[hlander.txt - Highlander/BG fun] Hey guys! Recent events on the main list have left me nostalgic for some of our old list silliness. While browsing through my archives (and with some help from Lee Storm), I resurrected a bit of fun Davey, Sharon, and myself had early in '97. I did some cutting and pasting of the old messages to come up with a fairly complete and occassionally annotated version, which you all might enjoy: HIGHLANDER/BG X-OVER: THE GATHERING A Davey Jones Production (Dedicated to the memory of Michele "One 'L' dammit" Martin*) *at the time Davey wrote this, I hadn't been seen on the list for a few weeks The Immortals had gathered. Throughout the centuries, their numbers had grown gradually, not even the constant internecine warfare their band practiced doing much to thin the ranks. But now the time had come. All the Immortals in the known galaxy stood in a grassy field. Overhead, two suns were visible; three others were lurking somewhere below the horizon. This was not Earth, not the planet where most ofthem had begun their long, eventful lives; but it was where humanity hadended up after so many eons of technology and advancement. The wind blew gently; the clouds were tangerine-tinted mountains of cotton. Small fuzzy animals, unfearing of men, wandered about. Here and there an Immortal, bored with the wait, swung his sword, usually to curse as the wily rodents skittered away to safety. The Immortal who had assumed the position of host of the Gathering stood up, drew his sword, leaned on it. The man who had gone by many names throughout the thousands of years he had been alive--Duncan MacLeod was the name most on distant Earth would have recognized him by--eyed the gathered masses. _Pity they have to lose their heads for me to win,_ he thought idly. He took a breath, and began what would be his final address to those gathered here. After all, in the end, There Could Be Only One. And this was the event that all had worked and waited impatiently for: The Gathering. "Immortals!" he called. The residual murmers of anger at the local wildlife faded into silence. "We have all waited for this day to come, the day of the Gathering, the day when we shall decide among ourselves who will be The One to continue to the next generation of Immortals. "Most of us were born on Earth, long ago, and made our way out into the Galaxy as our short-lived brethren paved the way. Now, at last, after all these yahren--sorry, years, new habits die hard--we have all finally made our way to this world of the worlds settled by mankind. "Although, I'll grant you," he added as a postscript, "it _did_ look for a while there like the Gathering would take place on Kobol. Everyone remember _that_ fiasco?" There was a soft murmer of laughter, shared memories at the embarrassment. "But we're all here now, on this world they call Caprica, and we're finally going to do it." Duncan's eyes twinkled. "I'll miss you all when I'm the only one left." A genial mob bronx cheer greeted this sentimental pronouncement. Duncan let it go on for a moment, then raised his hands. "But seriously, folks. Today will be the last time we look on each other. The Gathering will begin in just one centar. For you over there, the one they pulled out of that old starship a few decades ago, that's about two and a half hours from now. The event we have all waited and worked so hard and so long for is about to begin. So those of you who brought your own lunch, eat up. Anyone who needs to go, the portaturbos are lined up over there. The drinks tent is the first one, and the socialator tent--slow down, slow down, knowing you all there's plenty of time for all of you!--is next to it. And after that we'll--" He stopped, blinked past the group, and lifted his hands to his squinting eyes. "Wow," he finally said. A bunch of the Immortals turned to look; others sneered at it as an amateur's gambit. "Look at that. Anyone ever seen Caprica City glow that bright before? Cool! And look at that glow on the horizo--" *fwoosh*BOOM*cool nuclear explosion SFX* PART 2--Sharon Monroe Apollo and Maralisabethaca somberly crossed the field, looking for clues among the scattered body parts. There were an amazing number of headless corpses, and an eerie haze hung over the empty, stunted vegetation. It was obvious a tremendous explosion had occurred here, and radiation continued to taint everything around them. The two warriors knew they had to find out how they'd gotten here -- and get away from here -- or it was only a matter of time before they were as dead as so many of those lying here. "Captain," the young warrior asked breathily, "how did we come to be back on Caprica, this long after the destruction?" "I'm not sure, Sergeant," he answered. "But this is definitely Caprica, and from the looks of buildings and the bomb crater back there, it's been at least a yahren since the attack on Caprica, and our flight." She grabbed his arm. "There!" * * * * * Amanda groaned and sat up slowly. Another death by radiation poisoning. _Sooner or later_, she thought, _I am going to have to find a way to get this out of my system_. "Amanda?" "I'm here, Methos." She picked up her sword and looked around wearily. This trying to finish a duel before dying again was getting very old. The remaining Immortals were doing their best to become only One, but the explosion and subsequent radiation had wiped out all the remaining mortals -- including the socialators, for which Amanda was heartily glad since it left more good-looking Immortals for her, for a while at least. And it also made them better targets. "Is Duncan still here?" she heard him ask, his voice echoing through the strange red mist . "Yes, I'm here..." came the response. The three Immortals joined each other. As they looked around, wondering if any more of them remained, or they were the only survivors, they heard a woman's voice cry, "There!" They turned as one to see the two Colonial Warriors approaching them. Duncan stepped forward. "I am Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod. These are Amanda and Methos. Are you here for the Gathering?" The pair looked at each other. "Huh?" "I said--" The man in the brown uniform held up his hand. "We heard you. Did you bring us here? What's this gathering?" The three Immortals quickly tucked their swords out of sight, but not before Mara noticed. "Oooh, is that a Cylon souvenir...Duncan?" "Uh, yeah, I guess so," Duncan answered uncomfortably. "So, what's your name?" Apollo responded. "I'm Strike Captain Apollo of the battlestar Galactica. This is Sergeant Maralisabethaca." The girl flushed. "Maralisa-what?" "It's Scorpian," she responded. "It means 'Rigel's cousin's best friend's adopted sister,' or something like that." When Duncan smiled back, Amanda stepped forward, took his arm possessively, and glared back at the female warrior. "Don't even think it, sister. He's taken. And he's gonna be dead in a few hours anyway." "Centars, Amanda," he came back under his breath. "And don't bet on it." "How long have you been here?" Apollo interrupted. "Since just before the explosion," Methos came back. Apollo and Mara looked at each other. "The Cylon attack? You've been here all that time? You can't have! You'd be dead of radiation poisoning!" "Well, once or twice," the most ancient Immortal came back with a grin. "You know, Duncan," Amanda noted, "you never did say just why the Gathering was being held here, this Caprica place -- or why it might have been on that other planet, uh, whatever it was, and why we couldn't go there after all." "Kobol." Duncan smiled, and turned his attention back to Apollo and Mara. "There's a reason for it. And I think you'll understand it when you see it." "Why? They're not Immortals!" Amanda said. "No, but they have dealt with me before." All five turned at that voice. Apollo gasped. "Iblis! The Prince of Darkness! This is your doing!" "Yes, Apollo. All of it." The malevolent smile grew. Duncan started laughing. Methos turned slowly, staring at his old friend, comprehension dawning. There was only one explanation, one reason Duncan had said the Gathering must be here, one reason why he was the only one who seemed to know this being whose presence had turned Apollo pale and caused Mara to faint. The look in Duncan's eye said he was right. "Oh my God, Amanda, it's Duncan! He never came back! He never changed! He's still dark Duncan--" ************************************************* PART 3--Michele Martin "Not entirely correct, Pierson!" exclaimed Duncan/Iblis. "Ah, that's 'Methos'", Methos corrected tentatively. Duncan/Iblis laughed evilly again. "Hah! That's just what you wanted everyone to think. But I know the truth--you really _are_ just a pissant graduate student named 'Adam Pierson' _pretending_ to be the ancient Immortal Methos." Amanda gasped in dismay. "You _lied_ to me!" Methos/Adam just shrugged. "Why would I tell the truth? And after all this time, what does it really matter anyway? We still have to deal with this Evil Duncan." "Yeah, right. We'll talk about _you_ later," Amanda responded, glaring him. "What did you mean when you said he wasn't entirely correct." "Duncan did go back to being good Duncan. I, for want of a better word, possessed him just prior to the Gathering knowing he would have the best chance of winning," Duncan/Iblis proclaimed. "Why? What nefarious scheme are you up to this time, Iblis?" Apollo queried, shoving Mara behind him (as if it would do any good). "Simple. When I, as Duncan MacLeod, collect all the power of all the Immortals--the Prize--I'll be able to have enough power to take over your precious Fleet and subvert everyone to my will...just out of sheer charisma," he flashed one of Duncan's best smiles. "I think I'll start by humiliating Adama by seducing your sister. Then I'll beat the pogies out of you. _Then_ I'll humiliate your annoying best friend by seducing his girlfriend!" Duncan/Iblis laughed evilly yet again. It was getting on Apollo's nerves. "You fiend!" Mara declared. "There's just one flaw in your plan, Duncan or Iblis or whoever you are," said Amanda. "You have to _win_ the Prize first." "Oh, I don't think that'll be any problem," Duncan/Iblis declared, waving his hand toward the horizon. Apollo and Mara gasped in horror at the sight of rank after rank of gleaming Cylon centurions cresting the nearby hill. "All I have to do is kill all of the remaining Immortals and behead them at my leisure. And you," he pointed at Apollo and Mara, "get to watch. That's why I brought you here--so you could _see_ your defeat approaching." "Why is it that all the bad guys feel they have to gloat?" Methos/Adam reflected. "And something else I don't understand--how did you manage to possess Duncan in the first place?" "By appearing in a form he was powerless to refuse," Duncan/Iblis said, but in a sultry female's voice that sent chills down Methos/Adam's spine. "Kristin! Arrgghh!!! I warned him! I _knew_ she would be the downfall of him! I knew it!!" he exclaimed. Duncan/Iblis laughed evilly again. Apollo couldn't stand it anymore. He whipped out his blaster, intent on shutting up that voice at least for a little while. But when he pulled the trigger all that happened was that a little flag popped out with the word "turbobang" printed on it in Caprican. Duncan/Iblis just kept laughing. "And now my triumph will be complete!" he declared as the Cylons continued to advance down the hill. "Not so fast, scion of evil!" proclaimed another voice. They all turned. "Darius??!!" exclaimed Amanda, Duncan/Iblis, and Methos in confusion. Sure enough, it was the long-lost priest, walking serenely up the hill followed by a winded Richie Ryan who was carrying a heavy tome, bell, and candelabra. "But...but...you're _dead_" Duncan/Iblis stammered in confusion. "In 1993, Horton and his Hunter minions beheaded you in your own church. I _saw_ your body!!" "No, _Duncan_ saw what he _thought_ was my body. Actually it was a hapless drifter who died of alcohol poisoning outside my church. I faked my own death and left the Watcher chronicle where I knew Duncan would find it so that _he_ could expose the Hunters, find the Watchers, and come up with all new plots to carry the show through five more seasons!" "And Richie! You're supposed to be dead, too. A freak shaving accident..." Amanda proclaimed. "Another faked death. It's a long story which I'll tell you later. But right now we have to deal with this evil spawn of Satan," Darius commented. "Ha! You foolish priest. Not even you can stop me and my Cylons!" "Oh? Not even with..._this_!" Darius whipped something out of his cassock. "The Cross of Saint Antoine!!" Methos/Adam, Amanda, and Duncan/Iblis proclaimed. Duncan/Iblis backed away in horror. "I'm really, really confused now," Apollo muttered under his breath. "Hey, what about all this stuff? I thought we were going to do the whole classic exorcism thing. You know: bell, book, candle," Richie queried. "Oh, that. I just thought you were getting a bit out of shape, Richie, so I had you carry that for me up the hill..." Darius commented offhandedly, as he advanced on the cowering Duncan/Iblis brandishing the gleaming gold (and somewhat gaudy) Cross of St. Antoine.... [Will Iblis be driven out by the Cross of St. Antoine? Will they be able to defeat the advancing masses of Cylons? Will Amanda beat the pogies out of Adam for lying to her about being Methos? Will Apollo ever figure out what's going on? Tune in for the next installment of: "As The Immortals Squirm"] *********************************************************************** INTERLUDE 1--The authors exchange comments and consider the tough questions posed in the last section. Davey Jones: Michele joined in with the third chapter of the epic. (And this after doing nothing but *sniffle* finding fault with my starter chapter *sniff* _Sharon_ didn't have any problem with it... *sniff*) Michele Martin: Sharon's part was better. :) Besides, you were so gung-ho on getting story critiques, then you posted a story of your own and made of _point_ of referring to me before you started. I mean, it's kind of like having a big flashing neon sign over your story that says "Please Criticize This Story, Michele!!" Just be glad _Judy_ didn't get her hands on it. --Will Iblis be driven out by the Cross of St. Antoine? DJ: Not unless that's one heck of an edge that priest has put on that Cross in the intervening bunchteen thousand years since Earth... MM: I have to admit that I think the squirt gun full of holy water that Richie's hiding in his back pocket will probably end up being more effective; when Darius sucker-whacks Iblis/Duncan over the head with the cross (it's almost a foot long, made of solid gold and encrusted with lots of nifty gems...and therefore pretty darn heavy) that will distract him just long enough for Richie to pull the gun out.... --Will they be able to defeat the advancing masses of Cylons? DJ: Ah, yes, that's right; the cylons _do_ know how to behead things, don't they? MM: True, but as we've discussed before they're not very agile and may have some difficulties with the rampaging herd of really ticked-off Caprican Elelopes that are rapidly approaching from the east. Especially since Iblis/Duncan will be distracted with the big lump on his head and won't be able to give them the command to shoot the bloody beasties.... --Will Amanda beat the pogies out of Adam for lying to her about being Methos? DJ: Only if #s 1 and 2 above get taken care of in some amicable fashion. MM:Amicable to whom? :) At any rate, revelation that the Dread Pirate Methos theory was actually _correct_ will probably still be pretty irrelevant if/when the Game continues. Though Apollo may put a stop to the Game because it is, in his own words, "downright silly". --[DJ]What do you think about the political stand of antarctic emperor penguins on the trade embargo placed on Nicaragua by Quebec? DJ: I think they're playing with fire, myself; protectivist measures have never shown much long-term profit. But, being penguins, they can hardly be aware of that. MM: Well, I'm not sure of that since these particular penguins _are_ living pretty close to where that space asteroid carrying the silicon-based red asparagus-things landed (see X-Files, second season "Firewalker") and may actually be the projection in our dimension of hyperintelligent beings from another dimension who are studying Earth history and how it fits into their thesis "No Matter How Technologically Advanced They Become, Human Beings Remain Mostly Selfish Bastards." In which case they may actually be highly intrigued by this particular turn of events and the factors that contributed to Quebec's decision. --Will Apollo ever figure out what's going on? DJ: Doubtful; he never has before ("Sheba? What are you doing in my quarters? And what are you doing with those pine cones and that corkscrew and that can of whipped cream?"). MM: He also might be more concerned that Iblis will reveal his deepest, darkest secret: that he privately willed the death of Serina after discovering how truly annoying she really was two minutes after he married her. **note: the opinions expressed in this fanfic, except for the title of the penguin's thesis, do not necessarily truly reflect the opinions of the author. They just make for interesting plot twists* ************************************************************************** PART 3.1, Interlude II --Sharon Monroe >Author's personal note: The Ratboy sneered: >> Besides, all you hoity-toities that followed my act completely missed >>the _explanation_ of how all the Immortals ended up on Caprica. So >>there. *sneer* >We didn't miss it, we ignored it! Staring at the tableau before him, as Darius and Richie approached, Pierson/Methos paused to consider what had led up to this point. He had gone along with this whole "Gathering on Caprica" thing because it had looked like everyone else knew what Duncan was talking about. Now, judging from Amanda's reaction, it seemed none of the other Immortals had known -- but they'd all pretended to, to avoid appearing stupid in front of Duncan, who, besides being self-proclaimed host of the Gathering, was generally well-respected by the others for his skill with the sword, his general longevity, and his reputation for honesty, trustworthiness, ability to walk old ladies across the street, and for being one heck of a good...ahem (according to Amanda, Kristen, Lisa, Anne, Catherine, Tessa, Grace, Juanita, Mei Ling, Michele, Sharon, Leah, Francesca, and a whole host of others). >From his studies, he now suspected he was probably the only Immortal on Earth who had remembered Kobol -- assuming Duncan wasn't lying about that too. But then, once they'd arrived here, and met Immortals from other human planets, it had been obvious to him that Immortality was somewhere in human genes, so it was logical that as long as humans existed in the galaxy, so did Immortals. His concentration was broken by the sound of laser fire... PART 4, A New Hope--Sharon Monroe, with >annotations by Michele Martin [When we last checked in, Darius and Richie were approaching Iblis/Duncan, while Iblis/Duncan accused Methos of being nothing but a mortal pissant grad student... >Um, no--he accused Methos of being a pissant grad student but _not_ a >mortal. I mean, that would be silly: Adam Pierson by now would've been >around for hundreds of years at least by this time and besides, other Immies >would know if he was or was not an Immie himself simply by the presence or >absence, respectively, of "the buzz" when he approached. The fact that he's >Immortal is indisputable. The question is whether he's really the _oldest_ >Immortal (Methos) or just some other Immie pretending to be Methos. Which is >the crux of the very popular "Dread Pirate Methos" theory. >And you forgot to mention the Cross of St. Antoine! I thought that was the >best part of my entire section . ...which Methos/Pierson admitted to Amanda, who was still fried that Duncan had smiled at the colonial warrior Mara, who'd just fainted at the sight of myriads of Cylons marching slowly over the hill, resulting in Apollo... Ah, never mind.] The laser fire continued. Apollo dove for the dirt beside Mara, who was starting to recover from her faint. The collected Immortals simply stared curiously. (Even if they'd truly realized how destructive the lasers could be, they didn't care -- they'd just wake up again in a moment anyway.) And the Cylons continued to march stolidly over the hill, slowly approaching in their never-ending ranks. However, a new Force had entered the fray. As the group stared, a trio of warriors dashed into view, still firing their weapons. They paused long enough to take heroic stances, then fired again. Cylons, being the slow and somewhat dim-bulbed creatures they were, kept marching directly into the line of fire. (Iblis had forgotten to give them the order to start shooting.) The warriors moved down line after line, and continued firing as Duncan/Iblis grumbled: "I thought Lucifer had programmed them better than that." Apollo looked up, and smiled grimly. "It looks like you won't win so easily after all." That was the last straw. "I've had more than enough of you, Captain. And now, I seem to be a position to do something about it." Before anyone else could react, he jabbed his katana deep into Apollo's gut, pinning him to the ground, killing him almost instantly. Mara got up slowly, staring at Duncan/Iblis. Darius paused to give the dead warrior last rites. >...with the Cross of St. Antoine. {Look, if he's not going to sucker-whap >Duncan/Iblis with it or use it to exorcise the evil presence of Iblis he's >gotta do something with it. I mean, he brought it all this way and it's >_heavy_!} This sort of thing didn't have much impact on Amanda or Richie any more; they'd seen enough death. Besides, Amanda was too busy thinking. "Wait a minute. We've been here over a year, fighting and taking heads, and dying over and over again of radiation poisoning." "I can think of better ways to spend a year, but so?" Richie asked. Amanda narrowed her eyes and stared a Methos/Pierson, who nonchalantly began to whistle an ancient Egyptian air -- or was it Kobolian? He could never remember... "You've been here dying with the rest of us! You are Methos!" she accused. >Um, well, this proves that he's an Immortal but still doesn't answer the >question of whether or not he's really _Methos_ the Immortal. He shrugged and grinned. "Guilty as charged." "But..." "Iblis lied," Mara announced quietly. "As he has lied about so many things." She pulled the sword out of Apollo's body and threw it aside. Duncan made no effort to retrieve it, simply stood with crossed arms, grinning the roguish grin that had won a thousand hearts over the yahrens...years...jahre...whatever. "Apollo!" The three warriors came pelting up. It was Starbuck, Boomer, and Sheba, and they knew at once that their cavalry act had been too late... PART 5, Return of the Good Guys --Michele Martin Sheba immediately burst into tears and crumpled into a miserable heap beside the dead captain's body, wailing and moaning and tearing at her hair and just generally making a spectacle of herself. Mara stood nearby mourning in a much more tactful manner. Starbuck, miffed that Sheba had managed to begin her attempt at winning the Emmy for Most Spectacularly Overdone Display of Grief in a Dramatic Series before he could, turned on Duncan/Iblis. "You...you...really nasty person, you.." Starbuck began, stuttering in frustration because the network censors of the late 70s wouldn't let him use strong enough language (at least in English) to express how angry he was. "You killed him. Again! My best friend, my wingman, the man who saved my life--all our lives--countless times ov....say, is that gold?" He stopped in his ranting to point at the Cross of St. Antoine in Darius' hands. Distracted from his grief/anger/frustration at his best friend's apparant death by the sight of something potentially worth a lot of money, he sidled up to the priest. Boomer, meanwhile, was staring intently at Apollo's face. At first he'd been lost in his own grief but continued examination of the man lying dead on the ground revealed something. "Hey guys...this isn't Apollo." "What?" Mara and Sheba, her tears stopping abruptly, exclaimed in surprise. "I said 'hey guys, this isn't Apollo!'" Boomer said a bit more forcefully, directing his comments pointed at Starbuck who was busy trying, unsuccessfully, to weasle the Cross of St. Antoine away from Darius. Starbuck, suddenly aware that Boomer was talking to him, turned around and followed Boomer's pointing finger down to the face of the man dead on the ground. "Huh? Oh, hey, that's Reese, not Apollo! Hmm..still looks dead, though. Bummer for him," Starbuck commented distractedly before turning back to talk to Darius. "Reese!! I've been making a complete idiot of myself over _Reese_??" Sheba exclaimed in disgust, jumping up and backing away from the body. "That's okay, dear. I'm sure you could have made a complete idiot of yourself equally as well if it were someone else," Amanda commented drily, unsure whether or not this new group of "heroes" was really going to be such a great help. "No! It Cannot Be!!" Duncan/Iblis proclaimed in anger using his best 'all-powerful entity' voice. "I Would Have Spotted The Deception!" "Slipping in your old age, hmm?" Methos needled. Duncan/Iblis whirled at the offending Immortal, pointing a finger at him and about to blast him to a temporary death when he was interrupted by a brief flash of light and another voice, "Actually, the substitution was my idea..." Everyone turned to view the new arrival. Duncan/Iblis took one look and threw up his hands in disgust "Oh bluidy hell! I give up!" Then he suddenly dropped to his knees, grabbing his head in his hands. Richie, seeing his chance, whipped out his squirt gun full of holy water and shot it right at Duncan's face. The kneeling Immortal sputtered, "Richie...what are you doing??? Wait...where am I? What is this place. This is not Chez Nicholah, the swanky French restaurant where I was having dinner with Kristen!" "It worked! It worked! The evil demon Ible or Hibley or whatever-his-name-was is gone! You were right, Darius. This holy water stuff did the trick," Richie crowed with delight. "Um, actually, I think Iblis left just _before_ you squirted Duncan, kid," Methos pointed out wrily. "All you managed to do was make him wet." Richie just shot Methos a nasty glare. Meanwhile, the others were trying to determine the identity of this new arrival. Starbuck, finally realizing that there was no way in Hades that Darius was going to just give him the Cross of St. Antoine without substantial monetary compensation, advanced toward the newcomer and said, "Say, I recognize you. At least the voice--you're that guard on Terra that accosted me when I first landed." "Mmmm...not quite. My name is Q." "Who?" Sheba and Mara asked. "No, Q." "Okay, Mr. Q. What brings you here? We're grateful that you managed to save Apollo _and_ help us get rid of that annoying Reese character but considering all that's been going on you'll have to excuse us if we're a bit suspicious of your motives," Boomer queried. "It's simple really. I'm protecting an investment...namely the money I have wagered on the outcome of the Game. Iblis' presence was just screwing things up and I hoped that if he got frustrated enough he'd leave and go plot evil plans elsewhere." "Wait, this Game....John said something about having money wagered on it as well. That's why he brought us here in that really tacky ship of his. What's it all about?" Boomer pressed. "And, uh, how does one go about getting into the betting pool?" Starbuck added. "Hold on, hold on. Are you telling me that all of this is about which one of us wins the Game?" Amanda inquired. "You mean to say that there are a bunch of quasi-omnipotent beings wagering money on us?" "Yes, pretty much," Q acknowledged. "That's disgusting! You're as bad as those people who used to hang out around the guillotines in revolutionary France and watch the nobles get beheaded. I don't think I want to be a part of _this_," she said. Methos, Richie, Darius, and Duncan nodded in agreement. "You know, it's only the five of us left," Richie pointed out. "And I, for one, don't want to behead any of you. Well, maybe _you_," he pointed at Methos, who stuck his tongue out at Richie in response, "but certainly not any one else. I mean, so many have died here today," {cue swelling, dramatic music} "and for what? A Game we don't understand with an unknown Prize? For the amusement of bored hyper-intelligent all-powerful beings who haven't got anything better to do with themselves? I say 'no more!' I say we just walk away!" Everyone applauded. Except Q. And Reese, of course, who was still dead. "That's the first intelligent thing you've said all day!" Duncan said. Amanda nodded in agreement. "That's the first intelligent thing he's said period," Methos muttered. F  FMicrosoft Word 6.0 Document MSWordDocWord.Document.69q_Oh+'0$ H l   D hC:\WORD\TEMPLATE\NORMAL.DOT Chapter FourArts & Science Computer LabsSanna M. Gurin@could return us to our ship?" Boomer asked tentatively? "I mean, I know you're upset about there not being a conclusion to your Game but we didn't have anything to do with that and, well, our ride left." "Hmm...oh, yes, of course," Q answered distracted as he pondered ways to make Picard miserable. He snapped his fingers and he and all the Galacticans disappeared. Except for the body of Reese. "Well, guess that takes care of that," Darius mused. Looking around somewhat sadly at all the carnage, he placed the Cross of St. Antoine firmly in the ground as a marker for the dead. Then he, Amanda, Richie, Methos, and Duncan linked arms and strolled off into the sunsets. Unnoticed behind them, a new figure appeared on the ridge. It was Iblis in the form more familiar to the Galacticans. He glared at the retreating Immortals and the dead (Cylons and humans alike). "You think this is over? Hah! I'm not licked yet. I'll Be Back!" he proclaimed with an odd Austrian-like accent before laughing evilly one final time and fading away. PART 6, Alternate Ending --Sharon Monroe, with >commentary by Michele Martin, who always has to have the last word. But how you can call that the ending? Q ex machina! >Hey, it's a spoof! That means part of the fun is over using the tired, old >plot devices in as many sick and twisted ways as I can think of. Besides, I >was getting tired. Where's Apollo waking up and the others discovering he's really an Immortal too? >Can't be--he's got parents and siblings. Unless you're saying he's adopted? >I mean, I thought there was a pretty good resemblance between him and Zac >but I could be wrong. According to the rules set down by the producers of the series, >the Immies in the TV universe have to be orphans whose parents can't be >identified, we can eliminate certain of Our Heroes from the Pre-Immie >category. Starbuck, definitely, since we know Chameleon is his father as >proven by strange ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg two women had been doing some shopping that afternoon, mostly replacing old civilian outfits that dated to before the Destruction, with the current styles and designs. Sheba had discovered two dresses that she just adored, and she'd decided to wear one of them to dinner. It was about knee-length, and was an earthy-brown color that matched her hair. Dietra was humming to herself, and occasionally, she would check her chronometer, making a face to show that she was looking forward to the meal. Finally, she tapped Sheba on the shoulder with a huge grin on her face. "Let's go!" The Ebullient Epicure was owned by a family of Aerians, and it was decorated with a sparse selection of red and yellow paints and accessories. Smaller tables were available at the entrance, but Sheba had reserved a large table at the back. As the server escorted them there, both Sheba and Dietra could see that they were the first ones there. After ordering some ambrosa, they sat down to their menus. Sheba frowned at the menu as she noticed that a lot of it was in Colonial Standard mixed with phrases of Aerian. Often, the two were intermingled, and she found that she needed to concentrate, especially given that she knew very little of the language. Many of the words were incomprehensible to her, and when Dietra started giggling and distracting her, Sheba looked up sharply. "What's so funny?" she demanded, as Dietra covered her mouth with her hands in a vain attempt to contain her laughter. "Oh, sorry, Sheba," she gasped, "I was just remembering the last time I went to an Aerian restaurant. It was on one of the space stations around Caprica, and I was with my then-boyfriend. I think I was on leave, and we ordered a few dishes so we could talk over dinner. I had no problem with it, but halfway through, he couldn't finish -- either his dinner or the conversation! There was so much spice, his face turned all red! It was so funny!" "Yuck," Sheba said, wrinkling her nose. "I don't blame him. I can't stand spices. They make me perfectly ill. When we order, make sure that I don't order anything like that." "I feel so sorry for you!" Dietra exclaimed. "Trust me, there's nothing better than a dish of spicy food to make you know you're alive." "We have other ways of knowing we're alive without torturing our mouths and stomachs, Dietra," Sheba replied, giving her a grin. Shaking her head in resignation, though the sparkle in her brown eyes showed that the topic would come up yet again, Dietra looked up and back at the doorway. Spotting three familiar faces, she started waving at them to get their attention. "Looking lively, Sheba, they're here!" Turning in her chair, Sheba grinned as she spotted Boomer and Athena making their way to the table as they held the other's hand; with Bojay trailing slightly behind. All three had cheerful expressions on their faces, and Sheba waved, too, as they finally arrived. "Hi, guys!" Dietra greeted. "Glad you all could make it!" "We almost didn't," Athena confessed, as Boomer held a chair out for her to sit in. "You wouldn't believe the shuttle traffic! Everyone who has permission to go on furlon is either making their way here or to the Rising Star. It's just so