"Stop, or be stopped!"

A cloaked figure rushed heedlessly from the Sleeping Frog, long legs propelled by the furious shouts within the tavern. The heavy moonwood doors nearly split their hinges as Babus Swain flung them open a heartbeat later, a snarl flared across his white muzzle.

"Stop!" he spat a Nu Mou curse then, rare for his race and his own tongue, all but pursuing on all fours.

Ian started as he barely emerged from the alley, to see the figure running his way, and in heated chase...

Babus. Crap...!

The Nu Mou was fixed only on the prey fleeing him. He pulled up sharply and lifted his pawhand, claws etching the air as he called on the power Ian knew all too well.

"Stillness."

The hooded one didn't even have the chance to cry out in surprise, cloak whipping in a petrified sweep to join lanky limbs as time froze for them.

Ian frowned, then moved past the helpless figure to emerge from the alleyway, features still hidden behind his mask. He stood before Babus, intending to be a somewhat menacing figure - more menacing than, he figured, the hooded fellow would be to Babus Swain.

Babus's eyes narrowed warily, but did not slow his steps. "Move away, please."

"Why are you assaulting my friend?" he asked, fist clenching at his side.

He stopped, then, pale face darkening in warning. "Your...friend...seemed very interested in listening to official questioning, but very uninclined to answer anything himself. He will be made to answer."

"Official questioning inside a drunkhouse like the Sleeping Frog?" Ian snorted in contempt.

"You could be next." the retainer pressed past Ian. "Unless you remove yourself as asked."

"I suppose you're looking for the assassin, then?" the tightness of the mask added to the deep tone that Ian took to speak to the retainer.

Babus froze much like the victim of his spell, then turned, the fine rounded curves of his muzzle drawn tight. "Yes."

Ian peered back, eyes ablaze behind the mask. "...he's not in the bar."

The small paw gripped the formidable mace forward. "And how do you know this...?"

Ian felt a cool wind whip through the area, and the cloak he wore fluttered in its breeze. He stood erect, peering down sharply at Babus, "You're a smart fellow, Swain. Make an educated guess."

"You." the retainer grated, bringing the weapon up as his tail bent and bristled. He'd guessed indeed, from the first insolent words. No other was so overbold. "Where is the Prince?"

"I would imagine back in the palace." Ian replied, reaching back and untying his mask and taking it into his hands.

"You will die at my hands if you do not tell the truth this time, cowardly bastard! He is gone, vanished without a trace the same night he spared your life!"

Ian stared at Babus, teeth grinding and his fists tightening. Could the Retainer truly be so thick? "What, you think I kidnapped him? Jesus, you're really reaching, aren't you? That would have been quite impossible."

"You would have the Prince's property, no matter what." Babus would not give the human the satisfaction of hearing his fear. "You slip undetected into the very heart of the court. Impossible that you could not!"

The young man growled. He'd lost his already-short temper, "I didn't do anything to him!" In a rage, he threw his mask, which flew across the street and smashed into the window of the Sleeping Frog. "I was just a bit busy basting in my own blood after you got done with me, you bastard!" he turned from him sharply from him, taking a few breaths. No... for Ezel's sake he had to be calm. He had to resist seperating the Nu Mou's head from his shoulders. He pressed his palms against the wall of the building, eyes turning to him, eyes more tired now than glaring, "Listen to me, Babus... I understand why I would be your prime suspect, because of what I said in the courtyard. But, think... if I really had the ultra-spooky power to slip into the palace undetected and get Mewt, even after being gutted and stuff, don't you think I'd be aiming for the book instead?"

"You can tell the interrogators of Sphrom." the Nu Mou's low voice growled, a roar barely held in check.

"I just told you!" Ian exclaimed, spluttering, "I didn't do this! What else do you want me to say? Or would you prefer an interperetive dance? Or mime?" For emphasis, he stepped back from the building and pressed his hands against the empty air, "I call this 'An Innocent Fool In Sphrom'."

The bellow of frustration and fear finally broke free as the retainer lost the last of his own temper. He lunged to the human with a brutal attempt with his mace.

Ian fairly leapt back from the swipe, "Don't you know that a mime is a terrible thing to waste?" he yelled as a Judge's whistle sounded the beginning of engagement.

"You will speak the truth even if it should be your dying breath!"

"I'm speaking truth!" he screamed, "You're out of your goddamned mind!"

The retainer stepped back, whispering strange syllables instead, pawhand again tracing the air. Ian recognized the sound. The spell of Demi.

A hard, blunt object found its mark between Babus' eyes. Ian gripped another rock in his hand, tossing it up and down.

The runeseeker was stunned from casting only a moment, but countered instead with his mace in a lunge meant to cripple.

What I wouldn't give for SOME sort of sword. Ian thought, remembering that he had left his daggers on Ezel's desk. Damnit. He barely leaned back from the mace and came back with a fist flying toward Babus' face.

The Nu Mou slid away with surprising agility, tail sweeping the cobblestones in a vicious arc to trip the human.

Rise up above the darkness, don't lose hope, and never relinquish the light. You are the one with all the power to endure the end of the fight. Ian's thoughts sang, giving himself as much drive as he could get as he leapt over his tail, on his hands and pressing up to land on his feet.

So, raise your head, your heart up to the sky, and search for the strength from within... He lowered into defense again a few feet away from the retainer, rock ready for another Demi. To find an end... his eyes locked across to Babus, ...you must first begin.

Too much high magic, far too soon for his limited stores. This would be his last spell for some time, and it had to strike. The damned human seemed unwilling to be taken whole. The runeseeker fairly shouted the incantation, words pouring from his lips in a desperate, deadly torrent.

Ian flung the rock again, praying it would hit before he finished.

Both stone and spell hit at the same time. Babus barely flinched as the small missile bounced from his snout to the street.

Ian writhed as the pull and pain of Demi crushed him to the cloaked figure's feet. TOO SLOW...! his mind cried. He couldn't even hear the shrill signal from the Judge as the armored Chocobo came between him and Babus.

"You are under arrest." the deep voice of the Judge sounded even more intimidating behind the thick helmet, "Ian Jenkins, for the kidnapping of Prince Mewt."

Ian merely gasped in agony.

"Babus Swain, for attacking a human under the NoDmg2:Human laws." He removed two red cards from the pouch at the Chocobo's saddle.

The Nu Mou was nearly struck dumb. "This is the fugitive assassin, Teqian!"

"The Rules Of Engagement still apply, Master Babus." Teqian replied, "You were going to Sphrom to interrogate him anyway. Just consider this a free ride." He slapped the red card down onto him.

The whoop of the gathering crowds drowned the retainer's outrage as the Red Strike took him.

"IAN!" Tara hopped from the rooftops in a hasty scramble, staff held before her as she placed herself between Judge and judged. The human hid himself well...she'd lost him streets away until the whistle. Not well enough, though. Her hand sought her hip-pouch.

"Stand aside, lass." Piero Teqian's booming voice commanded.

"Get... us out of here..." Ian barely uttered.

The doe had a card gripped between her long fingers in an instant. "Aside it is, Honor." She cast it down, losing Teqian in the explosion of light that showered from the impact.

Teqian grunted, shielding his eyes from the glare. When it had dissipated, the fugitive, the Viera, and the cloaked figure were all gone, leaving behind an animated crowd and even more animated gossip. "... ...damn."

"Ian...?" slender brown paws urged a bottle to Ian's lips.

At the same boots, on a rug now, rather than cobblestones. He quickly drank in the potion as much as he could, shuddering around the pain of the Demi. "Help... them..." he jerked his head toward the still-frozen cloaked figure shadowing over him.

Ezel's voice soothed soft in his ear. "Of course, kiddo. But mind yourself as well, eh?"

"You should never have gone off like that." the Summoner's tone was blunt as Swain's mace. "You all but asked for this."

"...ai..." he sighed softly, head leaned back against the floor, "...Ezel... the Prince... he's missing..."

Tara nearly lost her hold on the second potion she eased to Ian's lips. "What!"

"...Babus...was convinced I kidnapped him." he grunted, wincing as he drank the potion, "Tried to talk things out... ...he attacked..."

"No Dmg2: Human day." the summoner nodded her ears forward, her lips thin. "For once, thank the Judge."

"Oh, my boy." Ezel's solemn voice took on a hint of amusement. "And he Stopped your friend, here?"

"...He was just running from the tavern...Babus in full pursuit and with a look that could kill." he explained, sitting up slowly with a wince, "I had to see what the haps was, so I stopped Babus."

The cardmaker said nothing, a faint, wry smile curving his lips. He reached for the hood of the stranger's rough cloak, pulling it away.

It was Mewt, face a mask of frozen fright.