Erebus was quickly on his feet, once again lunging toward Andy with a murderous gleam in his discolored eyes. Jade picked herself off the ground and grabbed the first thing within her reach- a blue crystal ball from one of the back shelves.

There was an explosion of purple light and a crack of electricity. Erebus slumped forward, Glass' spell halting him in his tracks at the exact moment Jade's crystasl-ball-turned-weapon connected with the back of his head.

Andy felt the world going grey, but fought to remain standing. He could feel the stickiness of his own blood oozing from the wound on his neck, the warmth of it somewhat startling. He was aware of a mild buzzing in his ears, but didn't know if it was from the attack or the noise from Glass' spell.

Jade: "Xero! Throw me that stake!"

Glass: "I can't hold this stun spell much longer… not to rush you or anything."
Jade: "XERO! Now!!"

Xero continued to stare blankly ahead for a moment longer, seemingly unaware of his surroundings. Then, as if startled awake, he blinked twice before reaching back and grabbing the stake sitting on one of the bookshelves at the back of the room. He tossed it clumsily to Jade, who dropped it and sent it under a nearby desk.

Erebus took a jerky step forward, his very last. In one swift motion, Jade dove after the stake and was up again, swinging it down and driving it deep into Erebus' heart with surgical precision.

Jade: "Mommy's sorry, babydoll…"

The sound of the stake clattering to the floor of the lab was deafening. Glass fell into a chair, exhausted from keeping the spell going. Jade was instantly by Andy's side, trying to check the state of the wound he'd sustained.

Jade: "Andy, are you alright? Do you need me to call Dr. DeMilo?"
Andy: "How does it look?"
Jade: "A lot like your hand covered in blood. Can you let go for a second?"

Jade braced herself for the worst, expecting a gush of blood and maybe even some bone fragments. Instead, she was surprised that, though there was a large mess of quickly congealing blood, there wasn't much in the way of an actual wound.

Andy: "Well…?"
Jade: "Amazing… it would appear that something in Erebus' saliva had an almost restorative affect on the injury! You'll have quite a bit of bruising, but the puncture wounds are nearly healed already!"

Xero: "I'm very sorry, Mr. Stone- I had no idea he was even capable of moving like that."
Glass: "We tried to tell you…"
Xero: "Well I was wrong, ok?"

Xero: "I'm very very sorry, sir."
Andy: "Mistakes happen, Dr. Jenkins."
Xero: "I'll be more careful in the future, sir."

A giddy dizziness began to take over Xero's mind- he'd been certain Andy was going to kill him on the spot for making a mistake of that magnitude. Instead, it seemed as though he was going to be given another chance. He watched as Andy carefully wiped the remaining blood from his neck and hands with the dampened cloth Jade had given him. Xero laughed nervously.

Xero: "So… is our meeting still on for tomorrow then?"
Andy: "Actually, no. I think we're pretty much settled now."

Andy: "Janet, I need you to send a clean up crew down to the lab ASAP… level 3, yes. Thank you."

Andy: "Jade, Glass… thank you for all the hard work you've been putting in for me. I want you to take the next couple of days off, get some rest."
Glass: "Yes, sir. That sounds like a good idea."
Jade: "Let us know if you have any problems with your bite wound…"

Their voices were distant, the shock of the afternoon's events just beginning to set in. Andy was fairly certain they weren't even aware of anything he'd said to them, and left without saying another word.