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Note: Looney Toons and Tweety Bird copyright Warner Brothers. Jack Skellington and Nightmare Before Christmas copyright Walt Disney.

Chapter 46: Big Britches

Gordon was walked out to the grass beside the patio and stopped to face Nathanial, "You're way too big for your britches, boy. It's time to show you how insignificant you really are."

Geoff looked at the adults, as Jay slid the door closed, muffling Nathanial's answer, "Isn't anyone going to stop them? Nathanial doesn't know any combat magic! They could kill him!"

Ella put her paw on his shoulder, "He has something up his sleeve," Jay summoned his glasses and put them on, "He seemed confident, and he didn't want them to know we were here. Besides, we can always step in if it looks like they're going to far, and, frankly, Nathanial is getting overconfident. Taking on two Investigators? They specialize in combat magic."

Nicholas laughed, "Not that that's going to help. He has Mom's medallion, magic can't touch him, but he can still use it." Ella stared at him in disbelief.

Jay shushed them, "They've almost finished posturing. I want to focus on this." He fiddled with his glasses for a second, "I'm recording it all, Ella." Geoff noticed he was back in 'professional' mode, so was Ella.

Ella nodded, "Good. We're going to need it. I really don't look forward to all the paperwork this is going to cause. That pup makes more work than the rest of the city combined."

Nicholas was looking at Jay's glasses, "Is that an artefact, too?"

Ella put her paw on his shoulder and whispered, trying to not distract Jay, "His are, the rest of ours are just enchanted. He's from a long line of Agents, those glasses are almost a hundred years old. They can see magic, like Nathanial seems to be able to. They can also record and playback whatever happens around them, and they make him immune to any sight-based magic, like illusions."

Nathanial was standing in a ready stance when Lara threw a bolt of lightening at him, it fizzled out five feet (one and a half metres) away. Nathanial charged at her while they were off balance, punching her in the nose, then grabbed her by the ears and slammed her face into his knee. He pushed her back and kicked her in the side of the head, knocking her out. Gordon teleported to the far side of the pool when Nathanial ran at him, trying to remain well out of range, and sent several glowing balls of magic at the pup. Liam chuckled, "Well done, Nathanial. Those punches were perfect, as was the kick. He does much better in combat than in training."

Geoff smiled, "One down."

Jay snorted, "Not yet." The balls of magic fizzled out as they approached Nathanial. Nathanial stayed where he was, thinking, just like Gordon seemed to be. Lara stood up, her wounds appearing to heal rapidly. She teleported further back in the yard, putting Nathanial half way between the two of them. Jay opened the door and stepped out, "I can't see them well enough." The fog was getting thick, quickly, and a dome of darkness seemed to be spreading over the sky. Nathanial glanced at the house and the lights all flicked off. Gordon and Lara created globes of light over themselves, but the light didn't reach as far as Nathanial. Suddenly, Nathanial howled, loud and long. It reverberated like he was crying out in a dozen voices. Geoff felt a shiver of fear, but everyone else reacted much more strongly, for a second, except Micah. While everyone else yelped and crouched, or displayed other signs of fear, Micah just looked worried. Jay and Ella cast a spell, blocking the observers from the effect of the howl. Lara and Gordon didn't seem to recover that quickly. Gordon was pale and backing up as he shook. Lara seemed frozen in spot.

Geoff noticed Nathanial's entire pack was spread out around the combat area, watching intently, "Nathanial's dogs are here. All of them." Micah shivered, his eyes faintly reflecting a silvery light.

Nathanial opened a portal and dropped behind Gordon, his paws were cloaked in a black aura. Jay made an observation, "He's dropped the anti-magic field." Nathanial grabbed Gordon's left arm as the large cat spun to face him, and snapped the forearm over his knee while the Cat yowled. Geoff wasn't sure what the magic on Nathanial's paws were, but it seemed to really hurt. Gordon didn't even react to the broken arm, just the initial contact of Nathanial's paws. Jay winced in sympathy. "He just pulled a good chunk of magic out of Gordon. That'll only work once, though. You can block that sort of thing, if you're ready. The field's back up." Nathanial giggled, the noise made Geoff's hackles rise; it wasn't entirely sane. Gordon's good paw flew up to his throat and he started trying to pull off his tie. It looked like he was being strangled.

"I taught I taw a puddy tat. I did! I did taw a puddy tat!" Nathanial giggled again.

Geoff shuddered, "Okay, that's just really creepy, and wrong. Tweety bird? Quoting Looney Toons?" Nathanial backpawed Gordon, knocking him to the ground. Gordon's tie loosened for a second, letting him gasp for air, before it started tightening up again. The white Persian looked like he was getting very weak. Lara wasn't idle where she was. A large stone creature had appeared by her and was quickly running toward Nathanial.

Nathanial made some tsk-tsk noises as he wagged his finger at her, "You're ruining our landscaping." He giggled, "Bad kitty." He jumped aside as a rock flew at him from the golem. Gordon started gasping for air as his tie became loose. He quickly pulled it off and tossed it aside. He didn't seem able to cast any spells at the moment. Nathanial was glaring at the golem, but shrugged and jumped over the pool, landing on its shoulders.

Liam gasped, "How did he do that? Why did he do that?" Nathanial grinned over at them and saluted as the golem collapsed into rubble. He jumped off it and charged Lara, moving as fast as Geoff did when manifested. "Nathanial?" The uncertainty in Liam's voice echoed how Geoff was feeling. Was this really Nathanial? Gordon screamed, it looked like he was trying to set the bone in his arm. The fog was waist deep, now. Faelen manifest and crouched down, remaining in front Geoff. Geoff could hear a low rumble coming from his bodyguard. Geoff decided to manifest as well, cloaking himself automatically to make sure he was hidden.

Conor's voice was low but firm, "Stay right there. Don't even think about trying to get in the middle of this."

Geoff shuddered, "I wouldn't even dream of it." Nathanial was terrifying. Lara seemed to realize direct magic was useless, and was moving onto indirect applications. She turned a large patch of yard into swamp to try to slow Nathanial down, but he merely moved golem pieces into it to make stepping stones. He barely broke his stride. Lara teleported back to Gordon, and used magic to set his arm for him before Nathanial got there.

Nathanial opened a portal and stepped in front of them, "Nighty-night." He waved and the lights went out. Lara grabbed Gordon's arm and teleported away again, she dropped him and quickly cast a spell. Nathanial seemed to frown in confusion for a second before shrugging.

Jay chuckled, "She's stopped him from opening portals around them." The golem reformed and charged in, at the Investigators this time, even faster than before. Lara shrieked, but quickly cut it off, and sent another bolt of lightening crackling out toward the noise. It hit the golem's arm, making one of the boulders explode. The golem kept charging, and the shrapnel changed course to fly at Nathanial's foes. A shield blocked it. Gordon climbed to his hindpaws and waved his arms in a broad sweep. The golem turned to mud and collapsed. He sent several fireballs roaring toward Nathanial, Geoff was expecting Nathanial to let them just fizzle against the anti-magic field, but he didn't. Jay cursed as he looked at the fire. Nathanial moved a large wall of water in front of him from the pool; the fire slammed into it, disappearing in an explosion of steam. Jay growled, "That's forbidden magic! This is going too far!"

Ella raised her paw, "Not yet."

Lara made her move, the ground beneath Nathanial erupted with large spikes of stone aimed for his chest, Nathanial just jumped up and forward over them. He let loose an ear-splitting cackle as he arced through the air, it was laced with that fear inducing magic, but it was bloody creepy even without it. Geoff shivered, "Who does he think he is? Jack Skellington?" It seemed to be keeping the Investigators slightly off balance. Gordon's arm was fixed, but he still looked pale beneath his white and fluffy fur, as well as weakened. Lara was shaking slightly. Nathanial shot several bolts of black energy at them, but Lara raised her paw and the bolts were drawn into one of her rings. Nathanial cackled again and slipped into the shadows, vanishing from sight. Even Geoff couldn't see him. "Jay?"

Jay shook his head, "His magic aura is spread evenly throughout the yard. He's melded with the darkness, or something. I can't pin him down. I didn't know that was possible for Mages, that's a Spirit trick."

Liam's voice was slightly strained, "He is reassessing. Those last two attacks almost got him. His combat is as much psychological warfare as it is magical or physical. He expected the medallion to win the combat for him; their versatility and experience has taken him by surprise. I am impressed by his skill in manipulating their emotions."

The fog was still rising quickly, Gordon looked like he was getting annoyed by it. He glared at the roiling whiteness and raised his paws. Nothing happened. He tried again, but still nothing. Lara tried, and failed, too. Sudden comprehension dawned on their faces and they turned to run in opposite directions. Nathanial surged up with a scream, the heel of his paw connecting with the bottom of Gordon's chin. Nathanial spun and slammed his elbow into the Cat's ribcage with a loud snap. Lara shrieked and ran toward the wall surrounding the property, but tripped over something and fell. Nathanial laughed and ducked back into the mist. Five Laras popped up out of the fog, all of them jumping up into the air and floating over the dangerous obscuration. Nathanial's voice echoed across the fog, seeming to come from multiple points at once. Geoff frowned, Nathanial seemed to be speaking through the Mastiffs. His pup, no, this... presence using his pup was full of surprises. It couldn't be Nathanial, "Twinkle, twinkle, big fat bat. How I wonder what you're at. Up above the fog so high, like a Demon in the sky." His voice was pitched very high and seemed to dance around proper notes, setting Geoff's teeth on edge. Gordon's head lifted up out of the fog, the Laras all sighed in relief. The relief was short lived as his head lolled to the side and he continued to float upward to stand limp on the fog. Gordon opened his mouth and joined in the chorus, "Twinkle, twinkle, big fat bat." He started dancing the zombie dance from Michael Jackson's Thriller, "How I wonder what you're at." Lara stared in disbelief. A glob of blood trickled down through the white fur from the corner of Gordon's mouth. Luckily it was too dark for Garret to see. "Up above the fog so high, like a Demon," Gordon suddenly started smiling, "In the sky." He stopped dancing, his grin stretching back into a wide-mouthed hiss, fangs exposed, and launched himself at the closest Lara. They all screamed in terror, the attacked Lara disappearing in a puff of smoke. Gordon stopped, crouching on all four paws over the fog as he looked around with sightless, white, eyes. "Twinkle, twinkle."

Nicholas and Micah were whimpering softly, Garret hugged them close. Jay leaned over to Geoff, "Is he always this damned scary when he fights, bro?"

Geoff's voice quivered slightly, "This... this is bad."

Gordon had reached, "Up above the fog so high," When Lara struck. A series of powerful wind gusts screamed through the yard, blowing the fog and lawn furniture away. Gordon was flung like a rag doll over the pool and across the yard, toward the front. He slowed down before hitting the ground, but it still looked like a hard landing. He lay crumpled on the ground. Nathanial was lying on his back, one leg crossed over the knee of the other, as he nibbled on a piece of grass. He waved up at Lara and vanished, melting into the darkness. Geoff heard Nathanial call out, *Eyes!* into his mind. Geoff threw an arm over his eyes and squeezed them shut as a blinding burst of light flooded the area.

Lara's own laugher didn't sound entirely sane either, "I got you now, mutt! No more darkness to hide in, is there? Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Geoff whispered back to Jay, "Those other Lara's, what are they?"

"Semi-solid illusions. They shouldn't fool Nathanial at all."

Liam shook his head, not that Geoff could see it, but he could hear it, "They did not. He knew attacking the real one would not work. He was playing with her. It succeeded, she is not... quite stable."

Geoff muttered, "That's an understatement."

Lara was flinging furniture around and sending balls of light into the smallest patch of shadows, "Ollie, Ollie, oxen free!" Nathanial remained hidden.

Geoff was getting anxious, "Where is he?"

Lara seemed to be thinking the same thing, "Well, mutt, if I can't get you, the Changeling is mine."

The adults all growled as Lara turned to face them, Micah whimpered, "That was a mistake. He's mad, now." He looked up past Lara shivering in terror. Nathanial dropped out of the dome of darkness above her, landing on her back with his whole body cloaked in shadow. He bit her neck and scratched his claws across her face. She didn't make a noise but dropped toward the ground, hanging limp from his jaws. The globes of light vanished, as did the extra Laras. The falling combatants slowed before hitting the ground, landing with a soft thump. Nathanial remained on all fours, releasing his prey with a snarl, glaring around with purple eyes. He leaned back and let loose a howl. He stood up and stepped back, the shadows cloaking him flickered out.

He licked his chops and smiled at Ella, "Too big for my britches, eh?" She didn't get a chance to respond as a car suddenly flew through the air and collided with him, sending him hurtling through the brick wall and into the forest behind the house, pinned to the front bumper.

Gordon staggered toward them, gasping in pain, "Damned right, mutt. Never let up until your enemies are dead. You're too soft." His fur was dirty and his clothing torn, patches of both were missing. He stopped for a second by the pool, breathing heavily. He lurched forward, but seemed to catch himself before falling into the pool. A portal opened behind him and Nathanial seemed to fall sideways onto Gordon's back. Gordon fell forward, a bulge of water surging up to meet him and then drag him to the bottom of the pool.

"Shut up, bastard." Nathanial looked bruised and beaten, but his wounds quickly began to heal over, "But thanks for the meal, anyway. I needed it." He looked over to Lara, his muzzle split by a deranged smile, before throwing his head back and cackling. Lara had staggered back to her hindpaws. Geoff began shivering in fear, silently mouthing no over and over again as Nathanial pointed into the pool, where a large bubble had broken the surface, "Splish splash. Kitty cats don't like bathing, do they." He cackled and danced a jig at the pool edge, "Little kitty can't climb out, not without the puppy dogs help. If you don't leave, the poor puppy will be too busy to help."

Lara fell to her knees, her arms wrapped around her, "I... yield. Let him out, please." Nathanial laughed, maniacally, and Gordon was pushed up out of the pool by a surge of water. Nathanial grabbed his arm and pulled Gordon out, where the thoroughly beaten Cat collapsed, weakly coughing up water.

Lara suddenly leapt to her feet and cast a spell. It fizzled as it started to leave her paws, Nathanial started to laugh again before his eyes went wide with fear. "Your coat! Take off your coat, now! Throw it away!" He jumped over the pool and ran toward her. Lara was too stunned to respond, but she suddenly screamed and began writhing, struggling to throw something off her back while taking off her coat. Nathanial screamed at his friends, "Help me!" Lara fell to the ground, her motions becoming weaker and more erratic. Perched on her back was... something the size of a large housecat. Geoff's brain refused to acknowledge it in any way but thing. A ghostly cross between a squid and a cockatrice was the closest he could come up with. It had frog legs, but scaled and sporting large claws. It's prehensile tail was long and also scaled, but it looked almost like a tentacle with the several rows of suction cups along it. The main bird-like body was decorated with patches of ratty chicken feathers interspersed with more of the bruise coloured scales. It's small wings were higher on the body than proper and were covered in more feathers, but they didn't look capable of providing any flight. Where the wings should be were a pair of appendages, arms, essentially, but the forearms were replaced by a half dozen long tentacles. It's eyeless head was almost a normal rooster's head, other than that whole eyeless thing. Its tentacles were burrowing into the back of Lara's head, doing no damage that he could see. Jay started to gag and fall to his knees, closing his eyes as he continued to face Lara. Ella passed him and grabbed the glasses, but merely held them facing Lara and didn't put them on. Jay allowed himself to fall to the ground.

Everyone else continued running ahead, before Conor shouted, "Pups and Marks, stay back!" The adult Spirits manifest, and Avery sent a weaker bolt of lightening at the Thing, her power reduced by the calm weather. It raised its head and opened it beak. It inhaled and... ate the lightening. Avery paused, alarmed.

Nathanial snarled, "Fuck. Its still here. I dropped the anti-magic aura, I hoped that'd get rid of it. It eats magic. Processed magic." He stopped and held his paws a short distance apart. The Thing squawked at him and vanished. The air rippled around Nathanial as he released the raw magic he was gathering. "Its gone. Fled." He continued running to Lara, "Liam, with me. Someone go see to Gordon, he should be fine, just weak. I took almost all of his energy, he probably can't even light a candle, but he has a bunch of magic items on him. He should have used up his store of healing items and magic batteries."

Liam and Nathanial dropped to their knees by Lara, Ella stopped close enough to watch, but not close enough to interfere. She put Jay's glasses on. Conor and Dirk had gone to check on Gordon and Avery went back to Garret and the pups. Liam started running his paws over Lara, "What did you do to her, Nathanial? She is most... unwell."

Nathanial shook his head, "That isn't important. She'll recover, it's what that Thing was doing to her, that I'm worried about. Guard us, Ella, I won't be aware of what's going on around me for a bit. Liam, I think it was eating the part of her brain that deals in magic; well, brain or soul or whatever handles it."

"Not important!? You bit her neck hard enough to leave gouges on her spinal column!" Geoff really wanted to run over to get a better listen, but was ushered into the house by his mother.

---

Liam knelt by Nathanial having trouble believing what had just happened and what he just heard. Micah was right, threatening his brothers does seem to make Nathanial mad, and not just in the angry sense of the word. He shook his head as Nathanial started to answer him, "Calm down, Liam. We need to treat her. She had a couple magic items on her, like Gordon did, that could heal physical damage. They've just run out, but all of the serious wounds are patched up. If you want to make sure, I can channel some light energy into you to heal her with. You can probably make better use of it than I can, since you actually know what you're doing."

Liam nodded, it was a logical suggestion, with drawbacks, "Very well. I will require a lot of Yang energy after this. Let us begin." Nathanial moved to kneel behind him, paws on his shoulders, and took a deep breath. Liam could feel Nathanial's soul, wrapped in Light, touch his, and he allowed it in. A gentle warmth flooded into him, kind and loving. He could feel Nathanial keeping it controlled, after the first surge, only a small trickle followed. He could also feel Nathanial, his thoughts, his emotions, and his... memories. Liam pulled back from those, he had work to do. Liam began weaving the Light energy and channelling it into the wounds of Lara, marvelling at how quickly they healed. 'Incredible. If I had access to this at all times, there is nothing I could not treat.' He could feel Nathanial smile and the pup's mind moved off into Lara's brain, examining the damage. Nathanial seemed to be in pain. The Light was very soothing to Liam, but it seemed to hurt Nathanial for some reason.

*I'm filtering it, Liam. You're getting a safe amount, and just the... healing part, if that makes any sense. Please work as fast as you can and come up here to help me.* Liam hurried, leaving all of the trivial wounds alone. Nathanial seemed to be right, Lara must have had a healing item, of some sort, on her. Her body showed signs of recent recovery.

'How would this be showing up on Jay's glasses? I must get my paws on those, at some point.'

*Would you just focus, already? I can hear you, Liam. I'm in your head, or something, even though I'm actually in Lara's. I just see the physical part of hers, and the metaphysical part of yours.*

Liam snorted, *I am focused, Nathanial. Like you, I am quite capable of doing more than one thing at a time. I just do not have the wherewithal to take advantage of it the same way.* He sighed, *Though, even if I did, I do not think I could do quite as much as you.* He did a quick scan of Lara's vital signs, she was in shock, but all serious injuries were dealt with. *I am on my way.*

He could sense another, unknown, presence moving in. Nathanial greeted it, *Hello. I could use some help, if you have time.*

The presence, the Light Entity Nathanial must have referred to, 'nodded'. It felt like it was agreeing with Nathanial, even if it wasn't visible, *Perhaps.* Liam wished he could see what it was, it seemed almost familiar. *What happened?*

Nathanial shivered, *A Thing attacked her. It reached into the magic part of her brain and did something, I'm trying to figure that out.*

Liam shook his head, *What was that creature, Nathanial? You seemed almost familiar with it.*

The presence turned to 'face' him, *Tai Lung? You're Tai Lung!* It turned to Nathanial, *He's Tai Lung!* It addressed Liam, again, *You're an Ancient One, now! Congratulations! Granted, you were on your fourth life when I met you, but it's still a remarkable achievement. It's great to see you, again!*

Nathanial and Liam paused, confused. Liam recovered first, *I have not had much opportunity to delve into that part of my existence, yet, since starting this life. Give me a few seconds to try to retrieve that information.* He could feel Nathanial 'watching' him try to call up the info. He no longer needed the visualization to help, but it still came up, unbidden. A large library, where every life was a different wing. He appeared before the Tai Lung door. It was large and covered in chains and locks, mostly rusted and covered in dust. He had not had much to do with this life in a long time, making it difficult to access. He quickly worked through the locks and entered the dark and disorganized wing. He thought to Nathanial, *Choosing to enter a life like this is much easier and less painful than having it break out like a monster from one of those... movies you people watch these days. Each life also organizes the information differently, as I do not use this life often, I am unused to the cataloguing system. It will take a moment.* He scanned through the shelves and found the 'book' he was looking for. A copy of it appeared in his paws when he touched it. *Now that I have accessed this memory, a copy of it is in the 'Liam' wing, too, making it part of my current life.* The whole thing took about two seconds, and the Light energy flooding him meant he was not drained at all, his Chi was getting far out of balance, but he was not tired. *Zhaohui, Brightness Returns. The Kirin.* Zhaohui seemed very pleased at Liam's answer.

Nathanial sighed, *Focus, please. You guys are immortal, you'll have time to reminisce once Lara is healed.*

Liam nodded, *My apologies, I have not spoken to Zhaohui in fifteen hundred years, but you are right. Duty first.* They delved into Lara's brain. Liam was disturbed by what he saw, a large section was burnt out. The tissue and neurons were still there, but the synapses were all gone. Nathanial gasped. *I can do nothing to repair this, Nathanial. I will treat her shock, and ensure she is otherwise healthy, but I can not repair this. She will have to relearn what was once here.*

Nathanial was just staring, *No. She can't. This is where her magic was. I had a theory that Mages learn spells by memorizing them, and the grimoire provides a link between the raw data of the spell and the magic part of the brain. Here. All other magic beings have this link already, which is why they don't need grimoire. I don't need one, as much, because of my link to the Shadow Mastiffs and, now, you, Zhaohui. All those links Lara had are gone, and all of the magical part of her is gone, too. She isn't a Mage, anymore. I don't even know where to try to begin.*

Zhaohui shrugged, *Then do nothing. The feelings you two have toward her indicate she was an evil woman. This is a fitting reward for her actions. Now, to stop this from happening to others. What is this thing you two have referred to?*

Nathanial seemed to have trouble accepting defeat, *Do nothing? To lose your magic is... is... almost as bad as dying!*

Liam shrugged as well, *Like you almost did? I saw how close you came, a few times. They were trying to kill you and she violated her parole. Lara May attacked after yielding; she is without honour. She got off easy.* Nathanial whimpered in sympathy, Liam continued, *Now, what was that?*