24(S2E11)- WHY?!

24

(Season 2, Episode 11)

WHY?!

Zachariah stopped his punch mid stride as he heard the words from behind him.  He turned to face an emotionless Kahn.  “What do you mean, ‘employer’?”

The side-stepper Zachariah decided to answer for her.  “As in, I pay her for services rendered.  I am the one who contracted with her to protect you.  I had already made the jump to this dimension.”

Zachariah shook his head and turned.  “Why?!”

The side stepper answered.  “In every dimension I have been to, two things have been constant; we are dead and Avalon is destroyed.  The cause is always different, but somehow your death always means the destruction of this place.  The fact that it was so easy to use you to enter the city, was merely a bonus.”

Zachariah’s face was curled in rage.  “But, why?!  What the hell are you trying to accomplish?!  What the hell is this all for?!”

“The chamber.”  The twisted mirror image answered, his face darkening.  “The chamber and what was inside.  It is a crack, a hole directly to the life stream.”

“The what?” Zachariah looked confused.

“The life steam,” the side stepper answered.  “The place where all souls come from and go to.  An energy force that binds all time, space and dimensions.  When a human is created, the energy is pulled from the stream to give them a soul.  Conversely, when they die, their soul is deposited back into the steam.”

Zachariah looked even more desperately confused.  “SO?!  What the hell does that have to do with all this death and murder?!  What is worth this?!”

The side-stepper’s eyes narrowed.  “She is.”

Zachariah raised an eyebrow and glanced at Mary.  This made the side stepper scowl.  “Don’t be ridiculous.  Not her.  Not silly romantic love, I mean earth shattering need.  The kind that makes you realize that it doesn’t matter, unless you’re with her.”

“You lost someone?”  Zachariah asked, not the answer he was expecting.

“Of course.”  The side stepper eyed him knowingly.  “Why do we do anything?  I’m going to reach into the life stream and pull her out.”

“That’s insanity.” Mel said pulling himself to his feet.  “It’ll destroy you.”

The side stepper shook his head.  “It won’t, for the same reason I could cross to this dimension without harm, and for the same reason my mind is separate from your Zachariah’s.  I have nano-machines running through my entire body.  They shield me from the effects of the one-mind phenomenon and other damage, as well as give me other abilities.”

“The blades.” Zachariah finished the thought.

“Yes.” The side stepper answered.  “The blades.”

“I won’t let you do this.”  Zachariah said, his fist clenching.

“You don’t have a choice.”  The side stepper scoffed.  “Even if you stood a chance against me, which you don’t, you are going to be busy.  Kahn, kill Mary.”

Zachariah’s eyes widened and he spun.  “No don’t!”

Kahn pulled the blade and ran Mary through.  It was as simple as that.

“NO!” Zachariah screamed as he desperately scrambled over the pews to get back to her.

Kahn pulled the blade out of her abdomen and the blood pooled out of the woman before her knees gave out and she fell.

Zachariah’s teeth grit and his fists clenched as he came over the first pew.  Kahn turned towards him and did not move.

If Zachariah had not been blinded with rage, he might have seen the tinge of sorrow in her face.  Instead, his fist connected with the side of Kahn’s head.  She made no move to defend, and instead, went rolling over the defense desk to the floor.

Zachariah turned back to Mary and fell to his knees next to her.  He pulled her head into his lap and begged her not to die.

“Your services have been completed Kahn.  I no longer have need of you.” The side stepper said, as Kahn pulled herself to her feet.

She bowed once in understanding.

The side stepper then began to walk back toward the podium, only to find the vampire, Vincent Delgato, standing in his way.

The side stepper raised his eyebrow.  “Do you intend to try to stop me?”

Vincent’s mad grin stretched across his face and he shrugged.  “Of course not.  I find this whole situation just too interesting to stop now.”

The side stepper seemed surprised, for the first time.  “Really?”

Delgato chuckled.  “My dear boy, I have been alive for a millennia.  There are very few things I have yet to witness.  A side stepping techno wizard who is attempting to reach into the ether and pull the woman he loved back from the dead?  It’s just so, amazingly new.  You have my blessing.”

The vampire stepped aside and the side stepper smiled, moving to the doorway behind the podium and opening it before taking a deep breath and entering the one thousand step staircase that led to the chamber.

To his victory.

Tears flowed down Zachariah’s cheeks as he sputtered out all the cliché things one does when they are watching their loved one die.  “Come on baby, don’t do this.  Don’t die.”

She loosely chuckled in a weak voice.  “I can’t believe this is happening.  I still don’t even understand what is going on…”

“Please… Please…” Zachariah was begging.

The light began to fade in her eyes and she whispered.  “Kiss… me…”

Zachariah took a deep breath and kissed her.

An icy feeling roped into his body.  He felt it deep within his body and then, a pulling sensation that was absolute ecstasy.  Somehow it felt so right, like he was giving her his life and in that moment, he wanted nothing more than to do just that.

After all, what was his life worth?  In this dimension he was a loser of such monumental proportions, it was his best defense for his trial.  In every other dimension, he was dead. Except, of course, the one where he got the right chances, the right schooling and right drive, only to become a murdering psycho.

Even when he was successful, he was still a loser.

Suddenly, he was struck by an earth shattering force and was thrown across the room.

He hit the wall and felt pain all over his body, an unending ache.  “No I need it!”

Mel’s fingers were still smoking from the lighting he had called forth to separate them.  “You can’t!”

“I have to.  It’s the only thing I have to give it to her!” Zachariah yelled as he scrambled to his feet desperately trying to get back to Mary.

“Kahn!” Mel yelled and Kahn, who was just standing there, turned toward him.  “I’m hiring you!”

Kahn cocked her head and did not move.  “Two million.”

“Dollars?!” Mel exasperated.

“Yen.” She replied.  “That’s for the week.”

“Ten thousand.  That’s dollars, and for the day,” Mel responded quickly as Zachariah closed in on Mary.

“Twenty.” Kahn responded coldly.

“Done!”  Mel yelled.

Kahn stepped in just as Zachariah was about to reach Mary, and kicked him in the face. The blow sent him sprawling across the floor.

“Deal.”  Kahn said calmly, retracting her leg.

Zachariah slowly pulled himself up, shaking his head.  “What the hell is going on?”

“The succubus kiss.”  Mel responded.  “She can draw you’re energy and life force all at once in order to heal herself.  Anymore and you would be her thrull for life.”

“What about Mary?” He asked

“I’m Okay…  I think…” Mary spoke, as she slowly pulled herself up.

Somehow the wound had healed.  Both Zachariah and Mary stared in disbelief.  “So that’s it?”  Mary sputtered.  “I am a succubus.”

“You have bigger fish to fry,” Vincent cut in, still standing there.  “After all, the world is about to end.”

IS IT?!  With the heroes in shambles and no way to stop the side stepper, what will they do?  The world is on the brink of destruction and yet, the only people left to stop its demise is a dwarf mage, a greedy ninja and a useless dishwasher.  They aren’t the smart bet.

Be back next week.

Stranger Things; Zachariah’s Trial

TO BE CONTINUED.