Red Beth ran along after the gem. With a glance over her shoulder, she saw that Rodge and Dr. Science were still following it, but Mel had since dropped out. Just as well, his ice walls were no good against this. First it had just gone around them, then, as it had gotten faster, it had smashed through them. Dr. Science was talking to someone on his hip-radio. The he asked them both to stop.
"What was that about? Are you mad?!"
"We'll know in thirty seconds," he told her calmly.
Thirty seconds later, the road exploded in a glow of yellow. They hurried over after it. When they got there, the glow from the explosion had faded, but faint movements in the air were visible. As they watched, the movements reached some sort of climax, and started again, clearer than before. While they watched this, Owl-Man flew in, with Solenoid clinging to his shoulders.
The pictures were becoming recognisable. It was a dance. No, they saw as the movements reached another end, and began again. It was a battle. A group, fighting against a man with a dagger. There was a guy in a suit with a cape, who raised his hands and did something to the man with the dagger. The man with the dagger, in turn, did something to the man in the cape. He fell over, and the burly guy with the shovel ran over to support him. The woman and the old guy ran forward, with the rest of the group behind them…
And then the cycle began anew, this time with faint sound. It was then that Beth noticed that there was a man standing at the edge of the vision. A man in a uniform, obviously a soldier or a former soldier. He was watching the fight, the emotion obvious on his face as the man in the cape fell over.
Now other figures were clearer. A young man, another soldier, throwing balls of light at the man in the dagger. He got kicked in the face, but he continued all the same. There was a man with a glowing spear, and a helmet similar to the one the Statesman wore. The man with the dagger did something to him, and his helmet went flying. There was a man in a suit, with a white mask covering his face. The man with the dagger kept trying to do something to him, but the man in the mask kept dodging.
The sound was recognisable now. The woman screamed when the man in the suit fell over, and the man in the mask was laughing as he dodged the man with the dagger's attacks. The man with the shovel cursed the man with the dagger in a London accent.
It started again, this time with an air of finality. It was more solid than the last few times. The group arrayed around the man with the dagger, who was obviously upset about something. The old man, who was carrying a gun as long as his arm, but thicker, said, "Give up, Zeitgeist! The war is over! Why can't we just live in peace?"
The man with the dagger threw a ball of what looked like heated air at the old man, who fell back. The man with the shovel came about the man with the dagger, and tried to hit him about the head with the shovel. He connected once, but the next blow went through the man's head, with no apparent side effects. The man with the dagger (Zeitgeist?) threw another ball at the other man, who fell back as well. The woman charged forward, and actually hit the fellow across the vision, where he landed against the wall. He threw another ball at her, but she didn't fall back like the other two. Zeitgeist hit her with a continuous blast, and only then she fell back. The man with the glowing spear fired a blast of what looked like sunlight at Zeitgeist, who stopped firing the continuous blast at the woman and swung around on the man with the spear. The man in the suit raised his hands, and snowy wind hit Zeitgeist. The man in the mask yelled what sounded like an insult at Zeitgeist, in French. The young soldier began throwing balls of light at Zeitgeist. The man with the glowing spear caught a ball of stuff off Zeitgeist, and his helmet went flying. The helmet went flying over by the soldier, who caught it and handed it to someone beyond the border of the vision. The young soldier moved close, intent on tackling Zeitgeist, but he got kicked in the face. Zeitgeist started aiming blasts at the man in the mask, who kept dodging. He got tired of this, and aimed a blast at the man in the suit. He fell over, clutching his chest. The woman cried out, "Paul!"
The man with the shovel ran over to Paul, all the while cursing Zeitgeist. The old man and the woman came charging towards him, with the man in the opera suit, the soldier with the broken nose, and the spear-carrier behind them. Zeitgeist began to focus on the gem at the head of the dagger, desperation evident on his face. There was a flash of light, at the exact time the previous cycles had ended –
- and then the old man and the woman cannoned into Zeitgeist. The woman began pounding him, and the old fellow began cursing him, and then he looked up. The three men behind them had stopped, in shock and awe of their surroundings. The old dude shook the woman's shoulder, and she looked at him, and then she, too, lapsed into awe.
The man with the shovel was the first to break the silence. "Well. Don't things change fast nowadays." And then he just fell over. Paul fell over on him. The old man, the soldier, the guy in the mask, the young man with the broken nose and the spear-carrier all fell over. The woman, suddenly aware of the group standing there, struggled to stay conscious. "Que le Diable…?" she said, and then she fell over, just like the others.