Darn it, fallout! I was going to use you against Waverly! (shakes head, "Barbarians!")
@Waverly, I won't kill you, but I really, really wanna! Oh, and QUIT CALLING ME A GOODIE! I'm a freakin' Assassin, for cryin' out loud!
@Aegis, did you ever pick a worse time to leave?!?
Rail reeled from the wilting spells, glad for his belt taking it's share of the damage. It wasn't the first time the item had saved his life. Gritting his teeth, he muttered something under his breath about Magus, bad luck, and too many horrid wilting spells, again.
Waverly, unable to move from his position, but still able to cast spells, began another spell, even as TripWire threw a Domination spell at the evil mage, which he seemed to shrug off without a second thought.
Not looking to see how the others had fared from the onslaught of spells, Rail drew a dagger and leapt forward. Waverly, caught in the middle of casting, barely had time to dodge to the side, and the assassin's dagger missed the mark, only managing to scrape the evil mage's arm.
Waverly roared in agony. The spell, disrupted, fizzled harmlessly and was gone from memory. The scratch left by the dagger burned with an unholy agony, and began to pulse as the poison took effect.
Rail smiled, but it was brief. Waverly's contingincies fired off, stoneskin, fire-shield, and teleport field. Suddenly, Rail was getting his bearings and reorienting himself 15 meters away from his target.
Snarling in annoyance and pain, Magus hurled out a series of spells from a trigger from his new location, Powerword Silence followed by Breach and Anti-magic shell.
Simultaneously, Aerie found herself suddenly away from the onslaught of stalkers and pee-wee dragon

. Siezing the opportunity, she cast Sanctuary.
TripWire drew both blades (no pun intended) and ran at the offending mage with inhuman speed, going into an offensive spin with a battle cry.
Before the bard could reach Waverly, Magus called him to a halt. "Wait, we need him alive!"
The bard stopped just before the evil mage, swaying with the rhythm of his attack, but he held back.
Waverly, in the middle of swearing at the pain of the poison, suddenly lost his voice. Or, rather, his voice seemed to stop working. Silently snarling, he braced himself for combat as the bard began his charge, knowing himself ill-prepared for the experienced blade. "This was not fair," he thought. "I am to die by the dagger of a woman, not here! Not like this!"
The bard held, but the assassin didn't. Magus glanced at the crouching thief and gave him a warning stare, almost a pleading look. Rail shook his head. "He deserves to die."
"No," Magus shouted as the assassin broke into a run at the evil mage still intent on the bard swaying dangerously before him. "Rail, NO!" Magus began a spell, but the assassin went invisible, and the spell dissappated without a target. The mage looked over at Tripwire for help, but the bard had been focused on Waverly, and hadn't seen the oncoming assassin. Fallout had finished off the invisible stalkers, but was squaring off with the little dragon, who was now backing cautiously away. Magus prepares an Olituke's Resiliant Sphere, but knew he'd be too late.
Void materialized before the evil mage and entered the mind of the assassin.
Rail cried out mentally, "No! You can't do this! He deserves it!" The assassin fought for what seemed like hours, but it all took place in the blink of an eye. In the end, Void prevailed. (Okay, now he's gotten two of us. I think that's enough!)
Rail reappeared right next to the evil mage, just seconds from plunging his blade into Waverly's chest. Calmly looking up with Void's eyes, Rail sheathed his weapon as Void walked his body some distance away before returning control to the assassin.
In possession of himself again, Rail glared coldly at Magus. "You may never be forgiven for this, mage," he hissed. Quietly, he folded his arms, strode over to the far wall, and took a seat, watching the scene from an expressionless face.
Magus frowned thoughtfully and turned back to fallout. Nodding to Waverly, Magus instructed, "Bind his arms and gag him." He was not pleased at all how this had gone. "Void can hear his thoughts. He can still answer questions." Almost as an afterthought, Magus cast an imprisonment on the little dragon.
Fallout glanced from the assassin to Magus, but did as asked, binding and gagging the evil mage. He was not gentle.
"Now," Magus continued, frowning at the bound half-elf before him. "I believe you were going to talk to me about the Planar Sphere."
**********
@Waverly, Okay, we're back where we started. But, on the down side, we all lived! I'll let Magus (or you, Waverly, if you want) do any questioning. Your dragon can (and probably will

) be freed. Sorry you lost, but you were battling four of your equals. You did pretty good all things considered (you were practically tied up, still) and you probably developed quite a grudge.
Aerie began healing all involved. Even Wave. For the interrogation, you know!
[This message has been edited by Rail (edited 02-18-2001).]