managed to finally find his voice.
  'Truth.' He replied immediately before wiping his mouth of tomato sauce.
  'All right then.' Alistair spoke before scratching his head as he searched for a question to ask, 'Has a guy ever fallen for you?' Alistair asked before grinning at Ryan broadly. His response was surely going to be entertaining.
  'Yes. Moving on.' Ryan spoke without a hint of embarrassment. Alistair's amused look faded in an instant and was replaced with a stunned expression that all three of them seemed to immediately share.
  'Casey truth or dare?' Ryan asked grimly while Lulu mouthed 'Did he just say yes to that question?' at Casey.

[Axenia]

Casey nodded to Lulu, Ryan had definitely answered yes to that question. She wanted to ask more about that question, but from the look on his face that would be a bad idea. She took a slice and ate it quickly before answering him.
   "Alright, I choose dare." She was nervous about that for a moment, but surely he wouldn't make her do something really bad.

[Villain]

'Great kiss everyone in the room. On the lips. For one minute.' Ryan said cheerfully and chuckled as he watched Lulu and Alistair gag on their slices of pizza and stare at him with a horrified expression, 'Hey this is tame for me. I could have told her to take her shirt off and jump up and down.' Ryan chuckled causing Lulu to let out a pitying sigh.
  'I'm really starting to wonder whether you really changed after you joined the group.' Alistair mumbled and ran a hand through his messy hair before shoveling a slice of pizza into his mouth.

[Axenia]

"Oh come on Ryan, you really make me look like a slut you know." She sighed and looked around, trying to decide who should be the first. It couldn't hurt letting Al be the first, she had really enjoyed his kiss. She walked over to him, looking him in the eyes.
   "Before I do this, let me just say that I'm very sorry." She didn't let him answer in stead she straddled over his legs, sitting on his lap and gently caressing his cheek before she kissed him. She couldn't help it but let out a small sigh of pleasure. She carefully let her tongue find his and kissed him deeply for one minute. When she finally let him go her cheeks were flushed, she looked at him with a shy smile biting her lower lip. She got up again, walking over to Lulu.
   "Well I guess your next." She gently kissed Lulu, she could feel the boys look on them and made a little show of it for them. Last she went over to Ryan, narrowing her eyes. It had been a cruel dare in some way, but she had enjoyed it.
   "No I didn't save the best for last, I just didn't want to make the others suffer from your filthy mouth." She sat down next to him, gently resting her hands against his chest as she kissed him.

[Villain]

Alistair's eyes widened as Casey straddled him and kissed him again. She had moved so quickly that he barely had enough time to take a breath before her lips pressed to his. His brain turned to mush as the sensation of her lips of his filled him again, only when she slid her tongue into his mouth did he feel his body freeze up and register that her soft tongue was swirling around his.
  When she finally got up and moved on Alistair found himself staring into space as he absorbed what had just happened to him. He could still feel the ticklish sensation of her tongue touching the corners of his mouth. He probably would have stayed that way for the rest of the evening if it hadn't been for what happened next.
  'Wait your going to kiss me next?' Lulu asked with a tone of disbelief before letting out a squeak as Casey pressed her lips to hers. Ryan let out a whoop of joy while Alistairs eyes bulged out of his eye sockets. Now he wasn't sure what had surprised him more, when Casey had kissed him or the sight of seeing her snog one of his closest friends.
  Lulu's arms seemed to almost flail as she adjusted the odd feeling of a girl kissing her. She let out of few squeals of surprise as Casey kissed her and ran a hand through her pale blond hair. Eventually she drew back and left Lulu staring dumbly at her for a moment.
  'Was it good?' Ryan asked with a chuckle. Lulu slowly nodded her eyes still wide with shock, 'You look stunned? Did she slip you the tongue too?' He asked with a chuckle as Casey walked towards him.
  'Erm...yeah.' Lulu mumbled, glancing towards Casey awkwardly while her cheeks burned red. she traced the line of her lips as if unsure of what had just happened before timidly mumbling; 'I think she bit me.'
  'Awesome.' Ryan chuckled as the girl sat next to him and kissed him, 'Well if your not going to savour this then I may as well.' Ryan spoke before pulling her into him. Unlike Alistair who had been timid and shy Ryan wasted no time in passionately kissing the girl. Sliding her tongue into her mouth and swirling around it for a moment before pulling back and grinning.

[Axenia]

Casey made a small sound when Ryan pulled her closer, she went with it and grabbed his hair, letting him really feel her for the first and the last time. She looked at him when he let her go, raising one eyebrow.
   "Was that all? I thought the great Dorian Gray would have left me breathless. Alas, the famous Mr. Gray must bow his head in defeat to the greatest detective the world have ever seen, Mr. Sherlock Holmes." She smiled and looked over at Alistair, biting her lip and wanting to kiss him again.
   "You really are a wonderful kisser Al, and you weren't bad either Lulu." She laughed and grabbed another slice, looking at the blond girl.
   "Truth or dare Lulu."

[Villain]

Ryan looked slightly outraged as Casey teased him. He had expected Casey to blush and be speechless after letting him explore her mouth with his tongue. He now thought that he shouldn't have been a gentlemen and let himself grab her ass while he had the opportunity, 'You don't know what you're talking about' He mumbled bitterly and began to nibble on another slice of pizza.
  'Aww is Dorian Gray feeling out done?' Alistair chuckled as he watched the young man grunt and slump back into the seat of the sofa. Ryan just sneered at Alistair and took a large bite out of the slice.
  During this time Lulu had continued to stare into oblivion. Her lips still parted and fingers lightly brushing where she swore Casey's teeth had chewed on her lips. It took a moment to realise that the room was staring at her as they waited for her to answer.
  'Oh sorry!' She yelped before scratching her head as she considered what Casey would ask of her, 'Er...dare?' she asked timidly.

[Axenia]

Casey smiled and winked at her, trying hard not to laugh. She wanted to ask Lulu if that had been her first kiss, but thought better of it. It was hard for her to coming up with a dare for the sweet little girl. The boys she could have dealt with, but this was different, she really didn't wanted to be too mean. She tilted her head a bit while studying the blond girl.
   "Alright Lulu, I know this is kind of childish, but the guys have put me in quite a mood and I want to think of something else before I drag both of them into bed with me. I want you to call that little theatre girl that always swoons over Ryan and tell her to keep her hands of your man.

[Villain]

'What? You mean Cassandra?' Lulu asked, unsure whether she be feeling happy that she didn't do anything too stupid or whether she should feel dread for having to ring up someone she barely knew.
  'Hold up. If she does that Cassandra may think we're an item.' Ryan spoke sounding a little alarmed at the idea that people may believe that he wasn't a young bachelor.
  'Yup that's true.' Alistair spoke before throwing his mobile across the room and into her lap, 'Dial away Lulu. I added her number when I stole Ryan's phone'
  'Wait what?' Ryan asked, his ears pricking up as he registered what Al had said. Lulu nervously called Cassandra's mobile phone bracing herself for the embarrassment.
  'Hello who's this?' Cassandra's voice asked on the other end of the line.
  'CassandrastayawayfromRyanhe'smyman!' Lulu blurted into the phone rapidly. Alistair roared with laughter as his friend turned red from embarrassment, 'It's Lulu by the way.' She added before hanging up and glaring at Casey, 'Truth or dare?'

[Axenia]

Casey laughed, the look on Ryan's face was priceless. When Lulu asked truth or dare she thought what the hell. If she could have chosen both she would  have, insted she answered.
   "Dare"

[Villain]

Lulu scratched her head as she considered what to do. Casey had given her an embarrassing dare but it hadn't been particularly evil. She could just make her do something tame, like put ice cubes down her top, eat something weird or leave a strange message on someones answering machine. Then again, she had bit her, she could call a little evil revenge for the bite.
  'I dare you to show Alistair your bra.' Lulu chuckled mischievously as she watched her friends face. Ryan seemed to sigh and shake his head as he watched the girl giggle at her fiendish challenge.
  'You know at this rate we're all going to end up in our undies sharing a hot tub and repeatedly switching between making out with each other.' Ryan sighed, 'Which I won't mind at all. I'm pretty sure Lulu's got a killer body beneath her dress and the sight of you two playing lip lock again in your panties would make my day, but that would leave me with Alistair and that guy doesn't look like he'd be a good kisser.'
  Ryan wasn't sure which reaction he found more amusing when he finished. Alistairs blushing awkwardness as he stared at the floor and buried his head in his hands or Lulu's shocked yet notably curious expression before she blushed wildly and covered her face with her hands.

[Axenia]

"Now Ryan be nice, Alistair is an amazing kisser, I like that his not greedy in his kiss, but soft and all together wonderful. Not everyone wants a man who have been with almost every girl in town. But as for Alistair seeing my bra, well, I'm not feeling shy right now." She walked over to Alistair and took his hand, making him stand. She started leading him to her bedroom, looking back at him.
   "Since Lulu said you were the only one who were allowed to see my bra, I'll have to do this in private. She gently pushed Alistair into her room, before she closed the door she looked back at Ryan.
   "If we're not back in 5 minutes, then wait a couple of hours before you knock on the door." She closed the door and turned to Alistair, biting her lower lip. She walked over to him, making him sit on her bed. She was nervous but hopefully he didn't notice.
   "We are alone Al, they wont be able to know if you saw it or not. I'll let you choose, if you want to see my bra then either tell me or remove my shirt. If you doesn't want to see it, I'll give you a description of it, in case they ask."

[Villain]

Alistair was pretty sure that he had never felt more conflicted in his life. He hadn't taken the idea seriously when Casey had dragged him upstairs, but now that she had sat him down on the bed it was now dawning on him that she was entirely serious about the whole thing.
  'Well...I...' He mumbled as he tried to think rationally for a moment. Just what would the original Sherlock Holmes do if he had been caught in this situation? He probably would have had the nerve to reject her, after all he would be old enough to be her father and didn't have the sex drive of a typical teenage boy running through him.
  What would Watson say right now? Would he urge him to reject her? Would Lulu do the same? Probably not since she had dared her to do it in the first place, unless of course it was a test. What about Ryan, what would he do?
  'No! Don't think about what Ryan would do' Alistair cursed before slowly raising his eyes from the floor to fix on Casey's.
  'Well...you could...I mean...if you...I don't.' He mumbled before turning away, his cheeks growing scarlet again.

[Axenia]

She smiled at him, a kind smile. She thought is was so cute when he fumbled for the words. She came close to him and took his hands. She placed them on the hem of her shirt, using his hands to pull it up and over her head. She let it fall to the floor, standing in front of him in only a bra and pants. The bra was red, with a thin layer of black laces over it. Then, still holding his hand she let him touch her stomach, guiding his hand up to touch the bra.
   "I really want to kiss you again Al, will you let me?"

[Villain]

'Yes. Please do.' Alistair whispered as he gazed over her body. He could hear the blood pounding in his veins. It felt like fire was running through his body at the sight of the beautiful girl before him. The red colour of the bra and the black lace that held in her breasts matched the colour of her hair perfectly and moulded to her breasts neatly, emphasising their round shape. He no longer had a single rational thought, all he could think of was that the skin of her stomach was softer than anything he had ever touched. He wanted to feel her lips against his. He wanted to feel the lace against his chest and run his hands through her hair...

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The phones tone echoed around the room and for a moment Alistair just stared at his pocket dumbly before shaking his head and breaking himself from the trance. He felt fury run through his veins. This caller was ceasing to be amusing. Any other day he would have relished the chance to take on a villain, but now it was the last thing he wanted to deal with.
  'I hate this guy.' He growled as he pulled the phone out of his pocket. Holding it in front of him before giving Casey an apologetic look.

[Axenia]

She smiled at him and started putting on her shirt again. She hadn't even noticed that she had been holding her breath waiting for his answer. But he had wanted her to kiss him, he had wanted to touch her. She had been afraid that he would have pulled away from her, but he hadn't. It left her to hope that they would have the chance to be alone again later. Her cheeks were red, she had wanted him so badly, not only his kisses but also his hands on her body. Feeling his body close to hers, not having clothes separate them. She laid her arms around him while standing behind him, kissing his neck.
   "I'll wait outside with Lulu and Ryan." She looked at the clock as she left him alone, joining the other in the livingroom. She didn't say anything of what had happened, only that Alistair was on the phone with the caller right now. Her cheeks were still red and warm, eventhough she was in another room, she longed to feel him again. She threw herself down on the couch and closed her eyes, her legs resting over Ryan's lap. She was still exhausted from the fire at the hairsalon, it didn't take long before she was sleeping.

[Villain]

'Entertaining show murderers.' The voice spoke down the phone as Alistair finally answered the wretched device.
  'Don't try and play on our emotions. Sweeney and Lovett weren't the first me and Lulu have had to slay.' Alistair growled down the line.
  'Oooo how scary. Your team really is going to give me a run for my money isn't it?
  'We're going to find you and bring you to justice.'
  'Oh really? So your just gong to drag me to the police and lock me up?'
  'Something like that. Only you'll probably have a couple of scorches marks, slashes and bruises all over you.'
  'Unlikely. You're not going to beat me Holmes. You're not even taking this seriously enough. For the last hour you've been doing nothing but perv over each other like horny miscreants'
  'We were waiting for you. I was expecting a call as soon as we took the psychopaths down. Were you unprepared?' Alistair asked 'Did you expect us not to live?' He asked after a moments silence. Even if he couldn't see the face on the other end of the line he could hear the anxiousness in his voice. The caller had clearly had doubts about whether they would survive.
  'Don't be silly. That wouldn't be at all fun.' He spat after a moments pause, 'Which is why for my final game I'm going to set you a challenge. Solve this next one without any hints. No extra leaflets, letters or objects for you to work from. Just what I've given you!' He snapped before chuckling, the static on the end of the line making every chuckle sound like cracking electricity.
  'Are you cheating because you're afraid we're going to find you?' Alistair asked curiously while a smirk formed on his face.
  'Don't taunt me Holmes. I'm always in control of our games. Always have been.' The caller snapped before the line went dead, leaving Alistair alone with his thoughts for a moment.
  After sitting in silence for a few minutes he got up from the bed and walked downstairs and into the front room. Ryan and Lulu looked up expectantly at him, no longer sharing smiles of the previous events and instead looking concerned.
  'What did he say?' Ryan asked as he stared at Alistair from the sofa. He didn't attempt to wake Casey. She needed all the rest she could get.
  'Nothing. He just said that what he's given us so far has been the clue.' Alistair replied as he crossed the room and took a seat in the arm chair.
  'That's it? No riddle? No puzzle? Just watches and chewed up leaflets?' Lulu asked with a look of surprise on her pale white face.
  'No. The leaflets and the other watches don't matter.' He replied before holding up his hand, 'Just this.' He spoke as the twelve o'clock watch hung from his fingers.
  'The final pocket watch?' Ryan asked curiously as he eyed the device.
  'Not just any pocket watch. An antique pocket watch belonging to a military doctor that was born at Woodmore Hospital in this very town. Unlike the other three watches this has an engraving on the back of it that says it belongs to a one Doctor Phelix. He probably works at the hospital now after serving in the army.' Alistair explained before shoveling the antique into his pants pocket.
  'An army doctor?' Lulu asked curiously before suddenly gasping, 'Alistair do you think it could be-'
  'Watson? Very likely. Given that he's asking me to work out the crime based on this single watch all the answers point to that conclusion.' Alistair answered whilst staring hard out the window of the room and scratching his chin. He had now pulled out a stick of gum from his pocket and begun to unwrap it.
  'Then let's go. We've got plenty of time it's only seven o'clock.' Ryan spoke and made a move to shove Casey's legs off his and wake her up.
  'No.' Alistair immediately replied.
  'What?'
  'We're not going because I'm not falling for his tricks again.' Alistair spoke, ignoring the quizzical looks he was receiving from Lulu and Ryan, 'He's playing a game with me boys and girls. He's laid thin clues that he thinks I'll ignore because they hint at something less likely, because that's what this is all about. He wants to prove he's smarter than me' Alistair spoke before leaning forward and balancing his head on the palms of his hands, 'Wake Casey up. I have a plan.'

Eleven O'clock

Moriarty smiled to himself as he perched himself on the roof of Gracefield town hall. Gracefield was a town an hour away from Woodmore. It would be a place that would be familiar to Casey if it were brought up in conversation, for this was the town in which her parents were currently visiting to attend the benefit dinner for soldiers injured at war.
  He sat in a striped beach chair whilst sipping on a can of coke and staring at the laptop computer screen that he had balanced on a table in front of him. On the laptops screen were several screens containing cameras surrounding Woodmore hospital.
He knew he was in for quite a show. Sherlock and his crew would show up at the hospital expecting to find a doctor who secretly was the incarnation of Doctor Watson, only to find out that the whole thing had been a wild goose chase. They would spend hours searching the place before eventually giving up, walking outside and then scream in terror as his hidden agents jumped out from the darkness and cut them down where they stood.
  'Brilliant' Moriarty spoke as he leaned back in the beach chair. In his hands was a Nintendo DS which was making loud irritating noises as he tapped away at his game. He was covered in a black blanket to keep out the cold, it wasn't working particularly well, but he didn't care. For in an hours time he would see a show unlike any other.
  'It's such a brilliant plan. He has absolutely no idea that the watch I sent him is a commemorative watch that they give out at this benefit dinner.' Moriarty chuckled and eagerly licked his lips, 'It's a shame Holmes. If only you were a bit smarter. If only you hadn't gone and picked such idiots to befriend-'
  'I'm getting bored of his cocky attitude can I cut his damn head off?' Ryan asked and raised the sharpened stage sword to the side of Moriaty's head.
  The games console in Moriaty's hands dropped to the floor with a crash as surprise swept through his body. He slowly turned his head to face the new threat that stood behind him.
  'Hello my dear caller.' Alistair spoke with a wide grin on his face. Him, Casey, Lulu and Ryan were all stood behind him. Lulu with her sword drawn, Casey with flaming palms, Ryan with stage swords in both hands and himself simply dangling a pocket watch before the kids face with a smirk.
  'What are you doing here?' Moriarty asked, his eyes wide with shock making his tough rocker look seem nothing more than a pathetic front, 'You shouldn't be here. I didn't give you any clues to suggest-'
  'Casey' Dad is in the military. The fact you gave me a military watch and have tried to trick me before was enough for me to work out that you were here.' Alistair spoke before clicking his fingers, 'Cheshire take out his equipment' He ordered before a thunderous bang echoed through the air as blue smoke erupted around the laptop and crushed it into tiny pieces.

[Axenia]

Casey was curled up in one end of the sofa, still fast asleep. Her eyelids were moving, a sign that she was dreaming. From the look on her face it must have been quite a wonderful dream, she was smiling, mumbling Alistairs name. As she turned her hand fell to the floor, her long red hair was sprayed out around her head like a flaming halo. When she felt someone shake her gently she tried pushing them away. But they continued and she could hear Ryan call her name, telling her to wake up.
   "Ryan let me sleep or I'll scar you for life." She put a hand on his face, removing it shortly after. "I'm even too tired to burn you." She slowly opened her eyes and looked around, It was still darkoutside which meant that dawn hadn't yet arrived. it took a moment for her to sit up, yawning and stretching letting her shirt crawl up and reveal a part of her stomach. Her eyes immediately went to Alistair who looked deep in thought.
   "What's going on, that did the caller give you as a clue?" She had actually never really seen the watches, only at a distance. When Al showed her the watch this time she looked at it closely. It looks like one of those watches from the benefit dinner my parents are attending she told him, turning the watch over in her hand before returning it to Alistair. She didn't say a word while they retold her what the caller had said to Al, only nodding once in a while. When Al told her where they were going she froze, shaking her head slightly.
   "Al I can't go, my parents are there, do you know what happens if the find out that I've been using my ability? They are going to kill me, or worse, send me to military school. Are you that keen on getting rid of me?" She knew that wasn't the reason, but she was stubborn. Finally she agreed to go with them under one circumstance, she wanted to change first, and they weren't allowed to laugh at her.

   Ever since the had been able to control her fire, she had wanted some kind of costume like all the heroes and super villeans in the comic books. So she had taken matters into her own hand and had gradually bought some clothes and altered it to fit her perfectly. When went into her bedroom to change, smiling as she asked Al if he would care to join her, knowing that he wouldn't. They had a job to do, and he was a man that when focused on something, didn't got shaken or distracted easily. It took her about 5 minutes to change, when she got out she was dressed in tight fitted leather pants and a matching jacket, both fitting her bodyshape perfectly and showed off her hourglass figure. She also wore long black boots and had a knife strapped to her thigh. The jacket were partially open. showing some cleavage. She smiled apologetic to her friends.
   "I know it's a bit too much, but I had to try it." She locked the door and hid the key before following the others. She hadn't chosen leather for her outfit simply because it looked good, it wouldn't burn as easily as some of her other clothes. When they arrived she followed Alistairs lead, she wanted that son of a bitch who had interupted her moment with Al.
   It wasn't hard sneaking up on Moriarty, his thoughts had apparently drifted to some far of place, and he was so confident in his plan that he wasn't paying any attention. She smiled when he jumped at the sound of Ryan's voice, then her eyes went hard and cold as she looked into his.
   "So you're the bastard who have been trying to eliminate us, watching us and interupting at the most inappropriate times. Let me burn him down Al, I promise to not even leave any ashes of him." She kept her eyes on him, watching every movement he made.

[Villain]

The dark haired rocker jumped to his feet, narrowly avoiding the edge of Ryan's sword, before whipping the blanket off himself and pulling out a gun which had been sat in his lap. He pointed it at them with a wide uneasy grin, as if trying to warn them that he was still in control but not quite believing it himself.
  'Back off. The pyrokenetic may be able to burn my bullets but that doesn't count for the rest of you. I'm sure she wouldn't want to see any of you drop to the floor!' He snarled before taking a few steps back from them. Alistair just sighed at the display before clicking his fingers.
  'Ryan if you could?' He asked. Ryan nodded before dropping both of his swords and striding towards the kid with his hands raised. He was an open target, he wasn't even trying to be careful when approaching the gun wielding teen.
  'H-hey get back or I shoot!' Moriaty yelled, his eyes full of panic as the young man walked towards him. He could see the determination in Ryan's blue eyes, he wasn't afraid of getting shot.
  'Go ahead kid.' He spoke before grabbing the barrel of the gun. A loud bang went through the air and for a moment Ryan jolted on the spot as the impact of the bullet hit him square in the chest. Ryan let out a breath before wrenching the gun from his hands and smirking at the teenager, who was now backing away with a horrified look on his face.
  'You made another portrait.' Moriaty whimpered.
  'Correct. We've used the last couple of hours to plan our form of attack' Alistair spoke cheerfully and smiled warmly at the teenager as he began to walk towards him, 'You have nothing to threaten us with kid. No weapons. No assassins. No hostages. No beasts. No monsters or witches.' He stopped in front of the rocker, taking a good hard look at him before nodding in satisfaction, 'We've beat you Moriaty.'
  'Wait what? Moriaty?' Ryan asked in confusion, 'That's not Moriaty Alistair. Moriaty is more than twice his age and doesn't dress like a goth.'
  'I'm not a goth!' Moriaty growled venomously at Ryan.
  'Whatever. My point is that is not Moriaty.' Ryan said and pointed a finger at the teenager accusingly.
  'Yeah Al...are you sure that you've got this right?' Lulu asked timidly as she looked over the dark hair boy dressed in violent rocker clothing with a dozen piercings in both ears. He certainly didn't look like a dignified professor who was known as Sherlock's greatest enemy.
  'Yes I have. This is the incarnation of Professor James Moriaty, the Napoleon of Crime.' Alistair answered with another nod of satisfaction, 'Since the start you've been calling me personally and making a vendetta out of this. I suspected from the get go that you might be the incarnation of one of my old enemies or perhaps a villain that me and Lulu defeated long ago, but seeing as how I don't recognise you then I think the later is more likely to be true.' He explained, his sharp eyes watching the boy carefully in case he made another wrong move.
  'My suspicions were proved right when you called me the third time that day.' Alistair continued, 'You claimed to hold all the cards. You seemed to make it an almost personal vendetta against me. You were determined to out do me and eventually destroy me. I wondered who could possibly harbour such a grudge if I had never met them before. It was a bit of a long shot but seeing you before me now I realise I was right.' He spoke before pointing at the teenager, 'The man Ryan met wasn't Professor Moriaty. You are!'
  There was a silence for a moment. Moriaty seemed to stare at Holmes with the same bewildered look that everyone usually adopted when they were faced with Alistairs deduction skills.
  Then, slowly but surely, he began to laugh and applaud the young man.
  'Bravo Holmes. Bravo.' He spoke, his voice filled with sarcasm, 'Very weak reasoning but seeing as how I'm cornered I'll give you the satisfaction of knowing that you're right.'

[Axenia]

Casey started walking towards Moriarty, her eyes on him. The flames in her hands had been put out, she took the boys wrist and turned him so the were behind his back. She leaned in against him, whispering in his ear.
   "One wrong move and you know what I'm going to do with you." She made him face the other again, still standing behind him. In the distance she could hear the music from the benefit dinner, knowing her parents were there made her uneasy.
   "Alistair, what do you want to do with this asshole?"

[Villain]

'I'm not sure yet. We'll probably have to lock him up somewhere until we know what to do with him.' Alistair replied as he watched Moriarty carefully. Something was nagging him again. One of the questions nagging at him was; who was the man that Ryan met? But there was something else besides that.
  'I know a good place. He will never be able to escape.' Lulu spoke as her silver sword shrank back down into the shape of a normal comb, 'It will be a strange journey but there is no way he could break out of what I have got in store for him.' Lulu said with a determined smile.
  It was at this moment that Moriarty began to chuckle under his breath.
  'What's so funny?' Lulu asked. Her pretty pale blue eyes narrowed in a scowl on the chuckling little villain.
  'Twelve o'clock. Did you think I wouldn't deliver? Just because I planned on sending you on a wild goose chase doesn't mean I didn't have something planned for twelve o'clock.' Moriarty laughed. He didn't care that his arms were being restrained by a walking inferno, he was still in control and it was funny as hell.
  'He's not bluffing.' Alistair warned. He could sense of the boys amusement, this villain still had a few tricks left.
  'Then what have you got planned? Spill or you go up in flames!' Ryan barked at him, which only seemed to amuse Moriarty more.
  'A bomb my delightful idiots.' He answered with a loud cackle, 'Set to go off at twelve if you don't solve the clues I've left. I didn't think it was likely that you would come here, but I thought; why the hell not? I'll still set up some clues.' He threw back his head and let out a shrill evil laugh.
  'Clocks ticking boys and girls. You have less than an hour.' He spoke, his face growing red from laughing too hard, 'Or boom!'
  'No my dear boy. I'm afraid that's not going to happen.' A voice as cold as ice spoke. Moriaty's laughter was immediately silenced as a look of terror washed over his face. His green eyes stared at the far corner of the roof top.
  'U-uncle?' He asked with a tremble in his voice. All pairs of eyes turned to the corner in which Moriarty gazed at.
  Balanced neatly on the corner of the building was a young thin man dressed in a smart black suit with a matching cloak. He wore pristine white suit trousers and fine black leather shoes. His face was lean and thin with skin so pale Alistair was sure he could see the veins pumping under his skin. His hair was dark and greasy but neatly styled complimenting the dark features of his face. He had the appearance of someone who had just come from a dinner party for wealthy vampires.
  'Would you mind unhanding the boy my butterfly?' The man asked Casey politely, 'I can assure you that while I am here he shall mean you no harm.'

[Axenia]

Casey took a few steps back, still holding the boy. Something about the man terrified her. She didn't thought it would do her any good to hang on to the boy as a hostage, by the look of the man he was incapable of loving someone. But maybe the boy would do as some shield, but again, she was not the kind to sacrifice others. her eyes went to Al for help, some idea if she should let him go.
   "Oh it's not the boy that concerns me the most Mr.?" But she did let go of the boy, although not without burning his right wrist. She wanted to punish him for everything he had done, but with the man standing there, this was all that she could do to him. He let out a cry of pain as her hand left a permanent mark. She pushed him away from her, making him stumble towards his uncle. Her eyes never left the man, she moved over to stand next to Alistair in case he was going to need some protection.
   "Sorry about you wrist, I guess I still have a problem with my temper." Her hand gently touched Alistairs arm as she started to focus. While she had been sleeping she had dreamed not only of Alistair, but all of them. More that that, she had sensed them, sensed their energy. If necessary she could use that to intensify her fire, but that was not her plan. She had realised that while making the fire herself, she had a protectionshield around her. Now she tried to see if she could expand that to include the others, she hoped that touching Al would help her consentrate. Nobody could see what she was doing, and she didn't even know if it would work.

[Villain]

'Thank you my butterfly that is most gracious of you.' The man spoke cheerfully, not raising any objection as Moriarty let out a scream of pain as Casey burned his wrist.
  'ARGH! UNCLE THAT BITCH BURNED ME!' Moriarty shouted and cursed as he cradled his brunt wrist and began to walk towards the terrifying looking man.
  'That's the least you deserve my boy. You've caused us all a lot of grief.' The man spoke as he made a move to take Moriaty's hand as the boy approached him.
  'That's him.' Ryan breathed as he stared at the figure. He was shaking again in fear as he watched the man smile and wave politely to him. Alistair knew that this man may seem civilised but Ryan had been able to see the monster behind the mask.
  'Wait.' Alistair called out before pouncing forwards and grabbing Moriarty by the collar and yanking him back. He brought the teenager down to the floor with a yelp before placing a foot on his back to keep him from getting up. Yet again the man didn't raise any objection, in fact he seemed to smile a little wider at the sight of Moriarty being hurled to the floor.
  'We want some answers.' Alistair growled as he glared at the figure, 'Who are you, what are you doing here and are you going to try and kill us?'
  The man listened intently to the questions before giving Alistair a warm smile and nodding before stepping off the corner of the roof and taking a few steps towards them.
  'Those are reasonable questions which I am more than happy to answer.' He spoke before stopping a few metres away from the five of them and politely bowing his head, 'I am of course Mr Spring. I am here to collect James over there and then I'll be off. As for wanting to kill you.' His voice trailed off as he reached into his cloak and pulled out a square package with what looked like a calculator attached to it, 'I have disabled James's bomb so that should show that I mean you no harm right now.' He spoke before placing the package on the ground before him 'But I will reassure you that I intend on killing all of you in a fairy horrific manner in the near future' He spoke, every word radiating of cold venom as he watched them with his empty dark eyes.

[Axenia]

Casey was afraid, but hell would have to freeze over before she would let anyone see that. She believed Mr. Spring, that was the only reason that she dared walking up to him. She stood less than half a meter away from him, looking into those empty eyes.
   "You won't succeed Mr. Spring, you wont be able to kill us. And even if you do, another one will just be reborn." She didn't even think now, her green eyes were no longer green, but the colours of a burning fire.
   And if you do succeed in killing one us us, then I will swear to you that I'm going to find you and make your life a living hell, even more than it is now." She knew her words wouldn't scare him, but he could see that she meant it. She had already tried to feel what it was like loosing Lulu, she didn't want to go through that again. it was only through selfcontrol that she didn't tried to burn him down right there and then.

[Villain]

'My dear butterfly. That is a very silly thing to say.' Mr Spring spoke with a warm laugh, however to Alistair and the rest of them it felt more like an icy shriek, 'I could give you a hundred cliche monologues about how inevitable your deaths are, but I'm bored of being right all the time. Heroes never learn.' He sighed and shook his head before outstretching his hand, 'Right now I would just like to take young Moriarty and leave. So how about we initiate a trade of sorts?'
  'A trade?' Alistair asked, cocking his head to one side as he examined the stranger. He was trying to figure out what the mans nationality was. His voice sounded American, but the undertone of his voice suggested he was British. It sounded as if he had spent a long time learning how to put on an American accent, but just hadn't managed to completely succeed.
  'Yes. If you give me Moriarty back then I'll not only tell you my true name, but I'll tell you why we exist.' Mr Spring spoke before smiling as he watched the kids before him stare at him in shock.
  'What?' Ryan asked dumbly.
  'You heard me.' He replied, 'I'll tell you why we exist. Why incarnations of fictional characters walk around in the real world and are able to wield powers that mortals can only imagine.'
  'Al...what do we do?' Lulu asked softly as she looked at him unsure.
  'We'll take him up on the offer.' Alistair replied immediately.
  'What? You can't be serious?' Ryan asked.
  'If we don't give him Moriarty he'll take him by force and kill us all Ryan. Even you and you're immortal.' Alistair muttered grimly with a dark frown on his face, 'We accept. Tell your story.'

[Axenia]

Casey reached out a hand and grabbed Mariarty again, looking him in the eyes.
   "You're still going to pay for ruining my moment with Al, do you know how hard it was getting him to open up and relax just a bit? I'm gonna love to see you destroyed Mr. Mariarty." She whispered it so that he was the only one to hear it. Then she pushed him over to Mr. Spring, watching him as she turned and walked back to the others. Her mind was racing, looking for a way to make him tremble just a bit.
   "And Mr. Spring, you can call me Miss Valentine I really hate being called a butterfly."

[Villain]

Moriarty just snickered as Casey threatened him. It wouldn't be out of the question to assume that Moriarty didn't care at all about love or whether he had ruined Casey's chances with Alistair. He just chuckled and took his place next to Mr Spring.
  'My tale begins back in the early 1800's during Englands glorious Victorian era.' Mr Spring began, 'An era which has been described as an era of prosperity and advancement for technology. I wholeheartedly agree for I was there during it.' He spoke, enjoying the look of confusion that appeared on their faces. Alistair seemed to be the only one who didn't react, he just kept staring at the figure, listening with interest to his every word.
  'It was during this time that our existence began. I suppose for most of you this has a bit of a double meaning as your characters were written during this period aside from Miss Valentine here' Mr Spring informed whilst pulling out a silver cigarette case from his cloak. He offered the cigarettes to the kids for a moment, but when he realised they weren't interested he simply pulled out a cigarette for himself and set to work on lighting it.
  'You see children. There is a rule that used to be in place back in that era. It was sort of a law of the universe if you will.' He spoke before grinning as his cigarette finally managed to light, 'The rule was; that no real person can become fictional.'
  'What do you mean by that?' Lulu asked whilst scratching her head.
  'What I mean my dear is that a real person with flesh and blood and skin and bones cannot be believed to be a work of fiction.' Mr Spring answered before taking a quick drag of the cigarette and blowing a small ring of smoke from his dry cracked lips, 'Every living thing has an existence. Fictional people do not. They are merely imagined to have some sort of existence.'

[Axenia]

Casey was confused, she looked around at the others trying to see if they had any answers, but she couldn't tell. This was all too much, she bit her lower lip, holding Al's hand without noticing it.
   "So what are you telling us, that we're all just some figure of imagination, that we're not real?"

[Villain]

'Oh no no. You're completely real my dear.' Mr Spring spoke with a shake of his head, 'I am simply admitting that I am the one that broke the law.' He said before grinning broadly, his mouth resembling that of a shark at that moment, 'You see back in the early 1800's I was a man of flesh and blood. Perfectly ordinary aside from one small issue; I am a homicidal villain of pure evil.'
  'That's quite apparent to us Mr Spring.' Alistair spoke, taking Casey's hand into his own, 'So how did you break the law?'
  'Well it was a bit of an accident to be honest.' Mr Spring spoke with shrug, 'I had never intended to be thought of as a fictional person. In fact I made great efforts to reveal myself when I chose my victims. I suppose that in the end people just wanted to believe I was merely a story. A ghostly tale to frighten young children'
  He chuckled to himself before taking another slow drag, admiring the cigarette and licking his lips to savour the taste, 'You see before they labeled me as make believe I managed to inject a wave of terror into London. I killed and maimed innocent people. I was quick and efficient and most of all no one could capture me. I was the perfect nightmare.'
  'It wasn't until years latter that I began to realise that I had achieved a legendary status and that people were now enjoying my crimes like fine literature.' Mr Spring said before winking at them, 'Its as they say; the greatest evil the devil did was convincing the world he didn't exist.'
  'So what happened then?' Ryan asked nervously, 'Did you try to stop people believing that you were fictional?'
  'Oh no Mr Black. For you see at this point I had realised that the law had been broken and it was beginning to affect me. People were saying all sorts of things, like; 'He has the face of a demon!', 'He can breathe fire!', 'He can leap over a nine foot high wall with complete ease!' or my favourite 'They say he's still out there!'
  He chuckled and shook his head, 'I do love that one. It's because of that that I stand before you today for it granted me the power of eternal youth' He spoke before gesturing to himself, 'You see children, every rumour they made up became fact. I grew powerful. I could do everything that they believed I could. The more they imagined, the stronger I got. To them it had all become fun and games, but to me it was as if someone had given me the keys to the universe'
  A look of concern crossed Alistairs face as the gentlemen told his story. Lulu had now pulled out her silver comb and was nervously toying with it between her fingers. Ryan had retreated behind both of them and was now shaking with fear as he watch Mr Spring stub out his cigarette.
  'Which is where we come to the part I've looked forward to for a while. The 'big reveal' if you will.' He spoke maliciously. His face wide with excitement as he took a step forwards.
  'My children...' he began before bowing low before them. When he rose the darkness in his eyes seemed to peel away and was replaced with a hideous fiery red, '...my name is Spring Heeled Jack the Terror of London.' he spoke in a dignified London accent.

[Axenia]

Casey tried to stay calm, but it was impossible. She gave Alistairs hand a small squeeze, wanting to feel him near to her. She jumped a little as she heard her fathers voice down on the street and her mothers laugh. Mr. spring was a terrifying creature, making her whole body shake. She forced herself to look away from him, her free hand lying gently on Alistairs arm.
   "Alistair it won't do us any good staying here, Mr. Spring made a promise to leave us alone tonight. He may be many things, and I'm sure that unfortunately he is also a man of his word. You did what you came here to do, you showed Moriarty that you are better than him. Please Al, lets go home." She couldn't stand being close to the man who would make the devil shiver. She wanted to get away from him while she could, trying to find a way to get to him.

[Villain]

'I still don't understand why you becoming fictional would create us.' Alistair spoke, ignoring Casey's pleas as he watched the demonic man straighten up and stretch out. He seemed to gain a little more height and his cloak mould into a more jagged shape, as if he was being wrapped up in a pair of jet black bat wings.
  'It's simple really, by breaking the law that a nonfictional person cannot become fictional I also broke another rule; fictional people cannot become nonfictional' He spoke before gesturing to them, 'Over the years yours characters have been granted the right to exist in this world because of that law being broken. It's a rather sloppy process, about one in every hundred children will have a fictional counterpart, which is why it is no surprise that popular characters like yourselves have taken so long to be born into this world. It's rather like a lottery you see.'
  'I think I understand.' Alistair spoke with a nod, 'You're the cause and effect. The crack in the whole of the universe which has led to our strange existence.'
  'You may thank me any time you wish.' Mr Spring spoke with a smile before stepping back and putting a long arm around Moriarty, 'It's become rather a double edged sword for me. On the one hand I now have managed to possess a large organisation full of villains with extraordinary powers whilst at the same time achieving youth and gifts beyond my wildest dreams'
  'On the other hand every now and again I get heroes like you banding together and trying to thwart me. It really is most burdensome.' He sighed, 'Which is why I need to kill you. You need to be destroyed before you become a nuisance.'
  'Why not kill us now then?' Alistair asked, hoping that the question wouldn't immediately lead to their destruction.
  'Good sport?' Mr Spring asked before shrugging and shaking his head, 'No, I suppose it's more to do with the idea that even though you are my enemies your abilities are of use to me.'
  He patted Moriarty's shoulder before casting a warm smile in their direction. With the fanged teeth he now possessed the smile more looked like he was contemplating whether to eat them or not, 'I'll bid you farewell for tonight. I do hope you'll be prepared next time we battle. I look forward to a good game'
  'I don't think we can let that happen.' Alistair spoke before pointing at the two villains that were now retreating to the corner of the roof, 'Casey burn them.' Alistair spoke before pointing at them.

[Axenia]

He didn't have to tell her twice, in an instent her body was engulfed in blue flames, she had been feeling the energy of the others and harvested it. She had become very powerful, the fire kept climbing in intensity. it wasn't an inferno the way it had been at the hair salon. It was more controlled and aimed at the two villeans. She was focused, she didn't think of the other knowing they would back away if they started getting affected by her fire. Then something happened that had never happened before. She could sense his energy, Mr. Sp ring's overwhelming energy. She didn't even notice that her feet left the roof. She was levitating, aiming all the force she could at them. She could hear Moriarty scream, but weather it was in pain or terror she didn't know. Then the sound of other screams filled the air. She heard her mothers voice screaming at her from a distance. Soon after she heard her fathers voice join in, screaming for her to stop. But she couldn't, or rather, she wouldn't.
   "Al make them shut up, I don't care how just do it." She looked like en avenging angel soaring in mid air, her hair moving around her head like a halo. Her eyes were pure fire, and all of her attention was on Mr. Spring.

[Villain]

Alistair nodded before turning to the edge of the roof and making his way towards it, 'Maybe if I get their attention it'll distract them! Lulu! Ryan! Help me out!' He barked back to them.
  'Please don't strain yourself Mr Holmes, allow me.' Mr Spring spoke before stepping forwards and breathing in deep.
  What happened next was like a blur to Alistair. One moment Casey was hovering in the air, in control and burning bright like a star and then the next moment she fell to the ground. It had been so fast that Alistair could barely comprehend it, but he knew what he had just seen. Mr Spring had just inhaled Casey's flames.
  As he had breathed in the flames that coated her body arced towards him before darting into his awaiting mouth. It was as if the man had a vaccum cleaner for lungs. He sucked the flames into his lungs, peeling them off Casey like a layer of clothing before gulping them down and letting out a small smokey cough.
  Alistair stared at the monster in a suit. His eyes wide with terror. He couldn't think straight. There was no plan he could think of. This man was going to destroy them all.
  'Silly plan boy. Don't you know what I was famous for back in London?' He asked with a smirk before pulling his head back, 'Breathing fire' He spoke before his mouth opened wide and a jet of raw untamed red flame shot across the roof towards them.
  The flame was intense and powerful. Alistair had believed Casey's flames to be the most powerful force he had ever witnessed, but Mr Springs flames were like an untamed explosion. The roof tiles peeled away and the building beneath their feet rumbled before giving away and collapsing.
  Alistair could hear Lulu screaming. He could hear Ryan shouting that they were all going to die. He could feel the force of the explosion sending him flying high into the air. His vision was spinning as he tumbled through the air. He couldn't see anything apart from flames and darkness.
  He felt weightless as he feel. He felt air rush past him and roar in his ears and eventually he felt the impact of hard ground.

Two hours later

'Is he dead?' Ryan asked as he stared down at a battered looking Alistair. The boy let out a groan and ran a hand through his messy hair before wincing as a sudden surge of pain swept through him. His head was pounding and there was an irritating bright light swimming in front of his eyes.
  'No, but don't expect him to be able to just get up like you Mr Black. He's not exactly resilient to falling off a building.' Spoke the warm cheerful voice of an adult woman.
  'What happened?' Alistair asked as he slowly sat up. His eyes finally managed to adjust to the bright light and reveal to him where they now lay.
  They were in a peculiar place. It was a very round room with pieces of furniture sticking out of the walls which appeared to be made of dirt. It was as if they fallen into a large deep hole. He looked up to check if that was true, but all he could see was endless darkness. Below his feet was a tiled brown floor and from out of one of the walls was a large wooden door with a brass door handle.
  Stood over him was Ryan Black and a very pretty dark haired woman in her thirties with braided hair. She was wearing a pair of blue dungaree's with a red shirt. Her face and outfit were caked in mud and different coloured paints.
  'How are you feeling detective?' The woman asked with a smile.
  'Like I just got blown up.' He mumbled and clutched his head. He only realised now that his head had been bandaged and Lulu and Casey were lying either side of him. They too had been wrapped in bandages, all of which had been covered in paint and mud.
  'Where the heck are we?' Alistair moaned as another ache went through his skull.
  'Wonderland. Lulu opened up the rabbit hole before she lost consciousness' Ryan spoke before pointing to the woman, 'The hot girl here caught us before we got splattered, but it wasn't exactly the most graceful of catches.'
  'I sort of caught you and then dropped you' The woman spoke and smiled apologetically, 'Sorry I wasn't exactly on my A game tonight.'

[Axenia]

When Mr. Spring started swallowing Casey's fire her head had started spinning. It was the most terrifying thing that had ever happened to her, she couldn't breath or move. The fire no longer belonged to her, but to him, the creature sucking the life out of her. She had fought him for a while, although it must have been only a split second. Then the fire was gone and she had fallen to the ground, the wound on her hand from the demon opened again. She had tried to get up when she saw what he was doing, she wanted to yell at the others, scream that they had to leave the roof. And then they had fallen, she had barely been conscious as they did.
   When she finally woke up she could hear the voices of the others, her body ached and she was dizzy. She looked down at herself, something was very wrong, she felt wrong. She sat up and started removing the bandages, her heart racing. She didn't even notice where she was, all she wanted to do was remove the bandages hoping that the feeling would go away. But it didn't, she looked at her hands, they were a bit cold, as the matter of fact, she was cold. She wanted to start a small fire in her hands to warm her up, but nothing happened. She stared at her hands for a moment before trying again. Still, no flames, not even a spark.
   "No, please no." She tried again and again, getting more frustrated at each try. "Work God damn it, please." She was close to tears, shaking.

[Villain]

'Ah. I figured this may be a problem' The stranger spoke with concern as she moved to Casey's side and frowned as she looked over the girls hands, 'Can you summon it with the chant? Or is there a memory that can trigger it? Have you ever tried to visualise the fire as a locked chest or cell phone bars or perhaps a shoot star?' She asked as she curled her hands around Casey's and examined them closely.
  'Who are you?' Alistair groaned as he watched the woman fiddle with Casey's hands.
  'Take a guess. You've met me before.' The young woman spoke before sniffing Casey's knuckles.
  'Mrs Maple?' Ryan asked as he watched the odd woman. Clearly he had been more concerned with his friends welfare than the identity of the mysterious woman that had caught them.
  'Nice guess honey but no. You're going to have to think a bit harder.' She spoke sweetly before running her finger over the girls wrists. She looked up for a moment and grinned at Alistair, 'Who's always complaining about the state the school theatre is in? Who decides what photos of the stage to put in the school magazine?'
  There was a silence as Alistair listened to the woman and tried to start his brain up again by working out the puzzle the woman had just given him. After a few moments his eyes widened and both him and Ryan looked at each other in shock before blurting the answer out at the same time; 'Ms Vander?!'
  'Correct!' Ms Vander spoke before giving them a wink and resuming glancing at Casey's hands.
  'B-but...your not old and snappy and weird and you don't wear glasses!' Ryan exclaimed as he pointed at the woman.
  'Perfect disguise isn't it? Bet you all thought it was Mrs Maple who altered everyones memories' She chuckled before pressing down hard on the palm of Casey's hands, 'How does this feel? Warm?'

[Axenia]

"No, it's just cold and I... I feel wrong, what happened?" A tear ran down her cheek. So many times she had wished for her ability to disappear, and now that it seemingly had all she wanted was to get it back. She got up from the floor quickly, looking around for the door. She needed air, to be alone for a while. Why had this happened, had Mr. Spring somehow stolen her powers, or was she the cause of it. Was she blocking her abilities. Then she remembered her parents screaming at her while she was on the roof. How much had the seen, what had happened to them. She felt the hatred for Mr. Spring grow inside her, she wanted to bring him down, make him suffer before he was destroyed.
   She finally found the door and ran outside, not caring where she went just as long as she was alone. She wanted to blame someone else other than her, putting the blame for her powers disappearance on someone. She had been so happy tonight, hanging out with her friends, kissing Alistair. Now it was all ruined, a wonderful evening had turned into a nightmare. She ran until she couldn't anymore, dropping to her knees and hiding her face in her hands. She took some deep breathes, making herself calm down a bit. Then she started concentrating on feeling her powers, getting in touch with them. But there was nothing, she felt empty, lost. But she kept trying in all the ways she could think of.
   She could feel the time pass while sitting there, but she didn't care. Without her abilities she was nothing, just another girl in the crowd. How long she had been sitting there she didn't know. All she wanted was to go back to the real world, to get Mr. Spring.

[Villain]

Ms Vander had called out after her as she had run, tried to warn her that it was dangerous outside or at least very strange, but Casey hadn't heard. For a while Casey just sat in the clearing of a forest, trying her best to conjure the fire that seemed to have vanished after the encounter with Mr Spring.
  After a while Casey would notice a strange smell began to drift through the air and break her out of her moment of concentration. She would finally notice that she was sitting in the middle of what appeared to be a forest clearing, but upon second glance she would realise she wasn't surrounded by trees but huge flowers, blades of grass and very big mushrooms. She would no longer be able to see the path behind her, for now a purple mist had washed over her path and rose around her, blocking out the sky and the ground beneath her feet.
  'Who...are...you?' A sleepy sounding voice echoed through the mist.

[Axenia]

She got up from the ground and looked around, feeling completely helpless without her fire, although she still had the knife strapped to her thigh. She tried to remember the story of Alice in wonderland, her mother had read it to her a couple of times while she was a small child.
   "My name is Casey, who are you, where are you?" She tried to see through the mist, but it was impossible.

[Villain]

'Up.' The voice spoke, the word echoing around her. Casey would now notice that a large grey mushroom was hanging over her head. On top of it sat a very big blue caterpillar that lay coiled up like a snake. By its side was a peculiar antique bottle with a long rubber tube coming from the top of it. At the end of the tube was a pipe that the caterpillar place in the Caterpillar lips, which looked suspiciously like human lips.
  It stared down at her with it's insect eyes before slowly crawling towards the end of the mushroom. She would probably wonder how such a big mushroom and caterpillar had been so unnoticeable, 'Not Alice are you?'

[Axenia]

"No I'm not Alice, I'm a friend of hers." Casey stepped at little away from the mushroom, taking a better look at the caterpillar. She looked around to see if there were anybody else, but it didn't look like it.
   "I'm sorry, I didn't wanted to intrude, I just... I needed to be alone. But if you could tell me how to get back I would appreciate it." Again she tried to start a fire but it didn't work. The frustration was getting to her, and now she was starting to blame someone. She blamed Alistair. Deep down she knew it was her own fault, she had conjured the fire, she had agreed to do it. But she had also begged him to leave, to take the fight another day.

[Villain]

The caterpillar watched her curiously as she tried to summon fire again. It's blue head dipped below the edge of the mushroom and watched her with interest before very suddenly clonking her over the head with the pipe.
  'Repetition. Repeat. Replay' He spoke like a teacher lecturing a student. He retreated back to the mushroom before taking a long inhale from the device again and blowing out a huge cloud of purple mist into the air above him.
  'If you don't repeat things then you won't learn. You have to repeat to remember things.' He spoke and examined the pipe before pointing it at her again, 'Do you understand? The greatest tailor may be able to knit a suit in a day but he knew he had to repeat before he could craft that sailors outfit for the tailors son.'

[Axenia]

"Aw don't do that, it really hurts." Casey rubbed her head where the caterpillar had hit her, then nodded slowly. I have to start at the beginning, find what triggered it back then. She nodded to herself she had to start all over, find what had blocked her. The first time she had been angry, but there was no one here to anger her now. She tried to find her way back, looking around all the time.

[Villain]

Everytime Casey attempted to find her way through the forest she ended up back at the mushroom. The caterpillar watched her for a while. Occasionally puffing on his pipe now and again while his big blue eyes followed the girl as she brushed through blades of grass only to end up back where she started.
  'You know...your repeating your mistake and not learning anything from it' The caterpillar spoke before shuffling towards the edge of the mushroom before slowly lowering himself down in front of her. He let out another cloud of purple mist from his mouth before staring at her a little more closely.
  'Something is on your mind. You look afraid. Confused as well. Perhaps a little happy. Possibly a bit sad.' He spoke before blowing a cloud of purple mist into the air again. This time it twisted and turned and slowly formed into a large demonic face.
  'Oh I see. The flying man. You've met him.' He spoke grimly before letting out a deep sigh and curling into a ball.

[Axenia]

"Yeah, I've met him. He almost killed me, I couldn't move, couldn't breathe." Just thinking of him made her feel the fear again. She couldn't use fire, she truly believed that he could kill her if she did. Never had she felt that kind of fear before, and she didn't want to again. It was safer not using her powers, if she wasn't abnormal she was safe. And that was the bottom line, she hadn't lost her powers, she was just too scared to use them. She stopped for a moment and looked at her hands. She closed her eyes whispering the mantra. It took a while, but she suddenly felt the warmth return to her hands and body. When she opened her eyes her hands were holding a fireball. She smiled, wanting to show it to the others. She tried following the path again.

[Villain]

'Hmmm. You glow.' The caterpillar spoke before crawling back up to the mushroom. He curled around his device and raised his pipe to his lips. This time he didn't watch her leave. He wasn't expecting her to return this time.
  'You look hopeful' Cheshire spoke as he appeared before the caterpillar in a burst of blue smoke. He lay on his fat belly before the insect, his eyes wide and colorful as he grinned up at the large bug.
  'You don't.' The caterpillar mumbled with it's mouth full of pipe, 'You saw the flying man, yet you refused to help them.'
  'I couldn't do that. I'm one of the few weapons we have left against the flying man.' The cat replied simply as he flopped onto his back and scratched his chest.
  'He almost killed Alice.' The caterpillar grunted at him.
  'I'm aware, but what good in believing her to be a hero if we won't let her do heroic things?' Cheshire asked. The question seemed to make the caterpillar freeze up for a moment before it coughed a cloud of purple mist.
  'She's not ready to see the sickness yet.' The caterpillar muttered.
  'She'll have to be soon. It's the only reason the big reds are on his side right now.' Cheshire replied before rolling onto his stomach again and stretching out, 'We need her to be ready to find the cure. Whether it be alongside the brain, the portrait, the glow and the child or alone.' He spoke before vanishing in a puff of smoke, leaving the caterpillar to smoke on his pipe.

A few minutes later

'She went out by herself so she'll either be fine, dead or crazy when she returns.' Ms Vander spoke as Casey walked back through the door way. To her the journey would feel like it had only lasted mere seconds, she had just stepped through the mist and found herself outside the doorway, but to them Casey had been gone for an hour or two.
  'Or she could be right there' Alistair spoke as he pointed behind Ms Vander who stood before the doorway. She turned on the spot and stared at the girl in surprise for a moment before poking her in the shoulder.
  'She's definitely there.' Ms Vander called back to them. Alistair was now standing but still had bandages wrapped around his head. Ryan was sat next to Lulu, who seemed to be nursing her arm in a sling. She had a nasty blue bruise on the side of her head, but the way she smiled at Casey made it look like it was just a scratch.
  'Don't you ever do that again!' Ms Vander snapped at Casey and childishly poked her in the shoulder a few times. She looked like she was trying to be authoritative but the paint and mud marks all over her face made her look as threatening as a mouse in a dress.

[Axenia]

"Would you mind stop poking me, it's really irritating. And even though Mr. Spring see us all as children, we're not. I'm fine aren't I, so just relax I was only gone a minute or so." She pushed past Ms Vander and sat down in a corner by herself. She was tired of people acting like they were incapable of handling themselves. They had slain monsters, and survived standing on a collapsing roof. Perhaps the others needed an overprotecting adult, but she definitely did not. she gave Lulu a small smile, then she looked down at her hands. she didn't wanted to look at Alistair, that would only make her long for the time they spend together in her room. She sighed and starred into the wall. He had wanted her to kiss him, but it was all over before it had truly begun. She let a small figure of fire dance over the palm of her hand.

[Villain]

'A few minutes? You've been gone for hours!' Ms Vander yelled before running a hand through her braided hair. She let out a heavy sigh before eventually grinning broadly, 'Well your alive and...seem to your powers back. That's a good sign.' She spoke while scratching her head as she tried to figure out just how Casey had managed to do that.
  'Who did you meet? Cheshire? Red Queen? Mad Hatter? Dodo?' Lulu asked eagerly as she shuffled over to Casey's side and smiled at her, 'It's been a while since I've had the chance to come back down here. Is everyone ok? Are they healthy? Do they still talk gibberish?'
  'Lulu I'm sure Casey will be able to give you those answers in a bit but first we should probably ask the more important questions.' Alistair spoke and smiled towards Casey.
  'Like when are Lulu and Casey going to make out again?' Ryan asked, not letting the near death experience ruin his sense of humour.
  'I meant the important questions to ask Ms Vander' Alice growled while his cheeks went red.

[Axenia]

Casey gave Alistair a small smile, then she turned her attention on Ms Vander. She had never really noticed her around school, only when she had screamed at some kid for not being on time or when the sets of Romeo and Juliet had been destroyed.
   "Since you obviously know so much about us, why haven't you shown your true self to us before? You must have known what we are." She leaned against the wall now wishing she hadn't put on the leather outfit. She pulled down the zipper of the jacket a bit, revealing some of her red and black bra. She leaned her head back and put a hand on her throat, remembering how it felt not being able to breath. She looked at Al again, for the first time she tried to undress him with her eyes.

[Villain]

'Good question kiddo.' Ms Vander said with a wink, 'I've know you guys have had fictional counter parts ever since you joined the school. I'm sort of a telepath you see. I can see into peoples minds and know what they're thinking' She spoke before waggling her eyebrows at Casey in a cheeky manner as she watched the girl stare longingly at Alistair.
  'Then if you knew why didn't you come to us?' Lulu asked curiously as she watched the woman. She couldn't quite look Ms Vander in the eye, she found the paint spots on her cheek far too interesting. They were so bright and full of life that it set off her day dreams immediately.
  'Why should I? You were doing very well without my help.' She replied with another smile and a wink 'Besides it's not as if I haven't looked out for you. Whenever someone noticed you guys and you're abilities I made sure to track them down and alter their memories before they could do any harm.'
  'Er...well thank you.' Ryan said awkwardly whilst scratching the back of his head. It was clear that he felt more than a little uncomfortable and everyone knew why.
  'You don't need to worry Ryan I'm not mad at you for what you did. Your life and your identity are important. The important thing is that you've made the effort to make up for what you did.' Ms Vander spoke softly causing Ryan to let out a loud sigh of relief.
  'But who are you Ms Vander?' Alistair asked whilst dusting off some dirt that had fallen on the shoulder of his white buttoned shirt. His coat and woolen vest hadn't survive the blast from Mr Spring, so now all he was dressed in was his shirt, pants and shoes, 'Why do you want to help us?'
  'Well, what to answer first.' Ms Vander pondered, placing a finger on her lips as she looked around the room thoughtfully, 'I suppose I'll tell you my true name first.' She spoke before pinching the sides of her dungarees and pretending to courtesy, 'I'm Matilda from Roald Dahl's Matilda'

[Axenia]

Casey's cheeks flushed when Ms Vander told her she could read  peoples minds, and quickly looked away from Alistair. But it wasn't for long, her eyes kept following him around. Why did she have to fall for a guy like that, why couldn't she have fallen for that guy James, Johnny, Jonathan, whatever his name was. Casey forced herself to look away from Alistair, studying Ms Vander.
   "Have you ever been in contact with Mr. Spring, has he ever tried to make you follow him. Considering your ability, you would be a great asset to him." Again she remembered his eyes, the way he had talked and acted. Charming but with the hint of something very dangerous and evil underneath the surface. She was glad she had met Alistair and Lulu first, otherwise he would have been able to make her follow him. But she was of no use to him, her ability was fire, one of the things he mastered himself.
   She got up and walked over to Alistair, helping him dust himself of. Her eyes met his, she gently took his hand and laid it on the leather that covered her stomach, making sure the others couldn't see it. she leaned in against him.
   "Do you still want me to kiss you Al?" She whispered it, knowing that Ms Vander probably knew what she had just asked him, and knowing what his answer would be before she did.

[Villain]

'Er...I...' Alistair mumbled and went bright red again as she whispered the question into his ear. Ryan, Lulu and Ms Vander were all staring at the two of them. It hadn't exactly been a very subtle thing to do, 'H-how about we leave that for later?'
  'That's a yes. Whatever you asked him the answers a yes.' Ryan spoke bluntly before turning back to Ms Vander as she answered Casey's questions.
  'Yes I have been in contact with Mr Spring. He's one of my oldest enemies.' Ms Vander frowned and let out a sigh as she thought back to all the battles she had had with the monster, 'Me and my friends tried bringing him down years ago. It sort of worked, but he appears to be back.'
  'You and your friends? You had help?' Lulu asked excitedly, 'Who were they? What were their true names? Did you have anyone from my world on your side?'
  'You kids really need to wait for me to answer the first questions you ask me.' Ms Vander laughed warmly before smiling at Lulu, 'I'm afraid I didn't have the pleasure of fighting alongside anyone from wonderland, but I did get to go to a few other places, my favourite was that big open world with the wardrobe. I've longed to see that old lion again.'
  'Oh my goodness she's met Aslan!' Lulu squealed and stared up at Ms Vander with such awe and admiration it was like watching a kid meet Santa for the first time.
  'Mr Spring tried recruiting me a long time ago when I went to Woodmore like you kids. Back then I only knew how to move small objects with my mind, but he still saw the potential in me and tried to recruit me' She explained whilst sitting on the floor cross legged, her legs had gotten tired from all the standing, 'Luckily for me I had some friends that had invited me to a little book club in a library that no one used.'
  'There was a book club like ours?' Alistair asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.
  'Oh yes Alistair. In fact I think that library has been used as a base of operations for lots of kids who are like us. I think there may be some magic cast on that place that brings us all together' Ms Vander spoke before letting out a sigh as she thought back to the good old days, 'I remember when I first walked in there and met my friends; Peter, Alan, Lyra, Dodger and Irene. They were such a lovely people.'
  'Were?' Ryan asked and instantly regretted his decision as Ms Vander went very quiet. She sat in silence for a moment whilst staring at the dirty brown floor with a sad expression on her face.
  Lulu glared at Ryan, who frowned apologetically back at her before clearing his throat, 'Er...Ms Vander I've got a question.'
  'Yes?' Ms Vander asked, trying to sound cheerful as she looked up from the floor.
  'How come you can read minds? I thought Matilda could only move things with her mind?' Ryan asked. He remembered the story of Matilda well for his mother had read it to him as a kid. He certainly hoped that they would never meet the villain of that book. She would be just as terrifying as Mr Spring.
  'Ah!' Ms Vander spoke with renewed excitement and grinned broadly at them, 'That is a good question!'

[Axenia]

Casey liked making Alistair nervous, it was the only way she could think of that would show if he really were interested in her still. She knew that he sometimes stared at her chest, that was why she gently let them press against him while she whispered in his ear.
   I'll let you off the hook for now, but I want you to remember something. You saw me in just my bra and pants, that means that I get to see you without a shirt as well. I can't promise that I'll be nice, but I can promise that I'm going to enjoy it." She bit his ear, letting her tongue just touch it before she stepped away from him. She really wasn't being nice to him. But he was so cute when he didn't knew what to say or how to react. he was always so confident in himself and his ability to predict how people would react to a certain thing. She playfully let a finger run down his shirt before walking back to the others. She had only just turned her back on him when she smiled.
   It was exiting to hear that they weren't the only ones to have used the library. But as Ms Vander continued to talk she realised that this was not going to be easy, and it was possible that not all of them would make it. The last thought made her smile fade for a while. She knew it was a bad time to distract Alistair, but if either she or him didn't make it, she wanted to have seen the real Alistair and not Sherlock Holmes. Been able to have felt that he not always did as the great detective would have done.
   When Ryan asked his question her attention immediately went to Ms Vander. If she had been able to develop her abilities to more than her character, then maybe the same thing would be able for them. She jumped a little when something moved in her boot, then she remembered putting her phone there before she had left home. Surprised that it still worked and that you could get a signal in wonderland she opened the boot and took out her phone. She immediately noticed the text icon, bet the number wasn't one she recognized.

Nice show there Sparky, I was impressed.
Meet me tonight by the football field, we need to talk.
And don't bring any of your friends.

She read the text a couple of times before putting her phone away again. She had no idea who had written her, allthough the nickname sounded familiar. Once Ms Vander had finish speaking Casey looked around at the others.
   "I really want to get back, Lulu do you mind showing me how to leave wonderland?"

[Villain]

Ryan smirked to himself as he noticed Alistair burn bright red from out the corner of his eye. He chuckled before turning Ms Vander who shared a grin with him at Alistairs embarrassment.
  'So anyway...' She continued with a chuckle, '...it's true. When I was a kid all I could do was move objects with my mind like Matilda could in the book and logically that should be the only thing I can do, but does anyone remember the ending of Matilda?'
  'Didn't it go something along the lines of; they lived happily ever after and she never had to use her power again?' Lulu asked, her eyes still wide with wonder as she watched the woman smile.
  'Correct, the book says she didn't use it again, but she was just a kid with a happy ending. The truth is that any of us are able to work on our abilities and unlock new potential even if it wasn't written in the original story. After all; who is to say that she wouldn't have found out how to read minds if the book had gone on to tell a story about her adult years?'
  'So...I could become more immortal?' Ryan asked with a sceptical frown.
  'Maybe.' She replied with a smile, 'Just remember that your powers aren't just one function, they're flexible abilities which can be used to fit many different scenarios. Experiment with them! It may save your life.'
  She grinned broadly at them before watching Casey curiously as she walked over to Lulu and asked her for a way out. She was concerned about the girl, the whole time she had been off in her own little world and getting into all sorts of problems. It was as if she was more concerned about problems elsewhere.
  Lulu was still staring at Ms Vander as Casey spoke to her. Her blue eyes were practically sparkling with joy as she gazed at the messily dressed woman.
  'Sure you just tap your shoes together three times and say; theres no place like home.' She said in a dreamy voice before Alistair snapped his fingers.
  'Lulu!' He scolded playfully.
  'Oh all right follow me' She said before getting to her feet and dusting off her patch covered dress with her good hand. Since the explosion many of the patches sewn onto it had come off and there were burn marks all over the hem of her skin. Her boots also looked rather melted from the heat of the fire, but she still plodded around in them without a care in the world.
  She took Casey's hand and dragged her to the back of room and stood next to the nearest dirt wall, 'Ok, now breathe in deep.' She spoke before jumping up and down on the spot a few times before leaping as high as she could into the air.
  Casey would feel her feet leave the floor and then a sudden weightless sensation as they plummeted into the darkness above their heads.
  They tumbled through the darkness for a while, until eventually they landed on solid grass covered ground. Lulu let out a groan as she sat up on the floor and looked around. They were sat a good distance away from the wreckage of the burnt out building where they had had their confrontation with Mr Spring. The fires appeared to still be going and there were fire engines and police cars surrounding the inferno. She had to wonder if the police would start suspecting it to be the work of a serial arsonist seeing as this had now been the third of several incidents where large buildings and structures had been torched to the ground due to them.
  'Hows the head? Going back up the rabbit is a lot more rough than going down.' Lulu mumbled and stretched out for a moment to regain the feel of her limbs.

[Axenia]

Casey were holding her head for a moment, it hurt like hell and her body was aching. Still, she had no time to rest, she wanted to meet the stranger that had send her the text. She got to her feet and gave Lulu a big hug.
   "Thanks, I have to go, you can return to the others if you want. I'll see you all later allright?" But she didn't wait for an answer, instead she started running towards the school. She had never cared for physical activity, a thing she regretted now. While running she also wondered if she should take up martial arts, the way things were going it sure could come of use.

When she got to the football field it was pitch black, she lit a fire to guide her. She wasn't scared, Mr. Spring had promised nothing of his doing would happen tonight. But she was careful, knowing that Mr. Spring and Moriarty wasn't the only ones who were out to get them.
   "I see that you did what I asked, you know, that wasn't a smart move. I could be an evil bastard, killing you on the spot." She turned around when she heard an unknown voice behind her. But there was only darkness. This was kind of creepy, she used both of her hands to light up as much of the field around her as she could. Suddenly someone grabbed her wrists and locked her arms on her back. Something cold and hard locking around her wrists As a reaction she let the fire cover her entire body.
   "Calm down Sparky, don't you think that I was ready for that? I'll let you go in a minute, but you have to promise me that you at least let me speak before incinerating me. The man who had been holding her let go, but the metal around her wrists were still there. She turned around to look at the man who had asked her to come, and then attacked her like that. She couldn't see his face right away, he was wearing a fireresistant suit.
   "You know, it's not very nice to look at a man who's undressing himself, luckily for you, I'm neither shy nor naked underneath this." He took of the suit and studied her, letting it fall to the ground. He stepped closer to her, but it wasn't in a threatening mannor, more like he was drawn by curiosity.
   "Who are you, why did you ask me to come here." She tried to get her hands free, but her bindings wouldn't budge.
   "I think I'll start with your last question. I asked you to come here because I believe you to be Elizabeth Sherman. Not please correct me if I am mistaken, but when I saw you earlier today I stared following you, I was drawn to you because of one thing. We come from the same place. Which leads me back to your first question, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Colin Fray, but my real name is Sidney Leach. As you may have noticed my ability allows me to detect and manipulate metal. Now I'm going to let you go now, don't try to burn me, unlike you I'm not alone here tonight." The man looked like he was in his twenties, halflong dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, dark blue eyes and a long faced. He was dressed like a hippie, which made her smile a bit.

[Villain]

A figure lurked in the shadow of the football field stands. It watched them with interest but remained wary. It knew that if these were the people it had been warned about then it couldn't afford to risk being found.
  It began to slowly crawl behind the seats, trying to make as little noise as possible to try and avoid being spotted by the two figures.

[Axenia]

Casey thought she saw something or someone moving in the shadows of the football field stands. She tried to get a better look, but it was difficult with her hands tied behind her back, not able to make a flame to make more light. Once again she tried to free herself of the metal that was locking her wrists together, but it was impossible, it didn't even melt when she tried burning it.
   "Mr. Fray, would you mind untying me, I believe someone is watching us from overthere." She nodded towards the stands. Colin looked but couldn't see anything, he didn't want to take any risks and untied her right away, making the metal bend back into the shape of a small pipe. Casey didn't waste any time, she ran towards the stands, casting a ball of fire to light up the shadows.

[Villain]

The figure did his best to surpress the cry of fear that wanted to escape from his throat. He cowered behind one of the seats. Attempting to get as low as possible to avoid detection. Casey would catch the glimpse of a ragged cloak fluttering in the dim light as it slid behind the chairs that were dotted around the stands.

[Axenia]

Casey slowed down as she reached the stands, lighting up the place where she had seen the ragged cloak. She was tired and her body was aching, she was in no mood for silly games and surprise attacks.
   "I know you're there, show yourself." Her voice were commanding, and her eyes were hard and cold.

[Villain]

Upon realising that he had been found out the figure decided to stop trying to hide and make a break for it. He leaped over the seats, jumping from row to row as he made his way across the stand in a frantic run. All that could be seen of him was a large tattered brown cloak with a hood bounding left and right with heavy footsteps.

[Axenia]

Casey took a deep breath, and cursed silently. She really should work out more, maybe hit the gym. She broke into a run and followed, throwing a ball of fire in front of the thing that were trying to run.
   "Stop, I'm really not in the mood for this." She called out to the creature, catching up with it. She jumped and grabbed the cloak, forcing it down to the ground. One hand were holding it tight, the other one was in flames.
   "Who are you? Who sent you here and what do you want?"

[Villain]

The stranger let out a loud inhuman yelp of fear as it looked up at Casey from the darkness of the hooded cloak. Casey would now be able to realise that the stranger that stared back at her was not a person, it was a monster. It's face was green and looked putrid and rotten. There were stitches running in lines across it's face, making it seem as if it's entire head had been sewn together by hand. It's hair was dirty and encrusted with mud and it's eyes were an odd mix of blue and green. He let out another yell of fear and wriggled against the hold, jerking Casey left and right. It was as if she were trying to hold on to a raging bull.

[Axenia]

Casey suddenly understood that the monster was scared, she had never before had anyone being that scared of her. Still she pinned him down, leaning over it a bit and looking it in the eyes.
   "I'm not going to hurt you okay, I just want to know what you're doing here. See, I won't hurt you." She let the flame in her hand die, and eased her grip from him. Could this be the monster of Frankenstein? She shook her head a bit, then gave him a little smile.
   "I'm going to let get up now, I really would appreciate it, if you would talk to me. Tell me who you are, and what you're doing here. She let go of it and got up, her eyes still alert.

[Villain]

The creature still continued to struggle. Casey wouldn't be able to tell if it had understood her or not, right now she had him pinned down and wasn't letting go soon enough. He let out a large strangled roar before pushing back against Casey. She across a row of chairs before landing on the steps of that cut down the middle of the stand. The roar he had let out had sounded somewhat like human language, it almost sounded like he had yelled; 'Get off me'.
  He turned his head to look at her before glancing back and fourth between the end of the stand and possible freedom to the girl it had just assaulted. After much debate it bounded back across the seats before stopping a few metres away and peering at the girl that lay on the steps.

[Axenia]

Casey didn't get up again, her eyes were closed and she didn't move. Her head had hit the edge of a step, cutting a deep wound into the back of her head. She whispered Alistairs name before she lost consciousness.

Mr. Fray had been watching them this whole time, when he realised she wasn't getting up he ran to her. kneeling beside her he tried to stop the bleeding, though he didn't know how to do that. Her friends had to know what had happened, they would know what to do. He searched her body, looking for the phone. When he found it he send a text to Alistair, he had seen her with him and the others, the kid was smart, he would know what to do.

Sparky is hurt, you can find her at the school football field

He didn't bother writing who it was from, although the boy would notice it had been sent from her phone. The monster scared him, but he could sense some metal on its body.

[Villain]

The creature was still staring at Casey's motionless body as Mr Fray ran over. For a moment it looked as if he was going to help her up as he reached out towards her, but after noticing the man approach he quickly retracted the hand and turned to run away. He bounded over the chairs and leaped up to the highest corner of the stand. He looked back at the man for a moment, his eyes wide with fear before yelling out a in a strangled voice; 'I'm not evil!'.

[Axenia]

No matter what Colin Fray tried, Casey would not wake up. He didn't want to call an ambulance, what if they found out what she could do. He lifted her up, carrying the lifeless girl in his arms. He wasn't that strong, luckily the girl wasn't that heavy. He laid her on the grass, checking her breathing. She was breathing, but it was slow and shallow. He was concerned about her, it was a nasty blow to her head, the chances that she would be affected by it was high. He didn't know how long he had waited beside her, but suddenly he could see her Friends approaching. He called out to them, his voice shaky.
   "WE'RE OVERHERE HURRY."  He looked at the tall boy first, then at the other. "I can't get her to wake up, she hit her head pretty badly over by the stairs. We were surprised by some kind of monster, sparky here fought him, but he threw her through the air like she weighted nothing." He was not at all comfortable with being with her friends, he didn't know them, and didn't trust them.

Eventhough she was in the darkness, not able to respond, some part of her were awake. She could hear the others, feel their touches. She wanted to answer them, tell them that she was alright. But she wasn't, she was far from alright. She heard them talk about what to do, take her to the hospital, or find some place else. But she didn't care, something else had stolen her attention. She could feel the fire inside her, but also something else. It took her a while before she realised what it was. All of her life she had thought she was immune to fire, but she wasn't. What she discovered was another ability. She could create a shield around her, protecting her when she used the fire. She had been doing that her whole life, but now, knowing it, she could work with it. In her mind she saw how to use it to protect her friends, but to what extent she didn't know. Would it only protect them against fire, or could she shield them against objects also. There was only one way to find out, and she would be needing Ryan for that.

Three days went by without any sign of improvement. For the first two days her parents had stayed with her at the hospital, but they had to go home eventually, they needed sleep, food and a shower. Casey had heard her parents speak to her, but her friends voices never came after she was sent to the hospital. When she finally woke up again she was alone in the room. She got out of bed and searched for her clothes, she didn't want to be there, she wanted to know what had happened after she got thrown by the monster. The doctors tried convincing her to stay, they called her parents telling them to convince her that she still was injured and should be carefull. In the end she got what she wanted, they allowed her to come home.
   The first thing she did was to get a shower. There was still some dried blood in her hair and it felt good to get it washed out. She wanted to see Alistair, but was afraid at the same time. She feared he would be angry with her for not telling them what she was up to. She dressed herself in a white dress with thin straps holding it up. It fitted her upperbody perfectly giving her an amazing cleavage. She let her hair hang loose, it hurt too mush to have it done up. She had found his address over the internet, and when she stood in front of the door she hesitated for a moment. It was a Friday afternoon, school had been out for some hours now, so she hoped he would be home. She knocked on the door, feeling butterflies in her belly. It was a woman who answered, she had never seen her before, but she figured it would be Alistairs mother.
   "I'm so sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if Alistair was home, my name is Casey" She smiled a little nervously at the woman.

[Villain]

The creature had taken one hard look at Fray and Casey before leaping off the stand and onto the ground bellow. He landed with the force of a ton of bricks, sending a large banging noise echoing through the field as it landed on the hard ground bellow. It's eyes frantically searched the ground before it for any further threats before bounding into the darkness and vanishing from sight.

Earlier that night

'I don't like it.' Lulu spoke with a huff as she sat cross legged on the dirty floor. She had rejoined Alistair and the other back in wonderland, Ms Vander had been busy telling them about a few adventures she had had and some secrets that she had stored in the library. When Lulu had returned she had been full of worry about their friend suddenly leaving and had told everyone her concerns. They had discussed the notion of following her, but Alistair insisted they should wait until she called.
  'We can't just go rushing after her Lulu, it may be family things. Her parents saw her light up remember?' Alistair spoke. He sounded like he was almost apologising for having to prove his point. Ever since he opted for them to stay she had glared at him the entire time.
  'Did you read her mind at all Ms Vander?' Ryan asked. Ms Vander shook her head.
  'I don't read my friends minds without their permission. I learned the hard way that invasions of privacy have their consequences.' She spoke and cast a glance towards Alistair who looked down at the floor awkwardly and blushed.
  'You all need to relax.' Ms Vander said with a smile, 'Al's right. Just wait for her to call. In the mean time I'll tell you about the time when Lyra decided to let Alan use the alethiometer.'

Later that Night

They had listened to Ms Vanders stories for a good hour or so before Alistair received the text message. They had been about to leave and finally get some rest, but as soon as Alistair received the text everyone had had an instant change of heart about going home and going to bed.
  The journey to school would have been an hours drive from their current location, but luckily they were still in possession of the mode of transport they had used to get to Gracefield; the Cheshire Cat. It had taken mere seconds to be teleported from outside the burning building to the football field. They had materialised in a cloud of smoke just as the creature had run away.
  'I knew we shouldn't have let her go alone!' Lulu cried out as they gathered around Casey's unconscious form, 'What do we do?' Lulu asked as she knelt down next to her. Ryan was stood by her side staring at the stranger, probably wondering who on earth he was and whether they should be attacking him or not. Ms Vander had started leaning over the girl and checking over her body for wounds with surprising skill. It was as if she had been in this situation a thousand times. Ryan wondered whether she had been a doctor before deciding the life of a super powered under cover teacher was more exciting.
  'We need to get to a hospital.' Ms Vander spoke before pushing out the palms of her hands in front of her and getting to her feet. She stared at the girl as if staring straight through her, then suddenly the girl began to rise off the ground and hover in the air in front of her.
  'What if she goes pyro?' Ryan asked, trying not to be too distracted by his friend levitating.
  'We're going to have to take a risk. Alistair can you call her parents?' She asked and turned her head to look for Alistair who was now stood at the end of the football field staring into the stands, 'Al? What are you doing?' She called out to him, but he just seemed to keep staring, 'Alistair come on!' She shouted, finally breaking him of the trance.
  He rushed back to join them and helped to move Casey off the football field and into the locker rooms. The ambulance arrived moments later and carried the girl out on a stretcher before whisking her away. Ms Vander had gone with them saying that she was a friend of the family; Alistair knew it didn't really matter what Ms Vander told them. When Casey's parents asked who called the ambulance the doctors and nurses wouldn't be able to remember a thing.

Thursday

'Al we came here early Wednesday morning, we came here at lunch the same day, we came back after school and in the evening. We then came back this morning and during lunch today, how have you not found what your looking for by now?' Ryan asked wearily as he sat on one of the stands chairs and sighed into the palms of his hands.
  'I've found what I've been looking for Ryan. I found everything the first time we came here.' Alistair replied from behind a row of chairs. He was on his hands and knees and appeared to be scraping at the floor with some sort of small shovel and a bunch of cotton buds, 'The problem is that what I have found doesn't make any sense.' Alistair spoke and sighed as he finished sponging the concrete with a cotton bud before pulling out a small test tube and shoving the cotton bud inside it.
  'Me and Lulu were thinking of going to see Casey after school, you up for it?' Ryan asked as he looked back over his shoulder at the young detective; who had now begun sniffing the floor like a blood hound.
  'I can't. I have too much work.' Alistair replied sharply.
  'Dude she's not going to ask you to marry her.' Ryan muttered, 'You can spare five minutes to see her, it would mean a lot to her.'
  'I can't Ryan.'
  'Why not?'
  'Because I'm angry!' Alistair spoke with a snap causing Ryan to jump a little at the sudden outburst, 'I'm furious at myself Ryan. I'm supposed to be clever, but did I think about what was going on? No no no I was too busy listening to Ms Vander tell stories and imagining what Casey's bra would look like on the floor of my bed room.' Alistair growled and sat up before clutching his head and bashing it with the side of his fist, 'Stupid thoughts that clouded my stupid judgement! I didn't observe, I didn't listen and I certainly didn't think.'
  'This wasn't your fault Al.' Ryan spoke softly. Al had managed to surprise him again with his sudden moment of weakness. He had noticed that when things got to him, they really got to him. It was as if he spent so much effort pushing his emotions to one side to make room for logic that when bad stuff hit him he couldn't stop himself from being overwhelmed.
  'No. Probably isn't.' Alistair muttered bitterly before glancing at the floor again with a solemn look in his eye, 'But the truth doesn't stop me from thinking it is.'

Friday

Sarah Croft had been in the middle of making dinner when Casey knocked on the door. She had been bent over a hot pan in the kitchen, frantically chucking in ingredients whist humming various Abba songs to herself. She wanted tonight's dinner to be good, Alistair had seemed strangely off the last few days. He was spending more time in his room hunched over paper work and a microscope he had gotten for his birthday when he was six. Whenever she asked about what he was doing he passed it off as school work, but when she had gotten a look at some of the papers she had seen the words 'molecular decay' and 'cellular structure' written all over them in big threatening letters. He had been quiet at the dinner table and had even stopped trying to get under Dave's skin, which she did admit was a pleasent change but it still unnerved her.
  The meal's she usually cooked involved ingredient that were good for the brain like oily fish and tomatoes, but today she had decided to cook one of Alistair's guilty pleasures; deep pan fried pizza.
  She had been wondering whether seeing his favourite meal would at least make him smile before she heard the knock at the door. She took the pan off the heat before rushing to the door and opening it, only just remembering to smile before she greeted the guest.
  When her eyes landed on Casey she just stared in silence. The girl was beautiful, very beautiful and the dress she was wearing made that fact very clear. She blinked dumbly for a moment as she registered the question she had just been asked.
  'I'm sorry my dear did you say Alistair?' She asked, 'As in Alistair Croft? My son Alistair?' She asked, unsure of whether she had actually heard the pretty girl ask for her son.

[Axenia]

Casey smiled a bit nervously at Mrs Croft, it had been a long time since she had meat any of her friends parents. By the look on Mrs. Croft's face, she guessed that Alistair didn't had a lot of visitors. Se bit her lower lip and smiled a bit more.
   "I was hoping he would be here, I have been away for a few days and I thought that I wound pay him a visit instead of calling. I know that he might be angry with me, but I would appreciate if you would tell him that Casey would like to see him." She didn't know if his mother knew anything about who he really was, and what he and his friends were up to all day. Her heart was pounding as she was lead through the house to Alistairs room. She wondered what it would look like, she suspected that it would be a lot different from a normal boys room. She gently knocked on the door before entering. She looked around the room before her eyes fixed on him. She wanted to shout at him, making him feel guilty for not visiting her. He had been the one she had hoped would come to see her, she wanted to know if he even cared about her. Instead her voice was small and timid.
   "You never came to visit me, not once. Neither of you did. Are you all that angry with me for leaving?" She stepped a little closer to him, her bodylanguage clearly showed that she was afraid of his reaction. She was hurt that he had seemed so indifferent, she didn't even notice the tear that ran down her cheek.
   "If you want me to leave just say so, but I wanted to tell you what happened. Colin and I was surprised by the monster, I thought it might be a creature sent by Mr. Spring. But it wasn't, it was the monster of Frankenstein. His not evil Al, what happened was an accident he was just scared. I don't think he understood what I was saying to him, I had him pinned down and he was just trying to get away." She searched his eyes for any kind of reaction, but she found none. She let her eyes drop and looked down at the floor. When he didn't say something she nodded and tried to smile at him.
   It's okay Al, I'll just show myself out. I'll see you around at school." She turned around, heading for the door.

[Villain]

Mrs Croft simply nodded before stepping to one side to allow Casey to come in before leading her up to Alistairs room. She knocked of the door before opening in gently.
  'Alistair you have a guest.' She called softly as she opened the door and stepped inside his room.
  'Unless its Ryan or Lulu tell them I'm busy.' Alistair spoke, not looking up from the microscope on his desk that he was hunched over. Alistairs room shared only one quality typical of every teenage boy's room; it was a complete mess. There were newspapers covering the entire floor and the walls were lined with large wooden boards which had newspaper articles, photos and magazine cut outs pinned all over them. Underneat the rubbish Casey would just be able to make out what was once cream wall paper and chocolate brown carpet. In the far corner of his room was a wooden desk with lots of draws and various bits of equipment. Alistair was sat at the desk, using one hand to adjust the lens of the microscope while the other wrote down notes as he peered through it.
  'It's Casey Valentine Alistair and she's come all this way to see you.' His mother spoke with an evident hint of disapproval in her voice.
  Alistairs ears pricked up at the name and he turned in his chair to face them. Casey would notice the dark patches around his eyes that had formed from lack of sleep. He stared at the girl for a moment before managing a weak smile.
  'I'll leave you two along...remember I'm just down stairs Alistair' His mother warned with a cheeky smirk before stepping out.
  When they were alone Alistair took a slow breath in as he prepared to say what he had been keeping in for days. Unfortunately Casey spoke first.
  He listened to her and felt a pang of guilt as she told him how disappointed she was that none of them had visited. He wanted to explain but when she cried he couldn't bring himself to interupt. He just waited for her to finish whilst staring glumly and saying nothing.
  When she eventually finished he turned back to the microscope; 'I know. We found him. We've spent the last three days trying to find him and we have.' He spoke softly, 'I couldn't stand that he hurt you so I did everything I could to find him. I'm looking at a blood sample of his right now that he let me take from him. He's not a bad guy but he's still scared of us.' He spoke before adjusting the lens a little and looking back at her. Waiting for a reaction.

[Axenia]

"You found him? Where is he?" There were a million other questions that she wanted to ask him, but those were the first that came to her mind. She walked over to him, turning him so he faced her. She let a hand run through his messy hair, looking in those hazel eyes, noticing the dark patches under them. She didn't care about his reaction, she leaned in and kissed him gently, letting her arms wrap around him.
   "I'm sorry Al, I should have said something to you about the text I got from Colin." She kissed him again, needing to feel his arms around her hand the soft warmth of his lips on hers. Like once before she let her tongue find his, letting it circle his. Her hand went up his back and neck to his hair, letting her hand grip it pulling him closer to her. She sighed when she finally let him go, smiling nervously and her cheeks blushing.
   "You need some sleep Al, it will help you to think more clearly. If you want I'll stay with you."

[Villain]

Alistair wanted to answer. He wanted to kiss her back when she kissed him. He wanted to blush when he felt her body against him and her tongue slide into his mouth, but at that moment the exhaustion seemed to kick in. His body collapsed against her, his arms losely wrapping around her as his weight pushed against her. His bed was right next to his desk, with just a little more effort he would be able to lift himself onto it.

[Axenia]

Casey helped Alistair get on to the bed, she didn't wanted to undress him but simply put a blanket over him. She lied down next to him, holding him close to her and let her fingers run through his hair. It didn't take him long to fall asleep, she kissed his cheek gentle smiling as she looked down at him. She had never seen him so peaceful before, as he did now while sleeping.
   "I love you Alistair Croft" She whispered it, not wanting to disturb his sleep. She laid her head down and closed her eyes, her head still hurting. She really enjoyed being close to him and fell asleep with her head on his shoulder.

[Villain]

'Alistair! Dinners ready! Will Casey be joining us?' His mother called up. When she didn't hear a reply she walked up the stairds to Alistairs room and gingerly knocked on the door. When she got no response she slowly opened the door a little to glance inside. a smile crept onto her face as she saw her son sleeping soundly with the girl in his arms.
  'I'll keep it warm for you' She spoke softly before quietly closing the door.

An hour later

Alistair's eyes slowly opened to the sight of Casey's peaceful sleeping face rested on his shoulder. He froze at first and for a moment felt the blood pump through his veins as his brain immediately jumped to conclusions. It wasn't until he woke up properly and realised he still had his clothes on that he realised what had happened.
  He let out a yawn and very slowly shuffled out from under Casey. He had to change, he had been wearing the same clothes for the last two days. His mother had snapped and barked at him when she had found him asleep at his desk in the same clothes he had worn the night before, but he had been too focused on his work to care.
  'Guess I'll fill you in once you wake up' He spoke as he managed to slip out of his bed. He walked over to his closet and pulled out a new shirt and pants. He knew he should probably shower right now but he didn't want Casey to awaken to an empty room. He quickly pulled his pants down and pulled on the new set before setting to work on unbuttoning his shirt.
  He could hear Ryans words echoing inside his head as he glanced towards Casey. He could just picture him saying; 'Go on, get back in bed and kiss her' or 'She wouldn't notice if you peeked down her top. Go on, have a look at what undies she's wearing today'.

[Axenia]

Casey turned in bed, muttering something. She had felt Alistair leave the bed but just wanted to enjoy the bed a little while longer. She opened her eyes when he wasn't looking, smiling as he took of his shirt.
   "I knew I would get my chance to see you half undressed." Her eyes studying him, her smile kind of dirty. She found him very sexy with the messy hair and those hazel eyes. She reached out a hand to him.
   "Why don't you come overhere for just a moment and tell me what happened after I was knocked out. And then I wantyou to come with me. I need to talk with Ryan, there is something I want to try, and I need someone immortal."

[Villain]

Alistair jumped when she called out to him, but rather than blush and hastily grab his shirt he walked over and slid back into the bed. His body lay in front of her as he let his hand rest on her waist while the other curled around her wrist.
  'I can do that, but Ryan is going to be a pain when he sees us.' He spoke with a small grimace, 'The moment he finds out I shared a bed with you he won't leave me alone.' He spoke with a sigh and chuckled before he lay back against the pillow.
  'Where do I begin...' He spoke softly before beginning the tale of the adventure Casey had missed over the last few days.

Wednesday

'Ok. I think I've worked it out.' Alistair spoke as he rose up from the chair he had been bent over for the last hour. Lulu and Ryan had joined him in scouring the stands for clues concerning the identity of Casey's attacker. He had armed them with powder for dusting finger prints, magnifying glasses, rubber gloves and special bags for containing evidence, but he was sure neither of them would find anything of use. Several times Lulu had shown him an old can of coke and claimed the monster could have drank from it and several more times had Ryan brought over a cheer leaders pom pom and a bra he had found behind the stand.
  'Comfy Lulu? I think Al's going to do his detective summary act again' Ryan spoke with a sigh as he leaned back in the chair. Lulu was sat next to him glancing through a book she had picked up before they had come down to investigate.
  'Talk slow Al, if you start going too fast we'll just end up getting lost and falling asleep.' Lulu spoke as she turned the page of her book.
  'Well luckily for you guys this won't take long.' Alistair spoke as he hopped over the chairs and landed next to them, 'I examined the area which our culprit used to hide behind and then escape from.' He spoke softly and held up three thin strips of paper which were dotted with large red finger prints.
  'First of all we're dealing with something which is technically one of us and technically not.' He spoke with a hint of pride in his voice. Lulu and Ryan exchanged a sceptical glance.
  'What do you mean?' Ryan asked.
  'We're dealing with something which has been created by one of us. A fictional.'
  'A what?' Lulu asked with a questioning glance.
  'A fictional. I figured it's times we came up with a term to describe people like us.' Alistair replied as he looked over the strips of paper, 'What we're dealing with is a being which has been created by one of us, thus it is both like us and at the same time not like us.'
  'What makes you think it's been created?' Ryan asked curiously, his eyes following the paper that Alistair held in his hand.
  'I dusted for prints and found this' Alistair spoke before pulling out a large piece of black paper from his pocket. On the surface of it was a large white hand print, 'Look at the ripples in the palm of the hand and finger prints, they're broken up.' Alistair spoke as he pointed to various bits of the hand. They noticed that the spirals that made up the finger prints seemed to not quite match up, sort of like someone had forced them together like a mismatched jigsaw. On top of that they could see what looked like stitch marks running across the hand.
  'It could just be a very disfigured person?' Lulu suggested with a sad frown at the thought of someone being that damaged. Alistair just shook his head.
  'No I also did some chemical work using this litmus paper.' Alistair spoke as he pointed to the strips of paper in his hand, 'The prints the culprit has left contains various different quantities of finger print acids. It's a curious case really, not only are they of various different levels but nearly all of them are stronger than the typical amount of acid found in a normal human finger print.' He explained while examining them, not bothering to keep the intrigue out of his voice.
  'I suspect that when I take the data home I'll find DNA that doesn't belong to a single entity. I believe it will belong to several unfortunate people and those people will all be dead.' Alistair spoke before pocketing the litmus paper, 'You know what I'm suggesting don't you?'
  The two of them nodded. Ryan looked a bit pale whilst Lulu looked very grim.
  'Frankenstein's monster.' Ryan spoke nervously.
  'Perhaps. I don't have enough information to know whether it is a work of Doctor Frankenstein, we'll have to see.' He spoke before getting up and dusting himself off, 'I need you two to keep your ears open for the appearance of the poor man. We'll need to bring him in and reassure him that we won't hurt him.'
  'Is that a lie? Alistair you were pretty mad this morning?' Lulu asked while giving him a look of concern.
  'I still am angry Lulu.' Alistair replied before turning and making his way off the stand, 'I'm angry at the guy who played God and unleashed a poor life form like that on Casey.'

Back in Alistair's room

'I took the data home and as I guessed found various samples of DNA.' He spoke softly as he watched the girl in his bed, 'It was strange stuff. All the cells were dead yet there was cellular activity and traces of some healthy cells reforming. Unfortunately I don't have a data bank on all the people in this town so I don't know who the DNA belongs to, but I have been working on something else now that we've found the poor soul.'

[Axenia]

Casey's finger played on his back, gently caressing it. It was relaxing being with him, once she had believed that she would never find anyone who didn't fear her. She kissed him gently, smiling up at him.
   "You know, we don't have to tell Ryan that we have shared a bed. And unfortunately nothing happened." She gave him a small teasing smile. "I'm sorry that I scared him, the monster I mean. He really didn't wanted to hurt me. But he might have done us all a favour. While I was out I could hear and feel you around me. But there was something else. I found a new understanding of my powers and I want to try them out, that's why I need Ryan. If I can do what I think I can, then I will be able to protect us all whenever we get into a fight, but I have to see how far my ability goes."

[Villain]

'We'll have to try that out then.' Alistair spoke with a smile. His eyes couldn't help but wander to her cleavage when she said that she found it unfortunate that nothing had happened. He couldn't help it, her dress had moved in her sleep and had slipped down a bit, exposing more of the round flesh. It was hard to keep his rational brain thinking straight.
  'We tracked the guy down by using a little tool that Lulu had handy. We found him curled up under the burnt out stage at school. Funny how things keep on coming back to the school theatre.' He spoke and for a moment scratched his chin curiously, as if wondering if it were more than just a coincidence. After a moment he shrugged and smiled a little, 'Lulu's trying to get the guy talking. She's trying to give him a name but he keeps knocking her suggestions'

[Axenia]

"Have she tried Bill?" Casey looked up into his eyes, then lowering her eyes letting her gaze follow his naked upperbody. She kissed his lips, then his neck and down his chest. She looked up at him again, biting her lower lip. She then took his hand and placed it on her breast. Her dress had moved up, showing her thighs. Her skin was hot and her eyes glowing.
   "Do you want to go right away or wait a while?" She kissed him deeply, letting her tongue find his and lying down on her back while pulling him in over her.

[Villain]

He couldn't stop himself. The way she kissed him, the way she touched his body and the feel of her own chest. He couldn't stop himself from going with it and kissing her. His hands running down her dress and feeling the curves and the softness of her skin. He let his tongue roll around hers as he let out moan of pleasure against her tongue.

[Axenia]

The way his hands moved over her body made her moan softly. The more he kissed her and touched her body, the more of him she wanted. She didn't know how it happened, if he had done it or she had done it herself, but suddenly her dress was on his bedroom floor. She was lying under him wearing nothing but red lace hotpants and matching bra. Her hand went to his pants, opening them while her kiss intensified. She wanted him, never in her life had she wanted anyone the way she wanted him now.
   She started undressing him, at the same time her bra joined her dress on the floor. She was nervous, never had a boy seen her so undressed before. And she had never seen a boy naked, not in real life. Her soft moans mixed with their kisses, her body getting warmer.

[Villain]

It felt like a dream. He kept slipping in and out of the moment and experiencing different sensations as they kissed and rolled around the bed. He could feel her hands working at his pants and the feel of her bare breasts again his chest.
  He didn't know how it happened but their kiss became so passionate that they ended up falling out of the bed whilst tugging the blanket with them. They tumbled out and as Alistair sat up he looked over Casey who lay face down before him. He gazed over the pale form of her back and her slender curves before gazing down at her round backside in the hot pants. He reached forward and began to slowly slip them down until they came just above her knees, her fine smooth bum exposed to him.
  'All right Casey's showing her T and A' Ryan spoke with glee. What felt like electricity shot through Alistairs body as he realised that the bearded teen was sitting in a chair in the far corner of his room with a wide grin on his face and a slice of pizza in his hands. He was wearing a deep blue skin tight shirt with a black buttoned long sleeved shirt over it with matching jeans. He wiggled his eyebrows at Alistair before winking at Casey.
  'By the way if your going to do her don't start doggy style that's not very romantic.' He spoke with a chuckle before going back to ogling the naked girl.

[Axenia]

When Casey heard Ryan's voice she sat up quickly, almost hitting Alistair. She pulled the blanket around her and threw a small fireball in his face. She was angry and embarrassed, she looked over at Alistair for any kind of sign that she was allowed to hurt Ryan even more, but she didn't see any sign like that. She turned to him, her eyes narrowing.
   "How long have you been there, and when were you going to make your presence noticed." She got to her feet and started gathering up her clothes, trying to pull up her panties again and dropped the blanket. She quickly covered her breasts while pulling up her panties with the other hand.
   "What the hell are you doing here Ryan, and stop laughing."

[Villain]

Ryan didn't stop laughing, mainly because he couldn't, he found the situation too funny. Alistair had gone a shade of red that was so bright it almost looked like he had eaten something insanely spicy. The fireball that Casey threw at Ryans face hit but Ryan simply batted the flames out with the palm of his hand.
  'You two are adorable!' He cried between tears of laughter, 'I almost wanted to stay and watch the whole thing, but that seemed a bit immoral of me' He spoke with a chuckle before watching Casy with a mischevious grin, she could try all she liked, he could still see the large bounce of her round breasts, 'Lucky man Al. Those double D's look way better without a bra on.'

[Axenia]

"I'm going to kill you Ryan Black if you don't shut up and turn around right now, I really want to get dressed. Well, that's not exactly true, but what I really want is something you're never going to see." She was angry and didn't even notice the flames surrounding her body before she almost burned a hole in Alistairs carpet. She got herself under control and started getting dressed. She looked over at Alistair, sending him a small smile and a kiss.
   "I actually wanted to see you Ryan, but not like this. I need an immortal person, and you're the only one I know."

[Villain]

'Fair enough' Ryan spoke as he finally regained control of himself. He bowed politely before smiling at them, 'Dorian Gray at your service my busty friend.' He chuckled, still smirking at the look of embarassment on Alistair's face.

[Axenia]

Casey got dressed in a hurry, before walking over to Ryan she kissed Alistair, a deep kiss her tongue finding his again for a short while. She smiled at him, biting his lower lip before she started buttoning his shirt.
   "You'll get the chance some other time, all you have to do is ask." She let him go and walked over to Ryan, she slapped his face hard, looking him in his eyes. He wasn't forgiven yet, and he better keep his big mouth shut.
   "That one was for staring at my breasts. I won't do what I have to do here, and accidentally burning Al's room down. We need to find somewhere we can be alone, someplace no one will see us, and I also would like for Lulu to be there."

She asked for Alistair to call Lulu and ask her to meet then at the library. Eventhough it was still indoors Casey had the feeling that nothing would happen to the place if something went wrong. When they were all there Casey looked at them.
   "While I was out I learned something about my abilities. As you all know I have a small thing for fires, but I'm not immune to the flames. What I do is I create a small protective forcefield around myself. What I want to try out is, if I can expand that forcefield to include others. Ryan, if you would bee so kind to join me." She reached out a hand to him, looking him in the eyes. "Tell me if you feel the flames." She let the flames surround them both, the forcefield protecting both of them. She slowly let go of him, but still it held.
   "Alistair or Lulu, would one of you please stab Ryan. I need to see if it only protects against my flames."

[Villain]

The journey to the library had been an uncomfortable one for Alistair, for during the entire journey Ryan had not shut up about what he had seen. He wanted to respond with something clever that would take the stupid grin off his face, but even he found it hard to analyse the weaknesses in a man that was aware that he was a dastardly rogue.
  When they got into the Library Lulu was waiting in the corner of the room with two books opened in front of her and her face buried inside a comic book. She looked up as they entered and winked at Alistair, 'I heard someone got lucky.'
  'Oh come on Lulu, you too?' Alistair exclaimed.
  'Sorry Al but it is kind of funny.' She chuckled as she put down her book and walked over to join her friends.
  'If your wondering by the way she did bite him like she bit you.' Ryan whispered causing the grin to fade from Lulu's face as she broke out into a deep blush. Ryan seemed satisfied and took a seat in one of the library chairs before letting out a content sigh, 'Soon Lulu, soon my fantasy will be able to be fullfilled.'
  'I don't want to know.' Lulu mumbled as she stared uncomfortably at the floor, her eye contact with Casey to a minimum.
  Ryan got up off the chair as Casey asked for his help before standing before her with the same cheeky grin on his face. As the flames surrounded him he examined his shirt to check whether it had burst into flames, 'Seems to work in keeping out the heat' He answered.
  When Casey asked of Alistair and Lulu to stab him they flung themselves at Ryan, armed with chairs, books and whatever they could find lying around to throw at him. Ryan was a little surprised about how eager they seemed to be.

[Axenia]

The shield held, blocking out anything they threw at him. Casey instructed him to try and throw something himself to see if it would go through. It did, she was satisfied, but she didn't warn Ryan when she lifted the shield. She only smiled at him when he got hit by a chair.
   "Oh sorry about that Ryan, it won't happen again."

[Villain]

'Ow.' Ryan spoke in an unamused tone after being laid out by the heavy chair that Lulu had thrown at him. He was sprawled out over the floor before he slowly picked himself up and dusted himself off, 'So we've now learned that Casey not only can burn us all to the ground and has huge breasts and a good ass but she can also go deflector sheild on us.' He said before grinning broadly, 'What do you reckon I could do? Do you think I could get an adamantium skeleton with claws?'
  'It's very unlikely you could become Wolverine Ryan.' Alistair spoke with a small grin before looking towards Casey, 'Well done. That should be a useful device against Spring. Would you care to meet our newest member now?'
  'I'm thinking of calling him Michael' Lulu spoke cheerfully, 'After Michael Jackson? Because he was in thriller?'
  'Go back to the drawing board.' Ryan spoke with a shake of his head.

[Axenia]

"I would very much like to meet him again, I only hope that he doesn't hold a grudge." Casey was nervous about meeting the monster again, she still remembered his strengh and how much hitting the step had hurt. She followed the others, taking Alistairs hand and squeezing it a bit.

[Villain]

'Prepare for surprise number three.' Alistair whispered as they walked through the library until they came to the wall furthest away from the library entrance. There was a large book lining the bottom of the wall. Alistair stepped forwards and examined the books before pulling a number of them off the shelf before putting them back in a different order. For a moment nothing happened, then the book case vanished before their eyes revealing a bright corridor with a red carpet and white walls. Covering the walls were various bits of graffiti.
  'One of the old groups before us made this. We learned about it from Ms Vander.' He spoke as they walked through the corridor. He pointed to a section of the wall where the name; Matilda, had been spray painted on it in big purple letters next to several names. She would just be able to make out the names Alan Quartermaine and The Artful Dodger as they walked past.

[Axenia]

She looked at the walls, fascinated. She had never believed that all this existed in the library, it was amazing and scary at the same time. She let a hand play a little with the hair on Alistairs neck, kissing it. She found it hard keeping her hands to herself, she still was annoyed with Ryan for interupting them.
   "This is incredible, how many places like this are there." She let go of Al to touch the wall. Her heart was beeting faster as the came closer to the monster.

[Villain]

'Well this is sort of the catacombs of the place. They've no idea who built it. Never really gave it enough thought.' Alistair spoke as the continued down the corridor until eventually they walked out into what could only be described as a vault. The walls and floor of the room were iron and cold but felt strong and secure. The room was twice the size of the library and seemed to resemble a museum for there were glass display cases dotted around the entire room. Inside of them were lots of different artifacts, all of different shapes and sizes. Naturally there were also a lot of books, but these didn't seem like the ones in the library, these were tattered leather bound books that seemed to radiate strange power.
  Sitting hunched over a desk wearing the same tattered clothes was the creature from the other night. It was immersed in a large book that at first glance looked tattered and moth eaten, but as they came forward they realised that it was infact a pop up book. The page he had it opened to looked like a battle scene, there were armoured plated knights battling each other in front of him whilst shouting out war cries.
  'G-good afternoon' The creature spoke as he turned his head towards them. This unfortunately didn't seem to be something that Alistair and the rest of his friends were used to, for when the creature turned his head it went all the way around.
  'We talked about this. You don't do that.' Alistair spoke uneasily.

[Axenia]

"Al, let him." Casey smiled and kissed Alistair's cheek, she took a small step forward, looking at the monster. She was a bit uneasy, hoping he wouldn't react violently towards her.
   "Hi, my name is Casey, do you remember me?"

[Villain]

'I remember.' He replied before turning all the way around to face them, 'Sorry about pushing you. I hurt you.' He spoke before looking grimly at his hands, 'I hurt people. That's what I do. What I am.' He muttered.
  'We've been through this. You're not a monster.' Lulu spoke softly and walked forward to sit beside the creature. He seemed to stare at her warily and shuffle uncomfortably.
  'Tell that to the books. That's what they lable me...or him.' He replied before clenching his fists, 'Frankensteins monster.'

ooc: Sorry for the delay. Just got very distracted by banks and their details and problems :P

[Axenia]

"Lulu is right, you're not a monster. It was my own fault, I shouldn't have treated you that way. I hope that you will forgive me, I'm truly sorry that I scared you." She took a deep breath and walked over to him, she held out her hand to him, smiling as she did so. After shaking his hand she turned to Ryan, her eyes narrowing.
   "And you Ryan Black, if you ever again mentions what you saw, I swear that I will destroy your painting, and then I'm going to destroy you." She turned then to Alistair, biting her lip. She took his hand and lead him a little way from the others.
   "I'm sorry to do this to you Al, but I need to know. Are we dating, or is this just some fun between friends? Either is fine by me, but I really need to know." She looked him in the eyes.

[Villain]

'Your kind.' He spoke softly but continued to look depressed. When Casey addressed Ryan he threw his hands up defensively while smirking at the angry girl.
  'Like I would tell anyone about your great body. Besides doing that would distract me from my current plan of making you and Lulu make out.' He spoke with a cheeky grin and waggled his eyebrows at Lulu.
  When Casey addressed Alistair he seemed to go a little red and scratch the back of his head nervously, 'I...I don't know. I would like...to...you know...see you..and that would be nice I guess.' He stammered, unsure of how to convey what he was thinking.

[Axenia]

She tilted her head a little, smiling at the boy who suddenly didn't have all the answers. She was very confused about his answer, he wanted to see her, but would it be like just friends or something more. She rested a hand on his cheek, looking him in the eyes.
   "Al, you're not making any sense. I like you, I really do. Your so, well, I think your very hot and charming in your own way. If you want to stay friends then fine. If you want to be friends who fool around once in a while, that's fine too. If you want to date me, then I wouldn't mind." She didn't want to make him uncomfortable, but she needed to know where they stood. She bit her lip, nervous about his answer.

[Villain]

'I...well...' Alistair stuttered and kept scratching his head, 'I'm a complex guy Casey. I have a brain that thinks ten times faster than anyone and I oberve too much. I just...well...I want to.' He mumbled before dropping his hand, 'I'd like to go out with you, but I don't want you being hurt because of what I am.'
  'So...they're just discussing this in front of us without realising we're listening?' The creature asked as he looked left and right at Ryan and Lulu who were now sat either side of him watching the two of them intently.
  'First thing to learn about Casey pal is that she still doesn't really know how to pick her moments.' Ryan spoke before shaking his head, 'Honestly we're trying to break you in and all these two care about is getting in each others pants.'
  'He means going out with each other not getting laid.' Lulu corrected.
  'No I don't.' Ryan immediately replied.

[Axenia]

Casey let her hand run through Alistairs messy hair, she smiled and kissed him gently on the lips, closing her eyes and just enjoying the feel and taste of them. There were nobody else she wanted to be with.
   "You're not going to hurt me Al, I know what you are. And even though you really can drive me crazy when you're overthinking something, you're the only one I want to go out with." She gave him a hug, resting her head on his shoulder for a moment. And now you're going to have to take me to the dance, you know, the one that boy talked about. I think it could be fun." She walked over to the others and sat down, the smile wouldn't fade.

[Villain]

'Guys! Seriously, right here! It was cute but now it's kind of getting rude.' Ryan called out whilst waving his arms to attract their attention.
  'I think it could be too.' Alistair replied before turning to the three that seemed to now sigh in relief.
  'So what do we do now that we're all together?' Lulu asked, giving the creature a sideways glance.
  'Well first we ask our new friend what he wants to go by.' Alistair spoke before gesturing to the creature, who seemed to scratch his head in a perplexed manner.
  'Hmmm...well I guess Frankenstein would be a bit too obvious.' He spoke with a frown as he scratched his chin, 'I have no idea what the names are of the people who make up my body either so I guess it's a bit of a clean slate.' He spoke softly whilst continuing to sscratch his green chin with his finger.
  'What about Sheldon?' Lulu asked, 'A take on Mary Shelly's last name?'

[Axenia]

Casey looked at the monster for a while, she guessed Sheldon could be as good a name as any, but he didn't look like a Sheldon to her.
   "Why not just Frank, he kind of looks like a Frank." She smiled at him, a kind smile. She walked over to the others, sitting down on a chair and starting to let her fingers run through her long hair. It was still a bit messy after having slept, and her passionate moment with Alistair. She bit her lower lip when she thought about it, she could still feel the way he had pulled down her panties. The butterflies in her stomach, the anticipation of what would happen. Her cheeks blushed a little, she looked over at Al, imagining him almost naked.
   She shook her head, trying to focus. This wasn't the time or place for that, she would get her chance, she was sure of it, perhaps after the dance.
   "What are we going to do about Mr. Spring and Moriarty, we can't just sit and wait for them to attack us." She looked at Alistair, she considered him the leader of their small group.

[Villain]

'Franks a bit obvious isn't it?' The creature asked before pointing to himself and clearing his throat, 'I am Frank.' He said out loud, as if testing out the name. He was quiet for a moment before he nodded contently, 'Ok. I'm Frank. Frank Shelly.'
  'Nice to meet you Frank Shelly.' Alistair spoke before crossing to a desk in front of the three of them and sitting on the edge of it, 'Now heres the plan. I've been looking at Franks blood sample and although I'm no expert on cellular activity there is one thing I'm certain of; Frank's cells are dead.'
  'You better be building to something here Al because you just stated the obvious.' Ryan muttered.
  'I am.' Alistair replied, 'Which is why it was strange for me to find live tissue cells on top of his. Faint traces of living human DNA.' He said with a proud smile, 'I think that they belong to the person who created Frank.'

[Axenia]

Casey looked at Alistair, she had been playing with her hair for a while before letting it fall down her back again. She raised one eyebrow, letting her chin rest on her hand.
   "What good is that going to do, if you have nothing to campare it to Al? You can't go around town taking samples from everyone you meet." Sure it was good that he had found some trace of who made Frank, but it was useless at this point, at least to her. She leaned back in her chair, letting out a sigh when she got a text. It was from her parents, telling her to get her ass home. She got up from her chair, excusing herself from the others and went outside. She called her father who was angry that she hadn't stayed at home when she was still recovering.
   "Sir, I'm just hanging out with some friends... Yes it's the ones from that night, but I'm fine really... Please dad." Her eyes went hard as she spoke with him, he disliked her friends believing they were the cause of her accident. He had told her to stay away from them, threatening to move again away from them.

[Villain]

'True. We don't have the resources to find the culprit.' He agreed with a short nod, 'Which is why we're going to-' He stopped as Casey looked down at her phone. The group looked at her and watched as she excused herself and left the room.
  'Does that always happen?' Frank asked meekly as Casey walked out of the room.
  'Only during moments when it can really worry us if she were to suddenly leave.' Lulu said anxiously they watched her leave.

[Axenia]

Casey came back in after about 10 minutes and sat back down, she didn't say anything but just by looking at her everyone could tell that it hadn't been a pleasurable conversation. Her jaw was clenched and those who sat closest to her could feel a warmth coming from her, she looked at Alistair.
   "So what are we going to do Al, how are we going to find him?"

[Villain]

'Before that how about you fill us in on the conversation you just had?' Ryan asked as he watched the girl walked back into the room, 'I take it any conversation that makes you heat up like that can't have been enjoyable'
  'It was her dad he blames us for making Casey ignite on the roof the other day and think that she is the reason the whole building fell to the ground. He also thinks we're putting her in a dangerous position by dragging her out of hospital when she isn't healed.' Alistair explained with a sigh before pausing as he realised everyone was staring at him, 'It's been a while since I've done the mind reading deduction act hasn't it?'
  'I've sort of missed it.' Lulu spoke with a grin before nudging Frank, 'He does that a lot. You'll get used to it.'

[Axenia]

Casey gave Alistair a warning look, she had never liked his mindreading deduction skills. She had hoped he wouldn't use them on her, but she had been apparently been wrong. She turned to Lulu, still clenching her jaw.
   "Sure it's fun Lulu, when his not doing it to you." She sighed. "I'm sorry, but my father is considering making us move again, and he doesn't want me to hang out with you guys." The worst thing in the world would be moving away again, she finally had friends. But more than that, she was kind of dating Alistair. It was a first for her, dating someone.

[Villain]

'Hmmm...well I guess we're lucky that we have some resources now that will be able to change that.' Alistair spoke before pointing to Frank, 'Frank would you mind getting out the address book?' He asked politely. Frank nodded and walked over to a nearby desk. On the top of it was a leather bound book with flowers etched into the front of it. The name; Maria Vander, could clearly be seen on the front of it.
  'This is Ms Vander's special address book. We should be able to find someone to help out here.' He spoke before rubbing his hands together eagerly.

[Axenia]

"Alistair, what are you planning to do, what kind of help do you have in mind?" She got up and looked at him, but not walking towards him. She could never tell what he was up to, only that it probably was well thought through. She sat down again on the table, one of her shoulderstraps had fallen down of her shoulder, but she didn't notice.

[Villain]

'Simple Casey. If your father thinks moving is going to solve things then we need to give him a reason to stay.' Alistair spoke and nodded his thanks to frank as he was passed the book. He flicked through the pages, making sure to study each name on every page. It was a well organised book, each page not only had the name and address but also had the person true name.
  'So think...what would make your dad; a military man, stay in Woodmore?' He asked before smiling broadly as he spotted the word; Corporal.

[Axenia]

"Nothing is going to make him stay if he doesn't wants to, my mother has begged him several times to stay when we found somewhere she liked. And he won't listen to me. The only thing that would make him stay is if he's ordered." She went over to him to have a glance at the book he was holding.
   She bit her lip as she looked down over the lists of names, moving some of her hair behind her ear. She didn't know what would make Alistair look so excited, she couldn't see it.

[Villain]

'Which is why we're going to get someone to order him.' He said with a grin on his face before pointing to the name of the page; 'Corporal Augustus Flute' He said with a smile before shutting the book with a snap before Casey could read anymore, 'This is going to be a tricky one but we're going to find this man and convince him to give your father the order to stay as well as run a DNA match on our friend here.'
  'Why would a Corporal be able to do a DNA check on me?' Frank asked curiously as he scratched the top of his dirt encrusted head.

[Axenia]

Casey wasn't sure that the major would listen to anyone, but it was worth a shot. Moving was an option she preferred to avoid. She smiled and kissed Al's cheek before she smiled at him. It was a sweet and charming smile, but her eyes told him that her thoughts were still back at his room.
   "I knew dating a smart guy would come in handy." She let a hand slide unseen down his back before she went back to her chair. She tried had to focus on what they had to do, but her mind kept wandering. 'Stop it, when did you become a girl who throws herself at a boy?' She shook her head biting her lower lip and looked at Al.
   "If his address is in the book, then why don't some of us just go visit him. I think it would be a good idea if Al, of cause, went and perhaps Lulu. She has a charming personality, unlike Ryan and me." She looked at Ryan as she said it.

[Villain]

'It will be vital for me to go and you will need to come too seeing as you need tell him why you need your dad to stay.' Alistaor spoke before looking over his shoulder at Frank, 'We'll need you to come too.'
  'What?' Ryan, Lulu and Frank all spoke in union at Alistairs statement.
  'Al with all due respect to Frank-he doesn't fit in anywhere. It'll be a risk taking him to his guy.' Ryan said whilst casting an apologetic glance at Frank.

[Axenia]

Casey was just as shocked as the others, taking Frank with them would be a considerable risk. If anyone saw him all hell would break loose, if they were lucky someone would just think that halloween had come early this year. She turned to Al, her mouth half open.
   "Al, as much I hate to agree with Ryan, I have to admit that he's right. Frank won't be able to be disguised as an ordinary person. Not unless you want us all to dress up and act like were going to a costume party." She had started pacing up and down the floor, she didn't want to go to see this corporal, but she could see the logic in what Al was saying. She finally sat down on the table, her dress had moved up and exposed her thigh.

[Villain]

'Unfortunately not taking him isn't an option that we have. This man is going to be a guy who will only help if we present him with evidence and logic.' Alistair spoke before looking at Frank, 'Are you willing to risk walking in public?'
  Frank was silent for a moment. He seemed to have a look of concern on his patched up face for a moment, then slowly the look faded away and he nodded, a determined look replacing the nervous look, 'Lets do this.'
  'Good-' Alistair began.
  'On one condition.' Frank spoke before glancing nervously about before walking towards Alistair and whispering something into his ear. Casey knew that when something knocked Alistair off his feet in shock that it was a big deal, but what happened next was something that seemed to topple any reaction he had had over the last few days.
  'What? Frank are you serious?' Alistar asked, completely shocked by the request.
  'Please.' Frank mumbled softly before looking at the floor. Alistair looked hesitant for a moment before eventually giving in and nodding reluctantly.
  'Fine, but you understand that just because I agree doesn't mean it will happen.' He spoke softly to which Frank just nodded in response.

[Axenia]

Casey looked from Frank to Alistair and back again, she hadn't seen him like that in a while. She walked over to them, her eyes narrowing a bit as she tried to read both of them. But she couldn't, she had never been good at reading people.
   "Since I have to join you two, is there something I need to know? What's going on? She looked at Alistair when she said the last thing, her tone of voice was that of her father when he gave an order, it demanded an answer.

[Villain]

'I'll tell you tomorrow. It's late and we need to go home and rest, it's going to be a long day.' Alistair spoke before pocketing the address book and letting out a deep sigh. The five of them cleared up the area before wishing Frank goodbye and walking out of the library. All the time Alistair thought about the week and how complicated it had gotten in just a short space of time. Their nemesis had made himself known and now they were on the verge of something big and terrible. It had been the one big thing that Alistair had kept to himself, for he knew that Franks existence meant more than just a new friend. People would want Frank. They would want the knowledge of life after death and Mr Spring would be the first one in line to fight them for it.

ooc: I'm going to start a new game in this section if you'll give me a moment. If you've got any thoughts give me a pm :)