Well, that...was something.

Being superhumanly fast means you see shit like this happening slowly. Still, I couldn't exactly muster much sympathy for the so-called Collector. Whatever toy he'd taken out had fused Stark's lips together, and  that had been a sight I wouldn't forget for some time. And for what? So he couldn't talk or cast his spells? I could see the temptation in shutting Stark up, but...

Hmm. Better check out his aura, see if everything's alright. Wouldn't want whatever the Collector did to have side-effects.

I can see auras-the souls of living beings, which surround them like shimmering shrouds. Different beings have different colors. Humans are blue, vamps white, weres green and so on.

Stark's aura was... it was like nothing I've ever seen before. It was blue, threaded through with thick black strands, like I always saw around witches. Well, he was a magic user. Nothing weird there...

But there was more. I could see two vague shapes spreading from his back, covered in chains:blue, and two kinds of black. Witch black, and the black of demons. The second set of black chains was brittle, and constantly shifting, but still there.

We'd have words about that, when this mess was done. Maybe that stuff about Stark having been the Devil had been more than a tasteless joke. Who knew what was true, in the Nightside?

"Guys?" Jason asked, his huge gun held at the ready. "The bugs are coming back. We're surrounded, and they're moving in."

I focused and realized he was right. It seemed Jason's senses were even keener than mine, but that was no surprise. Werewolf senses often were, even if Jason claimed not to be a were.

Just to be sure, I checked his aura as well, and almost gasped. There was not a speck of were green. Instead, it was as blue as any human's, surrounded and suffused with a deeper, fiercer blue. I had no idea what it was.

"Wolfe's right," Stark said. "So, unless you wanna have a last stand in the bugpocalypse, I suggest we haul ass outta here."

That was when Razor Eddie began crying again. He was a far cry from the inhuman being I'd met when I'd arrived in the Nightside, and learned that even Grim can be unsettled. No, this Eddie was...drained. Scared. Wretched.

"Eddie? Did they put you in that cocoon?" John asked, not unkindly. "Did they take your straight razor?"

Eddie nodded rapidly at that. "They lay their eggs in living hosts, John. They used up most of what was left of mankind, after you ruined everything."

"Right," Joanna said. "You're still a god, still immortal. With you, they'd never run out of flesh for their larvae."

It was kind of creepy how clinically she was talking about this. Maybe she was numb from everything she'd already seen?

"That's right," John said, snapping his fingers. "Nothing could kill Razor Eddie except his own blade, and the bugs would know this. So, they'd put it somewhere he couldn't reach it, so he couldn't kill himself..."

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John did...  something. I checked his aura, too, on pure reflex, and didn't understand a damn thing I saw.

John's aura was human-blue, but seemed to cover, or be covered by, something unseen of the same shape and size. And then, something appeared, or opened in his forehead. It blazed with all colors known to mankind, and several unknown ones. It twisted and turned, before finally settling on Razor Eddie-

I shut down my Sight. My eyes were watering, like I'd just stared at the sun with a telescope. There was clearly still much I needed to learn.

"There," John said with a pleased smile. "Of course they'd put it there. You couldn't reach it no matter what you did..."

"Are you gonna say where the razor is, or just jack off to the sound of your voice?" Slim asked. More or less everyone's thoughts, i'd have bet, if phrased in a more vulgar way than I'd have. Still, John seemed to have a thing for being dramatic, like a magician.

Or a conman.

"It's inside his stomach," John said. "I don't know how the bugs did it, and frankly, I don't want to know... Chris, could you cut him open and take the razor? Like you did with the door?"

"Sure..." I said hesitantly. "It would hurt like hell, though."

"Wait," Stark said. "My black blade is better for this. It can cut anything, as well as only things I want cut. He won't even bleed."

"Have you tried this before?" Harry asked with a skeptical frown.

"Oh, sure," Stark replied airily. "Beheaded a guy and kept the head around. He didn't die, unlike my patience after dealing with him."

"Of course, you'll tell us all about that, Stark," Jason said, looking meaningfully at him.

"Oh, of course. Now..." He took out his black knife and started cutting. Eddie stared down at the blade, looking almost curious. He didn't flinch... and didn't even bleed.

A few seconds later, Stark reached inside Eddie's guts and took out a filthy, pearl-handled straight razor. He handed it to John, who looked at Eddie with a sad smile.

"Do it, John," Eddie said with a resigned look. "Finish what you started."

"I'm sorry, Eddie. Whatever happened, I swear I will prevent it." And he cut Eddie's throat.

The thin man sighed, sounding almost relieved, and fell, dark red blood streaming from the red smile on his throat. He was dead before he hit the ground.

And that... was that. We stood, looking down at the body, in a moment of silence. None of us had expected this...but this Eddie deserved to be freed from his torment.

"The poor bastard's free now," Stark said, an almost wistful look in his eyes. "Nothing here can hurt him anymore."

"Not trying to be that guy, but... why aren't the bugs swarming us?" Harry asked. "Are they scared from when we burned them?"

"If only we could find the place where we entered this timeslip..." Joanna said. "Maybe there would be something like a door, or-"

"That's it!" John said with a grin. "Joanna, I could kiss you right now."

"Please don't," Suzie said drily.