Author Note: For those who havn't noticed, I have increased the rating on this story from K+ to T. I did this because of the end of this chapter. I felt like getting a little bit more evil with Johannes, and in such the rating reflects the change. I promise this though, you can take the scene where you want. I have written teh actuall action taken against Johannes in a way you know what happened, but have none of the details. This way, for those who are more easily offended, can take the description for its face value. For those who take it further, that is there business and their business alone.

Chapter 20

Manor of Bone

The next day, just after breakfast, Bentley had a new plan ready. It was one of distraction, and in hopes they would be able to kill two birds with one stone. Once everyone, including Cye, was gathered for the meeting Bentley began. The plan was simple, but the timing had to be flawless.

The first thing was to get Johannes, the real Johannes, out of the house. To do that, Bentley was going to have Blain attack the guards in the front gates. If he did enough damage, the real Johannes would have to come down and deal with him. At the same time, Murray would take a blindfolded Cye to the gate. Since the operation was at night, the blindfold would keep Cye from transforming into his bloodthirsty counterpart.

While the fight between Blain and Johannes is going on, Sly and Rachel would sneak into the manor. They would find Carmelita's Diamond of Emotion, and then make their way to the balcony above the courtyard. There, while Blain has Johannes distracted, Rachel will cast the counter curse spell. With Johannes and Cye in such close proximity, the family curse would be broken. Then, it was just a standard getaway plan. During all this, Sadie and Bentley would work to keep everything coordinated. Timing was important, and since everything in Johannes's manor was involved with magic there was no way to get an exact time table. Everything would have to be done on the fly, and everyone would have to be ready to move at a moments notice.

When the sun set the plan was put into motion. Bentley put on his head phones, and Rachel sat at his laptop. She would keep tabs on everyone's location, relaying them to Bentley as he kept up radio contact with everyone. All the others, against normal protocol, had been given radio headsets. Even Blain had one, but his fit into his ear and had no microphone. All he could do is hear what was going on, and plan his battle strategy accordingly. It would be up to Murray and Cye to tell Bentley how things were going out front while Sly and Rachel were inside the manor.

At 11:00 that night the operation got underway. Blain left with Murray and Cye, following behind the team van as they went towards the front gate. Cye was blindfolded, and his chains were secured to the back of the panel van. In another part of the forest, Sly and Rachel were running across the snow covered ground. At 11:30 everybody was in position, and Bentley held the microphone up to his mouth as he said, "All right, begin Operation Skelton Dance."

Sly and Rachel nodded their heads. Rachel went up to the wall around the manor, casting a spell to temporarily disable the torch security spell. Sly quickly followed, getting over the wall before helping Rachel over. Sly and Rachel darted across the open ground, taking advantage of a cloud that had passed over the moon. They slid up against the house, and began to search for the entrance Bentley had told them about. Soon, they found the old door that lead to the kitchen, and slipped inside.

Once inside, Rachel and Sly paused. Sly brought out his binocucom, pressing the call button as he said, "Wizard and Fiddler, were in."

Back at the safe house Sadie held her hand to her headphones, nodding her head before she passed the message to Bentley. Bentley nodded, touching a button on his own headset before lifting the microphone extension closer to his mouth, "Black Panther, its time to ring the door bell."

Near the front gate, Blain nodded his head. He growled a bit, walking around the team van where Murray and Cye waited. Blain stepped into the yard, ignoring the shouting of the few guards on duty before he reached the center of the area. Then, it began. From the piles of bones that covered the yard, skeletons began to rise up. The skeletons began to launch them selves at Blain, but he swatted them away like fly. The skeletons crashed, breaking apart against the outer walls and the manor itself.

Inside the manor, Sly and Rachel had made it to the kitchen. They were now creeping through the halls. Rachel's magical senses helped her point out any traps, and disable about half of them. The other half Sly wanted to have the pleasure of going through before she turned them off for herself. For the first time in a while, everything was going according to plan.

Up ten flights of stairs, and then going back down one finally landed Sly and Rachel on the right floor. They crept along the hall, looking at the many suits of armor that towered over them. Each seemed to be watching them, but Rachel could sense no magic at work. Finally, after several tense minutes they reached their target, Johannes's study.

Sly put his ear to the door, and froze. He could hear voices. He glanced back at Rachel, and then around the corridor. He then saw their ticked into the study, an air vent. With a little help from Rachel, Sly was able to slide up into the air vent. He crawled slowly, creeping along and testing each section of the air vent to see if it would support his weight.

After a few minutes of crawling, Sly reached an opening in the vent, and was able to look down into the study. There, sitting in front of the fire was Johannes. He was in his usual black tuxedo, his black cane with red ruby handle resting gently beside the soft lounge chair. He was sipping what looked like tea, and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. From the window Sly could hear the battle going on between Blain and the skeletal guards, but Johannes didn't seem all that worried about it.

Outside, Blain could see he was getting no where with the skeletons. Every time he swatted one away, it would come back like nothing ever happened. He needed a new strategy. Murray had already lead Cye out of the van, and just inside the courtyard. The few skeletons went their way, but Murray easily dispatched them, throwing them over the outer wall.

Blain then raised an eyebrow, a bit of curiosity forming in his eyes when he saw the skeletons Murray threw outside the walls weren't coming back. Blain turned to a nearing skeleton, and swatted it so the body of bones flew over the wall. He heard a resound crash as the bones hit a tree, but could sense the magic over the bones quickly ending. He smiled, knowing what Johannes had done. He had created a realm of dominance. As long as the bones remained inside the courtyard, they automatically feed on Johannes magic and acted as he wanted them to. No spells, no incantations, just instantaneous magic.

With that in mind, Blain began to knock every skeleton outside the walls. Soon, the tide of boney warriors began to falter as the supply of full skeletons began to diminish. Inside the manor, Sly could see the smile on Johannes's face slowly disappearing. Johannes looked at the window out of the corner of his eyes. He set his tea down on a nearby end table, standing up as he said, "It appears I have to go tend to our unwelcome guests myself." With that Johannes began to walk towards the balcony that overlooked the courtyard.

Blain took a few seconds to catch his breath, looking around the front yard to see no more skeletons were rising up. He then heard a subtle clapping, and looked up to Johannes had tucked his cane under his right arm, his hands providing the eerie clap, "I must say you have done a marvelous job. You found the weakness of my skeletal guards, and exploited it very well. You are also the mystic that fought off Cyprus, saving your raccoon and lioness friend. A very respectable set of exploits, but I am afraid that your power holds no match against mine. Now, I will ask you once and only once. Why are you here?"

Blain smiled, "That's my little secret you flee bitten mutt."

Johannes's eyes flared with anger, "Would you care to rephrase that?"

Blain nodded his head, "Sure, mediocre necromancer that couldn't make an old dead mouse flick its tail."

Johannes growled, the grip on his cane tightening to the point his knuckles were turning white, "You shall pay for such arrogance mystic."

Blain got down in a battle position, a toothy grin on his face, "Well then, if you're going to make me pay you better do it now. Otherwise, I don't think I'll be leaving you a tip." That was the final straw for Johannes. He leapt down from his balcony, dropping slowly until his feet touched the dirt in front of his house. He snapped his fingers, making the wooden part of his cane disappear, leaving only the ruby. He held the ruby in his hands a few seconds, letting it glow a dark, bloody red before he held it to his heart.

The ruby began to push through Johannes's tuxedo, fusing with his heart. Around him, what bones that remained in the courtyard began to shake. The bones all suddenly burst into dust, flying up to form a tornado around the nercromancing Doberman. A few minutes passed, and the tornado grew to the size of the house. Then, as the dust began to clear, Blain's eyes narrowed at what stood in front of him.

Standing as tall as the manor itself was a creature comprised entirely of bone. It was like a suit of armor, Johannes head sticking up between the shoulder blades. Still, the creature of bone and marrow was huge, and it was moving.

Johannes smiled, the right hand on the armor of bone above his head as he said, "Now, its time to add your skeleton to my collection." With that, Johannes brought the clenched right hand down like a wrecking ball. Blain just managed to jump out of the way. Johannes turned, holding up his left hand as it shifted into the shape of a sword. The sword crashed into the ground, Blain having just jumped out of the way at the same time.

Back up in the manor, Sly just got out of the air vent and went back to the door. He opened it, letting Rachel in as he said, "Hurray, we need to find that diamond." Rachel nodded her head, and the duo began to search the room. Unfortunately, Carmelita's diamond of emotion was no where to be seen. Rachel pounded a nearby table, her tail swishing angrily, "Where is it?"

Sly, however, was more interested in the book shelf. Most of the books had a fair lair of dust on them, except one. Sly reached up, gently pulling on the book. He heard something clicking, and smiled as the book suddenly pulled back. The book case began to move, falling back before it split in half. There, hidden behind the book case, was a pedestal. Upon that pedestal, resting on a soft pillow, a diamond about the size of Sly's fist. Sly smiled, picking up the diamond as he held it in his hand. He turned it gently, and the diamond suddenly turned a bright pink.

Sly continued to turn the diamond, making it change between bright pink, blue, green, red, black, white, purple, and then back to clear. Rachel looked at the diamond over Sly's shoulder, smiling as she said, "That is Carmelita's diamond of emotion all right. Now, that only leaves one thing."

Sly nodded his head, wrapping the diamond in a piece of silk before putting it in his pocket. Rachel and Sly then ran out onto the balcony, and looked on the battle unfolding below. Rachel gasped, watching as Johannes picked Blain up and threw him against the side of the manor. Blain was beaten up pretty badly, but he still struggled to his feet.

Sly looked over at Rachel, a serious tone to his voice, "You better start that counter curse. I'll go down and see what I can do to help Blain. Still, the sooner were out of here, the better."

Rachel nodded her head, watching Sly jump down from the balcony before she dropped down into a sitting position with her legs crossed. She reached into a pouch on her belt, and began to draw a symbol on the ground in front of her.

Sly used his paraglider to land on Johannes's shoulder. Johannes turned, glaring at Sly as he asked, "Who are you?"

Sly smiled, bowing a bit as he said, "Sly Cooper, master thief. Now, if you'll excuse me." With that Sly ran up, using Johannes's head as a spring board to catch some air and paraglide down to where Murray and Cye were standing. Cye still had his blindfold on, leaving Murray to deal with the living guards that were now swarming. Sly came down in the middle of the fight, using his cane to crack a guard over the head before he began to fight with Murray.

Johannes turned, planning to turn Sly to dust when Blain leapt up, wrapping his jaw around the right arm of the armor. Johannes turned his head to look at Blain, growling as he said, "Mystic, you need to learn when you are beat." With that Johannes swung his arm, and made Blain crash into the side of the manor for the second time.

Up on the Balcony, Rachel was finding it hard to concentrate on her task. With the sounds of battle below, she felt she should be fighting instead of sitting there, drawing symbols in sand. Still, Rachel stayed put and merely worked fast. Cye was counting on her to break his curse, and so was Blain. Rachel smiled, finishing the last of her mystic symbols. She brushed the last specks of dust from her hands, and set them on the balcony. As she began to mutter, the symbols on the balcony began to glow. As the spell reached full strength, Rachel looked up and said in a monotone voice,

A Spell of Hate

A Curse of Blood

Passed through a Family

Like a Disease of Malice

Now, in the presence of the ancestor

A descendent of the curse's caster

I summon the powers of nature

The powers of good and evil

Come together and break the spell

Release Cye and his descendents

From the spell of shadows

The symbols drawn in sand began to glow brightly. Johannes sensed the surge of magic, and looked up at the balcony. He growled, his voice thick with anger, "No one shall break that curse."

Johannes began to move towards the balcony, but before he could get very far Blain leapt up onto his back, slamming him down into the snow covered ground, "No one except Rachel." At that point the counter spell began to take effect. Cye began to float above the ground as streams of light blue energy began to flow from Rachel and the symbols of sand. Around Cye body a red aura began to appear. The blue energy wrapped around it, and began to pull it away. Cye felt his body becoming lighter, the weights on his heart lifting. Soon, the red vapor was pulled away. The vapor lingered in the air, acting like a swarm of insects that wished to infect another.

The counter curse then went into its next stage, the blue light encasing the red aura. The red aura then began to dissolve, the blue energy eating away at it like an acid. Johannes struggled under Blain's weight. He would not let the curse die. With that he turned over. Blain jumped up, landing on Johannes chest. Johannes smiled, grabbing Blain by his feet before throwing him.

Blain was flying at the blue energy, and what remained of Cye's curse. Rachel gasped, pushing all her energy into the spell. The red aura began to disappear at an amazing pace, but it still looked like Blain would crash into it before Rachel could destroy it.

Then, out of no where, Murray and Cye ran up. Each leapt into the air, coming between Blain and the curse. Though it would hurt Blain, it would be for his own good. Both Murray and Cye reared back, and with a great amount of force they both punched Blain. Murray struck blain right in the back while Cye landed his punch on Blain's shoulder blade. Still, it was enough to send Blain flying in the other direction, and away from the curse.

Cye and Murray landed on the ground. Murray glanced over at Cye, smiling as he said, "Want to give me a lift."

Cye nodded his head as the pair began to run toward Johannes. At the right moment, Cye ran ahead and came to a stop. He interlaced his fingers, bending down to the ground. Murray put his foot in Cye's waiting hands, and the wolf threw Murray up high into the sky. Murray turned over in the air, and called out, "Thunder Flop".

Johannes looked up at just the wrong time, and Murray pounded the necromancer in the head with his Thunder Flop. Johannes swayed a bit before toppling over, the armor of bone turning to dust. Murray landed, flexing his muscles, "Oh yeah, the Murray's Thunder Flop is unstoppable, insurmountably, and positively inescapable."

Cye walked up to Murray, a smile on his face for the first time in years, "Not bad Murray."

Murray turned, offering a high five to Cye, "The Murray never forgets his sidekicks, thanks for the assist Cye."

Cye rolled his eyes, ignoring Murray's hero talk as he gave the purple hippo hid well deserved high five. At the same time, the last wisp of Cye's curse disappeared. Rachel stood up from her place on the balcony, smiling as she looked over the scene. Sly walked up to Cye and Murray, throwing his arms around the pair of muscle men. Rachel put her hands on the balcony's railing, and with a gentle push leapt of the balcony. She spun around in the air, and landed on the ground gracefully.

Murray wooted as Sly clapped and said, "Nice dismount Rachel."

Cye shook his head, "I am freed from my curse, but now I owe a dept to these clowns. The lesser of two evils I suppose."

Rachel laughed a bit, but her joy was cut short when they heard someone yell out, "I am not done yet." Rachel, Sly, Murray, and Cye turned to see Johannes struggling to his feet, his right hand clasped over his heart. He slowly pulled out his ruby, smiling evilly as he held it out. The ruby began to flash brightly, turning into a liquid. The ruby slipped from Johannes's hand, and moved across the ground like a shadow. It encircled Rachel before jumping up. The ruby then wrapped around her ankles and wrists, binding her.

Johannes laughed, "You fools never saw it, no one has. I am not the grandson of a Hitler's general. I am Hitler's general. My youth, my power is sustained through the blood, the magic, and souls of others. The bones that litter my yard, the marrow in the concrete of my manor, they are what remains of everyone whose life force has feed my own. Now, it is time I feed once again."

Rachel began to scream in pain as the ruby liquid began to dig into her flesh. Suddenly, she felt her magic being pulled away. Her body was becoming weak, and she could feel her very life force being sucked from her body. Sly, Cye, and Murray looked in shock as Rachel aged, quickly becoming nothing more then a withered old woman.

Rachel fell to her knees, the last of her strength failing. Johannes laughed, looking over at Sly as he said, "And your next you troublesome raccoon." Johannes thought his victory assured, but he forgot about one big thing. Blain came running across the yard having recovered from Cye and Murray's rescue. He leapt between Rachel and Johannes, growling as the symbol on his shoulder lit up.

Blain leapt up into the air, his claws and teeth bared as he yelled, "It is time you joined the skeletons you control Johannes." Johannes leapt back to avoid Blain's assault, but he soon found himself pinned underneath Blain's right paw.

Blain lowered his head down to Johannes, growling deeply as he said, "Reverse the spell, or so help me I will

Johannes glared at Blain, defiance ringing in his voice, "You'll do what. I know of your magic, and know that you can't use a single spell as long as you are in such a feral form. Just give it up. You are nothing better then an animal right now."

Blain growled, "Then, maybe its time I acted like one. Tell me, what is a panther supposed to do when he beats an opponent, has him pinned, and is rather hungry."

Johannes began to laugh, his hollow voice filling the woods with an eerie echo, "You can not scare me with such things. If you eat me, then I can never and will never reverse the spell I have placed on Rachel. Her youth shall be lost to your stomach, and no magic can get it back."

Blain smiled, "You are mistaken Johannes. You see, Shadow Walkers have a unique trait. When they become great feral beasts, their magic all focuses on one thing. Breaking spells and sucking the magic out of anything it can get a hold of. If I eat you, every spell you have ever cast will be undone, and the power will be sucked from your flesh as it slowly dissolves in acid."

Johannes eyes narrowed, his mouth growing dry as he said, "You…you wouldn't dare."

Blain growled, lowering his head even further so his exposed teeth were only an inch away from Johannes's head, "Then reverse the spell."

Johannes nodded his head, looking over at Rachel. He held out his one free hand. Slowly, Rachel returned to normal. When the lioness's youth was restored, the ruby liquid detached itself from her and returned to Johannes. Johannes held the ruby in his hand for only a second, before he turned and smiled up at Blain. It was pay back time for the necromancer.

Johannes raised his hand up, and the ruby attacked Blain. The red liquid covered his face, and began burrowing into his skin. Blain leapt up, clawing at his own face as he tried to remove the ruby. Johannes stood up, smiling as he bowed and said, "Well, it's time I took my leave."

Blain looked up, seeing the world through the red ruby liquid. He growled, and yelled out, "You will not escape necromancer." With that Blain took off after Johannes, even as the ruby began to rob his body of strength and youth. Johannes disappeared behind the corner of his manor, and Blain soon after. Sly quickly ran over to Rachel, helping her up as Cye and Murray ran out to get the van.

Rachel looked over at Sly, her breaths coming in deep, hard gasps, "We have to go after Johannes. We have to help Blain."

Sly nodded his head, but before he could move a single step he heard a Johannes scream. His screams seemed to be rising up into the sky, and soon Sly and Rachel saw the Doberman flying into the sky on the other side of the manor. He then began to fall, screaming all the way. Sly and Rachel listen, and then all of the sudden Johannes's screams fell silent.

Rachel and Sly waited, and a few minutes later saw Blain slowly walk out from behind the side of the manor. Blain glanced up at them, and sighed as he said, "The deed is done. This last general of Hitler has finally been removed from this world." Sly nodded his head once before he began to help the still very weak Rachel to the team van. He notice a small bulge in Blain's stomach, but new better then to ask the panther about it. He had done the only thing he could. Had he done otherwise, Johannes would have escaped and been allowed to torment the world further. After all, he had confessed his crimes. Each skeleton in his yard was what remained of a poor innocent he had stolen youth from. He even said that the cement in his manor had been filled with crushed up bones. Meaning that there were countless soles he had killed just to keep himself alive.

Sly got Rachel in the van, and then hopped in the front seat before Murray stepped on the gas and drove off. Cye rode in Bentley's usual seat, his head bowed and his eyes closed. Sly looked out the window, watching as Blain followed behind the van with ease. Sly could see something in Blain's eyes. It was regret, and Sly could understand why it was there.

Blain had to do something, something that he never should have. He was too nice of guy, but to save Rachel he had to threaten Johannes. Then, when Johannes attacked him he had to do something he never wanted to. Now, the deed was eating away at his heart like a virus. Sly sighed, both as a sign of relief and worry. He was happy Blain showed remorse for such an action, meaning he had only done it when there was no other alternative. The worry, however, was if Blain would ever be able to forgive himself.

Author Note #2: You now see what I was describing at the beginning of the story. Once again I appologize if I have offended anyone. I just felt this was the best way to tie up the scene, but if I find to may disapprove of it, I will rewrite it. It will just take some time to get the idea out of my head.