Back at the mansion,As the evil lout was just about to commit yet another cruel act, he was in for a change of plans when suddenly a wild, screaming thing threw itself on him, scratching, biting, choking at him, blasting him with magic.
Stunned a moment, Mr. Un fell to the floor, and the screaming creature hung on, digging her nails in - it was a girl!
Worse, it was the one who shouldn't have been able to come and ruin anything...NT.
How did she manage it? The young man wasn't prepared for this and he fought to get her off him, to no avail. "Brat!" he screamed.
Pippi arrived by way of a small, handheld magic transport device Danae had given her some time ago.
Seeing for herself what was going on, she tried to interfere. Pippi attempted to pull NT off the pop star, she managed to grab the girl's arm and prevent her from going for his eyes.
Unfortunately, she also received a mild jolt of NT's magic herself. The shock threw her backward into some filming equipment, and knocked the wind out of her for several seconds.
As Pippi caught her breath, she saw that Ariel was also there, and that she had been hurt.
Ariel, meanwhile, had managed to recover. Sitting up, she watched in horror. NT was enraged and terrified out of her mind, she realized, and might do some irreparable damage if she wasn't stopped.
Ariel used a combination of magic and dexterity to get her wrists out of the bonds.
Finally after all the strength seemed to leave him, the bad boy pop star lay still except for trying to pry the girl's hands off him with his own.
But NT couldn't let him go, he would still get Ariel. It seemed she had at least for now, stopped him, but even so, her hands didn't seem to know how to loosen up anyway, and her eyes stared ahead without seeing.
Her cries ceased as his struggling stopped, but she was really no calmer than she had been upon arriving. Short of breath, still fighting the physical fatigue and weakness from both the drug and the horror, she only gripped him tighter.
Finally, Pippi got her breath back and stood up. Seeing she was next to a stack of equipment, she glanced at it. On top was a VCR and she saw it was running - on record! Next to it was a digital camera, also on.
"This might be something to be used later," she thought.
Before she could switch them off, though, the door opened and about a dozen teenaged girls poured in. Some of them rushed towards her, the rest went for Ariel. Pippi didn't have to worry about fighting them, though, as NT used her magic to drive them all back.
Pippi switched off the camera, took out the tape, and disappeared, only to reappear again a few seconds later, just as Danae also arrived.
"What the heck!" Danae exclaimed, taking in the rather chaotic scene.
Mr. Un moaned, still trying to push NT's hands away.
Ariel was still pleading with NT, who didn't seem to hear her.
The girls sat or slumped about, where NT's magic had pushed them. Some were out cold, others only dazed. Those who were partially conscious were moaning and whimpering.
One tall, slender black girl sitting against the wall was crying the pop idol's name over and over, not even noticing the reddish blonde haired girl beside her who wasn't moving and whose hair had fallen forward, hiding her face from view.
Ariel was becoming more frantic, though still trying to keep some control. She looked panicked at her friend. "Danae...!" waving a hand at NT.
Danae rolled her eyes as she saw what was happening. "Oh, boy. here we go, she's gonna strangle 'im for sure." Danae recognized the signs of someone out of their mind with horror and desperation, she knew anything could happen with a person in that state, and right now, that was NT.
Going over to Ariel, Danae helped straighten out her torn top and did what she could to hide the worst of the damage. "You gotta get 'er calmed down. Have you tried singing or doing some kinda music? If you remind 'er who she is - maybe that'll get 'er outa this."
Ariel nodded. "I hope so." She put a trembling hand on NT and gently shook her to get the girl's attention. She began sending a song through the magic link so that only NT and no one else would hear.
NT recognized the music as the song that Ariel defined as her, began to turn her head stiffly toward Ariel, and breathed, "I can't...let...him..." The fixed stare slowly turned to one of recognition as she looked straight at Ariel, and then back at the monster who had attacked her.
"He's not going to hurt me any more, NT," Ariel choked out, making sure the girl might also be reassured by physical touch. "Pippi and Danae are here, and you know they will take care he won't hurt anybody. If he tries after you let him go, they will be right here to stop it. Now, let him go, NT, it'll be all right, just, in the name of God, let him go."
Ariel pried NT's hands off him, and NT didn't resist.
Immediately as NT came fully back to herself, she got a better look at her mother's beat up face and began to sob.
Ariel drew NT into a hug while shedding some tears of her own.
Danae, meanwhile, had joined Pippi to deal with the other girls. First to go was the bad magic their pop idol had worked on them. Then she got rid of the shock NT had given them as well.
As she reached the girl who had cried out, she found her sitting next to another one who was slumped against the wall with her head down.
Pippi helped the crying girl to her feet while Danae knelt to check on the red-blonde haired one.
Danae had had a bad feeling when she noticed the hair color and style - lifting the girl's face up confirmed it. Miranda. "Oh blimey, what's 'e done to you, kid?"
Miranda didn't seem to hear her.
Danae saw the bruises on Miranda as she carried her over to a chair and sat looking her over. "Ruddy coward!" she hissed, not yet knowing that Miranda was far from an innocent victim.
Perhaps it was being moved, or Danae's exclamation, or both. But this seemed to jerk Miranda at least partially awake. However she still didn't seem to notice Danae's presence. Her eyes bugged out and fixed on an open container that seemed to hold some highly addictive substance that was full of bad magic.
The evil mage had used this as part of a reward system with groupees that came to his mansion, and Miranda was no exception.
Almost before Danae could react, Miranda was out of the chair and lunging for the container.
Danae barely had time to grab her, then realized what Miranda had been after. "What the heck's this stuff?" Holding Miranda back, she managed to scan it enough to realize there was some bad magic about the contents.
"Whoa...That's enough.This stuff's poison and it'll kill you!"
Miranda screamed and fought, kicking and clawing at Danae in her desperation to get the container away from her. "Demmit give it back!"
"Son of a gun!" it was clear not even Danae was going to come through this unscathed. "Quit your fightin, this is for your own good!"
"Let me go, Danae! Oh gosh it's you!" Suddenly Miranda became terrified as she recognized who was holding her.
"Now, kid, don't make this harder than necessary." Danae growled, doing her best to hold the container out of Miranda's reach. She couldn't quite stifle a groan when Miranda delivered a good kick to her shin. "Hold still!" Once again, she repeated the warning about it being toxic.
Miranda howled and bit her on the arm.
"Ouch! Cut that out, demmit! Danae roared, "I'm not gonna hurt ya, now stop it!" Danae gave her a shake. Looking around for Pippi, she called out, "Pippi! Get over here and help me out before one of us gets hurt, will ya!"
Pippi, who had been attending to several other girls, glanced around and saw the fix Danae and Miranda were in. Assuring the girl she was helping that she would return shortly, she left her sitting propped up against a wall, and approached Danae and the very combative Miranda.
"She's terrible bent on getting to this and it'll kill 'er if she does." Danae said urgently and did her best to hold the container out of Miranda's reach, while enduring more thrashes, kicks, and bites. "Can ya hold 'er while I go trash this stuff?" she asked.
"Yes, or I could dispose of it for you." Pippi went to take the container, but Danae jerked it away just in the nick of time. "Oh, my." Pippi looked at Danae, not understanding her urgency.
"No, I better get rid of it. It's got content in it made from bad magic, an' I don't want you sufferin from it as well. I can resist it."
Pippi had already begun to feel the effects of wanting it, something about the smell and look of it was very tempting. But she knew Danae was right, so reluctantly agreed, letting Danae take it away before the temptation became too great.
Miranda felt herself transfered from one set of arms to another, and Danae walked quickly away with the magic substance.
For just a moment, Pippi felt that Danae had deprived her of something wonderful, but Miranda soon gave her something else to think about.
Miranda continued screaming and fighting for a while, but it was useless with Pippi holding her. Eventually, her struggling subsided to trembling.
Pippi held her and talked softly to her, much as Ariel was doing with NT. "Shhhhhh, Miranda, it's all right, it's over. He won't hurt you again. It's all right, shhhhhhh, it's all right. There there, now, shhhhhhhhhhh."
After a few minutes, Danae came back, and she and Pippi led Miranda over to where Ariel was sitting with NT.
Pippi approached Danae and Ariel, and they all took a little more time to hold Miranda and NT.
"I'll get you some fresh clothes from home, Ariel, you can't travel back looking like that." said Pippi.
"Actually this's nothin a little magic won't fix," and Danae had the presence of mind to magically mend Ariel's torn clothes.
"Thank you," Ariel sniffed.
"We'll have to get Miranda and these girls some medical attention. I'll go find 'er some clean clothes, and Pippi, why don'tcha get Ariel an' NT to the hospital? She's gonna need stitching up." She indicated Ariel.
"And the other girls too," said Pippi, "Goodness knows what's all been done to them." She took out her cell phone and called emergency.
"Miranda?" NT said as she looked at her.
Miranda moaned.
"He isn't gonna hurt you any more, Miranda, yer gonna be all right." Danae said softly.
"I should've searched and brought her back home whether she hates me or not." NT cried.
"NT, shhhhhhhh," Ariel tried to comfort.
"Wouldn't have done much good, kid," Danae replied frankly before Ariel had a chance to say any more. "She'd'a just run off again, an' again. She has to learn for herself we aren't the bad guys and that lout over there," she jabbed a finger in the direction of the pop star, "isn't her salvation. I'm just sorry it came to this."
"What happened to your head, NT?" Ariel noticed a large bump on the side of her head. "And your face?" she examined NT more carefully now that everybody was calming down.
"Nothing," NT replied, baffled. Then, she examined her head and found that there were indeed scratches, cuts, bumps and bruises. "Or maybe something happened when I was out back. At least, I don't think he did it to me during the fight."
Ariel inspected NT further and found someone must have pulled quite a bit of hair out on her.
She knew the mad celebrity hadn't done this, he had been busy beating her up when NT had come in, fighting him, and then NT had taken the fight out of him in short order.
When Ariel questioned NT about it, the girl had no answers, and no memory of having her hair pulled.
Pippi took a closer look at NT as well. Together, she and Ariel had the girl lie flat so they could examine her better.
From the front, a small tear at the top of her shirt, and a couple of big bruises where Tonya had slapped her about the face. Nt couldn't tell either woman what had happened.
Pippi had NT roll on her front, and that's when she and Ariel saw the "I'm a stupid spoiled brat, shoot me." message Tonya had written on the back of her shirt.
Ariel frowned. She knew Miranda couldn't have been behind this effort, but evidently somebody had planned to mess NT up good.
"NT," said Pippi, "Can you think of anyone besides Miranda who doesn't like you?"
The girl shook her head.
"Because someone has written some nasty things on the back of your shirt, and--"
NT lifted her head abruptly.
pippi put a hand on her head, silently telling her to put it back down and try to stay calm.
NT cooperated. "Is it about what happened in Jesse's store?" she asked.
"Not that I can make out. They just wrote about you being a "whiny, spoiled brat" nonsense of that sort."
The young girl turned herself over so she was lying face up. Now her suddenly angry expression indicated she was recalling something. "Jacquan, and Tonya. Though I don't know if they had anything to do with this."
"Wouldn't surprise me in the least if they did." Danae said in disgust.
NT magicked away the writing on her shirt. "Is it gone now?"
"Yes." Ariel replied.
"It had to be Tonya. I didn't recognize the girl out back of our house, looking as if she was in some kind of distress, but that's all I remember seeing before waking up with these sensations you were getting hurt." she looked at Ariel. "So for all I know, it could've been her."
Miranda opened her mouth to say something, and thought better of it. If she ratted on Tonya, she was sure to get in trouble right along with her since they were all in this together. So she didn't. All she said in the end was "I haven't seen Jacquan in a while."
"Are you hurting anywhere else, NT?" Ariel asked.
"My hip - and my leg are a bit sore," she said, indicating one hip and the opposite leg.
Danae looked at NT for a while, as if she was concentrating. Then she said, "Whoever did this to you, their DNA will be all over your clothes, and from the look of that tear, they probably were gonna do worse if you hadn't woke up."
"I'm not surprised," NT responded. But if it is Tonya, she probably made sure to hide or change her DNA with magic,"
"No, not this time, anyway," Danae responded, "There's no sign of magic other than your own on your clothes."
"I'll take care of the official business, then," Pippi said, "let's hope Tonya is in the system."
Help arrived soon, and everyone who needed it were taken to the hospital.
There was apparently nothing wrong with Miranda other than a few bruises, though she made them think she was worse off than she really was at first..
Ariel went in for stitches and NT was permitted to be in the room with her, and only then did NT consent to being examined for injuries.
Because of the assault, NT had to change into a hospital gown and Pippi went home to bring back a clean set of clothes. The damaged ones were going to be examined for evidence of who could've beaten her up.
She didn't seem to be in need of treatment either, but was told to report back if she experienced lingering pain in her hip or leg over the next several days.
Pippi and Danae along with some of the mansion staff employees kept bringing in girls in sad states. Some had drug problems, others were just victims of bad magic that couldn't be treated and had to wear off on its own.
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Once everything had settled down considerably back at the mansion, all the people seemed to have cleared out except its owner, who couldn't, for obvious reasons, one of the maids, and Danae.
She returned after helping get the girls to the hospital, and stayed behind to go through the entire mansion, making sure there were no more girls that might be hidden elsewhere and forgotten, before going home herself.
She roamed to and fro, up and down corridors, in and out of each room, on each floor, until every last room and place was checked and double-checked.
She took every video, intending to check them for evidence of crimes. Pippi had mentioned the one she discovered being recorded during the rescue.
Satisfied at last that no one and nothing had been missed, Danae gladly left the place. It stunk of over-indulgence and bad magic, and something about the magic was definitely more off than that of a young rock star's should have been. It was definitely evil, and Danae would've recognized him for who he truly was if she'd known what had actually happened to the real rock star and why.
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As soon as Miranda was released from the hospital for home, she promptly ran away yet again, to move in with Tonya.
Though Miranda had not been high on anything but bad magic and vengeance when she and her pop crush had planned and carried out their sick agenda, she ran to Tonya for friendship and drugs later that night, because she couldn't hack going back to Ariel's, much less the fact that the star might be brought up on charges of some sort after what he'd done to Ariel.
Miranda was also sickened at the idea that Danae had been the one to rescue her, and that it was probably going to be Danae and her friends who got to be heroes instead of Miranda getting to be a big movie star and ride with her fantasy celeb lover into the sunset.
While at Tonya's, she O.D..ed on some kind of drug, what wasn't knew? and Nick had to call 911. So while Miranda was taken to hospital and would remain there for the next week, Tonya was arrested for illegal possession of narcotics and other substances.