The Hammer Falls . . . .

Elrondir

Right now, all I am going to do is listen and watch what happens next (and BELIEVE me it ain't gonna be pretty, by how even the Doctor is looking right now)!

That said, in the end . . . .

Well, here and let me tell you what happened.

The Doctor, by virtue of actually being the party leader of our adventuring group, is the one who leads this segment of the show. Sighing, the Doctor turns slightly back towards Inquirer, but still keeping at least half an eye on the still ensnared magic user Pronky.

Inquirer, by the way, is now smiling a savage grin as she holds up a particular magical wand that Pronky dropped in fright at the very beginning with his . . . "encounter" with Chiana. The wand, now in my sister's hands, morphs into a VERY familiar (and in my humble opinion gawdy) Atlantian jewel/artifact.

She's now holding a Crystallic in her hands (and BOY is Pronky sweating NOW)! He even makes an abortive GRAB for it, only to stop himself quiet quickly when Chiana's paw makes a move to CRUSH him and a small (for a dragon) cough on her part.

"Before we begin and have something interrupt us like last time," the Doctor nods towards the bawdy girls. "If you'd be so kind as to . . ."

With only a slight flash of magic (Inquirer doesn't even need to turn her head to know where to have the Crystallic aimed, great peripheral vision) the two bawdy girls find themselves changed. Astra is now back in her rightful form (and for a change she's clothed). Not only that, she's decked out in traditional Amazonian battle gear (ala Terra Prime . . . . would do it in her homeworld's gear but we didn't ever get enough details for THAT). Freda is now a stately, raven tressed amazonian warrior woman as well, just not as fancily dressed and armed (i.e. it's a little more functional and less showy as Astra's social class demands).

As they stagger and try to draw themselves together, the next order of business is now at hand. Dr. Vincent, disgusted at what his friend (who was now "dead to him" as far as he was concerned), had already vanished back to whence he came and leaving the now betrayed looking "Pronky" to our tender mercies. He saw (rightly) that this was not the man he'd thought he'd known and by betraying "his" Astra and Fred (guest of his up to only a bit ago), he'd fatally betrayed his (Vincent's) trust as well. Goodbye to bad rubbish and all that as the cliché goes.

. . .

Gee, thanks Vincent, that made things easier for us really. Now we don't have to worry about you attempting to rescue your friend when we lay down the law!!

The boy has good REASON to look worried right now!

"Don't even attempt anything stupid," Chiana purrs softly, again in a playful tone of voice. The worm had been trying to unobtrusively reach into a spot inside his robes, probably as a means to make an escape or whatever.

Yet another (this time a bit more stiff) squeeze is needed to drive the point home. I DO believe I heard a few ribs break there. Oh, it's a bit brutal that last but right now . . . we do not feel much PITY for this bastard!

He has MUCH to answer for, and by Creator we're to make sure he DOES!

Whatever the case, he's now sobbing in pain as he is being HELD up in place by Chiana. He'd be on the ground if Chiana hadn't, if you hadn't guessed.

"What you did was inexcusable," the Doctor finally says after seeing that Pronky is doing nothing else to provoke Chiana. "Fair dues, it probably would be a justifiable thing to kill you outright, but alas we are not uncivilized and cold blooded enough for that."

And not to mention that we, as something of an impromtu acting police force, are a bit out of our jurisdiction here (being off reality and all that).

"We could do to you is visit upon you what so many other versions of you did to their victims," the Doctor continues (not elaborating on what exactly that means). "However, that would put us down to your level in some manners so we shan't do that. At least, not totally. . . "

A magical nimbus surrounds Pronky and then fades. He blinks and looks down at himself, wondering what just happened (beyond the fact that he's now dressed in rather plain clothing and has been stripped of all mystical/magical items on his person). That and his busted ribs are now healed.

Have a feeling I know what the deal is here....

Boy, wait until he tries to cast a spell, Inquirer mentally says to us all, more than a little bit of a nasty chuckle in that thought-cast.

Yep, I betcha I now know what sis and the Doctor cooked up here . . . at least in Part. We wait, not lifting a finger as if daring him to do SOMETHING. He obliges.

He makes a vengful magical jesture towards us, and blinks as . . . nothing happens.

Yep, the Crystallic just transformed him into a muggle as they'd call him in the Harry Potter series. Guy is now a non-magic user, without a trace of the mystical in his blood.

Defanged and castrated would be another way of putting it...

Still looking at us, horror dawning a placard is magicked around his neck. No, we are NOT going to just pop on out of here and leave him to be spider chow or try to make his way out of these woods by foot.

No, before Inquirer uses the Crytallic one last time the Doctor explains that Pronky's fate will be decided by one of the now . . . . now animalized transformed adventurer's party's family who had been wronged decide his fate. We know that while probably Fred's family would do the honorable thing (what blood demands), we leave Pronky to the resident Queen Helia's tender mercies. What with her being of higher station AND if this world is like the one the former bawdy's . . .

It'll take a long time for Pronky to die. And the old boy better be sure quick on his feet after he appears right in the MIDDLE of court at the royal castle, with that magical placard screaming his crimes to the bloody blue skies! Which, by the way, until he finds a mage friendly to him he'll be unable to remove . . . .

Ah, I'd love to see that sight. Pay good money for that treat but we gotta get back to Terra Prime. Daylights burning and all that and unless we want Queen Helia to become a prime worker for street corners (i.e. become a "street walker"), then we'd better get a move on here!!

Hope you don't mind the lack of details and all that of the last, but as I just said times awastin' and we can't have THAT, now can we?

So without much fanfare or explanation (Astra won't even LOOK at her beseeching looking mother. . . . bad blood), they head off to the next destination . . . .

1. Which will involve a "Planet Killer", but for clarity's sake we take a step back in time to see . . . .

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