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"Glamorous Incantations"

The district of Fabletown at night was a sea of faces from the back of the cab as Bigby Wolf reclined in the plush-faux-leather seats; actually, it wasn't even all that plush, and he had no real reason for remaining calm as he sat, watching the city's lights blink from one to the next to the next; filling the cabin with brief flashes of light.

Snow had fallen asleep and was resting against him; unintentionally, of course. If she knew, she would probably deny ever using the sheriff as her own personal pillow, hot off the latest case of a witch who was supplying a good deal of Fabletown residence with false glamours for ridiculous prices. After their pursuit ended with the sudden explosion of her cover shop and the mundy authorities were called in, both he and Snow figured it would be best to have Crane their own authorities attempt to push the papers and cover up the incident.

As they turned down the road leading to the Woodlands, the taxi driver gruffly gazed at the pair of them through his rearview mirror. "Why is it whenever there's trouble in this town, I'm the one that's gotta pick you up, sheriff?" He asked.

"Beats me." Bigby replied, rolling his window down a crack and reaching into his jacket pocket to pull out a pack of cigarettes. As he tapped a stick between his lips, the driver cleared his throat.

"Sorry, I don't allow smoking in my cab." He said. "It stinks up the seats, and your brand in particular is the worst--"

"Just shut up and drive, would ya?"

The sheriff's beat cut the driver's words off and he fell silent again, returning to the drive as Bigby lit up; blowing his first puff of smoke out the window. It was the first moment all day he'd had the chance to relax, and he wasn't about to let some random driver tell him he couldn't--

As if struck by a blow from karma, there was a sudden collision with the taxi that whipped Bigby's entire body to one side; the screaming of metal and the shattering of glass was only accompanied by Snow's scream of terror as she was jarred awake by the twisting of the cab's entire body and the car was thrown clear to the side of the road. Bigby grabbed Snow and held her so the weight of the impact would fall on him; and when it did, the man let out a roar of pain; jagged shards of glass and metal shot into his arm, dislodging his shoulder with ease as he did his best to cushion the blow. When the wreckage settled, he checked Snow; she was almost unconscious, moaning in pain as she put her hand onto her head. Glancing to his left, he could see that the driver was dead; his neck snapping cleanly and his head now drooping off to one side as the wolf tried to move. He grunted in pain; he could feel the pull of his transformation, but fought to pull it back. This was the kind of wreck that made the fur on his arms stand on end, but the first thing he needed to do was to get Snow to safety. He could smell gas leaking from the car and he saw that the pole they were thrown into had dropped its wires and they were dangling dangerously close. He grunted and got to his feet; he tried to open the door; but to no avail, the twisting crash had jammed it. He slammed into it again, howling in pain as his shoulder reacted to the strike. "Nnnnn---fuck!" He grunted as he pushed up with his good arm; his growling intensified as he could feel his body undergo its transformation. His muscles popped outward as his expanding body began to tear through his shirt, his growing claws scratched into the door's frame and he forced his body upward.

"Big---by?" He looked down to see Snow lying under him, her head falling to a gentle rest on the ground under her, which was already beginning to soak itself in the vehicle's fluids.He grunted and grasped his arm; bracing himself he pulled hard, grunting as he felt his shoulder pop back into place.

With a forceful punch, the werewolf easily forced the door ajar, sending the plank of metal flying off into the night, he quickly grabbed Snow by the arm and lifted her up before vaulting the cab's frame and leaping out onto the street; he ran across just as the vehicle suddenly exploded, hurling him to the other side with ease. With the danger past; he looked down at Snow and felt his body shift back into its human form again. The pain in his arm feeling very real as it shifted, but he would live. He would deal with the agony in the morning. "Snow? Are you alright?" He asked.

Snow's eyes fluttered for a moment as she regained consciousness and realized she was embraced in Bigby's arms. "Bigby? What--what happened?" She asked as she pushed herself free. She sat up and looked at the wreckage; now in towering flames on the other side of the street. "What the hell hit us?"

"No clue." Bigby replied. "But whatever it was, it was big, and it was strong." He said.

"Sounds like you've got some work to do." She said. "We can't have something like that running around the city; what if it's a Fable?"

"I'm not sure what it was." The sheriff shook his head. "But I guess I'm gonna need to find out."

Bigby returned later that night; after seeing Snow White home and gathering a new shirt and tie to replace the ones he'd lost in the fire. Almost all signs of the crew that handled the towing of the accident had gone; and the area was littered in police tape, which Bigby discretely ducked under to investigate the area. He had a cigarette between his lips and crouched down to observe the charred remains of the sidewalk that had been obliterated when the taxi exploded. He took a final puff of the cigarette before tossing it to the ground and quaffing it out with his shoe. He could smell the remains of the taxi driver; though his body had long-since been moved to the morgue of the local hospital, the scent couldn't escape the wolf. The tattered car had been moved off to the side and was unrecognizable as it sat crumpled up in the corner. Bigby ran his hand along the frame, spying the very spot that it had been crushed in by the impact. He wasn't familiar with the scent he detected from it; though his senses weren't nearly as sharp in this form, he knew that whatever had hit them wasn't human. His finger felt something fairly rough within the indent, and on closer investigation, he could see shards of a white substance. Scraping at it with his fingers, he determined it was a bit more solid than bone; but with minute amounts of blood attached, he figured that whatever hit the cab had to have been going at least ten miles per hour and the remains were... that of a horn or similar.

"What the hell could have caused damage like this?" He wondered aloud just as a ringing caught his attention, and he noticed a payphone nearby was ringing. He walked cautiously up to it, and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Sheriff, issat you?"

The sharp cockneyed accent drilled into Bigby's brain as he instantly recognized it; not to mention the jazzy music playing somewhere in the background muffled. Bigby rolled his eyes. "Georgie; what is this? How'd you know I'd be here?"

"Mr. Crane told me you were investigatin' the accident that almost killed you and Ms. White." He answered. "I knew the number, so I thought I'd give it a try."

"I don't even want to know how you know the payphone number--what do you want?"

"So... I wanted to call and tell ya, I think I know who or---what caused your accident. He's here now."

Bigby rolled his eyes; trying to determine if Georgie was pulling his leg. "Well? What fable is it?"

"That's the thing... I don't recognize 'im... I don't think he's a Fable, but... 'ee definitely ain't a mundy either, that's for sure."

"Listen, Georgie. It might not be the smartest thing to pull this wolf's tail; if he ain't a mundy, and he ain't a fable...then what is he?"

"Heeeey!" He could hear a voice shouting in the background. "I need another glass of that beer! Barkeep!"

"He's tearing up my place, sheriff." Georgie stammered angrily. "Just get down here, would you?"

The Puddin' & Pie was Georgie's club, and it wasn't two miles from the accident; thinking about it, Bigby thought maybe a place catering to Fables would be a good place for one to go to, but this didn't sound like an ordinary client of his. Georgie burst through the door as Bigby approached the bar, his head sweating and a panicked look on his face. "You gotta help me, Bigby. Th' guy's insane!"

"Alright, alright. Calm down." Bigby growled. "What am I dealing with here?"

"What can I say? He's huge, he's blue, he's a feckin' dinosaur!"

Bigby stared at Georgie for a moment. "Say that again?"

"A dinosaur! He's a fuckin' huge...blue dinosaur!"