Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or any of it's characters. I'll bet they never expected to be dealing with dragons, real or otherwise.

Sorry for the delay, but I'm getting there.

:}

Inside the keep, Steven was watching the procession. "More then I expected."

His father scowled. "They've met the rebels. Recruited them"

"I didn't see…"

"They have a witch!" The man snapped. "Of course you didn't see. She must have figured out they were being watched, and found a way to interfere. Not sure how, but I did expect, sooner or later, she'd find a way to join in with our enemies. No, we need to gather our information the old fashion way. I'll send some agents to get close, see what they can find."

"They're almost at the fortress." Steven noted. "They'll be expecting us to let them in. Should we?"

"We let in the core, Trina and Tori, and apologize for the crime rates in the city. Blame the dragon attacks on the countryside." Master Carson smirked. "Never let them know we're involved, not until we figure out how to deal with that witch."

"Afraid of her?" Steven asked.

"Information is far more valuable then direct attack magics." The older man reminded his son. "I'm not worried about her slaying your pet. I'm worried about her figuring out how the Vega clan might. No, we wait, and trick them, maybe poison their drinks. Make Victoria sick, while we kill of Katrina and that witch. Play it cool, so they never know…" The mans words died in his mouth as their dragon flew out from it's place under the keep to start it's attack run on the Vega procession. "Did you…?"

"Never!" Steven defended himself. "Too good a merchant to show my hand like that."

"Then find out how it got out...!"

"We need to recall it…" Steven started to move.

"No, stop! We're committed now." The master of house Carson decided, calming down a touch. "We wait, and deal with it later. Let it slaughter the Vega's, even if we lose Victoria. We'll either claim it attacked the city, or use it to threaten the region, take what we need. Either way, we're forced to use it now, so lets just watch the battle."

The dragon golem was made from whatever dragon parts the alchemists could scrounge, plus a LOT of other reptilian meat, skin and bones. Rare monsters had gone into the body of this monstrous construct, giving it a draconic look as well as working wings and a fiery breath. Small compared to a true adult dragon, it was large, bordering on huge to the eye of most normal people. And while it's flight was alchemicaly enhanced, it lacked much in the way of intelligence, with only the most basic of spirit types bound to it, giving it a sense of awareness and basic intelligence. Ordered to attack by a misinterpretation of what Sinjin had said, it flew out and started a strafing run on the procession, burning breath flowing from it's mouth and igniting the surrounding buildings. Stone and clay survived well, but far to much of even those sturdy buildings relied upon wood and the like for supports and interior walls, as well as most of the roofs. The inferno unleashed upon the residents of the wealthy section of the city would not soon be forgotten. However, if the Carson's held power when it was over, it would be forgiven, as no one wanted to challenge their grip on the city.

Jade's desperate parry, mixed with Sylvie's attempt to cover them, and Cat's understanding of fire and destruction, diverted a good deal of the dragons breath, even as the air elemental did as it was instructed, disrupting it's flight. With no control, it was forced to crash instead of just flying by, now more vulnerable. A building partially caved in from the impact of it's reptilian body.

"I can't transform here." Sylvie warned Andre. "Not enough room for me to move about, let alone fight. No, this is gonna be a ground battle, and that thing doesn't care how many people get hurt by it's mass."

Sam, meanwhile, had taken Carly and Robbie and split off, realizing her style of combat wouldn't be of any real use there. Seeing them sneak away, Andre urged Sylvie to follow, feeling that maybe they'd need her unique style of aid. "Go, infiltrate, find us the evidence we need." The herald told her. "I'm gonna just find me a safe place and hide this battle out. Not thinking any of my magics are gonna be of much help here."

The construct didn't feel pain, wasn't subject to exhaustion, and had no fear. It pressed it's attack, stronger and more resilient then any human could hope to be. It's claws dug deep gashes in the ground as it swung, unable to take off, it's wings too wide for the street. Had it been more intelligent, or possesed better instincts, it would have climbed up to the roofs and taken off from there.

Trina saw a problem in their combat strategy. "Swords need us to get in close, and no way we can survive that kind of engagement. Grab spears, and do what you can." She ordered.

Jade, for her part, was trying to finesse the beast, using transmutation to change the environment around it, striking with shafts of earth from below, and weaving a web of random materials to pin it down. The battle had already cost them their one semi-reformed Vega clan member, who died a meaningless death when he was stomped by the monster as he closed in to use his sword. A good half dozen of the rebels also had perished, lost to the slashing claws and speed of the creation. One blow seemed to be all it needed to kill most people.

Jade's plan was partially successful. 'I can't directly affect it with my magics. It's resistant. But the world around it isn't, and I'm doing my best to hurt it. Now, if I can only find me some way to…' Her eyes narrowed as she called her plan out to Cat, something edging on dark magics and necromancy.

"Let me check with the petrified throne." Cat sent back. Several long minutes of combat dragged past, in which Jade was using all her power and attention to keep the beast from rolling across the masses, or breaking free, or otherwise striking more then the occasional blow. A desperate battle waged across the narrow streets as the rebels refused to just run, willing to die if it meant freeing their families. Then, the mental silence was broken, with Cat announcing "The plan will work, with an addendum. Just, lets see if this works…"

Cat shifted, using a spell she sent to Jade, and received back from the casters hand. Now enchanted properly, she flew up to the dragon golem's head, her body going ethereal, and entered. Her own fay nature was now the weapon she's use, backed by Jade's magic and the will of the Petrified Throne, she attempted to displace the spirit who'd inhabited the body. The spirit, only the most basic of it's kind, was more then willing to abandon the pain of this existence, and once the combined magics struck at this one vulnerable spot, breaking the weak bindings that held the spirit in place, Cat briefly held sway on the powerful beast. "Okay, I'm in. You can kill it, if you want. Not that far from achieving that anyways."

"Not risking you getting hurt." Jade told her, even as the others, with broken spears and fresher weapons, backed off from the slowly untangled dragon. "Now, how do I heal it?"

"Way complicated for now." Cat replied. "Lets go find us the alchemists who made it. Betting they can fix this puppy up. Then, we have us a ritual to do, and if it works, the Vega clan gets themselves a powerful new tool."

Inside, Sam and Carly had found Sinjin, who was begging for his life as the guards tried to decide if they should just toss him out of the large cave entrance, or wait for their master to be there to watch the alchemist die. His life, it seemed, was over. Seeing an opening, Sam and Carly decided to take out the guard.

Carly was and is a good leader, but a poor fighter. Robbie had to step in and finish the men to protect the girl. The blond just smirked. "Okay, where can we find, I don't know… Rob, you got a list?"

"Evidence of the Carson's involvement in the attacks across the Vega lands." Carly clarified.

"S-sure…" Sinjin led them to where he hoped records would exists to appease these dangerous people who had done an end run around the biggest weapon the Carson's had. 'I think this is what the ghostly man wanted. I just hope this helps, and I can work for the new people in charge…'

Lord Carson watched the battle in the font his son had set up, wondering if they'd lose anything he valued. "So far, we're not losing anything too useful… Wait, why have they stopped fighting? The dragon, it just... stopped. Did the witch somehow enchant it?"

"That's not supposed to be able to happen." Steven said, even as they watched the rebels reorganize and deal with their wounded and dead. Trina was starting to move them towards the fortress, not wishing to wait too long, suspecting they'd already have a fight on their hands as the stronghold would be sealed up soon. Jade, meanwhile, had taken a few men, including Beck but not Tori, and mounted the draco-golum. They rode it towards a near by open space mound, and the room they'd need to take the air.

Now free enough to shift, and seeing that they wouldn't need her inside, Sylvie transformed, taking her true draconic form and allowing Trina to mount her. She'd returned when she realized that Robbie, Sam and Carly were going to scale a good deal of distance, and she wasn't crazy about taking too many flights of stairs, let alone the raw climb they were facing. Now, with both the Lady Trina, as well as her kinsman Andre riding on her back, she stood to her full height and prepared to take to the air. The minstrel, for his part, was amazed that one of the others had progressed this far. "I had no idea…" He started.

"Please, I told you as much." Sylvie insisted, her speech more in the mind then actual words. "I got lucky, and managed to find a series of quests that let me change. Not optimal for anyone else, and I have no idea how many others died trying the same thing. Now, we need to stay focused, cause I'm armored, but a very big target. I suspect they won't be waiting to just let us in. This fight is far from over."

"You do realize, without evidence, we just saved the City of Carson from a rampaging beast. The Carson's, not a part of this. We need proof." Trina reminded them both. "So, lets hope our scouts have found something useful, cause right now, I'm only heading to the front gate to ask to speak with Lord Carson, and to give our other teams time to find us anything."

Inside, Robbie and Sam had made quick work of the initial responses to Sinjin's attempt to get into Stevens hidden office, and Carly was moving with precision to find whatever she could. "Okay, we do have evidence of his crimes, including hiring lanky here to finish the construct."

"Hurtful." Sinjin said, but he was more worried about the next wave of guards. There were only four of them, five if Burf sided with him, and a LOT more guards. Worse, only the ranger and the blond were decent fighters. He suspected his entire family was now in danger, and worried about them. This had to be finished as quickly as possible. "Anyways, by now that construct you had me send to battle has finished off your friends. I don't think the Carson's are going to be too forgiving if they find you down here."

"I don't get it?" Sam ignored the alchemist. "Why have anything written down? That can be used against him. He just needed expenses. Nothing else. And why down here. They have to have another office where they keep records, one not buried in the basement. So, why here?"

"Easy." Carly sighed. "There is always the danger of someone from the throne wanting to look at the Carsons records. At the same time, they'll want to watch how much of what you are using, and what kinds of profits they're making. A secondary office, preferably out of sight, where they can monitor their illegal activities, that protects them in the long run. Just as long as no one finds out. And gods, they have a list of things they were doing, and it's longer then I'd have expected. From lying about their shipments and fleet, denying the empire levies and taxes, and letting restricted things in because they have the resources to sell them, all the way to plotting to use that Dragon, as well as everything else the Van Cleef alchemists can make, to expand their territory. Seems they've been up to a lot of questionable things. Says here they even were trying to spy on the Emperor. Honestly, I suspect they have their spies, but using magic, to find out whats happening, not a bad plan. Only, betting his private counsel chambers, warded against that kind of chiz."

"What I don't get is why haven't they tried something yet?" Robbie asked. "They have the numbers, and despite how quiet we tried to be, they have to know we're down here by now. So why haven't we faced waves of soldiers yet?"

"Because somethings distracting them." A new voice said, and all four looked to where an invisible person materialized. Burf, who'd used his potion of Vanishing, had appeared.

"Dude, you could have…" Sinjin started.

"I might get one, and then the others would rip me apart." Burf told his friend. "Me, you, and whomever else they saw. Besides, I have, er, news I guess. The construct just stopped fighting, and I had to get every one of our people into a safe place, cause the guards, their first instinct was to punish us. Only, they stopped looking for us, after I used the potion to try and find some way out, cause something is happening. Something must be happening, because they're rushing to the surface, or the cave entrance. Either way, they're giving us space to breath."

"The construct?" Sam asked. "The fake dragon?"

"It's done." Rob let his head fall, just for a moment.

"Only, it's not dead." Burf insisted. "They didn't destroy is. Not sure, but that theory I had, maybe they found a way…"

"Theory?" Carly asked.

"There has to be a life force someplace in the construct, so we used an ancient alchemist trick to bind a minor elemental spirit to help motivate it." Sinjin explained. "Otherwise, it just won't move. It won't know how to."

"So, it's possible to displace the spirit." Burf added. "We're not magi, don't know how to bind it in that tight. We did our best, but if something strong enough sought to displace the elemental spirit, then that could take over the beast."

"Meaning, that thing may well be on our side now?" Carly finished. "Hence, guarding the cave entrance. That is a big, open weakness to the fort. I'm sure they have some way of closing it off. Arrogance kept them from doing so, but they have to have some way, or people like us would be sneaking in all the time."

"Lets get this evidence and find some way to get it to the capital." Robbie said. "We have to inform the emperor."

"Who do you think I'm working for now?" Sinjin interrupted. "I was told, by the ghostly figure, that the throne knew what was going on, and I had to help, send the dragon out to fight, and whomever won, would be the rulers of this city."

Carly wanted to go look, see what was coming. Only, Sam didn't want to have the rebel leader so vulnerable, and Robbie had his own ideas of what to do. "Okay, here's what we're going to do." He started.

"And who put you in charge?" Sam asked.

"Hear me out, then challenge my leadership." The ranger countered. "I was gonna say you two secure the alchemists, and I'm gonna go looking for the man in charge. If the emperor already knows, then we need to put that man in chains. This ends now."

"No." Sam's voice was colder. "Right idea, wrong people. Rob, YOU get Carly here to where the alchemists are hiding. You can speak for the Vega's, and when you promise them that they'll be taken care of, and I mean protected, they'll listen. Carly here, with tall and skinny, they will be able to argue the point, while you look all official. Me, I'm gonna go find the one's in charge."

"And then what?" Carly challenged. "I know you. You're gonna kill them."

"Yep." The blond nodded. "Look, if they live, they have contacts, people who owe them, and money hidden away someplace. I'm betting they have cash stashed someplace, as well as the claim to other holdings. They have no morals, and will buy whatever influence they need to crawl back on top. That assassin in the streets, he won't be the last. Not as long as Lord Carson or one of his heirs live. No, as long as they live, there will always be a threat."

"Then you'll only have to kill the two." Sinjin said. "Lord Carson is a monster. He has only one acknowledged son, cause that way, no conflicts withing the house later. He probably has someone hidden away, but they'll remain ignorant of who they really are until they're needed. Steven once told me that his father had to kill his own brothers to assume the tittle of lord of the city. Man is more the willing to do horrible things…"

"We need to go, now." Robbie said, now certain he should be the one to arrest the Carson's. Only, by the time he made sure Carly was safely ready, Sam had already slipped away. "Damn. Okay, let me get you to where the Van Cleef clan is hidden, and then I'll go after her."

"Just go." Carly urged.

"Too dangerous." Sinjin interjected. "We may be safe here, but I'm thinking, if the construct did turn against them, then someone in the organization is gonna want my family dead."

"I have a few things…." Burf offered, showing his small collection of potions. "Just, nothing too powerful. Short term invisibility, that kind of chiz. So, lets go, cause I'm worried that our people will be found."

Outside, the guards at the cave where trying to close doors made a long time ago, only it wasn't moving as quickly as they'd have liked. The constructs, now under new control, flew up and moved to rip the portcullis off, only for Jade to use her magic to raise it instead, which freaked out the soldiers inside. They had seen what that dragon could do, and had little desire to face it themselves. Still, the officer did manage to marshal the troops, and stood ready to drive the intruders out. That was, until Beck started talking.

"Give up, you've lost." He called out. "I'm on your dragon, it works for us now. I also have a powerful witch, who brought your dragon to heel before us. You really don't have much of a chance, so why not give up. I promise you'll be treated fairly."

Odd as it felt, he was giving them an out, another option beyond facing an unknown threat that had taken their own dragon and made it an enemy. Beck smirked at he spoke to Jade. "Give them an out, and they won't fight as hard. Just, they have to know they're gonna lose, so we project confidence, and…"

Jade's spell lashed out, rolling across the assembled guards and striking where they were vulnerable, their emotions. She'd marshaled all the fear she'd felt, back when she was assaulted, and woven it into a wave of desperation and hopelessness. Back when it happened, the man had cornered her, and she felt like she couldn't escape. She'd fought, but it was pointless. Jade had, in the end, resigned herself to being a thing, hurt and damaged and helpless the rest of her life. Even being saved hadn't erased those deep feelings of hurt. Now, those feelings, mixed together with all the fear she could find in her soul, ate away at the resolve of the soldiers, and given the chance, they broke, running away as quickly as their body's could. The sergeant and men who remained, who somehow resisted the fear, now stood no chance against the dragon. "They just needed a push." Jade told the knight. "Good speech though."

"Okay, surrender, and we'll be fair." Beck again ordered. "Um, yea, just, yea, put your weapons down over there, and we'll be back later, once we've secured the level."

:}

Thinking the battle is over. However, I doubt the Carson's will go quietly. Even if the Throne knows whats going on, to take the city will be costly. Lets see what tricks Trina has up her sleeve.

Thoughts?

Also, maybe two chapters left.