Once Upon A Warehouse

Cast[]

Chapter 1[]

It had been quiet at the Warehouse. Very quiet, and for too long. Almost a month since the last big case, with only a few smaller retrievals sprinkled between. Understandably, the Warehouse staff were becoming restless. Pete, Myka, Steve, and Claudia had taken the opportunity to see family, being the most senior agents. Aden Taylor was spending a lot of time with Mary, organizing something he assured the others they wouldn't be interested in. The H.AR.P. team, recently reformed after some decades, were enjoying their side-jobs in the small town of Univille. Even one of the newest Warehouse recruits, Felix Draco, had found some of the magic to fade after spending every day for the last few weeks roaming the endless shelves.

Fortunately that would change soon. Tyler Lepido got the first call. His pocket buzzed and he pulled out his Farnsworth, a smaller model used by H.A.R.P. that was far more inconspicuous. He activated it to see the face of Artie, the aging Warehouse custodian. "Tyler, I need you to call the team and get to the Warehouse. We finally have a ping!"

Tyler arrived in record time. Nikki Nola, Bri Repindata, Matt Sordens and Blaine Biston were already waiting for him in the office. It wasn't long before Sandy Calacer showed up, followed by Aden who looked slightly miffed about being interrupted in the middle of his oh-so-secret plans. Finally Felix staggered into the office, looking suspiciously unstable on his feet.

Their attention converged on Artie, who was in his usual seat by the Warehouse computer. On the desk in front of him was a stack of papers and his chalkboard was covered in hieroglyphs and a map of Egypt. Aden seemed to perk up slightly at the sight of that.

"Good, you're all here." Artie addressed the group. "Well, mostly..." He cast a contemptuous glare at Felix, who was staring into the middle distance. "I know it's been far too long, but we finally have a case!"

He stood up (not gaining much height by doing so) and grabbed a folder from the pile, handing it to Aden. He flipped it open and skimmed thorough the pages. "Mummies?" he asked.

"Mummies." Artie confirmed. "Last night someone broke into the British Museum and tried to swipe something from the Egyptology department. Authorities found him the next morning wrapped in linen, very much dead. He had this on his face." He handed a photo to Matt.

"A dog mask?"

"Anubis." clarified Aden, peering over at it. "God of funeral rights and mummification.

Artie nodded. "Nothing else was disturbed, so either the thief was after that specifically and something went wrong or he made a poor first choice." he explained.

Bri started to become excited. 'So we're going to London!?"

Artie nodded and handed Bri, Aden and Matt flight tickets. "Not to the museum, though. The mask was taken into police custody until the investigation is over. You'll be making an evidence pick-up."

Bri's face fell slightly. "But maybe some sightseeing after?"

The trio emerged from their taxi around eight. The light was already dimming through the overcast clouds. Having received his fare, the cabbie tooted his horn and gave a friendly wave as he drove off, leaving the agents almost alone in front of the station. The officers inside were less than receptive. Despite having called in advance, they seemed highly skeptical of the three teenagers claiming to be Secret Service. After waiting for what seemed like hours, the man in charge, Captain Geordie, finally called them to enter his office.

"I'm still not too keen on this," he said to the group, hands clasped over his cluttered desk. "But if it's the mask you're after then you're out of luck. It's a pretty popular item lately."

Bri spoke up. "I understand the museum wouldn't be happy if they knew we were here, but we can provide an almost identical fake and..."

The Captain put a hand up to cut her off. "The museum ain't the trouble, 'luv. I think it's best I just show you lot what happened this afternoon." He clicked a few times on his desktop and then turned the screen to face the group. It was a security feed of the evidence locker, and there was someone there. A man in a balaclava was tearing into boxes until an officer came up behind him with a taser drawn.

The thief spun around with the Anubis mask in his hands and it glowed for a moment. Then streams of yellowish linen exploded from the artifact, ensnaring the officer and neatly wrapping him up like a mummy. The man struggled for a while, then crumpled. The thief gave him a rough nudge with his foot, then pulled an object from his pocket out of view of the camera. He seemed to make a motion with his hands and promptly vanished.

The Captain turned his screen back. "This city has seen a lot of weird, but I've seen nuthin' like that in my life. Now that Officer Scotty was a good man, an' he didn't deserve to die choking on some magic tea towels. I got a lot of things on my plate at the moment, so 'ere's what I'm gonna do." He paused for a second and glanced at each of them in turn. "I'm going to do nuthin'." The agents gave him a collective look of surprise.

"I've dealt with yer Warehouse before," he continued. "I don't want to again. I'll do whatever covering up I need to, but you lot need to give me an assurance you'll not let this happen again."

Bri sputtered out a hasty thanks as the man tossed Matt a USB stick and ushered them to the door. "An' you tell that Fredric woman to stop showing up in my dining room," he called after them from his chair. "Near gave me a heart attack, that woman!"

---

Bri, Matt and Aden made themselves comfortable on a bench outside as night-owls began to fill the streets. Bri had the Farnsworth open and Artie on the line. "Yeah, Officer Geordie. Nice man, bit easily put off. Helped me out around '98. Nice to hear he got his promotion."

"Artie, the thief. Please focus."

"Hm?" His attention snapped back into place. "Oh, yes. That's definitely not a good thing. I have Sandy going over that footage, but he can't figure it out." He passed the Farnsworth to the younger agent.

"Frame-by-frame seems to show him drawing a circle on the ground, then he falls through and just vanishes. I've got nothing, but Blaine's corresponding with some folk at Eureka talking about wormhole manipulation."

"Wormholes?" Aden perked up and shoved his head into the view of the camera. "There was definitely something off at the station, I could feel it. Wormholes would makes sense, but the scar had sealed over too perfectly." Bri, Sandy and Matt gave him a confused look.

"Well," he explained, "When a person like me rips a hole in space it leaves a scar that can be re-opened like a wound. But this was so precise, almost surgical. The scar is there, but it's so fine I can't pull it open. If I had some kind of an anchor to the perp then I could follow the link, but we've got nothing."

"Wormholes? I know wormholes." Everyone started a bit as the muffled voice of Felix came from offscreen. Sandy spun around to face him, reclined face-down on the sofa.

"Bit of a slow reaction time there, kitty cat. We've done this part already."

Felix pulled himself up, waving a hand dismissively. "I was listening. I know wormholes. Specifically I know these wormholes. Probably."

Matt raised a mocking eyebrow. "Yeah, those pretty colors you're seeing aren't wormholes, buddy. That's a different kind of space you're in." Bri gave him a slap on the shoulder and nodded for Felix to continue.

"I wasn't just hired as a team mascot." he retorted with an annoyed scowl. "I know a bit about breaking and entering. This artifact might have been making the rounds for a while.

"And you know about this how?" asked Artie, with an unimpressed frown.

"When you're in the business of using magical objects to get in and out, it pays to keep an ear open for anything to add to your arsenal." he replied, shooing Sandy off his chair.

"Here," he tapped a bit on the keyboard. "Three weeks before I arrived there was a bunch of cash stolen from a sealed vault in Kansas. A week later a lion goes missing from a zoo in Berlin. Last Friday a diamond watch was taken from sealed glass cube in Beijing."

Sandy leaned over to look. "I remember that one. Artie had me looking into it. No leads. In fact...all of these are Warehouse cold cases, and more. You think it's the same guy?"

Felix pulled up a still image of the interior of a vault. A similar looking man in all black seemed to be throwing stacks of cash off-screen. "That looks like him, right?"

"Definitely another man in a balaclava" retorted Aden, dryly.

"Assume it's the same man," Sandy cut in, "What do you know about it?"

Felix typed some more and brought up a Warehouse file. "Hermann Weyl, physicist who worked on the theory of wormholes. Rumors of an artifact he created that allows space to sort of fold in on itself have been going around the Warehouse backlogs for decades, but there have been no proper pings."

"Sounds like you've been looking..." muttered Artie, though only Sandy seemed to hear him. He gave his boss a disapproving glance which was returned with a look of bemused indifference.

Bri turned to Aden. "So we know what, sort of, and we know who, sort of. A bit of certainty would be nice about now."

"How about someone who actually knows him?" Nikki announced from a corner of the office.

Sandy, Artie, and Felix all jumped. "Jesus, woman. How long were you there?" Felix blurted out.

Nikki grinned. "Long enough to do my own little search." she said, holding up her phone. "A month ago in Rio de Janeiro, a Mrs. Gloria von Dichi contacted authorities when she said a man appeared as if by magic in one of her locked stores. She very quickly dropped the charges and even offered the guy a job, but it was never explained why. Sounds like a good place to start?"

Artie beamed at her, or at least made the closest expression his gruff face could to beaming. "Fantastic, looks like you're all going to Rio. Bri, you and Matt take look at this business of hers, "Attic Antiques". Aden, I'm sending you Felix. He seems to think he knows what to look for. Oh, and take the mummy too, I guess. He's as close to a native as we've got."

Chapter 2[]

Catching the flight was slightly more difficult that usual. Back doors had to be used to avoid the scanners which would have quickly exposed Old Bone, the undead Mayan warrior, as an oddity, disguised by Harriet Tubman's thimble though he was. But once the pair were on the flight and had adjusted the whole thing went smoothly, Felix's airsickness notwithstanding. They touched down in Rio and made their way to the pre-arranged meeting point.

"We have an address!" Aden announced as he approached the pair outside the airport. "Mrs. von Dichi lives in a pretty fancy gated community. Not very social, and no family we could find. Her antique business has a bunch of branches in America, Germany and here and she does a lot of visiting. Bri seemed familiar with the brand, apparently she was banned for life."

"Sticky fingers, huh?" Felix replied with a tone of approval as he shoved his hands into the pocket of his hoodie and pulled out a small rolled paper.

"More like "unwitting artifact magnet"" Aden explained. "I understand she's been banned from a lot of museums, too".

Felix gave a quick chuckle and pulled out a pair of wooden chopsticks, tapping them against his joint. A small spark to flickered to life. "So we know Mrs. D's well traveled, she's got a lot of connections and she's likely loaded." He took a long drag. "And probably up to no good if she has Bugs Bunny doing her collecting for her."

He exhaled a thick white cloud and glanced at the other agent and the Mayan as they stared back at him with a combination of confusion and shock. "You know," he said, "Looney Toons and the moving holes..."

Aden put a hand up. "No, no, I got that. But does Artie know you took that artifact?"

"What, this?" Felix held up a stick. "I've been using these things for weeks, and I couldn't bring a lighter on the flight so...do we need to fill out a form or something?"

Aden snatched the chopsticks out of his hands. "First off, yes. Forms need to be filled out. Second, if you couldn't get a lighter, how did you get the..." He put a hand to his head. "You know what, never mind. I'm warping us to her street. We'll walk from there, it will look more normal. For lack of a better word..."

The rogue clicked his fingers and the world around them seemed to shudder. There was a sensation of rapid movement and everything dissolved into a sudden flash of aqua light. When it faded, there were only leaves fluttering to the ground where'd they'd been standing.

The world reformed around the group. They were now standing in front of a large iron and brick fence, behind which set an entire curving street of large stately houses. Felix doubled over. "Warn me next time!" he moaned with his hands grasping his head. "I'm not great with motion sickness."

Aden gave a short scoff as a reply. "I'll try to remember." he replied with a smirk. Once Felix was mostly stable, they made their way over to a tiny, yet very well kept, guardhouse placed outside an ornate gate. Aden walked up to the window, seeing rows of monitors and security consoles lining the wall and desk. A lone man, slightly overweight and not looking very impressed at a what appeared to be a door-to-door salesman and his two teenage interns, sat in the booth. "O que vocês três querem?" said the guard. Felix had no idea what the man had said, but by the tone he clearly wasn't intending to let them waltz in.

"Temos uma consulta com a Sra. Von Dichi. Somos de Artefato Roadshow." replied Aden, without hesitation. Felix stared at him, impressed. Old Bone shuffled slightly in the back, looking slightly uncomfortable at the stare the guard was giving him.

The guard, obviously unconvinced, leaned over to an intercom on the wall and pushed a button, not breaking eye contact with the group. "Sra. Von Dichi, você tem visitantes. Um homem, dois ... crianças. Eles afirmam representar um Artefato Roadshow. Eles dizem que eles têm um consulta. Devo mandá-los embora?" There was a delay for a few seconds, then a garbled message replied to him. Aden couldn't make out the words.

The guard narrowed his eyes. "Parece que você faz. A Sra. Von Dichi está expectante por você. Terceira casa à sua esquerda. Número seis. Causar qualquer problema e você vai se arrepender." He pushed another button on his console and the gate slowly opened. His eyes remained on the three as they hastily moved inside.

Felix nudged Aden with a wide grin. "You didn't say you knew Spanish," he said. "This will make it so much easier. I was expecting to mime everything. I mean, Old Boney is still a bit rusty on his modern words."

Aden's face was less cheerful. "People in Brazil speak Portuguese, kitty boy. Similar, but not the same. And this might not be as easy as you think. That guard said Mrs. von Dichi was expecting us."

Felix's face fell slightly. "Oh. That's never good." Old Bone gave a short grunt of agreement, although Felix wasn't sure exactly how much of the situation he was understanding. Communicating with ancient Mayans could get tricky sometimes. They stopped at the designated house, a lofty mansion with large white columns and a well groomed and vibrantly colored front yard. They glanced at each other, slightly unsure of what exactly to do, when the door was opened by a young Latina woman of around twenty-five.

She smiled warmly and gestured them to come closer. "Please, senhors," she said, once they were close enough to hear clearly. "Senhora von Dichi has been waiting for someone from your loja for a long time. She waits in the estufa." She led them inside through a sparsely decorated, yet very beautiful, atrium, then down a long carpeted hallway with massive ornate windows down one side.

Aden and Felix glanced at the many glass display cases that lined the other wall as they walked past. They contained all manner of seemingly random objects. One held an old ramshackle wooden sled, another what looked to be a tattered red beanie. The largest contained an entire standing suit of medieval armor. Old Bone hesitated at that one and stared at it intently, though they were prompted forward by the maid who stood before a large glazed glass door.

"Please be respectful to Senhora von Dichi." she said as she grasped the door handle. "She is a very busy woman and will not easily forgive rudeness." With the rather ominous warning left hanging in the air, she swung the door open with another polite smile and gestured the three to enter.

Chapter 3[]

The room could best be described as a small rainforest. Shafts of refracted sunlight streamed through the glass panels that composed the entirety of the walls and roof, dancing off hundreds of vibrant greens. Beds of exotic looking flowers clustered the floors and hung from ornate planters, and large palm-like trees brushed their leaves against the ceiling. The sound of trickling water was coming from somewhere further in, but the clean-swept stone path curved around a colorful bush of blossoms and out of sight.

The trio heard the door click behind them, briefly snapping them out of their enraptured pause. "It's all very marvelous, isn't it?" came a voice just out of view. They moved a bit further down the path to find a small glass table under the shade of a canopy of white-flowered ivy. One of the three wrought-iron chairs was occupied by a woman who was clearly advanced in her years, yet possessed a sense of liveliness rare in even younger individuals. From her posture and sharp eyes, it was fair to say time had not diminished her at all..

She beckoned the group closer. "Please don't be so shy," she said, in a voice that was both kind and very clearly indicated she was telling, not asking, "You don't need to be so cautious around an old woman like myself."

Aden gave Felix a brief look that indicated he believed that was very much not the case, but still they approached. Aden and Felix took the remaining two chairs while Old Bone hovered slightly in the back, trying to keep his thimble hand concealed. The woman took a small sip from the teacup in front of her and plucked a small white petal from her finely tailored dress. It stood out against the brilliantly crimson fabric.

"My name is Gloria Von Dichi," she announced with a polite smile. "And I've been told that you three a representatives of the Artifact Roadshow team. What can you finally want from me after all of these years? Enough to make such a long trip instead of waiting for me to visit America next week?"

Aden pulled out the police file they'd received in London and placed it on the glass. "We've been tracking an important relic for a client," he said quickly, using the cover story they'd decided on the flight. "It was taken into police custody as evidence after a robbery but was stolen again from the lockup. Our only lead at the moment was a man we suspect was in your employ last year. We were hoping you could help us."

Gloria picked up the file and scrutinized it briefly before pulling a small pair of spectacles out of her breast pocket. "Sorry dears," she said sweetly, "My eyes aren't what they used to be." She made a quick glance at them over the polished sliver rims before focusing on the papers. A small frown started to form on her face as she read. "I was rather hoping..." she began slowly, not lifting her gaze from the text, "That you'd finally come to talk business. I've been trying to get in contact with you group for a very long time. I had some trade agreements I've been hoping to bring up, but I feel you've been avoiding me, haven't you?"

She lifted her eyes at the last line, directing the question at Aden. Her stare was calculating and even the normally unflappable agent began to feel slightly uneasy. He opened his mouth to speak but was saved having to answer by the maid, returning with a tray of glasses filled with ice-cold lemonade. Aden and Felix politely thanked her, though Old Bone made a small gesture of refusal. "Marisol," said Gloria, placing a hand on the maid's arm, "Você pode mover a reunião com nosso amigo. Receio que ele esteja preso em casa ultimamente." The maid nodded, bowed politely to all present, and quickly departed.

"Were you going to say something, dear?" she asked, turning her attention back to Aden. He was staring after the maid with a look of mild suspicion. Gloria clearly noticed. "Just other business, dear." Gloria explained with another smile, though even Felix noticed this one seemed slightly less genuine. "I'm quite a busy lady. I was hoping we could get back to ours as well?"

Aden looked back to their host. "Perhaps once we've finished with what we came for, we can put you in touch with our trade manager." he replied, drawing attention back to the case file. "I'm sure Attic Antiques could be a great partner to the Roadshow, but-". He stopped mid-sentence as Gloria put up a hand.

"Oh come now, I've had quite enough of this façade." she said, her smile now completely devoid of warmth "Your trade manager hasn't tried to make contact since the last one was in charge. I'd hoped when the Warehouse came knocking at my door we'd get straight to business."

Chapter 4[]

Aden and Felix's eyes flew open in surprise, and Felix choked on his lemonade. Old Bone made a small growl. Gloria smile finally cracked into a disapproving frown. "Oh, don't tell me you're truly surprised. I'd hoped that was why you were here, but evidently I've misjudged."

"How do you know about the Warehouse?" Aden retorted, regaining his composure faster than his companion. "And what did you mean by "hoping that was why we were here"?"

Gloria took another sip of her tea, her eyes passing over Felix and Old Bone. "In my business, one acquires a great many relics and treasures. Your people stole something of mine many years ago, and I've been trying to get your attention ever since. I was hoping we could organize a trade. But..." she took another sip. "I very much fear your superiors have been avoiding contact. Tell me, how is Irma?"

Felix placed his empty glass on the table warily. "I don't know an Irma, but if you know the Warehouse then you probably know we don't do "trades". If they took something from your store then there was probably a reason."

Gloria scoffed quietly. "From my store? Goodness, you really don't know me at all, do you? Such a pity. Well, if you're not willing to negotiate now then at least you were civil enough to provide some leverage for me when the others finally are."

"Leverage?" Felix muttered to himself.

"Others?" Aden asked hesitantly.

Gloria smiled coldly again, lifting an ancient looking shovel from a planter. It glowed with artifact energy, causing the three agents to jump out of their seats. "Oh yes. It will be hard for you to do the negotiating when you're the bargaining chips." She flung the spade onto the ground between them, causing a translucent wall of bricks to burst up. Felix responded quickly, flinging a pair of small knives at the slowly approaching woman. They didn't travel far before embedding themselves in the ethereal barrier.

"Dreadfully sorry dears, but you're not getting through. Now if you'd kindly move back into the hall, we have some things to discuss."

Aden's hands and eyes glowed briefly as he made another attempt to bring down the wall, but he stopped suddenly. "She's doing something to me." he gasped sharply, doubling over with a hand on his chest. "My powers! We need to get out!"

The three turned and rushed back through the lush garden and into the glass-case lined hallway. They were only a few feet away from the door that would take them to the atrium when a small black circle manifested in the air in front of them. They stumbled to a halt as the same shovel artifact dropped out, the ghostly wall rising up again.

"I told you dears," said Gloria, standing at the other end of the hall. "You're not escaping today. I've been trying to bring you here for too long, and your Regents won't be ignoring me this time." She unlatched the glass case containing the ragged cap. "I've been quietly building up a fun little arsenal of my own. Having an antique shop is a wonderful front for such activities."

She gave the group a small smile of triumph and dropped the ragged cap squarely on her silver curls. Gales of frozen wind exploded out from around her, shattering the glass of the windows. Pillars of ice rose up, entombing several of the cases and freezing the agents up to their waists. The case containing the suit of armor was not secured, however, and it erupted out if its glass display towards them. They managed to duck in time and it collided violently into the wall behind them.

"Much better," she said sweetly as the winds died. "Now I know you've got one of your odd little communicators there. Call Ms. Frederick and tell her I'd like a meeting."

Felix began to unleash a tirade of creative curses at Gloria as he struggled to pull his legs free, but Aden and Old Bone simply scowled. He pulled out his Farnsworth and flipped it open though it went off in his hand before he could turn it on. "Of course they would already know, wouldn't they?" said Gloria, looking very pleased with herself. "Go on and answer it, dear."

Aden twisted the "pick-up" dial (as Pete described it) and was met not with someone at the Warehouse, but Matt. "Aden, you need to get out." he said quickly. "We found some shipping reports and...are you alright?" Matt brought his face close to the screen. "Are those icicles behind you?"

"Matt, von Dichi trapped us!" Aden called back. "Get here now, bring the Regents!" He flipped the device closed before Matt could reply and turned his attention back to Gloria, who looked less than impressed.

"Blast it!" she cursed. "You weren't meant to have backup here, I thought you lot only worked in pairs these days! And I can't move you at such short notice, especially if the Regents are poking around." She glared at the group. "I suppose you're fortunate this time. I'm afraid I'll need to ask you to leave, I have to make some moving arrangements before your friends arrive. I wouldn't try to come after me though, Mr. Taylor, or your friend might run out his clock. She emphasized the last word in a way that seemed to spark something in Aden, causing him to say what was probably a curse in a language Felix didn't recognize.

Gloria pulled the cap off her head and gave the agents a small bow. "See you boys again soon, I'm sure." she said in an tauntingly sweet tone. Again she placed the cap on, causing another storm of frigid wind. This time it blew the three clear through one of the large shattered bay windows, along with the suit of armor and dozens of glass shards. They landed roughly, arms in front of their faces to shield them from the tiny daggers. When the wind subsided they looked back at the manor, the wing now completely barricaded off by a wall of foot-thick ice.

"Dammit!" cried Aden, pulling his phone out.

"Aden, what are you doing, we need to get back in after her!" Felix called at him, but got no reply.

"Dammit!" Aden shouted again. 'He's not picking up. She's done something, somehow. I need to save him!" He tried to pick himself up, but staggered over.

"Dude, whatever she did to you has you drained, you're not going anywhere for a while and we need to get back in there. Who do you need to save?"

"Juan, my friend. He's the other God Tier I played with, and I think she has our clocks."

Chapter 5[]

"Clocks? What clocks?" Felix frustratedly asked Aden. "What does that have to do with your weird powers?"

Aden huffed. "When you become a God Tier you're meant to get this small pocket watch that acts like a sort of tethering thing, keeps your power running. If the watch stops we lose our powers and if it breaks we die. Juan and me didn't get ours when we played the game, so we figured that bit got left out of the artifact." He grimaced slightly and pressed his hand against his chest. "But I think somehow she has them. She told her maid that someone was "stuck at home" and then my powers didn't work properly. And if Juan's in danger I need to get to him."

Felix scowled. "Seems like she knew who she's playing against. But it sounded like us going after Juan is what she wants. She's in there right now escaping."

"I can't take the risk." Aden said, pulling himself upright. "Last week he told me he was coming to Brazil for the funeral of an Uncle he'd never heard of. Seems far too convenient now, doesn't it? And I haven't heard from him since then either."

"Like Artie says, no coincidences in the Warehouse." Felix replied bitterly.

Screeching tires drew their attention to the driveway as Bri and Matt's rental car pulled in, the two agents clamoring out.

"What the hell happened here?" said Matt, staring at the glacier-coated mansion.

"Dichi." Aden replied with a scowl. "She had a sneaky stash of artifacts. This one was some old hat that made blizzards."

"Talk to me!" said a voice from the Farnsworth in Matt's hand. He turned it towards them to show Sandy typing away at the Warehouse computer. "What kind of hat? What did it look like?

"Looked really old, made of some cloth or cotton. Middle-ages maybe." Felix called back.

Sandy nodded and resumed his search. "I'll call back when I have anything. Artie's on the line to the Regents and Mrs. F now, he seemed really freaked." The screen went dark as Matt flipped the device closed.

"So Dichi knows about the Warehouse and has artifacts, what else happened in there." Bri asked, her eyes travelling over the walls of ice. "Good thing this place is so out of the way, no-one seems to have noticed it." She grimaced slightly. "The guard was dead when we drove in, I guess she wanted to eliminate all witnesses."

"I'll tell you on the way" Aden said, staggering towards the car. "You and me need to get to Juan right now. He's close, I can feel it about 20 miles Southwest of here."

Bri opened her mouth to interject but Felix cut her off before she could speak. "Trust me," he said, "You need to go. I'll stay with Matt and try and get back into the house." Bri nodded and put an arm around Aden, helping him into the passenger side.

"So," said Matt as the car peeled out of the driveway. "Old lady has artifacts, wanted to hold you two and Boney ransom and escaped by turning her house into an ice-box. Sounds normal."

"Shit!" Felix shouted suddenly. "The zombie, I forgot about him. He was blasted out too." He scrambled to his feet and dashed into the well-kept garden. The glass conservatory they had met in had completely shattered, exposing the many vibrant colors to the open air. Shards of glass lay like diamonds over every surface and a thick chunk of ice protruded from the burst-open door that led back inside. Old Bone, back in the undisguised form of a dried Mayan husk, crouched over the suit of armor that had been launched with them.

"Damn, thimble must have fallen off when we were knocked through the window." Felix said. "Probably still inside somewhere."

Old Bone grunted and said something in a language Felix didn't recognize, then gestured at the suit. Some plates had fallen off, exposing a linen wrapped figure underneath.

Felix briefly recalled Old Bone staring at the armor when they'd first entered the manor. "You knew there was a body in here, didn't you?" he asked. He got an affirmative grunt in reply.

Matt reached down and yanked the helmet off. "Looks like she's sending a message here." he said. On the face of the bound body was the Mask of Anubis, still attached tightly with linen straps. "She wanted us to find the body and clearly didn't care if we got the mask. It must have just been a way to get our attention."

Matt gently removed the mask, the fabric giving way with only slight resistance. Pointing the hollow away from his coworkers, he opened up the vat of Neutralizer hanging from a bandolier around his chest and dropped it in. The fountain of sparks was impressive and the effects of the mask began to visibly weaken as the bandages around the body loosened and fell away.

"That's part one of the mission sorted." said Matt, sealing the canister back up. "Now how to get back inside."

"I'll do what I can." said Felix, sizing up the remaining windows and pushing his sleeves up slightly. "You need to let Artie know what we just learned." He set off around the perimeter as Matt flicked the Farnsworth back open.

Artie's face reappeared in his office, Sandy still busy in the background. "I've informed Mrs. Frederic and the Regents," he said before Matt had a chance to talk. "They don't know much about Gloria von Dichi besides her brand name and the mentions in Bri's files, but they're searching her store records as we speak."

"Files!" Matt shouted suddenly, causing Artie to actually focus on him for the first time. "Bri and I snooped around her local branch and we found some interesting shipping files there. Most of it was just between her stores, but there were a lot of shipments to two American companies. No details were given but do you know the names "Freitag Tool & Die" or "A to Z Technologies"?

Artie face fell into a look of horror. "No..." he whispered seemingly to himself.

"Everything ok Artie?" Matt asked, but he was already grabbing his coat and heading out the door.

"The Regents need to know!" he shouted on his way out, then he was gone.

"Well that was unexpected." said Sandy, staring after him. He pulled the Farnsworth closer. "Any luck getting in so far?" he asked as he resumed his searches.

"Hang on, I'll check." He turned over to look at Felix. "How's it going?" he called out.

Felix was sprinting towards one of the atrium windows, arms up for protection. A dull thud followed by a loud explicative could be heard as flung himself at it and bounced off. "Not great!" he yelled back. "All electronic and reinforced!" He pulled himself back for another go.

"Shame he can't use that cute face to get in like he did with Tyler..." Sandy said before abruptly going quiet.

Matt raised an eyebrow as he noticed Sandy going slightly red, even through the monochrome of the image. "What was that?" he asked in a teasing tone.

"Nothing. Shut up. Brother's Grimm." he said, rapidly diverting the subject as another thud could be heard. "That hat you described sounds like the thing in this old Brother's Grimm story "How Six Made Their Way in the World". One wears a cloth hat over an ear and when he takes it off or straightens it then the area freezes over. Sound familiar?"

Matt nodded. "That's pretty much exactly how Felix described it, yeah. How do we make it go away?"

Sandy frowned slightly. "Dunno. This thing has been on the Warehouse radar since the 11th iteration in Russia but they never found it." He clacked away at the computer for a second and focused on the file that popped up. "There was renewed interest in 1812 when the Grimm's published the story in their first collaboration but by then it seemed to be completely off the grid.

"Weird thing is, though, the few records taken suggest this thing could freeze people and drop the local temperature, but there's nothing as severe as an iceberg happening. I mean, some artifacts can get more powerful with age, but this is extreme."

Felix wandered over to the conversation, one hand gingerly rubbing his shoulder. "What about the other artifact she had, that shovel sort of thing. Could there have been a reaction with that and the cap?"

Matt looked over the glaciated manor. "I was definitely picking up of a few different effects at play in there." he said. "I figured it was skunk boy here messing with my senses, but if a bunch of artifacts were mingling that'd probably throw me. I'm not used to picking them apart yet."

Felix gave an offended look but Sandy seemed to perk up slightly. "Right, you H.A.R.P. guys are some kind of artifact pingers. Totally forgot."

"Yeah," Matt replied. "I can sort of filter out what exactly an artifact is doing, even if I don't know where, how or why." He closed his eyes for a second, then scrunched his nose in annoyance. "Although at the moment all I can smell is weed and wet cat." he said, shooting a glare at Felix.

"Fine," he huffed, "I'll go sit over with the skeleton so you can "smell" in peace." He sauntered over to Old Bone, who hadn't moved from his vigil by the body, and dropped to the ground.

"At least he has a cute face," he said to Sandy with a smirk, "His personality sure isn't winning anyone over."

"Shut it..." Sandy mumbled back, his eyes turning to stare intently at the computer as his face darkened again.

Matt closed his eyes and directed his focus to the situation in front of him. He could pick up the lingering effect of the cap, though now that it wasn't technically active the reading wasn't as strong. Underneath it however, seemingly concealed beneath the frost, another effects was still thrumming with energy.

"I've got it, I think!" he announced suddenly, causing Sandy to start slightly. A quick nod indicated him to continue talking as Sandy readied his search browser. "It's compressing something. Air, probably. Forcing it into a solid block. But it still thinks it's pressing something else. Mud or clay or some other kind of soft earth. It's pushing that idea onto the air around it."

Sandy tapped away rapidly for a few seconds. "Compressing air like a clay block to make a barrier or wall..." he said out loud as he worked. "I think I might have something." He picked up the Farnsworth the aim it at the screen, showing an illustration of some workers shoveling mud into ox-drawn carts and using large wooden presses to make them into massive square blocks.

"The Great Wall of China was made over hundreds of years using a technique called "ramming earth", where the soil, usually soft clay and gravel, was compacted into blocks for construction. The Wall was designed to block out any invaders and I think you guys qualify."

"So when the shovel met the ice it found something in the air to compact and made an impenetrable wall to keep us out. That makes as much sense as we can get in the Warehouse." Matt concluded.

Felix picked himself up and walked back over. "Great, so we've got that bit sorted. Now what?"

Chapter 6-A[]

"So this Juan guy, he's another one of whatever you are?" Bri asked as they swerved out of the main gate and into the heavy Rio traffic.

Aden pulled himself up slightly, the compressed feeling in his chest slowly fading. "He was my Homestuck friend, but we haven't been in contact for a couple weeks now."

"You'll need to catch me up on what "Homestuck" means, I'm not that up to date on whatever this whole metahuman deal is."

Aden grimaced slightly as he finally moved to a sitting position. "The artifact is a chess set from this...I guess webcomic is the simplest explanation. It got delivered to him one day out of nowhere, he started to play and the game responded on its own. He won, and it gave him God Teir powers. Then he sent it to me and I got the same. Left here." he said abruptly, pointing to an exit.

Bri glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as she turned off the motorway into a more residential district. "So this thing just arrived and made you guys living gods. Sounds...suspicious..."

Aden nodded slightly. "Yeah, after I got recruited the Regents had a pretty serious talk with both of us about it. We agreed to try and find out where it came from, but Juan wasn't up for a new job opportunity so he stayed in New Mexico."

"Wait, if you knew he lived in New Mexico, why is he here?" Bri asked, making another left at Aden's gesture.

"Last time I heard from him he said he was going to be in Brazil for a few days for a funeral. Extended family or something, he didn't know them well. I was busy with setting up the Ascendere and since the board is in storage I didn't have an urgent need to contact him. I'm starting to regret that now. It's way too convenient that this witch is living in the same city."

"And you're sure she has something to do with this?"

Aden scowled. "Oh, positive. When she was talking to her maid she said "Receio que ele esteja preso em casa ultimamente", "I'm afraid he's been stuck at home lately"." he translated, emphasizing the words. I think that was just her testing my Portuguese. She probably wanted to know if I was the right one. Then she did something I and just collapsed. Well, I was frozen in place, but I wanted to collapse. My energy just died and it felt like she was crushing me."

"How the hell did she do that then, I thought your whole thing was being immortal?"

"Clocks." Aden said bitterly. "Skaians are tied to clocks in the comic. Like those hourglasses Death sometimes has, but they don't run out. You stop a clock, you stop the heart and its all over. I didn't know what artifacts were when I played, so it didn't really bother me that neither of us got one. But if she somehow has them..."

Aden let the implication hang, causing a tension in the car. Bri slammed a foot on the gas.

"Here! Stop!" Aden shouted suddenly. Brake squealed as the car pulled to a stop outside a abandoned shopfront, paper covering broken-glassed windows and a yellowed sign in the window.

"Doesn't look like a funeral home to me." said Bri, unbuckling her seatbelt and flinging her door open.

Aden followed, stumbling slightly before righting himself. He closed his eyes and raised a hand towards the building, a faint blue glimmer emanating from him. "He's in there," he declared. "And he's in trouble."

Bri unholstered her Sabine, a handgun-sized sound cannon issued to all H.A.R.P. personnel. Nodding quickly to Aden, the pair made their way around the side of the building to a slightly ajar back door. Aden materialized a fine dagger in his hand as Bri held up three fingers, then two.

Before she got to one, a sharp cry rang from inside. A quick wide-eyed look was exchanged, then both burst in, the door ripped clean off the hinges by a burst of psychokinetic energy. A quick flash of color at the end of the hall drew their attention and they dashed toward it. At the end of the corridor were two doors, one leading to the sale floor. The other seemed to be a crew room, peeled wallpaper and graffiti-covered. On a stained and molded mattress lay a young Latino man, around the same age as Aden. His hands were bound and he was covered in sweat.

"Go get him!" Bri shouted at Aden, who was standing shocked in the doorway. "I'll make sure he's alright!"

Aden snapped back to reality and bolted after the fleeing figure, he feet not quite touching the ground. The large room was empty, broken shelves laying in what were probably once well-space aisles. At the far end was a figure in a dark coat, their head moving rapidly as they tried to find a means of escape among the barred windows and boarded up door. They spun to face Aden as he sped in.

His eyes narrowed as he recognized the figure. Dichi's maid, Marisol, if he recalled right, stood opposite him, one hand clutching a small glimmering item. "Sinto muito, ela tem o meu marido." she said, her voice almost pleading. She quickly shoved her hand into her coat pocket and pulled out another item, a pocket watch with a brass finish and black dial. She gave him a sad look and squeezed.

"It's all right, I'm with the Warehouse. We're here to help." Bri assured the young man. ~This must be Juan~ She thought to herself, taking in his state of dishevelment and starvation with horror. She snapped the bands holding his wrist just as he and Aden let out another pained cry. She jumped into action, dashing into the other room with her weapon drawn. She barely registered Aden curled on the floor before firing on the woman, hitting her square in the chest with a wave of compressed sound.

The Marisol dropped instantly from the impact, dropping Aden's watch and the other red and blue one she'd been clutching. Aden immediately recovered with a sharp gasp and Bri knelt beside him.

"It's Dichi's maid." he gasped between ragged breaths. "Grab the watches!"

Bri almost skidded over and scooped them both up, snatching them away from Marisol's outstretched grasp. The maid let out a wail and turned her head to look up at he ceiling, where a previously unnoticed security camera was still perched. A small red light shone on its side, indicating that someone had been observing.

"Por favor! deixá-lo ir!" she cried at the camera, but no reply came. Then she gasped, looking over at her pinky finger. A wire-thin and bright red thread had materialized around it, the other end pulled taut but not clearly attached to anything else. Marisol appeared to become frantic as Bri and Aden watched on. Suddenly the thread dropped as if severed, the line falling to the floor like a thin stream of blood. There was one more sharp breath from the maid before her head collapsed, her eyes completely lifeless.

Chapter 6-B[]

Felix and Matt were both sprawled on the lawn, only half listening to Sandy as he rolled down the aisles on Artie's custom segway

"We have a few artifacts concerned with bringing down walls," Sandy said from his side of the screen, his eyes not diverting from the tablet scrolling with various snippets of information. "Arnold Genthe's Camera, but that'd probably bring down the whole neighborhood. Oh snap, the actual Horn of Jericho! Buuuut... according to this it would wipe out most of the house, too. Hmmm...

"I could start looking into melting, that might get results...Oh!" The sudden exclamation snapped the boys back to attention. "Yes! It's oddly specific to your situation, but it should work." He stopped the segway and held the tablet up to the Farnsworth screen. An image of three very old shortbows was attached to a small paragraph headed "Mongol Invasion of China, 1234".

"In the 13th Century the Mongol empire invaded China and three generals, Kochu and Koten Khan and Chagan the Tangut, led their armies to conquer China. They successfully defeated the Jin empire and took over Southern China. Their bows are said to be able to bring down any physical barrier, and what with it being part of the Great Wall, they might be strong enough to bring it down."

"Good in theory," said Matt, "But how are you going to get them to us? We're not exactly down the road."

"I think Claude and me have your answer. I hope." Felix interjected. "We've been trying to work on a way to transmit artifact energy through the Farnsworth. Artie's request. Apparently he tried something one time and it didn't work out well."

Sandy had restarted his ride and he returned the tablet to its holder. "The Armerie Sector isn't far from here, and Claudia's toybox is just a few rows over. I can have it all set up in about five minutes." He leaned forward to accelerate his journey, brief glimpses of aisles flying past in the background.

Sandy screeched to a halt by the ominous iron doors to hiding the more dangerous weapon-based artifacts. He dashed out of view for a minute and returned with three bows slung over his shoulder.

"Got them!" he declared, zooming off again.

Felix unzipped his jacket, revealing row upon row of pockets sewn into the inside. From one he retrieved a very slapdash-looking mess of wires and machinery. "Here, plug that end into your Sabine," he instructed Matt.

Sandy, meanwhile, had stopped again at Claudia's private "Gadgetorium". Nestled in one corner was a setup consisting of an old reel-to-reel projector among a mess of wires and machinery. He bound the three bows together with one of the wires emerging from the back of the projector, then attached another to the bowstrings with an alligator clip.

"Setup clear this end!" he called, lifting the Farnsworth and placing it on a bracket right in front of the projector's lens.

Felix took the other end of his cable and plugged it into Matt's Farnsworth, causing a small green diode to light up. "We're good here, too!" he called back. "Power up on three!"

The sound of a switch being flipped came from Sandy's end and the screen was filled with a blinding light. "Take aim, Matty!" Felix cried, diving behind him for cover.

Matt barely had time to process what was going on before artifact energy pulsed through the wires and into his sidearm. He whipped it around just in time for a massive blast to fire from the barrel, glowing with unnatural energy. It struck the wall of ice, causing cracks and fissures to immediately form. One final surge of power caused the mechanisms entwined in the wires to spark and smoke. It collided with the ice once more and, with a colossal crash, the barrier crumbled into frosty rubble.

Matt opened his eyes, his outstretched arms still holding the Sabine as far from his body as possible. "What the Holy HELL was that!" he erupted at Felix, who was lifting himself off the grass with a delighted look on his face.

"That," he replied somewhat smugly, "Was a very successful test run. All clear this end!" he called into the Farnsworth. "Any casualties?"

"Mechanisms fried, but the artifacts are intact." Sandy's voice replied. He picked up his end of the screen so the agents could see him again. "Looks like it overloaded the wiring system, but apart from the we just had a bit of blowback from the jumper leads. Nothing harmed."

"Our wiring looks toast, too." Felix replied, popping the blackened cords from Matt's weapon. "Ah, well, good field test. Stay on line, Sandy, we're heading inside." He flipped it closed and looked up at the still incredulous face of his coworker.

"So Artie had the idea to use John Logie Baird's Scanning Disk this one time to send artifact energy through the Farnsworth via a Tesla blast. It didn't work great, but Claude decided to carry on the concept to work with any artifact. I helped a bit with the metaphysics, but she really did the heavy lifting with the projector and the wiring and stuff. Basically we just sent the artifact mojo from the bows through the Farsworth's secure channel and used your Sabine as a directional conduit."

He gestured to the pile of frozen shards that had not long ago been a seemingly impenetrable icy fortress. "Result!" He declared proudly. "Although it really did a number on the adapters. Doubt we'll be able to pull that off again until Claude gets back."

"Alright then," said Matt, still looking warily at his Sabine. "Well let's get inside, finally."

Chapter 7[]

Matt and Felix gingerly stepped over the splintered shards of glass and brickwork that was once a wall and entered the manor, Old Bone following stoically behind with the dead thief slung over his shoulder.

"All of the things in those cases are gone." observed Matt, looking down at the now barren hallway the maid had led them down. The remains of the glass cases were strewn among the carpet. "If that hat was an artifact, I guess we can assume everything else there was, too."

"I remember most of it, I think." said Felix. "A old sled, some kind of crown, a set of really old books..."

"And this piece of work." concluded Matt, reaching down to pick the trowel off the ground. "I guess she had to leave it to keep the barrier up." They both averted their eyes as he dropped it into a static bag, a small shower of sparks flaring up as it was neutralized.

They moved cautiously onward through the door opposite the demolished conservatory, back into the atrium where they'd first entered the home. "Uhh..." said Felix, looking around, "This place look a bit...emptier to you?"

All of the fine furniture and artworks that had been in the room previously were completely gone, bare white walls and marble floors shining brightly with nothing covering them up.

"I don't remember seeing am moving van." Felix mumbled to himself as he gazed around the space that suddenly seemed so much larger without the clutter. Old Bone gently lay the corpse on the floor and muttered something neither of them understood.

"We should fan out and see if anything is left." Matt announced, drawing his Sabine. "Keep on your toes, call out if you find anything. There might be traps around." Felix nodded and headed further in, past a double door that led to what was presumably a dining room. Old Bone followed close behind as Matt went up the large staircase to the second floor.

Felix moved through the vast empty space, noting the indents on the plush carpeting where heavy furniture had clearly rested for a long time. His ears twitched, trying to pick up any unusual sounds. He went through another door into a kitchen with bare cupboards hanging open, not a single piece of cutlery or scrap of food to be seen. Beside the pantry was a wooden door with a large bolt. He carefully pulled the bolt back and nudged the door, which swung inward with a tiny squeak from the hinges. A wooden staircase descended downwards into a dark cellar.

"Wonderful..." he grumbled to himself as he gave once more glance around the kitchen and slowly walked down.

Matt moved from room to room, turning into each with gun drawn like Pete had taught him. Each time he was met with the same, nothing after nothing. And one bathroom, but that was also bare save the sink and wall mirror.

He sighed heavily and moved down the hallway until he reached the final door. He positioned himself one more time with his back to the wall then spun through the door, Sabine ready to fire. Surprisingly, this room had something in it. A single tatty leather boot sat on the floor, the moldy brown color standing out starkly against the plush cream carpet. Matt approached it cautiously, Sabine pointing directly at it, until he was close enough to give it a poke. He jumped back, but the shoe gave no reaction.

Slowly he slipped on a purple glove and prepped another fresh static bag. In one sudden movement he lunged forward, grabbed the shoe and dropped it in. The was a faint popping sound and a single blue spark jumped from the bag.

"That's...different." he said, mostly to himself. Old Bone grunted a reply from his spot back in the hall. Suddenly he became aware of a faint sound coming from a door next to what he assumed was a walk-in closet. The carpet gave way to gleaming white tiles as he walked into the large en suite bathroom. The sink basin was filled to the brim with water which was steadily dripping into a growing puddle on the floor. Matt peered into the water and saw, resting at the bottom, a pair of deep blue stones.

The cellar, unsurprisingly, also had nothing. Several rows of empty wine racks lined the cobblestone walls but it was otherwise bare, save a single light fixture in the ceiling that mercifully worked. The only other thing of note, now visible in the light, was a large iron door on the far wall. It looked like something from a prison, with bolted edges and a small window on the front that was covered by hatch. Felix grimaced ~Of course there'd be a creep door in the creepy cellar~ he thought to himself. He took a deep breath and stepped forward when his ears pricked. Faintly, through the heavy metal and stone, he could hear the sounds of a person panicking.

He dashed forward and almost collided with the door. Scrambling to grab the solid door knob, he pulled and twisted it fruitlessly. Suddenly the noises stopped and he wrenched open the small window hatch to peek inside. A man sat slumped in a chair, his mouth gagged and wrists bound to the arms with thick nylon rope. Just off to the side Felix could barely see what looked to be a computer on a desk, though he couldn't see the screen.

"Matt!" he shouted as forcefully as he could. "There's someone down here! I think he needs help!"

A minute later Matt came barreling down the stairs, the old Mayan striding stiffly behind. Felix was still at the door, a faint glow coming from around his wrists. "What happened?" Matt asked frantically, his adrenaline pumping.

"I heard a noise in the room," Felix explained as his hands manipulated something matt couldn't quite see, "But when I checked the window there was a guy slumped in a chair in there. I think he might be hurt. Or dead." he concluded bluntly.

Matt peered over to see Felix had fastened a handcuff around his wrist, which was now embedded into the part of the door the lock would be. Purple energy glowed around his hand as it moved through the metal like it was water.

Felix noticed him looking in bewilderment. "The Great Omani's." he said, "Escapologist. One of the first artifacts I picked up when I was on the road. Amazing at getting through manual locks like this, useless for anything more technological." A series of clicks came from the door as the lock rolled open. Felix withdrew his hand from the mechanisms and slipped the cuff off his wrist. He grabbed the doorknob again, this time turning it effortlessly as the door swung open.

The room was more like a cell. A cot was propped up in the corner, a single pillow and blanket lay on the floor. A simple metal toilet sat next to an exposed showerhead. In the other corner, largely hidden from the view of the door, was a simple metal table and an ancient looking computer. It seemed to be from the 80s, with a bulky off-white body and black glass screen. In the middle of the room sat the man, still unmoving. A think red line of blood looped around his left ring finger, pooling slightly onto the sturdy wood of the chair's arm.

Old Bone walked in and put a desiccated hand on over the man's, then gave a single low huff. The boys looked sadly at each other for a moment. Felix pulled out a knife and got to work trying to cut through the ropes holding him in place, while matt moved to the computer and turned on the monitor.

The screen flashed to life, showing a live feed of an abandoned store. Bri was there, kneeling next to the figure of a woman lying motionless on the floor. Matt gasped softly, getting Felix's attention, as the feed cut to black. Another window was open behind it, some kind of document with paragraph after paragraph of writing. At the very bottom in large bolded letters were the words: ACT 1 - SCENE 5 END

Chapter 8[]

"Give me the watches." Aden gasped as he staggered towards Bri. Snapping out of her moment of silence, she scooped them up and tossed them over. Aden caught them both with sudden dexterity. A warm glow emanated from his hands, which slowly coursed through his whole body before reaching his eyes. They flashed a brilliant green before returning to normal, and Aden pulled himself to his full height with a stretch.

"Oh, wow..." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The air around him shimmered like a heat mirage as he lifted a foot off the ground, hovering in place. "This is how I imagine it!" he said with delight, gently lowering himself. "It feels like I've been running on half until now."

He slipped his watch into his pocket and ran back to Juan with renewed energy. He crouched by the filthy mattress and placed the other watch into Juan's hands, closing them with his own. Bri followed him, arriving to see the same flow of energy radiate through Aden's friend. His eyes were illuminated with a blood-red light and he, too, began to float off the floor. He maneuvered himself into an upright position, then allowed himself to delicately drop to his feet.

"Puta merda..." he muttered to himself as he examined his now unblemished body and restored clothing. He looked up at Aden, then threw his arms around him. "She said you'd be coming. I knew you'd save me."

Though caught slightly off guard, Aden gave him a quick hug back. "Of course, amigo. But we need to keep moving. And you need to tell us exactly what happened. I think you were just a distraction for us."

Juan released him with an offended look. "Just a distraction? That cadela keeps me here for a week and I'm just a distraction?"

"I'll...err...explain later..." Aden said awkwardly. "We think this is a long con on her part."

Behind them, Bri was busy on the Farnsworth with Matt.

"...And I saw you on the screen before the feed died." he concluded from his end.

"It was Dichi's maid, according to Aden. She had the watches, but we got them back. Aden and Juan are fine. Better, actually. Way better. Anyway, when we took the maid down she looked right at the camera in the corner and said something in Spanish. Then she just died suddenly. The only weird part was this red line around her finger, she seemed to be afraid of it."

"Portuguese." corrected Aden. "She said "Please, let him go."".

Juan stepped forward, looking into the unusual device. "Hello!" he said cheerfully. "I'm Juan, Aden's friend."

"Uh, hi..." replied Matt somewhat uncomfortably. "Good to see they got to you in time."

"That woman, Marisol, she came in every day to bring me food. She'd talk a lot, too." Juan explained. "She said Mrs. von Dichi "owned" her and her husband and even though she didn't want to keep me locked up, she had no choice. Does that help?"

Matt grimaced. "I assume her husband is the man we found here. She must have used an artifact to link their lives, so when she killed him Marisol would die, too."

"Wait," Bri interjected, "That must mean she was there! Someone was watching the cameras, and she had to have been there to kill him when she needed to. You probably just missed her by seconds!"

"That compass." said Matt. "She's using it to get around and there's nothing we can do about it."

"Nothing we could do about it." Aden corrected as his hands began to glow. The world around him, Bri and Juan seemed to drop out for a moment before reforming around them. They were in the atrium of Dichi's mansion, Matt and Felix staring in amazement at them from the stairs.

"You seem...healthy." said Felix.

"Better than before, Cat-boy." he replied with a grin. He flashed his gleaming pocket watch. "This thing is like a battery or something, I've got more power than ever. Maybe enough to pull those wormholes right back open."

"We should report in with Sandy first." Bri interjected. "A lot just happened that he should hear."

"Plus these artifacts we found upstairs," added Matt. "This old shoe, and something shiny in the master bathroom. He might be able to find out something."

Aden, Bri and Matt huddled around the Farnsworth as they waited for Sandy to pick up as Juan and Felix sat on the grand staircase. Juan leaned towards Felix, his eyes fixed on Old Bone, crouched on the floor by the four corpses. "I don't mean to alarm anyone," he said in a slow, tense whisper, "But I think there's a zombie in the room. You can all see that, too, yes?"

"Yeah, that's Old Boney. Nice guy. Hard to make out sometimes. He gets weird around dead things, I guess." Felix gave him a quick grin, exposing a single fang and exhaling a thin wisp of smoke. Juan's eyes went slightly wider as he saw Felix's slanted pupils and he quickly stood up to join his friend.

"I don't mean to alarm anyone," he said, leaning in to the group with the same whisper, "But the guy with the funny accent who smells like mardita might be a werewolf."

"That's just Felix." replied Aden. "He's annoying but harmless. Just...don't accept anything he offers you." They turned over to look at him, fully reclined on the staircase with his eyes half-closed.

"You must be Juan," came a voice from the Farsworth Bri was holding open. "I'm Sandy, happy to see you're ok. Sorry you got dragged into this." Juan gave a friendly, but still slightly wide-eyed, wave to the camera. "As I was saying," he continued, tapping away at his keyboard, "The shoe could be anything. But given how it reacted it may be bifurcated. Makes sense, I suppose. They tend to come in pairs. I'd assume the lack of the other shoe means Dichi has it, so the effect would require them to be in different places or it requires them to be together and she doesn't want it activating accidently. The sapphires I have less idea about. Loads of obscure water-related legends but it seems like you won't know until you try. I guess those H.A.R.P. senses will be useful there."

"Have you found anything?" shouted the voice of Artie from offscreen. He hurried into view, looking slightly more frustrated than usual. "Who are you talking to? We don't have time for that. We need to find it!"

"Sorry guys," said Sandy. "Artie got back from the Regents a few minutes ago and has me looking up some specific artifacts. Did you know we have a whole section for fairy-tale things? Crazy stuff. I've got to run, but keep us up to date if anything changes." He turned the dial on his end, and the camera cut to black.

"A fairy-tale section?" said Bri as she flipped the case closed. "Why would Artie need something from there?"

"Sandy mentioned the ice artifact Dichi had might be from a Grimm story, maybe she has a theme?" said Matt, brow furrowed in thought.

"Did you pick up any vibes from the shoe?" asked Aden.

"Weird ones, yeah. That's how it usually goes with two-piecers. You only get half the read."

"And?"

"Jumbled words, mostly. "Pack it up, move it away, stay on the road", that sort of thing."

Bri thought for a moment. "Are you saying that all of the missing furniture was packed into the shoe? Like some kind of storage artifact?"

"Storage or transport, yeah." he replied.

"Fairy-tales..." said Felix from his spot on the stairs. "Maybe nursery rhymes, too? Furniture in a shoe," he said somewhat dreamily. "An entire house in a shoe."

Bri's eyes lit up with recognition. "The little old lady who lived in a shoe!" she said excitedly. "An artifact that can fit a whole home's contents inside a shoe!"

"Could be," said Aden with a smile. "Genius exit strategy."

"It's bifurcated, remember?" Matt pointed out. "What if it's not in the shoe, but moves them between shoes. Dichi must have the other one somewhere far away."

"I feel very confused..." muttered Juan.

Artifacts Featured[]

Arnold Genthe’s Camera and Film: Creates earthquakes.
Chinese Fireworks: Create sparks of flame when tips are tapped.
God Tier Pocket Watches: TBA
Hammer Space Shoes: A pair of shoes originating from the fairy tale "There was an Old Woman Who Lives in a Shoe". Each shoe is capable of packing up a great amount of matter into itself and transport it all to its matching counterpart, making it useful for quick moves.
Harriet Tubman's Thimble: Manipulates light around wearer to make them appear (and sound like) another person.
Hermann Weyl's Drafting Compass: Creates spatial wormholes when used.
Horn of Jericho: Blows with enough sonic force to vaporize anything in its path.
John Logie Baird's Scanning Disc: Facilitates the transfer of electromagnetic energy through any medium.
Mask of Anubis: Immediately linen-wraps anyone who puts it on, leaving them mummified. It can also be aimed at a specific target.
Red Thread: Appears to connect the lives of lovers; when one is killed, the other dies.
Skaian Chess Set: Grants God Tier powers to those who play and win the game.
Soldier of Fortune's Cloth Cap: Creates freezing air when placed on someone's head, enough to freeze a person in place. Affects a large area, but leaves the wearer unaffected.
Trowel from the Great Wall of China: Creates an almost impenetrable barrier around a chosen object or location.