“We need you to go deal with the Calgary and Edmonton ghouls,” said Mackie when Donna returned to meet him again.

“You have got to be fucking kidding,” growled Donna.  “After tonight, you...”

Mackie held up his hands to forestall the diatribe.  “Sorry, I did not explain this correctly.  The ghouls of those two cities, the last active ones we know of in the country, have offered to surrender.  To you.  They’re both waiting in the main RCMP office in Red Deer.  They’ve made it very clear they do not wish to share Wilhelm’s fate, and are willing to give any surety that you ask.  Everyone in the office is wearing silver, and we’ve manufactured a minor emergency that has let us clear out the surrounding area.  There should be no more death.”

Donna let out a long, slow breath.  “These are the very last?  I deal with them, unopposed, and it’s all over?”

“To the best of our knowledge, yes.  When asked what they knew of Wilhelm, and one mentioned that he had an enviable library of arcane writings.  They might prove helpful in deciphering his last words to you.”

“Don’t lay it on too thick.  Their fate depends on how they react.  If they do anything remotely stupid, they’re ashes.”

“They are fully aware of this, and... just talk to them first.  Please?”

Donna nodded briskly, then turned to go.

“Oh, and one more thing.”

“What?” asked Donna sharply.

“Armstrong is waffling about asking you something.  Tell her.”

Armstrong stared down at his boots.  “Cherry.”

Donna’s expression instantly softened and she crouched in front of Chuck.  “Tell me.”

“This body’s done for.  I want out.”

“I can fix your body like that.”  Donna snapped her fingers.

“An’ I appreciate that.  But...  Given the choice between this and her, I choose her.  Time to reinvent myself, or at least find out who Cherry really is so I can decide proper.”

“How long?”

Armstrong shrugged.  “I figger a couple of months to get a feel for it.”

“What about a job, somewhere to live...”

“Can I dance here?” asked Armstrong, his voice cracking to a higher pitch as his body changed.

“Sure.  Do you want the big-breasted package, or something more normal sized?”

Armstrong laughed happily as he looked down at his changing body.  “Full deal.  I don’t do half measures.”

Donna returned to Rowan with Cherry in tow.  “Got a new dancer for you.  Are any of the upstairs apartments available?”

Rowan looked Cherry over.  “You did pretty well last time you were here.  Planning to stay on?”

Cherry nodded, and in a clear sweet voice, she said, “Please?  I had an amazing time here last time.”

“You’ll find it’s a bit more of a grind on normal nights,” cautioned Rowan.  “But you’ve got the look, and I’ve seen you dance.  You’ll do well enough if you can stay confident.”

Cherry’s grin nearly split her face in two.  “Confidence I can do.”

Rowen offered Cherry her hand.  Cherry bowed over it, then giggled.  “Oops.”

“You’ll learn.  Welcome to the Blue Vixen.  I’ll get you an apartment key before you’re done tonight.  You can stay here as long as you like, or start looking for an apartment elsewhere.”

Cherry bounced in place, giggling as her chest bounced with her.  “I get to live at the club?  Oh, this is a dream.  Pinch me.”

Donna did so playfully, and  laughed at Cherry’s indignant squeal.  “Nope, one hundred percent real.  Around me, dreams really do come true.”

Cherry hugged Donna fiercely.  “I gotta go find something sexy to wear on stage...”

Donna handed her a small suitcase that hadn’t been there a moment ago.  “Here.  A starter set in your new size.  Not all dancing stuff, there’s some civilian clothes if you want to go outside, too.”

“Eee!”  Cherry peeked into the case, and her eyes went even wider.  “So much pretty stuff!  How can I ever thank you enough?”

Donna fixed her gaze on Cherry.  “Be happy.  Share that happiness.  And maybe talk to Vanessa about joining the choir.”

“I will!”  Cherry bounced away to go get ready to dance.

Rowan looked Donna over.  “You’re doing better.  Arwen has been calling me for check-ups.  Are you going to go see her soon?”

Donna winced.  “Tell her I’m doing better, but...”  She sighed.  “I have an errand to run first.  The last two ghouls are surrendering.  I can end it tonight.  I have to go.”

“Go where?”

“Red Deer.  At Mach 3 it’ll take... bleah, I’ll be gone most of an hour if I do it that way.”

“And miss Crazy Eights?  How disappointing for everyone,” said Rowan with a smile.

Duncan was suddenly standing where Donna had been.  “But if I go vertical first, and then accelerate above the atmosphere... I bet we can be back in time.  Going to be a hell of a ride.”

“Then get going,” said Rowan.  “I’ll tell Arwen what you’re up to.”

They didn’t bother with a jet, just blinked up as high as they could, discovering in the process that it was possible to blink above the bulk of the atmosphere and save more time that way.  A minute later they were above Red Deer, and the same trick worked to skip atmospheric entry.

Donna made sure she looked sufficiently human, and restored herself to full size just around the corner from the RCMP station.  She could feel the two knots of darkness inside, and put a bubble around them before translocating beside the officer watching over them.

The officer looked startled to see someone appear in a locked room.  “Who?”

“I was called in to help.  Donna Faulkner, I suspect you’ve heard of me.”

“I didn’t know you could... right.  These two want to surrender to you.  Why?”

“Toronto,” was all Donna said before turning to face the ghouls.  They looked human enough.  The woman had silver hair with a hint of ginger still lingering in it, and both looked like they likely had grown up in the British Isles.  She was weeping softly, clinging to the man in fear.

“So.  Who are you?”

“I am Roderick of Berwick-upon-Tweed, former master of Edmonton, and this is Mavis of Lamberton.  We had no part in Wilhelm’s plan.”

“You were too far away for him to influence, you mean,” said Donna, clenching her fist.  “I suppose I should be glad of that, as more snipers might have finished the job on Gwen.”

“Who is...”

“Not your concern,” growled Donna darkly.  “Save to know that after tonight I want all your kind dead.”  A pale glow built around her fist.

“Hey!” said the officer.  “These two are prisoners.  You can’t just execute them.”

“If they make the slightest effort to oppose me, they will die,” said Donna matter-of-factly.  “Understand that this is a very long way above your pay grade, and that they are capable of causing the same kind of death that plagued Toronto before tonight.  I am here to disarm them or kill them, and I find I care very little which.”

The woman’s weeping intensified as Donna turned back to face them.  “What do you have to live for that made the deaths worthwhile?”

“I took no lives,” claimed Roderick.  “Only the energy from natural and accidental deaths.  Mostly natural, accidents are unpredictable.  Mavis?”

She turned her face away.  “I cannot say the same,” she said in a low, trembling voice.  “The hunger grew.  I fed on the weak and dying, yes... but I hastened those deaths when the need was greatest.  It made it worse, made the need stronger.  I am sorry, love.  I can’t...”

Donna sent a scorching ray of light to destroy the tentacle of blackness that quested for the edge of the bubble.  Mavis squealed in terror, and Roderick pulled her tight against him once more.  “Please,” he said softly.  “However it ends.  End it now.”

Lunar power trickled into the bubble imprisoning the ghouls, a glow softly building around them.  Roderick sighed with relief as the purifying energy seeped into his body.  Mavis resisted it, wailing in primal fear.  Darkness lashed toward Donna, spent itself on the bubble.  Power flashed around Donna in a coruscating halo as she prepared her reply.

Roderick saw death in Donna’s eyes, and twisted to put his body between her and Mavis.  Donna unclenched her fist, let the power drain away.  “You really love her.”

“With all my heart.  What’s left of it after two centuries of hunger keeping us apart.  We were as beasts when the magic died.  It was horrible, watching her turn on me, and unable to keep myself from doing the same.  Cities were too small, death too rare, and what there was too scattered.  Modern medicine saved our sanity.”

Donna reinforced the bubble against distraction before allowing her question to escape.  “Medicine?”

“Most people die in hospitals now.  The dying are rushed there in ambulances, the sickly die in hospital beds.  Death is concentrated.  Steady.”

Donna nodded, and trickled more power into the bubble.  Roderick’s body glowed, but Mavis’ was still dark.  “I am sorry, but this is going to hurt.  Mavis.  Look at me.”

Mavis lifted a tear-stained face. “How?  How can I go on?  The light burns me.”

“Focus on your love for him.  His love for you.”  Donna pushed her power past Mavis’ defenses, and the woman screamed in pain.  Roderick held her tight, eyes glittering.  His gaze met Donna’s steadily, and he nodded.

Donna carefully and steadily fed more power into the writhing ghoul.  Mavis’ flesh twisted and burned, until there was nothing left but blackened bones.  The screams stopped with an awful finality.

Roderick took in a shuddering breath.  “Is she dead?”

“Yes.  But her soul, what very little is left of it, is still here.”  A shining light grew inside the ribcage of the skeleton as a pure crystal formed there.  The skeleton powdered to dust and the crystal drifted to settle in Roderick’s outstretched hand.

“This... is her?” he asked in hope and wonder.

“What I could save.  Her memories are safe, I managed that much before she burned.  In time, she will recover.”

“How long?”

“I don’t know.  I’ve never seen a soul so badly scored by death, not even...”  Donna wiped away a tear.  “I don’t know.  Months.  Maybe years.”

Roderick clutched the crystal tight against his chest.  “I’ve waited centuries.  Years do not scare me.  What can I do to help?”

“What you are doing right now.  What Bunhill is doing right now.  Love with all your heart.”

“I shall.  Thank you.”

Donna released the bubble.  “Then go and sin no more.  And if you can remember anything about Wilhelm’s library...”

Roderick nodded.  “I’ll tell this fine young man everything I know.”

The officer looked startled to be involved in the conversation once more.  “Of course.”

“Relay everything to the CSIS director.  He’ll know what to make of it, and I trust him.”

The officer saluted Donna.  “Yes Ma’am.”

She vanished, blinking up above the station and angling back west.

“You had another example,” said Dia.  “Why did you not name Ettie?”

“Because it hurts too much,” replied Donna softly.

“You know she will heal.  If Mavis can recover, so can she, loved by Ettie and by you.”

“But will she still love me?” cried Donna.  “After what I did?”

“Yes.”

But Donna could not be consoled, and the woman that returned to the Blue Vixen sat and wept until Arwen’s arms wrapped around her.  “Hush now.”

Donna’s tears abated, and she allowed herself to be drawn into the Changing Room with Arwen.  Dia closed the door behind them, then vanished.

“Do you think Gwen still loves me?” whispered Donna.

“Why wouldn’t she?” asked Arwen.

“I killed innocent people.  Fewer than I thought, but my hands are not clean.”

“You avenged a fallen loved one.  If it had been Gwen, would you love her any less?”

Donna shook her head.  “Of course not.”

“You know Gwen better than any of us.  Would she forgive you?”

Donna summoned up her memories of Gwen, and found they were more than memories.  “Yes.  She understands.  Thank you, love.”  Donna closed her eyes and wept.

Arwen looked puzzled.  “What?”

“We are great,” declaimed crystal voices within Donna.  Her body pulsated, became transparent crystal as Dia spoke.  “We contain multitudes.  Gwen is with us, and always will be.”

“I... what?”

“It is said that if we love someone, a part of them lives on in us,” said Dia’s multitudinous, crystalline voice.  “This is true.”

“So... Gwen isn’t dead?” asked Arwen.

“No.  Her soul remains little more than a burnt-out candle, and without a soul there can be no life.  But her mind carries on in us.  It is not lost, nor can be as long as we exist.”

“What is she, then?”

A crystal appeared before Dia, glowing from within.  “This is an archival copy of Gwen’s mind from moments before she died.  And an emulator, to let it run.  It is not her, but you may find it hard to tell the difference.”

“Hello?” came Gwen’s voice from the crystal.  “Is someone there?”

Dia vanished, replaced by Donna.  She grabbed the crystal to her breast.  “I’m here, love.  I’m here.  This must be so confusing.”

“No kidding,” said Arwen.

“I feel very odd, even for a crystal.  I’m...  Where is my soul?” Gwen cried, in confusion and fear.     “Donna!  What happened?”  

“Shh, it’s not what you think.  The ghouls killed you,” said Donna softly.  “Your body and mind were annihilated.  Your soul very nearly so.  Then... oh, Gwen, the fight was so hard.  I spent what was left of your soul defending myself.”

“And I’m...”

“A backup copy.  Your soul is upstairs, with Ettie.”

“Please,” begged Gwen.  “I need it.”

Donna got up and carefully carried Gwen’s crystal to the door.  Arwen followed along, and up the stairs to the apartments.  When Donna opened the door, she was puzzled to hear singing from within.

“Vanessa?”

Vanessa turned away from the crystal form of Ettie.  “Oh!  Sorry, I... I wanted to sing for them.  It helped you, so...”

Donna darted forward, kneeling in front of the crystal.  “What did you do?”

“I...  All I did was sing!  Not hymns, just... songs.   Happy stuff, because there has been too much sadness tonight.”

Donna crumpled, weeping in front of the crystal.

“Oh no!  Did I...”  Vanessa knelt by Donna, wrapping her arms around her.  “I’m so sorry.”

Donna’s arms pulled Vanessa into a rib-cracking hug.  “Thank you.  Thank you thank you thank you thank you, you brilliant woman.”

Vanessa tried to reply, but the air had been crushed from her lungs so she could only squeak.  Donna sat back, letting Vanessa go.  A flick of power healed the damage from her exuberant hug.  “Sorry.”

Vanessa wheezed once as her punctured lung healed, then nodded.  “Okay.  So... what did I do?”

Donna pressed her hand to the crystal.  “She’s alive.  Her soul was a cinder, and now... it’s weak, so terribly weak... but its flame is kindling.  Growing.  She’s going to make it.”  Donna broke down in tears once more.  “She’s going to live.”

Vanessa hugged Donna silently, and let her cry.  Arwen watched over the two of them.  It was Gwen that broke the tableau.  “Uh, Donna?”

“Yes, Gwen?  Is there anything I can do for you?” asked Donna, brushing away more tears.

“I hate to ask this, but...  Living without a soul is wrong.  I can feel it, I don’t think it’s safe...  Please turn me off until I get better.”

Donna closed her eyes, blinked back tears.  “Of course, love.  I’ll leave you right here, ready when your soul is.  Okay?”

“Thank you,” said Gwen softly as her crystal dimmed.  

Donna stood, and set the lesser crystal  gently on top of the larger one.  She stared at it for a time, then shook her head.  “I can’t be here.  I’ll obsess.”

Arwen nodded, and led her back down to the green room.  “Are you going to be okay?”

“No.  I’ll be fine as long as I have distractions.  But after the club closes?  I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“I’ll stay with you.  I’m sure others here will too.  Until the Moon sets.”

Donna hugged Arwen gently.  “Thank you.  Once She sets, I’ll be able to rest.”

Rowan looked up as they entered.  “You missed Crazy Eights.”

“Probably for the best,” sighed Donna.  “I’ll honor any side bets, and so on.”

“There weren’t any.  Partly because Carmen and Tawny are still the Swan Throne.  Everyone else was... honestly, they all looked relieved.  They love the changes, but the whole ‘loser gets stuck’ thing was only fun for a few.”

“Good.  I’m not feeling like doing ‘stuck’ right now.  Maybe not ever again.”

“Then you should probably see Rachel.  Isn’t her boyfriend still stuck as one of her inserts?”

Donna cracked the tiniest of smiles.  “I think I could be persuaded to help sort them out.  Which room?”

“Three’s been quiet tonight.  All yours.”

Donna turned to give Arwen a hug.  “I would like it if you accompanied me.  Rachel and Ronnie are something of an oddity, and... honestly, I don’t trust them to know what’s right for them.  Especially after Ronnie has spent the last few months as a breast insert.”

“Why would you even do that to him?” asked Arwen as they made their way to private room three.

“It was just for the evening, for fun.  Then I think partially as a joke she asked to make it permanent.  He agreed.  Haven’t seen them in three months, so I presume that she at least was happy with the deal.  Pretty sure that if he was upset with it, she’d have brought him in, too.”

“Still, to make such a major change without forethought, that’s...”

“He was out of work, and they’ve had some relationship issues before.  Rachel tried to get herself stuck as a bra out of despair he’d ever look at her the way he looked at the dancers here.”

“And you gave her a bigger chest in the end, I suppose?”

“Well, yeah.”

There was a tap on the door, and Rachel entered.  “Hello?  Oh, Donna!  Thank goodness.  Rowan had said you weren’t available.”

“Are you okay?” asked Donna.

Rachel shook her head.  “I fucked up.  Can you fix it?”

“Fix what, exactly?” asked Donna.  “You seem okay.  Ronnie’s in your... purse?  Why there?”

“Because I couldn’t...”  Rachel whimpered.  “I...  I met a guy.  Took him home.”

“Oh, Rachel.  Ronnie knows?”

“Of course he knows!  I gave him a boob job without even thinking!  Ronnie hadn’t talked to me in weeks, I’d forgotten he was there.”

Donna and Arwen both winced.  “Has he spoken to you since?”

Rachel shook her head.  “I don’t know if he’s forgotten how, or he’s really determined about giving me the silent treatment.”

Donna held her hand out, and Rachel pulled two breast inserts out of her purse.  “I’m not sure which of these is Ronnie.”

“Neither one,” said Donna.

Rachel blinked.  “Wait, but...”  She dumped her purse out and a third shimmery translucent orb fell out.  Donna caught it before it hit the floor.  “I wasn’t wearing that one.  That’s the one I put in my lingerie drawer after I got Gwen to change me back to double-breasted.”

“Hey Ronnie,” said Donna.  The breast insert in her hand turned into a translucent head.

“Hey.  Oh, hi there Rachel.  What’s up?”

Rachel started laughing hysterically.  “How long have you been in my drawer?”

“Dunno.  I kind of conked out.  Did I miss much?”

Rachel’s laughing tipped over into a crying jag, leaving Arwen comforting her while Donna explained the situation.  While she was doing so, she grew Ronnie back to human.  He took over from Arwen, cuddling Rachel and shushing her softly.

“Did you actually, y’know...” he asked when Rachel had calmed down.

Rachel shook her head.  “He was only after my tits.  I’d started wearing inserts again after going to a more easily explained number of breasts.  Started getting a lot of attention at work, and... honestly, I liked it.  I like having big boobs all the time.  I’d rather they were real, though.”

“Done,” said Donna as Rachel’s chest started expanding.  “Ronnie, what can I do for you?”

He studied Donna.  “I get the impression asking to go back in would not go over well.”

“Is that what you really want?” asked Donna softly.  The glint in her eyes belied her gentle voice.

“Honestly?  Not full time.  I’d love to be able to visit, though.”

Donna smiled broadly.  “Now that, I can do.  Two body solutions have become something of a specialty.”

“Oh.  I was thinking more like what one of the dancers got?  I’d still be an insert, but one that can ride around in Rachel’s body as a passenger, or mine as a driver.”

“Sure.  Set up your skull with a pop-top so you’re tied right in?”

Ronnie chuckled.  “Sure.”

“Can I get the same deal?” asked Rachel.

“Pop-top, real you as an insert?  Sure.  Why?”

“Because Ronnie still doesn’t have a job.  So if he can ride around in my head, and I can use his body, he can do my job some days while I get to lie around the apartment and play video games.”

“Seems fair,” said Ronnie.  “You’d ride along with me the first few days to get me back up to speed, yeah?”

Rachel giggled.  “Just like the other time?  Yeah, sure.  We can swap off on our lunch break.  Um, assuming we’re mobile enough...  Can that be arranged?  So that if we’re both ‘out of body’, we can make it back under our own power?”  She looked at Donna hopefully.

Donna summoned a glittering mass of tentacles in one hand, and a wriggling insert in another.  “Amoeba style, or tentacles?”

Ronnie and Rachel turned to each other to share a glance, then both spoke together. “Tentacles.”

“Coming right up.”  The second insert in Donna’s hand became a swarm of tentacles like the first had, and she threw them at Ronnie and Rachel’s heads.  They passed inside as if made of nothing at all... which was not entirely inaccurate.

Ronnie and Rachel both looked equally stunned as their brains and parts of their bodies were rebuilt.  When they could speak again, both asked to be shown how to open up their heads.  Donna showed where the latches were on the inside and outside.  The outer one was required pressing a certain spot behind both ears at the same time.

After Donna demonstrated the method, both of them popped their heads open, and two pink tentacled things squished past each other on the way to the other’s head.

Donna laughed.  “I could have just swapped your bodies, you know.”

After they’d settled in, Ronnie’s body shrugged.  “This way is more fun.  C’mon, sweetie.”

Rachel’s body followed Ronnie.  “Hey, if you’re giving boob jobs... can I get one?  With your brain in there, while I do it?”

Ronnie’s body laughed.  “Seems only fair.”

After the door closed behind them, Arwen turned to Donna.  “They seem well adjusted.”

Donna started giggling.  “Sure.  Maybe I should do that for all your sweetie’s arguing couples.  Then they could swap perspectives whenever they wanted.”

Arwen stroked her chin as she considered that.  “How about we set one couple up with it, and see how it goes.”

“I was joking.”

“I’m not.  You could do some real good with that trick.  They’re not stuck in the wrong body if they get dysphoric, it’s just a temporary thing that they can turn on and off at will.”

Donna’s expression grew distant.  “You don’t need removable brains for that.  Just cross-tuned waitress crystals and conditions on when to swap.  Could use the headbands, could just have it will-based.”

“Hm.  Could you make it so both have to agree to swap, both directions?  Some of the more intractable ones could use a little bit of ‘stuck’ time.”

Donna laughed.  “I could give you a remote control that swaps them whenever you press the button.  That’d be fun.  Oh, imagine a party where there’s one of those, but with a ‘random’ setting.”

“I think we’re getting a little off track,” said Arwen.  “Though for a group therapy session...”

“Seriously?  You’d let me?” asked Donna eagerly.

“Probably not,” admitted Arwen.  “That sounds more like an orgy in the making than a therapy session.”

Donna and Arwen chuckled all the way back to the green room.  Standing in the middle of it was the Swan Throne.  Donna sighed at the mournful look she was getting from the head on each arm.  “Fine, fine.  Back to normal for you two.”

In less than a minute, Tawny and Carmen stood where the throne had been.  They were human, in exactly the forms they’d had the first time they met Donna.  The look of disappointment on their faces was comical.

“What?  Something missing?” asked Donna.

“I’m not her tail,” said Carmen.  “That’s what’s missing.”

“Nope.  No more ‘stuck’ stuff tonight.  Go home.”

“But...”

“Don’t make me get scary,” said Donna in as unthreatening a voice as she could manage.

“Can we pretty please get some... not stuck changes?” asked Tawny.

Donna showed the tiniest of smiles at that.  “Why ask me?”  Her smile grew slightly when she noticed that both had used the ambient magic in the room to start their chests growing back to what they considered ‘normal’ size.

Tawny went to a knee before Donna, much to her surprise.  “Don’t,” protested Donna.  “I don’t need or want that.”

Tawny stayed on one knee and bowed her head.  “Please, may I have fox ears and tail?  I’m not very good at those.”

“Stand and accept your gift.  Do you wish them to persist?”

Tawny stood, hands going to her ears to feel them grow and shift.  “I thought you weren’t doing stuck.”

“Does this feel like stuck to you?” asked Donna softly, looking Tawny in the eye.

Tawny shook her head.  “It feels like... home.”

Donna smiled, her form flickering to crystal.  “Exactly.”