Two hours after fleeing Club Fantasia and regrouping at Ryan's place Lauren, Crystal, Aoife, Clio, Julia, Ryan, Reed, and Bas Cibor entered the main building of Engelram's semi-darkened Warehouse. They were followed by 200 of the Regnant Guard and the Seneschal. Some of the group questioned why the Seneschal were there until the Seneschal quickly took off their top cloaks and revealed black pant suits with Seracon weapons attached and took up defensive positions alongside the Regnant Guard.

"Wow!" was all Crystal could muster after she witnessed the transformation.

Bas Cibor deployed part of the Regnant Guard and the Seneschal to cover the perimeter then as they made their way inside deployed the forces in a descending perimeter formation. The rest of the group made their way through to main offices used by the Catalog Team to document, pack and transport relevant artifacts back to the Presidium. Each of them carried weapons of some type, but Lauren carried a recurve bow with a set of arrows and small dagger. Crystal looked on in admiration at her friend.

"You're sure this Chas will come?" Ryan asked Clio.

"Tamsin said she dropped a few breadcrumbs." Clio replied.

"If this gets crazy stay behind me." Reed said to Lauren, Julia and Crystal.

"You know, I can take of myself." Julia replied.

"I'm not exactly a slouch either…anymore at least." Lauren added.

"Yeah, what she said." Crystal chimed in.

"I'm just saying you are three humans who will be in the middle of a very large Fae fight." Reed replied.

"Which is not our first nor will be our last." Julia replied. Reed took in a deep breath.

"Nevertheless, please try and stay behind me." Reed said.

"I knew you were an elemental, but I've never seen an elemental in…" Lauren began.

"In their full element?" Clio finished.

"Yes." Lauren confirmed.

"Yes, we can be quite surprising. I'm glad you're safe though, and glad Bo didn't see you nearly mauled by that Orsen." Clio said.

"So am I." Lauren replied.

As they approached the Catalog Team Central Offices all the lights flickered on.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Ryan asked.

"Not sure." Julia answered.

"This is a mighty big Warehouse." Crystal commented.

"Yeah, Kenzi and I found that out the hard way." Julia replied.

"How far does this place go?" Crystal asked.

"It has several buildings. Some of them connected, some are not. After the Basilisk attack on The Queen we had the area cordoned off." Reed replied.

"What do they plan to do with this place?" Crystal asked.

"That…is still up in the air." answered a voice from the second level that ringed the main floor, and the group. The group looked up and a form came into view, dressed in all black.

"Aoife. Aoife. Aoife." The man said in an admonishing tone. "You disappoint me."

"Chas. Yeah, things got a little dicey with your man, Orsen. Can't help it if he was a total douche bag that needed to be put out of his misery." Aoife replied.

"You're quite right. He was an abomination." Chas replied.

Bas Cibor stepped in front of Lauren which signaled Reed, Ryan and Clio to join him forming a circle around Aoife, Julia, and Crystal. The Regnant Guard and the Seneschal then formed a ring around them.

"Hey, I can fight too." Aoife said as she stepped forward, but Bas Cibor guided her back into the protective circle.

"Eh!" Aoife shot.

"You are the Princess Mother, or rather the other Princess Mother. It's his duty to protect you as well as me." Lauren informed.

"Well, he needs to know I can take care of myself." Aoife replied and was about to struggle out of the defensive circle but Lauren clutched one of her arms and shook her head. Aoife reluctantly acquiesced.

Just then Chas's forces came running in, surrounding them on the main floor as well as above. They were outnumbered nearly 3-1. Ryan then raised his hands upward and shifted into his Loki.

"God, I love it when you do that." Clio said.

"Oh look, another Loki." Chas teased. Then three more Agents stepped out of the shadows and joined Agent Marrero. Reed recognized them.

"Agent Boltares, Agent Harada, and Agent Tolos." Reed said.

"Good memory. We should kill him first to be sure." Agent Tolos said.

"You may certainly try." Reed replied then shifted his eyes, then his body grew in both breath and stature as his hands shifted into claws and his legs into hooves. When he finished shifting he stood on his hind legs 15 feet tall and roared.

"What the hell?" Clio gasped.

"Oh yeah, Reed is a proto-werewolf, a species of wolf even prior to the Lycans." Julia replied. Agent Boltares then shifted his face and bared his fangs.

"You do the Agency great dishonor!" Bas Cibor shouted.

"This has been long in coming, my dear Bas." Agent Harada replied as they all started to spread out more around them. Agent Boltares jumped on top of the railing, fangs bared, and howling straight at Reed who roared back.

"Milady, follow that path to the next set of buildings while we draw them off." Bas Cibor said in a low voice. Bas Cibor then shifted into the Knights of the Guard armor and slammed his trident staff to the ground. Lauren's jaw dropped.

"You're a Knight of Guard?" Lauren said surprised.

"Milady, into the next building!" Bas Cibor replied.

"But what about…!" Lauren started to protest.

"Run!" Clio shouted then she started twirling and quickly shifted into a tornado, blinding everyone in the room creating cover for Lauren, Julia, Crystal and Aoife to escape. Julia led the way with Lauren bringing up the rear with her bow and arrow drawn and at the ready.

"We should be in the fight!" Aoife shouted as they ran along the way.

"I don't know if you've noticed but that fight back there is all about you, protecting you and what you know!" Julia shot back. The realization on Aoife's face communicated she suddenly understood the full measure of their circumstances.

"Now if you don't mind we need to keep moving!" Julia directed as she led them deeper into the next building.

"Do you know where to go?" Crystal asked.

"Yeah. It's where Kenzi and I hid from that one Basilisk attack. Lots of cubby holes in the next set of buildings." Julia replied.

The group moved down several dark corridors Crystal was ahead of Lauren as she struggled to keep sight of the others. Lauren suddenly tripped which caused Crystal to stop and turn around.

"Are you okay?" Crystal asked.

"Yeah, just need to pick up my feet." Lauren replied frustrated. Crystal looked back to the front and realized she lost the rest of the group in the darkness.

"Where'd they go?" Crystal asked. The response she received was an attacker who appeared out of nowhere who ran up swinging a blade. Lauren shoved Crystal behind her, then used her bow to deflect the attacker's thrust, then raised her leg and kicked him backwards. Lauren then harnessed her bow, reached into her pocket and pulled out her Seracon weapon and it deployed into a small shield. Then she pulled out the dagger she carried on her thigh just like Bo did. The attacker jumped to his feet, and pulled out a second blade.

"You surprise me human!" The attacker said.

"Yeah, we can be that way." Lauren retorted.

The attacker charged at Lauren again thrusting forward with one of his blades. Lauren deflected it with her small shield and then swung with her dagger. The attacker arched back so that Lauren's dagger thrust missed. He then raised his foot and kicked her backwards and Lauren landed hard on her backside.

"Lauren!" Crystal called out as she grabbed a nearby box and threw it at the attacker. The attacker turned his attention to Crystal. He came running forward towards Crystal and quickly struck her across the face with his fist knocking her back and onto the ground.

"Eh!" Lauren called out. The attacker turned his attention back to Lauren who had by that time recovered off the ground and so he charged at her again. When he was almost upon her Lauren twirled catching him off-footed and thrusted her dagger right between his shoulder blades. The attacker fell to his knees and then Lauren swung with her shield and hit the attacker in the back of the head and he collapsed on the ground. Crystal looked up at Lauren in amazement.

"Where did you learn to do all that?" Crystal asked.

"Like I said, Bo's not the only one picking up a few tricks." Lauren said as she helped Crystal off the ground. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Not the first time I've been hit in the face."

"What?"

"Can't run a place like Cramb's without the occasional fight breaking out." Crystal replied.

"When this is over we are going to talk about increasing the security there. Let's catch up with the others." Lauren said.

Lauren and Crystal found everyone standing before a locked door.

"Where were you guys?" Julia asked.

"Ran into a little company, but Wonder Woman here took care of them." Crystal replied as she pointed to Lauren.

"Need to open this door." Julia said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a pick kit. She was about to pick it when Aoife came up to the door, shifted her eyes, took a deep breath and pushed on the doors hard busting them open. Everyone ran through the doors, and then Julia and Aoife closed the doors behind them and braced them shut with nearby furniture. Aoife then shifted her eyes back.

"Let's keep moving." Julia said as she led the group through an exit door and saw the next set of buildings and made straight for them. They entered a hallway, ran down it and came upon another door. Julia checked it. It also was locked.

"We need to get in here. It's a great place to lie low." Julia said.

"Yeah, it is." A voice said behind them. They all turned around. It was Kenzi.

"Kenzi! What are you doing here?" Lauren asked as she and Kenzi quickly embraced.

"Catching up to you guys. Whatever happened at Club Fantasia is all over the news." Kenzi replied.

"Did Bo send you?" Lauren asked.

"Ah..." Kenzi began but then they heard a loud crash behind them.

"We need to get inside!" Julia said. Aoife shifted her eyes again and pushed open the door, breaking the lock. They all ran inside and just as they were about to shut the door behind them a hand came through the door, gripping it and thus blocking it open. Aoife roared and ran toward the door in an attempt to slam it shut with her body but the neither the door nor the hand moved. Instead, the door flung wide open, knocking her clear on her backside and three men entered.

"Dakari!" Lauren said surprised.

"Milady." Dakari replied with a slight bow of his head then he leaned slightly over to the left as he watched Julia and Crystal help Aoife up off the ground.

"I figured you were following me." Kenzi said to Dakari.

"Well, that was quite the entrance!" Aoife said miffed.

"Aoife, this is…" Lauren began.

"Aoife?" Dakari interrupted.

"Yes, and whom might you be handsome?" Aoife replied.

"Aoife, this is His Serene Highness Dakari Prescotti. He's the son of Their Majesties. Dakari, this is Aoife." Lauren introduced.

"The Princess Royal's Fae mother. Blessings and felicitations." Dakari greeted with a slight bow of his head. "I now understand where her beauty comes from."

"The same can be said of you, Your Serene Highness." flirted Aoife eliciting various eye rolls.

"This is Woods, and this is Bas Ramin." Lauren continued with the introductions then asked again, "What are you all doing here? Has something happened to Bo?" Lauren asked.

"The Princess Royal is fine but is concerned and so is Antony. He sent me here to find Kenzi." Dakari replied.

"He did?" Kenzi said with a big grin then quickly changed to a serious demeanor. "I mean, he did? How did he know I was here?" Kenzi asked.

"Beatrice's flustering as to your whereabouts pretty much gave it away." Dakari replied.

"I have to have a talk with Beatrice." Kenzi said.

"And Milady, everyone is concerned about your activities here, especially given the Convocation is nearly upon us. Your place is beside The Princess Royal back at the Presidium." Dakari informed.

"Things got a little twisted here." Lauren replied.

"And here we are back here inside this creepy Warehouse!" Kenzi said.

"What was that crash before?" Julia asked.

"That was me." Bas Ramin answered.

"Whew! Thought the fight was spilling in from the main Warehouse. That's one heck of a Fae fight going on over there." Julia said.

"Where's Bas Cibor?" Dakari asked.

"In the heart of it. He insisted we take cover in another part of the Warehouse." Lauren replied. Dakari turned to Bas Ramin who nodded and shifted into a 70-foot tall, 100-foot long black viper which caused some of them to take a few steps back in shock. Bas Ramin then crashed through a window and slithered out towards the fight.

"What is with this building and snakes!" Julia said.

"So what's the game plan?" Woods asked.

"We have to protect Aoife. That fight back there is about her and what she knows." Julia replied.

"We're back to this again, Aoife?" Kenzi said exasperated.

"You know me." Aoife replied.

"Do you have any idea of the Fae you're messing with?" Kenzi asked.

"Been there, had that conversation." Lauren replied then the door they had braced shut was being pounded upon as attackers attempted to break down the door.

"This way!" Julia shouted as she pointed in the direction of a door in the back. They followed her lead and found themselves in a large expansive part of the Warehouse. Kenzi and Julia stopped dead in their tracks, shell-shocked for a moment.

"This is where that Basilisk attack happened, where The Queen was attacked." Kenzi recalled softly.

"Come along." Dakari said gently to them both and guided them both forward. They all ran across the large expansive floor of the Warehouse and reached the next set of doors and ran through them. As the group prepared to brace the next set of doors they saw about 50 attackers burst through the last set of doors and run their way. Dakari slammed the doors shut then shifted his eyes a swirling orange and fired a concentrated beam of energy and sealed them shut.

"You're Wonder Woman, and he's Cyclops." Crystal commented. Dakari quickly looked around and saw another set of doors, and ran to them followed by the others. He opened them and they all saw they led to the outside. But then they heard the attackers trying to break through the sealed doors.

"Get to safety! I will hold them off here!" Dakari ordered.

"There's no way I'm leaving you!" Kenzi shouted back and promptly went and stood next to him followed by Lauren. Everyone else followed suit. Dakari was about to protest when the sealed doors burst open and the attackers came running at them. Dakari shifted where his body was engulfed entirely into flames.

"I take that back. He's the Human Torch!" Crystal amended.

The group formed a defensive line and the attackers were about to strike when a series of electrified beams flew past them and struck the attackers, incinerating them. Everyone whirled around to see whom had fired the beams and when Kenzi saw them she let out a huge sigh of relief.

"The Voltaic Desperados!" Kenzi greeted with a big grin. "Rocker! It's so good to see you again!"

"You too Kenz!" Rocker replied as other Desperados formed behind him. Dakari shifted back into his humanoid form. They all looked at the number of Desperados standing behind Rocker.

"How many of the Desperados did you bring with you?" Kenzi asked.

"When Eric called us he said Tamsin was in it deep and needed back up so I brought all the Desperados from within the County." Rocker replied.

"How many is that?" Julia asked.

"Five hundred." Rocker replied.

"I love you guys!" Kenzi replied. Rocker smiled.

"Of Fae that can do that what you just did?" Crystal asked.

"Yep." Rocker responded.

"I love you too!" Crystal replied. Rocker smiled even bigger.

"I also called Trench to rally the Desperados from the next County to meet us here. Hopefully, they will make it in time. I'm just glad we found you right off the mire of all of these Warehouses." Rocker said.

"So are we!" Kenzi replied.

"So how can we help?" Rocker asked.

"You know what? I think I've got an idea on how they can do just that." Crystal said.

"What is it?" Lauren asked.

"I noticed all those bad guys are wearing those metallic belts strapped across their chests." Crystal said.

"And?" Aoife prompted.

"We had a set-up crew at Cramb's accidently form an electrified circle around themselves during a sound check and shocked themselves unconscious. That memory came to mind when I saw what these Desperados can do. Those belts can serve as an attractor or even more so as a target lock." Crystal explained.

"That's a great idea, Crystal!" Lauren said the turned to Woods. "If I recall, you use energy to deploy your containment fields, right?" Lauren asked.

"Yes." Woods replied.

"Can you also weaponize it?" Lauren asked.

"Yes." Woods replied.

"I'm not an expert in Physics like Dr. Prescotti but we need you to do exactly what you did at the Dal years ago, set up a containment field around the perimeter of this Warehouse but then have it act like an amplification barrier that pushes back so to speak, intensifying the Desperados Fae power. The voltage should do as Crystal said, lock onto the belts. Do you see where I'm coming from?"

"Yeah, I do, Doctor." Woods replied.

"What about collateral damage? Everyone is swinging some type of blade. What happens if the one of the good guys gets taken out?" Julia asked.

"If someone is holding a blade weapon when we strike the voltage should cause them to drop it right off. At the very least they may suffer burns but they could also at the very worst be killed as well, but those guys wearing the belts they won't have time to cut them off before being incinerated." Rocker replied.

"It's a risk, but a risk we must take. The 'good guys' fighting down there would understand that." Dakari said. Then both he and Kenzi said at the same time: "Ever in the service of the Regnant, in honor of the Realm."

Everyone was quiet for a moment then Woods broke the silence.

"Doc, in order to do that I need to set up containment points equidistant around the Warehouse. I will need someone to cover me while I do it. That's a crap ton of Fae fighting out there!" Woods replied.

"I can help with that." Lauren replied.

"With what? That bow and arrow?" Crystal asked.

"That's not all I have up my sleeve." Lauren replied.

"Well, I'm going with you." Crystal declared.

"You need to stay here." Lauren replied.

"Oh no, we stick together!" Crystal reminded. Lauren exhaled.

"No argument, Hooker! We stick together!" Crystal said again.

"Sounds like we have plan." Dakari said. "While Woods, Milady and Crystal set up the containment points we will need to set up teams at each point so as to provide additional cover, but we'll have to move very quickly." Dakari said.

"I should go with them too." Aoife stepped forward.

"You need to stay here. Protected." Lauren replied.

"Agreed." Dakari said then turned to Rocker. "We shall need a contingent of your Desperados to protect The Princess Mother." Dakari said.

"The Princess Mother?" Rocker repeated.

"My dear Serene Highness, I can more than take care of myself." Aoife replied.

"Serene Highness?" Rocker repeated then quickly bowed before both of them followed by the rest of the Desperados. Aoife was momentarily surprised then smiled.

"On second thought a girl could get use to this." Aoife commented.

"Yeah, but not today." Kenzi replied. Dakari acknowledged their felicitations with a bow of his head.

"Let's move!" Dakari ordered.

After Woods, Lauren and Crystal deployed their fourth point along the Warehouse perimeter Woods looked to Lauren.

"Now would a be a good time for some cover!" Woods said. In response, Lauren began to chant. Both Woods and Crystal looked at Lauren with furrowed brows.

"What are you doing? I said cover not chanting." Woods said confused. But Lauren continued to chant. All of a sudden a thick, red smoke descended down upon them. Woods and Crystal looked all around them in wonder.

"Are you a witch now too?" Crystal asked incredulous.

"Just another trick I learned." Lauren replied.

"Great trick but this smoke is going to blind even us." Woods said.

"Then we need to move quickly." Lauren reminded.

Once the perimeter was set they rounded back to the rest of the group.

"Rimma's teachings, I presume?" Dakari asked.

"Of course." Lauren said with a knowing smile.

"We're fully deployed and ready." Woods reported. Dakari nodded to Rocker who gave the signal for the Desperados to ready themselves. Rocker then stood, extended his hands out in each direction and shot out electric voltage in both directions followed by each one of the Desperados stationed at each point around the Warehouse. The cascade of the voltage struck the barrier, nearly blinding everyone but it did the trick. The electric beams joined the together and their reaction to barrier caused it to heave out then inward, zapping the outer ring of attackers that surrounded the Warehouse to keep the fighters inside.

"Dammit! That just took out the outer ring!" Crystal said.

"Good enough. Now that we have the Desperados it becomes a fair fight." Dakari replied. Then Dakari stood up and looked to Rocker.

"We need a contingent of your Desperados to keep them safe while the rest of us this deal with this." Dakari directed.

"Oh no you don't!" Lauren protested.

"I'm an Agent of the Presidium!" Kenzi added to the protest.

"You all have put yourselves in harm's way enough." Dakari replied. A contingent of Desperados then surrounded Lauren, Crystal, Julia, Aoife, and Kenzi. Dakari nodded at Rocker who gave the signal to the rest of Desperados and then they all descended into Warehouse, and into the fight.

"Are you kidding me right now? We're supposed to just sit here?" Kenzi said furious. Aoife stepped up.

"Let us through!" Aoife demanded.

"We cannot Your Grand Serene Highness. We are under orders from His Serene Highness to keep you all safe." The Desperado-in-Charge replied. Aoife stepped closer.

"I said let us through!" Aoife demanded again.

"We cannot, Your Grand Serene Highness." The Desperado-in-Charge replied. Aoife stepped even closer.

"Surely, you don't want to explain to The Princess Royal or to Their Majesties that you disobeyed a direct order from The Princess Mother?"

"No...no…I don't." The Desperado-in-Charge stuttered.

"No, you don't, what?" Aoife asked.

"No, Your Grand Serene Highness." The Desperado replied.

"Good!" Then Aoife extended her hand out. "I need a weapon. Give me your knife." The Desperado handed her one of his knives.

"Let us join the fight, shall we?" Aoife then turned to everyone. "Follow me!" And the rest of them descended into the Warehouse.

When they entered the Warehouse they saw bodies strewn everywhere as people slipped on pools of blood as they attacked one another.

"Dear God!" Julia exclaimed at the sight.

The group could see that Bas Cibor, Ryan, Reed and Clio were losing the fight. Clio and Ryan were beaten and bloodied but still on their feet, fighting back to back. Lauren saw that Reed was lying in a pool of blood, his claws dug deep into the dead body of Agent Tolos. Agent Boltare's body was nearby, his throat ripped out. Bas Cibor stood near Reed, still on his feet, fighting off attackers while seemingly trying to protect Reed from further harm. Bas Cibor had open wounds across his body, his armor half torn off, and he was a bloodied mess. The Desperados had encircled and joined the fight, wielding their voltaic energy like bullwhips. They arrived just in time as their numbers were turning the tide of battle. Lauren's mind went into doctor mode. She pulled out her Seracon shield and deployed it.

"We need to reach those guys!" Lauren said.

"Then we will have to fight our way there! Stay close together!" Aofie replied and led the way.

As they made their way, they fought off one attacker after another. When they reached Bas Cibor he turned around.

"Milady! What are you doing here?" Bas Cibor demanded.

"Trying to get to you all! Status on Reed here?" Lauren asked.

"Reed lost a lot of blood. Been trying to keep attackers away from him. He's an incredible fighter! He took out Boltares and Tolos at the same time. He should be a Knight!" Bas Cibor said.

"Some day. But for now let's get him to some safe cover." Lauren replied then quickly scanned the area and saw space under a set of stairs nearby. She then nodded to several of the Desperados to lift Reed, who was still in his proto-werewolf form up and directed them to the area under the stairs so she could assess his wounds. Crystal followed them. Once they laid him down Lauren threw off her bow and arrow, opened up her jacket and took out the medical kit she had strapped around herself.

"Lauren, is this wise to be poking and prodding at him while he's still in this form?" Crystal asked.

"That's why the Desperados are here. Just in case he reacts badly." Lauren replied. Lauren looked up and saw that Kenzi, Julia and Aoife were split between Ryan and Clio and Bas Cibor as they battled attackers. Lauren took a moment to admire how far they had all come then refocused her attention back on Reed when suddenly the ground shook under all of them causing everyone inside the Warehouse to momentarily lose their balance and grab onto something.

"What's this ruckus!" A voice thundered over the battle then the ground shook again, so hard it caused a tectonic wake throughout the grounds of the Warehouse, causing everyone to grab onto something again.

"Cease this fighting immediately!" The voice thundered again. Everyone looked up in the direction of the voice. It was Stasio who stood on the second-level skywalk near where Chas stood earlier. Then Bo, Tamsin, Dyson, Bas Kadine and more Seneschal forces appeared behind him with a flood of even more Desperados pouring in all around them, causing the attackers to disengage from the fight and scurry like mice exposed to the light for any open exits. When Lauren saw Bo she stood up and ran towards her and waved her arms.

"Bo!" Lauren called out. Bo looked around, then down, saw Lauren's face and smiled but then her smile quickly faded, and her eyebrows furrowed.

"Lauren! Look out!" Bo yelled. Lauren was about to turn in the direction of Bo's warning, but the answer met her instead. Lauren gasped as Chas came up behind her and grasped her by the neck.

"Cannot allow this night to be a total loss!" Chas said then stabbed her, not once, not twice, but three times in her side then threw her off to the side and ran.

"Lauren!" Bo screamed as she saw Lauren hit the ground gasping for air. Crystal ran to Lauren and picked up her head up and rested it in her lap.

"Lauren! Lauren! Stay with me!" Crystal begged tears started to run down her face. Julia ran up and worked quickly to bind Lauren's wounds. Aoife, Kenzi, Ryan, and Clio circled around then to provide a defense while Bas Cibor broke off his fight with an attacker and went in pursuit of Chas.

Bo raised her right hand, formed a large bluish energy ball in the middle of it, and threw it at Chas. It engulfed him like a net, stunning him just enough for Bas Cibor to catch up to him.

"What the hell?" Aoife said shocked at Bo's display of power.

"We need to get Lauren out of here!" Crystal said through her tears.

"I'm almost done binding her wounds and then we can move her." Julia said.

Bo ran down the nearest set of stairs followed by Tamsin, Dyson, Stasio, Bas Kadine, and the Seneschal who went straight to Lauren followed by Tamsin and Dyson.

Bo, however, made a bee line straight for Chas who was being marched to her by Bas Cibor. Bo waved her hand at Bas Cibor who understood immediately to release him, and as soon as he had done so Bo seized Chas by one arm with her left hand and with her right hand slammed it against Chas's chest and proceeded to suck his chi out of him. Aoife eyes went wide.

"What. The. Hell?" Aoife said again.

Chas's body buckled as his chi flowed from his body through Bo's arm and into her. His body started to compress like a can and started to take on a dried up fruit effect. Everyone realized Bo was going to kill him.

"Bo! Stop!" Kenzi called out causing a few Fae heads to turn her way. Bo continued. Kenzi stepped forward but a pair of hands grabbed her. She turned and saw it was Dakari.

"She is The Princess Royal. She may act as she chooses." Dakari reminded.

"She's Bo first!" Kenzi shot back then wrenched herself from Dakari's grip and went to Bo. She was about to grab Bo's arm when Bo turned quickly and then with her left hand shot out a beam of bluish energy, knocking Kenzi about 30 feet on her back. Bo then returned her attention to Chas still sucking out his chi, his body becoming deathly gaunt. Ryan and Clio ran over to Kenzi and helped her up off the ground.

"Bo!" Lauren called out holding onto Crystal and the Seneschal for dear life, coughing up blood.

Bo continued.

"Bo! Stop!" Lauren called out again.

"He hurt you!" Bo replied.

"Please stop. We need him alive." Lauren said gently. Bo thought for a moment, took a deep breath then released her grip on Chas whose body was now half-mummified. A contingent of Desperados quickly ran over and took him hold of him. Bo went to Lauren, her eyes still ablaze.

"Honey?" Bo asked as she knelt next to Lauren.

"Hey Sweetie!" Lauren said running her non-bloody hand along Bo's face. Bo smiled through her tears and shifted her eyes back. By then Bas Cibor came over, relieved Julia, then knelt next to Lauren and untied the dressing.

"What are you doing?" Julia asked.

"Assessing the damage." Bas Cibor replied.

"Talk about assessing damage you need to get to the JFM." Lauren said as she coughed some more.

"Always trying to take care of others." Bo teased.

"Speaking of which, Reed?" Lauren asked.

"Reed?" Dyson and Tamsin said in unison.

"He's over there." Crystal pointed and they could see Clio and Ryan were already over there with the Seneschal preparing him for transport.

"I'll be right back." Tamsin said. Bas Cibor looked down at Lauren.

"Milady, you have breaches in your intestine, lower chest, and liver. I need to cauterize your wounds enough so you do not enter hypovolemic shock." Bas said. Lauren nodded.

"What? Are you a Doctor too?" Crystal asked. Bas Cibor nodded then looked at Julia.

"Please help hold her down." Bas Cibor asked. Julia went and knelt next to him.

"You did well." Bas Cibor complimented. Julia offered a faint smile in return.

"Milady, this will hurt." Bas Cibor warned. Lauren nodded. Then shifted his eyes and a thin reddish beam shot out from his eyes and cauterized the wound with surgical precision. Lauren passed out. The Seneschal quickly re-wrapped the wound then Bas Cibor picked Lauren up.

"Get Lauren to the JFM! I'll catch up as soon as I'm done here." Bo said.

"Yes, Your Royal Highness." The Seneschal replied.

"I'm going with her." Crystal added.

"Please and thank you, Crystal." Bo replied. Then Bas Cibor who carried Lauren, Crystal and the Seneschal all left. Bo went up to Kenzi.

"Kenzi, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Bo asked.

"When will I learn not to run up on you when you're in super Succubus mode?" Kenzi said as Bo hugged her.

"Your Royal Highness, you are becoming quite powerful." Dakari commented as he walked up.

"Scarily so." Kenzi added as they broke their embrace.

"Thanks to your mother and sister." Bo replied to Dakari. "Let's go check on Reed."

They walked up to find Reed bound for transport. He was still shifted into his proto-werewolf.

"Looks like he's stable for now." Tamsin said.

"He was awake for a moment but the Seneschal knocked him back unconscious just in case." Clio reported.

"Glad to hear. Wow! It's always a sight to see him shifted." Julia said. The Seneschal then bowed before Bo who acknowledged the bows, and then with Reed on a hoverbed they left.

"Ash Thornwood. Nice to see you again." Dakari greeted as he walked up.

"You as well, Your Serene Highness." Dyson greeted.

"Regent Tamsin." Dakari greeted.

"Your Serene Highness, what are you doing here?" Tamsin asked.

"Blame me for setting off the flags. Beatrice came to me worried about Kenzi so I told her to send Woods to look after her." Bo admitted.

"I'm really going to need to have a talk with Beatrice." Kenzi replied.

"So where did the reinforcements come from? They saved our bacon." Ryan asked.

"That would be the Voltaic Desperados! I called Erik to send for them. They owed us a favor from that jam we pulled them out of a few years ago with the Dark Fae Elders." Tamsin replied then looked at Stasio.

"Told you I had it handled." Tamsin replied. Dyson smiled at Stasio's bemused face.

"Do not presume to gloat, Regent Tamsin! You barely had it handled! The fact the Voltaic Desperados saved the battle does not negate the fact that you acted with near recklessness in pursuit of this situation. The Voltaic Desperados did more than save the battle they also saved you from being stripped of your title, brought before the Council of Fae Elders, tried, and thrown into prison!" Stasio shot back.

"Stasio…" Dyson began.

"Do not presume to placate me, Dyson! You know full well I am right!" Stasio cut off.

"Nevertheless, the battle was won and we have Tamsin to thank for it." Bo said evenly. Stasio looked at Bo for a long moment and then bowed his head in acknowledgment. Bo let him linger for a moment and then acknowledged the bow. Then she turned and faced Aoife.

"Mom." Bo greeted.

"My baby! My very powerful baby! It's so good to see you! Look at you! You are more beautiful now than ever!" Aoife replied.

"Mom, where have you been?" Bo asked.

"We have a lot to talk about, I know." Aoife replied. Bo stepped closer.

"You have four grandchildren!" Bo said. Aoife took in a breath.

"Lauren introduced me, so to speak. She showed me pictures of them before we came here. Charlotte is the spitting image of you when you were young." Aoife replied.

"Mama says that all that time." Bo said.

"I see you named one of them after both Mary and me." Aoife replied.

"We wanted you to part of them somehow since we had no idea if you were even alive!" Bo said.

"You have every right to be upset with me." Aoife replied.

"Upset doesn't even begin to cover it!" Bo shot but then took in a deep breath and exhaled. "But right now, we have more important things to discuss. Like all of this!" Bo said as she waved her hands about.

"Yes, we do." Aoife replied. Bo took in a deep breath then turned to a contingent of the Desperados.

"Please take my mother back to the Ducal Compound." Bo directed then looked back to her mother. "We can talk then." The Desperados then directed Aoife to the nearest exit. Then they all returned their attention to Chas Marrero.

"Take Agent Marrero back to the Compound." Stasio ordered. "I'm sure Agent Prime will have plenty of questions for him." Chas suddenly became alert.

"Agent Prime, here?" Chas said weakly.

"Oh yes, she's here." Stasio replied sinisterly.

"No! No! Wait! Please! I'll give you the names of whomever you want!" Chas said terrified.

"I'm sure you will. Take him away!" Stasio replied. Then as he turned to face the group Chas's body started to twitch and contort. Everyone looked at him as he gripped his chest. Chas looked down and then he looked up at Bo and painfully laughed.

"You are all doomed!" Chas's last words before his chest exploded, the splatter hitting the group.

"Defendi ad parati!" Bas Kadine shouted and then stepped in front Bo. Bas Ramin stepped in front of Dakari and the remaining Regnant Guard formed a ring around the group.

"What the hell was that?" Bo exclaimed.

"Seek." Dakari said softly with a slithery sounding accent to his command. The outlining Guards scattered in all directions.

Ten minutes later they reported back that whomever or whatever had killed Chas Marrero had escaped. Bo took in a deep breath.

"I need to get to Lauren. I'll join you guys at the Ducal Compound afterwards so we can put our heads together as to what the heck is going on." Bo said. Then Kenzi suddenly pulled her off to the side and into a corner out of earshot.

"I need to go handle something." Kenzi said in a low voice. It suddenly dawned on Bo what Kenzi had meant.

"Kenzi, now?"

"Before all this chaos hits the Fae streets, yes." Kenzi replied.

"Kenzi, you don't have to do this."

"This is what I signed up for."

"Now this is my turn to remind you that this is not who you are."

"It's not like I haven't done this before."

"Kill yes. Assassinate, no."

"Okay, that sounds weird."

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it?"

"Look," Kenzi said as she took Bo's face in both her hands, "We are in this together til the end." Kenzi said.

"We can find another way." Bo protested.

"Not if I want to be a true Agent of the Presidium." Kenzi reminded.

"Kenzi…!" Bo started but then Kenzi silenced her protest with a long kiss on the cheek.

"Go to Lauren. I will see you soon." Kenzi said then turned and left. Bo turned around, surveyed the crowd and saw that Dakari was also gone.