One hundred feet above the climbing trio...
If the three young people making their way toward this location thought the wind was bad during their long ascent by ladder, it was nothing compared to the torrent ripping across the bridge's central and highest point.
Powerful gusts blasted across the flat expanse of the famous Gothic Arch, tearing at the limbs and torso's of the six Initiative soldiers stationed around the perimeter. One for each of the four corners, and the remaining pair stood ready beside the tops of the two caged utility ladders, rising up on either side of the wide rectangle monolith they perched apon. The soldiers fought the wind, clutching their Heckler-and-Koch XM8 carbines to their chests as ballast, and sent envious side-long glances toward the center of the Arch.
A ten-foot ring shimmered there on the cement in glow-in-the-dark yellow paint, an off-center star stretching in from it at five points. In each section of the divided symbol a runic letter glistened. Inside were three individuals, two kneeling across from each other, while the third, garbed in black fatigues like the soldiers under his command, stood. He faced outwards and tapped at the nearly-invisible atmospheric barrier surrounding the spell circle, and keeping any trace of wind outside. It sparked green at his touch and he whistled softly under his breath.
Well, if I had any doubts in the existence of magic before this, they're all gone now, he tapped the field again and observed the same results.
"Will you stop that. I cast that barrier spell so we wouldn't be disturbed while we carry out the ritual." hissed the kneeling man concealed under a hulking grey robe.
Lt. William Peyton yanked back his hand and turned back around, "Sorry, sir, just nervousness I guess."
"Nervous are you? When I asked the Board to send me their best and most fit junior officer, perhaps I should have requested one with a more solid resolve."
Peyton frowned and folded hands behind his back, squared his shoulders and assumed an at-ease stance, "I apologize, sir. It won't happen again. The Board made the right choice, I assure you."
"Then remain still and silent, boy. And when you hear the passage I told you about, do as you've been instructed." he looked to the robed man opposite him, his rhythmic chanting was growing louder and faster by the second.
"The time grows nigh, Lieutenant, I am now going to start the recitation. Begin the meditation protocols I taught you."
Peyton shut his eyes and began taking deep breaths, his chest rising and falling in a rhythm, as the robed man in charge raised his voluminous sleeves, "Eriyshon! K'shala, Meh-uhn!"
His opposite did the same, "Diprect! Doh-tehenlo nu-Eriyshon!" their arms lowered and their hands touched. Red energy crackled. Peyton heard the sentence and reached down, caught up the sealed vat by his feet, headed forward.
"The child to the father!"
"The darkness to the night!"
The two men stood and moved back, Peyton stepped between them, popped the vat's lid then up-ended it over his head. Blood poured down over him in a gush, crackling with energy as it went. It covered him all over and splashed down on the power circle where it sizzled and steamed.
"Eriyshon," shouted the leader, "hear my prayer! Open the gates between this world and the one indicated!" power crackled from his fingertips and the circle blazed with red-gold light, the barrier field vanished with a jade flash and the squall poured in, flapping the robes and sending drops of blood flying in all directions.
"OPEN THE PRISON OF LIMBO, AND-" the robed man broke off as one of the soldiers flew past him and crashed into the blood-covered Peyton, bowling him over and out of the circle. He gaped, "What? NO!"
"Well lookee here," said Faith from her perch on the now unguarded south-side ladder, "the neighbors are havin a party and they didn't even invite us."
"How unbelievably rude." shot back Ariel from the north ladder, as she nailed her guard with an uppercut that sent him flipping over backwards, "Guess that means we'll have to party-crash, huh?"
"You bet your bottom dollar, we will!" Faith retorted.
The two women sprung off and landed in opposite battle-ready crouches. Xander popped up from Ariel's ladder and glared across the length of the Arch to the robed men, "Oh no, not gonna happen, I'm completely against anybody with your dress-code. None of that druidic craziness, nope, uh-uh." he reached behind his back and pulled a double-headed axe free, then jumped onto the concrete, "Hands up and step away from the power circle. Nobody's killing another unicorn tonight."
"I second that motion!" growled Ariel and she stalked toward the still-glowing ring.
The leader stared for a long second, then signaled to the four remaining guards. They sprung forward, unslinging their guns, while he ran across the cement and caught up the semi-stunned Lt. Peyton. He dragged him back to the circle by the arm, "The ritual is still in effect!" he shouted at him over the screaming wind, Peyton barely heard him, he turned a blood-stained face toward him dumbly, "We must finish!"
Ariel shot up to them and grabbed the tall soldier's other arm, yanked him back towards her, "No way! He's staying out here with me, safe and un-sacrificed!"
"Let go, you stupid, interfering girl!"
But she held steady and glared around Peyton at him, "Hey, don't I know you? Right! You're that weirdo from the Plaza Hotel who gave me the uniform. Who the heck are you, anyway?" she ripped the Lieutenant from his grip and threw him out of the way, stalked toward the robed man, hands raised, "Let's just see, shall we?"
Weapons fire tore across the Arch, Faith and Xander ducked and charged the soldiers, weaving fast, the wind on their side at least for the moment as it was throwing the soldier's aims way off. Xander reached his first, as the man gritted his teeth and hauled against the air currents and locked the rifle on his chest. Xander swung hard and slammed the flat of his axe upside the man's head.
He went down hard and Xander dropped his own weapon and snatched the soldier's out of the air before it could tumble down with him. He gaped, his eye going wide, "Cool! The new H-K XM8! Never thought I'd even see one for real. And with the matching ammo strap too!" I guess the Glock can stay in my coat pocket on this mission, this is way better-a rain of slugs ripped by his face and he nearly dropped his new toy. He spun round, carbine slapping into a two-handed grip, and let-loose before he'd even located his enemy.
His barrage tore across the cement in a fast-moving stream, sending chunks of gravel flying. The soldier turned and dived out of the way, the shots missing him by inches. He rose up, brought up his own weapon again, as Xander pivoted toward his new direction. The man locked on, the laser sight skipping to the center of Xander's chest, as one flashed onto his own face. He gritted his teeth and-a blast of wind slammed into him and sent him flying backwards, over the edge.
Xander watched him vanish and unhooked one side of the carbines ammo strap, looped it over his right shoulder and clipped it back together, now under his jacket. Hey, if it worked for Reese in the Terminator, it couldn't hurt here. He stared after the dearly departed Initiative soldier, "Jeez...that was a lucky gust." then another blast of air knocked him down to his knees.
Unlike the others, Faith lived for situations like this.
She was grinning madly and throttling across the arch, weaving and dodging as the two remaining soldiers stood a meter apart, unloading at her, desperately trying to hit her. But she was a Slayer and their chances were slim, if none, and-and she reached them, caught their carbine's hot stocks in either hand and flipped high, using the carbines like parallel bars. She spun between the men, and her boots slammed into the backs of their heads, knocking them forward in unison. She landed on her feet, back to them, as they rocketed forward and over onto their faces. She spun back, "And stay down!"
They obeyed.
Faith looked across the Arch to see a robed man disappearing down one of the ladders, she made to give chase, but spotted a second robe flapping in the wind back toward the center. She turned and saw Ariel stalking toward him as he back-peddled fast, "Heh. Go get'em, girl."
She heard a shout and looked to the other side, saw Xander on his hands and knees fighting the wind, waving at her. He was rapidly sliding backwards toward the edge. She took off at run for him, "Hold on!" she reached him a moment later and caught his arm, hauled him up beside her, shouted at him, "Our job here's done, these dorks are off the clock for tonight! We need to get off of here, now!"
"I know!" he sent back at the top of his lungs, "But Ariel-"
"Ariel can take care of herself. She's a demon remember, she's hardly without her resources."
"But still, this wind, I think-"
Faith shook her head in exasperation, "Whatever. Yeah, you're right." and she turned them around, they pushed forward for the center of the Arch, heads bowed.
"It was you who brought Mercury here!" shouted Ariel as she lashed forward and caught the leader by his arms.
"Mercury? What the-What are you talking about?" he struggled in her grip in the center of the circle.
"The unicorn! Four weeks ago! Central Park! You were the one who brought him here, with one of these...these things!" she stamped her foot and the power ring sparked in response.
"So what if I did-"
"It's your fault he's dead!" the pale girl shook him roughly, even as her heels sparked against the cement, rose-colored energy of her own anchoring her to the arc. The robed man's feet were skittering madly but it was like she was a wrathful statue, her curly-wavy blonde hair flying madly about her head, "If you hadn't of brought him here, he'd still be alive!"
"I-I-I-"
"YOU-YOU KILLED HIM!" her eyes flashed crimson and her hands crackled with black-pink fire, the robed man screamed in agony within his concealing hood as lightning scalded across his body, "YOU BASTARD! YOU KILLED MERCURY!"
"Ariel! What are you doing?" Faith was beside her and grabbed her shoulder. Her hands let go and the man fell from her grip, rolled away smoking across the Arch.
Ariel turned and glared at the Slayer, as she held Xander stable, "He's the one! He's the one in charge of the Initiative and they were the ones who brought the unicorn here!"
"Yeah, we sorta already guessed that. But it almost seemed like you were going to kill him."
Ariel looked down at her hands where sparks of brackish-pink energy were still flashing. Nearly forgot, the last time I siphoned it was that vampire. I need to concentrate better when I'm using the power, or...or nothing, I just will, and that's that...
Faith tugged at her arm, "Look, we have to go."
Xander nodded hard, "Yeah! We gotta go now, before we do a Mary Poppins into the Harbor!"
Ariel exhaled, her eyes returning to their proper hazel hue, then nodded her ascent, looked after the man she'd nearly killed, "He's probably gone anyway-"
But he wasn't.
"Attollo-Obex-Apertum!" he stood just outside of the circle, arms raised, heavy robe flapping about him like the grey sail of a clipper.
The green barrier snapped back to life around the ring, glowing brightly, charged to full strength. The wind vanished and Xander stumbled at the sudden release. The girl's hair flapped back down to their shoulders and they rushed forward, pounded on the field in fury.
"Take this down, buddy, or yer insides are gonna be painting yer outsides!" railed Faith, her fists hammering over-and-over against the crackling field.
The dark hood only stared back at them, he made no reply. But he threw his arms wide and began to chant under his breath. He grinned from the shadow of his robe, "You people liked the unicorn so much? Fine then, you can all go live in his world, where you'll never trouble me or my plans again!" his voice was modulated and changed beyond identification by the terrible wind, but it still had a very solid effect, and his chanting rose again.
"You insane son-of-a-bitch! Let us out! Let us OUT!"
"Faith! Stand back!"
The Slayer did so and Ariel let-loose with an energy blast but it was absorbed, she scowled and spread her feet, leaned into it and let another fly. The barrier lit up, writhing in battling pink and green lightning.
"Good!" said Xander, "Do it again, it's working!"
"Epistula Commutatus, Sumere-Arboria!"
The power circle came alive with red-gold fire, it cascaded up in a glowing pillar and the green barrier dissipated in a shower of sparks. The runes within it swam then changed, indicating a new destination. The three within tried to jump free but they were frozen in place.
"Xander!" screamed Ariel, "XANDER!"
"...can't...move.." he muttered, veins pulsating from his forehead.
"Stop it! I shoulda let her kill you!" howled Faith, the pain was excruciating, they all twisted and convulsed.
"...ABI!" finished the leader and there was a mad flash and a monstrous roar. He lowered his arms and opened his eyes.
And found himself alone on the Gothic Arch with the unmoving bodies of the Initiative soldiers...
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Elsewhere...
"Transition in effect!"
"Tracking it! It's...It's different this time!"
"Different? Different how?"
"They aren't bringing something to them this time, they're sending something elsewhere."
"Even better, saves us the trouble of turnin the tables. Bloody glorious! Well, don't just sit there gawking!"
"Understood! Preparing to divert. Activate the generators."
"And...active!"
"And...diverting!"
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Across the infinite reaches of the Multiverse they spun, carried on wings of crimson fire. Realities, both possible and impossible, spun past them on all sides in a spinning, dizzying kaleidoscope. Faith gritted her teeth, unwilling to believe what was happening to her, what was happening to all of them.
Am I dead? I must be dead-
"No! You're not!" shouted Ariel rushing along beside her, and the Slayer tore her gaze from the maelstrom to gawk in amazement.
"You-You read my mind?"
Yes! I did. It must...must be this place. Everything and anything-
"-it's possible in here!" Xander finished and they looked across at him as he soared, arms outstretched as if he could control his flight.
"I don't know what the robed guy did, but no matter what's about to happen..." he slapped his hand in Ariel's, "...no matter what, we do it together."
She nodded, looked to Faith and held out her own. The Slayer stared at her for a long second, then sighed, "Whatever..." and she grasped her hand. But she gripped it tight and welcomed the contact.
Together they looked ahead and closing fast on them was a swirling vortex of beautiful, golden light. It felt warm, it felt good, it felt...wonderful...
They closed on it and for a long moment they all felt as if everything was going to be fine-the scarlet aura around them crackled and went dark, they were wrenched hard to the right! Faith yelled and Ariel shut her eyes, Xander yanked her to him, hauling Faith along with her. They huddled against him and he alone looked forward, toward a new vortex.
It wasn't gold, that was for sure.
It was black.
They fell through and
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
the world opened up below them in a spiraling shockwave of power!
...
...they fell...
...
...cliffs of grey stone, an endless desert of yellow sand, spurs of fractured black obsidian rising everywhere...
They landed as one, the impact tossing them in all directions.
Faith hit on her side, rolled, slammed into the side of one of the spurs head first.
Ariel somersaulted down the side of a dune and went face-first in a pool of brackish water, rolled over and conked out.
Xander smashed through a spur in a shattering of glass-like stone, flipped end-over-end and slammed down into the sand, cut a trench for five feet, then ground to a halt.
Nobody moved, nobody spoke.
Then Xander stood in a rush, spit out a mouthful of yellow sand, took one step, "Mother..." then pitched over, spread-eagle.
The orange sun beat down upon them...
End of Part II...