CHAPTER 26: HUNTER'S CALL

This isn't what was supposed to happen. We should have been better than this. As I watched the guards pull Sarah and I away from each other, hands cuffed behind our backs, I racked my brains to try and figure out what happened.

It didn't make sense. If the guards had suspected anything when we were inside the base, they never would have let us leave. So what happened that caused them to come after us, especially with this much man power?

We were all separated. In the time it took for the guards to detain us, two more humvees pulled up, and we were all placed into different vehicles. None of the guards said anything to me as they shut me inside the vehicle. I was reminded of Vanuatu, but the VMF didn't keep their weapons trained on us. These men had their rifles aimed directly at me, ensuring that if I tried to escape or resist, they would gun me down without hesitation. I remained silent, feeling cold sweat down my back as the humvee drove back to the base.

IN THE EYES OF THE MULTIVERSE:

Thirty minutes later, Gibbs sat in a dimly-lit room with a one-way window and one exit. He was alone, and he glanced at the cameras in all four corners. After about five minutes, the door opened, and a man walked in. Gibbs smirked as the man set a briefcase down and sat across the steel table from him, and the two surveyed each other with even expressions. This man had close-cut gray hair, and he wore a dark-gray suit with blue shirt and black tie.

"What is your name?" the man asked.

"Jethro Gibbs," he answered calmly.

"Jethro Gibbs, my name is Lucio Parish, and I'm the head of security for Grissom Air Reserve Base."

Gibbs nodded. "It's a pleasure."

"I want to ask you something, Jethro," Parish stated. "Do you know why you're here today?"

Gibbs eyed him silently for several seconds before shaking his head. "Couldn't tell you." He shrugged and said, "I thought we got out clean."

Parish nodded. "You almost did." Parish reached down into his briefcase and pulled out a tablet. Gibbs watched him tap on it for a moment before Parish turned the screen towards him. Displayed was CCTV footage looking down on a battleground. Fires burned across the city streets. A husk of metal the size of an eighteen-wheeler lay in the debris, torn in half.

Parish double-tapped on the screen, causing the image to split into four. The images now showed Gibbs, Fornell, Theas, and Admiral McGee with their weapons drawn, deep in the middle of combat.

"The Department of Defense considers your group terrorists," Parish informed Gibbs. "Enemies of the state. Surely you know this already, which means allowing yourselves to be seen on a military base was either very brave or very foolish."

Gibbs remained silent. His eyes were laser-focused on Parish's, who didn't waver. "What were you planning to do here today, Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs's smirk slowly faded, replaced with incomprehension.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, it was intelligent to not keep identification on you," Parish assured him. "Particularly any belonging to a federal officer. Unfortunately, in my older years, I've found myself taking to quiet nights at home with the television turned on."

Gibbs had to fight to keep his jaw closed. "You're taking this awfully well," he said hoarsely.

"I didn't sleep for several nights after I saw this footage, I promise you," Parish stated. "I had no idea what to believe or how to believe it. We already cleared the man who portrays your character of any involvement, which only left one ulterior possibility." Gibbs and Parish held silent, tense eye contact for several seconds.

"Special Agent Gibbs, not only do I want to know why a man from the bowels of fiction has apparently come to life," Parish said. "I also want to understand how a man who has dedicated his life to serving his country becomes involved in this kind of activity."

"What do you think is happening there, Parish?" Gibbs asked.

"It appears to me that you're attacking a great American city. People died as a result of your actions. Are you here to tell me that isn't what happened?"

Gibbs smirked again. "I asked you what you think happened."

Parish eyed him for several seconds. "I don't have any idea."

When Gibbs didn't elaborate, Parish tapped on his tablet. After a few seconds, the screen showed images of each of the Macrobreach Anomalies. Gibbs, Fornell, Diane, and Ari were all shown in interrogation rooms inside the base. The rest of the Anomalies were depicted at the battle in Chicago. The only one absent was Jackson Gibbs.

"That's a lot of people," Parish said matter-of-factly. "It's a lot of fictional people. It's these three that I'm not sure on." He tapped on the tablet, bringing up profiles of Jack, Sarah, and Theas. "Who are they?"

Gibbs didn't respond, and Parish said, "Don't let me misspeak, we know everything about Mister and Misses Fosse from the time they left their mothers' wombs. I'm really just interested in their involvement towards your presence here with us."

"Parish," Gibbs said, "you seem like a nice guy. Seem like you got your head on straight. But I got nothing for you."

"If that's how you feel, then allow me to put everything onto the table," Parish said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table. "I have videographic evidence of you committing acts of terrorism against this nation. I have your trunks full of weapons the likes of which this world has never seen. I have your unauthorized presence on this base with no known motive. Now, if you're anything like the man portrayed by an actor, then I happen to know that you're a moral man. But if you want anything other than a lifetime in federal penitentiary, I recommend you start talking."

Gibbs's eyes were narrowed as he held eye contact with Parish. Finally, he said, "Where do you want to start?"

The slightest of smiles flickered across Parish's face, and he inquired, "Why did you come to Grissom?"

Gibbs weighed his words. "Just running an errand."

"And does this errand pertain to the other person we found sneaking around here?" Parish asked pointedly.

Gibbs's smirk widened. Parish nodded.

"Agent Gibbs," Parish addressed, "I don't think I need to tell you how precarious your situation is. Not only are you a terrorist, but you're some kind of situation that no one has ever heard of. I have the Secretaries of State and Defense on their way here as we speak to get a good look at you and your cohorts. Now, I happen to know these people personally, and they won't take kindly to what you are and what you've done."

"Parish," Gibbs said softly. "If I could even begin to explain to you what's going on…."

"You'd have a dream story for me that would convince me to allow you to walk right out that door, I'm sure," Parish supplied. "I know you've done it before. Unfortunately, things don't work like that here."

"Where are Jack and Sarah?" Gibbs asked. "And the others?"

"You are in no position to be making inquiries," Parish said, somewhat severely. "What are you people doing on my base?"

"Here's how it is," Gibbs said, throwing caution to the wind. "Believe it or don't, people from my world, they keep crossing over. It's up to us to bring them in, give them somewhere safe. We don't have control over where they pop out. That's just the way it is."

Parish mulled over this, remaining silent for nearly a minute. Finally, he said, "And Jack and Sarah, they're assisting you, I take it? But they're not from your world."

"No," Gibbs confirmed. "They're from here. They got caught up in the middle, and they're just trying to do some good."

"Well, we'll talk about how much good can be gained from attacking the city of Chicago," Parish assured him. "But for now, I want you to identify this individual." He showed Gibbs the tablet, which showed Theas in Chicago, wielding his electrified swords.

"He's kind of our ringleader," Gibbs told him. "He tells us where to go and what to do when we get there."

"And where is this man now?" Parish asked.

Gibbs shrugged. "I don't have the slightest idea," he assured Parish. "He could be on the other side of the galaxy, or he could be down the hall. He doesn't keep me informed of his schedule."

"Then I suppose that leads us to our most important discussion," Parish decided. "What was your group doing in Chicago?"

Gibbs looked away from Parish, staring at his reflection in the one-way mirror. He thought about the number of times he was either behind the glass or in Parish's seat. He also remembered the times when he was in the same seat he sat in now, and the circumstances that led there. Finally, Gibbs looked back to Parish and said, "We were fighting."

"Fighting who?" Parish asked.

Gibbs stared at him, having no idea how to answer the question.

In the lab under the Fosse residence, Luca worked at a computer, analyzing the expansive text in front of him.

"Hey," Sloane said as she walked over to him. "Have you heard from Jethro and the others?" she asked.

Luca shook his head, looking nonplussed. "Last I heard, they were about thirty minutes away from Grissom. They should have gotten there a couple hours ago by now. I would think they'd be back any time."

"Yeah," Sloane said. "I've tried calling Jethro and Tobias a couple of times, but neither of them will answer."

Luca did not miss her concern. He turned away from the computer to face her fully, leaning his hip against the desk. "You think something happened?" he asked.

"I think it's possible, yeah," Sloane answered. "I think we need to know that they're okay."

Luca nodded, seeing her point. "How do you want to do that? They took both the cars."

"Right, and we have no way of getting there otherwise," Sloane agreed. "It'd be nice if Pirises or Daak would spare us a portal.

"I don't really see that happening," Luca said. "I talked to Theas about why we always have to travel by ground to the Macrobreaches. He told me that the more Aolen that's released into the world, which portals release a lot of it, the more chances the public has of figuring out what's going on. It makes sense if you think about it. You can feel the energy in the air before and after a portal is opened in the lab. It's got this static charge to it."

"Yeah," Sloane agreed, "it makes your bones feel like they're lighting up like Christmas trees."

Luca nodded. "Well, we're not the only ones who can perceive that. And some of this world's equipment can pick it up. If they realize there's a pattern to the Aolen charges, they can find ways to track them and figure out where they're coming from. So, Theas was approved only to teleport us to places that are more than a few hours away by car."

Sloane shook her head. "We need some answers," she stated firmly.

"I'll look into it," Luca assured her. "Military bases have plenty of security cameras I can hack to track them down. I'll see if I can figure out what happened to them."

"Thank you," Sloane said with relief. "Let me know what you find out please."

Luca nodded, and Sloane turned and strolled away. Jackson walked in, supported by his cane, and he and Sloane exchanged genial greetings as he approached Luca.

"You wanted to see me?" Jackson said to Luca.

"Yeah," Luca confirmed. "I had an idea, and I wanted to see what your thoughts were."

"Okay," Jackson said. "I'm all ears."

A fist knocked on a door, which opened to allow Kyle to peer out. Rob stared at him, looking troubled.

"What's up?" Kyle asked.

"Am I a coward?" Rob asked.

Kyle gawked at him. "I'm confused," he said. "Where's this coming from?" He stepped fully out of his quarters, shutting the door to engage Rob.

"I'm trained in combat," Rob said. "I would be helpful in a fight against the Hunters. But instead I chose to stay here and play lab monkey."

"Well, there are a lot of monkeys in this lab, so it's not just you," Kyle said. "Admiral McGee and Gibbs Senior both fought wars, and they're still in here.

"Yeah, and they could crumble to dust any second," Rob countered. "It's different for me. There's no real reason I can't help ART."

"I mean," Kyle said, rubbing his head and letting out a deep breath, "A lot of us have gone on missions with ART. Didn't you go with Sloane and Admiral McGee to pick up Gibbs Senior?"

"Well, yeah, but that wasn't a combat mission," Rob said. "There was nothing to be scared of."

"You didn't know that at the time," Kyle reminded him. "There was nothing assuring you that the Hunters wouldn't come for you that day. And you still went."

"Yeah, but what will happen when I'm actually on a combat op?" Rob asked. "Am I just going to freeze up and be useless?"

"I…really can't answer that," Kyle said. "All I know is you fought with all of us at Turkey Run. I think that says a lot."

Rob nodded, considering Kyle's words. After a moment, he said, "Yeah, you're right." He patted Kyle on the shoulder and said, "Thanks, man. I appreciate you."

He turned around and strode off, whistling cheerily as Kyle stared after him.

After Rob left earshot, Kyle said, "I'm really confused," before going back into his quarters.

On Superias, the battle between the Keepers and the Hunters continued to tear apart the battlefield.

Theas thrust his sword at Nok, who leaped high into the air to avoid it. While airborne, Nok swung his sword through the air, causing the ground to be blasted out in a line that passed over Theas. Theas leaped out of the destruction, pursuing Nok through the air. Theas attacked him mercilessly, swinging his electrified swords with all his strength. Nok kept his defense strong, and after expertly blocking several powerful strikes, Nok kicked Theas back.

While flying back through the air, Theas aimed both swords at Nok. Electric tendrils flowed through the blades, building into a powerful blast that fired from the swords. Nok held his sword out in front of him to defend himself, and the electric blast crashed into him and exploded outward, shrouding Nok in smoke and flames. Nok dropped out of the smoke and landed on the ground, blood dripping down his head, and Theas leaped out of a portal behind him while swinging both swords.

Nok ducked down to evade the strike, and he perched onto one hand, swinging his leg around, knocking Theas's swords aside before kicking him in the jaw with his other foot and knocking him back. Nok quickly returned to his feet, swinging his sword and slashing Theas in the gut. Theas maintained his composure, and he intensified the electricity around his swords before attacking Nok again. He swung one sword down on top of the Hunter, and Nok sidestepped this while a massive wave of electricity rose high into the air.

Theas swung his second sword, but Nok jumped up, placing his hand on Theas's shoulder to vault over him and avoid the strike. Before Nok hit the ground, Theas spun around, swinging both his swords into Nok and letting off a devastating blast of electricity. The attack tore apart the mountain face while dust and rubble exploded outwards. The other fighters were buffeted by the strike, and both Theas and Nok were lost in the carnage.

Eliacro jumped down off a ridge as rubble and dust passed overhead, and she looked around to see Iryn standing twenty feet away and watching her silently. Eliacro clutched her weapon in her hand, and she moved towards Iryn while swinging it around. Concentrations of purple light formed in the air in front of Iryn before they fired at Eliacro as energy blasts. Eliacro swung the disk, blocking most of the blasts as the rest hit the ground around her. She then spun a full circle before launching the disk straight at Iryn.

An energy shield appeared in front of Iryn, knocking the weapon away, and Eliacro reeled it back in, spinning around before bringing the blade down on top of her. The same thing happened again, and Iryn remained unharmed as Eliacro pulled her weapon back in, wrapping the cord around her.

"It's fine," Eliacro said. "You keep going. You'll run out of Aolen eventually."

Brindier landed on the ground with fire surging around her body, and she aimed her fist to fire two fire blasts.

"What the hell is this guy's problem?" she growled, seething.

The fire blasts were knocked aside by Falien, who wielded two dark-gray metal maces with spiked heads, both of which surged with yellow electricity. He swung his mace and fired a blast of electricity at Brindier, who fired a fire blast in return. Their powers slammed into each other, exploding outward in a blast that cracked the stone underneath. Falien rushed in, raising both of his maces, and Brindier braced herself for his arrival. She ducked the first swing, but Falien immediately followed up by swinging his second mace down on top of her. Brindier managed to back away, allowing Falien to gouge a massive crater into the ground as electricity erupted out.

Falien fired another electric blast at Brindier, and while she tried to throw up a wall of fire to defend herself, she was too slow and allowed the attack to crash onto her. Brindier tumbled across the ground, and Falien came down on top of her and slammed his mace into her. The ground crumbled under the attack, and Brindier groaned in pain while trying to crawl away.

Falien walked calmly towards her, one mace over his shoulder while the other one was at his side, and he maintained a calm determination while preparing to deliver a lethal strike.

Saphyon tumbled through the air before crashing into the ground, and he rolled into a Boulder where he lay, groaning in pain.

Alkor charged him, antlers aimed forward, and Saphyon aimed his assault rifle around and fired a concentrated bolt of red energy. Alkor redirected his course around the blast, which crashed into the ground some distance away and blasted out a crater into the stone. Alkor measured his attack strategy, trotting laterally to Saphyon as the Keeper kept his rifle trained on him. Saphyon maintained his distance from the Hunter, and meanwhile Alkor searched for the best method of attack against him.

Finally, Alkor patted the ground twice with his front hooves, opening a hole in the stone that the Hunter dove down into. Saphyon was unable to wage an assault in time to stop him, and Alkor sank out of sight. Saphyon kept his gun raised, waiting for Alkor's reappearance, and he leaped out of the way just as the ground burst open under where he had been standing. Alkor erupted out of the mountain, and Saphyon rolled across the ground. His assault rifle clattered away, and Saphyon rolled back to his feet, facing Alkor while trying to devise a strategy.

Alkor charged again, and as he approached Saphyon, the ground was gouged out from his hooves. Saphyon reached around to his back where there were two weapons holstered. He placed his arms against the braces, which closed around his wrists, and he pulled them around to face Alkor with blades curving from his wrists to his elbows. The blades glowed red, and as Alkor stormed through, Saphyon vaulted over him, flipping through the air and slashing the Hunter several times across the back with his blades.

Blood spattered out from the attack, and Alkor huffed in dismay as he trotted around, staring malevolently at Saphyon as he landed back on the ground. Alkor turned to face him, and his antlers glowed bright blue. A ball of energy formed between the tips of his antlers, building in power as Saphyon braced himself. Alkor fired off an enormous beam of energy, and Saphyon crossed his arms, his wrist blades generating lines of red energy that formed an x in front of him. Alkor's attack slammed into Saphyon's defense, and the Keeper held strong until the energy erupted into a massive explosion that ripped apart the mountain as fire and smoke rose into the air.

Pasir ran out of the way of several burning shots, and he leapt high into the air to avoid Gilo rushing at him. As Gilo flew away, Pasir took aim and fired several shots. Gilo shot out of the way of all of the gunshots, and he plummeted down the side of the mountain and out of sight. Pasir landed on the ground, aiming a gun to either side of him as he looked around, waiting for Gilo to attack. After a few seconds, Gilo shot back up the mountain, fully enveloped in fire, and he came down on top of Pasir as a raging inferno.

Pasir shot out of the way as Gilo crashed into the mountain, blasting out rubble in a wave of flames.

JACK FOSSE:

I sat in an interrogation room, trying to control my hands. I wiped the sweat from them on my pants, and I looked around in the eerie silence. I had been in here for almost an hour, but I hadn't seen anyone. I had no idea what had happened to Sarah or any of the Anomalies. All it took was for any of them to recognize Gibbs, and it was over for all of us.

Finally, the door to the interrogation room opened, and a man walked in.

"Mister Fosse, my name is Lucio Parish," he introduced. I gave him a curt nod as he sat across the table from me. He pulled from his briefcase a tablet, which he sat on the table in front of him. "The first thing I want you to know is that Sarah is perfectly fine," Parish told me. "She's in the room next door. I'd be happy to give you some security footage of her if you'd like."

My eyes narrowed, but Parish maintained his composure.

"Why did you apprehend us?" I asked.

Parish shrugged. "Typically I'm the one who asks the questions in these situations," he told me. "Tell you what. I'll answer one of yours if you answer one of mine."

I eyed him, and after a moment of consideration, I nodded.

"How long have you been aware of the presence of these fictitious entities in our realm?" Parish asked.

I was quite surprised to see him get right to the point so quickly, and this showed when my eyebrows raised. "Three weeks," I answered.

Parish nodded, and he typed on his tablet. After he was finished, he said, "You're here, not to disregard the novelty of the situation of Special Agent Gibbs and the others, because Agent Gibbs's group is implicated in what have been called acts of terrorism regarding the events that took place in Chicago thirteen days ago. While you and your spouse don't seem to have had much to do with that, you have been found colluding with the parties assumed responsible."

"That's not what happened," I told him. "That's not it at all."

"I see," Parish said, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms. "Then please, do elaborate."

I sighed, knowing that I could never properly explain this to Parish in a way that would convince him to let us all go. But I needed to tell him something that would keep him from incarcerating us all. "Look," I said, my voice breaking with nerves. "It's not what you think it is."

"Mister Fosse, I'm still waiting for you to tell me what it is," Parish said.

I took another deep breath. I thought about Sarah, how imperative it was that I see her again. "Okay," I breathed. "This is a lot, and you're going to have to bear with me," I told him. Parish raised an eyebrow, but he leaned in closer, giving me his fullest attention.

Electricity slammed into the mountain on Superias, and Theas dropped down and landed on the ground. He rose up and parried a slash from Nok. Nok landed on the ground directly in front of Theas, and he blocked several slashes from Theas with his own sword. Theas shot past him, swinging his sword, but Nok was successfully able to defend against this. They both spun around and swung their swords, and despite the presence of ten feet of space between them, the air was ripped apart in an explosion that blasted them both back.

Theas rolled to his feet, but his eyes widened as he ducked down to evade a slash from Nok, who had appeared behind him. Nok kicked Theas back, and he then swung his sword through the air. The ground under Theas exploded, knocking him back through the air, and Nok pursued him with his sword raised. Theas tried to defend himself in midair, but Nok slammed his sword into him, blasting Theas down and sending him crashing into the ground. Nok landed on the ground twenty feet away as Theas crawled out of the crater he had carved in the mountain.

Nok aimed the tip of his sword at Theas and fired a bolt of black energy at him. Theas crossed his swords, but he couldn't build his defense as the blast crashed into him. Theas was shrouded in smoke and dust, but this was blown aside as Theas built up electric energy into his swords. He aimed both swords at Nok, the flats of his blades facing each other, and a surge of electricity flowed between the blades. Nok braced himself before moving in on Theas, but Theas fired a supercharged blast of electrical energy.

Nok's sword became shrouded in black, and he swung it into the electrical blast. The result was a devastating explosion that gouged out a chunk of the mountain, sending debris erupting outwards in all directions. All of the fighters took cover from the devastation, and while the dust rolled over Theas like a tidal wave, he maintained his composure, swords held in front of him ready to defend. Theas's eyes widened, and he only barely managed to keep Nok's blade from penetrating him as it came out of the dust. Nok drove Theas backwards, and the Hunter began pounding him with powerful strikes that Theas could only barely keep at bay.

Their battle raged across the mountain, blasting out dust and rubble across the battlefield. Theas flew backwards while swinging his sword, but Nok blocked this with his own blade before tripping up Theas and slamming his sword into him. Theas was blasted deep into a crater in the stone, and as the dust around them cleared, Nok stood at the brim of the crater, sword over his shoulder while he looked down upon Theas. Theas finally managed to return to his feet, and he swung his sword and fired a volley of electric bolts at Nok. Nok blocked all of these effortlessly, and he jumped down, sliding down the side of the crater in an approach against Theas.

Theas swung his sword, but Nok blocked the attack, and they exchanged several slashes to a stalemate. Theas swung his sword at Nok, but Nok backed off, standing several feet above him on the crater wall.

"You know," said Nok, "I guess now's probably a good time to tell you, it isn't me."

Theas, completely flabbergasted by this pronouncement, gawked at Nok. "What are you talking about?"

"You came here because of a massive beacon of Skotos that you tracked, right?" Nok said. "You followed the Skotos signal here, assuming it was coming from me."

Theas's eyes narrowed as he maintained his guard, but he didn't attack.

"Only, it wasn't me," Nok told him. "I don't have anything to do with it."

Theas stared openmouthed at Nok for several seconds, trying to wrap his mind around this. His eyes then slowly widened in comprehension, and his face paled as though he had seen Hell. "It's here," he breathed. "The Macrobreach device, it's here."