A/N: So there wasn't much to 24, I thought I'd give you all this.

"Geez!" DG exclaimed as the whirlwind dissipated around her and her companions.

When they had left the City of Emeralds, DG had known instinctively what to do. After they had walked to where they had tethered the horses, she had grabbed both Raw and Jeb's hands and let her magic flow through her. Dorothy had told her that the Slippers would take them where they needed to go. She trusted that and had let the winds come when they had started to rise around her.

Through the haze of magic, she had become aware that they had left the ground in the midst of a white funnel cloud. It was not the violent monstrosity like the travel storm that had brought her to the O.Z.. Much smaller, it was safe and warm, reassuring, even. It seemed as though only a few seconds passed before their feet were on terra firma once more.

And when the whispering winds cleared, they had found themselves in the middle of a frozen wasteland, looking down on an imposing fortification carved from the rock. There were monsters there. DG could feel them. The Silver Slippers were gone now and her old sneakers were once again on her feet.

DG turned to check on her companions. Speedy seemed mildly annoyed and the other two horses snorted and danced around a little. Raw was windblown, but taking it in stride. Jeb, on the other hand, seemed a little dazed.

"The only way to fly, huh?" She grinned cheekily.

He gave her a disgusted look as he ran a hand through his unruly blonde hair as he turned to pull his rifle from the scabbard. "All right. Here we are. So where are we?"

"The home of the Ice Witch, I would think." DG stepped closer to the edge of the large rock valley and pulled her coat more tightly around her. "This must be where the machine is."

As if to answer her, the ground shook beneath their feet. As Jeb rushed forward to pull her back from the edge, DG saw a brilliant white light erupt from the large glass panes of the tallest tower. For a few seconds, it remained a large, opaque orb surrounding the top of the tower and DG's breath caught. It seemed like they were too late.

But then, the orb grew smaller, contracting until only the panes of glass were illuminated again. Finally, those went dark as well.

Jeb's hands were still on her shoulders. "Maybe your magic isn't strong enough to power that thing."

"That wasn't my magic." DG felt a cold stone settle in the pit of her stomach. She knew as certainly as she knew her own name. "That was Azkadellia. They've got her."

"Turn it off!"

Breathing hard and leaning on the side of her glass cylinder, Azkadellia managed a smile. She had told him she wasn't helping. And so far, she had been true to her word.

It had taken everything she had to resist the pull of the machine. It had sucked at her, dragging her magical energy from her body, but she had focused everything on restraining the bleed. The pain that had coursed through her had been unbearable, but she knew if she could hold out, Stribog would have no choice but to shut the machine down.

Or he would kill her.

Ordering her heart to stop pounding, Azkadellia looked up as the Ice King approached. She managed a full-blown, self satisfied grin when she saw the pure lividness of his face. She wondered if she could get him hot enough to just melt on the spot.

"Very nice, Your Highness." He spat sarcastically as she stood up again. "But I doubt you have the energy for a repeat performance of that little trick."

She crossed her arms. "I'm ready to find out when you are. Of course, if you kill me, this little toy of yours isn't going to work all that well, is it?"

Stribog growled and stormed away, bellowing for them to reset the machine for a second run. From across the room, Zero frowned at her. Azkadellia smiled back cheekily and waved. Maybe this whole mess would kill her. But she wasn't going down without a fight. If she could help it, she was going to save the O.Z..

There was a commotion and suddenly, the doors to the control room chamber burst open. A thin panting Suket fell through, immediately bowing to Stribog. "My Lord, intruders at the northern slave gate. The prisoners are escaping."

Damn it! Azkadellia swore inwardly. No prize for guessing who that would be. Why couldn't they let her sacrifice herself like a good little martyr? She knew that they were coming after her. She had simply hoped she would have been able to tip the scales more in their favor before they arrived. So much for that

"It's Cain and the Headcase." Zero was suddenly standing straighter. "They've come after the princess."

"Then they are fools. And they will pay." Stribog turned to the guard. "Alert all guards and have them move to the prison level."

The guard nodded and hurried from the room again.

"Of course, this could work to our advantage." Azkadellia swallowed hard as those cold, lifeless eyes fell on her. "I want them alive."

The Ice Witch smiled as her hand traced the curve of Zero's shoulder. "Perhaps it is time to finish what we started in the Southern Forest."

"I think it is." Azkadellia felt sick as a slow, evil smile came to Zero's lips. The evil man turned to her. "Wyatt Cain, a quivering mass at your feet, Highness. Maybe that will convince you to cooperate. Or, perhaps, you have a soft spot for a certain Headcase?"

She pressed her hands against the glass, feeling rage grip her insides. "If you hurt either one of them, you will regret it."

Zero smiled evilly, but turned to the woman. "Let's finish this, now. I've been patient long enough."

She watched the pair leave to carry out their plan. Obviously, they intended to break Cain and the last time Azkadellia had seen him, he didn't look very far from the breaking point as it was. If they captured Cain, Ambrose would most certainly surrender in an effort to help his friend. She felt the fist clamp tighter around her heart as she thought of sweet, kind Ambrose in the clutches of these monsters.

Leaning forward, Azkadellia pressed her forehead against the glass, ignoring the triumphant smirk on Stribog's sharp features.

If they captured Cain and Ambrose, she would have no more cards to play.

What now? She wondered miserably.

Now she knew what salmon swimming upstream felt like. Just as DG, Jeb, and Raw had made it to the open passageway on the north side of the compound, people came flooding out of it. They were panicked and running for their lives. Further in, she could hear the sounds of gunfire and felt her heart leap into her throat. These were all of the people that had gone missing from their homes over the past month.

She and her friends had arrived in the middle of a jail-break. Jeb dashed in headlong, dragging DG along with him. They were immediately pressed to the wall by the bolting mob. With a growl, Jeb pushed forward again.

Ahead, she could see a red-haired man at the junction between the main corridor and a side passage. It was from there that people were running. She heard him holler, "Hurry!" Before sending a couple of shots down the hall.

The man gave them an odd look as he tried to herd more refugees from the depths. "Who the hell are you?"

"Friends." Jeb called back as he pulled DG out of the mob. "We're here to stop this thing."

The man snapped his head around. "More of you?"

"What?" DG called over the din.

"Two men just went that way." The man looked down the corridor to make sure his enemy was still at bay. "One guy in a hat and the other with a zipper on his head."

"Wonder who that could be?" DG said sarcastically as she charged down the hall. Jeb and Raw were right behind her. Cain and Glitch were here. That scared her and made her feel better all at the same time. On the one hand, she wasn't here with just Jeb and Raw hurtling towards the unknown. On the other, more of her friends were in danger.

"Look out!" Jeb pushed her hard as they approached a fork in the corridor as he shifted the rifle in his hands, bringing the stock hard to the forehead of a Suketian who had been running headlong down the grade from the left-hand hall. He managed to fell a second in a similar manner before giving a battle cry and throwing himself up the passage.

There was a sudden yell behind them. DG turned to see about ten Suketian warriors burst from the side corridor and open fire on the escaping prisoners. She could see people falling as they were wounded and before she could stop herself, she felt a scream of anger rip from her throat.

As the Suket turned on her, she felt Raw shove her hard down the corridor. For a few seconds she struggled against him before the gentle man yelled urgently. "DG, please!"

She relented, knowing he was right. There was nothing she could do in that corridor. What she had to do was get to her sister and stop this thing at the source.

But she got the distinct impression she was going the wrong direction. "We need to head up."

"Need to escape, first."

The pair burst from the passage into a huge cavern, brilliantly lit by huge lights that were affixed to the walls every few feet. The ceiling was at least a half a mile above them and all around was huge cables and the blinking lights of computer consoles.

DG was taking in the massive bundle of electrical cables in front of her when Raw yanked her down a narrow path between two of the computer banks. "Run!"

The Suket were behind them. Panting, DG led her friend first down one path and then another, trying to lose their pursuers in the maze of their own evil machine. She heard them yelling behind her. She looked back to try and see them.

And ended up running right into the pair that had cut her off at the pass. It was like hitting a block of ice. Before she could react, icy hands had a hold on her jacket collar. "We have them!"

The Suketian guard holding her glared down maliciously. "If it isn't the little princess? Come to see her sister, I presume?"

DG didn't reply, resisting the urge to use her magic and turn this guy to toast. She had to wait. If she could just keep that secret to herself for a few more minutes.

"Take them to Stribog." One of the men behind her called. "He wanted the Tin Man, but I believe this is even better."

Cain was still out there. And so was Jeb. DG hid a smile. This wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

"Hey! Get your hands off of me!"

DG cringed. She knew that voice. Her fears were confirmed when she and Raw were dragged from between the computers. From the opposite side of the aisle, two more Suketians came, holding Glitch between them. The man struggled against his captors until he saw DG and Raw coming towards him. "What-? How-?"

"Hey, Glitch." DG said solemnly. "How are you?"

"Oh, you know. Captured." He was spending too much time with Cain, DG decided. There was disappointed and poignant edge to his look. "Do I even want to know what you're doing here?"

"No." Raw replied simply.

The guards apparently had had enough. The one holding DG barked, "Take them up to the tower."

Yeah, she thought, let's go to the tower.