Part 2. A Pool of Tears or a Mad Tea Party?

`How doth the little crocodile improve his shining tail,

And pour the waters of the Nile on every golden scale!

`How cheerfully he seems to grin,

How neatly spread his claws,

And welcome little fishes in

With gently smiling jaws!'

Sydney felt her world spinning and she thought that for a moment this was all a cruel joke. Then she looked around and she saw that she was now standing next to Yeager instead of in front of him and she was facing the crowd. And then she saw Weiss approach the stage and she started to scream once more. "Why is everyone here? Are we all dead?"

The man who looked like Yeager turned to her amused. "This is the End of Time Sydney. You should know that. You helped to bring it about."

Weiss continued up the stage with his yo-yo in hand. When he got up on top he turned to the man and said with a jovial smile, "You must be the Devil. Hi! I'm Eric Weiss. Pleased to meet you." He offered his other hand but the man who looked like Yeager declined it.

Sydney stared at Wiess, transfixed by the absurdness of it all. When she turned back to the man she thought was Yeager, she saw Satan in all his glory. Though he still looked like Yeager, now instead of a suit he wore a red cape and his pointy tail curled around his legs. He was looking around before he spotted a long metal handle under some rose bushes that had appeared just off to the side of the stage. Sydney watched him reach for the handle. Once his grasp was firm, he whipped around to glare at Weiss, fire breathing out of his nose. The sight would have been impressive indeed except for the fact that Weiss burst out laughing.

Satan, obviously shocked, looked around to see what had interfered with Weiss's desired response. His gaze stopped when it reached what he had thought was his pitchfork grasped firmly in his hand.

"What the HELL is this?!" screamed Satan as he tossed the strange shovel aside.

Weiss was laughing so hard that he could not respond at first. Finally between guffaws, Weiss was able to spit out "I…It's…it's a spork! A giant spork!". He then proceeded to laugh hysterically as two demons approached him from either side.

Satan glared at him, smoke now literally escaping from his ears. "Where's my PITCHFORK! You measly… stupid, insignificant little brat!!!"

Weiss's laughter finally subdued enough for him to straighten himself up. "April fool's Lucifer!" he said. However, this triggered some more laughter on Weiss's part.

Satan it appeared, was not amused and seemed to double in size. With smoke and flames coming out of all his orifices, he bellowed to the demons, "Take him to the third circle of hell where he can amuse Cerebus for Eternity!" The demons complied and took a still chuckling Weiss away into the gate.

"The third circle?" Sydney asked quietly, still unable to believe her eyes.

Satan turned back to her and waved a hand over her eyes. In that instant she saw Weiss chained to the grass in a pool of mud, while hail and sleet came down upon him relentlessly. She snapped her head away from the vision only to be greeted by one much worse.

I wish I hadn't cried so much!' said Alice, as she swam about, trying to find her way out. `I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears! That WILL be a queer thing, to be sure! However, everything is queer to-day.'

Sark, Sloane and her mother approached her on the stage. Sloane and her mother stood before Satan while Sark knelt down and kissed his hand. Satan responded by caressing Sark's cheek and smiling at him fondly. "Ah, my little Cherub. I see you have served me well. These two will be the prizes of my collection!"

Sark smiled at Satan adoringly and sat himself down by his feet. Sloane bowed down to Satan, his eyes hard and emotionless. Irina on the other hand let a lone tear escape her eyes before she too bowed down.

Sydney felt tears start to well up in her eyes as she saw the chains of damnation slip around her mother's wrists, but instead of being made of fire, they were chains of ice. Sloane seemed to drink in the cold and before it took him over completely he opened his mouth in exaltation. Irina stared at the frozen figure of Sloane and dropped to her knees.

"I'm not begging for mercy from you Satan, I knew what I was doing from the beginning. I am only falling before you now because my body is simply too week for my mind!"

Satan laughed and smiled at her. "Of course Irina. Your mind is unlike anyone else's I have ever encountered. You will be my Queen in Hell and we will reign forever!"

Irina spat in his face. "I didn't do it for you."

Satan looked at her amused. "No, you certainly did not. But you did it all the same, didn't you?"

Her mouth hardened into a thin line before the ice claimed her completely. Sydney could have sworn that just as her mother turned to ice she looked right at her.

"MOM!" Sydney cried as some more demons came to take them away.

Lucifer turned to her once again. "They cannot see you Sydney, don't you understand? That is part of their punishment."

Sydney moaned in despair.

Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?' said the March Hare.

`Exactly so,' said Alice.

`Then you should say what you mean,' the March Hare went on.

`I do,' Alice hastily replied; `at least--at least I mean what I say--that's the same thing, you know.'

Sydney opened her eyes again as she saw another figure approach the stage. "No, no, no, no!" she whispered to herself over and over again until the hunched vision of her father focused in front of her.

"Dad!" she cried, but he did not acknowledge her. Instead he looked at Satan wearily and demanded to know his fate.

Satan sighed at the broken man in front of him, the elation gone from his eyes. "You will be going to the Eighth Circle of hell. You were not just a murderer Jack but you also a Fraud. You lied when it suited you, you stole when you wanted to. You lived your life as lie Jack and now you will spend eternity with others just like you."

Jack hung his head as Sydney cried out. "But he's not a bad man! I swear he's not!"

Satan looked back at her with his black, endless eyes. "You didn't always thinks so, Sydney. You know, I listened all those times you damned him for the lies he told you."

"But…but…" Sydney stuttered as her father was taken away.

She had quite forgotten the Duchess by this time, and was a little startled when she heard her voice close to her ear. `You're thinking about something, my dear, and that makes you forget to talk. I can't tell you just now what the moral of that is, but I shall remember it in a bit.'

`Perhaps it hasn't one,' Alice ventured to remark.

`Tut, tut, child!' said the Duchess. `Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.' And she squeezed herself up closer to Alice's side as she spoke.

"Sydney…" Satan whispered in her ear. She was forced to open her eyes once again. The sky was still overcast and a throng of nameless faces that she knew awaited at the bottom of the stage. "Sydney…." The whispering made her cringe in revulsion but she was still rooted to the spot. She had no choice but to allow it to continue. "Shall we bring up the next one?"

No! she wanted to scream with every last breath that she had, although absurdly her mind wondered if she now had any breath at all. She settled for hugging herself closely and trying to avert her eyes.

However, the figure that approached next, forced her to crumble to her knees in despair. Michael Vaughn appeared at the end of the stage. His face was aglow with light and two beautiful wings extended out from his back. He approached Satan with a righteous look on his face, like a martyr about to be executed. Satan followed suit by approaching him like an executioner. Sydney cried out in agony but neither man halted their progress.

"And you Michael Vaughn, what do you have to say for yourself."

"I would do it all again."

At that moment, four angels appeared behind him, their multi-layered wings shimmering in the air. With their faces impassive, one forced Vaughn to his knees while the other three tore the wings from his back.

"But he's done nothing wrong!" screamed Sydney forcing Satan to look back at her. The angels completed their task and stepped back. They rose through the air as streaks and vanished.

Michael Vaughn lay broken and bleeding on the ground.

"Of course he has Sydney. Don't you remember? He's killed people for you. That makes him a murderer."

"What are you talking about?" Sydney asked in confusion, her mind still reeling from the horror.

Satan smiled and waved a hand back over her eyes. Suddenly Sydney was transported back in time to the SD-6 garages, the night McKenas Cole raided the offices. She saw Vaughn look into a man's eyes and shoot him in the stomach. The scene then changed back to their dinner in France and she saw herself on her knees with her hands on top of her head. Vaughn was kneeling next to her before he grabbed the knife from his boot and slit their captor's throat.

The scenes faded and Sydney was left trembling on the stage. Satan smiled. "And those were only a few examples, though I must admit they were my favorite."

"But he did those for me! He gained nothing from doing that--"

"You know that's not true Sydney. He gained your trust and eventually your love."

Sydney was left speechless and Satan turned back to Vaughn. Vaughn's chin was lifted slightly in pride. Satan chuckled. "You're lucky that pride is a small sin compared to murder my friend. But keep that chin up, you will need it to breathe when you are submerged in hot blood for eternity."

Vaughn glared at Satan but his pride did not diminish.

Satan chuckled again. "Don't worry, I can't destroy your memories, those have been permanently imprinted on your soul, but that's all you'll ever have now."

Vaughn stumbled up and turned on his own accord before the demons came to take him away. Sydney burst into hysterical tears.

"Oh don't cry too much Sydney. Now it's your turn."