And the answer to that is....
"Uh, aren't the Other Offices going to be a bit....disturbed by having
so many Champions
coming online like that?" Elrondir asks uneasily.
Yes, at least in as far as the Office of Evil goes, they are indeed
disturbed. So, being what they
are, they issue a formal Challenge, and the Champions on Astra 8's
world suddenly find
themselves caught up in a situation!
Initially the Champions had gone over to Astra 8's world because Astra
8 learned of the reality
surrounding the apparent betrayal that "her" Fred had done her and
Andrea. See, back when her
Fred agreed to do anything to not burn in Hell again (very painful
there....and understandable that
Fred wouldn't want to return so in a moment of weakness he agreed)
he got....er..... well, a raw
deal. Per typical contracts with Hell, Fred got to the letter
(if not the spirit) of what he'd asked
for. He wouldn't feel the physical pain of burning. Instead,
he was treated to the mental and
emotional anguish of having his body controlled by the blossoming demonic
entity called Thaobath
who also had full access to his memories so as to better be able to
betray those who Fred cared
for. Add to that fun mess the fact that Thaobath loved to take
nibbles off of Fred's spirit from
time to time..... Not a fun situation.
Now, the Thaobath that accompanied Astra 8 to Terra Prime had taken
a gross violation in
protocol. He'd taken over the body that should have housed the
Fred spirit that would have
inhabitted it when Astra 8 and others got zapped to Terra Prime.
Instead, Thaobath had the body
all to himself. That said, Astra 8 had been seeing all the love
the other Astras and Freds shared
and....well.....
She found herself falling in love with Fred 8.
So, after she and her fellow Champions came along with her: the D’Honaire Clan, Thessamer Clan, and the House of John (all came because it was the honorable and right thing to do, help a fellow family member). The TARDISes that they came in arrives and after a bit of distraction where Astra 8 contacted the beleaguered spirit of Fred 8 within his body via magic spell. Though a simple spell, Astra 8 revealed that she’d come back to save Fred 8....and that she loved him. The effect was revitalizing to Fred 8 and he found the strength to fight for control of his body. Thaobath was sufficiently distracted by this so was relatively easy to cast out via exorcism spells.
That aside, this was too late for the murdered travel companions (Aethir MacFionn and Simon) that Thaobath killed while they’d been distracted by Astra 8a (the lycanthropic version of Astra 8 who’d not been swept to Terra Prime at that critical moment so long ago). Astra 8a had been given a cure by that world’s version of Belboz (already now dead and departed by this time) which turned out to have failed (due to the fact that Belboz hadn’t mixed the components correctly). She had transformed into a werewolf and was able to kill one of her companions while Thaobath killed the other companion (the companions had been distracted in preparing to handle the transformed Astra 8a). Thaobath had then sent the now wolfwoman out to hunt down her companion (Andrea 2, a version of Andrea who’d Astra 8a had been bitten by the wolfwoman) when the TARDISes arrived. The rest was history.
Next thing that happened is a bit chaotic, so bear with me!
Duke Drederick and Lady Champlain had turned up missing after the confusion surrounding the rescue of Fred 8 and the others were combing the surrounding area for their mission friends. While this was happening, Astra 8a's sensitive wolf nose caught the sent of Andrea in the wind. The wolfwoman mistook this Andrea for the one she'd infected and came loping back to join her, packsister with packsister. The Champions were able to capture her and force feed her a proper cure for her lycanthropy. Astra 8a changed back to normal and the others were able to explain to her why the first cure hadn't worked (Astra 8a was blaming the failure upon herself for weak will or something like that).
But what of Drederick and Champlain? They'd learned that there had been a young boy/man by the name of Jarlath who was the analog of their departed son, Charles. Learning that Jarlath was in trouble the elder D'Honaires had secretly requested that in payment for them to become Champions to the Rules and Agents that after they found Fred 8 safe and sound that they could be teleported directely to Jarlath's location and help him!