DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)
Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse)
Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer)
Nigel Thorne, VC, DSC (Thrill Seeker / Explorer)
The team finishes their tea and discuss next steps. They decide to head to the museum, hoping to find more clues before checking out the shrine of Masa Devi by the Adi Ganga canal. At the museum they bluff their way into the office of the curator, Nathanial Blyth. They quickly learn Blyth is tired of talking about the Cobra Crown as the museum doesn't have it and has no information on the artifact The assistant curator, Vatsala Kumtekar, who posted the newspaper notice has not been back to work for days, obviously too embarrassed to show himself at work. Blyth does let slip that, among everyone else who have been asking, a pair that sound like Meadham and Canning were at the museum the day before Kumtekar disappeared. And the team thus assumes Kumtekar is dead and there is little more to learn on this path of inquiry.
Back to their hired car, the team gets Narayan to bring them deep into the slums to the shrine of Mansa Devi. They arrive in a little square in front of a garish but somewhat rundown shrine. At the top of the steps leading inside stands a large statue of a woman wearing a snake crown. They also encounter a scene of chaos, with injured and dead scattered in the square and more still stumbling out of the shrine. Ivy examines one of the fallen and sees they all suffer hemorrhaging from eyes, ears and mouth, and that is is not a natural injury. The team fires a few rounds into the air to clear the mass of humanity blocking their way, and push into the shrine to investigate. But are stopped by an old woman who is the shire keeper. They learn one of the temple adherents, a man named Kiran Kapoor, broke into just an hour before, forced his way into the lower shire and stole the crown of Mansa Devi! It was he that caused such death and destruction, but how or why the woman could not say.
As they pondered this new mystery, the team hears a commotion outside. The old woman translates for them; the people are saying Kiran Kapoor has returned! Everyone rushes outside, and the team sees a small man approaching, stumbling as in a daze. The crowd parts fearfully for him. He reaches the step, and raising a hand in greeting whispered "she stole my face" before disintegrating into a pile of dust! This causes more panic and pandemonium, and the crowd quickly disperses. Oz reaches out to the dusty remains to use his clairvoyance power. In his minds eye, he sees Kiran talking to an unknown woman about the shrine and the crown. The woman then reaches out to him and Oz senses the man's life force being pulled from him, leaving just an empty shell. And the woman now wears the visage of Kiran Kapoor. Oz finally senses the empty shell of the man wander back to the shrine.
Stymied once more and out of leads, the team decides to head for the Victoria Monument where they'd agreed to meet Tyranissh, hoping the serpent woman would be there and give them some idea of what to do next. As they drive up towards the open common and the monument, they encounter a huge crowd, who are cheering for someone standing atop the monument dome. The figure is proclaiming the glory and the might of Mansa Devi, punctured with a display of magic and illusions. Sharp-eyed Ivy recognizes the figure as Kiran Kapoor. She also notes two cars at opposite ends of the crowd. One contains a pair of Rose Meadham's goons, while the other is occupied by Joshua Meadham and Canning!
Sensing trouble, they pool all their cash and buy Narayan's car, sending the poor man home and out of danger. At this point, Kiran pulls out what looks to be the Cobra Crown and moves to place it on his head. As he does, the man changes into the form of Tyranissh. Moving fast, Nigel fires a shot at her wrist, causing the serpent woman to drop the Crown to the ground below. Zeke and Ivy start to push through the crowd, but are slowed by the mass of people. Nigel, dropping his BAR, jumps behind the wheel of the car. Joined by Oz, he drives wildly through the crowd, throwing bodies left and right in an attempt the reach the Crown before Tyrannish. Meanwhile, Canning has also starting pushing through the crowd, having as much easier time of it than Ivy and Zeke. The Inner Night goons instead copy Nigel and drive their car through the crowd as well.
Tyrannish climbs gecko-like down the building and reach the crown first. But Canning arrives almost as quickly, lashing out a serpent-like tongue and entangling/paralyzing the serpent woman. With the Crown almost in his hands, Canning is cut down by automatic fire from Nigel and laser staff bolts from Oz. This frees Tyrannish, and she now turns her wrath on the team. Ivy, having snatched the fallen Crown, jumps in then car. But Tyrannish calls down a fist of force that smashes the car and flips it over. She slams down again on the vehicle, trapping both Oz and Nigel and knocking them unconscious. At this point, the Inner Night goons arrive and wrench the Crown from Ivy's hands. Who lets them take it, as she has cleverly swapped it with the fake crown while tumbled in the back seat. The goons retreat, and Ivy crawls out of the smashed wreckage with the real Crown. But as Tyrannish prepares a final fatal blow on the team, Zeke unloads a drum of Tommy Gun fire into her and the dispersing crowd. The serpent woman (and a few bystanders) go down in a hail of .45 bullets. Looking around, they see Meadham directing his driver the pull away from the scene, and hear the sound of police whistles and diesel engines as a truck full of Indian soldiers pulls out of Fort William and heads across the common towards the monument...
