"......And that's the way it goes with Ukyou. It's the same way." Laura Saotome said, driving her point home by pushing her forefinger into her hand.
The group had actually settled down into its usual habit of holding multiple conversations after Laura was introduced to the group, but in a rare moment, had focused themselves on one topic for the afternoon - this was shortly after Laura made a comment about Ukyou that Ted didn't quite agree with. The two had gone on debating back and forth for the last hour or so, and it had attracted the attention of whole group, who occasionally threw in comments for either side.
"But that's just not possible, considering her previous behavior," Ted countered. He seemed to show signs that he was starting to flail away at Laura's arguments, rather than disproving them.
"I'm not talking about previous behavior," Laura said. "I'm talking about her character in general,a nd that's the way it is for her."
"I still don't believe it."
"Ten Year Sauce story, Ted. Gambling King."
Ted nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, yeah..."
"And let's not forget the infamous wedding scene!" Laura smiled. She had played her "ace" card. Now if he doesn't find the hole in her argument...
"Ok, ok, I'll concede that to you," Ted said grudgingly with a good-natured smile on his face. "You know, people could say that was used purely for comedic effect..." Laura almost flinched at the comment which was the hole in her point. "...but I'm a little weary of arguing with it. You brought up some good points, though."
"Thanks!" Laura said, grinning. "I always like a good debate."
With the "duel" apparently over, the group fell to talking amongst each other again, some congratulating Laura, and others jokingly poking fun at Ted for conceding to the "newbie".
As she talked among her new friends, Laura was inwardly thinking to herself. She was surprised at the amount of information, the attention to detail, that Ted Wang had brought up. Not to mention the fact that Ted seemed pretty serious about what he was talking about, at times raising his already loud voice to a higher volume whever she made a point he strongly disagreed with. Laura wondered if the others were this knowledgeable about the series as Ted was. If they were, she was in for a lot more difficult debates. *These guys are good* Laura thought to herself .*And I thought I knew a lot...*
A tap on the shoulder made Laura turn around from talking to Paul Walski. Her namesake smiled at her.
"Well?" Laura Hendricks said. "How do you like it so far?"
Laura Saotome smiled. "Not bad....I actually have a group of friends with a common interest, now...and who will at least listen to me for more than two minutes about Ranma 1/2!" Laura H. and Walski laughed at her comment, partly because of her joking tone, and partly because it was actually true. There weren't that many Anime fans at St. Hermelin, and even less so for Ranma 1/2.
"Yeah, I hear ya, " Walski said, nodding. "You think my fellow would-be Marines pay attention to me when I go on about this stuff? They think I'm nuts, to be involved in something like this at the same time as ROTC." Walski shrugged and grinned. "Ah well. It was worth it, anyway."
Laura S. smiled, realizing, not for the first time, that she had found some kindred spirits here this afternoon.
Brad, who had been silent up to this point, spoke to Laura S. "So, Saotome Laura," he said with a smile. "Got any questions for us veteran-types? Seems like you held your own there with Ted, though..."
Laura Saotome smiled at the use of her name and then tried to think of a question to ask. Being pretty tired of asking about Ranma stuff, she decided to ask another question instead. "How did you guys get to use such a big place for your get togethers?" she asked as she indicated the lounge they were in with a gesture of her hand. "I thought the Baker lounge was closed and that no one was allowed in here. At least, that was what I heard."
"Well....it's not exactly closed," Brad replied. "It's that no one wants to come in here, really..." His voice lowered to a low, almost conspiratorial, tone. "Weird stuff's happened in here..."
"Oh c'mon, Bradster!" said Walski, patting Brad's shoulder with his hand in a friendly manner. "You always tell that story to the newbies...it's just not true..."
Bradster looked at Walski with a serious look. "Hey, I think it is. I've been here at this place longer than some of you. I was here that night. Well..not exactly "here"... but I was in the building."
Amnesiack walked up to the group, his eyes on an Inu-Yasha manga. "I tend to believe Bradster on this one, Walski. Just a feeling I have." Walski nodded, but still looked skeptical.
Laura spoke, a puzzled look having been on her face through this entire exchange. "What is it? What's this story you're talking about?" Realization suddenly hit her. "Wait...you don't mean..."
Bradster nodded, a grave look on his face. "Yup. The Baker incident, for which this lounge is named for."
Laura crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Bradster. "Could you explain it again? I've heard a little about this event, but....."
Bradster took a deep breath in answer ,and began talking about St. Hermelin's most tragic and mysterious event.
"About two years ago, the students and people in the dorms were complaining about a lack of space in the residents' area. The lounges were getting too crowded - students have enough places to study or relax....that's why they brought the issue to the school's attention. St. Hermelin's committee decided to give the students what they wanted, and built a new lounge - the very place we're in right now. AT first, it was called the B lounge, since it was on the basement floor.
"For a couple of months, the students enjoyed the new place. It was packed all day, and sometimes into the night, too. People came here to study, do work, watch a video they had rented, whatever. It was the perfect place.
"Then, one night, something happened. It was on the night of St. Hermelin's tenth anniversary. Naturally, there were a few parties going on, and people were out and about. A student by the name of Eric Baker decided to try and get some studying done after the partying. He took his books and a Ranma 1/2 manga and stepped into the B lounge to study. Luckily there was no one there, so he decided to sit down and get some work done. This was about at one or so in the morning.
"At about 1:30 am, there was a disturbance on the lower floor....like there was an earthquake or something. The place where the shaking and stuff was coming from was the B lounge.....actually, the disturbance was only about a few seconds or so long, at most a minute, but people decided to check it out anyway, especially when several people said they had seen Eric go in not a half an hour ago. When the students happened to enter the lounge, the entire room was messed up. Chairs overturned, tables broken..you know, like a tornado hit it or something. And Eric was nowhere to be found....like he had disappeared or something...
"Witnesses who happened to be anywhere near the lounge at the time said that they had not seen Eric go out. Others said that at the time of the disturbance, they said that there was a cold draft coming from under the door, even though the room didn't have anything in it that could generate a breeze or something. Some also reported that a strangely-colored light was coming from the room as well. Both these parties of observers agreed that they couldn't open the door when the disturbance began...like it was locked shut from the inside. Maybe Eric didn't want to be disturbed....
"At any rate, the whole incident created a panic around the school, especially after searching for days all over the campus for Eric and not finding a thing. You'd think an incident like this one would create a lot of hoopla, especially with the fuss Eric's parents put up, but somehow the school managed to keep it quiet. After that, people didn't dare wander in here for fear that the same thing would happen to them like it did with Eric. This place was named the "Baker" lounge in memory of Eric Baker...and no one dares to enter here....except us, of course.
"I guess the whole thing that drew us to this room was an insignificant detail, really. The only thing that was left of Eric's that was in the room when it was opened was the Ranma 1/2 manga, untouched, in the middle of the room. When the current members of the club learned about that, I know a lot was lauded over the symbolic significance, fate, what have it...and they decided to ask the school if they could use this place for meetings. They didn't have to ask twice...no one was ever in here. So this became the official meeting place for the club..still, even though we're bold enough to wander in herem we never do so alone..we're always in big groups...I mean, hell, we're afraid, too....
Bradster let out another breath as he finished his story "And so here we are. That's why we picked this place...kinda strange, right? But it's still strangely true....
"I stll say it smacks of a ghost story you tell to your little brother or sister...it just doesn't seem believeable," Walski said as he looked back at Brad.
Bradster shrugged. "Well, believe what you will. A lot of people have speculated on what really happened to Eric...if he just disappeared, was eaten by something...
Amnesiack looked up from his manga. "Actually, speaking of eating, I'm pretty darn hungry. Isn't Ted supposed to get the food tonight?"
As if on cue Ted Wang walked up to the group with a notepad and pen in hand. He smiled and handed the pad and paper to Laura S., who blinked in confusion.
"Well, Laura," Ted said. "You may have won the argument, but not the war. Since I'm not the newest member anymore, look like you're picking up the eats..."
"What?" Laura said, a questioning look on her face.
"Hm. That's right." Amnesiack said, nodding. He turned to Laura, explaining. "It's a tradition. The newest member always takes the orders for the food for the night and then goes out and gets it. You can't expect us to talk on an empty stomach..." He smiled.
Laura smirked. "Geez, I feel like I'm in a frat or a sorority something."
"Nah, it'd be much worse in a frat," Walski said, laughing. "Besides, I'll go with you, seeing as you don't know where these guys like to get their food...and trust me, sometimes it comes from strange places.." He looked at Ted with a joking smile on his face.
"Hey! You were the one who dared me to eat from that "Burning Hot Tamales" place, and I did it, too!" Ted looked defiantly at Walski and grinned.
"Yeah, and you were drinking enough water that night for three people, as I recall." countered Walski, still smiling. He turned to Laura. "C'mon, I'll help you get the orders and gather up some people to go with us. There are always people in here who can't seem to stand being inside for too long, you know."
He set out through the crowd, and Laura followed, hurrying to keep up.
*****
Guido looked at the Deva Yuga system as the final preparations were made. Nichols was babbling to him about the technicalities of the dimensional displacement band on his wrist, but Guido was only half listening. He was lost in the ecstasy of anticipation, the anticipation of a moment long awaited for, and long desired. The Voice inside him was silent, for once, and his mind reeled with excitement, though outwardly he showed no sign of changing expression.
*Tonight* he thought. *Tonight, I will finally get what I want. A chance to seize what I need,a nd seize this world of ours.....*
Guido walked away as Nichols explained the last of the details about the bracelet to him. "...And you must not take it off, if you can help it," Nichols was saying. "We don't know what will happen to your physical body in this other world. Also, we don't know where your point of exit from this place will be. Keep on your guard."
Guido waved the last-minute reminders of the doctor away with his hand and stepped to the Gate. The Gate seemed a radiate an eerie, almost tangible feeling that set Guido's hair on edge. He adjusted his blak pinstripe suit and idly touched the armband wrapped around his sleeve. He smiled to himself one last time and turned to the scientists.
"All right." Guido said, with a determined look on his face, as he faced the Deva Yuga Gate, adn his destiny. "Begin the procedure. Open the Gate." The system began to hum as the power was routed to it, gathering the energy needed. Guido fingered the armband again, and smiled.
*****
Laura Saotome, along with Walski, Emily, Rex "XR-kun" Roces, Lori, and Bradster, walked away from the local restaurants carrying large bags of food with them. The kinds of food were varied, ranging from the basic hamburger, fries and a coke, to a full fledged Japanese-style dinner.
Laura grunted under the weight of six beef and chicken teriyaki lunch boxes in her arms and struggled to keep up with the others. "Geez, how much do you guys usually eat?" She slipped and nearly dropped one, silently cursing as she managed to save it by adjusting her balance.
XR-kun, who was carrying two buckets of fried chicken, tilted his head to look at Laura, grinning. "Obviously you haven't seen Ted, Walski-san, and Arnold with food before. Last time, they managed to clean out three buckets of buffalo wings between them, and that was after Ted had practically sucked in those tamales, too. you'd think they were eating Akane's cooking,w ith a touch of the water of life, of course." He winked.
Walski replied without turning. "You implying, we're pigs, XR-kun?" The Marine smiled. "Gotta keep up that strength, don't you know. You never know when there's gonna be a situation where ya need to be on a full stomach." Walski smiled as good-natured laughter floated around the small group.
Emily laughed again. "Just make sure you leave some for the rest of us this time. I couldn't even get a hand in that bucket the last time..."
Walski grinned. "We'll make sure to be careful around you ladies who are so concerned about your weight..." Walski was promptly bapped on the head from behind by a joking Lori, who walked slightly behind. "Gotta keep that girlish figure, Walski," she said, smiling. "Otherwise you guys wouldn't have any real girls to drool over." She smirked.
Bradster laughed as he struggled to carry three bags of hamburgers. "Hey, that's fine with you guys, but give me Ukyou-sama any day." He winked to emphasize his point, which brought peals of laughter from the group again.
Laura remained silent through all the conversation, smiling to herself as she realized how fun it was to be around these people. *Must be the Ranma addiction that does it* she thought as she giggled. *Makes everyone silly.*
Laura heard a rumbling noise and looked skyward. The twilight of the evening was giving way to storm clouds and thunder. "Maybe we should be heading back now. Looks like rain."
XR-kun craned his head to look at the gathering clouds, adjusting his glasses. "That's funny. The forecast said it was going to be clear tonight. Ah well." He shrugged. "In any case, we don't want to become soaked, Ranma-style. Let's get back." The group increased their pace.
*****
Guido stared at the increasing power of the Deva Yuga system. The light energy that crackled between the two poles of the Gate was incresing in magnitude and brightness, and Guido and the sientists had to partly shield their eyes so that they were not blinded. As Guido looked from behind his arm, which he had used to cover his eyes, the energy began to coalesce and take shape, even though it still crackled with vigor. Guido noticed that the brightness was decreasing, and that he could uncover his eyes. He gazed upon the wonder that was forming before him.
The energy of the Gate began to expand, having collected itself into a ball. The two poles shook as they struggled to contain the dimensional energy that had formed in front of the Deva Yuga system. Guido, infazed, looked on grimly and waited for the energy to take shape....
*****
A lightning bolt snaked down from the sky, reaching out its tendrils down toward the ground near the group, which made Emily and Laura jump and the rest increase their pace even further.
"Whoa. Looks like this is getting bad quick," observed Lori. "Lightning already?"
"And in such close proximity," Bradster said. "The school is only a few more blocks. I hope we don't get caught in all this."
The group began to move faster through the streets of the town as the storm got worse.
*****
The energy that the Deva Yuga system contained began to grow in strength and take shape. The energy moved and expanded, filling the space between the two poles, and stopped. It shook with the effort of trying to break through its constraints, but the poles held, albeit barely so.
Guido looked over at Dr. Nichols, who was busy watching the progress of the Gate. Guido knew he couldn't attempt to go through until the old scientist told him he could...no reason to get killed over this. He had waited for so long. He could wait a little more.
He turned his attention to the Gate. The energy had now completely filled the space and had taken the shape of a large rectangle...it looked almost like a door of some kind...and how appropriate this was, because this was the door to his destiny. His triumph. Guido grinned.
The grin got wider as Nichols shouted to get his attention. Seeing the old man's signal to walk forward, Guido smiled and walked toward the Gate as a gust of wind began to pick up in the large room...
*****
Lightning was streaking down from the sky in droves, and the little group was practically running now. A couple of items had been dropped, but the group had silently agreed that paying back a few people for not getting their food was better than not getting there with the food at all.
Laura almost jumped as another particularly large lightning bolt struck the faraway, but tall, Sebec Enterprises building on its lightning rod. *This one must be a big one coming,* she thought as she ran awkwardly while carrying the food. *I hope nothing happens back at the school...* Laura pushed on with the others and gave a cry of joy along with them when they found that they were only a block or so from the school. They hurried to get to the gate before it really got bad outside...
*****
The wind in the room had become so intense that Guido's suit was whipped around with it. But he still pressed forward, already on the threshold of his victory. The newly formed door of energy crackled and struggled to maintain its shape in the confines of the Gate. As Guido approached it, part of the energy in the middle seemed to bleed away tot he edges, revealing what looked like a pond beyond. Guido blinked as the image formed in the swirling mass, but continued to move forward.
Through all this, Guido was vaguely aware of a growing presence next to him. He dared not look to the right or the left, for fear that he may lose his nerve and not go through the Gate. The presence, however, seemed to be on the edge of his vision, like a silhoutte of some kind. Suddenly, the Voice spoke, just as Guido stood mere inches from the door.
^You are at the edge of your triumph,now, Guido Sebec^ the Voice said. ^Now, take what you want from this world before you. Seize it!^ The Voice seemed highly assertive to Guido, but he shoved the thought to the back of his mind. *What must I do, then, once I am in this other world?* he thought, consulting the Voice.
^There are those in this world who will oppose you,^ the Voice said. ^I will help you render them ineffective agaisnt...your.....schemes. First, remove that armband from your person.^
*What? But this armband keeps me alive in that world! Nichols said..*
^Ha! You mean to say that that old fool thinks that worthless piece of metal keeps you in that world?^ the Voice almost dripped with arrogance, an emotion Guido had never seen in the Voice before. In fact, he hadn't seen any kind of emotion from the Voice before, but this too he pushed back to the dark recesses of his mind, dismissing it.
^...It is my power that guides you to this world. Now, remove the armband, and take your place in the world of Nerima...! I will help you eliminate the threats. Now go!^
Guido hesitated for a moment before removing the armband and throwing it to the floor. As he leaped into the Gate, his last thought was the realization that the Voice was now coming not from within, but from without, and to the side...
*****
Dr. Nichols saw Guido walking toward the Gate with a determined, yet introspective, look about him. *I wonder what he could be thinking* he thought to himself as Guido reached the edge of the Gate. Suddenly, Nichols saw Guido take off his armband and toss it aside, despite having to shield his eyes from the growing glare of the Gate energy. *What is he thinking? He can't survive without that!* he thought frantically. What was even stranger to Nichols was that he thought he saw, from behind his arm, _two_ figures entering the Gate - Guido, and.....something....else. But the image was quickly banished from his mind as the Gate flared with increased energy.
Nichols shielded his eyes completely for a few moments, and then cautiously uncovered them. The Gate had returned to its original energy output, the Deva Yuga system humming along with the crackling of the Gate energy. Nichols smiled as a shout rose from the scientific team.
"Well, we did it!" said Dr. Nichols, above the din. "Open the exit point, so Mr. Sebec can return when need be. And find out where it will be." As the exit point was opened somewhere in the city, Nichols turned from the Gate to start composing his report for the Nobel Prize comittee, confident that he would be a shoe-in this year......
Dr. Nichols failed to notice the increasing light coming from the Gate......
*****
The group hurried up the last block and mvoed inside the gate just as a large bolt of lightning hit the Sebec Building, lighting up the night sky.
"This is really an unusual storm," Bradster said. "No rain at all - just lightning and thunder."
Walski nodded as he caught up with the others. "Seems as if all the lightning's focused on the Sebec building, too. This is definitely too weird...."
"The sky is all dark, too," said Emily, looking up. "Darker than usual. What's going on here?"
Laura tried to put an optimistic spin on the situation. "Well, whatever it is, it probably can't get much worse. Let's get back to the Residence Hall befo-"
Laura was cut short as a large bolt of lightning snaked down from the sky and touched down behind one of the buildings, across campus, followed by an incredibly loud peal of thunder. Laura jumped at the noise. "What the.....?"
"So much for the lightning being restricted to the Sebec building," Lori said.
Emily gasped. "That looked like it might have hit near the Residence Hall! Hope everyone's ok."
Another bolt streaked down from the sky, hitting almost in the same place. And another, and another.
XR-kun stared at the bolts. "Lightning really never strikes that many times in the same place. What the hell is going on here?"
"We better get back there," Laura said. The group hurried back to the Hall, still burdened by the weight of the food they carried.
*****
As they approached the Hall, the sounds of screaming could be heard. People were racing back and forth, trying to escape...something. Either the bolts, or something else. It seemed that the group were the only people going toward the Hall, while the rest were running away from it.
Walski craned his head back, watching the throng move rapidly away from the building. "Something lik a little lightning shouldn't be making this many people flee the premises..." he said.
"Well, those aren't your normal eveeryday lightning bolts," said Bradster, as another bolt streaked down to hit the building, making the group step back reflexively . "For one thing, they don't look like they're damaging anything. I'd think a fire would have been set here by now..."
"Yeah, it looks like they're just hitting the bottom part of the building," said XR-kun, adjusting his glasses again. "Most unusual...and disturbing..."
"Our friends could be down there....I didn't see any of them among the crowd that left the building..." Lori said worriedly.
"We've got to get down there," Emily said. "We've all got friends down there. We have to get them out...who knows what will happen?" The group nodded and prepared to enter the building.
*****
As the small group entered the building, having left the food outside in the storm, a few screams puctuated the air around them, surprising them. There were also some funny sounds coming from the basement as they descended the stairs.
Laura tried to keep her voice level as she spoke. She was a little afraid, but otherwise fine. "What is going on down there? She moved up next to Walski, who had his ear to the door leading into the basement hall. He got a puzzled look on his face as he strained to discern the sounds coming from the hall.
"Sounds like....I don't know," Walski said. "Like...chattering of teeth....."
"What the hell is this? What's going on..?!" Lori said, clenching her fist. "So much for a normal evening....didn't think it would be this weird, though."
"Who knows?" Laura said. "The important thing is to see if our friends are ok.....I don't like this."
Walski nodded. "Then let's go.." He pushed the door open.
The group walked into a chaotic scene.
*****
The hall was littered with trash, clothes, and personal items, either mixed up, broken, or worse. People were running everywhere, one person was in such a hurry to get away that he climbed out through a window near the ceiling. Others were heading for the nearest exits as fast as they could.
Again, it seemed as if the group was heading into trouble, instead of away from it like they were supposed to. As they got to the intersection which led to the Baker lounge, they stopped short.
They had finally found the reason why eveyrone was fleeing the building.
A little creature was sitting in the middle of one of the halls eating away the clothes strewn ver the floor.
The creature was black in color, and only about three feet or so tall. It posssessed bulging red eyes and a big mouth, full of razor sharp teeth, which were currently occupied with eating up someone's t-shirt. It held the shirt with a pair of long, thin fingers with claws on the end. It's teeth made a chattering sound as it tore into the shirt.
Laura would've almost laughed out loud, if she hadn't noticed the malicious look in the creature's eyes. It was a look of pure evil. Laura shuddered visibly. Walski, however, didn't seem fazed, though. He grinned and said, "This is the creature everyone's afraid of? Gosunkugi would look more scary than this!"
Apparently, the creature heard Walski, because it looked up from its meal and placed the torn up shirt on the ground. The creature used its hands to stand itself up. To the group's horror, the floor where the creature put its hands began to smoke and dissolve, leaving a blackened spot behind. The creature's teeth chattered even more as it stared at the group with hatred in its eyes. The creature let out a piercing howl, causing them to cover their ears. As the howl concluded, more creatures happeared, their chattering teeth signaling their entrances from the other rooms in the hall. There were five of the littel creature. Then there were ten. Fifteen. Twenty...
Walski stopped grinning and the rest recoiled in fear as the creatures, all in one group, chattered their teeth and began to advance on the group.
"Run!" cried Laura as she took off running. The group ran for their lives as the creatures pursued them down the hall.
"Head for the Baker lounge!" shouted XR-kun. "We can lock the door and keep them from coming in!"
Walski was the first to get to the double doors of the Baker lounge. Picking up a nearby wooden sword that was discarded from the Drama club's supply room, he pulled open the doors and shouted for the rest to get in, as the chattering creatures ran after them, their red eyes glowing with hunger.
XR-kun was the last to get into the room, and Walski ran around the edge and struggled to pull the door shut. One of the creatures running in the front leapt at the Marine, trying to swipe at him with its claws. Acting reflexively, Walski swung his weapon in a backhanded slicing motion, knocking the creature out in midair. It landed on the ground next to the door, howling in pain. Walski wasted no time in pulling the door shut and locking it with the help of the others.
Facing the door, the group breathed heavily, and then turned around at the sound of maniacal laughter.
A man in a black pinstripe suit stood over the prone bodies of Arnold, Laura H., and Ted. Everyone else was unconscious, their bodies all over the room. The room itself was totaled.
The man stood facing the group with a smirk on his face. His eyes glowed with an eerie light as he regarded the people in front of him with total arrogance. Lightning streamed to and from a sort of door-like structure that stood behind him, which was shrouded in shadow. Laura squinted at the Gate, and thought for the merest of moments that she saw another figure behind the man, which was even darker than the shadows whirling around in the Gate. But she was called away from thsi observation as the man spoke.
"So," said the man. "These are also those that would stand in my way?" his voice was of one who was used to being in power, and which was accustomed to talking down to his audience. The man seemed to cock his head to the side as he consulted with some unseen person. "Ha! They are nothing! Looka t them cower in fear...!" In truth, the group was so shocked by the sight of this phenomenon that they couldn't bring themselves to move or even speak.
The man consulted with his unseen counselor again, and then spoke, seeeming to concede a poitn. "that is true. They got away from your demons. Very well. They shall be incapacitated along with the others."
Walski gripped the wooden sword with his hands tightly and found the strength to speak. "Look, pal, I don't know who you are, but you have no right to hurt my friends. I'll get you...!!" He ran forward before anyone could stop him, his weapon raised overehad to strike the man.
The man grinned at the oncoming assault, and almost nonchalantly made a motion with his hand. A bolt of lightning streaked from his hand and struck Walski in the stomach, throwing him backwards against the wall. He slumped to the ground, unconscious, his weapon still in his hands.
The man turned to the rest of the horrified group. "Now.....," he said as he began to glow. "..to insure the rest of you don't interfere..." A blue, unearthly aura began to glow around the man. It seemed to bleed off of him and into the ground he was standing on. A blue column of light, cylindrical in shape, rose out of the round and surrounded the black-suited man, it's pure energy whipping the man's clothes around. An image formed above the man, but the energies from the Gate obscured the exact likeness of the image. The man made a quick motion, and a circular object appeared in his hand. He reared his hand back and threw it into the midst of the group, shouting something unable to hear over the noise.
Laura and the remaining group members stood, unable to move as the object flew toward them. Out of the corner of her eye, Laura saw movement, but before she could turn her head to see it, the object rolled on the ground and exploded, sending a glaring white light up.
The last thing Laura heard before she lost consciousness was a man's maniacal laughter, echoing through the room....
*****
End of Chapter 2