CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

30 minutes till Zero Hour

The Scorpion flyer bolted through the dark skies above the snow-covered Tomoeda. As Sakura piloted the vehicle, Tomoyo and Li looked out the tinted window from the backseat. The damage was in plain view but luckily, no one lingered around to get hurt.

"Looks like the city evacuated just in time." Li said.

"The aliens." Tomoyo started. "Can they see us?"

"No. I've switched on the cloaking device Aries provided me with. They won't even be able to pick us up on their radar." Sakura answered.

"How did you learn to pilot this thing? You haven't even passed your driver's test yet!"

"Yeah, well… shut up!"

"What are we looking for?" Li asked.

"A way in. Aries said once we hit zero hour, the time portals should open. That's when we use the dimension jumper and enter the pockets of alternate reality."

"And from there?"

"Aries said there were three things to look for." Tomoyo remembered. "What were they?"

Sakura looked at the computer screen near the pilot controls and switched it on. The screen displayed three different objects in a grid view, outlining their description and schematics.

"According to Aries, several Valdorian ships are already placed in some of the dimensions we'll be visiting." Sakura explained. "He said Exitir wanted to be thorough in his destruction of humanity even if it meant destroying every possible reality imaginable. So Aries scattered these objects throughout all these pockets and hid them from Exitir."

"What are they?" Li asked as he studied the monitor.

"One of them is a disk that contains a coded frequency that will disable the defenses on Exitir's ship. Once that goes down, all the others will follow."

"What else?"

"Some kind of remote detonator that'll close the time portals and prevent any more ships from disrupting the timeline."

"Will we feel the effects?"

"I don't think so. Aries said that the only way that could happen is if the portals close once they've fulfilled their mission. If we manage to stop them in time and reverse the damage, everything will be fine."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"With the 3rd object we need. But in order to get that one, we'll have to dig a bit deeper."


Inside the laboratory, Eriol was rounding up the magicians as they gathered their weapons and suited for battle. Maya gave her wand a few flicks and tested the potency of her magic before finally placing it in her belt buckle. Marvin placed his lucky deck of cards into his top hat and detracted his own wand into his white sleeve then put his arm around Maya.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He said softly.

"We'll be fine, love." She said before kissing him on the cheek.

Pops and Jimmy approached the two and waited patiently with them for the rest of the magic army to regroup in the center of the lab. Near the main computer, Ryou and Keiichiro were already preparing for the oncoming attack by firing the transporter's engines and leaving it on standby.

"Okay, that's it!" Ryou said. "We'll have transporter range throughout the entire globe! Once those alien bastards start spreading, we'll be able to follow them anywhere!"

"All right then!" Eriol got everyone's attention as they all faced him. "We'll have to split into teams in order to cover more ground and ensure their safety. I'll be sending field agents with their teams out into the cities that are in most danger. I'll remain here in Tokyo with Ichigo, Aries, Spinel, Keitaro and Naru."

"Cool." Ichigo beamed.

"WHAT!? NO!" Keitaro wailed. "Naru, you can't be serious! This guy's a--"

WHACK!

"Shut up!" Naru commanded her husband as he lay dizzy on the floor.

Eriol then continued. "Maya, you'll be heading out to London with Marvin, Mew Lettuce and Mew Zakuro."

"Very well." Maya nodded.

"Jimmy will be leading a team into Dallas, Texas with Rally and May while Pops will take Ruby, Kitsune and Mutsumi with him to Kenya."

Pops looked at his teammates and bowed. "We'll do our best."

"Meiling will take Kero and Motoko amongst others with her to Shanghai."

"Then I'll go as well." Yelan said as she stepped forward. "I'll have my daughters rendezvous with us there."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"What about me, Eriol?" Kaho asked.

"Ms. Mizuki…" Eriol continued. "You'll be heading to Moscow with Shinobu, Kaolla and Mew Pudding."

"What?"

Pudding, Shinobu and Kaolla all jumped up with excitement. "YAAAAAY!!!!"

"Ah, shit." Kaho looked down. "Why am I stuck with the kids?"

"Hey, don't think you're doing this without us!" Takashi said as he and the girls approached the group.

"We are." Eriol told him. "There's no need for you to interfere."

"But why? We want to help."

"I understand. But you're powerless and--"

"So are they!" Chiharu pointed to Rally and May.

"Yeah and what about them!?" Naoko pointed out to the Hinata residents. "They're just a bunch of college students! What good could they possibly be!?"

"Not to mention those kindergarteners Kaho's taking with her." Rika joked.

"Hey!" Shinobu, Kaolla and Pudding whined.

The Demon Realm - 00:16:35

Faust stood at the top of the black pillar as it raised from the ground in a cloud of black smoke. As he held the Orb of Osiris up into the violet sky, bolts of lightning flashed from his hand and hit the ground with a tremendous force. Soon the ground began to crack and split into different sections, releasing several bursts of fire and ash that gave birth to Faust's new demon army. The Demon Knights saddled onto their dead horses and flew around the area, awaking the new legion as Fingle read from the demonic manuscript he held in his hand.

"They are awakening, my lord." The Blood Ring priest grinned. "And soon they'll be ready to retake what is yours."

"That they will." Faust grinned before he sensed something unfamiliar to him. "What is that?"

"What my lord?"

"You don't sense it? It's as if--"

"As if somebody's watching you?" Exitir's voice rang in his ear.

"What?" Faust looked around for the voice before the alien warlord appeared before him in a bright light.

"Hello, Johann." Exitir smiled at the man.

"Who are you? How did you--"

"There are many things I am capable of." He interrupted him. "Things that don't need much explaining."

"Knights!"

The four blazing riders heard their master's call and charged towards the alien leader. Calmly, Exitir turned to his side and with a swift punch, was able to knock down all four of the riders without blinking an eye.

"What?" Faust was stunned as he backed away. "Lorca!"

The Black Knight rampaged over to the pillar and pounced on the alien. As Lorca growled and attempted to strangle his opponent, Exitir simply grinned.

"Having fun, Christopher?"

"Die…" Lorca hissed through his black flames.

Exitir simply grabbed hold of Lorca's demonic hands and released a severe amount of pain into the Demon Knight, bringing him to his knees.

"Now enough of this." Kane continued.

"Might I have your name before I crush you?" Faust prepared to fight.

"I didn't come here looking for a fight." Exitir said. "Incidentally, my name is Kane Exitir. I am not from your world."

"Yes…" Faust nodded. "I was warned of your presence by one of your own."

"Ah, you mean Aries." He shook his head. "By definition, he is of the same race as I. But he is not one of my own. He is a traitor to his people and will be killed the next time I see him."

"It seems you have more enemies than you thought. I too am seeking to conquer the planet. And I won't let you or anyone else stop me."

"I'm not planning the earth's enslavement. I'm planning its destruction. I could care less who takes over it in the end. No, I'm merely having fun with my title as Grand General of the Valdorian army. But believe it or not, we do have one thing in common."

"What is that?"

"Sakura Kinomoto."

"The card mistress."

"I believe we can benefit from each other's company, Johann. What do you say?"

Faust stood silently for a minute, studying the alien's pale face before eventually nodding. "What did you have in mind?"

The USS Nimitz - 00:08:42

Things on the air carrier were looking worse as the waves of the ocean intensified and rocked the boat back and forth. Darkness had now settled as the alien craft hovering above the body of water continued releasing several components from its chambers.

"What the hell is it doing?" One of the sailors asked.

"I don't know." General Armstrong shook his head. "Yelland, have we managed to bring the power back up?"

"No, sir." The Captain said. "We're only on reserve power and even that's going to run out soon."

Suddenly, a spark of bright light emerged in the middle of the control room then swirled around near the corner. The officers onboard stood still and watched as Touya and Yukito materialized from the light wearing their pilot uniforms.

"Hi there." Yuki waved. "How's it going?"

"Who the hell are you!?" The General asked as he pointed a gun at them.

"Whoa!"

"Sir, I'm Lieutenant Touya Kinomoto of the Japanese Air Self Defense Force." Touya saluted the man. "This is Lieutenant Yukito Tsukishiro."

"It's okay, General." Yelland stepped forward. "These are my new transfers. Well they were supposed to be. Where the hell were you?"

"Sorry, sir. We were held up in Tokyo." Touya explained.

"That's what I figured."

"Sir, we're here to warn you of the alien threat that's approaching."

"Oh, you mean that one!?" Yelland sarcastically pointed out the window. "Wow! I thought it was just a weather balloon!"

"We need to get in touch with Washington. These things are standing by to attack and we're losing time."

"We can't." The General butted in. "Power's dead on the ship. We have no radio contact, the controls are bust and we're using up the last of our emergency power."

"Then we're stranded!?" Yuki panicked. "We're gonna die!"

"Yuki, calm down!" Touya pleaded with his friend.

"I don't wan to die here with you! You suck!"

"I think we came back too late."

"Yes you did, Lieutenant." Armstrong nodded. "Yes you did."

Tokyo - 00:01:09

Bolts of lightning and swirls of teal light began to emerge from the tank hovering above the city. Inside the speeding Scorpion flyer, Sakura and her friends could see the machines beginning to activate.

"The ship…" Sakura said softly.

00:00:50

"Everyone move!" Eriol commanded as several magicians took to the transporter.

With every group that stepped onto the platform, Ryou triggered the switch and beamed them to their designated location.

"Let's go, Marvin." Maya said as she and her team stepped onto the platform.

"You guys be careful." Keiichiro said.

In a flash of light, Maya and her team were gone. Pops and his away team were next to board as everyone else remained ready for their departure.

00:00:34

Kane walked into the ship's control room and sat down in his chair as the monitors surrounding him displayed the last few seconds of the countdown. The engines were running and the machines were synched as the alien leader grinned.

"And now we wait."

00:00:25

Eriol materialized at the top of a building with the rest of his team and checked his watch. He thought for a moment before looking over to the timer probe in his arms then came to a sudden realization.

"Oh no." He gasped.

"What?" Ichigo asked.

00:00:10

"The probe."

00:00:09

"What about it?"

00:00:08

"I'm powering the dimension jumper!" Sakura said as she flipped a few switches. "Hang on!"

The intensity of the machine caused the Scorpion to fly off at a greater speed, forcing Tomoyo and Li back against their seats.

"SAKURAAAAAAAAA!" They screamed.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Sakura laughed like a maniac.

00:00:03

"Eriol, what's wrong!?" Ichigo chased after Eriol.

00:00:02

Eriol ignored the girl and hurried to the end of the roof, preparing to throw the timer probe into the air.

00:00:01

"NO!"

"ERIOL!"

00:00:00

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!

The top of the probe ignited and blasted off into the sky as the rest of the egg shell exploded, destroying everything on the top of the building. The spinning hull of the probe made contact with the alien tanker and emitted a powerful red beam of energy. In no time at all the dark clouds were hit by the ship's beams and formed a powerful whirlpool from within. As one Scorpion went in, several hundred more followed. Time and space were about to be invaded. Zero Hour had begun.