Jason played it cool and pulled his wings in close calmly and tail swished back and forth behind him. "Hi,um. I'm a little lost.Sorry,was looking for my foster dad. Sorry." He said,then politely closed the door so no one could ask questions and his scales wafted over with gray and embarrassed lavender. He hoped that no one knew that he was bound for Juvie yet,he really hoped only the small foster family knew.

"Oh, why dont you stick around, my dear." The buzzing, high-pitched voice made Puck's skin crawl. At the front of the table, the figure swiveled the chair around to face them, smiling. She wore a neon-green business suit, radioactive-blue lipstick, and bright yellow glasses above a thin, sneering face. Her hair, a myriad of computer cables, was bound atop her head in a colorful mockery of a bun. She held the scepter in green-nailed hands, like a queen observing her subjects.

"VIRUS!" Ironhorse boomed.

"No need to shout, old man. Im right here." Virus put her heels on the table and regarded them smugly. "Ive been waiting for you, boy. Looking for this, are you?" She lifted her arm. The Scepter of the Seasons pulsed a strange, sickly green light through her fingers. Virus bared her teeth in a smile. "I was expecting the dragon and his clown to come sniffing after it, but I never expected the honorable Ironhorse to turn on us. Tsk-tsk." She shook her head. "Loyalty is so overrated these days. How the mighty have fallen."

"YOU DARE ACCUSE ME?" Ironhorse stalked forward, smoke drifting from his mouth and nostrils. "YOU ARE THE BETRAYER, WHO FOLLOWS THE COMMANDS OF THE FALSE KING. YOU ARE THE ONE WHO HAS FALLEN."

"Dont be so melodramatic," Virus sighed. "As usual, you have no idea what is really going on. You think I want to follow the wheezings of an obsolete monarch? I want that even less than you. When he put me in charge of stealing the scepter, I knew that was the last command I would ever follow. Poor Tertius, believing I was still loyal to his false king. The gullible fool handed me the scepter without a second thought." She smiled at the trio, fierce and terrible. "Now, I have the Scepter of the Seasons. I have the power. And if the false king wants it, hell have to take it from me by force."

Jason was stiff and felt his heart hammering as white washed over his underwings and freckles,fear. Everything was mixed up in his head and jumbled around,first the false iron king and the war between seasons and now this freaky lady. He glared at her with reptilian eyes and bared fangs,tail now up like a scorpions and stinger bared. "A rouge. Never would've thought."
(Now i've hit a writers block. TwT)

(No worries, I feel that. I won't judge xD)

Around them, the men in business suits continued to stare.
"Can you blame me?" Virus swung her feet off the table to smile at them. "How often have you disobeyed your king because his commands were rubbish? Goodfellow--" she pointed the scepter at Puck "--how often has the thought of rebelling crossed your mind? Dont tell me youve been a faithful little monkey, catering to Oberons every desire, in all the years youve known him."

Jason flinched at the mention of his king,honestly he now realized how much he disobeyed Flasher because of the danger he tried to keep other dragons from. "There are good reasons behind actions that I or others may take,but I see no reason behind why you can't side with those who know the truth as you do,such as Ironhorse. You could save so many and help us,Ironhorse understands and is doing what is right. Going against this false king and doing the right thing to rebel." He growled,lifting his wings a bit as they pulsed with gray and red,sick green and white bubbles here and there.

"Really?" Virus sneered at Jason. "I can tell you, it wasnt difficult to convince Rowan. That boys hatred and jealousy are inspiring. All he needed was a little push, a tiny promise of power, and he betrayed everything he knew. He was the one who told me you were coming for the scepter, you know." She snorted. "Of course, the claims of becoming immune to iron are completely false. As if thousands of years of history can be rewritten or erased. Iron and technology have been and will always be lethal to the traditional fey. Thats why were so inherently superior to you oldbloods. Thats why youre going to fall so easily after the war."

Ironhorse growled, the furious rumble of an oncoming train. "I WILL TAKE THAT SCEPTER AND PLACE THE TRUE MONARCH OF THE IRON FEY ON THE THRONE," he vowed, taking a threatening step forward. "YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME NOW, TRAITOR. YOUR HUMAN PUPPETS WILL NOT BE ENOUGH TO PROTECT YOU."

"Ah ah ah." Virus waggled a finger at him. "Not so fast. I didnt want my drones up here because they are delicate and rather squishy, but Im not quite so stupid as to be unguarded." She smiled and gazed around the table. "All right, gentlemen. Meeting adjourned."

Jason felt so odd,getting into a stand ready to fight,in this new outfit and he knew he'd end up either dying in it or ripping it apart if he fought. But he still got ready to fight,his wings fully spreading out to let two little ice dragons drop,one from each,of his wing bases. Both had stowed away around his wing bases and they scutteld back,Jason sighing and shaking his head. "You came along,your ganna help okay?" He said to them and fatespeaker nodded,Shade nodding as well though looking guilty and scared.

At that, all the humans sitting at the tables stood, shedding glamour like discarded jackets, filling the air with fraying strands of illusion. Human facades dropped away, to reveal a dozen faeries in spiky black armor, their faces sickly and pale beneath their helms. As one, the Thornguards drew their serrated black swords and pointed them at the trio, trapping them in a ring of faery steel.

Virus snickered, leaning back in her chair. "I'm afraid you've walked nose-first into a trap, m'dears," she gloated as Puck and Ironhorse also tensed, ready to run or fight. "Oh, but you don't want to rush off now. I have one last little surprise for you." She giggled and snapped her fingers.

The door behind her creaked, and a dark figure stepped into the room, coming to stand behind the chair. "I'm sure you four know each other," Virus said, "My greatest creation so far, I think. It took six Thornguards and nearly two dozen drones to bring him down, but it was so worth it. Ironic, isn't it? He nearly got away with the scepter the first time, and now he'll do anything to keep it here. Ash," Virus purred as the figure came into the light, "say hello to our guests."

Jason was glaring and hissing at the Thorn Guards but as he saw Ash it was clear that his stomach dropped and his heart almost stopped as the blood seemed to drain from his face and he seemed to fill with hurt and anger. His wings quivered for a moment and then he flicked a hand and his markings lit brightly and flashed harsh words that he assumed no one could read if they couldn't read dragon. The first thought he had was that he didn't want to fight him but then he decided that it was probably to late for the prince,and he forced himself to hiss and let lava boil in his jaws in Ash's direction. He wouldn't let the two faey besides him get hurt,not to worried for Ironhorse but he sure was going to do what he could to help and keep Puck safe.

Ironhorse snorted. "AN ILLUSION," he mocked, staring at Ash in contempt. "A SIMPLE GLAMOUR, NOTHING MORE. I HAVE SEEN WHAT HAPPENS TO THE OLDBLOODS YOU IMPLANT WITH YOUR FOUL BUGS. THEY GO MAD, AND THEN THEY DIE. THAT IS NOT THE WINTER PRINCE, ANY MORE THAN THESE GUARDS."

"You think?" Viruss grin was frighteningly smug. "Well, if youre so sure, old man, youre welcome to try to stop him. It should be easy to defeat one simple guard, although I think youll find the task harder than you ever expected." She turned a purely sadistic smile on Jason. The dragon knows, dont you, my dear?
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