Short Lived Victory

Opal Koboi's manical laughter was not Holly Short's favorite sound to wake up to. It reverberated in her head in a way only her hated alarm clock could match. And lucky her, as always, it was the third time in as many days she was subjected to it. First after a buzz baton-induced nap, then an unpleasant hand chop to the neck (courtesy of hulking Mud Man Opal dug up from who-knows-where), then with her own buzz baton (she hoped feverishly that nobody had seen the video feed from that one).

"And the best part of it is," Opal squealed gleefully, "is that the command will come from Command Central itself!"

Holly was confused. Usually Opal insured her victims were all conscious for her grand unveiling. Maybe Opal's minions had given her a stronger zap that she'd thought.

"When the tribunal- my tribunal- investigates this horrible, horrible tradgedy," she continued in that sickly sweet pixie voice," I'll have every surviving faeries' support to execute you lot. But, of course, I will have already." She giggled from her perch on Foaly's desk. Instead of the prototypes and data cubes that were ordinarily scattered across the desktop, there was just a panel with a big threatening red button. It was even glowing.

"A big red button? Seriously Opal? I thought you were at 'the forefront of Faerie technology!'"

"It looks like an Easy Button" Juliet's voice came from somewhere to her right.

"Yeah, like 'for easy plot-foiling, please use the button below.'" Mulch's voice came high and squeaky from her other side. Holly felt Artemis restraining a snort beside her. "What?" she hissed to him. "She set herself up for it. Seriously- a big red button? Even you do better than that."

"Thank you for your vote of confidence Holly." Artemis replied. "But in all seriousness, petty little quips are hardly going to stop her at this stage. And we appear to be out of options."

Holly sighed.

"Why am I not surprised. Whatever happened to the criminal genius whose always one step ahead?"

"You reformed him." Artemis whispered back dryly. "Now he's apparently the genius always one step behind."

"Better make that two steps for this mission." Mulch's voice came from her left. "But seriously, has anyone got anything?"

They all thought for a minute. Opal seemed puzzled by the silence.

"She's got the emergency beacon and the boot knives. I'm out." Holly spoke first.

"She's got the Sig Sauer, but besides the unbreakable cuffs which we have no manner of removing, I'm in shape to fight." Butler said next.

Unfortunately, Opal heard him and reached for her stun gun, shooting him twice just to be sure.

"I've got nothing." Mulch whispered, barely moving his lips. Unfortunately he pointed to his mouth ring as he spoke.

"I have my mind, but lacking any supplies, this will never work."

"Exactly!" crowed Opal hearing him. "Give up! I've won. Though at least you can take comfort that you led us on a very amusing chase." With that Opal raised her little pixie hand and brought it smashing down towards her big red button of doom.

But before her hand reached the button, there was a giant boom and a huge, spinning, blue box materialized, crashing halfway though the wall and obliterating Foaly's desk. Red button and all.

"My desk!" wailed Foaly.

The others sat gaping at the wreckage.

A door creaked open and a head with spiky brown hair popped out. "No, wait. This isn't it."

"So we crash landed for nothing." came another voice from inside. "Of course it wasn't for nothing!" He made a quick examination of the room. "We'll have to come back here some day. But I guess we have other things we really have to do right now." The head disappeared back into the box, and seconds later it had completely dematerialized.

Holly was the first to recover. "Okay, what in D'Arvit's name just happened?"