(20) Light and Darkness...

"Great. I don't believe this." Michael started to complain. "We've gone through numerous battles; destroyed countless enemies; almost got our butt kicked how many times; go through that nightmare of a battle back in our time; try to find a way to get our hands on the Oracle; get it snatched from us not once, but twice; finally get it back; gain the power to manipulate time; come all the way back here in this godforsaken wasteland; and just when we're finally, FINALLY, able to win one," Michael glares at Jay, who is looking extremely embarrassed. "This..." Michael stops and takes a deep breath to calm himself down. "This guy coincidentally gets a powerful ability and ironically starts the whole turn of events that caused the whole bloody evil in the first place! And all I wanted to do was go to the beach with my friends and see Rachel's new..."

"That's enough." Rachel cuts him off. "We didn't know this was going to happen. And Michael," she says looking at him batting her eyelashes, "don't worry. You'll have plenty of time to gawk at my body after this is all over. Right now we've got more important things to worry about."

"Yeah, we weren't able to beat this thing before, and we had everyone on our teams helping each other out." Lara said. "I say we blast the thing before it fully forms."

"DK, Rachel and Lara hold that thing off." Michael says still looking at Jay, but out of curiousity not anger. "I've got to talk with Jay for a moment."

"Who made you boss?" Lara quips. But DK and Rachel figured out what was going on and dragged Lara toward the lake.

"Jay, what was that attack you just used called?" Michael asks after the others were out of earshot.

"I...I don't know. The word 'Ultima' just popped into my head and all of a sudden..."

"'Ultima, huh?" Michael pursed his lips together in thought. "I thought that looked familiar."

"What?"

"Do you think you can use it again?" Michael asked.

"I don't know." Jay repeats. "All I can remember is that when I felt all this hatred toward that creature..."

"...you felt this power surge through you. I know."

"You know?"

"The power of Ultima is triggered through a type of emotional trigger. Yours must be an adrenaline rush of anger. Mine..." Michael smirks as he holds up one of his hands which is giving out a greenish aura. "...is the strength of friendship I have for my friends."

"But why now? Why haven't I been able to use it before?"

"You've never went up against a creature of pure darkness... until now. The presence of darkness must trigger your ability. So if the darkness were finally eradicated, you'd never be able to use it again."

"Uh, Jay, Michael?" Mason interrupts. "Not wanting to spoil this little pow-wow right now, but..." Michael and Jay turn toward the direction of where Mason is pointing. The darkness had finally grown large enough to block what light the sun could filter through the snowy sky. Rachel, DK and Lara were doing their best to keep out of reach of its tentacles.

"Oh, snap," was all that Jay could say.

"The only way we're going to be able to beat this thing is with that stupid Ankh." Michael says. He turns to Rufus. "Rufus, you're the last person who had it. Where is it?"

Rufus, still a little shaky from having his entire body taken over, tried to remember. His eyes widened. "The Ultima Warpgate... I... the Darkness hid it in the void."

"Then let's go back through, and snatch the artifact on our way out," Jay suggested.

"Not a problem." Michael said. "I should be able to open up a backdoor to the warpgate. But, I need the full focus of my powers to do it."

Meanwhile, Rachel, Lara and DK were having a tough time just getting near their opposition.

DK fired shot after shot from his Buster, but kept getting deflected. Rachel and Lara displayed some almost impossible gymnastics - jumping, dodging and parrying their way through the tentacles that were trying to pierce them - slowly making their way to the center.

"You okay back there Rachel?" Lara shouted, nimbly sidestepping an incoming projectile.

"Are you kidding me?" Rachel laughed. "I haven't felt such an adrenaline rush since we got here!"

The girls euphoria was interrupted by a couple of thrown trees that blasted them outside the frenzy and right into DK, who was not expecting a couple of girls to be flung into him. The impact sent all three tumbling to the ground. They quickly got up and braced for more defense.

"We've got to retreat and regroup!" DK said, clutching his side.

Lara and Rachel nodded and headed back to the rest of the group.

"How are we supposed to fight this thing?" Lara shouted with impatience.

"There's only one way." DK said. "Lara and I will enter the Warpgate, find the artifact and return here while Rachel and Michael stay back and see what they can do in the homefront."

"Uh-uh." Michael argued. "As much as I don't want to, I think Rachel and Jay should go with DK."

"Why me?" Rachel asked.

"First off, I'd rather not have to worry about you. Second, I think Jay needs a bodyguard. Thirdly, I need Lara's firepower out here."

"Wait, why am I going?" Jay asked.

"Because other than Rufus, you're the only other person here that knows what it looks like."

"Oh." Jay nodded.

"Hey! Quit talking about me like I'm dead," Rufus interjected weakly, "I can go with you guys too."

Mason put a hand on Rufus's shoulder. "Son, you're not going anywhere without me."

Michael nodded. "You guys should go anyway. It's too dangerous here."

"What do you mean you don't want to worry about me? I can take care of myself," Rachel piped in.

"That's enough, Rachel." Lara says. "As much as I don't agree with the arrangement, we're wasting time arguing."

"Alright," DK nods. "Rachel, Jay, Rufus, Mason and I in the Warpgate, Lara and Michael holding off ol' big and ugly."

"Wait!" Everyone turns to Rufus's outburst. "You're not going to be able to breathe in there. There's no air."

"But if there was no air," Jay wondered, "how'd me and Mason go through without suffocating?"

"Maybe, because you're "The Jay", you can survive." Rachel teased, "and Mason told me earlier that his passage was instanteous, so he probably held his breath."

"Either way, it's not best to push our luck," Mason insisted.

"My lungs are half cybernetic, so I'll be okay," DK says, "but, I don't know about the others though."

"Maybe..." Michael begins. "There is a way." The group looked at him warily.

"I can share my oxygen with Rachel, Jay, Rufus, and you, Mason, via Elemental."

"Elemental?" Mason repeats, confused.

"Long story. It's best you don't worry about the details." Michael continues. "Basically, you four will be able to breathe the air that I intake while you're in the Warpgate."

"You can do that?" Jay asks. Michael nods.

"But I'm only doing it if you guys trust me."

"Of course we trust you." Rachel says without hesitating. Michael walks up to Rachel.

"Okay, I need you all to close your eyes." Michael says to Rachel. She complies without hesistation.

Michael leans forward and has his lips meet Rachel's, in a long and passionate kiss. After he breaks off, Rachel opens her eyes and blushes slightly. "Now Rachel's sharing my air."

"Um, you're not going to do that to me, are you?" Jay asked, horrified by the thought.

"Heck, no." Michael said with a smirk. "I've just been wanting to do that for a while." Rachel playfully smacks Michael on the arm, still grinning. Michael waved his hand across Jay's face.

Instantly Jay started to feel a comfortable pressure over his nostrils and lips as if there were an invisible gas mask being placed on his face. "Whoa..."
Michael repeated the wave against Rufus and Mason, who reacted with as much surprise as Jay.

"Done," Michael confirmed, "But we have to go back to the warpgate's exit point. I can utilize any lingering energy to re-open the portal much faster."

Minutes later, the group reached the trampled clearing where the exit point seemed to have been.

"Brace yourselves people!" And with that, Michael focused his energies to tear open the fabric of time and space. A shining portal of light opened out of thin air.

"Okay, before you guys go, keeping the portal open takes a lot of energy; so when you've all passed through, I'm going to close it again. When you need to exit, just tell me. You guys should still be capable of making sound while I'm still connected to you via oxygen line."

"That's assuming we know when to get out," Jay pointed out, "but I have a feeling it won't be an issue."

"Not to be the bearer of bad news, but how are you guys planning on returning?" Mason yelled to overpower the sound of air being sucked into the portal.

Jay shrugged, "I honestly don't know. But, we'll worry about that when the time comes..."
"Guys..." Michael grunted, teeth gritted. He was obviously straining to keep the portal alive.

"Alright, there's no more time to lose. Let's do it!" Rachel shouted.

DK, Jay, Rufus, Mason and Rachel plunged into the unknown abyss, after which Michael swiftly closed the portal behind them, then turned with Lara to face the problem at hand.
A giant black tentacle finally found the duo, but hit the ground under their feet as they flipped backward to dodge.

"Let's shine some light." Michael said with a maniacal look in his eyes.