"So you like chicks with powers? Well, I'm a chick with more power than you'll ever want to mess with!"
     Lina Inverse ducked as several hails of laser fire tore through the air above her head. She held her hands back behind her right hip, a large globe of dark energy forming there as she chanted a spell under her breath. She hurled her hands forward, a beam of dark energy screaming forward as she shouted, "Garv Flare!"
     The beam struck several of the mech suits which had suddenly appeared and decimated them, leaving smoking wreckage in their wake. Twice as many replaced the fallen ones, all appearing out of the rift in time and space.
     "What the hell are those things Miss Lina?!"
     "I don't know Amelia, but they're a pain in the butt," Lina replied as she flipped through the air and landed with her friends. "Alex, any data?"
     "Nothing really," Alex said as his talisman bracelets appeared around his wrists. He placed his hands parallel to the ground, his bracelets touching as a magical wind swirled up around his body, blowing his shirt about. He brought his hands up above his head, crossing his wrists and arms as a large globe of energy formed above his hands. He brought his hands, still crossed, down before his body, the energy sphere following. He shouted, "Delta WAVE!", the sphere exploding into a wave of shadow energy which struck some of the mech suits and detonated them. More appeared from the rift between the two worlds.
     "Geeze.... don't they ever give up?" Cennarian asked, forming a barrier to block incoming fire from the invaders.
     "Not that I'm aware of," a husky female voice said as a gorgeous woman with long, curly golden red hair appeared in a puff of crimson smoke.
     "About time you showed up Celia," Lina said, a protection barrier forming before her body to deflect an incoming laser blast. She turned her head to Nara and Alec and said, "Alec DeLeon, Nara Burns, meet Celia Chere Briggs, our resident vampyress and one of the more powerful realm dancers in our group."
     "Whose power is gonna be going on the blink unless we can fix that rift," Celia said as she fired off a volley of energy balls that struck amid the troops before large spires of crystal erupted and impaled those in the area. "Cenn, what's the current data you have on them?"
     "With the rift.... it's connected to the late 21st century.... about 2078 or 2079ish,"
     "Which is from the time we're from," Nara said as she leapt from where she was standing to execute a Raging Dragon Punch, sending an energy dragon at some of the suits. The dragon wrenched them asunder before vanishing.
     Several larger mechs appeared from the rift, their firepower greater than their smaller counterparts. The smaller defensive barriers which the magic users were casting fell under the first hail of fire, but the dome cast by Sylphiel held against even their largest barrage.
     "Miss Lina, I don't know how long I can keep this erect," Sylphiel said after the fifth large barrage, "my powers are already pushed to their max."
     "Then it looks like it's time for the big guns," Lina said, aligning the Demons Blood Talismans, "Oh Lords of darkness of these four worlds, as my word as thy bond, grant me all of the power, all of the strength which you possess. Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows. I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand against the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand. Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess. Dragon.... SLAVE!!"
     Dark energy crackled around Lina's hands as she chanted the spell, a large globe forming as she performed the motions. A large magic circle formed beneath her as she summoned the power of Ruby Eye Shabrinigdo to destroy all who opposed her. As she shouted the command words the globe in her hands exploded into a column of dark energy which struck the ranks which had come through the rift, annihilating them and leaving a smoking crater in its wake. When the smoke cleared there was still the glimmering of a rift in time and space, but nothing more came through, and there was no sign of our heroes except for a cloud of dust that was kicked up in their wake as they ran from the clearing where they had thought to set up camp.
     In the trees nearby the man called Tranlin watched with much amusement, since Nara proved that her skills would come in handy in the world she and her friend Alec were now in, and since the Slayers had proved they were worthy protectors of the two who came from the future.
     "I shall see thee soon, Mistress Nara," he said before leaping off into the shadows provided by the canopy of the trees, leaving only a single white rose where he had been sitting.

     Elsewhere in the ocean of time, aboard the Resolute III, Lt. Maggie Weston was deeply occupied in trying to make heads or tails of the massive quantities of sensor data which had been flooding the science stations across the ship. With her were Wolf Bronski and Kas Tikagi, who were about as puzzled as she was, but had some clue as to what they were looking for after she gave them instructions.
     "This is going to take all day," Kas said as he stretched a growing kink out of his back, "I mean, do we really know what we're supposed to be looking for in this mass of data?"
     "Kid, it's going to take time to figure everything out about a rift in time and space," Maggie said as she tossed him a can of soda, "take a break for a minute or two.... I think all of us have deserved it, since a job of this magnitude goes quicker if those who are performing the task are rested."
     "That's sound advice," Wolf said as he stood, a loud cracking sound coming from his lower back. Maggie and Kas winced before chuckling to themselves. "What? What's so funny?"
     "Your body's starting to sound like that of an old timer," Kas said. A moment later Wolf had him pinned to the wall and was in his face.
     "If I hear one more comment out of you about me being old then I swear I'll..."
     "Stand down Wolf," Maggie said, grabbing hold of one arm and pinioning it out to the side so that Kas could get free, "you're not as young as you used to be. Heck, none of us are as young as we think we are, so just let it slide."
     Wolf sighed and sat down at the table where Maggie had been working, accidentally knocking over the can of orange soda which she had been drinking. Maggie gasped in shock, since the readouts she had been working with were original copies that nobody had had time to copy.
     "Oh man.... I'm sorry Maggie," Wolf said, standing before trying to mop up the mess with his jacket.
     "Just relax," Maggie said, a smile crossing her face as the orange coloring in the soda changed the colors on the graphs they had been looking at. She picked up the still damp paper and held it to the light, her smile widening as she looked at the results. "Well I'll be.... we couldn't figure this out because the wavelength of the distortion was in the orange spectrum."
     "Which means what?" Kas asked as he looked at the dripping paper.
     "Which means if we run the data back through the computer and factor in this color variance then we'll start to get some straight answers. And to think one of Bronski's clumsy moments helped us to make this discovery."
     Wolf began to grin, but realized that he had been called clumsy and started to make a fuss about it.
     "Calm down big guy," Maggie said, smiling sweetly at him, "I'll treat you to dinner tonight.... heck, I'll treat both of you to dinner tonight, and not cafeteria food either. I'm talking good home cooking."
     She then winked at them before wandering out of the room to the main science station, the still dripping mass of paper in her hands. Kas and Wolf looked at one another, shrugged, and sat back down to await her return.

     Elsewhere on the ship Captain J.T. Marsh sat at his post, still awaiting some news about his missing friends and the configuration of the temporal distortion. People came and went, leaving him messages and documents and files, which were now forming a pile which threatened to tip over since he hadn't done anything with it for two days. As he stared out the large window which occupied the space behind his desk Sgt. Rita Torres entered, taking a seat on a clear corner of the desk before saying, "A penny for your thoughts."
     "Hmm?" JT said, not really paying attention to her.
     "You're thinking about them, aren't you?" she said, taking on a motherly attitude. JT nodded. "Well, I'm worried about them as well, since we have no idea what lies at the other end."
     A young man with jet black hair poked his head into the room, gasping to catch his breath since he had been running. JT and Rita both looked up at him, and he returned the gaze with deep green eyes.
     "Well Travis, what is it?" Rita asked.
     "Enemy forces.... entering the rift," Travis said between breaths, "large army.... lots of E-frames... can't get close enough to stop them.... from entering the rift."
     "Crud," JT said, rising and slamming his fists on his desk, "they might be after Nara and Alec if they're on the other side of the rift."
     "Or they're trying to find someplace new to go to," Rita said, "Anything else to report Travis?"
     Travis thought for a moment, running his fingers through his hair so that it stood even more on end than it had been. He then said, "Oh.... one more thing. A large blast came from the rift a short while ago, destroying some of the enemy E-frames."
     "Where did that data come from?" JT asked, arching an eyebrow at him.
     Travis thought for a moment, then said, "Janice says it's O.K. for me to tell you that we're psychically connected, and that she saw it with her own eyes from the survey craft."
     "Janice, as in Janice Flynn Randall?" Rita said, leaping down from the desk to jostle it enough for the stack of papers and whatnot to fall over and create a tidal wave of chaos for JT. Travis nodded. "Geeze.... kid, just how old are you?"
     "Twenty one," Travis replied, "why?"
     "Janice is twenty six, which makes me wonder things when one of the younger members of the squad becomes connected with one of the older members."
     Travis blushed for a moment before saying, "We never did... that. I don't really know what it is. Didn't people from flight 2 of Able Squad undergo the same thing a few years back?"
     Rita and JT nodded before JT said, "We'll explain everything about that later. Tell Janice to get her butt back here ASAP! Then tell flight 2 to prepare for dispatch."
     "Right," Travis said, saluting before running off to find a communication station.
     Rita turned to JT after Travis had left and said, "What are you planning?"
     "If this new flight 2 has the same powers as the original, then it should prove to be a wonderful surprise to our enemies when they realize that the E-frames they're facing are being piloted by people with extraordinary powers."
     With that he turned back to the window, folding his hands behind him as he stared off into space. 'Who is this new enemy we're facing, and are they worse than the Neos or Noready?'

     Meanwhile, earth side, the apartment belonging to Alex West and the former members of Flight 2 was a mass of activity. Alex was taking a nap in a warm sunbeam on the balcony. Deborah and Cathy were teaching one another various recipes, filling the apartment with various smells of baked goods. Tony, Dan, and Lizz were playing a video game while the stereo pumped loud dance music, fueling Steve, Ryan, Bill, Matt, and Jess in their exercise routine. There was no warning of the emergency transmission klaxon which went off, rousing people from their activities.
     “What the hell is so important that someone used the emergency band?” Alex asked as he walked into the main room, scratching his head before yawning.
     “It’s a transmission from JT,” Tod said as he printed out the message, “it looks like they need our help.”
     “Doing what?” Deborah asked, “I mean, can’t they do anything without us?”
     “Looks like Alec and Nara were sucked through a temporal rift of some sort,” Steve said as he took the printout from Tod, “And here’s a kick in the ass for us - this was sent to ALL of Flight 2, which would mean they replaced us.”
     “Or they need more help then they let on,” Tony said as he nabbed the printout. “Large army of unknowns, E-frames going through the rift, Flight 2 with special powers, explosion from the rift. Sounds like fun.”
     “Should we RSVP?” Lizz asked as she stepped into the computer room and set up for a transmission from earth to the Resolute III.
     “Yes, let’s,” Alex said, “it’ll give us something to do, since I’m about to expire from boredom.” Everyone else sighed.

     Across the bounds of time and space the Slayers Squad was taking a rest from all of the running they had been doing that day. Already they had covered the distance of a marathon, and yet their enemies continued to follow, making the ability to run for an extended period of time an absolute must.
     “Oh man, don’t they ever give up?!” Lina gasped as she fought to catch her breath. “I mean, we keep running and running and running!”
     “They must be after us,” Nara said, “I mean, why would they be after you if not for us?”
     “Maybe they want to use Lina and Zel as batteries,” Gourry said. Lina and Zel gave him icy stares.
     “What are you talking about yogurt brain?!” Lina exclaimed, bringing her fist down on Gourry’s head.
     “Well, you and Zel have all these powers that are, well, powerful.”
     “If we weren’t on the run I’d hit you with a Dragon Slave!”
     “Enough fighting you two,” Cennarian said, his ears twitching, “duck and cover. We have incoming!!”
     Several large volleys of laser fire tore through the trees around them, slicing the foliage to ribbons. The Slayers pressed themselves to the ground, covering their heads as things around them exploded or burst into flames.
     “What the hell are they doing?!” Zelgadis asked.
     “They’re trying to flush us out,” Alex replied, a scythe of astral energy forming in his hand.
     “If you utilize the grim reaper here then we’ll be sitting ducks,” Celia said, taking note of the energy weapon.
     Another hail of laser fire cut through the air, decimating more of the forest and opening the clearing wider. Alex stood, a barrier forming around his body. He held the scythe above his head, the blade glowing black. He swung the blade before his body like he was cutting something down and shouted, “Grim Reaper!” A wave of inky darkness came from the blade, mowing through the forest before him to reduce it to diseased and rotting wood. Anything caught in the wave was instantly decayed, and the E-frames caught in it rusted over and failed to work, the pilots having their souls sucked out. The wave’s effect was limited to about sixty meters before it expired.
     From the forest beyond the reaper’s effect came a large flank of E-frames, guns blazing. Sylphiel and Amelia cast a combined defensive barrier, which absorbed a majority of the blast’s force.
     “Will they never give up?!” Lina grumbled, her talismans glowing, “Lords of darkness of these four worlds...”
     She only got the first line of the boost spell out before she began to cough up blood. “Damn! I need more time to recover.”
     “I’m out for a while,” Alex said, “the reaper is a stronger attack than I thought.”
     “So now what do we do?” Alec asked, an energy lance appearing in his hand.
     “Why not use your real power?!” Cennarian asked as a hail of crystal shards rained down upon the army of E-frames.
     “Yeah Mister Alex, why don’t you?” Amelia asked.
     “Looks like I have no choice,” Alex said as he stood, a glow coming from his chest. He closed his eyes and held his palms so that they were on either side of the glow, adding energy to the transformation. The symbol for Saturn appeared on his forehead, and a wave of light slowly washed over his body, forming black shoulder and chest armor, a green tunic with golden trim, black cargo pants, black leather boots, and bracers of black with violet and gold gems and trim. “Zelgadis, prepare the ground for phase two.”
     “What’s phase two?” Nara asked, charging for a raging dragon punch.
     “Oh, something fun,” Zelgadis said, winking before he placed a hand to the ground. “Gaia Grazer!”
     The ground before Zel glowed, beams of light racing across the land, turning it hard and black. With the spell complete he turned to Alex and said, “It’s all you.”
     “Good,” Alex said, leaping into the air, “Saturn Star Power... TRANSFORM!”

     Several miles away a young man in samurai gear stepped into town, drawing a large sword from an oddly decorated scabbard as he looked around, smiling wickedly, a strange glint in his golden eyes. People went about their daily business around him, none giving him a moment’s notice.
     “Time to play,” he said, the blade glowing. He leapt into the air and shouted, “Grim Reaper!” unleashing something akin to what Alex had executed in the battle with the E-frames. A wave of never-ending darkness surged through the town, decimating the quiet and peaceful inhabitants, sucking their souls and turning their bodies to ashes. When he landed from the attack he swung the sword around above his head, a tornado funnel forming. He shouted, “Tornado Strike!” before unleashing the whirlwind upon the town.
     When he turned his back on the town the tornado was just dying away, leaving a swath of damage and destruction half a mile wide by a mile long. A strange glint shone off of his teeth as he grinned wickedly before he laughed maniacally, his voice filling the air for miles around. Birds flew from their perches and filled the sky, alerting all who saw them to a catastrophe in the woods.

     “Just how much farther is Bramburg from here?”
     “Calm down Amelia. We should be there within the next couple of minutes.”
     Lina’s stomach grumbled a moment later, shaking the surrounding wilderness with its vibrations. Everyone looked at Lina, who flushed an embarrassed shade of crimson.
     “I think it’s time we took a break for lunch,” Celia said, whistling innocently.
     “Or so Lina’s stomach says,” Zelgadis added. His own stomach gurgled a moment later, and everyone sighed.
     “We haven’t had a thing to eat since early this morning before we were so rudely interrupted,” Lina sighed, “and I’m beginning to get hungry.”
     “I see it, I see it,” Cennarian said from ten feet ahead of them.
     “The town, the town, the town,” Lina said, suddenly gaining a burst of energy. She surged past the green haired elf, skidding to a halt when she saw the condition of the town. “Oh my stars...”
     “The town’s in ruins,” Amelia said when she caught up to the unmoving Lina and the stunned Cennarian. “What force of evil could have done something like this?”
     “Judging by the swath of damage, someone who would rival Lina’s power,” Gourry said. Lina fell over, her leg twitching in the air. Everyone else turned and looked at him like he had two heads. “What? I’m not as stupid as everyone keeps saying I am.”
     “And also judging by the extent of the damage somebody who mastered the use of a powerful weapon,” Alex said as he examined some of the debris. “The way the timber is broken it looks like some sort of powerful wind blew through the area, like a tornado.”
     “But where are all of the people?” Nara asked as she looked around. She stumbled over something, and looked back to see a disembodied arm. A split second later she screamed, a shockwave tearing through the area.
     ‘Damn, that girl has great lungs,’ Cennarian thought as he struggled through the shockwave to Nara’s side. “It’s O.K.. I’m sure he didn’t suffer long.”
     “The reaper was used here,” Celia said as she sniffed the air. “I never did like the smell of that tech, but this one was stronger than Alex’s by ten fold.”
     A sharp spike in the residual energy in the area sent the hair on their necks standing on end. Weapons were drawn, spells were fired up, and all took on defensive stances as they looked around for their enemy. An energy globe grazed Sylphiel’s left shoulder, sending her to her knees in pain. An energy blade whizzed past Alex’s head, shaving a few hairs from his bangs as he dodged left. Multiple energy blades whizzed past and through the group, nicking everyone in one place or another.
     “Where are they all coming from?” Celia asked as a gash opened up on her cheek. The vampyress’ eyes glowed crimson as she went into a frenzy, her fangs extending and glowing visibly.
     “Crud!” Zel grumbled as his shirt was reduced to tatters, “Celia’s gonna go berserk in a matter of seconds.”
     “Too late,” Alec said as some of his hair was cut away by the blades, “she’s not about to wait.”
     “Giga CRUSHER!!” Celia shouted as she leapt skyward, multiple globes of energy forming around her in the air. The globes sailed a short distance from her body before exploding into a powerful gravity wave. The forest around them was flattened by the intense gravity, trees splintering from the force of the attack. A loud cry came from the trees near them, and a shadowy form leapt away from their location, disappearing in the shadows once again. A moment later Celia plummeted from the sky, landing in Cenn’s waiting arms.
     “Well, we have proven that they have hostile intentions,” Alex said, “however that still doesn’t answer any of our questions.”
     “The town was a way of him saying that he’s here and that he will destroy all who oppose him,” Lina said, “of course, that’s all speculation, but it’s the best we have to go on, right?”
     “Yes,” Nara said, nodding, “that’s right. So, let’s go and find some lunch, shall we?”
     Without further words Nara walked through the ruined main street towards the opposing side of town. The others blinked a few times before following her, all hoping to leave the carnage of what was once a peaceful and prosperous town far behind.

     “Commander Marsh, we have an incoming transmission on the restricted band.”
     JT sat up in his chair, nearly falling out from overbalancing. Around him stood Travis Morran, Janice Randall, Rita, and Selena Dela Croix. They could tell that he was anxious from the time he was waiting for this transmission, yet none said anything out loud.
     “Put it up on the screen.”
     An image appeared on the wall sized monitor at the front of the bridge, first splitting horizontally, then vertically, and finally it evened out and focused to show a very wide set of teeth in a grin.
     “Alex, back away from the camera,” a voice said in the background on the sending side of the transmission, “I’m sure they’ll be able to see the broccoli stuck in your teeth at this angle.”
     “Hmm... you mean I’m too close,” the mouth said before backing up. The camera refocused to show a young man with short brown hair, his bangs longer than the rest, and deep brown eyes. He also had a couple days worth of stubble, which he didn’t seem to worry about. “Hey JT, we got your message and thought we’d RSVP and see what was up.”
     “It’s nice to see you again Alex,” JT said, “have you received the full report yet?”
     “Yeah, to a degree. Aunt Mag... err.... Lt. Weston sent me everything that she had. She tells me that Wolf helped her to find what she was looking for. Is this true?”
     “Sad to say, yeah,” Rita sighed, “Bronski finally did something right by doing something wrong. Can you believe it?”
     “Hey mom,” a female voice said as another head filled the screen. This one was of a young woman with long blonde hair, piercing green eyes, and a pair of diamond studs in her ears. Rita blushed and waved.
     “Deborah, it’s been so long since we’ve talked,” Rita said, assuming her motherly composure, “but you are aware that this channel is for important things.”
     “Yeah, I know,” Deborah said, smiling, “which is why Alex wanted me to tell you that we’re behind you 100%. Heck, we’re chartering a shuttle so that we can meet with you and everyone else and figure this out together.”
     Rita turned to look at JT, who looked back at her and shrugged. “You are aware that Flight 2 has been replaced, right?”
     “Of course. But that’s not going to stop us from helping out in our own special way,” Deborah said, winking and wagging a finger at them. “We’ll be there in about 48 hours, so don’t worry about a thing. I love you ma.”
     Deborah’s face was replaced by Alex’s, who was nursing a rather large red welt on his cheek. He sighed and said, “Like she said, we’ll be seeing you in about 48 hours. And for crying out loud Travis, stop drooling. She’s taken.”
     Rita turned and glared at Travis, who blushed crimson and stared at his feet. Janice and Selena grabbed him by the arms and dragged him from the bridge, Janice giving him an Olympic sized tongue lashing, Selena embarrassed to be seen with them. The transmission ended a moment later, the screen being filled with the familiar Exo-fleet logo before shutting down.
     “Well, we must prepare for their arrival,” JT sighed, folding his hands into a triangle.
     “JT, are you disturbed by this?” Rita asked as JT stood to return to his office.
     “No.... not really,” JT said, “I’m happy they’re coming to visit. It’s been so long since they were last here.”
     Rita sighed as JT’s door slid shut. “There is something about that man that I just will never figure out,” she muttered as she turned toward the exit, “oh well. I wonder what Maggie’s up to right now. Maybe she needs help.”

     Elsewhere aboard the Resolute III Maggie Weston was literally cooking up a storm. She had “borrowed” some supplies from the cafeteria, a few cooking utensils vanished from various places, and a couple of portable burners mysteriously disappeared from Professor Algenon’s laboratory. Already the delicious smells of home cooking were filling the air of her quarters. Wolf and Kas were seated at a lavishly decorated table, their mouths watering from the wonderful aromas.
     “Dinner’s almost ready boys,” she called from her makeshift kitchen. She had changed out of her exo-fleet uniform and was wearing a pair of baggy sweats, sandals, and a blue midriff top with Metallic Mamma emblazoned in the center in silver and gold, her hair pulled back from her face with a couple of barrettes. ‘I know I’m not exactly in uniform,’ she thought, wiping sweat from her brow, ‘but I feel so comfortable wearing this while I’m cooking.’
     “Dinner smells wonderful,” Wolf said as he took a sip of his soda. He began to belch, but remembered his manners and covered his mouth, muttering a polite “excuse me,” when he was done.
     “I’m starving,” Kas said as he nibbled at some bread, “and the suspense is killing me.”
     Maggie stepped from the kitchen area, a large dome covered dish in one hand. She set it on the table between the two and said, “Dinner is served.” She lifted the cover, revealing her culinary creation. Kas and Wolf blinked at it, wondering what it was. “Well, dig in. I slaved over a pair of hot Bunsen burners to make this.”
     “I don’t know what to make of it,” Wolf said as he scooped a heaping helping for himself, “but it sure smells wonderful.”
     “It tastes better than it looks,” Maggie admitted as she scooped some for herself, “but it’s the taste that counts, right.”
     Kas took a bite of his, chewing thoughtfully. His face lit up and he began to inhale it. Maggie’s face lit up when she saw somebody enjoying her cooking. Wolf was surprised, but took a bite himself, savoring it like a food connisouir. He grinned before saying, “Maggie, you need to give me your recipe. This tastes outstanding!”
     “Thanks,” Maggie said, blushing, “it’s a little something that my mom taught me how to cook on short notice. Getting the ingredients meant a covert operation to the cafeteria, but I was surprised they had what I needed.”
     Sounds of eating soon replaced conversation as they enjoyed their meal. When they were almost done a bell rang, and Maggie rose to answer the door. Rita Torres stood outside, enjoying the aroma of home cooked food. When she saw how Maggie was attired she had to chuckle, but managed a polite, “Evening. May I come in?”
     “Sure. We were just finishing dinner. Would you care for some?”
     Rita looked over at the table, where Wolf and Kas were waving to her. Her stomach gurgled a moment later, alerting her to her need for food. “Sure, I’d love some.”
     “Pull up a seat sarge,” Wolf said, making room for Rita.
     “The food’s delicious Sergeant Torres,” Kas said, serving Rita a plate of Maggie’s cooking. Rita arched an eyebrow, but took a whiff of it and smiled.
     “I’m sure it’s great,” she said as she took a bite. She took a couple more bites before saying, “Maggie, you’re not only a genius when it comes to fixing E-frames and mechanics, but you’re also a genius in the kitchen.”
     A bell of a different tone sounded, and Maggie rose from the table. “That would be dessert. I just hope it doesn’t decide to burn like the last time I made it.”
     The aroma of baked chocolate and some other exotic flavor filled the air of the cabin as she took a large dish from a portable oven. “Wow.... it didn’t burn this time. I guess I got the setting right.”
     “What’s for dessert?” Wolf asked as he stepped up beside her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She blushed before saying, “Umm... a little something my auntie Marie used to make for her gentlemen callers. It’s called ‘Melt in your lust, melt in your mouth chocolate cherry bourbon brownies’. An old family recipe.”
     “I can’t wait to try ‘em,” Wolf said as he grabbed a knife and cut a small piece. He took one bite and turned bright red, choking due to the intense heat of the brownies. “Wa....water.”
     “You gotta wait for them to cool down,” Maggie said as she poured him a glass of water. “Oh boy.... should I call the med. bay and tell them you just burned your tongue to a crisp?”
     Her only response was a shake of the head as Wolf downed glass after glass of water.
     “Dinner was good, and I’m sure dessert will be great as well,” Rita said as she leaned back and crossed her legs. “The wait will be well worth it, since the cafeteria hasn’t served anything worth while for a few weeks.”
     “So, did you want to talk to me about something?” Maggie asked as she sat down at the table to wait for the brownies to cool.
     “Yeah. It’s about JT...”

     “First we’re in spring heat, and now it’s freezing cold. What’s next?” Lina asked as the Slayers trekked through a wide field. They had since put on heavy cloaks to alleviate some of the distress the biting cold was causing them, but even those couldn’t stop the occasional breeze from finding a way to breach their defenses and remind them of their misery.
     “At least you’re wearing a shirt,” Zelgadis grumbled, the hood of his cloak hiding much of his face, “if you didn’t recall, mine was reduced to tatters by that energy blade attack this afternoon.”
     “Well, if we had found a town we could have made sure you had a shirt and that none of us were starving,” Alex sighed, hugging his cloak tighter around him, “bloody unbelievable.”
     “Just can it guys,” Cennarian said, adjusting the thick collar of his cloak, “I know there’s a town nearby that we can get some food and rest in, so just hold on a little longer.”
     Aside from a few mutters and complaints all were in agreement and resumed their journey. Half an hour later they were in the outlying lands of the town of Sarai, a small farming village with a decent inn, a nice tavern, and a shop for clothes that stayed open late and took special orders with pleasure. The Slayers and company sat in the main part of the tavern, two tables pulled close together, their weapons and packs leaning against a nearby wall.
     “OK kids, here’s what you ordered. Everything on the right side of the menu, triple portioned,” a hefty waitress said with a slight twang in her voice, “will that be all?”
     “Yeah, for the moment,” Lina said, eyeing the food hungrily, knife and fork already in hand.
     “O.K.. Eat up kids, and enjoy.”
     “We will,” Gourry replied as he dove into the steaming plates of everything from vegetables to soup to pasta to meat. “Mmmm.... this really hits the spot.”
     “Move outta the way you pig,” Lina grumbled as she grabbed a large piece of meat that Gourry was going for, “Haven’t you heard of ladies first?”
     “Haven’t you heard of self restraint?”
     “Will the two of you grow up?” Celia asked as she speared several large piece of meat and set them on her plate, “take what you’re going to eat, put it on your plate, and leave some for the rest of us. We’re all hungry.”
     “I’m embarrassed to be seen with the two of you,” Zelgadis sighed as he sipped at his coffee, “you’re fighting like spoiled brats.”
     “Are you lookin' for a fireball special?!” Lina grumbled, fire flashing in her eyes.
     “Either calm down and straighten up or I’m going to eat everything on this table and leave nothing for the rest of you,” Alex said, the knife which he was digging into the wooden table bending and breaking.
     “I’d like to see you try,” Lina said, grinning evilly.
     “Is that a bet?”
     “You bet it is.”
     “Here we go again,” Amelia sighed as she rescued some braised zucchini and asparagus from the table, “they’re going to be at it all night.”
     “There’s trouble brewing on the main street,” a villager said as he ducked into the tavern moments before a stream of fire whizzed past the windows.
     “Looks like our friend the king of death has finally found his new target,” Zelgadis said as he rose from the table, “Say Cenn, can I perhaps borrow a tunic from you?”
     “Go ahead Zel,” Cenn said, motioning towards his pack, “help yourself.”
     Zelgadis dug through Cenn’s pack for a moment, finally deciding on a black tunic with black and gold trim. He whipped off his cloak, took off the ruined tunic, and pulled on the borrowed one, quickly strapping his belt back on. “O.K. people, let’s go and find this trouble maker and teach him a lesson.”
     “I’m gonna teach him not to interrupt my dinner,” Lina grumbled as she grabbed a leg of beef and tore meat from the bone in three bites, “doesn’t he know that I get cranky if I don’t have my fill?!”
     “Could you watch our table for us?” Sylphiel asked the waitress as the others left, “We’re leaving our packs here, so you know we’ll be back.”
     “OK hon, will do,” the waitress said as Sylphiel bowed and followed the others outside. “Boy, what a bunch of crazy characters. I hope they’ll be O.K..”
     Near the farthest end of the main street stood a young man who held a very large and impressive looking sword, the blade glowing blood red. When Nara saw him she gasped in shock. “Tranlin? What are you doing? Why are you hurting all of these innocent people?”
     “I hurt because I can,” the young man replied, “so prepare to die toots. Grim Reaper!”
     “Heaven’s Strike!” another voice called as a wave of light washed through the area, canceling out the energy for the Grim Reaper attack. The Slayers turned around to see another young man who looked remarkably like the first, except his sword was surrounded by a glowing blue aura.
     “Tranlin?” Nara asked. The young man nodded.
     “It is I, fair Mistress Nara, and that impostor is about to get a major ass whooping.”
     “Look who’s talking. I hold the true Hostovar sword in my possession and you have a fake,” the evil looking Tranlin said.
     “The Hostovar?” Gourry said, his sword of light’s blade wavering in power.
     “You know of this sword?” Lina asked, her talismans glowing.
     “It’s supposedly more powerful than the sword of light or the blessed blade, and the runes inscribed upon the blade are for a spell more powerful than the Giga Slave and Ragna Blade,” Sylphiel said.
     “And spells channeled through it come out ten times stronger,” Cennarian said.
     “So... which one possesses the real sword?” Alec asked, his pole arm forming.
     “I think we’re about to find out,” Amelia said as two forms leapt skyward, swords flashing in brilliant arcs of red and blue, white light marking where they had struck blows. Shockwaves pounded them from the weapon strikes above, and glass in windows cracked and shattered from the battle. A tornado formed in the center of town, threatening to send the Slayers and friends into orbit while leveling Main Street.
     “We’re going to get killed if this keeps up,” Amelia wailed as she clung to Zelgadis for dear life, “Mister Zelgadis, do something!!”
     “Bloody unbelievable,” Celia said as she picked up on the power levels of the two fighters, “they’re evenly matched with the swords increasing their power hundred fold!”
     “Well, if we don’t stop them not only will this town turn out like Bramburg, but we’ll get killed in the process,” Lina grumbled.
     “I’ll stop the tornado,” Nara said, an aura of power forming around her body. Electricity sparked around her body as she leapt skyward, the aura about her glowing brighter. She flipped forward before diving for the ground beneath the tornado's eye, her right arm extended, a globe of energy forming around her fist. Nothing was uttered as she impacted with the ground, but a force wave rivaling the power of the Dragon Slave tore through the area, throwing people from their feet, shattering glass, and cracking the ground apart. When the dust cleared Nara was still standing, her eyes glowing red.
     “Nara?” Alec asked, shaking the cobwebs from his mind.
     Nara began to say something, but pitched forward, the glow leaving her eyes and body, smoke rising in several places. Sylphiel and Amelia were at her side in the blink of an eye, both administering first aid.
     “Where did the Tranlins get to?” Alex asked. A second later he received his answer as a large fireball crashed down upon him. He blinked, wondering why he wasn’t dead, when he saw Zelgadis crouching in front of him, a protection spell straining his already tapped resources. “Zel?”
     “Hurry up... and send this orbital,” Zel grunted as the fireball continued to drive down upon them.
     “One orbital launch coming up. Giga.... Crisis!!”
     A globe of white light formed between Alex’s palms as his limit unlocked, and this he aimed at the fireball. A beam of pure, untapped, raw energy exploded from the globe and struck the fireball, pushing against it. Yet the fireball didn’t seem to want to move.
     ‘This thing should be headed into the stratosphere by now,’ Alex thought as he strained to maintain his attack, ‘What’s preventing it from moving?’
     “Dragon Slave!” was spoken almost directly into Alex’s right ear, and he turned his head to see Lina giving him an assist. The sorceress caught his glance and grinned as her spell joined his attack.
     “Burst Flare!” came from his left, and he glanced over to see Amelia adding her spell to the group effort.
     After a couple of minutes Amelia asked, “Why isn’t anything working?”
     “I don’t know, but I’m getting really pissed off,” Lina grumbled, her talismans glowing as she boosted her magic power.
     “Maybe we need to increase the force of our spells to counteract the force used by the person who summoned this monster spell,” Alex said as he channeled a secondary magic type into his attack, his energy beam changing color from white to orange, then from orange to black. “Giga Flare!!”
     The fireball slowly lifted away from the group, then gained altitude at an astounding rate. In unison the three spell casters shouted, “BREAK!”, their spells breaking apart into smaller beams which converged on the fireball at all points. A blinding flash filled the sky as the fireball exploded, illuminating a single person with a monster sized sword charged with dark energy set to swing. The figure began to swing the sword, only to have it shattered by a feminine form with a glowing white sword. Both crashed to the ground as the sky returned to normal, the woman waving and cheering.
     “I got the bloody ratbag,” Celia called as she jumped up and down on the evil Tranlin’s back, her heels digging into his skin through his armor.
     “Way to go Briggs,” Lina said, thumping her on the back, “you nailed him good.”
     “But if this is an evil copy,” Nara said, looking over the man Celia was standing on, “then where is the real Tranlin?”
     “I’m right here, Mistress Nara,” a voice said as a man dressed in samurai armor leapt from a nearby tree. The scabbard on his back was of an impressive size, and was in the shape of a red dragon’s head to indicate the shrine he was from.
     “You’re.... Tranlin?” Lina said, looking him over. The man nodded. “I’m quite impressed. And that sword... is the real Hostovar?”
     “That it is,” Tranlin said. The moment he said that Lina was all over him in an attempt to get the sword for herself. He was always one step ahead of her reaches, and that irritated Lina to some extent.
     “Nice to see that somebody else has the same problem,” Gourry said as he picked Lina up by the waist and threw the still ranting and flailing sorceress over his shoulder. “I’m Gourry Gabriev,” he added, extending his hand to Tranlin.
     “Tranlin Dragonis,” Tranlin said, grasping Gourry’s head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
     “So what’s the story with this guy?” Nara asked, jerking a thumb in the evil one’s direction.
     “He’s an evil copy whose sole mission is to make the real Tranlin look bad,” Cennarian said nonchalantly.
     “Close, but no dice,” Tranlin said. Cenn fell over, his left leg twitching in the air.
     “He’s your evil brother who wants to drag your good name through the mud,” Alec said, “am I close?”
     “Right on the money,” Tranlin replied, “and he’s going to get an earful from mom and the people at the black dragon shrine.”
     As the majority of the group talked with Tranlin, Alex pulled a communications console out of subspace and set it up, hoping to make contact with somebody from Alec’s and Nara’s time. “Pyro Prince calling junior,” he said into the microphone as he punched his way through coordinates, “hey, is anybody there?”
     The screen flickered before revealing three feline faces, which quickly shifted form to two female and one male face.
     “What’s up?” Tara asked, brushing some of her hair out of her face.
     “Where’s my grandson? He’s usually the first to pick up, and if not him, then somebody else in the apartment.”
     “They’re out at the moment,” Spirit answered, “something about a mission for Exo fleet. Why?”
     “Crud. I was going to tell him that I have two who need a teleport home to your time.”
     Chloe pushed Spirit and Tara out of the way so that her face filled the screen. “Mister Alec and Miss Nara are with you?!” she exclaimed. Alex leaned back, his ears about to explode from the volume.
     “Technically I’m out of my own time,” he replied, “and Celia can only ‘port so far without needing a rest, so I’m stuck hanging with Lina and the gang. So are Alec and Nara, since Celia wouldn’t be able to make a jump that large with two passengers in her current state of exhaustion.”
     “We’ll pass your message on to the others,” Tara said as she pushed Chloe away from the camera. “Is there anything else we can help you with?”
     “No. That’s all. I’ll catch you later.”
     As he broke connection he punched the ground to his side, anger at forces outside of his control getting to him. “Damn!”