Elf and the Incubus: To The Rescue

Final chapter of the Elf and the Incubus.


It was the week after Christmas and Jake was sitting in his room, taking advantage of the uncommon peace and tranquility of the household to play his videogames for the entire day, particularly his newest, Blood Slasher 3, to unlock the new scenes and characters.  Jessica and Sarah were at their respective jobs, Dawn was out causing some sort of havoc as usual, Fawn was in her room working on some new song lyrics, while Jen had taken Yuta and Lucia with her out shopping as they needed groceries among anything else that might take their fancy. 
The morning had already flown past and Jake's stomach started growling since he hadn't eaten anything for breakfast and had not yet had lunch, so he decided to pause his game as he had reached a point where the game did not have much action.  He descended to the kitchen, intent on making a sandwich that he would take back to his room.  After gathering the necessary items for his masterpiece and closing the fridge door, he turned around and much to his surprise, found himself face to face with a male elf dressed completely in red, lined in faux white fur.  A red Santa hat tipped with a silver bell finished the elf's ensemble.  Before Jake could say anything, the elf raised his hand, inclining his head slightly, saying, "Jake, could you please fetch the professor?  Needs must I speak with both of you. I will meet with you here when you have completed that task."  He seemingly disappeared in the blink of an eye leaving Jake alone in the kitchen.
Jake stuffed the sandwich stuff back into the refrigerator and ran down to Mato's lab where Mato promptly started to show Jake his latest projects. 
"Look at this, Jake my boy," Mato announced.  "This'll revolutionize life as we know it!"
"Professor, I don't think now is the time for that," Jake argued.  "An elf just appeared upstairs and wants to talk to both of us.  He didn't say what, but I don't think that would have happened if whatever it was wasn't important."
"Nonsense, the security system would have picked up any intruding presence," replied Mato, puttering about his lab.  "Homeshield hasn't given any alarms."
"Can't you at least come upstairs and tell me up there that I was seeing things?" asked Jake, getting frustrated.
"Oh, no can do, my boy," commented Mato.  "Much too busy right now.  Why don't you just go back to playing your video games or whatever you were doing?  Or, I could use your help down here."
Their argument went on in a similar strain for about half an hour until Jake was finally able to convince Mato that some elf had actually appeared before him in the kitchen and really did ask to speak to them.  Mato trudged up the stairs and grumbled as they entered the kitchen, but once they crossed the threshold, the same elf appeared before them and sat down at the kitchen table.
Calmly folding his hands in front of him, the elf motioned the two flabbergasted humans to sit opposite from him. 
"How did you do that?" asked Jake, incredulously.
"Quite simple," answered the elf, holding up his wrist, displaying a strange looking watch.  "Cutting edge technology, allowing instantaneous transportation to anywhere on the globe, but this is not what I'm here to speak to you about.  Professor, please put your eyes back in your head and your tongue back in your mouth.  You're making a mess on your table."  Mato had been drooling at the sight of the transportation device, itching to study it, but dutifully complied with the elf's request, a bit embarrassed.
"Anyway, what I have to tell you, I must have the two of you sworn to secrecy for few know the truth of what I am about to speak," the elf continued.  "My name is Biku and I work at the North Pole under Santa in the Investigations Department…"
"You work for Santa?" interrupted Jake, earning a glare from Biku.  "You're a lot taller than I would have imagined.  Aren't elves at the North Pole supposed to be midgets?"
"For your information, YOUNG MAN," snarled Biku.  "Unlike the stories from your world, we elves that work for Santa are not less than four feet tall as a group.  And yes, YOUR WORLD.  We know that you are not really Professor Mato's grandson. Now, please, let me continue."  Jake silently nodded.
"As I was saying," Biku continued.  "I work in the Investigations Department at the North Pole.  This past Christmas Eve we were called into duty to this very home.  Now, at this point, you both must swear that you will not reveal anything that I've told you or anything I will tell you.  Do you both swear?"
Mato looked over at Jake and whispered, "Must be pretty heavy stuff for us to have to swear to secrecy."  Jake nodded and asked, "What if, hypothetically, we accidentally tell someone?"
"Then I'm afraid we'll have to tie up those loose ends and take care of the problem, if you get my drift," Biku glowered.
"Wait a moment," countered Mato.  "For you to have to swear us to secrecy there's obviously something rather wrong for anyone from Santa's workshop to come to us.  And, if that's the case, then there is no way that the boy and I could do this alone.  We will need some help."
"Fine," Biku consented.  "You may have the help of three people, but it will be up to you to tell them what I'm going to tell you and it's not my fault if they do not believe you.  Choose well those that you will tell for you may only tell the three that will help you.  Now may I please continue?!"
"Thank you," ventured Jake in an effort to placate the elf who merely acquiesced with a grunt.
"Now where was I?  Oh yes.  This past Christmas Eve, we were called to this house in part of a case involving the disappearance of one of our own.  Her name is Nerual and she is a member of the group that aids Santa in delivering gifts and monitoring the behavior and actions of people over the year.  She disappeared in the middle of her route on Christmas Eve, the victim of an assault by a being that we have come to believe to be was an incubus.  I was sent here in order to ask you to help us discover her whereabouts as well as to rescue her from the incubus' clutches."
"What made you believe that it was an incubus and what does our house have to do with it?" asked Jake.
"I'm coming to that," Biku replied.  "That night we found Nerual's sled across the street from here, on top of your friend Mina's house.  The snow on the roof was covered in the tell tale signs of a struggle while the sled stood abandoned.  It appeared as though someone had riffled through the gifts and we found that one of the gifts was missing.  It was the mistletoe that was meant for you, Jake.  We also saw the very end of your struggle with the creature.  We could sense that elven magic had been used here, but it was incredibly corrupted, which led us to believe that it was used by the incubus.  Our conclusion was further supported by finding several of occupants of this house drained of energy.  We fixed your window and cleaned up the traces of magic after making sure all of you would not remember any of the untoward events that had taken place.  Afterwards, we investigated the area around Mina's home and found Nerual's bracelet.  Unfortunately, our locators are found in the bracelets so it would make finding Nerual's location even more difficult."  Biku gave Jake and Mato two tiny disks and as soon as the two closed their hands over them, all of the memories from the events on Christmas Eve were unblocked.
"Even without the locator, why are you unable to locate this girl?" asked Mato, realizing that he had seen what Biku had just described in the security video that he had found on Christmas Day, but keeping quiet about its presence.
"We haven't found any traces of pure elven magic.  The traces of corrupted magic are very few and were found in seemingly random areas.  We could not pinpoint where she is," Biku admitted.  "We have to believe that she is in no position to even use her magic, otherwise, she would have tried to give us some sort of clue as to her whereabouts by using it.  So?  Will you help us find Nerual and rescue her from this dastardly incubus?"
Jake looked over at Mato who was deep in thought, mulling over the information that the elf had given them.  Jake himself was a bit peeved at the fact that the elves hypnotized them all, but felt sorry that he was unable to completely stop the incubus from draining his friends and others.  He looked up at Biku, who was himself starting to show signs of strain, worry, and nervousness.
"Yes," said Jake.  "We'll help you out and we'll keep what you've told us a secret from most everyone.  I promise you that we'll do our best."  Biku sighed with relief and smiled slightly.
"Thank you.  We are looking forward to your success," Biku replied, standing up.  "I'll leave a picture of Nerual with you so that you can recognize her when you find her.  We'll know when she's with you and safe."  With that, Biku pressed a button on his watch and vanished
Mato smiled at Jake.  "Well, my boy, it looks like we've got an adventure on our hands, but who are we going to tell and ask them to help us?"
"Well, I'd have to say at least Dawn and Sarah," Jake commented, mulling over which of the girls should participate in the search and rescue mission.  Dawn's going to want a chance to get this guy back for what he did to her.  Sarah because once she learns of this, she'll want to arrest him on a number of charges.  But who else do we chose?"
"Hmmm, what about Jen?" suggested Mato.  "She'd be a ready source of magic if you needed anything."
"Good point," agreed Jake.  "Ok, so now all we have to do is tell them about this."

No one knew what had become of Nerual and the incubus known as Xander after he had fled with Nerual's unconscious form from the area outside of Mato's house.  He had flown across town to a long abandoned warehouse that he had converted into incredibly lush living quarters furnished completely by stolen goods.  Xander entered his bedchamber and laid Nerual gently down on top of the covers of his four post, canopied bed.  Just as he was turning around to take off his shirt, Nerual began stirring.  Not wanting to have to deal with the girl while he was exhausted, Xander quickly jumped onto the bed and drained even more of her energy.  Unfortunately, even with additional energy and power coursing through his body, he was so exhausted that all he could do was collapse on top of Nerual and fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Several hours later, Xander awoke to the sight of Nerual glaring down at him and before he could even react, she punched him square between the eyes and bolted off of the bed towards the door.  Hardly even stunned, Xander stretched out his tail and tripped the fleeing elf before she could get too far from the bed, his tail entwining around her legs.  He eased off of the bed and wrapped his arms around Nerual.
"And just where do you think you're going?" Xander nonchalantly asked. 
"Away from you, you ba…," Nerual began, but slumped back against Xander's chest as he drained even more of her energy.
"Mmmm, you taste good, doll," Xander commented and gazed down at his hand, attempting to create a hypno-orb like the one he had been able to create after he had drained that gorgeous succubus, Dawn.  The orb started forming, causing Xander to nearly leap out of his skin in excitement, but then it sputtered and died.  Grumbling, Xander resorted to using a low concentration of Nerual's own power and brought his hand in front of her face as it slightly glowed.  Due to the fact that most of her energy was being drained from her, Nerual couldn't help but look at the incubus's hand and fall under its hypnotic spell in spite of the low amount of power that Xander was using.
"You aren't going anywhere, sweet thing," Xander instructed, bending down to whisper in her ear.  "You want to stay here with me and be mine for as long as I want you.  Whenever I leave, you will remain here and wait for my return.  You will never argue with anything I tell you.  Do you understand?"  Nerual nodded slowly as Xander picked her up in his arms and deposited her back on the bed.
"I'm going to go out and pick up a few things," Xander announced, tracing Nerual's jaw line with the back of a finger.  "I want you to sleep a bit and when you wake up, there will be no more attempts at escaping from me.  You may wander about these inner rooms as you like, but do not leave this place.  I'll be back shortly."  Nerual dutifully settled back and went to sleep as soon as Xander turned his back on her.  Within moments, he was gone, flying off across town, imagining the dress that he would steal for his sexy acquisition.

Back in the lab, Jake had called Sarah, Dawn, and Jen down to talk with them. Before he could even attempt to explain why he had asked them to come to the lab, the girls started asking questions.
"What's this all about?" demanded Dawn, eyeing the other girls in the room.
"What's wrong? Hot date?" mocked Sarah while Jen just rolled her eyes as she was used to the two girls bickering with each other over the slightest provocation.
Dawn looked at Sarah and smiled. "At least I can get a date," she retorted.
"Oooo, you little! Oooo, I'll…," Sarah started before she was cut off by Jake.
"Ladies, please!" he begged. "Focus for a minute. This is important."   Despite the obvious tension, the girls managed to focus for a second. "Remember, how we all woke up feeling incredibly well rested on Christmas morning? And how we all slept really deeply the night before?" Jake asked.
"Oooh, Jake, what did you do?" ask Jen, groaning and slightly annoyed
Jake rolled his eyes. "It wasn't me!"
Sarah glared at Mato. "Professor!"
Mato, who wasn't paying attention jumped, blurting out, "I'm a genius!" Then looking around, he asked, startled, "Umm what did you say Sarah?"
Sarah glared at Mato and was about to repeat herself when Jake interrupted. "Mato didn't do it. We have evidence of an intruder that night.  Put in the video, Professor."
Mato smiled as he put in the security video. "This is such great footage!"
The girls watched as the incubus went through the house, draining girl after girl. Jen watched with her mouth gaping as she was drained in the kitchen. Sarah's eyes flared as she watched Xander drain her with a kiss. Dawn just smirked, giving her a nudge.
"Most action you have had in months," she said with a laugh.
Sarah was so angry that she didn't even respond to Dawn's ribbing. Then Dawn's smirk faded as she watched herself fight Xander. She looked proud as she was tossing him around, and beating him up. Then she saw the part where she tripped off the table and her mood turned to anger. Seething as each minute progressed on the video, as the incubus tranced her and took her to her room, her eyes flared as she realized what happened.

Outside the Mato house, everything was quiet.  The snow was falling gently from puffy clouds. It seemed perfectly peaceful until a sound shattered the tranquility. "Oh no he didn't!" Dawn could be heard shouting angrily, echoed by the crashing of the falling icicles around the neighborhood.

Dawn's eyes were neon red, and her skin was starting to steam. Jake, Mato, Sarah and Jen were sprawled on the floor with stars spinning around their heads after being knocked over by the sound wave emitted from Dawn's outburst. Dawn's breathing was heavy and deep and steam was coming out of her nostrils. "He's mine!" she demanded.
Jake tried to clear his head by shaking it. "Umm, ok. He's your's," he replied, not wanting to disagree with the succubus.
Behind Dawn, Katia could be seen walking down the stairs. "What the heck was that?" she asked, more annoyed then concerned. Two seconds later she gasped and was hit directly in the face with one of Dawn's hypnotic orbs. The orb caused her eyes to swirl with color as she tilted back, leaning against the wall and sliding down it, deeply hypnotized.
Jake shook his head with a smirk and a shrug. "Well this saves us the trouble of making her forget about this later," he commented and was immediately hit by Sarah angrily.
Dawn glared at the rest of them angrily. "I'll patrol the skies. If this punk can fly, I'll find him," she stated with furious conviction.  With that she turned and stormed off towards the steps, stomping past a dazed Katia.
"Dawn, wait a second!" shouted Jake, but when Dawn turned around and shot him a look of death with her glowing red eyes he backed off and meekly replied, "Never mind."
Dawn spun back towards the stairs and stormed off, raising her hand towards Katia and sucking the orb out of her head. Katia, completely drained of her energy, sighed and closed her eyes, slumping on the floor in a deep sleep. The rest just watched as Dawn stomped up the stairs.
Jake looked at the other girls, a bit nervous after Dawn's reaction. "Umm, she's pissed!" he said.
Jen and Sarah looked at Jake with a sarcastic look. "Ya think?" replied Jen.  "I'd say she's past pissed."
"The worst part is that she isn't mad at anything that incubus did to her. She's just angry that he beat her," said Sarah, the realization sinking in. "I'll head off to the station and see if they have anything in the files on him," she offered.
Jen was looking at the ceiling thoughtfully. "I'll do some quick research on incubus and see if there's a way to track him based on his magical abilities," she said then glanced at Katia "I'll also drop her off in her bed" she suggested, shaking her head.
Jake nodded to both girls. "We'll try and figure out a plan of attack based on this video footage," Jake commented, nodding to the security screen. The girls agreed and headed up the stairs with Katia in tow.   Sarah held Katia under her arms while Jen grabbed the unconscious princess's feet and helped carry her up the stairs.
Jake grimaced, looking at the screen and then at Mato. "Professor, do you think that special suit of your's could stop this guy?"
Mato looked up wild eyed, "Captain Anime has that suit now, Jake.  Maybe he could help!"
Jake replied sarcastically, "Yes, if we could only find him. It's not like he's standing right in front of us or anything."
Mato looked around excitedly. "Is he here?"
Jake slapped his forehead forcefully, not noticing Jen coming down the stair case "Yes, Professor. He is right here!" he answered, pointing to himself. Jen's eyes went wide as she hid as best she could on the stairs.
"Jake is Captain Anime?" she whispered to herself.
Mato just smiled at Jake "Jake, you're not Captain Anime. He's taller."
Jake sighed exasperatedly and asked, "Fine, are there any new inventions that might work for the suit that he wears if we can find him?"
Mato bounced up and down excitedly and ran over to a console, picking up a gauntlet. "This should do it," Mato announced, handing Jake the gauntlet.
Jake examined the gauntlet, groaning at the fact of it being pink like the rest of the suit with a yellow jewel on the front as an addition. "What's it do, Professor?"
Mato smiled proudly. "You aim it at your target and it shoots out a highly hypnotic beam of energy that trances them immediately. It's based off of the tiaras that I made."
Jake looked at Mato and grinned. "The ones Katia used to trance the girls?" he asked.
Mato beamed proudly. "Exactly! I'm a genius!" he declared, then turned and excitedly ran over to his work bench.
Jake rolled his eyes and turned around, noticing Jen on the stairs for the first time. As soon as she saw Jake noticing her, she gasped and then teleported away. Jake snapped his fingers. "Dang it," he muttered and ran up the stairs.

Jen appeared in her room and began pacing, half nervous, half excited "Jake is Captain Anime" she said in disbelief.  "Jake… is Captain Anime!" she said in shock. "Jake… is Captain Anime…," she said with a very feminine twinkle in her eye and a smirk. "Hmmm, this could be fun."
Just then Jake burst through her door, "Jen, we need to talk!" he said urgently.
Jen just smiled and moved towards him, wiggling her hips back and forth with the same smile on her face. "Yes Jake? Or should I say, Captain Anime!"
Jake stopped dead in his tracks, thought, and then sighed. "Ok that answers question number one."
Jen laughed, spinning around. "This explains so much. When were you going to tell us?" she asked.
Jake frowned. "What I'm doing isn't exactly legal, you know?" he explained, knowing the answer was obvious. "You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"
Jen grinned. "Are you kidding? This is great news. Just wait 'til Sarah hears this!"
Jake sighed then raised his gauntlet at Jen. "That's what I was afraid of."
Jen looked at the gem on the edge of the gauntlet. "Where have I seen that before?" she asked.  A second later a bright orange electrical bolt struck her in the head. She gasped and her eyes turned to bright orange and her body completely relaxed.
Jake smiled looking at the gauntlet. "Nice," he said then looked at Jen. "Sorry Jen, but when you wake up, you will not remember overhearing me and Mato talking about Captain Anime.  Understand?"
Jen blankly replied, "Yes Master."
Jake nodded then looked her over, realizing how long it had been since he took a good look at Jen. "Say, why don't you show me that new belly dance you have been working on?" Jake suggested with a smile.
"Yes Master," replied Jen as she raised her arms and began to dance.

At the police station, Sarah was busy searching through the records of recent events to see if there was any mention of incubus related events. She had found several unexplained cases of people reporting falling asleep in odd places, like alleys and coffee shops, but wasn't sure which ones that Dawn was responsible for and which ones were caused by the new incubus.  "If only I could figure this out," pondered Sarah as she poured over the evidence.

On the roof of the police station, Xander was focusing at his hands.  He had discovered that if he concentrated enough, he could get an orb to solidly form, but it would only hold for a moment before he lost control.  He was practicing, biding his time for his assault on the police station since he had heard that they had custody of the stage hypnotist that he had seen at that club called 'Spirals.'
Beneath Xander in the holding cells, a blue-haired bunny girl was being escorted into her cell by blonde haired male officer, and a dragon girl. They gently pushed the bunny girl who was wearing a skin tight halter top and a pair of revealing daisy duke shorts into her cell. The bunny looked at the back of the cell next to hers and saw a huge cryogenic tube with a young woman inside of it.
"What's that?" asked the bunny.
The dragon girl looked at the tube then at the bunny girl. "That is someone very dangerous so we keep her in cryogenic stasis. All we know is that her name is Nadia."
The officers were about to walk out when Xander came crashing through the skylight. Landing on the male officer and forcing him to the ground, he kept one foot on his chest and started to drain his energy from him while attempting to create an orb to deal with the dragon and bunny girls.
He didn't get a chance to fully form his orb before the dragon girl knocked him off of her fellow office with her tail, sending him slamming against the bars of the holding cell with the bunny girl. The bunny girl reached her arms out from around the bars and grabbed Xander by his collar. "Get him, get him!" the bunny shouted. "I'll hold him…here….whaaa…." was all the bunny could get out as she started to feel very weak. Xander was draining her through her grip.  Her eyes started to glaze as Xander grabbed the bars behind him, pulling himself up and slamming both feet into the chest of the oncoming dragon girl police officer. He kicked her so hard that she fell against the wall, crashing back first into it. She grinned a bit as her eyes crossed and she slowly slid down the wall. Xander breathed heavily as the bunny girl finally released her grip and landed on the cell floor, completely drained.  The dragon girl sat slumped against the wall on the opposite side of the room, her miniskirt riding up a bit to expose more of her legs as her eyes fluttered closed and her head slumped to the side. Xander moved to the two unconscious officers and drained their energy as well. 
Then, using the key he got off of the male guard, he opened the lock on Nadia's cell and began to examine the controls on the cryogenic chamber in which she was held. Behind him, Sarah entered the holding area trying to figure out what had caused all the commotion a few moments earlier.  As soon as she walked in, she gasped at the sight of the bunny girl and the other two officers passed out on the floor. Xander heard Sarah's gasp and spun around just in time to see Sarah notice him. "You!" she shouted, reaching for her side arm.
Xander didn't have time to think and jumped straight for Sarah, grabbing her and pushing her against the concrete wall. He quickly slapped a hand over her mouth and starting to drain her energy saying, "Easy Cutie, easy. This won't hurt a bit."
Sarah was trying to remain focused, but the energy drain was quickly taking its toll. Her gaze shifted from focused and angry to relaxed and blank. Her struggle was evident, but her body was already starting to lose its energy.  Her arms dropped to her sides, dangling gently. As her eyes fluttered closed, Xander smiled. "That's twice now my dear, and I do thank you for this pleasure," he said, gently lowering her to the ground.
Xander looked around to see if anyone else had noticed anything peculiar in the holding area then slowly moved back to Nadia's containment device. Popping the lid, a hiss of cooled gas and air left the containment unit as the door slid open.  Inside, Nadia's eyes were closed, but she was starting to stir. Xander took a deep breath and concentrated, focusing on how it felt to create an orb when he had had Dawn's powers.  In his hand an orb slowly started to form, flickering as usual. Only instead of it flickering in and out of existence as it had always done in the past, this time it was flickering between dimmer and brighter.  Xander smiled, but as he did the orb started to fade.  He refocused his concentration and the orb stabilized.  He slowly moved his hand to just in front of Nadia's face and waited for her to awaken. 
The dazed hypnotist slowly opened her eyes and immediately encountered Xander's orb.  She gasped slightly as the muscles in her face slackened just a bit. Her eyes were already glazed from just coming out of cryogenic sleep, but they lost any and all focus they might have otherwise had.
Xander smiled and let the orb fade away as soon as Nadia was under his control. "You will do whatever I tell you. Isn't that right, Nadia?" he said, glancing at the name plate on the cryogenic container.
"Yes…," came Nadia's sleepy reply. Xander's smile grew to twice its size as he was incredibly ecstatic at his successful trance with an orb.  He instructed the girl to step into his arms and fall asleep, a command which Nadia dutifully obeyed.  Sweeping an arm under her legs, Xander picked Nadia up into his arms and took off for his converted warehouse lair.

Across the way, Dawn was perched on the roof of a building trying to figure out what the crash was that she had heard. As she looked over at the police station she saw Xander appear on the rooftop with Nadia, deep in a hypnotic sleep, in his arms. She smiled wickedly as she stealthily followed him back to his warehouse lair, memorizing the location and its surroundings.  "Time for some fun," she thought as she flew back to the police station, ignoring the opportunity to exact revenge on her own. "Sarah's gonna love this."

Xander sat within the inner chambers of his lair upon a plush chair with his new ladies that he had acquired over the past few hours with the help of his hypnotic orbs and Nadia's own abilities, which was at his beck and call after he had hypnotized her into aiding him, sprawled on a multitude of oversized pillows reminiscent of a sultan's harem.  Nerual lounged at Xander's feet gazing off into nothing as he played with her luscious locks of hair.
"I really just can't leave these lovely creatures to fend for themselves in the delicious state that they're in," mused Xander, leaning down and pulling Nerual into his lap to fondle as he pleased.  "I must aquire protection for them as well as my lair itself.  I don't want anyone coming in here without my knowledge and doing whatever they pleased.  What if they discovered that this wasn't really a warehouse?"  That last thought was the deciding factor that Xander needed guards and after locking his prettiest possessions in the inner chambers, he left to look for suitable candidates for guards.
Xander glided over the city, musing as to who he should 'convince' to become his bodyguard.  In fact, he figured he might even need at least two guards, one to guard his ladies and the other to guard the rest of his lair.  Unfortunately, Xander had not been paying attention as to where he was flying and crashed into billboard.   Peeling himself off, he glanced at what the billboard was advertising.  It displayed a large portraiture of Shadow who was a decently well-known boxer and announced that Shadow's next match would be in Yoto in the concert center.  The date was set for that very evening and it gave Xander a fabulous idea as to who he would recruit for his first guardian.

Back at the police station, after some time spent scoping out the neighborhood around and seeing Xander several more times with a different girl in his arms each time, Dawn landed on the roof to avoid detection from the other on-duty officers.  Looking around, she spotted the hole that Xander had created for his earlier intrusion.  Gazing down into the hole, she discovered the still comatose bodies of the dragon girl officer and her partner.  Off to one side in a cell lay the bunny girl in similar conditions, though not as bruised.  Near the door, Dawn was surprised to see Sarah, unconscious once again and again as a result of someone else's actions.  Dawn jumped down into the room and checked Sarah over for injuries or other causes for her unconscious state, discovering that her friendly arch-nemesis had been completely drained of energy.  She gathered the girl into her arms and speedily flew off towards the Mato household and Jake. 

That night, Xander attended the boxing match.  Shadow and his opponent, Arch, seemed to be extremely well matched and the match was over all too soon in Xander's opinion.  Shadow had won after four rounds, but he had received nearly as many hits as he gave Arch.  It had been an uppercut jab that had ended the fight and Xander had enjoyed every minute of it.  Xander exited the seating area with the rest of the audience, but quickly ducked into an alley.  He spotted a car parked nearby and easily realized that it belonged to Shadow as he had overheard some of the staff earlier remark on just such a car that Shadow had been seen driving.  Instead of having to reenter the building, Xander decided that he would lie in wait for Shadow to exit and head towards his car.  Xander did not need to wait long for within minutes, Shadow emerged, waving goodbye to those still inside.  He was slightly banged up from the fight and had a bandage around his hand.  Without warning, Xander dropped down from a overhead fire escape, landing directly on Shadow, knocking the man silly, but not quite unconscious. 
Xander threw one of Shadow's arms over his shoulder and grabbed the man around the waist to make it look like the two were great buddies and Shadow had just had a bit too much to drink.  Dragging Shadow to the corner, Xander hailed a cab.
"Where to, bub?" asked the cabby, turning to look at the two passengers.
"Corner of Sixth and Haverstrom, please," Xander replied, making sure to look like he was taking care of the needs of his "inebriated" friend.
"Bit too much fun tonight, eh?"  the cabby commented with a smirk as they drove away.  "He gonna be ok?"
"Oh, yeah.  He just had a little too much to drink and unfortunately, a really hot chick turned him down and belittled his manhood.  He's still a bit shocked from that," Xander glibly explained. 
"Sorry to hear that, but completely understandable," replied the cabby.  "Drink and women'll do that to ya.  That's why I have sworn off of messin' with dames.  They're too much trouble, especially if one's lookin' to be a wife."  Xander nodded in agreement, but smiled thinking of his ladies back at his lair.
"Good thing they're so good looking, eh?" Xander mentioned. 
"Oh, definitely.  Well, here ya go Bub," the cabby said as he pulled up to the designated curb.  "You gonna be ok around here? "
'Oh, yeah.  We'll be fine.  Should walk some of the drink off so he doesn't get completely sick later," Xander answered.  "Our apartment's not too far from here."
"Well, you two be careful and have a good night.  Hope your friend gets over his trauma," the cabby replied as he drove away after Xander paid him.  Xander only smirked and as soon as the cab was out of sight, he dragged Shadow over to the warehouse around the corner and into his waiting lair.
Once inside, Xander dumped Shadow into a chair and went to retrieve Nadia.  Returning, he commanded that she hypnotize the boxer for him into being a body-guard for the inner chambers of the lair.  Nadia dazedly nodded, completely entranced herself.  Inducing the boxer, Nadia instructed the confused boxing champion to relax as he watched the pocket watch swing from side to side.  With each passage, Shadow's eyes drooped lower and his body relaxed more and more until he slumped in the chair, deeply asleep and completely open to suggestion.  By the end of the session, Shadow was repeating, "Xander is my master.  I will protect his belongings."  Xander could only laugh at his good fortune. 
"Now, Shadow.  As my minion, you are to do whatever I tell you, understand?" Xander told Shadow, who slowly nodding in answer.  "What I want you to do now is to go, find your opponent, Arch, from tonight's match and bring him here.  Come tell me when you return and I will have this lovely lady here," Xander motioned to Nadia, "hypnotize your friend to aid you in protecting my lair.  Now go."  Xander watched as Shadow trudged out of the warehouse and into the street.  Once Shadow was gone, Xander put an arm around Nadia and led her back into the inner chambers, awaiting his newest employees' returns.

Jake and Jen were busy trying to establish a tracking pattern for the use of elven magic based on the signature they had received from the security video. "The elf was right.  There isn't really any pattern here," said Jen rubbing her eyes.
"Yeah, no kidding. This guy really moves fast, doesn't he?" Jake asked, trying to work a kink out of his neck.
"I'm a genius!" shouted Mato from the other side of the lab. Jake and Jen quickly jumped up from their seats and ran over to Mato to see what he had found.
"What, what is it? Did you find a pattern?" yelled Jake.
"What? Pattern? No, I just finished my new invention, a toaster that adds jelly to the bread as it pops out!  Watch!" With that, Mato pointed to a seemingly normal toaster that shot two pieces of toast clean into the air.   As the pieces of toast spun, two globs of jelly flew out from another area of the toaster, hitting the toast perfectly and sending them spinning into the ceiling fan. One piece of toast stuck to the blade of the fan while another bounced off and hit Jake dead center in the face.
Jake sighed, not even wanting to argue over Mato's newest invention.  He just walked away with the piece of toast slowly sliding down his face while he walked back to the console. Jen tried not to laugh but a few giggles escaped. Then she looked up and shouted, "Dawn! That's not what you're supposed to be doing!"
Dawn entered the lab, carrying an unconscious Sarah in her arms with a devious little smirk on her face. "How often do I do what I'm supposed to be doing?  Besides, I didn't do this."
Jen was fuming so badly that steam came from her ears.  Jake also looked infuriated and walked towards Dawn in an aggravated manner. "Dawn, come on now. We don't have time for your games."
Dawn dropped Sarah on the floor with a rather loud thud and crossed her arms over her chest, completely ignoring Jen. "You think I don't know that? I want to get this guy even worse then you do! I have a reputation to keep up here you know!" Dawn shouted, starting to turn bright red although Jake wasn't sure whether the coloring was from embarrassment or anger.
"So you drained Sarah to keep up your reputation?" asked Jen sarcastically "I can see how that would work."
Dawn continued to start directly at Jake, but raised a hand in front of Jen's face. Jen didn't have time to notice the orb until it was directly in her line of sight.  The genie tried to protest, but the orb kept pulsing and shifting its colors.  Her eyes reflected the colors as her will to argue drained out of her.  Her arms slid down limp to her sides as her shoulders slumped forward just a bit. Dawn lowered her arm and Jen's eyes slammed shut while she was still standing, slightly slouched forward and completely limp.
"Jake, I didn't do this," she demanded angrily. "Do you seriously think I would do something this stupid right now?"
"Hmm, let me think.  Drain Sarah, and track incubus at the same time…. That seems to be easily within your grasp now, doesn't it?" Jake's replied, casually sliding his hands into his pockets.
Dawn turned an even brighter shade of red as streams of steam erupted from her ears. "If I really wanted to get Sarah that badly, I would drop her off at the incubus' lair and hide out. I don't have time to deal with you accusing me of every ….little…thi…," Dawn trailed off as Jake pulled out his brightly glowing pendant.
"That's it, Dawn.  Just focus and relax," suggested Jake, swinging the pendant back and forth before Dawn's eyes.  The succubus' bright red color started to fade to her normal skin tone while her arms slipped inch by inch until they were free from being crossed and hanging at her sides. Her eyes were completely glazed and the last look of defiance disappeared from her face and into a gentle, relaxed expression.
Jake sighed contentedly, "No matter how many times I see that look, it's always worth it." Then he refocused on the problem at hand. "Dawn, did you drain Sarah?" Jake asked, believing he knew the answer already.
"No," came Dawn's monotone reply.
Jake blinked in shock. "Who…?  Who did?"
"The incubus drained Sarah and three others in the police station. I followed him to his hideout, picked up Sarah, and flew her here," Dawn answered.
"Whoops," said Jake with a guilty look. "Hmm, I could erase her memory…, but…oh dang it. Dawn, wake up," he declared, snapping his fingers.
Dawn shook her head, looked around, and then glared at Jake. "What did you do?"
Jake looked like a kid who had just been caught stealing a cookie. "I put you under and found out the truth. I'm…I'm really sorry I didn't believe you," He said honestly.
Dawn tried to be angry, but Jake looked too pathetic for her to retain her anger. She sidled her way over to Jake and ran a finger under his chin. "It's ok, Jake," she cooed seductively.   "You can make it up to me if you want," she said with a knowing smile.
Jake's expression went from guilt to shock to a deep eye roll complete with a groan. He shot Dawn a scathing look then woke Jen. Explaining the situation to her, the three worked on a plan of attack to take on the incubus while Sarah slept on the couch to recover her energy and Mato worked on a new butter and jelly toaster hybrid.

Two hours later, Sarah awoke, and a plan was ready to go. Jake walked over to Mato's work space and proudly announced, "Professor, we are ready to go."
"That's wonderful, my boy….Go where?" asked the professor, only half listening.
The girls all rolled their eyes while Jake just sighed. "We're going to go rescue the elf girl, Nerual, and to capture the incubus," said Jake, without much enthusiasm.
"Oh!" shouted Mato, moving to a desk drawer. "Excellent. Here, I made these for you," he said, handing all four of them what looked like a small shoulder shield that would fit over the top of their right shoulders.
"Umm, thanks, Professor," commented Sarah, looking over the device. "What exactly does it do?" she queried, confused.
"It's a scanner. It will record any and all hypnotic activity while you're on your 'mission'!" proclaimed Mato proudly.
The four just sighed and all dropped the devices and began to walk away. "It will also allow me to know if something happens to you four while your out," added Mato quickly. The three girls and Jake immediately turned around, grabbed the devices eagerly thanking the professor, and then ran up stairs.
Mato smiled warmly, "Ah kids." Then he thought to himself. "Hmm with Jake gone, I can run a few experiments," he said with a smile moving to a computer console.

Yuta was busily tearing apart her room looking for the perfectly colored ribbon to match her bright yellow shirt. "I swear I put that ribbon right here. I wonder if someone else borrowed it," she said, tossing clothes left and right out of her drawer. She was so busy that she didn't notice when a small panel slid open above her vanity mirror and a small speaker slid out and angled itself towards her. Yuta stood up rapidly. "Ah ha! Found it," she smiled then started to hear a soft melody. She turned to see the speaker, but by then she had already dropped her arms to her sides.  The sound pulse was similar to what she could emit; however, this one was specifically designed for her. Her face went slack and her arms drifted off to her sides, completely limp. The sound continued for a few more moments then stopped. A computer voice that sounded like Mato's then spoke out.
"Begin specimen gathering procedure 3fg678Alpha beta Charlie Mato," said the speaker.
"I understand…and obey," replied Yuta as she moved to exit her bedroom.

Across town, Jen had teleported herself and the other three rescuers to the top of a warehouse with a clear view of Xander's converted warehouse. They all spread out trying to see if there were any noticeable defenses.

To Be Continued....