A/N: Btw, I noticed a mistake in the last uploaded chapter. I had edited the original WordPad and missed the modifications on the individual chapters. So I fixed Chapter 3. Sorry about that. What was left out was Aslan giving restitution to Xipe for anyone in the Spoof Complex that has opened or will open the box. So fortunately that mess in the Waiting Room was the last sacrifice we'll have to give him. By all rights, he really didn't need that one, but we weren't told until later that Aslan had taken care of it…and Xipe was ticked off so he made the mess on purpose. Whether or not you wish to go back and re read that section, I'll go ahead tell you. Aslan, having fixed Blackheart from his catatonic state was given possession of the Contract of San Venganza because Blackheart wanted nothing to do with it.
So Xipe was given the Contract by Aslan, paying him one thousand evil souls for the Labyrinth. This secured his services and his presence amongst us.
CHAPTER FOUR: "DON'T TEASE THE NICE DEMON IN THE DRESS"
(Oh come on, we have an entire building full of immature insane people. You KNOW that his wardrobe choice had to be noticed at SOME point)
Leaving Med Lab, Xipe was certainly in a better mood than he had been when he'd first been awakened there. Had it not been for Spenser, he might have lost this lovely child and her very interesting father to Elliot. He'd been most impressed to hear that this seemingly innocent looking blonde had acquired a rather large body count by the time she had turned twelve.
After an initial outburst from Blackheart upon meeting Mindy Macready's father, Damon, things were soon cleared up. Although Mindy had found it hysterically funny that her father seemed to be the twin brother of Ghostrider and the Potty-Mouth Bucket had ended up costing Blackheart yet more money.
"Once having gotten to know Damon, however, Blackheart decided that despite his resemblance, the man had nothing further in common with the Rider.
Marcus, letting Damon and his daughter handle their involvement in the game themselves, had said he was headed back to work for a while. Damon had assured him they'd be just fine. They had read the rules given to them by Xipe and had both agreed. Mindy could handle whatever was thrown at her. After killing over forty mafia hit men and drug dealers, she would have no trouble dealing with killing and dying if it came down to it.
(Puppet Master A/N: You will notice in this section that I included Leach Woman and Decapitron as a couple. For those unfamiliar with Puppet Master 3-5, these were the puppets created using Mrs. Elsa Toulon and Andre Toulon. Leach Woman doesn't appear in 4 or 5, but I added her in. Decapitron was supposed to have died at the end of the 5th one but I brought him back for my own reasons)
In their new quarters, Rick Myers couldn't help but laugh. They had been given two bedrooms. One was obviously for him and his wife and the other; for the puppets. Obviously, Cassi's opinion of keeping them in the trunk counted for sleeping too. The second bedroom was filled with much tinier furniture and each puppet was apparently allowed to choose his own bed. It explained why it had taken so long to have their living quarters ready.
Leach Woman of course chose to stay with Decapitron and Rick, knowing they were husband and wife in their original lives, did not object.
"So were you and them going to join in the festivities going on out there?" Suzie asked Rick as soon as they had unpacked.
Rick shrugged, grinning. "I've been thinking about it." He replied. "You don't want to?"
"Not really." His wife responded. "You might ask how many of them are going to want to play. Six-Shooter, Blade, Jester, and Torch seemed to be very interested."
"And from the look of those guys in the waiting room, that Assistant Director might just need the help." Rick pointed out. "I'll ask them and see what they think."
In the office, Archie was at his desk with Romano. They were going through Cassi's second list of newcomers.
"I'll help call in these ones but then I'm headed back to our place." Romano told him, gesturing to the lower half of the list. "Lizzie's expecting me to be back soon and frankly, I'm getting out of the line of fire here."
"You think it'll be that bad?" Archie questioned.
"Not for those not in on the game, but I suspect it won't be long until this place is a total mess." Romano replied. "I saw the look on Elliot's face as well as Xipe's, and frankly I trust Blackheart about as far as I can pick up this place and throw it."
"Aslan said he got a hold of the parents of children to tell them either not to come in or that their children are not allowed to leave the kid room." Archie put in quietly. "Though the X-Babies and the Brotherhood are all allowed out."
"Are you going to join them?"
"I don't know." Archie answered, with a shrug. "I might eventually. I know about the death thing, but they still can't get to me with their weapons."
"He can kill you with his bare hands just as easily, Kennedy." Romano warned.
"We'll see." Archie responded.
WARNING: Very immature actions ahead…..
In her own office, Cassi laid on the couch with her feet up, watching the monitors from the cameras around the Complex. Lights had already joined Elliot, and Romano was getting ready to leave for home. The only Assistant she had in the building still working was Archie.
Sighing, she pulled out a list. Haldir, Diego, Julian, and Prince John were all on her call-in list. Julian had been on probation for a while and dropped off the Assistant's list. Diego was a temp, and Prince John was off while he was acting. Hal was a regular instated Assistant, but was not there at that time.
Shrugging, she pulled out the phone. If Julian were to come in, he'd likely end up in the Game as part of Xipe's side. He was after all, a demon himself. The others . . . well there was one way to find out.
Elliot, seated on the counter in the Break Room was wasting no time on the next prank he was planning to carry out. After explaining to Joey what was going on and introducing her to the officers from the Titanic, they had gotten down to business with the humiliation part of the plan.
Joining them in mischief, Dr. John Carter, Ardeth Bay, and Dr. Luka Kovac, all dressed in Med-jai robes and sporting facial tattoos with long hair were more than happy to add to the confusion. All three had rather impressive Xanth talents in addition to being warriors and would be incredibly handy to have around.
Carter was a healer, Ardeth possessed the talent of transforming living things within six feet of him, and Luka could change the color of inanimate objects at any distance.
"Are you sure this place is really letting you do this?" Joey asked, uncertainly. "I find it hard to believe they're just letting you all come in and play games killing everyone and totally trash the place."
"We're on break right now." Carter assured her. "It's okay. It's not like we can't put it back. We're not filming…unless you count this stuff, and the other Directors are either on vacation or in Sven's case retired. We have nothing else to do. Usually we're just hanging around being immature and insane."
"In other words, everything is normal." Ardeth translated.
"This is normal?" Doc asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well we don't normally have demons in dresses running around killing people, but yeah everything else is normal." Carter responded.
Joey covered her mouth, giggling.
Elliot frowned.
"Sorry, it was the 'dresses' thing."
"What?" Carter asked pointedly, motioning to Spenser's clothing. "What do you call it? That is a leather DRESS!"
Elliot frowned, looking down at his outfit, identical to Xipe's. "You know there is something under it." He pointed out, grabbing his new knife from its holder.
Carter frowned, watching as the Captain sliced the front of the robe all the way down to reveal the armored leather pants. (Because I sincerely doubt they wear the armor on top and have nothing underneath the bottom)
"Though come to think of it, that's a lot more convenient." Elliot remarked, slyly. "Now I can add to the weapons."
Joey laughed. "And it no longer looks like a dress." She remarked with a wink.
"That too." He replied, adding two ankle holsters from the arsenal he now owned.
"Glad they didn't put one of those dresses on me." Doc retorted, making a face.
"So what were you planning to do to Dress-guy next?" Ardeth asked with a perfectly straight face.
"'Dress-guy.'" Doc repeated. "Oh, that is sooo wrong. You'd better not let him hear you say that."
"I could change his dress a more interesting color." Kovac put in, with a smirk. "You can kill him, and then we can make sure the ones bringing him back get a great sight."
Elliot's eyes widened a moment, but then his face took on a thoughtful look.
"You wouldn't." Doc cut in.
A small devilish guilty grin emerged on the Captain's face.
"Ooohh." Doc groaned. "Oh man, killing him is one thing, Elliot, but humiliating his dead body? That's just messed up! He will skin you ALIVE!"
"Don't be silly." Elliot argued, brushing it off. "It's pain, it's torture, it's suffering! He LIKES it!"
"Cenobite Psychology 101." Carter announced, rolling his eyes.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, pal." Doc snorted.
"I don't want joint credit on this one." Joey quietly spoke up. "He's already mad at you, Elliot. This . . . is suicide."
"He's going to kill me anyway." Spenser pointed out. "I may as well deserve it."
"I'll get a picture for the bulletin board." Carter announced, grinning.
"You're all insane." Joey stated, shaking her head.
"And your point is?" Ardeth asked matter of factly.
"We pull immature stunts like this all the time." Carter responded. "Watch the DVD's of the Youth Elixir parties. They're full of them."
"So assuming we do this, do we need to get him alone or take down Blackheart too?" Kovac questioned, loudly.
"It's more than Blackheart." Moody called from the doorway.
"Meaning?" Carter returned.
"Remember that pig-tailed little blonde that went to Med Lab?"
Elliot frowned. "What about her?"
"Well it turns out this innocent blonde is quite the expert with knives and guns and she and her newly resurrected father who taught her everything she knows have just joined Xipe." Moody explained.
"How 'expert' is expert?" Elliot asked, raising an eyebrow.
"If that's Mindy Macready, they call her Hit Girl." Lights supplied. "The other Assistants and I saw all her background. It's why we called her in. She has a total body count of 41 mafia hit men."
The members of the group that didn't know about this turned to stare at Lights.
"And how again did she end up with him?" Carter asked, staring. "Her legal guardian is a cop and her father was a cop at one point."
"Malucci in Med Lab said she was watching them and apparently she was either showing off or whatnot, but she chucked a knife across the room and he apparently caught it through his hand and when I say through, I mean through; and Dave doesn't really know how it happened, but they kind of hit it off and next thing you know she and her father are with him." Moody explained.
"So how do we get them away from him long enough to take him out again?" Doc asked. "They're gonna be headed to the Waiting Room to go pick up the rest of the cenobites there. If we're gonna get him again, we should do it now."
Lights frowned. "The girl is dragging a suitcase." He pointed out. "I don't think they have their living quarters yet. I could get someone to find her and her father to take them there, and then it would leave Xipe and Blackheart alone."
"That would even the odds more." Carter agreed. "Ardeth can get Blackheart away. Heck, he could change them both into children."
"That would certainly add to the overall fun, wouldn't it?" Lowe retorted, grinning.
"I'll go see if Archie can get Mindy and her father to go with him." Lights replied, headed toward the office. "The rest of you, go off and see if you can't intercept them before they reach the Waiting Room?"
Joey stared at them "Changing them into children makes it fun?"
The Officers from the Titanic grinned at her.
"It was when we did it." Lights informed her with a sheepish grin, leaning over to lower his voice. "The untold stories of the Titanic. Watch the DVD's."
Miles away in a rundown neighborhood, Kirsty Cotton was returning home from work. She had moved in the three years since her husband's death to a different apartment, though it was not too far from her old one. Thus far, things had been uneventful.
Kirsty was tired, and things were stressful. She was short of money and she still refused to reduce herself to using the money Frank had left her. Anything from him was certainly not worth the time it would take to burn it.
Kirsty stopped short as she approached her door. Standing out in the hallway were two men, both looking directly at her.
"Ms. Kirsty Cotton?" One of them asked.
Kirsty frowned. "Yes. Can I help you?"
The man pulled out a badge. "Ryan Gaerity. US Marshal." One of them informed her. "This is Mike Barrett, my deputy. We need you to come with us on a matter of urgency."
"What is this about?" Kirsty asked, her heart nearly skipping a beat.
Gaerity pulled out a photo. "Do you know what this is?"
Kirsty's face drained of color. "I've seen one like it before." She managed to reply.
"Do you know what comes out of it?" Barrett asked, knowingly.
"What exactly do you want?" Kirsty responded, swallowing.
"We've done some research into this, and the place we work for is involved in whatever has come from this box." Gaerity informed her quietly. "Can you help us with information on whatever you've seen pertaining to this? We know from medical records you've had some experience in this before, whether classified as some mental disorder or not; you're the best link we've been able to find yet."
"You're serious?"
"Yes ma'am." Barrett replied. "Chances are we've already got someone dead by now. These things are real. I've seen them."
Kirsty chewed her lip thinking it over. If she got close enough to them, they could claim her again and she knew it. However, these people seemed to need help. "Let me change clothes and pack a bag." She finally answered, letting them into her apartment to wait for her.
As soon as she left the room, Ryan and Murdoc shared a grin. Fortunately she had not gotten a close look at their badges. Where it should have identified them as US Marshals, theirs identified them as US Psychos, from the parts they had played in the Fugitive and US Marshals Spoofs.
Watching the hallway she had disappeared down, Murdoc typed out a text message to Dr. Romano. 'Mission successful, bringing in the Cotton woman.'
In the bedroom, Kirsty paused over her suitcase. Turning, she made her way to her closet and removed a box from the top shelf. Within the box was another box. Though put away all this time, it had never been far from her thoughts. Eventually, she knew she could not run away forever. It would eventually call her back and this time, there would be no escape.
Picking up the box and running her fingers over the smooth surface, Kirsty closed her eyes. Did she really want to escape him? All these years had passed, and here she was allowing two United States Marshals to bring her right back to where she started as a teenager.
In the hallway, Xipe watched through narrowed eyes as Mindy and her father were lead away by an odd looking man with red hair, wearing an old fedora over a trench coat. The man had introduced himself as Walter Kovac and wore an Assistant's badge.
Blackheart and Xipe had frowned in confusion until they had learned that Mr. Kovac was the Assistant of Cassi's sister, Sven, who was currently not working with the Spoofs anymore, but her Assistants still helped out around the place. He said he had come to find out if the Macreadys' had been shown their room yet.
Damon and his daughter, planning to return once they had changed clothing into their protective gear, had willingly gone with the man, telling the two demons they would meet them after a bit.
"Smell a rat?" Blackheart questioned, quietly.
The pin-faced demon remained silent and his face betrayed nothing, but as his gaze met the younger demon's, his eyes gave all the answer Blackheart needed.
"That's what I thought." The younger demon replied, taking up a defensive stance, standing with his back to Xipe.
This was about the time the dark-skinned desert warrior came out of hiding. As soon as he was within six feet of them, the hallway seemed to grow larger.
Xipe growled when Spenser came around the corner.
The others with him stopped short a moment.
"Oh, they're so cute!" One of them cooed.
"I'll show you cute!" Blackheart sneered, grabbing Ardeth's arm.
The warrior's skin darkened to a bluish color and he dropped to the floor.
Carter pulled his scimitar. "Oh you are sooo dead, you lousy little brat!"
Xipe leapt to the side letting Blackheart fight the other two desert warriors. Still possessing his demon strength and speed, he dove to the side, avoiding Spenser's gunshot. He pulled the curved knife from his belt in mid-dive, plunging it into the back of Elliot's thigh, before twisting around, jerking it out and landing in a crouched position with a snarl. "You forgot to wait until my back was turned."
"Where's the fun in that?" Elliot returned, pulling out his own knife.
Despite his being physically a child at the moment, Xipe showed no weakness. In fact, he noted being smaller sized was actually making him more difficult for Spenser to fight.
Behind them, Blackheart fell to the floor as Carter pulled the scimitar back, but not before the demon had managed to take Luka and Moody down with him.
Watching Elliot fight his demon counterpart, Carter shook his head, knowing he couldn't kill the other demon. "Oh quit playing and finish it already." He muttered watching the knife fight. "The way you're going, the other two will be back before we're done."
Meanwhile, in the Waiting Room, Chatterbeast jumped up from the floor with a growl.
Dreamer stared as the animal, not stopping to wait for the others, was across the room in one leap. A powerful lunge from the floor and he sailed through a large mirror on the wall, shattering glass and sending pieces all over the desk behind the glass as the demonic beast flew over it, running through the open doorway in the back of the room, where it promptly disappeared around the corner.
The cenobites as well as anyone standing in the room stared at the mess of broken glass.
"Let's go." Nikoletta responded, jumping up. "Something isn't right."
Watching the group climb through the window after the beast, a blue eyed man with white blonde hair and black eyebrows gave a sly demonic grin.
Beside him, a tall man with long partly braided blond hair and pointed ears pulled his sunglasses back from his eyes. "Cassi's going to be pissed."
Julian turned to look at Haldir. "What can she do?" The Shadowman pointed out. "The dog did it. She should be relieved he didn't piss the carpet, like her dog would."
[Julian: Shadowman. From LJ Smith's "Forbidden Game" Trilogy. Julian started out an Assistant, but after an incident in the spoof he acted in, he was put on probation and dropped off the Assistant's list.
Haldir of Lorien: LotR trilogy. "Hal" is a full time Assistant, but was on vacation. He has been recalled due to not enough Assistants still working]
Coming next: The revenge of Xipe Totec.
And a lesson to learn. "Hell hath no fury like a SpoofAuthor whose carpet has just been totally ruined."
AND: Kirsty has arrived…..to the LAST sight she ever thought she'd actually see. ;)