Izumo glaned at courtney trying to escape... I know the master will be furius but. izumo whent to the shelf and took the book courtney needed and handed it to her and now if u trust me ill take you to the souls chamber all you have to do is hold my hand and ill warp you

Azeran chuckled softly to himself when he heard the thunderous crash of the many many GPS equipped anvils. "Looks like they fell for it," he mused. While walking down the hall, Azeran heard a conversation off to the right. Looking around, Azeran saw that it was coming from the room marked 'Library.' "That voice sounds familiar," Azeran stated. Loudly, he called, "Courtney? Are you in there? I'm coming in, ok?" In he went, Nagi Nata at the ready.

Cowman was wandering around the lair, looking for Courtney when he got a phone call. Curious, he picked it up and answered it. It was Steven L.'s mother.

"So you're the big bully my son is talking about! How dare you bully my sweet, innocent, precious angel! I have half a mind to go over there and pound you to dust!!!!"

"Madam, I assure you, he's not being bullied. On the other hand, I believe he's been lying to you about his, um, employment. He's actually working for an evil overlord, who happens to be high on bread right now." Cowman sniggered. This was going to be really funny.

Osterbaum woke up...("How did they now that anvils were my weakness...")...Just to find him self in another situation...He jumped to the ceiling evading the GLOPS little pod thingies...Yeah I mean thsoe things!

*Nokia tune playing*

"QUIET EVERYONE! It's my mom! Yes mom...No mom...I haven't been bullying Steven L.. No...It was the other guys...Well the other guys, you know...Yes I defended Steven L. No the bullies will not get out of this alive...Yes mom, I'l do a good job by being an evil overlord...Yes mom...Good bye mom." He hang up the phone. Wait...Didn't my mom got killed by some damnd heroes?
"Well anyhow...I'M GONNA KILL THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!!!"

Thaumaturge listened. From the elevated throne a faint ringing sound could be heard. "The phone!" Thaumaturge scrambled to a wall panel and began to type furiously. "Access the omega-drive ... command three-four-eight ... Aaargh! What's my password? Oh, yes ... re-route the subroutine ... open the socket ... execute!" Behind him the throne groaned like a wounded Earth Elemental, shuddered, then dropped like the proverbial stone. It hit the ground with a deafening crash, firing stinging shards of stone around the room. Thaumaturge hurried over to the throne, sat down, opened the left arm, and pressed a button, causing a small handset to lift out on an extensible arm. Thaumaturge took the handset, pressed a button, and put the handset to his ear.

"Thaumaturge speaking... yes, that is me... no, no, not at all... wait, ma'am..." Thaumaturge jerked the hanset away from his ear, but even at arm's-length the strident voice was like needles being forced into his brain. "But ma'am... no, ma'am... yes, I am... no, I haven't hurt your little boy... er, yes, I believe that he is... no, he works for my, er, competition... if you say so, ma'am... no, I think that it was the heroes who were trying to kill your son... yes, I think that I can get their numbers... one moment, please..."

Thaumaturge pressed a button on his 'phone, then held it to his ear again. "L337 h@x0r devision... yes, thank you... Ah, excellent. Yes, I want a trace on the numbers for all calls out of the lair... good." He pressed the button again. "Ma'am, I'll have those numbers for you in a moment." After a minute or two of chatting with Mrs. L. ("L." is for such a lovely lady, of course), the handset made a tone. "Excuse me, Mrs. L., I think that those numbers are ready..." He pressed a button, and was connected to the L337 h@x0r devision. "Yes? Excellent..." He took down the numbers, then disconnected the h@x0rs, and reconnected to Mrs. L.. "Ma'am?... yes, those number are..." he began, before reading off the numbers for Azeran and Cowman. Since Courtney had been in her room when she had called, they had been able to exclude her number.

"Yes, ma'am... thank you, ma'am... same to you, ma'am... goodbye" Thaumaturge smiled evilly. Whoever had put Mrs. L. onto his number was about to get a very nasty surprise...

Before Azeran could pull the trigger, Jackal slashed the gun in half and drove another punch into Azeran's stomach. "I have no time for you." he said, and he leapt away.
************************************************** *********

As Courtney edged backwards toward the ladder, Jackal appeared from nowhere, his arm tight around her neck. "What have we here?" he said, reaching for his helmet. His helmet came off easily, and revealed Jackal's face. Thin, sharp, handsome features, pale white skin, black hair, and foggy, lifeless eyes. Jackal was blind. "Greetings, Courtney. I am the ninja who has plagued your agents for so long a time. Azeran and I fought barehanded in the middle of a minefield in Zaire. Even though it was hardly cold, steam filled the air as he spoke. His breath was cold, yet his voice deep and soothing.

Izumo put his sniper to jakles head and his blade his neck... not today he said as he plunged a sleeping dart into jackles neck, I'm tiered of this im not evil i can make up my own mind courtney grab my had I'll warp us to safty.

Before the tranquilizer struck, Jackal whipped around and sliced the dart in half with his katana. The ninja sniffed the air like an animal and his blind gaze fixed on Izumo. Putting his helmet back on in a flash, he leapt upwards and cleaved the barrel off of Izumo's rifle. He plummeted back down and grabbed Courtney as he plunged through the floor.

ooc: Shambulator has given me permission to have the Glop go after the bag of soul crystals that I tossed.

The Glop lunged after the bag of soul crystals, affording Thaumaturge a chance to escape from the throne room. He paused, looking back at Osterbaum. Was it wise to leave Osterbaum in his throne room? He dashed back to the throne and pressed a button on the arm rest. The throne hummed, and Thaumaturge stepped back quickly as a protective ward shimmered into being around the throne. It would only drop if Thaumaturge himself cast a certain small spell, or if it ran out of power (something which would take a very long time indeed - maybe as long as three days!). That done, Thaumaturge dashed out of the door, and darted down a side-passage.

A little way down, he stopped at an inconspicuous panel. After looking around to check that no-one was watching, he made a few arcane passes of his hand, and the panel slid up to reveal a small packet, holding no more than four soul crystals - one of a number of emergency caches hidden around the base, each with its own pass-spell. With the soul crystals in hand, Thaumaturge set off towards the Library...

As the two kiddies beat their chests and kidnapped Courtney, a nearby videophone rang. Succubus Dante was just about to give it the attention it deserved - none - when suddenly a little chibi demon girl popped out of the phone and waved a little picket sign saying, "Hell is here, Miz Mizferac."

"Uhhh, it's those idiots again... When will they learn to stop bothering me..."

The picket sign changed and the little demon girl started jumping around to get her attention.

"Miz Mizferac, the dark fathers of the Inferno, the sons of the Abyss, the resplendent shadow-"

"All right, all right, I get the frigging point. Put me through."

Instantly, a blank expanse of wall which she had thought of as a sign of poverty on Thaumaturge's part (after all, most villains filled every wall they had with ego shrines to themselves) flickered, to reveal the interior of a very large cave, with nine men sitting around a square recangular table. (Of course, when I say men, I actually mean the nine Archdevils of the nine layers of Hell, but you get what I mean, right?)

Succubus Dante could make out, in no order of importance, Juiblex, Levistus, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, Belial, Mammon, G'razzt, Dispater and Mephistopheles.

"We, the high Lords of hell, do gather to reproach thee..."

"We, the keepers of the abyssal realms..."

"We, who bestow the ancient seal of suffering..."

"We, the power behind the Inferno..."

"Do gather to reproach thee..."

"Blessed..."

"Blessed..."

"Blessed..."

"Blessed..."

"Many times blessed...are we."

"Lady Mizferac."

There was silence for a moment.

Then Succubus Dante broke it.

"You shower of fucking arseholes!"

Silence again.

"Your insults are refreshingly... direct, Lady Mizferac. You have changed."

"Have you joined with a mortal?"

"So unbecoming of the Lady of Pain..."

She flashed them all the finger.

"Well, up yours and the horses you rode in on. This is my new body, and by God (here all of them winced at the mention of the G-word), I'm going to get what I came for."

"That is another issue we wish to address, Lady Mizferac. You no longer perform your duties of luring men to sin, instead encroaching on the territory of the inc-"

"Shove it, geezers. Those incubi of yours couldn't tempt a starving man with a ten-course banquet. Time to show you how a real pro does things."

"Huh huh, she said "pro", hur hu-"

Her backhand was swift, accurate, and capable of driving a grown man two feet deep into concrete. The guard's feet were still twitching as Succubus Dante turned back to the Low Council.

"As you wish, Lady Miz-"

Succubus Dante reached over and pulled the plug on the machine.

"Stupid lecherous bastards. Now.. where is she..."

After doing her hair and nails again, thanks to the help of the Lady Devil Compact she always carried, she hopped down the hole Jaguar had made, in pursuit of Courtney.