Berlin, April 2011.

Minxzii adjusted her cap to juuuust the right angle; her costume for the evening was important. She was wearing the officer's dress uniform of the German Army, circa 1915, with the swagger stick in hand.

She looked at herself in the mirror and grinned. "I look hot!" She commented aloud, to herself. Though the colors were decidedly unconventional; A vibrant purple for the jacket and cap, gloves and pants of deep black, and seam stripes of deep cobalt blue.

She turned, and stepped into thin air, emerging...

...In a cave deep under the city. A podium was waiting for her as she appeared on the dais of the small cavern; Perhaps a contradiction in terms, but for beings of the size waiting in serried ranks in front of her, the description was entirely accurate.

Shorter than even she was, the gremlins waiting in infantry uniforms in front, the kobolds standing behind them in cavalry outfits, all snapped to attention and gave Minxzii their full attention.

Minxzii grinned. This was going to be awesome!

"Loyal troops of the Fatherland, a really, really important person's gone missing! And you are going to find her!"

***

The briefing went well, with pictures of Pyrria drawn from Minxzii's own memories, stirring speeches, and a rousing round of applause at the end.

Then of course, there were the questions:

"So, Marshall Minxzii, why should I put myself out for this? I have a comfortable job jiggering streetlights. What's in it for me?" A gremlin, bellicose with the stripes of a 'sergeant', called out from the crowd.
"'Cause Py is really sweet, and you really want to help find her! And you get to investigate all sorts of stuff you might not have seen before!"
"No, that's not good enough."
"'kay, you want another reason?"
"Yes! Something more rewarding!"
"How about something more shocking?" A lightning bolt struck out of nowhere, causing the gremlin's ears to smoke, his eyes to whirl, and his hair to stand on end. The unfortunate creature keeled over, uniform smoldering, as his fellow gremlins applauded. Some of the kobolds, having been around during the Olympics, held up scorecards. 8.7, 8.6, 8.7, and from the one dressed in a Prussian officer's uniform, 6.2.

"Can we eat her?"
"No, she doesn't like to be nommed!"
"Can we eat her?"
"No."
"Can we eat her?"
"No!"
"Can we eat her?"
"NO!"
"Can we..." <snap krakaboom!>
"No."

Eventually, the meeting ended, and the supernatural 'troops' marched out in an orderly way, vanishing into the cave's walls. Minxzii sighed, her tail coming up and wiping her brow as she readjusted her hat. Berlin would be an interesting place for a while as the mischevious but orderly spirits investigated every bit of technology in the area around where Pyrria was kidnapped. There would be a lot of equipment replaced as every flaw and bit of delayed maintenance was exploited.

But if there was a hint, a sign, of a dead space, of a spot where power was going in and not flowing out, where spirits were hedged out, or a trace of Pyrria... they'd find it. And report to her.

Gremlins were remarkably persistant once you got them on task.

She stepped back into her own little ritual space, shedding her clothes as she thought. That was one end of the rope.. but given everything, where would the other end be? Where would be the most ironic, twisted place that Pyrria could be held?

An image flashed in Minxzii's mind, of a massive golden pyramid, casino, and hotel. A place of nearly constant music. A place surrounded by demons of sound and noise.

Minxzii grinned. "Where better?"

It'd take a long while, but it was inevitable.

Py would be found. Before she was consumed. And then... ice cream!

Minxzii flopped onto the bench, her tail irritatedly twitching back and forth. It was a beautiful view, a rooftop garden overlooking the great pyramid of the Golden Giza in the distance, the setting sun shining off the massive structure.

The petite pink-skinned imp looked annoyed. Weeks of searching St. Martial hadn't paid off. "There's Py somewhere out there, I know it!"

Nearby, a chorus of "Sonaaaataaaa, sonaaataaa" started up, the taunting, gloating cries of a flock of Wailers, as common as seagulls over this part of the Isles.

Minkzii huffed, leaning back into the bench and closing her eyes to shut out the noise.

"There's got to be a way to find her. She's somewhere near, I just know it! Pity about all those accidents in Berlin, the fires, the car crashes, and that haywire tank runnin' over cars. I just wish they'd tell me what they found. Though the ATMs spitting out money at people was funny!"

The chorus of "Old Black Magic" interrupted her thoughts. The Wailers were enthusiastic, and enthusiastically off key. Minzii glared in their direction.

Her glare slowly turned speculative, and then a slow grin appeared on her face, a mischevious glint in her eye. She got up off the bench, and walked towards them.

"Hi hi there! How would you like to have tickets to a Sonata show?"

The song abruptly cut off, the Wailers abruptly turning their attention to her.

One, the lead Wailer, who'd taken the solo parts, stepped forward, eye to eye with Minxzii. "I'd love that, we'd love that, wouldn't we, guys?" The others babbled behind him, "Yeah! Tickets! Sonata! Backstage Pass! We can be roadies! <smack> We're not roadies, we just want a little souvenier! Oh right!"

Minxzii grinned. "Weeeeeelll, I've got a deal for you! See, what you need are two things! A recommendation from someone Sonata respects, and an audition performed in front of that person!"

"An.. an audition?" "Audition? Ohh, we can be on stage! I can dance! No you can't! We can dance!"

"Yeah! I've got some ideas about a routine you can rehearse a lot! Annnd... it'll be new music for you!"

The Wailers chorused together, "Oooooooh, waaaah ahhh ahhhh."

"And then, when we find Pyrria, you can audition the whole thing in front of her! Whatdya say!"

*****

Later that evening, and for weeks afterward, the residents of St. Martial shuddered in fear as the most evil of rituals was performed; Wailers, practicing a modern dance routine set to off-key pop music.