The Pauper Princess and the Born Legacy, Part 10

[maramcc]

Here's Part 9.

I'm so long-winded, even my fanfiction have chapters!!

The story so far...!
-Kelvin got to ride Otilia. No, not that way.
-Agatha and Mara listened to some classic radio drama.
Hilarity ensued.

The legal disclaimer stuff:
"This story is not approved by, sponsored by or affiliated with Studio Foglio LLC or Airship Entertainment."

Pauper Princess FanFiction Theatre presents:
The Pauper Princess and the Born Legacy, Part 10!


  "YOU'RE GETTING WARMER..."
  "Yas, kestle, hyu dun haff to keep sayink dot!" said the Jägermonster known as Oggie. He and de leedle Prinzess Isabel were making their way cautiously through the castle's corridors.
  "No, Mr. Oggie," said Isabel, "We need it to keep telling us if we're getting closer to Momma and Lady Agatha! You've played 'Hot and Cold' before, right?"
  "No," he said, "But hy gets de idea."
  "SHALL WE PLAY A GAME?" asked the castle.
  "I thought we already were?" said Isabel. " 'Hot and Cold?' "
  "TO PASS THE TIME," said the castle/JoJo. "BIG SCARY OGRE, HAVE YOU EVER PLAYED HOPSCOTCH?"
  "No."
  "OHH, YOU'LL LOVE IT!" said the castle, and suddenly dropped out multiple sections of the floor. One of them was directly in front of Oggie, who just managed to keep his balance and pull Isabel back. She yelped and grabbed his leg tightly. The end result of the castle's rearrangement of the floor was an extra-large version of the common course of a single block, double blocks, single, double, single, double. Each block was one meter square, which was not the common size at all.
  "PLUS OUR USUAL RULE!" it said. " 'THE FLOOR IS LAVA!' "
  "What...?" gasped Isabel, and did a fine imitation of her mother's dinner-plate eyes as the holes in the floor began filling in with none other than... magma, or whatever molten substance the castle/JoJo had managed to procure for their fun. Oggie held out an arm and pushed her back slowly.
  "THIS WILL WORK," said the castle/JoJo. "JUST PRETEND LIKE USUAL!"
  "Pretend?" said Isabel. "Pretend?? JoJo, this is real lava! Where did you get real lava?"
  "OOO, YOU HAVE SUCH A GOOD IMAGINATION!" said the castle/JoJo.
  "We don't need imagination! I can feel the heat from here! JoJo, make the lava go away!"
  "NO, NO, IT'S JUST HOT CEREAL OR SOMETHING," it said. "BUT YOU KNOW THE REST! BIG SCARY OGRE, THE RULE IS, YOU CAN ONLY HAVE ONE FOOT ON EACH SQUARE. JUMP THE GAP, THEN HOP FROM ONE SQUARE TO THE OTHER. AND OH... IF YOU MISS, OR PUT BOTH FEET ON ONE SQUARE, THEN THE SQUARES GO AWAY AND YOU FALL INTO THE 'LAVA!' BUT IF YOU MAKE IT TO THE OTHER SIDE, YOU'LL BE EVEN WARMER FOR FINDING MOMMA! GET IT? 'WARMER?' "
  "That's not funny, JoJo!" said Isabel. "This is dangerous! For-real dangerous, not pretend!"
  "I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN?"
  "Hy've seen de kestle crazy," said Oggie, "But dis iz... crazy-crazy! Leedle Princess, vy hyu callink it 'JoJo?' "
  "JoJo's my clank doll," she said, "He's only about this big." She held up her hands to indicate its size. "He got inside the castle somehow and has done something to it. I... guess I shouldn't have run inside when Poppa said not to. But I didn't know this would happen!"
  "Dun vorry, leedle Prinzess," said Oggie, patting her on the head. "Hy can do dis."
  "No, Mr. Oggie!" she said, grabbing his hand. "That's real lava! We'll burn up and die!"
  "Ve von't," he said. "Hyu gotta trust me." Oggie put his back to her and knelt down. "Climb on und hold tight!"
  "You're not scared?" she said, haltingly climbing onto his back. "I am."
  "No, leedle Prinzess," he said. "Und tighter! Tight as hyu ken!"
  "I don't want to choke you!"
  Oggie chuckled. "Dun vorry about dot."
  Isabel took several deep breaths before closing her eyes and holding her breath. It might help with the hot fumes, she thought. She wrapped her arms and legs around Oggie with all her might. Satisfied that her grip was now strong enough, Oggie took a few steps back, then ran and leaped across the two-meter gap of lava, deftly landing on one foot. There were a few seconds of unbalance due to Isabel's extra weight on his back, but he adjusted just in time to prevent the dreaded second foot from touching the block.
  "De two sqvares," he said, "Vun at a time, or togedder?"
  "Together," she whispered. "Both at the same time." Those were as many words as she allowed herself. She buried her face into the back of his neck, which offered slight help against the convection. With every leap he made, she let out a little whimper. Two successful jumps so far, and then all of the squares began tilting from side to side. The castle/JoJo made strange sounds as though moaning, but out of pain or something else, they could not tell. Isabel screamed, but forced her mouth to stay closed as Oggie hopped in place over and over to keep balance. All around them, the floor was rippling like waves in a pond. Bits of lava lapped at the edges of the blocks. Isabel continued her closed-mouth scream even after the castle's convulsions subsided, and finally stopped. All the while, Oggie's second foot never touched the ground.
  "No fair!" he yelled. "Hy dun miss nothink!"
  "WHAT?" said the castle/JoJo. "SORRY, THAT WAS SOMETHING ELSE. BUT I'M BACK! OH, YOU'RE HALFWAY THROUGH! KEEP GOING!"
  "JoJo, please!" she cried, keeping her eyes shut. "The heat is so bad! Please put the floor back the way it was!"
  "No need," said Oggie. "Ve iz done." She opened her eyes to see that he had hopped through the whole course and was on the other side. He moved far enough away to diminish the heat, then dropped to one knee to let her climb down. She did so cautiously, testing the floor first before dropping to both feet.
  "WELL DONE!" said the castle/JoJo. "AND YOU'RE GETTING WARMER!"
  "Yeah," she said quietly. "Thanks." She held onto Oggie's coat as they continued their quest.
  "Dis JoJo likes de runnink und de jumpink games, yas?" he said.
  "Mostly," she said. "I tried to teach him other games like checkers and chess, but they're too hard for him."
  "NO, THEY'RE NOT!"
  "Yes, they are," she said. "You keep getting the games confused and don't remember how the chess pieces move. Are we getting warmer?"
  "A LITTLE," it said. "I'LL SHOW YOU THAT I GOT THEM RIGHT! I FOUND SOME PIECES, TOO!"
  "JoJo, just help us find Momma and Lady Agatha!" she said. "We don't want to play other games!"
  "I DO REMEMBER HOW THE PIECES MOVE!" it said, and from every alcove, cubbyhole, niche, recess and corner came clanks. Small, medium and large clanks, counting sixteen in all, but regardless of their size, every one of them had been created to inflict harm. Oggie drew his weapon, bared his teeth and backed up slowly, pushing Isabel behind him. She peeked around him all the while.  The clanks marched into a crude approximation of a chess board starting formation. The smallest ones, though all mismatched, formed the front lines for pawns - or minions, as Isabel had learned it - and the larger clanks took up the remaining positions. Isabel watched this from behind Oggie, making a note of what each piece represented according to their position. It was a challenge, given that none of the clanks resembled their respective piece. For instance, the so-called "bishop" pieces resembled a four-armed warrior lizard and a very angry platypus. Not the usual depictions of a religious leader.
  "Put those clanks away!" said Isabel. "Let us through!"
  "NOT UNTIL I SHOW YOU I CAN PLAY GOOD!" it said. All at once the clanks drew any weapons they had, made growling sounds, and began to advance. Oggie chuckled with glee and twirled his axe. His glee diminished when Isabel suddenly ran between the would-be combatants.
  "You don't remember the rules at all!" she said.
  "Leedle Prinzess, get avay! Iz too dangerous!"
  "JoJo, you put everyone back and start over!" she continued.
  "BUT-"
  "You don't move all the pieces at once!" she said. "Now pay attention and move them like I say to! Go on! Put them all back!"
  "OHHHHH...." it complained, but ultimately complied. The hodgepodge of chess clanks resumed their positions. Isabel put her hands behind her back and paced, studying each piece with great intensity. Then she pointed at a minion piece.
  "This one moves here, just one square forward!" she said. "And minions only go forward by one square, unless they're diagonal to another piece ahead of them, in which case they can take that piece! Got that?"
  "WHAT...?"
  "Okay, we'll show you what I mean. Move the minion here! Now!"  After a moment of hesitation the minion clank took its step into the next square, which happened to be diagonal to Oggie.
  "Now it's our turn!" she said, glancing at him. "See? Mr. Oggie is diagonal, so he can take your piece!" With that she ran back to give Oggie room to make his move. He grinned, then with a mighty war whoop, swung his axe clean through the clank, then smashed it several times for good measure.
  "NO FAIR!" said the castle/JoJo. "YOU'RE CHEATING!"
  "You take that back!" said Isabel. "I do not cheat at chess! Poppa would never let me do that! I'm helping you remember how to play! Now take your second knight and move it in an L shape! Those can only move in L shapes, remember? G1 to F3!" She pointed out F3's location, then retreated again.
  Another hesitation, and then the knight piece in question leaped over the pieces in front to land with a cacophonous thud. It happened to land next to Oggie, who was starting to understand how chess could be enjoyable, after all. The "knight" quickly became a pile of rubble.
  Isabel called out more moves to retrain JoJo on the rules. Each piece somehow managed to end up next to or diagonal to Oggie, whom Isabel had declared would have the power of the queen piece. The castle/JoJo's protestations grew over losing its pieces, until it made yet another accusation of cheating. The pieces designated as the king and queen drew their weapons and moved as one now. Again, Isabel jumped between Oggie and the clanks to yell out the rules.
  "The king doesn't move like that!" she said. "Just one square per turn, and it can't move into check!"
  "THEY'RE A KING AND QUEEN!" said the castle/JoJo. "THEY'RE IN LOVE AND THEY DO EVERYTHING TOGETHER!"
  "You're cheating again!"
  "YOU'RE THE ONE SMASHING UP ALL MY PIECES! YOU'RE CHEATING! SO I CAN MAKE UP ANY RULES I WANT, LIKE YOU ARE!"
  "JoJo-!"
  "Move beck, leedle Prinzess," said Oggie, pushing her behind himself again. The king and queen advanced step by step and were joined by the remaining clanks as they passed. Between the two of them Oggie and Isabel had managed to eliminate nine of them, leaving seven to approach at once.
  "I can still help!" she said, ducking out from behind him and facing the clank mob. "JoJo, stop the rest and move that bishop to here!" Still the clanks advanced.
  "Move! Beck! Leedle! Prinzess!" growled Oggie, looking her full in the face. She froze, transfixed by his fearsome look. This was a different look than he'd given her earlier in Mechanicsburg. There was no mirth in it this time. He yelled; she shrieked, then ran behind him and found a nice alcove to peek from. Oggie was free to return his attentions to the clanks. His chuckle was low at first, growing in intensity until it was a full, throaty laugh. He twirled his weapon once more, threw his arms wide, and charged.
  "RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

*******************************

Agatha groaned in frustration and lowered the death ray. "Ahhhhh, I can't do it!" she said. "We've been through too much together! They're my babies, you know?"
  "Wh-- Wh-What's that now?" said Mara, keeping a wary eye on the giant clank-creature formed from Agatha's little dingbots. The women were still staying safe in the utility closet. JoJo, buried deep inside the clank-creature, was practicing walking around the room and moving its "arms."
  "They can't help themselves," she said. "I can't just turn them all to slag."
  "No, really," said Mara. "I'm okay with you slagging my clank. It's too dangerous now to exist."
  "I'm talking about my dingbots, not your clank," said Agatha. "They're-- It's hard to explain, but they're my first - well, second creations that finally worked. And they've been so helpful and-- we've just been through so much together. You understand?"
  "I... I suppose," said Mara. "But now that I think of it, maybe you shouldn't fire that in here. These books and artifacts - they're all rare or unique, aren't they? They'd be destroyed! Keep trying with the prod, then? One of those frequencies must be the one to dislodge his control from the castle. And your little clanks, too."
  One of the clank-creature's hands suddenly reached inside the closet, knocking Agatha into Mara. The death ray began powering up again. Mara managed to grab it and shut it down while Agatha fell backwards. The clank hand continued reaching inside and grabbing blindly. Mara beat on the "fingers" with the powered-down death ray until it withdrew.
  "IS THIS HIDE AND SEEK?" said the castle/JoJo. "BECAUSE IF IT IS, YOU'RE NOT VERY GOOD AT IT! I FOUND YOU RIGHT AWAY!"
  "That's right, you caught us!" said Mara, helping Agatha back on her feet. "You're very clever at this game!"
  "NOW I'LL HIDE!"
  "Nono!" said Mara. "Um... why not do something different? Here's an idea! Show us a dance! Maybe a song, too, if you know any! But just... dance around or something!"
  "DO YOU HAVE ANY MUSIC?"
  "Uh..." said Mara, pondering if she should set the prod's frequency back to radio. More polka broadcasts, perhaps.
  Agatha patted her arm. "I've got this," she said. "Keep working on that and find whatever will knock it out of my castle's head!"
  "Yes'm," said Mara. Agatha stood in the doorway and began vocalizing - heterodyning, in fact. The song she offered seemed to puzzle the clank-creature at first, possibly from its lack of a proper dance beat. She added more of a melody and increased the tempo; with that the giant clank began shuffling around in something approximating rhythmic movement.
  Mara busied herself testing different frequencies. The prod was already turned up to full power as she tried to find what would dislodge the creature. Frustrated, she paused to listen to Agatha's song. For something improvised it had an intriguing melody, but it was the tones she used that penetrated Mara's mind. Somehow Agatha was able to produce more than one note at a time. They were not chords, but their own unique sounds. Mara's eyes dilated. Her mind cleared. And then: such a simple answer, really. More power. She had probably hit the "sweet spot" multiple times, but it was too weak for the clank-creature to detect. Giving it pain would be a different challenge than giving it pleasure.
  The death ray would serve a purpose, after all. In a flash the casing was off again, and Mara's hands were a blur as she modified its power source yet again before connecting it to the prod. She took a millisecond or two to review her work; turning it on would either power up the prod like never before, or destroy half the city. She took a quiet breath and turned it on.
  JoJo tried to twirl, which was as clumsy as any move it made, and then stumbled. Some of the dingbots fell from the mass and tried to escape, but JoJo stepped on them and re-absorbed them into the fold. Agatha stopped singing. JoJo immediately looked her way and shifted the dingbots forming its mouth into a frown. Agatha resumed singing, then hesitated again when JoJo stumbled a bit, loosing more dingbots than before this time. Mara had found what they were looking for, it seemed. Without looking back, Agatha gestured behind herself and motioned for her to keep doing whatever she was doing.
  It was a start, but not enough. The clank-creature was loosening up, but just as quickly recoalescing. Mara fiddled a bit more with the dial, and it took a fall. Unfortunately, so did Mara and Agatha. Whatever "sweet spot" disrupting the clank-creature also hit their nervous systems like a sledge hammer to the head. Both women were conscious, but their limbs twitched and writhed and refused to obey any of their attempts at proper motor function. They may as well have been newborn infants. Any time Mara managed to swing her arm anywhere near the prod, which hung inches above her, another spasm pulled it away. Agatha could not even crawl towards her, only twitch her legs about in an effort to propel her body forward.
  In the main room, the clank-creature was now a pile of dingbots, plus one harlequin-like clank. They, too, were jumping and twitching and writhing, but at least one dingbot - Agatha's first - was displaying a mighty resolve to reach its mistress. It crawled while the rest rolled about, even if its progress was measured in centimeters.
  Mara managed to swat the prod to the ground, landing close enough to Agatha for her to smack at it repeatedly with any part of her body that she could fling its way. It ended up being her head hitting the dial just enough to switch to a different frequency. The spasms ceased, but it was a few seconds before either woman's brain had recovered enough to allow any motor control. In the main room, the sound of dingbots swarming was heard.
  "Of courshe," said Mara with a bit of a slur. "Why not reform? Becaushe it'sh fun!"
  "Here'sh what we do," said Agatha, equally affected. "We shwitch the prod back to throwing lightning, or I fire up the death ray."
  "Oh, but thanksh to me, I made it stronger, remember?" said Mara, sitting up. Her speech was also improving. "Make sure the moon isn't in your way when you turn it on. We'd hate to lose that."
  "I'll aim for Mars, then," said Agatha, standing up, but a mite unsteadily. "Maybe prevent an invasion from them, eh?"
  "I don't know," said Mara, also on unsteady feet. "I've studied Mars a bit, and I'm not convinced that it could sustain life - or at least, not any species with an intelligence like here. Now, microbes and possibly some multicellular, but still simple, animalsoh, God, what am I doing??"
  "Taking my joke too seriously?"
  "Momma?"
  Both women froze and locked their gazes. Mara broke away first and crept to the closet's doorway. "No," she whispered. "No, no, please don't-"
  "Momma?" said Isabel. She and her Jäger escort were at the library's entrance, peering around the room. Oggie chuckled and pointed at the newly-reformed clank-creature.
  "Hey, look at dot," he said. "Iz a lotta leedle clanks, all togedder. Dot's fonny!"
  "Isabel!" Mara called from the other side. "Get out of here! Go!"
  "Oggie!" called Agatha. "Get her away from here!"
  "But ve just got here!"
  "LITTLE M-! I MEAN, ISABEL!" said the clank-creature. "YOU MADE IT HERE AND FOUND ME! YOU'RE 'RED-HOT!' HOORAY! HEY! NOW GET AWAY FROM HER, MR. OGRE!"
  "Oggie! Go!" yelled Agatha. He was about to snatch her up in his arms, when one of the clank-creature's arms swatted him across the room. Mara screamed until seeing her daughter still in the same spot, stunned but not injured. Agatha called to the Jäger and ran across the room to assist. Like Isabel, he was stunned, not injured, but also a mite irritated.
  Mara ran to her daughter and swept her up in her arms, hugging her tightly. Isabel hugged back just as hard.
  "AWWW, I LIKE WHEN YOU TWO DO THAT," said the clank-creature. "IT'S VERY NICE."
  "Shut up!" said Mara. "Just shut! up! We are tired of your games! Leave those poor creatures alone and get out of her castle!"
  "JoJo!" said Isabel. "I'm very upset with you right now! You hurt Mr. Oggie! You are not my friend anymore and I never want to play with you again!"
  "NOOO!"
  "Iz hokay, leedle Prinzess!" said Oggie. "Hy'm not hurt!"
  "Bad timing, Oggie," muttered Agatha. She was behind the clank-creature, and moved quietly and cautiously back to the utility closet. Oggie followed her silent command to return to Isabel's side. Agatha resumed converting the prod back to a lightning stick.
  "PLEASE DON'T BE MAD AT ME, ISABEL!" it said. "LET ME SHOW YOU JUST ONE MORE TRICK, OKAY?"
  "No, JoJo!"
  "JUST ONE MORE! YOU'LL LIKE IT, I PROMISE!"
  "No I won't!"
  "WATCH AND THEN TELL ME," it said, and stepped back to the center of the room. It stopped moving, and formed an expression that, with some imagination, appeared to be one of concentration. A rumbling spread throughout the library. One by one at first, then in larger and larger groups, books, periodicals, journals, maps and papers of every kind began flying towards the center of the room and towards the clank-creature. The books began attaching themselves to it, like scales on a reptile. Before their eyes the dingbot gestalt disappeared and was replaced by a much larger and thicker thing resembling a librarian's worst nightmare.
  "ONE LAST TRICK," it said. "I JUST WANT TO CHEER YOU UP!"
  "Do that by getting out of the castle!"
  Oggie grinned at the book-beast, then at Isabel and Mara. "Heh. Dis iz vy I dun bodder to read! AUUUP!" A hand made mostly of rolled-up periodicals snatched him up and held on tight. Oggie struggled to free his arms and reach his weapon.
  "JoJo!" said Mara. "You put him down immediately, ahhh!" She pushed away Isabel just before its other hand grabbed Mara and hauled her into the air.
  Agatha was curious about the hubbub in the next room, but her task was nearly completed, so she maintained her focus. So focused that she did not notice the third arm that the book-beast had made for itself in order to drag her from the room. Still holding her tools and the lightning stick. Its motions were jerky enough to make her lose her grip on the stick and drop it. She winced and braced herself for it going off accidentally... which did not happen, to the relief of all.
  "I TAUGHT MYSELF TO JUGGLE!" said the book-beast. "WATCH!"
  "No No No!" said Isabel. "Those are people, not... whatever you think they are! Don't juggle!"
  "THESE DOLLS?" it said. "JUST WATCH!"
  "We are not dolls, you idiot!" said Agatha. "Don't make me- uuuuurgh!"
  Clumsily, awkwardly, the book-beast began tossing the three into the air, flipping them over and over in endless somersaults. To its credit it had not yet dropped any of the unwilling juggling props. Isabel yelled and yelled for it to stop, but it seemed not to hear her. Perhaps its "ears" were now too high for the sound to reach her, or perhaps it deliberately ignored her to see its new trick through to the end.
  With Oggie's arms free, he was able to draw his weapon and take swings at the book-beast. At best the blade made nicks in the paper; at worst, swung perilously close to the two women flipping about with him. Agatha saw and felt something swing by her face, just missing.
  "Oggie!" she said. "Was that your axe? Stop that!"
  "Vot else can hy do? Hy dun like beink juggled!"
  "Isabel!" said Mara. "I can't see you, honey! Wherever you are, get out of here! Go, run out of the room and keep safe!"
  "Momma, I wanna help you!" she said.
  "No, baby!" said Mara. "Don't worry about us; we'll figure something out! Just get away!"
  "What is this thing?" she said, pointing at the lightning stick. "Will it stop JoJo?"
  "I don't know what you mean!" said Mara. "Please! Just go! Don't look back!"
  "ISABEL, LOOK!" it said. "ARE YOU SEEING THIS? I PRACTICED EVERY NIGHT WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING!"
  "Yeah, it's great," said Isabel, picking up the stick. "You can stop now!"
  "WATCH THIS PART!" it said, and changed its throwing pattern so the three of them were being tossed even faster. Agatha began letting out a long, low groan.
  "IIIII am about to lose everything in my bowels," she moaned.
  "JoJo!" said Isabel, brandishing the stick. "You stop this now or I'll... I'll turn this thing on, and you'll be sorry!"
  "Turn what on?" said Agatha. "Wait - are you talking about the lightning stick?? I wasn't done with it! Isabel, don't-!"
  Isabel had run behind the book-beast, which was confused and looking about for her, and shoved the business end of the lightning stick into its leg. She switched it on, and wave after wave of electrical arcs ran from its bottom to its top, and back again. Paper began to smoke, metal began to buckle and crack, and three figures were spared being burned to ash thanks to spending most of their time in the air, but when the slightest contact was made, it coursed through their bodies, too.
  The book-beast staggered forward, dropping Mara's and Agatha's unconscious bodies to the floor. Then it staggered backward, lost all cohesion, and began falling apart into a mountain of paper and clanks. And Isabel was directly under this. She had no time to dodge, only to scream. While half of the library and most of Agatha's little clanks fell onto her, a third figure hit the ground, then leaped inside of the avalanche.

Stillness. Silence. Then a quiet moan. Mara was able to open her eyes before she could speak or move anything else. She blinked several times, then twitched some fingers, slowly working her hands and arms into something resembling deliberate movement. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and blinked some more, looking groggily about the room that smelled oddly like a tobacco shop.
  Behind her, she heard the muffled sound of someone coughing. And again; now it was clear that it was a child's cough. She pondered this for a moment, until her mind suddenly snapped back into reality. "Isabel!" she cried, scrambling immediately to her feet and whirling about. There was a mountain of smoking books and little clanks, most intact, but some showing signs of scorching and buckled metal. Mara hesitated for a second, then cried out again and began grabbing books, papers and clanks and flinging them aside. Sometimes she stooped down to dig through the pile like a dog, legs spread and shoveling debris through them.
  "Isabel!" she cried. "Talk to me, baby! Please!"
  "Momma?" came a tiny, muffled voice. Mara laughed and cried all at once, and did not slow down her digging.
  "Oh, baby, I'm coming!" she said. "Just hold on, sweetie! I'm coming for you!" Without losing momentum, she looked over to Agatha, who was still prone. "Agatha? Are you all right?" She had managed to carve away a small path to the center of the pile and was working on those books now. Agatha groaned and rolled onto her back, splaying her arms.
  "Uhhh, who has deactivated my beautiful frogs...?"
  "Sorry?" said Mara, glancing her way the briefest of moments while still digging. "I don't see any fr-"
  Suddenly Agatha sat bolt upright. "For SCIENCE!" she cried. "Wait, what's going...? Hey!" She scrambled to her feet, then suddenly leaped onto another part of the book pile. "Got you!!"
  "What are you-?" said Mara. "Oh!" Agatha was smiling and holding up none other than JoJo. Not a construct animated by it or another gestalt or another clank, but the naughty, nasty, harlequin clank doll itself. It struggled and hit and kicked, but was not strong enough to cause injury or even pain.
  "Where's Isabel?" said Agatha. "And Oggie?"
  "Where do you think??"
  "Under here, mistress!" Oggie's voice came from the pile. "Ve's hokay!"
  "Isabel, are you hurt?" said Mara.
  "No, Momma!" she said. "Mr. Oggie is covering me!"
  "Oggie, don't stand up!" said Agatha, using her free hand to help pull away books. "It could end up falling on top of her!" She stopped digging suddenly, and seemed lost in thought.
  "What are you doing?" said Mara. "Please help me!"
  "Dingbots!" said Agatha. "Move out!" With that, every dingbot under the pile that was still ambulatory moved away from the center of the room and off to parts unknown. The mountain reduced in size substantially. That was enough to let Mara finish her work quickly.
  Oggie's back was cleared of debris, allowing him to stand up at last, revealing Isabel, wholly unharmed, underneath him. Mara laughed and pulled her daughter to her feet. She lost her balance in the process and fell onto her back, holding Isabel close to her chest. After a moment, she hugged and kissed her daughter, laughing and crying.
  "Momma?" said Isabel. "Are you happy or sad?"
  "Happy, sweetie," she said. "So very happy."
  "Okay," said Isabel. "But you're crying, too. That's not logical."
  Mara stared at her daughter a moment, then laughed again. "No, it isn't, sweetie. It isn't at all."
  A hand appeared near Mara's face. Not quite a hand, actually. Closer to a claw. She looked up to see Oggie standing over them, offering assistance. She stared at him a few seconds before gingerly taking his claw, and grunted as she and Isabel were yanked to their feet effortlessly.
  "Um...Um..." she said, still staring at him. Oggie just grinned. She set Isabel onto her feet and watched in wonder as her daughter wrapped her arms around the Jäger's legs, hugging him there, as only a child could do.
  "Thank you so much, Mr. Oggie," she said. He knelt down and tucked a claw under her chin.
  "Just Oggie," he said. " 'Meester' dun suit me."
  "Oh, I was taught to always use proper addresses when speaking to or about adults," she said. Despite herself, Mara laughed, then made herself look the Jäger in the eyes.
  "Mister--" she started, then composed herself again, "That is... Oggie... I... Wh-what you just did for her... That is, you were... I-I don't know how to thank you. You were protecting her all this way? All through the castle?"
  "Sure, yah," he said with a shrug. "Hyu know, ve looks after de Heterodynes."
  "Oh, so you do know about them?" said Agatha. "Mara and her children?"
  "Sure, dey gots de shmell und de voice," he said. "Mmm, maybe not zo much de voice. Not lik hyu..."
  "Yes, well, I got something good from my mother," said Agatha.
  "Sir," said Mara, "I... I am in your debt. Truly. Without you, she-- I'm sorry, I can't let myself think about-- what could have happened."
  "Really, iz nottink--"
  "Lady Agatha, may I see JoJo?" said Isabel.
  "Sure," she said, glancing at Mara, who was shaking her head. "But I'm going to hold him, okay? Look, but don't touch."
  "Okay," said Isabel, and stared at her old toy. It stared back, and reached out its arms to her. She glared. "No, JoJo! You have been very, very, very, very, very, very bad, and I'm never going to play with you again!" It clasped its hands together and mimed a begging action. "Stop that! You tried to hurt everyone! You're mean and evil and you should be melted down!"
  "Isabel!" said Mara, pulling her away. "Please, honey, you must calm yourself. It-- He was only doing what he was made to do. Inside the castle, he didn't know his own strength and didn't understand the scale. Everything seemed small and harmless, even if it wasn't."
  "I don't care!" she said. "He wouldn't listen to me, either, and didn't do what I said!"
  "Well..." said Mara. "That was very bad. But he can't hurt you anymore. See? Lady Agatha has him now and will dispose of him."
  "Uh..." said Agatha. "Mmmaybe not right away."
  "Sorry?"
  "Well, this little thing packed quite a punch," she said. "At the very least, it discovered a hole in the castle's security. And the way it interfaces with just about any system and dominates them? Very much worth looking into! Do you still have its designs?"
  Mara just stared.
  "Mara?"
  She started, then blinked a few times as though waking up. "Uh... For that? I-I don't think I made any designs. I just sort of... cobbled it together quickly. Yes, I recall that I was in a bit of a crunch at the time, and it was near Christmas, so I made it quickly for her. Please understand that it's really not typical of how I work. Everything else I've made back home has been meticulously designed and tested. So... you're going to keep it and study it?"
  "You're not imagining the possibilities here?"
  "I-I suppose it depends on where your imagination leads you?"
  "Herrrrrre ve come to save de dayyyyyyy!"
  Two Jägers burst into the room, making an attempt at singing, but no prizes for anyone today. Dimo and Maxim, weapons drawn, took opposite positions. They were quickly followed by Airman Higgs, Violetta,  Kelvin and Zeetha. Oggie pointed and laughed at his companions.
  "Ha!" he said. "De day iz already saved!"
  "Vot?" said Maxim, lowering his weapon. "Nottink to fight?"
  "Vot iz dis?" said Dimo. "Hyu just sat around readink?" The Jägerkin reunited and chattered amongst themselves.
  "Mara! Isabel!" cried Kelvin, then found them quickly and raced over. The Mousehearts formed a "family bubble" of themselves and were oblivious to all else for the time being.
  Violetta casually stepped forward and took in the scene, then whistled at the mess. "We've seen worse," she said, "But usually the damage was intentional. A shame we missed this party."
  "Some other time," said Agatha sternly. She held out JoJo. "And here. Take this and don't let it get away!"
  "This is what caused all the trouble?"
  Agatha nodded. "Zeetha! Are you okay? You look unsteady."
  Zeetha threw up her arms in frustration. "Fine! I have a concussion! Is everyone happy now?"
  "Nnnnno, we're not happy you have a concussion," said Agatha. "Higgs, you see to her, okay?"
  "Of course, ma'am," he said. Zeetha glared, but allowed him some amount of fussing.
  Agatha looked up. "Castle?" she said, and waited. "Castle?"
  "OHHHHHH..."
  "Castle?" she said. "Are you functional?"
  Mara pulled herself out of the "Mouseheart Bubble" and stood near Agatha. "Is there anything I can do to help?" she said. Agatha held up a hand.
  "HMMMMMMM..."
  "Castle, are you able to speak?" she said. "Has your A.I. been fully corrupted?" Mara let out a little groan. "Is there anything you can say right now?"
  "MMMMM, YESSS," it said, speaking very slowly. "FAUSSSTUSSS TAUGHT ME A SSSONG. WOULD YOOOU LIKE TO HEARRR IT?"
  "A song?" said Agatha. "Not really. Castle, I'm going to be checking your systems now, so-"
  "DAIIIISY... DAIIISY... GIVE ME YOUR ANNNSWER DO... I'MM HALF CRAAAZY..."
  "Castle, no more singing! Please!" said Agatha. "Don't bother with talking right now, either, okay? You're going to be just fine!"
  "Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help?" said Mara.
  "I've got this," said Agatha. "There are different things I can do. If the AI doesn't recover on its own, it's not ideal, but I could restore a previous copy of its systems. It's a recovery process I added recently. It keeps copies of itself back to two weeks. If I have to, I can restore its whole system from two... maybe three days ago, just to be safe."
  "Oh," said Mara, nodding. "Oh, that's an excellent idea! Meaning, three days ago it wouldn't have been corrupted, right? Huh! You've made a time machine!"
  "Not quite," said Agatha. "Just copies of old data. Of course... You know... If I do that, there's a chance that it'll lose the data about your being... you know..."
  "It'll 'forget' that I'm a Heterodyne," said Mara.
  "Maybe," she said. "I don't know for certain."
  Mara considered this a moment, then sighed and shrugged. "Well, if it does," she said. "I'm not going through that test again. Yes, even knowing that I'd pass."
  "You wouldn't be accepted as a Heterodyne, then," said Agatha.
  "Yes, yes, we know all that," said Mara. "I'm first and always a Mouseheart. That's enough for me. The rest is icing."
  "Well..." said Agatha, "It's just fair warning."
  "Thank you," said Mara. "And... please do tell us how we can compensate any damage caused by... all this."
  "Uhh, honey?" said Kelvin, putting an arm around her. "Let's not go promising the world to people again."
  She shrugged him off. " 'Promising the world.' Honestly! Look around this room! Around the whole place! All of this was my fault! All of this! My careless work! My incomp-!"
  "You know what?" said Agatha, holding up her hands, "Why don't we not worry right now about cost of damages, and compensation, and all that? For one thing, the castle has self-repair capabilities, and the other thing is... well, even if it loses the information about you, I won't. You're family, Mara. You're a Heterodyne. And so are you, Isabel! And your brothers!"
  "Yayyyy!" she said, throwing up her arms. "Wait, what's a Hettadyne?"
  Mara smiled and pulled her daughter close. "That means a lot to me," she said. "In spite of my lack of enthusiasm earlier. I'm very sorry about that. We'll, uh... We should leave you to your work, then."
  "Thank you all," said Kelvin, addressing everyone else in the room. "Thank you all for getting me back to my daughter. We are in your debt."
  The group's general reaction was to play down their efforts, having done just that sort of thing many times before, and usually under worse circumstances. The Mousehearts smiled and waved and began making their way from the room, but then were blocked by the Jägerkin.
  "Mr. Oggie?" said Isabel. "Are you gonna come with us?"
  "Dot vould be nize, leedle Prinzess," he said with a wink.
  "Mistress?" said Dimo to Agatha, who gave him a curious look. He nodded his head towards Mara and her family. "Iz hokay?" She looked one to the other for a moment, until a figurative light went on. She nodded.
  "Gentlemen?" said Kelvin. "Is there something we-- can---?" His words slowed, then halted, as the three Jägerkin bowed their heads and knelt before him. No, not before him. Before his wife. And his daughter.
  Dimo looked up while the others kept their heads bowed. "Ve iz Jägerkin," he said. "Und ve serve de Heterodynes."
  "Oh, please get up," said Mara. "I-I -- There's no need for this. Truly." The Jagers complied, then stared at her as if waiting for orders. She looked to Agatha, who nodded again, adding a small smile. "You serve Agatha, not me," she continued. "She's your mistress."
  "Oh, yas," said Dimo. "But if hyu effer need us-"
  "We'll see," said Mara quickly. "We shall see. Yes, we greatly appreciate your offer."
  "You can come home with us!" said Isabel. "I'll show you that Guildern isn't boring!"
  "Honey..." said Mara, "Sweetie, let the adults talk, okay? Sirs, you don't need to come home with us. You... go where you like."
  "Hokay, mistress," said Dimo. "But iz h'our duty to tell hyu dese tings."
  "Thank you, yes," she said. "Thank you all. All of you!" she added, addressing the whole group as Kelvin had before. He put his arm around her again and begin guiding her from the room.
  "Let's get back to the others," he said. "Oh, maybe Otilia will let you and Isabel ride her back to the exit! I think you'll like her."
  "Who-what now?"
  "You'll see, honey," he said. "You'll see."

To De Nouement! Er, the Denouement!