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Chapter -25- Transition

New Years Eve, 2049 - 11:55pm Lower City ...

Heimdallr brought his fists down upon the last armored human. He had to admit they put up a valiant fight.

Heimdallr entered a room at the heart of the temple. The scene was something worthy of poem. The next room was beautiful. Pillars stretched to the high ceiling. Murals were splayed across the walls.

At the center of the room, a machine was constructed with Conner Parker slumped in a chair. He had wires connected to a halo around his head. The cables were attached to the adjacent computer equipment.

Heimdallr stormed into the room.

Loki and Sigyn looked up, flanking Aris Falcon.

Heimdallr lifted a sword in his right hand. He held the piece aloft. It was opaque and forged out of sapphire. The sword was tempered and sharpened to exquisite perfection. It had wings where the handle connected to the base of its blade.

Loki narrowed his gaze. "That is a fine weapon. Since when did you fight with a blade made from anything other than iron or steel?"

"At first I was skeptical," said Heimdallr. "A blade that does not vibrate or warble when struck - I thought it would shatter like a boulder struck by a mighty hammer."

"Have you thrashed many boulders with your decorative blade?" Loki withdrew a weapon of his own. "Have you thoroughly tested it, oh shining white god?" The technically advanced weapon in Loki's grasp was little more than a weighed metallic handle.

"Evan Balmoral makes more than _just_sapphire, which, on its own, is quite brittle."

"Mm, well at least it will be resistant to scratching. We wouldn't want your pretty decoration to be marred from battle." Loki grinned. He approached Heimdallr, sizing up his opponent.

Heimdallr brought the blade over his knee and demonstrated his inability to break it. "Evan has become a master weapon smith. I dare pit his blade against a piece forged by the dwarves. It has been enhanced by his friend, young Johann Foster. They worked together and created a new ore. It will neither scratch nor break. Allow me to demonstrate it for you."

"Please do." Loki opened his arms with a smile. "I am right here, waiting."

Heimdallr swung the blade for Loki's right arm, looking to injure the fellow god.

Loki thumbed the activator on the handle of his weapon. Solidified light formed. It took the shape of a pole, catching Heimdallr's blade and holding it back.

Heimdallr grimaced, pushing his blade against the strange technology wielded by Loki. The fight began as a test of upper body strength.

Loki narrowed his eyes, moving close. "Gulltoppr is dead. Your horse was slain in battle in the Celestial Realm battles at the edge of Asgard's borders."

"I have told no one of Gulltoppr's death."

"You did not need to," Loki said with a smile. "I lured him away in the form of a mare. The fool followed, and I buried a blade into the heart of your precious steed. I've waited a while to tell you in person. I wanted to see your eyes."

Heimdallr's lips curled apart, sneering in Loki's face. "You enjoy that form, don't you, Loki? You are not the only god who can shift his shape. I could never understand your preference for it."

Loki brought his sword up. The solid light faded.

Heimdallr grit his teeth and lifted his weapon to counter the blade.

Loki's blade disappeared completely. He struck Heimdallr in the mouth with the handle, shattering the great god's golden teeth.

Heimdallr staggered backwards with a groan. He used his free hand to cover his mouth. Blood dribbled from between his knuckles, running down his wrist and chin. "What manner of sorcery is this that creates solid light?"

Loki engaged the solid-light sword again. "Technology beyond the wildest dreams of Asgard's dwarves. It holds shape, it is sharp on one end, smooth and round on the back of the blade, and the heaviest part is the battery that powers the device. There is a reason why the ancient gods feared the first humans. There is a reason why we took out our aggression on the descendants of Earth."

"Light cannot be solid."

Loki scoffed. "And I thought you were a smart man, Heimdallr. Anything with mass can be made to become solid."

"It should be hot," Heimdallr murmured. He turned his head to the left and spit pieces of his golden teeth on the tiled floor.

"The molecules are brought together, so that they are dense, and then frozen into place. Frozen, Heimdallr. Again, I thought you were smart."

"I will fight you however you wish to fight, Loki. As a seal, or as a man. Choose how you wish to be defeated."

Loki glanced over his shoulder to Falcon. "Figure out how to use the boy so we can gain entrance to the inner sanctum. My patience is growing thin."

Heimdallr shouted, "Conner!"

Parker opened his eyes. He brought a hand up and rubbed his eyes. "Drugs..."

Loki met Heimdallr's next sword attack. They parried and thrusted, swinging their weapons about. Heimdallr called back towards Conner. "Wake up, boy!"

Loki scoffed. "He currently struggles with something called a 'sedative.' See how he is drunk after a thimble of liquid injected into his arm?"

"What manner of liquor ... did you _poison_him?!" Heimdallr deflected another attack. He spit another bit of his broken teeth over his lips. "You are cowards, all of you."

Conner's head tilted forward. He tried to keep his gaze up to watch the fight but it was difficult. "Heim ... dall, I'm sorry."

Heimdallr kicked Loki square in the chest, shoving him back. The god made his way to a pillar where Conner's cane was leaning. He snatched it and shoved Falcon and Sigyn back. Heimdallr shoved the weapon into Conner's grasp. "Fight it!"

Sigyn leapt onto Heimdallr from behind. She wrapped her arms around his throat. "You dare kick my husband," she hissed into the god's ear.

Heimdallr fell to his hip, landing on the Gjallarhorn fixed to his belt. He groaned at the sensation of the solid horn biting into his side.

Falcon reached for Conner's cane.

Conner clenched it in his palm. Electricity surged through it. The intensity of the charge in the orichalcum cane caused Falcon to be thrown backwards when touching the staff.

Conner gasped at the sensation of raw wattage channeled into his body. The heat of the voltage burned up the small amount of chemicals injected into his body. His adrenaline and metabolism did the rest.

Parker's eyes widened. He reached up with his free hand and ripped the wires and metallic halo from his forehead.

The computer screen adjacent to his chair went dark. A hint of smoke wafted up from the monitor.

Conner spilled from the chair and dove towards Heimdallr. He shoved Sigyn off.

She rolled over and got to her feet. "You would not dare attack me."

Conner drew his cane back and swung it. He amped up the energy in the pole.

Sigyn caught the staff in her palm. All at once, the electricity drained out of the pole.

Conner blinked, unable to comprehend why it didn't work on her.

Sigyn smiled. "Your charms do not work on me." She brought her foot up and shoved Conner back. "Back into the chair, boy."

"This can be a simple ending," Falcon said. "Will the inner sanctum to open, Conner. I will let you live. I will allow you to go home to Tamae."

Conner rotated his wrist. He jerked the cane from Sigyn's grasp, and used the hook to snag her by the elbow. Conner opened his stance and pivoted hard.

Sigyn's body sailed up, slamming into Falcon. Both went to the ground.

Loki ducked the swipe of Heimdallr's sword blade. He dove away from the fight and hurried to his wife. He picked her up over his shoulder and stood. "Are you harmed?"

"Loki, no," she groaned softly.

Loki carried her off towards the towering door on the far wall. He passed _through_the enormous barrier, as though the door was nothing more than a mirage.

Conner looked up, gawking at their escape in shock.

Falcon blinked, staring at the door - a door he'd been unable to access, and had attempted to penetrate for decades.

Heimdallr noticed Conner and Falcon's shocked expression. He turned to the large door and approached it. Heimdallr wrapped his knuckles against the solid surface. "How did he pass through."

Falcon walked away from his machine. He placed his palms against the enormous two-story door. "I ... I don't understand."

"He left you," Conner said. "You shouldn't have befriended those two."

"That does not matter," said Aris. "The question is ... how did he pass through without you, Conner?"

Falcon pushed his hands against the surface of the door. "It's solid. They walked through it, together, with ease."

Conner shrugged. "They don't know what's in there. They can't do shit with it if they don't understand it. I'm not concerned."

A hand reached through the doorway, snatched Falcon's wrist and pulled him through.

Conner gawked. "What!"

Heimdallr slammed his sword blade against the solid massive door where Falcon stood seconds prior. "How did they pass through?"

"I don't know!" Conner exclaimed. "I was told they needed me to go through! If Falcon gets his hands on whatever is in there ... Steven said we're all screwed if Falcon gets that technology, whatever it is."

Heimdallr wrapped the sword in various places on the tall door. "How thick is the gate, which bars our passage?"

Conner approached the door and knocked is cane against it. "I don't even know how to open it! I don't think I can!"

"You must try. We have to stop them."

Conner rubbed his face. "God dammit!" He continued tapping his cane along the length of the two-story tall door. "It's solid. There's no hollow sections. How the hell did they get through?!"

"A better question is - if Loki could do this, why didn't he manage it earlier? Why abduct you in the first place?"

"I'm supposed to be this ... reborn genetic reproduction of the ruler of this city. He somehow managed to interface with the technology of this temple, and sealed it off forever. They think I can open it. I wouldn't open for them, but it doesn't matter because I don't know how!"

Heimdallr rubbed at his hip. He unclasped the Gjallarhorn and looked it over the mighty horn. "It has been damaged. Perhaps the dwarves will know how to repair this tragedy."

"What's it for?"

"It is the ultimate warning. Now, I fear, there will be no way to warn the gods of an impending doom. It was designed so that the warning will be clearly heard in all realms, in all universes."

Conner turned to one of the pillars and, out of aggravation, he swung the cane and struck the fluted white column. It cracked. A section fell away, displaying ancient cables beneath. They ran up through the pillar, layered with foreign looking electronics.

Heimdallr approached the pillar. "What manner of tubing is this?"

"I ... think it's data cables. Fiber optic stuff or ... whatever technology those people used. I figured it was all quantum computing, and they wouldn't need..."

"Conner!" The voice belonged to Raul.

Conner and Heimdallr turned to face the Spaniard in the doorway across the room. "Mr. Poliandro, they somehow got through the door."

"Can you follow them?"

Conner shook his head. "I can't get in. I thought you can move through time, man. Can't you take us back ten minutes ago so we can stop them?"

Raul grimaced. "I have come to this point at three distinct points in time, in three directions, and it is no longer accessible in this point of time."

"What does that even mean?!" Conner roared.

Raul held his hands up, gesturing to calm the boy. "It means Falcon has managed to enact technology that has inhibited my ability a number of years ago."

"Can't you go find that tech and destroy it?" Conner exclaimed.

"Yes. I suppose I could search for it. However, I cannot go back in time to before the tech was lifted. The block of time you wish me to access - where Falcon and the others managed to go through the door ... that is blocked. The technology would still be active during that point of time."

"Fuck!" Conner slammed his cane against the fluted pillar again. Another section broke away from the column, uncovering more cabling beneath the façade. "How can you not use your powers over time because of a piece of stupid technology?!"

"Do you understand how quantum locking works?"

"No!"

Raul grimaced at Conner's tone. "Do you understand the theory of folding time? Can you comprehend a Mobius strip with a cross section of a prism?"

"What?! No! I don't even know what that shit means!"

"Then do not shout at me, regarding why I cannot move freely in the section of time regarding Falcon's ability to restrict temporal movement or change during this block of time. If you do not understand it, then you have no right to criticize me."

Conner rubbed his forehead. He took a deep breath. "Okay. Look, can the technology be deactivated?"

"Si, it is controlled by an energy source that would quantum-lock the..."

Conner put his cane in the holster on his back. "Stop, man. Stop."

"Que?"

"Don't explain it. Just ... if it can be done, do it. You're our do-over. If I die in an hour, you can reset that, provided we turn off this stupid time thing forty-five minutes from now, right? So take Heimdallr and find it. He'll keep you alive."

Raul turned to Heimdallr. "Feel up to a quest?"

Heimdallr turned to Conner. "I will check on you shortly. If you managed to open the door..."

"I'll leave it open. I'll wait for you before going in, okay?"

Heimdallr nodded. "That would be wise, yes. See you shortly." Heimdallr gestured from Raul to the door at the other end of the room. "Let us go find your mighty power source that overpowers the very manipulation of time, shall we?"

Raul smiled. "You understand!" He turned to Conner. "See? It wasn't that difficult to comprehend."

Conner grimaced. "Loki called him an idiot." His eyes cut from Raul to Heimdallr. "I guess you're smarter than Loki gives you credit for. Good luck, guys."

The god and the time-traveler left.

Conner withdrew his cane and set it down. He dropped into the empty chair by Falcon's computer. He rubbed his forehead and sighed. "How do you will a door to open? If only this place had a computer I could talk to, then I could tell that to do what I want."

Silence.

Conner stood up. He walked back to the pillar he'd damaged. The teenager ran his fingers over the ancient piping within the columns. It wasn't metal. It was surrounded in a mesh substance and was vastly different in nature than plumbing pipes.

"Well, that reinforces my theory about being for data or electricity." He traced his fingers over another pipeline on the far left. He felt a gentle hum under his fingertips. Conner quirked a brow.

He used his cane and pried away a section of the façade all the way around the pillar. He returned the cane to his harness and placed his hands on the conduits. Three of them were actively channeling power. "Holy shit..."

Conner closed his eyes. "Where are you sending energy to?" He calmed himself and relaxed his heart rate. "Talk to me..."

There_was_ a computer system. "Where are you?" he whispered. "Talk to me."

He kept his hand on the bundled conduit. "Do you think you know me?"

There was no response, but he didn't expect one. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against the cabling inside the pillar. "Falcon, as crazy as he is, wouldn't waste all those decades on me unless he was onto something. Where are you? Where is this energy going?"

Conner drew his head back and opened his eyes. "Wait a minute." He withdrew his cane again and backed away from the column. "It's not ... the computer isn't far away. It's just ... in stand by mode!"

He circled the pillar for a moment. Conner used his free hand to touch the conduits again. He found the ones that were channeling electricity. He felt the hum beneath his fingertips. It wasn't a physical sensation - rather, it was something that appealed to his ability to channel electricity through the cane.

A smile tugged at the corner of Conner's mouth - he had an idea. Parker placed his cane against the active cables and took a deep breath. He channeled electricity into his cane, pushing power outward.

Electricity melted through the outer jacket of the cabling. The orichalcum touched against a metallic alloy within the thick cable. He tensed up, adding to the electric current.

The increased power flow channeled into the computer system nearby ... wherever it was located. He couldn't see it, he didn't know where to find it, but he could wake it up by sending additional power to it.

The computer of the First Age People booted.

Conner drew his cane back. More electricity flowed through the exposed wire. He felt oddly drawn to it, but refrained from touching the energy conduit.

Tremendous power went through the bundle of cables within the column. All the bundled fibers of wire became active with electricity.

Conner felt lightheaded briefly. He approached the large two-story door and sat down in front of it.

As the ancient computer came online, it rerouted electricity throughout the ancient city.

The walls began to incandesce. Despite the portable lights in the room, brought in by Falcon's scientists, a seemingly natural source of lightning glowed in the ceiling, floor, and walls.

"There's vitamin D in those lights," Conner said, interpreting a command sent out by the computer. The lights initialized throughout the city. Plumbing protocols came online.

Conner perceived each of the commands initiated by the computer. It went through a diagnostic process, reaching out to sensors throughout the city. Conner blinked in confusion. "It's ... upset."

Silence. He looked up at the door. "Jesus, the computer is coming to realize that the city is intact, but it's beneath the ocean floor. How can a computer think or feel?" He got to his feet and shifted his weight to the cane he held like a walking stick. "I know you're busy trying to learn and understand the status of this city ... but I need you to open this door. It's important. Please."

The computer interfaced with Conner. It was ... an oddly pleasant experience. It felt concern for him. The large door lowered into the floor.

A dark hallway stretched out before Conner. Panels on the hallway walls incandesced, making it possible to see in the hallway ahead.

Conner rubbed his mouth. "Oh my God ... I did it. I did it." He hurried back out of the room, to find Heimdallr and Raul. "Hey! Hey, guys! Where'd you go! I did it!" All the rooms throughout the temple were now glowing with ancient technology used to illuminate the city.

Meanwhile ... back in the room with the broken pillar and the large open door...

Loki, Sigyn and Falcon stepped away from an adjacent wall. Their bodies came into view. Loki gave his wife's hand a gentle squeeze. "Clever, aren't I?"

Falcon approached the large open door. "Your trick worked - he truly believed we went through physical matter."

Loki smiled. "The humans call me the trickster god because they cannot conceive a clever person without feeling that they have been tricked. All I did was motivate the boy."

Sigyn smiled at her husband. "All any man needs is incentive to succeed. Well done, Loki."

Loki grinned. "I knew I could trick the boy into perceiving what I wanted him to see. I was worried about Heimdallr."

Falcon stepped into the doorway of the enormous open doorframe. "You tricked everyone, including myself."

Loki smiled. "I can bend perception like an illusionist. However, I cannot bend the laws of physics - I cannot walk through walls or doors. I can bypass some in the form of a flea, but certainly not that one."

Falcon nodded. "Well done. I am truly impressed, Loki. Follow me."

Falcon stepped through the enormous door with Loki and Sigyn in tow. "I have waited a very long time for this moment."

X

X

January 1, 2050 - 12:04am Lost City ...

Reno shrugged."I'll see what I can do, Raul. You think electricity is all we need to take this thing offline?"

"Yes, Señor Nevada." Raul placed his hands on a nearby wall to brace himself. Another quake shook the room briefly. The rumbling concluded.

"I hope those are the aftershocks," said Karla. "I'm worried that we haven't experienced the 'real' quake yet. What if it's just warming up?"

"Guys!" The voice belonged to Conner.

Karla turned to face Conner. She teleported to the doorframe and opened her arms, hugging him.

"Oh_geeze!_ Not now, Karla!" Conner pushed away from her embrace. "Guys, listen, I figured it out! I got the door open!"

Karla rolled her eyes. "God, Conner. You're such a dick. I was trying to hug you because I'm glad you're okay!"

"One of these days, you'll learn to stop doubting me. Just saying." He walked away from Karla and approached Heimdallr, Reno, Eric and Raul. "Listen, we need to stop Falcon. We all know Heimdallr is the only guy who can whip Loki's ass."

Karla grumbled, glaring at Conner. "Okay, since you're so bossy, what do you want to do next?"

Conner hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "Heimdallr, you're with me. I want you to kill their asses, so you're with me."

"You want some help with that?" asked Reno. "I've stood up against Falcon before. I can..."

"No," Conner said. "You have the power to help Raul turn off the device that stops him from moving through time. Sigyn moves _really_fast. I think she took it from Nichole - the clone girl. Sigyn's quick. We'll need Raul at full power to fight her."

Karla grimaced. "Conner, I'm coming with you, then."

"No, you're not." Conner shrugged. "We've been cool lately, and I appreciate your respect, Karla. But every time we're in the field together, we argue. We can't afford to do that right now."

Karla opened her mouth but was shocked. She felt disrespected. "Fine, ya' lil shit-monster. God. All I've done - all we've been through together, and you won't even let me help you fight Falcon?"

"No offense," Conner said, "But you've gone up against him how many times now? We need the right chess pieces to fight the right enemies."

"Well fuck you, too. God, kid."

Conner held his hands up. "Okay, okay, look I'm not saying it right. You have a family. You have kids and stuff. You want to go up against a bunch of gods and someone who stole a ton of abilities? Think of your kids, Karla!"

Eric approached his wife and whispered into her ear.

Karla sighed. "Fine. Just go, Conner. Go save the day so you can brag about how great you are. Go on, then. Geeze. You save the world, go on. Meanwhile, I'll go with Reno and Raul. We'll save time. We'll save history - past, present and future. How's that?"

"Good plan!" Conner turned to Heimdallr. "You're with me. Let's go. I saw Sinopa in one of the hallways. I told her to find Rufus and send him to help Raul and his group."

Heimdallr nodded to everyone in the room. "Good luck, everyone. When Loki is dead, I will call upon the rest of you for your aid against Falcon and Sigyn."

Karla waved half-hearted. "Good luck, kids."

Reno nodded to Conner. "Hey. Good luck, kiddo. Good job with the computer thing. We'll check on you shortly."

"Thanks, Uncle Reno. See the rest of you soon. Good luck with the time thing." Conner walked out of the room with Heimdallr behind him.

Karla turned back to her group. She rubbed her face. She withdrew a cellphone from her handbag and glanced at the screen. "Oh. Shit, you guys. It's New Years. Happy New Years, everyone!"

Reno grinned. "I need to find Nicky and kiss her."

Karla turned to Eric and kissed her husband. "Can we try and start over?"

"I'll do my best, Karla."

"Good. Okay, everyone, let's find this stupid time chamber, wherever it is."

Rufus came into the room. "Howdy, gang. Happy New Years! I hope we're getting' drinks as soon as we get outta here."

Eric glanced at Rufus but said nothing.

Rue and Reno shared a quick hug and a pat on the back. "Glad to see you're doin' good, 'monster.' How's the foot?"

"Right as rain, Sparky."

"Good. You seen Nicky?"

"Yeah, a while ago. We were fightin' soldiers t'gether. We cleared the area and split up to search the area faster. She's a perdy cool cat."

"Yeah. I know you had a thing with her clone. Just remember, Rue, this one is my Nicky."

Rue laughed and took Reno's hand. "I were never interested in either version of Nichole Parker. When we had a thing, I didn't know it was her. I thought it were some werewolf gal. Long story."

"Alright. Well, let's find this place for Raul." Reno gestured to Raul. "You want to lead the way?"

"Let's see what we can find," Raul told the group. They left the room and headed into a hallway.

X

X

An hour later Temporal Chamber ...

Reno's mind raced. He was tired, as was everyone else around him. Raul's words kept bouncing around in Nevada's mind. "Nathanial Carrington has to change everything. Everything." What did that even mean?

Karla and Raul argued, Eric grimaced, and Reno couldn't stop thinking about that stupid message on that tablet he read the prior night.

Rufus was trying to show Raul empathy, claiming to understand he knew what Raul was going through, and why the Spaniard sat in a Spanish bar for several years, mainlining alcohol.

Reno sighed but said nothing.

"Stop talking, everyone," Raul demanded. "We have a bigger problem right now."

Karla frowned. "What?"

Reno ran his hands back through his hair and turned directly to face Raul. He folded his hands over his chest, waiting to her 'the plan' or whatever the next task was.

That's what everything had become - a task to complete. All he wanted to do was see Nicky and disprove the file on the tablet in his pocket.

"As of this moment, there is nothing blocking time," Raul explained. "From this moment going forward, Sigyn can find us. She'll be here any minute to kill the rest of us. I know, at first, I was feeling hopeless, but ... I was wrong. We should fight. Perhaps by telling you of your futures, I'll have changed it."

Reno frowned. He wasn't sure he understood how Sigyn could fight or find them, since she was with Loki, Heimdallr and Conner.

All those old time-traveling movies Reno grew up watching helped him to make sense of things to some degree - a _future_version of Sigyn, one who survives Loki's death, would be able to time travel. Worse yet, she might even be able to move through space and time like Raul.

Reno ran his hands up through his hair and asked, "What's the plan?"

Raul gestured everyone to gather around him. "In other time loops, Cybil, the oracle, tells me that Sigyn never acquired the ability of temporal control. Now that Sigyn has acquired that ability, time can also control her. If we use this chamber, we can protect ourselves from her attacks."

Reno asked, "What do we do?"

"The only way to stop her is to overload the temporal machine. It will tear the temporal ability from any who have it. That will kill Sigyn."

Reno rubbed his palms together. "Then let's do this. As soon as she appears, I'll fry her ass."

Karla gave Raul a shove. "Get out of here or _you'll_die, too. Go forward through time, quick, before that bitch shows up."

"Stay safe, everyone." Raul turned to Reno and shook his hand. "You are a brave man."

"It's not a problem, Raul. I just stuck my hands in here a few minutes ago and I was fine. I've got this."

Raul cast a knowing smile. "...Si, of course you 'have this.' I've always known you 'have this,' Reno Nevada."

Reno tilted his head. He couldn't understand why now, of all moments, Raul would decide it was time to monologue. It didn't make sense.

Yet the Spaniard continued talking. "You're a brave man. This is all happening differently than in other loops. The changes have always been small ones until this last loop."

"Then do what it takes to fix shit, Raul," Nevada replied.

"Si. I will do my best. Sadly, these most recent changes allowed things to progress far differently than before. I even let all those millions of people die because I was hoping it would save billions."

Karla swallowed. "That certainly explains why I found you in Spain, drinking away your heartache. You feel responsible for the death of millions on the District Coast, and on either side of the Atlantic."

"Exactly," Raul said. "Things will be different this time. Remember, when she appears, you_wait_ until she's close. Then you charge the energy stream. Good luck."

Without warning, Raul dropped to the ground.

Raul's body collapsed at Karla's feet, not far from where Reno stood.

A glistening red ruby shined on Raul's forehead. Red rivulets dribbled down the bridge of his nose.

Silence.

Reno glanced at Karla, who was staring at Raul in shock. He looked down at the dead Spaniard. He had little to say. It was all too sudden.

Reno's training as a homicide inspector was his instinctive reaction - he saw the gunshot wound on Raul's forehead.

Sigyn dropped from the rafters of the large room with a grunt. She landed like a pouncing fox and stood up with a sniper rifle. "These Earth weapons are quite accurate. They fire themselves. You simply lock in a target and they use a computer to fire. Simply delightful."

No one spoke.

Sigyn admired the rifle. "It is my first time using one of these devices. No wonder humanity invented them - it feels like having supernatural abilities ... being able to waggle one's finger and take a life."

"You fucking bitch!" Karla hissed through clenched teeth.

Reno felt a large padded palm close over his forearm. Rufus shoved Reno towards the energy stream and exclaimed, "Do it!"

Sigyn pointed her weapon and fired.

The silent rifle's round struck Karla's telekinetic shell and veered away. Karla shouted, "Fry her ass!"

Reno thrust his hands into the energy field again. He tensed up and flooded the energy field with raw energy. Nothing happened.

Reno heard Sigyn shout from behind. "What are you idiots doing?"

Eric turned to Reno. "Try it the other way! Reverse your polarity!"

"Negative charge; I got it, I got it!" Reno relaxed himself and absorbed the energy flowing between the two crystals in the floor and ceiling. He drew current, while adding a different polarity back into the energy field.

The temporal field expanded, engulfing Reno. It continued to grow, beyond his field of vision. Nevada clenched his eyes.

Reno opened his eyes again, squinting at his hands. His skin glowed similar to a black light.

Sigyn's was vocal about her discomfort. "What ... are you idiots doing?"

Karla shouted with a measure of excitement. "Give it everything! I think it's working!"

Reno tensed up and gave his all. He poured everything he had into the pillar of glowing energy.

The energy field grew to double, and then triple in size.

Sigyn , somewhere in the background, groaned in pain. Reno listened to the strange warbling of the woman's voice. "W-wait..." Nevada kept his focus, but he could tell by the sound of the woman's voice that she was dying.

"It's working," Karla roared. "Don't hold anything back. It doesn't hurt us, just her. Let the bitch have it!"

Reno couldn't channel enough energy through just his arms. It was uncomfortable and the sensation was unsettling. He didn't want to let down Karla. He didn't want to fail his friends.

Reno groaned softly. He stepped forward, putting most of his body into the energy stream, to channel the energy necessary to give it his all.

Reno's body exuded a powerful negative-light aura, easily visible through the normal light of the energy field.

Sigyn's body ripped apart, along with the dead body of Raul.

It was the last thing Reno saw. The world around him faded into a strange obscurity, filled with warped light, and horizontal pillars of black.

It looked like a photo negative of traveling the cosmos at warp speed, except there was vague color in the background.

Reno tried to swallow but couldn't manage it. He looked down at his hands but didn't see them. He wanted to feel afraid ... To feel anything. But he didn't. He simply existed and observed.

And then ... for a brief moment ... there was nothing but the sensation of existing and observing. That strange feeling was followed by weightlessness.

Finally, he felt gravity and heat. Reno squinted his eyes ... Everything was excessively bright, like standing inside a massive pillar of pure white.

Suddenly, he was aware of his own confusion. The white light faded. He began to fall...