A Leap Into Destiny
The Sands of Time Part 2
485 AD.
The former monk Aidan stood in waiting as he watched the bodies strewn across the castle's moat.
He had gone through much in life to help the young boy whom he had found heavily wounded years ago. Aidan had even been expelled from his monastic order because of the dark magic that the boy Sanctus had practiced. However, through thick and through thin, he had stayed with the boy when no one else had wanted to deal with him.
Now, that boy had become a man and was singlehandedly storming the castle of the Saxon warlord who had stolen his sister from him years ago.
Aidan sighed. Sanctus had promised him he would bring his sister back from the clutches of those warlords. He wondered what was taking the young man so long, especially considering he had a considerable amount of magic at his disposal.
Finally, Aidan headed down to the hill just as he saw a man walk out of the bridge across the castle moat.
The former monk stared at the blood-stained clothes of the young man known as Sanctus.
"Is it done?" asked Aidan. "Hast thou found thy sister?"
"It was not to be," Sanctus replied coldly. "Her kidnapper Wulfric walks amongst us no more."
"And thy sister?" Aidan inquired. "Was thou able to retrieve her?"
"Nay," Sanctus shook his head. "As fate would have it, mine own sister had been tainted by that monster."
"What?" Aidan was confused.
"I did what I deemed necessary," Sanctus raised his blood-stained dagger. "Sabina had been tainted by Wulfric and bore his child. At that moment, I realized that the dear sister I held in my heart was no more."
"Thou… thou hast murdered thy sister and her child in cold blood?" Aidan was horrified.
"Mine vengeance is complete," Sanctus declared resolutely.
"I have traveled with thee for this long," Aidan finally declared. "Sanctus, I have helped and clothed thee when no other soul would!"
"Do not refer to me by that accursed name!" Sanctus growled. "That wretched boy died at this very moment!"
"I have also been expelled from the monastery on account of helping thee in thy quest," Aidan continued, unencumbered. "I had thought that thou would show mercy and love once more when thy sister had been rescued. But the man I see before me is twisted with hatred and darkness. And I will no longer follow such a man!"
Aidan got up and turned around, walking away from the young boy he had once rescued.
With darkness in his eyes, Sanctus grabbed his dagger. The former monk Aidan took no more than three steps before Sanctus quickly plunged the knife into his back.
"I thank thee for thy services all these years," Sanctus smiled. "I surely would not have survived without thy help. But now… thy services are no longer needed."
He twisted the knife in deeper until Aidan's heart finally gave out.
oooo
"Excuse me?" Gooshie knocked at the door. "Excuse me?!"
After knocking on the wooden doors of the palace several times already, some of the security finally opened up.
Gooshie and Tina stood before the security personnel in vacation clothes.
"What the hell do you want?" the security guard demanded.
"Hello sir, how are you doing this evening?" Gooshie replied cheerfully.
"I'm fine, now beat it!" the security guard answered.
"Beat it?" Tina looked hurt. "But we just got here!"
"You're on private property!" another guard snorted. "Now leave."
"Private property?" Gooshie protested. "Now hold on for just one second! I've got a brochure here with me that guarantee us a tour of this fine castle and a free dinner!"
"Tour?" the security personnel looked at each other.
"Yeah, but the castle here looks a lot different than what it looks like on the brochure," Tina pointed out, handing the piece of paper to the guards.
The guards looked down and sure enough, there was a picture of the old castle that Wellington had purchased for himself. They stared up and realized that castle they were in now had been completely transformed by the dark magic of Kairos.
"Look, uh, the address is right on this brochure," one of the security chiefs stepped forward. "But this castle is undergoing renovations right now."
"C'mon!" insisted Gooshie as he held Tina in his arms. "My wife and I paid good money for this tour!"
Before the guard could respond, a van drove up towards the front of the castle, parking just next to the moat.
Out of the van stepped Dr. Verbena Beeks and several other tourists.
"What are all these people doing here?" the security guard sighed.
Dr. Beeks crossed the moat with her guests. They had been overseas tourists she had managed to hook in with promises of a castle tour during the morning.
"Good evening, gentlemen," Dr. Beeks greeted the guards.
"Looks like my husband and I aren't the only ones here for the tour," Tina remarked.
"Have all security personnel re-convene at our location," one of the guards said to his partner. "We're going to have to shoo these people away the hard way."
"My guests and I are here for the tour," Dr. Beeks told the guard.
"Sorry, but we're going to be closed for a long time," the guard replied gruffly.
"Excuse me?" Dr. Beeks raised an eyebrow. "My guests and I have driven up to two hours to get here. And now you're going to tell us they can't get their money's worth?"
"That's exactly what I'm telling you," the guard huffed. "Now beat it."
"This is an outrage, I tell you!" Gooshie shook his fist at the sky. "We came to see the castle and we're being cheated out of that experience!"
"Stonehenge isn't far away," the guard shot back. "Why don't you all just go there and leave this place?"
"Oh no," Dr. Beeks shook her head. "We will not be leaving until we get to see what we came for."
As the argument between the guards and the members of Project Quantum Leap continued, none of the security personnel realized that the conflict Gooshie, Tina, and Dr. Beeks had started was only a mere pretext for the success of another mission.
oooo
It didn't take long before the two guards watching over the back entrance heard orders from their compatriots and left their stations to deal with the unwanted guests that comprised of the second half of Project Quantum Leap.
"Are you inside?" asked Sammy Jo through the miniature earphone that both Sam and Al wore.
"All clear," Sam confirmed as he opened the door to allow both Al and himself inside.
"So where next, Sammy Jo?" asked Al Calavicci.
"It wasn't easy for me," admitted Sammy Jo. "But I managed to get a basic layout of this new castle after hacking a local satellite."
"So where to next?" inquired Sam.
"You'll need to head down the hall until you reach a staircase," Sammy Jo told them. "Go up two floors until you reach another hall. Turn right until you reach another set of stairs, which should take you directly to the top of the castle."
"Alright, thanks Sammy Jo," Sam nodded.
"Good luck, Sam," Sammy Jo replied.
"Sam, you sure your plan will work?" asked Al.
"Not really, but it's worth a try," Sam took out the hourglass, which had now been fused with Ziggy.
"Well, we've tried everything so far against that warlock," Al sighed. "Maybe this time it'll stick."
As Sam and Al walked up the staircase, Al reached for his holster and took out his gun, handing it to Sam.
"Here, I want you to hold on to this just in case," Al told his friend. "You're a better shot than I am."
"But what about you?" asked Sam.
"Hey, I'll find something," Al shrugged. "I mean, this is an old castle. I'll find a sword or mace somewhere.
"Alright then," Sam took hold of the gun.
Finally, the two of them reached the second floor which featured a big hallway leading down to yet another staircase.
"Almost there, just a little further," Sam held on to the gun tightly.
oooo
"We came here under the worst of weather conditions," Gooshie told the head of security, trying to reason with him further. "The least you could do is let us in to shelter us from what bad weather."
Gooshie was not wrong either. The weather above was extremely dark thanks to the wormhole that Kairos had created.
"What in the world is that?!" Tina pointed up towards the wormhole itself.
"It's none of your concern," the guard warned her. "Now back away."
"I would like to speak to your supervisor," Dr. Beeks told him. "We came a long way and we didn't come to be cheated."
The head of security looked behind him as more security arrived on the scene, brandishing their rifles.
"Alright," the head of security told her. "This debate has gone on far enough. You're all trespassing and now I suggest you get a move-on or else we may have to resort to more drastic measures."
All of the security guards present held up their rifles.
"Well, no sense arguing," Gooshie backed off.
Soon, Gooshie, Tina, and Dr. Beeks walked away from the soldiers along with the rest of the guests towards their vehicles.
"Think we bought Sam enough time?" asked Tina.
"Let's hope so," Gooshie crossed his fingers.
oooo
"So far so good," Sam said as he and Al headed towards the final staircase which could bring them to the top of the tower.
"Sam, if either one of us doesn't make it, I just want you to know this," Al said to his companion. "You're the best friend I've ever had."
"Aw, don't be getting all mushy on me, Al," Sam joked.
"I'm serious, Sam," Al replied. "If it wasn't for you, I'd never have seen Beth again. And I would have never had those beautiful daughters with her."
"It was nothing," Sam said humbly. "I was given the chance and I took it."
"It means everything to me, Sam," Al admitted. "Now I understand you weren't just leaping around time helping random strangers who would never know you… you were also helping those close to you."
Without warning, Al felt a strong arm wrap itself around his throat.
"Had no idea you two were this close of friends," a familiar voice sneered.
Sam turned around to see Lee Harvey Oswald with one arm wrapped around Al's neck and the other arm training a gun on Al Calavicci's head.
"You!" Sam shouted.
"We've got unfinished business, you and I," Oswald smiled.
"What do you want?" demanded Sam.
"Let's finish our duel," Oswald replied. "But first, put that gun back in your holster."
Seeing how Oswald had his gun trained on Al, Sam had no choice. He did as the communist assassin ordered.
"Step inside that room," ordered Oswald. "Then our duel begins."
"Leave Al out of this," Sam demanded.
"You're in no position to be making demands," Oswald pulled down on the hammer of the gun with his thumb. "Now step inside the damn room!"
Sam sighed but complied quietly.
"Good," Oswald smiled.
After Sam headed inside, Oswald struck Al in the back with the butt of his gun to knock the older man down. He then marched into the room with his gun ready.
Sam stood on the opposite side of the room near a fireplace.
"Your pal's gonna take a nap but I didn't kill him," Oswald promised. "I'll just put a bullet in his head after I'm done with you."
Sam only reached down for his gun in response. Oswald, however, was faster and shot at Sam.
Just barely, Sam rolled to the floor and fired back. Oswald, in turn, moved out of the way as the bullet from Sam's gun struck the wall next to him.
"I can tell this isn't your first gunfight," Oswald called out, taking cover behind one of the large chairs in the room. "But I can also tell you've never killed in cold blood before. Me? I killed Kennedy himself!"
At that point Oswald revealed himself and fired at Sam again who ducked underneath a table and then fired back. Oswald ducked down, avoiding the shot and then returning fire a split second later, hitting Sam in the arm with one of his bullets.
"Agh!" shouted Sam, falling down to the floor as his gun also dropped a few inches away from him.
Calmly, Lee Harvey Oswald walked over towards Sam and used his foot to kick the gun away.
"That warlock's time staff intrigues me," Oswald voiced his thoughts openly. "I think I'll take it once I put a bullet through his head and go back in time to make sure the revolution of the proletariat succeeds."
With that, he kicked Sam's wounded arm, causing the quantum physicist to cry out in pain and fall down.
"As for you, you can just die," Oswald grinned.
He pointed his gun at Sam's chest.
"LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION!" Oswald shouted triumphantly.
A powerful gunshot rang out. As soon as Sam opened his eyes, he felt no pain in his chest and quickly realized he had not been the one who was shot.
He looked up, seeing blood trickle down from a bullet hole in Oswald's forehead. The assassin's mouth twitched in horror as he dropped to both knees.
"Long live this, dirtbag," Al stood there behind Oswald with a gun that had smoke brimming from it.
In relief, Sam realized that Al had regained consciousness and taken hold of the gun that Oswald had kicked away.
"Thanks Al," Sam breathed a sigh of relief. "You've saved my life this many times. Believe it or not, I owe you too."
"What are friends for?" Al helped Sam up. "Now let's go. It ain't over 'till it's over."
Sam looked down and saw the hourglass he had placed on the floor when he had entered the room. Reaching down, he grabbed hold of it. As soon as he did, a soothing blue aura surrounded his body, re-enacting the same sort of feeling he experienced during leaps. However, he was not transported to another era.
This time, Sam looked at his arm and realized the bullet wound inflicted upon him by Lee Harvey Oswald had completely healed up.
"Wow, thanks Ziggy," Sam beamed.
"You are ever so welcome, Dr. Beckett," Ziggy's voice emerged from the hourglass.
"You ready Sam?" Al asked.
Sam nodded in the affirmative. He then noticed a medieval sword hanging on the wall. The quantum physicist grabbed it and took it off the plaque that it was hanging from.
"Now I'm ready," Sam confirmed. "You keep the gun. I'll handle myself fine with this."
"Err, Sam, do you even know how to use that thing?" Al asked uncertainly. "Martial arts expert was always on your resume to begin with but I don't recall you ever telling me fencing was another one of your talents."
"I'm a faster learner," Sam winked. "I'll be fine, Al."
"You're the boss," Al consented.
Sam clutched the sword tightly and left the room but Al lingered behind a little bit longer.
The project observer looked down at the body of Lee Harvey Oswald briefly and contemplatively.
"Well whaddya know," Al said with a hint of introspection and irony to his voice. "Turns out I shot Lee Harvey Oswald…"
oooo
Sammy Jo sat in the van in a faraway distance while monitoring Sam and Al. A few moments ago there had been some sort of firefight and she wasn't sure what had transpired.
"Sam, do you read me?" she asked.
"Loud and clear," Dr. Beckett's voice came back.
"What just happened over there?" Sammy Jo asked. "I heard gunfire!"
"We had a little encounter with Lee Harvey Oswald," Al replied before Sam could.
"Oswald…" Sammy Jo's face contorted in disbelief. "Wait… you mean THE Lee Harvey Oswald? JFK's killer?!"
"Yeah, it was him," Sam confirmed.
"But… how?" Sammy Jo was in shock. "Why?"
"It's… a long story," Sam replied wearily.
"This is a lot to take in," Sammy Jo confessed. "Hang on for a second, let me go check up on Wikipedia for a second just to make sure our timeline hasn't collapsed from an assassin from the sixties making his way to our time…"
After having satisfactorily checked up the information on the internet, Sammy Jo turned her attention back to Sam and Al.
"Okay, it still says Oswald killed JFK and was killed by Jack Ruby," Sammy Jo affirmed. "Nothing to worry about so far… but how in the world did an assassin like him appear in our era?"
"We're not sure," Al replied. "But we'll worry about that later once we've put a stop to that warlock. In any case, Sam and I are following the stairway that leads to the top of the tower."
"Just to let you know, there's a massive flux of quantum energy at the top of the tower," Sammy Jo warned them. "I have no doubt it's from that big wormhole in the sky."
"Tell me about it," Al sighed.
"Then you're not going to like what I have to tell you," Sammy Jo grimaced. "That wormhole's energy signatures are growing stronger and stronger. Soon, it'll be powerful enough to suck in everything around it like a black hole."
"How do we stop it?" asked Sam.
"I… I don't know," Sammy Jo admitted. "I've never dealt with anything like this before!"
"Al and I will do whatever we can," Sam told her through his com-link. "In the meantime, Sammy Jo, stay safe."
"Alright," Sammy Jo agreed. "And good luck, Dr. Beckett."
oooo
It had taken then more than a few minutes but finally, Sam and Al had reached the top of the tower.
It was a large spacious area, about the same size as a high school gym. All around them were standing stones similar to what was at Stonehenge. Further away from the stones were a set of stairs that led directly to a throne.
On top of that throne was Kairos himself.
"It's him," Sam stepped forward.
"Dr. Samuel Beckett," Kairos stood up from his throne.
Whatever you have planned, it's over," insisted Sam, holding up his sword.
"Is it, now?" Kairos stepped down from the staircase, walking slowly and deliberately.
All around them, the wind began to howl and the air around them seemed to be travelling upwards as both Sam and Al noticed several leaves travelling upwards directly into the time portal that Kairos had created.
"It is beginning," Kairos told them. "The pull of this time portal is growing stronger. Soon, once it reaches maximum power, I shall be able to enter it and reach the very beginning of time itself!"
"And what happens when it reaches maximum power?" Al grimaced.
"This castle, the land around you, all the people…" explained Kairos. "All will be consumed by the ever-growing time nexus!"
"That… does not sound good," Sam whispered to Al.
"Yeah, and Sammy Jo, Tina, Gooshie, and all the others aren't far from here," Al had a concerned look on his face.
"Once I reach time's beginning, I shall remake this world in mine own image," Kairos promised, raising a bony finger.
"We're not going to let that happen," Sam pointed the sword at Kairos.
"Thou holds on to that sword as a man who has never held a blade in his life," Kairos said mockingly.
"You're right," Sam smiled. "I'm talented in a lot of things but swordfighting isn't one of them. But you know what? That doesn't matter now. Because there's a first time for everything and I'm not letting you carry out your crazy plans no matter what."
The time staff in Kairos' hand glowed with power as he finally walked down from the stairs and stood on even ground with Sam and Al.
Looking at Al, Kairos noticed that he was holding the hourglass in his hands.
"The hourglass!" Kairos spoke up in surprise. "I must have it!"
"Yeah, but you're not getting past me," Sam promised. "You've gotten this far with your powers and truth be told, you could probably reduce my friend and I to ashes right now if you wanted. But even if you win, just know that without your magic to help you, you're absolutely nothing."
Kairos gritted his teeth. Sam noticed it and realized that he had hit a sore spot in the time mage's pride.
"Am I?" Kairos growled.
"I wasn't lying," Sam continued to taunt the warlock. "Kill us both now with a magic spell if you want. But deep down, you know you can't fight me man to man."
"Thou wishes for physical combat?" Kairos finally relented. "Very well. But just know that should I be triumphant over thee, the mystical hourglass shall return to mine own possession."
"Got yourself a deal," Sam grinned.
"Is this a good idea, Sam?" Al asked him from behind.
"I don't know," Sam whispered back. "But I'll fight him and stall him for time. Just stay back on this one, Al."
"A-Alright," Al agreed reluctantly as he stepped back.
Kairos gripped his time staff in a combat stance.
"Shall we?" Sam beckoned.
"Raagh!" Kairos shouted ferociously and charged.
Sam raised his sword to block the initial strike as Kairos brought the time staff downwards.
As Kairos raised his staff back again, Sam struck back and kicked Kairos square in the chest to send him stumbling back.
"Thou art not weak," Kairos complimented.
Sam attacked this time but Kairos blocked his sword swing with the staff and used the other end of the staff to strike Sam across the face.
Again and again, Kairos struck Sam across the face and chest. Finally he spun his staff around and rammed it into Sam's stomach to knock the leaper down.
"Ugh!" Sam cried as his back hit the floor.
"Know this, Sam Beckett," Kairos pointed his time staff towards Sam. "One does not merely survive the era known to your posterity as the Dark Ages by being weak or soft!"
The time mage brought his staff down where Sam's head was but Sam Beckett quickly rolled out of the way.
oooo
"Sam?" Sammy Jo spoke into her mic. "Al? Is anyone there?"
She had heard sounds of fighting through the hearing devices both Sam and Al possessed but she couldn't directly see what was going on. All she knew was that something was going down right at this very moment.
"Sammy Jo!" Al's voice broke through.
"Al, what's going on over there?" she asked.
"Is Sam alright?" Gooshie asked.
By now, he, Tina, and Dr. Beeks were back with Sammy Jo in their van.
"No, everything's not alright, not at the moment," Al answered in a worried voice.
"Did something happen to Sam?" Tina demanded.
"He's still kicking," Al replied tersely. "But that could change any second. Listen, I want all of you to take that van and drive as far from here as possible!"
"But we're not leaving without you and Sam!" Dr. Beeks protested.
"Oh yes you are!" Al shot back. "You all saw that giant portal hovering above the castle! Soon it'll get big and strong enough to suck up everything in sight!"
"He… he's right," Sammy Jo scanned the energy readings on her computer. "The gravitational pull from that portal is growing stronger."
At that moment, a powerful gust of wind hit the van, shaking it enough that everyone there got the message.
"Just drive as far away from this area while you still can!" Al ordered. "Sam and I will take care of this!"
"But we won't leave without you!" Sammy Jo protested.
"And you won't!" Al told her. "Sam and I are a team! We're completed every mission and gotten this far with nothing but our wits and good looks! We'll be fine… now go!"
"A-Alright," Sammy Jo said reluctantly.
"I'll take the wheel," Gooshie went to the front.
Against the strong winds, the van drove off, far away from the castle.
oooo
Sam blocked two staff blows from Kairos and returned with a swing which the warlock side-stepped. Kairos swung his time staff upwards, knocking the sword out of Sam's hand.
Kairos spun his staff around and drove it into Sam's stomach, knocking the breath out of him. With Sam severely weakened, Kairos swung yet again at Sam's legs and knocked him on his back.
Dr. Beckett got back up, crawling first on both knees. As he got up, however, Kairos was behind him, wrapping the staff around his neck and pulling back, intending to choke the life out of the leaper. Quickly, Sam got both his hands beneath the staff to prevent Kairos from locking on a full choke.
"Thou started Project Quantum Leap in order to make right what once went wrong," Kairos growled. "And yet thou hast not even gone back to mine own time to save the family I had!"
"This is what it's about?" Sam struggled against the inhumanly strong grip of Kairos. "You idiot… Project Quantum Leap could only leap me around the time era I was born into!"
With that, Sam slammed his elbow into the ribs of Kairos. The warlock grunted in pain and loosened his grip.
Sam then kicked Kairos in the stomach to send the warlock stumbling back.
In anger, Kairos charged Sam and swung at the leaper with his staff. Sam, however, caught the time mage's staff as the two struggled against each other with both hands on the weapon.
Falling backwards, Sam shifted his momentum and took Kairos down with him. He planted both feet into the stomach of Kairos and flipped the time mage over, slamming his back into the ground and knocking the air out of him.
As Kairos got up, Sam planted a fierce roundhouse kick into the head of the time mage and knocked him down yet again.
Sam went over to his sword and picked it up. As he walked towards, Kairos, however, the time mage finally let loose a blast of concentrated energy from his time staff that knocked the sword out of Sam Beckett's hands.
"That's cheating, you low down dirty rat!" yelled Al.
Kairos opened fire again. This time, the energy blast from the time staff struck Sam Beckett, forcing the man to his knees.
"Aaaaahhh!" screamed Sam.
"The hourglass… hand it to me!" Kairos beckoned to Al with one hand while torturing Sam with the time staff in the other.
"Okay!" Al shouted. "Just stop what you're doing!"
Kairos stopped his torture of Sam and beckoned to Al once more with his hand.
"You win," Al stepped forward with the hourglass. "Just take it."
Underneath his hood, Kairos smiled. He took the hourglass from Al and walked away from the leaper and his observer.
"Don't fail us now, Ziggy," Al whispered.
Step by step, he ascended the stairs until he stood on top his throne room. He then looked down upon both Sam and Al.
"Begone!" he shouted.
He opened fire upon the two with another energy blast from the time staff. Fortunately for Sam, this time Al grabbed him and pulled the both of them to safety behind one of the standing stones as the energy blast missed them narrowly.
"Al," Sam slowly shook his head to clear the cobwebs.
"All we can do now is count on Ziggy to do the rest," Al helped Sam up.
"At long last!" Kairos proclaimed, taking hold of the hourglass and placing it on top of the time staff once more. "Mastery over time and space shall finally be within mine own grasp!"
He thrust the staff into the air as a massive burst of quantum energy erupted from the hourglass and empowered the time portal above all of them. With each successive burst of quantum energy, the time nexus grew bigger and bigger.
"Yes… yes!" screamed Kairos.
"Warning, foreign agent detected," Ziggy's voice immediately spoke out. "Running antibody purge of Lothos now!"
"What?!" Kairos stared at the hourglass mounted on top of his time staff.
"Sammy Jo, you are a genius," Al whispered.
Though both the hourglass and time staff were mystical objects, there was still the matter of both of them being fused together with man-made machines. Ziggy had been bonded with the hourglass while Lothos had been fused together with the staff. No matter how much magic had been infused with both of them, the fact remained that Ziggy still had fail-safes installed for the event an invasive program like Lothos attempted another takeover.
Slowly, hourglass began to shake violently, attempting to detach itself from the staff.
"No!" Kairos cried. "This shall not—"
Before he could do anything, both the hourglass and time staff burst apart from each other with a violent explosion of energy that knocked Kairos back into his throne chair.
"Thank you, Sammy Jo," Sam came out of hiding and went up the stairs to face the shaken Kairos.
Sam finally reached the very top of the throne room and grabbed the weakened Kairos, lifting him up by the collar.
"You and I have some unfinished business," Sam declared.
With that, he punched the time mage with hard right punch, sending Kairos falling down the stairs.
Kairos shook his head in pain, attempting to shake off the blow but Sam had reached him before he could do anything to recover.
Again and again, Sam drove his fist into Kairos, punching the time mage across the face multiple times. Finally, he drove his fist into the stomach of the time mage, causing Kairos to spit out a combination of both blood and salive.
"Agh!" coughed Kairos.
Sam spun around and caught the wizard across the head with a crushing spin kick that finally knocked Kairos to the floor.
"Is he finished?" Al came up besides Sam, handing the leaper his gun.
Kairos got up. Both Sam and Al realized that his hood was now gone.
Before them stood a grotesque shell of a man with pale putrid skin and lizard-like eyes. He sported a face that had been ravaged and transformed into something monstrous through years of practicing dark magic.
The time mage hissed at having realized his hideous visage had finally been exposed.
"It's over," Sam told him, pointing the gun at the time mage.
Kairos growled, but then realized that the time staff which had been flung from him was now just a few inches away from him.
"Is it?" he smiled.
The hideous and time-ravaged man rolled forward, grabbing the time staff, regaining the formidable time magic that he was known for. He raised the staff and fired a shot at Sam.
Al, however, pushed Sam aside and took the full force of the blast. The older man was thrown into one of the standing stones from the force of the shot.
"Al!" screamed Sam.
Sam rushed towards his friend but Kairos was upon him in an instant, wrapping his arms around Sam's neck. Quickly, Kairos used his free arm and took the same knife he had used to murder his sister out and tried to stab it down into Sam's chest. Sam, however, blocked the knife with his free hand as well, struggling against Kairos.
"Sam Beckett, thy time has come!" Kairos snarled.
Finally, Sam managed to slip out of the grip of Kairos and used his right hand to ram the knife of Kairos right into the time mage's own heart.
With that, Sam punched Kairos directly in the face and knocked the warlock onto the floor.
Seeing the time staff on the floor, Sam picked it up.
"This is the source of your power?" Sam held it in the air. "Well no more!"
The leaper brought down the staff and kneed it, shattering the mystical weapon into two and dispersing its energy into the air.
"No!" Kairos gasped.
With the knife now in his own heart, Kairos struggled to get back up but could not. And without his time staff to heal his wounds, he was now a mortal once more.
"It's over," Sam told him resolutely.
"Destiny… this close…" Kairos stretched out his hands, coughing up blood as he did.
Finally, his hand dropped to the floor and the time mage's body twitched a bit more before he finally stopped moving.
Sam took a deep breath and left the corpse of Kairos to help his friend Al, picking up Ziggy as he did.
"Al, are you okay?" Sam asked.
"He hit me with a real zinger," Al coughed. "But I think I can make it."
Sam helped Al to his feet just as the castle began to shake.
"Uh oh," Al looked up.
Up in the sky, the time vortex grew bigger and bigger. This time, trees, grass, and rocks were uplifted from the ground and sucked into the massive portal, which was ever-growing in power.
Sam leaned against one of the standing stones and held on, preventing both himself and Al from being sucked up into the vortex. All around them, everything from the land was being sucked in and not just trees, but also cars, cows, the security personnel who worked under Project Chronos, and the stones from the tower. As Al looked up, he even saw the body of Lee Harvey Oswald flying through the air and finally disappearing into the massive vortex in the sky.
Soon, the body of Kairos floated up in the air from the gravitational pull. The body of the time mage, too, disappeared into the vortex.
"It's too late!" Al shouted.
"No," Sam shook his head. "Where there's a will, there's a way."
He held the hourglass in his hands.
"Ziggy, think you got what it takes for one more hurrah?" he asked.
"Without question, Dr. Beckett," Ziggy agreed.
Sam held on to Ziggy tight as the blue leaper's aura surrounded him. Rather than leap, however, he walked into the eye of the hurricane itself.
"Don't fail me now, Ziggy!" Sam cried.
He raised Ziggy into the air. The hourglass unleashed a massive surge of energy into the air, striking dead center into the time vortex. Slowly, the portal began to weaken, growing smaller and smaller, its quantum energies having been counteracted and negated by Ziggy and the hourglass. Finally, it disappeared completely and the hourglass in Sam's hand finally stopped glowing.
Sam stopped and sank to both knees as the leaper's aura nearly consumed him.
"Sam!" Al rushed forward.
The next thing he knew, the blinding light around Sam disappeared and Sam reappeared once more in white robes, holding the hourglass in his hands.
"Sam, is that you?" Al gasped. "What just happened?"
"I… I understand now," Sam looked down at his new clothes.
From head to toe, Sam Beckett was practically radiant with light.
"Understand what?" Al looked at him in confusion.
"Al," Sam faced his friend. "I think I've just made a leap into destiny itself."
"It's the life he's chosen," Bartender Al appeared from behind one of the stones.
"You!" Al Calavicci was taken aback. "Where'd you come from?"
"I get around," Bartender Al smiled.
"Listen, uh, I want to apologize for how I behaved back at that pub," Al Calavicci said to the bartender. "I had no idea that the one leap Sam made back then was a leap for me."
"It's alright," Bartender Al replied kindly. "You were only concerned for Sam. You had every right to be angry for his sake."
"So what just happened to Sam?" Al Calavicci asked. "Did he become a time mage? Did he die and become an angel? Did he transform into Father Time itself or something?"
"Something," Bartender Al agreed cryptically.
"I'm beginning to see everything more clearly now," Sam told the bartender.
"Sam, back in the old mining town, you discovered that you were the one who truly wanted to continue leaping to make a difference in the lives of others," Bartender Al said to him. "Right now, you've arrived at another crossroads. Is this the life you want to lead?"
"I think we both know the answer to that," Sam smiled.
Al swallowed, realizing that this was indeed the life Sam had chosen for himself. And now, with his wife gone and Sammy Jo already grown into a strong, independent adult woman, there was little to anchor him back into his old life. And not only that, but Sam had even put to rest Al's unfinished business with Beth and enabled him to get back together with the woman he loved.
In every sense, Sam had come full circle with his life in the present.
"Sam…" Al approached his friend. "Thank you for everything you've done for me."
"Hey, what are friends for?" Sam smiled.
The two of them embraced each other.
"I wish you'd come back to us, but if this really is your calling… don't let me hold you back," Al said with a tear in his eye.
Quickly, he wiped it away.
"Excuse me," Al sniffed. "Got some wind in my eyes…"
"It's okay Al," Sam hugged him once more. "I wouldn't have made it this far without you, Al. You're the best friend I've ever had."
"The feeling's mutual, Sam," Al patted Sam on the back.
"It's funny," Sam looked up. "I took my first leap to prove my theory correct. Then I leaped around in time because I thought I was trying to make it home. And now I realize that this is my life. This is what I was meant to do. To make right what once went wrong."
"I guess this is goodbye then," Al wiped away some more tears.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be alright," Sam assured him. "Go back to Beth and your daughters. They're all waiting for you."
"Then… I guess this is finally the end of Project Quantum Leap," Al looked down.
"No," Sam smiled. "This is just the beginning."
Sam raised his hourglass, now bonded with Ziggy, into the air and a bright white light enveloped all of them.
oooo
Al opened his eyes once more. He was no longer in England on the castle which housed Project Chronos.
He was, now, back in Project Quantum Leap's headquarters in New Mexico. And so were Sammy Jo, Tina, Gooshie, and Dr. Beeks.
"If I may be so blunt, what in the Sam Hill just happened?" Dr. Beeks looked at her surroundings.
"One minute we're in England and now we're back here," Tina looked at her own hands. "It makes no sense."
"Al, you were with Sam," Gooshie went up to the observer. "What just happened?"
"It was Sam," Al told them. "He leaped us all back."
"Where is Sam?" demanded Gooshie.
"He's… it's complicated," admitted Al.
"Wait, he isn't… dead, is he?" Tina looked worried.
"No, far from it," Al told all of them. "Look, I know this is going to be hard to believe but… Sam has gone to a better place, and I'm not talking about the grave."
Everybody from Project Quantum Leap could only look at Al, unsure of what to make of his remarks.
"As strange as it sounds, you don't have to worry one bit about Sam," Al informed all of them.
oooo
Before long, everybody at Project Quantum Leap had wrapped up their work for the day and headed home.
Sammy Jo Fuller, however, lingered on for a bit longer to talk with Al.
"So what really happened to Sam?" she asked.
"Sam went on to a better place," Al told her. "Let's just say he's like a guardian angel now."
"Wait, so he did die?" Sammy Jo was shocked.
"No, no, it didn't happen like that," Al corrected her. "Let's just say that Sam found out he had a higher calling."
"Did he… get sent back into time again?" she inquired.
"You could say that," Al answered.
"Are we ever going to see him again?"
"I don't know the answer to that, Sammy Jo. But what I do know is that no matter what, the memory of Sam is going to live on… in our memories and most importantly, in our hearts."
"Well, wherever he is," Sammy Jo sighed wistfully, "I hope Dr. Beckett has found happiness."
"He is," Al put a hand on Sammy Jo's shoulder. "And he'd want for you to be very happy as well."
oooo
"Al!" Beth Calavicci cried as her husband's car finally pulled up in front of their garage.
Beth ran over to Al and embraced him as their three daughters stood by the door.
"You were gone for days," Beth hugged Al tightly. "I was afraid you wouldn't come back… a second time."
"You were always at the center of my mind," Al assured her. "I had to help my friend Sam get done with some very important work overseas. And now that that's over, I plan on staying with my family for as long as I live!"
"It's good to have you back, Al," Beth caressed his head.
"It's good to finally be back, honey," Al kissed his wife.
"Daddy!" his oldest daughter ran up to him as the other two followed.
"And I missed you too, pumpkin!" Al knelt down and hugged his daughters.
"Daddy, what did you do overseas with Sam?" his youngest daughter asked.
"Let me tell you, it was the adventure of a lifetime," Al explained. "And you know what, if you girls eat your veggies tonight, I'll tell it all to you before bedtime!"
"Speaking of which, dinner's ready," Beth told him. "Let's go inside."
From out of the corner of his eye, Al saw a man in the distance. It was a radiant man in white robes who carried an hourglass in his arms.
"I'll be right with you," Al kissed Beth. "Why don't all of you head inside first? I'll catch up soon."
After Beth and his daughters went back into the house, Al turned back towards Sam in the distance.
"I love you, Sam," Al said to his friend. "And thank you."
Sam only smiled and tipped his head to Al. In turn, Al smiled back and waved.
"Al, are you coming?" Beth called out.
Al was distracted momentarily and as he looked up again, he realized Sam was no longer there.
"Coming dear," Al opened the door and headed inside.
Wistfully, Al took one last look outside.
"Goodbye Sam," Al whispered, heading back inside to greet his family once more.
In the distance, Sam finally turned around from Al's house and began walking down the road as the sun began to set. Step by step, he walked calmly as a blue aura surrounded him once more.
Finally, he vanished in a flash of blue light, having transcended the limitations of this life and having embraced his destiny once more of making right what once went wrong.
Fin.