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The hooded figure approached the theatre stage slowly, scythe swinging gently with every step, hooded head turning, taking in the empty seats and the weapon-strewn stage and the large torture wheel upon it.

"CROWLEY?"

A single eyelid fluttered open. Alexis groaned, miserably, still upside down, his cloak folded around his ears. "No..." he pleaded.

"I HAVE COME FOR YOU, CROWLEY," the curved blade moved closer, ready to strike.

"Please..." Crowley gasped, his opened eye growing wide as the edge of the scythe came into full view. "Please no... anything... I'll do anything... don't take me with you..." his face contorted into a sorrowful grimace, his forehead creased, his upper lip quivering as he fought back a tear. "Wait... wait... Death... ha- has feathered wings..." blinking both his eyes now, he relaxed his face and strained to get a better look at this reaper before him.

He watched as the black linen hood was pulled back and a pair of long, grey ears sprang out, followed by a pair of pale grey eyes and a round, grey snout.

"Surprise!"

"You bastard!" Alexis roared, shaking at the restraints that held him to the wooden wheel at his back, "fucking demon donkey prick! I thought you were HIM!"

Anar laughed, "I got you good, huh? And you fainted, didn't you? Not so tough now, are we?"

"I'll kill you!"

"I'd like to see you try. Having a wheely good time on the fairground ride, are we?"

Alexis's eyes darted around. "Where are those lizards of yours?"

Anar lifted his head up to the box seats above them and the balcony where Rap and Rave were poised, holding rotten fruit from the gardens. "They're here. Stopped at the trebuchet launching outside to grab some stuff to throw at you. We heard you were scheduled for this afternoon's entertainment." With a grab, Anar pulled open Alexis's pockets and rummaged through for his amulet.

A soft click click click echoed as Meredith swept gracefully down the aisle between seats.

Alexis grumbled and swore as the aardvark helped himself to everything he had, and sharply snapped his head back down to see the succubus firing up her magic.

A crackle of electricity sprang up at her dainty fingertips and she scowled at him, full of fury for what he had done. Her beautiful eyes, lined in blackest kohl moved to her target.

Crowley gulped and instinctively went to close his legs, but they were strapped tight to the wheel, pinned apart.

"Meredith, hey, it's good to see you, princess," he quavered with false chumminess, "let me down, babe, and I'll make it up to you! Yeah? You can come with me to London, in the stretch limo, come and party with the Inner circle. You'd like that, right? Play with the big boys? You don't want to hang out with this grey idiot, do you? With a stinky horse and a couple overgrown geckos. They're no fun. And I'm better looking! Let me down, please, Mere- AARGH!" he shuddered as a bolt of magical energy surged into his crotch, making him convulse and wheeze.

Wet splats covered him with tomato juice and seeds along with dripping mouldy clods of unidentifiable expired grocery items.

"Nice shot, babe!" Rave grinned to his partner.

"Thanks, dear!"

The big raptor called down from the upper level, "that's what you get for sending your old dead geezer after us!"

Alexis spluttered, still trembling from being shocked, spitting bits of vegetable from his sharp mouth. "Why are you not dead?" he snarled, genuinely upset that his antagonisers weren't deceased.

"Your ancestor will tell you all about it, I'm sure," Anar said, slipping Sharon Stone round his grey neck, turning to leave, "as soon as you get yourself down. Shame you lost your amulet, and your..." he turned over a small, gold, rectangular piece of plastic, "... American Express."

"Don't you dare!!" Crowley frothed, "my dad'll murder me! Do you know how much one of those charges in interest? He has to pay a fee just to use the damn thing! It's for emergencies only! I'll be crucified! Fed to the family Hell-Hound! Forced to tidy my room!!"

"Bye, Crowley." Anar gave a wave, slipping his free arm into Meredith's as they turned their back on him and left him dangling and dripping, walking back to the double doors where two green, scaly familiars were now waiting for them.

"FUCKING DEMON DONKEY..."

With a Bang! The doors closed behind them and Crowley's frustrated cursings were silenced.

"That was fun," Rap smiled, "proper Hallowe'en mischief. He really thought you were Death! Damn near widdled himself."

"Good! Maybe now he'll leave us alone," Meredith snapped.

But Anar shook his head, "unless I make another rival, I'm stuck with him."

Rave rumbled, "what's the big deal with rivalries, anyway? Sounds stupid to me. It all sounds stupid to me, though, to be fair, getting wings 'n things and running round scaring people, the whole demon thing is dumb."

"It's drama. People love drama. They love watching two people who don't like each other wind each other up, and square up, and they love to take sides. As for demons, well, it all started as Underworld workers and kind of spiralled, I think. You got two sides; the Angels and the Demons, looking after the dead. Lucifer was an angel, in the beginning..."

"Was he?" Rap gasped.

Anar shrugged, "apparently. He didn't like the way the system was ran and made his own. Like I say, it kind of got out of hand, and before you know it, the angels decided they were the good guys and only took the pure souls, and the demons were foul fiends who took in everyone else. They were once all the same, and now you've got two sides who don't like each other."

"Like a rivalry?"

"Exactly. I reckon there's no difference, really, you know. I reckon Heaven has the same processing system that Hell does, same paperwork, same soul recycling. Just different dress code. Maybe no burning pit..."

Rave stopped, "wait! We got all the hidden thingies for the science lab quest!"

Rap drew in a breath, "no, you are not..."

"Ok, ok, maybe not a squirrel, maybe not one of them, but I could be something cool! Could be fun..."

Meredith turned, concerned, "what science lab quest?"

"The science bird's lab quest!" Rave enthused, "he said there was a potion up for grabs if you got all the hidden things ticked on your sheet. A potion that turns you into a different animal. You gotta admit that's pretty awesome."

Rap rolled his eyes, "he's not shut up about it! I swear, it's gonna end in disaster, you watch. He'll be a furry puddle!"

"You could be an aardvark, like me," Anar smiled.

Rave scowled at him, "get knotted. Aardvarks are lame. You don't even get called an aardvark most of the time."

"He's cute!" Meredith objected, ruffling Anar's hair affectionately.

"Pfffff!"

"Anyway," she retorted, "why wouldn't you want to be a dinosaur? Surely, they're better than a squirrel or whatever?"

Rave fidgeted, "I mean, squirrels are fluffy. And they got the big poofy tails. They climb trees and nibble acorns." He was blushing now.

Meredith folded her arms, "you want to be cute, don't you?"

"No! I don't! I don't wanna be cute! You can't prove it!"

"Big bad dino wants to be petted," she teased. "Wants all the scritches?"

Rave stomped off, "forget it!" he sulked, throwing his scaly hands up, "I changed my mind! I don't wanna be a squirrel anymore! Squirrels are stupid!"

Rap chased after him, fussing, "it's ok, she was only playing, babe, why don't we do something else instead of drinking dodgy magic potions? We can go trick or treating!"

But the big velociraptor made his way to the laboratory with determined strides.

"It only takes one drop of your chosen creature's essence," the scientist explained, swirling a conical flask of bubbling liquid, "the other ingredients are accelerators and buffers, vital ingredients to allow your forms to grow or shrink, to keep from splitting you open, or crushing your skeletal structure as you transform. Your own DNA, Rave, will be feral, so your chosen animal form would also be feral. If your aardvark friend here were to take part, his anthro DNA would turn him into an anthropomorphised version of his chosen animal. It has to work with you, not against you, or it would be fatal."

Rave furrowed his big, dumb brow.

The lab technician could see he'd lost the big reptile completely. "You find bit of animal. You become animal. OK? Samples are here..." he gestured with a wing to a wall of small metal drawers, each one labelled with a printed marker. "The blank potions are lined up. You simply add your chosen creature's essence to the flask and drink."

Rave nodded and went for a closer look, reading aloud while Rap helped.

Meredith was browsing the scientific journals upon the bookcase.

"Actually..." the scientist approached Anar with a birdy hop, eager-eyed, "I don't have an aardvark sample. You're certainly a rare specimen, I must say. Would you donate some DNA? Just a drop of blood. For scientific research purposes?"

"I... I don't know," Anar stammered, nervously. "I think... I'm a mix, you know? I'm not exactly pedigree..."

Unfortunately, this was the wrong answer, as the crow's eyes shone under the lab's long strip lights, "a chimera? How fascinating! We know so little about interspecies breeding. Now I really must insist upon scanning you..."

Scanning didn't sound so bad. It certainly sounded a lot more convincing than a sharp knife with some funny symbols carved into it like last time. Maybe science would reveal crucial details that archaic methods could not?

The bird could see concern upon the student's long, grey face. He cocked his head, "science doesn't judge, Anar, it only helps us to learn. It gives us facts. Truths. You said you think you're a mix, but wouldn't you like to know for sure?"

He was led to a white plastic dome sat upon the work counter. The crow flipped up its lid and inside was a bright white light and a plastic shelf. Above it, a sharp point protruded.

Anar's heart sank. He was going to be stabbed again. So much for scanning...

"Pop your hand upon the shelf. That's it, palm up, nice and easy. You'll feel a little scratch..."

The needle moved quickly; a blur followed by a tiny speck of crimson that sprang from Anar's palm. The light inside began to glow a brilliant blue.

A screen flickered on the wall beside the white plastic dome stabbing contraption.

"Now it will scan your blood for your species. If you are a mix, there will be multiple results." The scientist peered at the data as it arrived and stroked his chin with a feathered wingtip.

"What's that?" Anar asked, looking once again at the blue light in the needle chamber. Inside, a tiny spark fizzled and spluttered like a speck of electrically-charged blue dust.

"I... don't know." The crow's voice was soft and dreamlike as he clicked through screens of results, "I've never seen anything like this. Whatever you are, it's not on our database that's for sure. It almost looks like... magic?"

Their gazes fixed upon each other. Anar gulped. "I'm part dragon," he breathed.

"That would certainly explain it, yes. It's impossible, but that's the wonderful thing about science, it doesn't care. It's given us a fact. And, dare I say it, it's given us something rare and precious in the form of a drop of draconish magical essence, too..."

The tiny blue spark hung in the chamber to the blood scanner, small and vibrant and crackling.

"What's goin' on, Big Ears? I can't decide what to change into. What you looking at? Ooooh that's an electical fault, I'd turn that off if I were you. Fire hazard."

"It's not electricity, it's magic. It's my magic. From my blood."

"Sounds unsanitary," Rap sniffed, also nosing.

Meredith's perfume filled Anar's nostrils. "That's pretty. What is it?"

"It's magic," Anar explained again. "Dragon magic."

"Dragon?! Awww yeah, I wanna be a dragon! I've decided, I've decided," Rave bounced on his scaly soles.

The crow turned his glossy, feathered head, his beak snapping, "no, that would be very unwise! We know nothing of dragons, there are unknown parameters, countless risks!"

But Rave made a grab for the small speck and with one swift movement he plunged the glowing dot into one of the base potions and flung his head back, pouring it down his long, veiny throat.

Nobody moved. All were stunned at what had just happened. They watched Rave, transfixed, morbid curiosity taking over as he burped loudly, wiped his chin and smacked his lips.

He looked at his green hands, turning them over. He swung his tail around. "Don't feel no diff'rent," he rumbled.

"I need my jotter pad!" the scientist flapped to his academic supplies, tossing memos and paperclips as he grabbed a spiral-bound book and pen. "A dragon morph! In my lab! Must get this down..."

As they watched, Rave's bulky outline grew blurry, his muscle definition fading, his shiny scales dulling, he began to fade, almost, becoming a mist.

"Never seen anything like this!" the crow squawked, furiously scribbling.

Rap grabbed onto Anar, pushing his nostrils into the aardvark's shoulder, unable to watch anymore, "I knew this would all go wrong! Bloody Hallowee'en..."

"Is he really going to become a dragon?" Meredith asked with a hint of skepticism.

"Honestly haven't a clue, babe."

Rave tried to talk, but it sounded as though he were underwater. He tried to move but the fog he'd now become swirled and drifted lazily, unable to hold him together. It dispersed until there was only a green cloud in the middle of the room.

"Is he ok?" Rap squeaked.

"He's fine," Anar reassured, lying through his teeth.

"Elemental dispersion... complete physical form collapse..."

"He don't sound fine to me!" Rap bawled.

"He'll get better."

With a pop! The mist sucked itself back together and there, where Rave once stood, flittered a small, iridescent flying lizard.

It chittered, crossly. "Why am I so small???"

Rap swung his teary-eyed head up to see his lifemate's amazing transformation. "Rave, you're adorable! Oh, look at youuu!" he rushed to get a closer look.

The small angry dragon that was Rave hung down from his fragile wings droopily, his long scaly snout turning to Rap who was attempting to pet him. "Oi! Gerroff! I'm delicate! Eep!"

"He is kind of cute," Meredith murmured. "So this is your big secret, huh. Your ancestor really hooked up with a dragon, Anar?"

He could only splutter. It didn't make any sense to him, neither. But here was proof. Undeniable proof. He was part dragon. There was dragon magic in his blood.

"How long will Rave be like this?" he asked, his blood bubbling as possibilities rushed through his mind.

Still writing, the crow shrugged, "it's normally about an hour. No longer or there could be permanent cell damage. However, as I say, dragon morphs are unstudied. For now..."

"You feel like static," Meredith could feel a crackle as her hand brushed Anar's cloak, "are you ok? I told you this kind of wild magic was dangerous..."

"I said I wasn't ready," he approached Rave's new body. Rave was twisting and turning in the air, getting the hang of this flying lark. "I wasn't ready to accept the truth. Dragons couldn't be real."

"You'd be a lot more tolerable if you were like this!" Rave grinned toothily.

"I was frightened of what the Council of Sorcerer's would do to me."

"Huh! They should be frightened of you, I reckon!"

"Maybe the world should learn about dragons; maybe it's time. Everything I've done in the last week or so has been to keep it all secret but the truth wants to come out, I think. Let's go show everyone that dragons are real, shall we?"

"Just a shame I'm not bigger," Rave sighed.

"You're fun-sized," Anar grinned. "A pocket dragon."

"We should show your other girlfriend!" Rap smiled brightly.

"Your what now? Your other girlfriend, Anar?!"

Anar's mouth flapped as Meredith glared. "Not my girlfriend. Not. Not one bit. No."

"You were snogging her!" Rap laughed.

Anar turned crimson, "look, alright, I... I don't fancy her, yeah? I just needed the dagger that she stabbed me with."

"It was your girlfriend who stabbed you?" Meredith exploded, "you left out that detail!"

He crossed his arms, "can we forget about the whole girlfriend thing? It didn't happen! Forget it! Madam Shay does know a lot about dragons, though..."

"Wherever you're going, I'm coming too, I have notes to take. Rave, how do you feel? Is your chest hot? Can you breathe fire? Any smoke? How many colours can you see?" the crow hopped behind them, a stethoscope swinging around his neck, empty vials crammed in his lab coat pockets, still asking questions as they made their way down to the artefact archives.