Josie appeared in the Hole in the Wall’s office. She sat down behind the desk and

looked at the model she had constructed. The thing worked great for what they

needed.

Red dots congregated north of the city. Were there more magical problems up there?

Would the idiots wake up the Lich Queen? Maybe she should swing by and have a

word with them.

She noted that the quest for the Dragon was gone. She wondered how Jack had done

that. She wondered if he had done a Sleeping Beauty and threw a magically enhanced

sword into the dragon so it died.

She should have went with him, but if she had, the women she had rescued would

have been shipped out of the city to somewhere else.

She had made the right call to do what she had to do. She could ask Guin, or the

Duke, who owned that building and where they lived.

Paying them a visit would be something to arrange when she had the other things

sorted out.

Josie decided to check if the others were home, maybe raid the kitchen. If Jack was

home, she would show him the improved model.

He loved how magic worked. Improving something good into something better was

something he would tell her was a good idea.

She heard the girls arguing with a squeaky voice when she came down the stairs. She

spotted Elaine and Jack leaning on each other. They were smiling at what was going

on in the living room.

“What’s going on?,” Josie asked. She didn’t like the sudden grin on Jack’s face.

“Nothing,” said Jack. “I made a new friend and brought him home to meet the girls.”

“Really?,” said Josie. She listened to the clamor from the living room. “How

dangerous is this new friend?”

“He’ll bite your face off, mate,” said Jack. He was doing Gabriel Eglesias doing

Steve Irwin. “He’s angry.”

“We’ll see how angry he is,” said Josie. She stepped inside the living room.

A blue lizard with wings roared from the back of the couch. He glared at the five girls

present. Beatrice must be with her beau. The girls all had nets in their hands. Matilda

had a burn mark in her hair.

“What is going on?,” asked Josie.

“These females are chasing me around, and I don’t like it,” said the lizard. It flapped

its wings. “Call off your children before I bite their faces off.”

“Jack,” said Josie. Then louder because he wasn’t presenting himself with the speed

she wanted. “Jack!”

“I heard you the first time,” said Jack. He stood in the door. “What you want?”

“What is this?,” said Josie. She waved at the dragon on the couch. The beast glared

at her over its crocodile snout.

“This is my tiny new friend, Aviras,” said Jack.

“I’m not your friend,” said the dragon. “I hate you for making me like this.”

“So you told the girls it would be okay to further torture this tiny new friend?,” said

Josie. She could feel the blood pressure rise in her neck.

“We’re trying to put him in his night basket,” said Alicia. “Tomorrow, we are

supposed to get him a terrarium.”

“I don’t want a night basket,” said Aviras. “I want my freedom.”

“Tell her why you’re not fifty feet long and full of flaming fury,” said Jack. “Jo will

love to hear your side of things.”

“You’re Jo?,” said Aviras. “Please do not give me cancer.”

“Really?,” said Jo. She turned her glare on her friend. He grinned back at her. “You

told Hilda about the ear thing, didn’t you?”

“I would never stoop so low,” said Jack.

“Yes, he would,” said Aviras. “Look at me. I used to be majestic and handsome. Now

I am a child’s doll. He would stoop lower than this.”

“Our friend here drains all of the mana out of a place,” said Jack. “He was starting on

the Duchy, which is why the Society wanted us to drop the hammer on him and take

him out.”

“So you brought him home?,” said Josie. She could feel the pain build in her eye. “To

the girls?”

“He’s mostly harmless,” said Jack. “He will never be able to drain enough mana now

to do anything. The only thing we have to worry about are his teeth and claws.”

Aviras breathed fire at him, but he was standing outside the range of the tiny flame.

“Oh, yeah,” said Jack. “We have to worry about him setting fire to the place while

he is roaming around.”

Josie rubbed her face. It didn’t help her headache go away, but the sensation

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distracted her from wanting to kill her friend.

“Come here, dragon,” said Josie. “We’re going to sit down at the dining room table.

Clean up this mess, girls. Then go over your lessons before going to bed. Elaine,

please see what you can do about Matilda’s hair. I can see why Beatrice didn’t want

us to meet Todd now.”

“Are you going to give me cancer?,” asked the dragon.

“Buddy, out of all the things I might be stopping myself from doing, that is the least

of your concerns at this moment,” said Josie. “Am I clear?”

She held out her hand.

Aviras inspected the hand for a moment. He decided that it wasn’t going to hurt him.

He made a running leap from the couch, using his wings to give him enough lift to

reach the appendage. He sat in the palm and watched the room as Josie took him

into the dining room and put him on the table.

“Sit,” said Josie. She pointed at one of the places for Jack to sit. “I’m disappointed

that you let the girls chase this dangerous beast around, and let Matilda’s hair get

struck, and did nothing.”

“I am disappointed too,” said Aviras.

“You shut up,” said Josie. “We’re not in the business of taking in our enemies.

We are in the business of putting holes in their heads. Is there any reason why I

shouldn’t drop the hammer on you right now other than Jack has turned you

into some kind of weird science experiment?”

“Everyone matters, or no one matters,” said Aviras.

Josie squinted at him. She turned the look on Jack. Jack grinned at her from across

the table.

“The both of you are dangerously close to being torn to pieces,” said Josie. “Let’s

start again. Jack, why didn’t you kill the lizard? Let’s start with that.”

“We were having such a good talk, I decided that just removing him was good

enough,” said Jack. “And he is so cute now compared the monstrosity he was

before I put the Pym curse on him.”

“And let me guess, Aviras,” said Josie. “You don’t like the Pym curse.”

“I do not,” said the dragon. “Look at me. I can’t terrorize people like this.”

“Or eat planets,” said Jack.

“Or eat planets,” said Aviras.

“So we do what?,” said Josie. “We let him live as our prisoner until he gets back to

full size?”

“That will never happen,” said Jack. “He doesn’t have the mental capacity to break

the curse. Can I name him George, and hug him and pet him. He will be a great

bunny.”

“No,” Josie and Aviras said at the same time.

“You’re not turning a sentient being into a brainless problem,” said Josie. “Are we

clear?”

“I had hoped he could be the ringbearer for when Elaine and I get married,” said Jack.

“I will never help you,” said Aviras. “You are a monster.”

“I can send you back home as you are,” said Jack. “You can send a postcard to let us

know how that is working out.”

“How does he break the curse?,” asked Josie. “That’s seems more relevant to the

discussion.”

“He just has to learn to be better,” said Jack.

“How much better?,” asked Josie.

Jack shrugged.

“If he was a superhero,” said Josie. “Which one would he have to be to break this

curse? Captain Marvel, Captain America, Superman, Batman, Beast Boy? Give me

a ball park look, Jack.”

“At least Captain America,” said Jack.

“You’re screwed, bro,” said Josie. “I need to get you a tiny knife so you can kill

yourself.”

“I don’t understand,” said Aviras.

“The only way to break this curse and regain your full size is for you to be a paragon

of good,” said Josie. “I don’t know how you are going to learn to be that hanging

around with us.”

“I will kill you,” said Aviras. He turned his attention on Jack. “I will kill you and eat

your flesh.”

“That still won’t break the curse,” said Jack.

“It will make me feel better.” The dragon tried to roar out some flame but the mark

just scored the top of the table, and nothing else.

“Don’t do that,” said Josie. “I just repaired this thing.”

Josie sat back in her chair. She looked at the tiny dragon coiled up and hissing.

The wings flapped in anger.

“You’re not a threat any more, except if you can set someone’s house on fire,” said

Josie. “If you want to make your way in the city, we’ll let you go.”

“You would do that?,” said Aviras.

“Sure,” said Josie. “You should do okay. Most people won’t see you. Stray dogs and

cats should leave you alone after you set them on fire a couple of times. And if you

want to get bigger, harming people is the last thing you can do. The girls will hate it,

but I’ll get them a goldfish, or something.”

“You would replace me with a goldfish?,” asked Aviras.

“I wouldn’t consider it a replacement since they never had a pet as far as I know,”

said Josie. “More like a future prospect. We’re always doing dangerous things. A

goldfish might not live long enough.”

“Am I not better than a goldfish?,” asked Aviras.

“They might not want you,” said Josie. “Dragons are notoriously fussy. And this

outfit has no room for fussy babies.”

“I am not a fussy baby,” said Aviras.

“Let’s ask the girls,” said Jack. “We can always kick him out tomorrow.”

“The city should be safe enough for him,” said Josie. “As long as he keeps a low

profile, he should be okay.”

“Some cat will eat him in a heartbeat,” said Jack. “We can put him up by the hanger.

The ring will keep people away, and the mana charger will keep him fed as it charges

up the quinjet.”

“There’s no shelter other than the hangar,” said Josie. “I don’t want him trying to

steal the quinjet and blowing up part of the city.”

“We can build him a lair,” said Jack. “It shouldn’t take a minute.”

The girls came into the room. Elaine stood behind them. They firmed up their resolve

in the face of the questioning looks they received.

“Yes, ladies?,” asked Josie. “How may we help you?”

“Are you making the dragon leave?,” asked Matilda.

“He doesn’t want to live here,” said Josie. “He’s not a real danger to anyone else. So

we are discussing if we should let him have a lair at the hangar. It will have to be far

enough away so we can take the quinjet, but close enough that he can use the mana

charger to feed.”

“I can build another charger just for him,” said Jack. “The jet’s charger would just be

a backup.”

“We would like for him to stay,” said Matilda.

“Why?,” asked Aviras. “I am a dragon. I should be huge and dangerous. Not whatever

this is.”

“We don’t have a lot of friends,” said Laura. “We would like for you to join us. We’ll

make a space for you.”

“And Matilda loves stories of dragons,” said Melanie. “This is her chance to be the

hero in one of those stories.”

“I don’t understand,” said Aviras.

“They’re offering you a chance to break the curse and be something better,” said

Jack. “Everybody matters, or nobody matters. You have half the saying mastered.

Can you do the other?”

“I hate you,” said Aviras.

“You don’t have to stay,” said Jack. “You can take off any time. Wouldn’t you rather

be with people who will treat you good because they can instead of wanting to drop

the hammer on you because of the threat.”

“I think this is the time to look around and ask yourself who is going to help you back

up now that you are down,” said Josie. “I think you should take the night and think

about it. I will be glad to put you out in the daytime so you can see any problems

coming and find a place to stay where you have enough shelter to live however you

want other than hurting people.”

“Your Society won’t say anything about this?,” asked Aviras.

“Unless your situation changes, what can they say?,” asked Jack. “You can go with

the girls to their practice tomorrow. It’ll get you out of the place and let you see

things here in the city. It might be a little dangerous, but if you are one of us, we will

look after you.”

“Don’t abuse the privilege,” said Josie.