"Ace, why are we hiding?" Jack asked. "The coast is clear."

Sg-1 and the lightning knights had made it to the carnival uneventfully. They were now trying to get to the Haunted House, where Mark probably was. Just after they had spread out a bit, Ace had suddenly grabbed Jack and dragged him behind a booth, though the Colonel could see no reason why.

"Look over there," Ace pointed.

All Jack could see was what looked like a garden gnome, sitting on a toadstool, fishing. "That's just a gnome."

"Exactly," growled Ace.

Jack looked around the corner again. Suddenly the gnome looked up at him. "What the…?" Jack said aloud. He hadn't expected that.

Ace grabbed the Colonel again and pulled him out of the way just as something flew past his head and smashed into the opposite booth leaving a hole in the wall.

"What the hell was that?!"

"A fish," said Ace as if it were obvious.

"That thing threw a fish at me! That was a fish?! I wonder what bait he uses…"

Ace checked around the corner again, then stepped out and fired a blast of lightning. The gnome toppled over with a shriek and disappeared.

"Stupid gnomes…" muttered Ace.

Mark's boredom had started to evaporate. He checked his watch; it was about three thirty, afternoon probably. It had felt like longer. Mark wondered if his parents were starting to worry. What on earth was he supposed to say he'd been doing when he got back? If he got back.

The doors to the Haunted House opened with a creak. Mark looked up, half-thinking it might be Ace.

No such luck, it was Lord Fear. He strode in followed by Rat, Googler and Random Virus.

"I trust you're enjoying your stay?" he gloated.

Mark stood up. "Hopefully it won't be for much longer."

"Why yes, we shall be leaving soon," Lord Fear continued. "Our transportation should arrive any minute."

Mark wasn't sure what to make of that. "I don't see any army."

"I don't need one now. I'm sure you must have heard of the Gould?"

"Yeah, but that's just a TV show. It's not real."

"Guess again, mortal."

"Yeah," added Staff Head. "You're about to meet one. I'm sure you'll become very close."

"What?" said Mark. He had an uneasy feeling he was missing something.

Suddenly a set of rings descended from the roof. They stacked up on the floor and then in a flash of light a human form materialised. The rings shot back into the ceiling.

"Ah, my Gould friend," said Lord Fear.

"The ship is waiting," said the Gould in his grating voice. "Now it is time for your part of the bargain."

"Of course. We'll take the mortal up to the ship with us, just to make sure you keep yours."

"But of course."

"Wait," cut in Mark, "what does 'the mortal' have to do with this?"

The Gould turned and looked at him. His eyes flared yellow as he grinned and said, "You are to be my host."

"But, but you already have a perfectly good host! I mean he's tall, handsome…"

"He is a traitor! You should consider this an honour. Do not try to fight it human you cannot stop me from taking control of your mind." He leaned in towards the crystal ball. "Once the transfer is complete, there will be no going back!"

Mark backed away, not believing what he was hearing. He felt he should've just stayed in bed that morning.

Suddenly there was a flash of movement behind the Gould, who spun around in surprise, giving Mark a clear view of Random Virus flinging Lord Fear across the room.

"Rat!" shouted Lord Fear, "you were supposed to keep an eye on him!"

"Sorry, boss!"

Random turned on the Gould. "Leave him alone! He doesn't need you to invade his mind. I couldn't think of anything lower. Are you all like this?"

"I would say so. Though I doubt none do it as well as I."

"You pathetic coward," Random growled drawing out each word.

"How dare you speak to me in such a way," shouted the Gould, his eyes flashing. "I am a god!"

"You must be using a fairly broad definition," said Random rasing his claw.

Lady Illusion hurled a crystal ball at Random Virus, throwing him off long enough for the Gould to pull out a zat gun. The weapon was designed to disable with one shot, which usually hurt like hell, kill with two and would disintegrate the target when it was shot three times. He shot it into Random, who fought the energy for a second then shut down abruptly.

The Gould growled, he'd been hoping Random would stay awake to feel the effects, and took aim again.

"Leave him alone!" said Mark. He wasn't sure if the second shot would work on him but didn't want to find out.

"Yes," said Lord Fear, "let him live. Maybe if that superhero scum turns up he can tell him what's become of his sidekick. I'm sure he'll want to know."

The Gould glared at him. "As you wish," he said finally lowering the weapon.

"Rat!" said Lord Fear. "Go find Anvil and Pigface. It's time to leave. And don't mess up again."

"Sure, boss. I won't let you down!" The rat flew off on his errand.

"Can't we talk about this?" Mark asked desperately. He had no desire to become infested with the parasite. He'd seen enough of Stargate on TV to know he'd probably end up more stuffed in the head than Random Virus. Even the cyborg couldn't help him now and he showed no signs of waking up.

"Sorry, mortal," snickered Staff Head. "You're fate is sealed. That pathetic superhero can't help you now."

"That's the Haunted House," said Ace. "Mark should be in there. I hope he's alright."

"Yeah, me too," the Colonel replied.

There was a loud rattle behind them. Jack and Ace spun around to see Pigface crashing out of a rubbish bin.

"Mmm! Me still hungry. It's time for the main course."

Jack didn't need Ace to tell him this was a bad guy. He pulled out his gun and fired at Pigface.

Pigface squealed and then before Jack could react grabbed his gun and started chewing on it.

"Mmm. Yummy!"

"Hey!" yelled Jack snatching the mangled weapon away.

"Pigface hungry! Give that back!"

"Colonel! Duck!" said Ace. It was a good thing Jack listened. Ace barely waited before blasting.

Pigface squealed and took a swipe at Ace.

Ace flew into the air and landed a short distance away.

"I'm going to eat you!" snorted Pigface and charged Ace.

"Eat this!" said Ace blasting him again, this time knocking him out. Pigface squealed and disappeared.

"Ace! Look out!" shouted Jack. From in the shadows a rhino-like creature with a huge hunk of metal for a hand had appeared.

Jack pulled out his handgun and fired at it.

"Anvil smash you!" yelled the creature, slamming his iron fist into Ace as the lightning knight turned around. Jack's bullets seemed to bounce off harmlessly.

Ace crashed down beside the Colonel.

Anvil finally turned his attention to Jack; the bullets were starting to annoy him. "Stop that!" he growled. He shielded himself with this anvil, causing one of the bullets to ricochet back, nearly hitting Jack.

"Damn it!" You didn't tell us bullets wouldn't work on these guys."

"Must have slipped my mind…" said Ace, getting up.

"C'mon, we gotta fall back."

"Lightning knights don't run from anything."

"For crying out loud! Haven't you ever heard of a strategic retreat? I'm calling for backup."

They both ducked back behind the booth. Jack grabbed his radio. "Sg-1, get here we need help."

"Where is here?" replied Teal'c over the radio.

"Where you can hear all the smashing noises! Hurry up."

Sure enough Anvil was making his way to their position, knocking over everything in his way.

"You got a kid to help you fight these guys?" asked Jack incredulously, trying to see if his mangled gun would work.

"I needed all the help I could get," Ace defended. "I didn't think Lord Fear would do something like this. I should've been able to stop him anyway."

"Yeah, well you didn't. I just hope we're not too late."

"We're not," said Ace. "Mark can take care of himself. You'd be pretty surprised what he can do."

The sound of Teal'c's staff weapon broke the air, followed by a roar from Anvil. Ace and Jack looked back out. Anvil had turned around. He took two more blasts or energy then knocked back the third.

Ace fired a lightning bolt into Anvil's back.

"Anvil will crush you!"

"Shoot him again, both of you!" said Jack. "He can't deflect both."

"I'm running a bit low on power," said Ace. "It'll take too much to knock him out."

"Damn it!"

Sparx suddenly swooped in on the lightning flash, Sam riding behind her. Carter had her sub-machine gun out and fired at Anvil as they flew past.

"Don't do that!" he yelled, swiping at them as Sparx flew perilously close.

Anvil was off balance for a second and Teal'c fired the staff weapon into him again. Sparx pulled out her sword and joined in. He finally faded away.

"Yeah, take that blockhead! Nice shooting Sam," said Sparx, turning around and giving the Major a high five.

"You're driving wasn't too bad either."

"Yeah, nice going, girls," said Jack. "I think we'd all better stick together from now on."

"That would be wise," said Teal'c.

"Um, guys," said Daniel. "This is going to sound weird but, what is a Torkra ship doing in the sixth dimension?'

"What?" said Jack.

Everyone followed Daniel's gaze. Over the Haunted House a small, dull coloured ship with sharp pointed edges was floating.

"Anvil! Pigface!" came a high pitched voice. "Guys, where are you? The boss says it's time to go."

Sg-1 pointed their guns in the general direction.

"Why don't we ask the rat?" suggested Ace.

"What rat…" Daniel trailed off as Dirty Rat flew around the corner.

"You're keeping L.F waiting…" he stopped when he say Sg-1. "Mortals? How'd you get here? You'd better run while you can. He he!" The rat made an attempt at a scary face. "Rar!"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

Jack simply pulled out his zat gun and shot him.

"Ow!" Rat fell to the ground. "Geez, what was that for?"

"At least something works on these guys," grumbled Jack.

Ace walked up and grabbed the rat. "Where's Mark?" he demanded.

"Lightning?! How'd you get here?"

"Long story. But let's hear yours first. What's Fear done to Mark?"

"Nothing, Ace. The kid's fine, honest!"

"He'd better be."

"I don't mean to butt in," said Jack, "but where'd you get that ship?"

"That? That's not ours. We're just borrowing it. It belongs to that Gould guy."

"A Gould?!"

"I knew I'd heard that name somewhere before!" growled Ace.

"Yeah, Lord Fear needs the ship's hyperdrive thing or something to boost the amulet's power so he can get back to your dimension."

"How the hell did you get a Gould to help you?" asked Jack.

"Well Lord Fear made him, um… a deal…"

"What sort of deal?" asked Ace.

"Gould wanted to get back home and a new host so…"

"A host?!" said Sam.

"How nice of him," muttered Jack.

"Sir, he means Mark!"

"Damn!" said Jack and Ace simultaneously. Apparently the Colonel was rubbing off on Ace a bit.

"We've got to get him out of there!" said Sparx.

"Good luck!" snickered Rat. "Looks like they're leaving now."

A flash of light rushed up from the Haunted House and into the bottom of the ship. It was the ring device.

Rat pulled free of Ace. "Sorry, but my ship's leaving." He flew away. "Wait for me!"

"Let's go, people!" shouted Jack. "If that snake gets into his head it's not coming out."