Jareth walked down the stairs and to the sidewalk of a major street, where he waved down a taxi.

One stopped immediately, and he climbed into the back, never removing his hood. He bent forward and said, "Times Square," to the cabbie.

The driver was, un-like all the cab drivers he had seen to date, a normal if dissheveled looking man. "Going to swear your allegiance to the new queen?" the man said with an uncomfortable chuckle. "That's what everyone's doing these days."

"Yes, that's exactly what I was doing," Jareth acquiesed emptily.

"Kinda strange how things have changed," the man said, trying to strike up conversation. "Not that I'm... complainin' or nothin'." He looked at Jareth through the rear view mirror, the reflective glass framing his tired eyes perfectly.

"Not sleeping, huh?" Jareth asked him carefully.

The man gave a tired smirk as he turned a corner. "Huh, I'm not the only one, then. Don't know why, just... the idea of sleeping spooks me out." He tapped on the steering wheel nervously at a red light. "Like I won't wake up. I know, I know, it's crazy."

The down-turned corners of Jareth's mouth were accentuated by the shadows of the hood. "Not crazy at all." He watched the rain slash against the window, form puddles, and slide off, sparkling in the dim light of passing streetlights. "I know how you feel."

"You think it's gonna... be like this forever?" the man asked timidly, sensing he had found a true confidant.

"I hope not," Jareth answered shortly.

The cab driver just nodded his head, and they rode the remaining distance in silence.

Jareth got out of the cab a block away from Times Square. He started to hand the man some money, but the driver waved it away. "On the house."

Jareth nodded thankfully and closed the door. He craned his neck to look up at the great, gnarled shape of the Times Building. It was dark and menacing, with curling parapets, decorated in a multitude of oddly shaped screens, each of which displayed Sarah in different places and situations. Selling popular soft drinks, advertising upcoming television appearances, her new role in a Broadway musical. She was the star of this chaotic production.

Above the screens only one large window glowed. Jareth had arrived just as Ingeborg came flying from Marlena's store.

All that was left was to watch and wait.

##

Colored lights flashed in the throne room to the heavy beat of the music coming from the big speakers that lined the walls. Sarah had been so overjoyed to finally get Kaleb within her clutches, she had decided a party was in order. Within a matter of hours she had transformed the large room into a nightclub, with only the most beautiful of people in attendance.

A large staircase encircled her throne, which stood over six feet in the air. Sarah brushed her hands against the soft velvet of the chair, feeling the vibrations of its existence, of the existence of the entire building, the people, deep in her bones.

The building was morphing and changing at her whim, which meant that she was becoming more subconsciously attuned to her environment. In the break and swell of her increasingly in touch state, she had felt the building grow around her, reflecting the largesse of her power.

The lights on the floor were now dim, with only club lights and candelabras to bring light. The throne was darkest of all, and all that could be seen of the queen was her strangely glowing face. From her hand trailed a leather leash that was connected to the exquisitely dressed Kaleb. He was crouched miserably on the end of the throne, seething about his humiliation.

The dance floor was busy with writhing, sinewy bodies moving to a deep, primal rhythm. No one was quite human... many had horns, tails, or elongated bodies. Sarah had arranged for some of the crowd from Studio 54 to be escorted to her castle for the evening's festivities.

"You look like you're having a fine time," Kaleb said, pouting with his chin in his hand.

"Isn't this the sort of thing you enjoy?" she said, almost purring as she gazed out at the lovely crowd. From time to time women and men climbed up the staircase to kiss her vinyl-booted foot which stuck out from the taffeta curtains of the chaise lounge throne over which she was lazily draped. She waved them off one by one with a flip of her hand, or a graceful nod.

"Only when I am the one having my feet kissed," he said, looking at her disgustedly. All of his charm had dissipated with the loss of his power. He looked like a dog whose favorite toy had been snatched away.

The song that played on the dance floor rocked to a heady beat, the latest song from the band of a local singer. It was a bootleg, passed from hand to hand just for Sarah's party.

Her eyes light up the night
Purple simmering the dark—wild abandon
Twisted, broken, random

Oh, I don't know the price for dreaming
But I know it's greater than it seems

She beat a riding crop against the side of the throne in time with the beat and nodded her head appreciatively.

Break it
Break it
Oh Oh Oh
I want to break it

Break it

Break the air
That fire stare

The music broke out into a loud, screaming guitar riff while the male singer crooned in a near yell:

SMASH IT!
Wake UP!
Oh Oh OH!

It broke back down into a new stanza, the dancers swaying their sweaty heads to the beat, the smoke tangling between their sinewy forms.

Her will gives me shape
Form

Forming the Darkness
Forming the Darkness
Biting the teeth
Biting the teeth through the Darkness

Anger growing, the Darkness glowing
Oh, I don't know the price of living
But it pays out day by day.

Break it
Break it
I want to break, break, break

THE AIR

The voice howled, filling the air with a sexy rasp.

My soul laid bare
Smash it
Never wake

Ooooo

She breaks it for me
She broke the ice
A dark warm soul

Biting the teeth
Biting the teeth of the Darkness

Just as she had begun to lose herself in the music, Sarah sensed someone approaching the castle. In one swift motion, she rose from the chair and threw Kaleb's leash to a nearby servant to hold. The crowd parted instantly for her, and the music quieted as she walked halfway down the steps that led to her throne. Lights seemed to follow her eyes wherever she moved.

She was decked out in a leather corset and silk skirt, with big, dripping amethysts hanging from her neck, her hair pinned up with fountain-like tousles erupting at all angles. Her eyes were shadowed in dark tones, her lips blood red.

Everyone became silent, sensing something important at work. With a wave of her hand, the large doors opened for Ingeborg's arrival. The fellwit beat her big wings just outside the doorway while the witches rose from the harness to approach.

One by one they stepped off of Ingeborg's head into the room; Gail, Ling, Ashley, Brenda, and Marlena.

"Looks like my present from Crouch has arrived," Sarah whispered to herself with a large grin.

Gail stepped forward. "Her Highness, Sarah?" Her large, drooping eyelids gave her a look of intensity. While the other women were decked out in more comfortable, if very wet, attire, Gail's clothing mimicked Sarah's—a black leather jacket and leather pants, glistening like her shaved head with fresh rainwater.

"That would be me," Sarah said, instantly sensing the power that the women possessed. She walked down the staircase purposefully, one oozing step at a time."To what do I owe this visit of such... powerful women?" Her chest leapt as the ideas ran through her mind. Being powerful never meant she had to be alone in her rulership.

"We have come to swear our allegiance," Gail said with a strong voice. "We wish to pledge our services to Her Majesty." They all supplicated themselves in a deep bow.

Sarah's lips broadened into a thin, wide grin. The possibilities were endless. With each passing moment, she realized just how in control these five women were. How had they eluded her radar?

She poked and prodded their minds for answers while she spoke. "Well..." she rubbed her hands together softly, "I am greatly honored. I can tell that you are all very gifted." She looked at them one after the other. Her eye stopped on the last woman, a flaming redhead at the back of the group. "You may rise."

They did as bid. Ingeborg's wet face lay low on the ground of the room in wait, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

At first Sarah had thought it was the whole group that was powerful, but, as she continued to gather data on the situation, she realized that only two of these women really had the power. And, the woman in the back was their leader. Not the strong-voiced woman at the forefront.

"You." She pointed to Marlena. "Come forth to me."

Marlena did not show any signs of nervousness, but did as asked. She walked up the remaining steps to come eye to eye with Sarah.

Sarah rose her hand up gracefully and slid the back of it softly against Marlena's features. Water dripped from her red hair and onto Sarah's ruby red nails. Her green eyes met Sarah's own blue-purple eyes with dedication.

"You're quite beautiful," Sarah whispered to her, bending forth as if coming in to kiss her. "I've never seen hair of such a vibrant red. But I do have a friend of a friend who is fabled to be quite the redhead," She put her lips to the woman's ear seductively, pausing for emphasis. She breathed into her ear a few moments before breaking the silence.

"Sage's wife."

Marlena looked as if she had been struck by lightning. She lost her grip on the situation. The comment had driven a hard nail into her resolve; Sarah could feel the walls the women had built up crashing down in that instant. It was Marlena who had held together the spell that prevented her from prying into their minds.

Before Marlena could pull away, Sarah grabbed her face, pinning her to the spot. "I'm not done with you," she said with a snarl. She knew there was more the woman was hiding. One last bit of information out of her reach, one last little brick standing in her way. Marlena's face was drawn in terrible pain as Sarah bore into her mind with wanton ambandon.

"Marley!" Ashley shouted, running to her friend. The crowd broke loose, and a group of Sarah's minions ran forward to hold the women back.

Gail sent out a burst of energy from her hand that sent her would-be captors reeling. "You bitch, let her go!"

Sarah's eyes did not move from their intense gaze, her nose only millimeters away from Marlena's. "I'm... not... done... yet..." she forced from gritted teeth.

Kaleb had risen from his seat and was watching the scene with great interest. A smile creeped its way on his countenance as he observed Sarah in action.

Gail roared like a wild animal and plowed through the crowd that had formed around Sarah and Marlena, shoving Marlena from Sarah's hold. Gail and Marlena tumbled down the stairs as Gail held her friend close. Marlena was convulsing as if she were in a seizure. Gail shook her forcefully, trying to snap her out of it. "Marlena!" she shouted. "Stop! C'mon!"

The woman finally stopped convulsing and passed out. Gail caught her limp head and growled. She turned to see her friends in the grip of the demonic dancers, Ashley's face streaming silent, angry tears. She shot her gaze to Sarah.

"What did you do to her?!" the woman spat.

Sarah broke out into riotous laughter.

Gail gently laid her friend down and rose, her head low and threatening. Her eyes were mere slits. "You don't even know what kind of havoc you've wrought, Sarah Williams," Gail said with a low growl. "I left the Underground because of the childish antics of your sort, and now, now you've destroyed the one place I was safe from this stupidity." She creeped in on Sarah, who was still chuckling maniacally. The witches watched Gail with big eyes, totally dumbfounded by the words coming out of her mouth.

"I'm going to enjoy kicking your ass," the woman snarled as a staff materialized in her hand out of nowhere. She snapped the wood to the ground and lightning shot out of the lights, incapacitating the captors of the other witches.

"Go! Take Marlena!" she bellowed before turning her gaze back to Sarah. Minions tried to stop her, but she just flung them away with her staff.

The women did as bid, but when it looked like their friend wasn't going to be able to escape, they stopped in their tracks.

"Come on already!" Ingeborg shouted. "Get out while you still can!"

They all jumped onto her back uncertainly, rain pelting them in the face. Brenda bent low to the fellwit's ear. "Are you sure? Let's just wait a moment—"

"No waiting!" the fellwit bellowed as she flew away from the window. She just barely missed being pelted by spears as a crowd of horned men threw them out the window.

Gail looked satisfied, yet lost over what to do next when her friends disappeared. Sarah collapsed on the stairs, still holding her sides with laughter. Great bolts of energy flamed from Gail's staff as she warded off body after body with its green light.

"What are you doing, you stupid woman?" Kaleb shot at Sarah. "Do something about her!"

Sarah stopped laughing immediately and shot him a look that shut him up instantly. She put her hand out before her and sent Gail flying across the floor toward the window. She stepped down the staircase deliberately, pushing the powerless Gail towards the window foot by aching foot.

"You know, I'm glad you stopped by," Sarah said with a bitter smile. "I really got something valuable out of all this, besides entertainment."

Gail eyed the ever-closer-inching opening with dread, then gave Sarah a murderous look. "You wouldn't."

Sarah nodded somberly. "Oh, don't be mistaken. I most certainly would." She gave her best winning smile. "Thank you so much for bringing Jareth to me. Do drop by again."

With one last push, Gail flew out the window and down the great height of the building.

Jareth threw back his hood in amazement as lightning shot from the window, and a body came hurtling from its tremendous height. He only barely saw Ingeborg speed across the sky to catch Gail moments before hitting ground.

The sidewalk disappeared, and his surroundings changed.

##

"Hello, my Love."

He was face to face with Sarah, encircled in a dark room by a crowd of strange people. He tried to get a good idea of his surroundings; the second face he recognized was Kaleb's, standing at the top of the high staircase to the throne.

"Jareth," Kaleb muttered bitterly.

Sarah bridged the distance between them and ran her long fingers down his chest seductively. "Mmm," she moaned as she pushed his hood out of the way and smelled his hair. "I missed you."

He didn't know exactly what had gone wrong, but he didn't like this one bit. He only had a moment to wonder if the others were alright—Sarah snapped her fingers and he fell unconscious, his last thought being that one man had never so sorely been treated like a ragdoll as he himself had. And, like a ragdoll, he fell to the ground.

##

Everything was peaceful at Ashley's apartment, until the phone rang, interrupting the silence. Jeremiah looked up from the book he was reading and picked the phone up off the hook.

"Hello?"

Toby and Didymus looked away from the television to watch Jeremiah's face fall.

"Yes," he answered, nodding. "Oh my. And you say that she was able to get through your spell without any trouble?"

The old man was a picture of fatherly concern. He ran his fingers through his beard in agitation. "Yes, Jareth did go to make sure everything went smoothly. What of him?"

He looked at Toby soberly. The boy met his gaze and instantly surmised the worst.

Gail's voice was so loud, she could be heard all the way across the room. Jeremiah remained silent to hear all she had to say. "Oh dear," he finally managed. "I'll tell him."

The man hung up the phone gingerly then turned to face Toby.

Toby had already leapt up from the ground and turned off the television. "Who was that?"

"It was Gail," Jeremiah answered. "I have some bad news, Toby."

"What?" Toby's eyes were wide with fear.

"Marlena seems to have been injured in a scuffle. And.."

"What?!"

"Jareth has been captured by Sarah." The man put his hands on the boy's shoulders. "I'm so sorry to have to tell you this, son."

Toby's gaze drifted off. "I thought for sure it was gonna work," he mumbled. The boy threw off the man's grasp and stomped his foot into the floor angrily. "Why does she have to do this?! Why does she have to ruin everything!"

Jeremiah's brow rose at the boy's behavior. Instead of chuckling in appreciation as he might have liked, he stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Whatever are we going to do?" He watched the boy like a hawk. "It's not as if... well, that's just silly."

Toby spun around to look at him. "What?"

"Well, it's not like you could save him."

Toby digested the idea. "Maybe I could."

Jeremiah shook his head firmly. "No, no, son, forget I said it. It's a fool's quest. Even if you were the only one who could talk to her, it wouldn't be worth the risk." His eyes slanted as the boy walked over to the window and looked out it wistfully. Sarah's castle had grown even taller, and towered over everything in the city.

Jeremiah looked at the clock. It was nine at night. "They should be back soon," he mused. "All that's left to do is wait until they return." He patted the boy on the back then headed into the kitchen. "I'm going to have a bite to eat. Let me know if the others arrive, won't you?"

Toby nodded emptily. Once Jeremiah had left the room, he ran into Ashley's bedroom. He looked around for Sir Didymus, but the fox was nowhere to be found. "Where is he?" he said, looking under the bed agitatedly. He ran to the window and slid it open in a frenzy. The height was dizzying, and there was no fire escape like at Marlena's house.

"Didymus!" he whispered loudly. "Didymus, where are you!"

Scotty and Fred appeared out of nowhere, one gnome to each shoulder. "Prolly disposed of by that wiley fella in the kitchen," Scotty surmised. Toby didn't seem at all surprised by their arrival.

"No, he's got to be somewhere around here. I need his help!" Toby snuck into the bathroom and threw back the shower curtain. Didymus seemed to have completely disappeared.

"Making a run for a rescue?" Scotty said, hopping excitedly on the boy's shoulder. Fred slipped sleepily into the nook of the hood and was snoozing before long. Scotty kicked him firmly, and he woke up with a loud belch.

"I was," Toby said quietly. "I don't have a plan yet."

"We'll have to go without the knight," Scotty decided, stretching his suspenders out thoughtfully. "We kin getya there. But first we gotta get outta here."

Toby seemed disappointed to leave the fox behind, but he had to make his getaway while he could. "Alright," he finally acquiesced.

He crept around the corner and saw that Jeremiah's back was turned in the kitchen, making it easy for him to slip past. He gently turned the knob of the front door and closed it behind him.

"Down the stairs, we'll figure it out from there," the gnome directed.

##

Jeremiah turned around as soon as he heard the door shut. A big cheshire cat grin crawled across his face. He opened the hall closet, where the fox was neatly tied to a hangar, his mouth taped shut so that all his valiant shouting was muffled. "Hmm," Jeremiah mused to the fox. "Some noble guardian you turned out to be."

The man poked the fox's wet, angry nose playfully and closed the door again.

Before he could celebrate for too long, a sound caught his attention. He walked into the dining room, where Marlena's cell phone chirped demandingly. The old man answered it without a thought. "Hello?"

Sarah's voice echoed on the other end. "Is this Marlena Rosewater's residence?" she asked uncertainly.

"Ah, yes, this is her phone," Jeremiah said, his eyes brightening. "She's not in at the moment, could I take a message?"

"Are you a friend of hers?" Sarah asked gently.

"Why, yes I am. I run her store on her off hours. Are you inquiring about meetings with the coven? Because they are all out on business right now," he said slyly.

"I was afraid of that." Her voice came back, crestfallen. "Is a man named Jareth with them? And a boy, Toby?"

"Why, yes, do you know them?" He sat on the couch and propped his feet up on the coffee table.

"Oh heavens." She paused a moment, trying to digest the information. "Will they... be back soon?"

"I'm sure they will, any minute now. I will tell them you called."

"Please do."

"Right-o. Good-bye."

"Good-bye."

He pressed the red button that closed the call and dropped the phone on the couch. "Interesting," he mused. "So the other one emerges from the mist."

##

Sarah hung up the phone, her face troubled. Sage and Leah hung next to her, waiting for the news.

"They're... all gone." She looked up, her brow heavy with wrinkles. "It sounds like they all went to the castle to make a stand. I don't understand. Why would Jareth put Toby in that kind of danger?"

"He wouldn't," Sage answered without a moment's hesitiation.

Sarah put a hand to her head. "Something strange is happening. Some of... my wall is breaking down."

"Your wall?" Sage asked.

"I've been shielding us against... well, against her. I don't want her to find us."

"You can do that?" Leah asked, amazed.

Sarah nodded. "But there's a chink in my armor. I am... having a small sense of what... she's feeling." She gasped when a sharp pain shot through her head. "She's gotten stronger," she breathed. "She did something awful, I-I don't know exactly what."

Images flashed in her mind. A woman with red hair. Jareth falling to the ground like a rag doll. The bitter face of a bald woman as she flew out of a window.

Just as the images came through, she concentrated on hardening the wall. She didn't think that her other half had sensed her presence yet because she was distracted. She expanded her wall and buffeted it further with her spirit.

Sage and Leah looked at her with concerned expressions as she digested the visual information that was sent her way.

"Something has happened," Sarah finally concluded. "The women failed in their mission." She began to tremble as it all came flooding over her. "One of them was injured, and I think—I think another one was killed." She looked down at her hand and the wound on it thoughtfully.

Disbelief gripped Leah's face. "No way."

"I don't know for sure. The images were brief." She looked at Sage. "Whoever was just on the phone with me, was lying. I think there's a lot more to this." She grabbed his hands firmly and he looked at her in confusion. "You're needed in New York."

"Why?" Sage swallowed hard, for there was no reason that he could imagine that he specifically would be needed anywhere in this strange land, other than at Sarah's side.

Sarah stiffened like a board, and her eyes glazed over, then glowed white and pure.

"What's the matter, Sarah?" Sage asked, his voice trembling in worry over her strangely distant mannerisms and suddenly glowing eyes. She squeezed his hands hard, the pressure hurting him. He looked down at their clasped hands—blood oozed between their skin from her wound.

Sarah's eyes were open, her mouth speaking prophetically, not of her own volition. She wasn't even looking at him anymore as the light streamed from her eyes. "Go to your wife, my friend."

The light creeped up his arm and engulfed his body before the look of shock could cross his face. In a flash, Sage disappeared, and Sarah fell limp and exhausted into Leah's arms. She looked up at her companion with a tired smile. "So much for taking it easy."

Leah looked ahead, dumbfounded, and stroked Sarah's hair like a zombie. She didn't understand, but didn't bother asking.

The phone sitting next to Sarah rang. As Sarah was too exhausted to even consider picking it up, Leah answered. "Hello?"

"Is this Leah from the Jim Henson Company?" a woman on the other end asked.

"Yes, it is. To whom am I speaking?" Leah didn't even bother being shocked at being identified so easily anymore.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," the woman spat, her voice trailing as she addressed someone on her end.

"Excuse me?" Leah asked, her brow scrunched in confusion.

"This is Gail Ann Dorsey. You called Marlena's number just a few minutes ago?"

Leah sat upright in excitement, doing her best not to disturb Sarah, who had quickly fallen asleep. "Yes, I did!"

Gail spoke to someone on the other end. "Dammit, don't let him get away!" There was a brief scuffle where Gail dropped the phone, and women shouted excitedly. A door slammed in the distance, then someone picked the phone back up. "Shit," Gail exclaimed angrily.

"What's going on over there?" Leah asked. "You know who I am, but I don't know anything about—"

"You were looking for Jareth and Toby," Gail answered quickly.

"Yes, we were. Sarah and I were."

"Sarah's there? The other half?"

"How do you know all this?" Leah asked, getting more befuddled by the moment.

"Look, I don't have time to talk right now, but I wanted to let you know..." She sighed heavily. "Jareth has been captured by Sarah's dark half. And we think Toby has gone off to try and rescue him. We don't know where Didymus is."

"Didymus!" Leah shouted excitedly.

Her excitement startled Sarah out of her sleep. "Didymus?" she mumbled sleepily.

In the distance, on Gail's end, a woman shouted, "Here he is!"

"He was in the closet," Gail continued with a snort. In the background, a great amount of cursing came out of Sir Didymus' angry mouth.

The women all shrieked at some nameless thing. Gail spat, "What the hell?"

Leah cleared her throat. "Um, I think our package just arrived."

"An elf just appeared in my living room!" a woman shouted.

"The elf is your package, I take it?" Gail said, obviously very tired out by all the activity.

"He's somebody's husband, I think," Leah said quietly.

Gail quickly grasped the seriousness of the delivery. "Oh." She was quiet a moment before she finally said, "I'm glad to have finally reached you. We have a few... things to tend to for the moment, but I will be getting in touch with you again shortly."

"Okay," Leah answered, nodding her head somberly. "Good-bye."

She hung up the phone with a heavy heart.

Sarah smiled up at her. "Sage get there okay?"

Leah snorted out half a laugh. "Sounds like it."

##

Toby heard the ruckus coming from Ashley's apartment and knew the women were home. He started to feel like it wasn't good to leave just yet. He turned back around and walked toward the door to the apartment.

"What are ya doin'?" Scotty asked.

"It's not time yet," the boy answered sadly. "I wanna help Jareth, but he would want me to wait until it was safe."

Scotty scratched his beard thoughtfully. "Hmm, yer prolly right. We'll come up with a plan and try agin later."

Toby threw open the door to the apartment and was greeted by madness, chaos, and the doting affections of four beautiful women.

Toby didn't notice when Rattlebeak hung back. With little hesitation, the bird flew off towards the Times Building to see what he might find. Until he could go home to his Peaseblossom, the least he could do was to conquer his fear to help his queen and friend.