HG enters the shoppe, today she is alone, Speedy and Dot are not with her. She walks to the counter and oders: "one coffee large, but hold the milk, Speedy is running a fever so I left him at home and Dot wanted to stay with him" *Sigh* "Does anyone here know how to take a tomcat's temperature? At the vet's he was meek as a lamb but at home, I'm afraid he will not be so" After saying this HG sits down at a table and then sees the cowering Faeries.
She for now forgets the catproblem and listens to the Faeries.

Jade slips up behind HannaGertie and says, "I couldn't help but over hear your question about taking the temperature of a tom cat." HG turned in her seat and nodded. "Do you have a suggestion, Jade?"

Jade nodded her head sagely, "Yes. Don't do it."

HG went and said, "That was helpful."

Meanwhile, the fairies were huddled together, discussing different strategies, but they couldn't hear each other over the melee. There was one thing that was obvious, this group needed some direction. Someone who could talk to them and pull them together. Someone who could help them to unite in their efforts to rid themselves of Kallan! Everyone seemed to realize this at the same time which started a chain reaction. Tianna looked at TOOO, TOOO looked at Grizz, Grizz looked at Jade, Jade looked at HannaGertie, HannaGertie looked at Lillian and Lillian looked at Raphael.

"No!" Tianna cried. "Not him!" She stamped her tiny foot in frustration.

Grizz called Tianna to him once more, and talked to her quietly for a long time. Her tiny face looked rebelious at first, then gradually thoughtful, and finally resigned and determined.
She stood on Grizz's shoulder, and drew in a deep breath.

"Fairies!" she yelled, in a surprisingly loud voice. All the fairies present stopped the bickering they were doing, and looked at her in surprise. "Grizz thinks we can join together to fight Kallan. I think so too. That doesn't mean just all of us working individually but at the same time against him. It means that we have to really join. We have to let our powers merge, and channel them into and through one of us. That would make that one as powerful a fairy as the number of fairies in the group that joins. And we have to trust the one fairy at the focal point to do what is required."

There was an instant burst of talking from the fairies. "Absurd... How can that even... Who would be... I don't see... I couldn't do that... I want to be the focus... What! YOu!.... " and on and on, all at once so that no single voice could get out a complete sentence. Grizz shook his head.

"Tianna, this isn't going to work. It doesn't look like you can agree on anything as a group, but I think that's the only way you can fight someone like Kallan."

Tianna looked at Grizz and sighed. She used her strong voice again, and when she had the attention of all the fairies, she spoke, reluctantly but firmly. "Can any one of you think of another way that even sounds possible?" She waited, but got only shrugs and head shaking. "All right then. Let's just try to join and do something simple that none of us could do by ourselves, like maybe levitating the donut shoppe." Tiny mouths dropped open, and there were gasps. Tianna giggled, and then said firmly, "And I think Raphael should be the focus!"

Raphael looked shocked, then a very smug look appeared on his face. That look worried Grizz, but he didn't say anything.

"And just to show how serious I am, I'll be the first to let Rapheal control my power, then the rest of you join in." She stared at Raphael, and concentrated.

Raphael gave a little start, as he felt Tianna's power drain into him. He seemed to grow. Then, one by one, he felt the powers of the others, with Lillian adding hers last. He felt himself bigger than Grizz, and very powerful. His ego, which was much bigger than he was even at the best of times, seemed to swell and swell, and he exulted in the power. A nasty little smile lit his face, and he turned towards Tianna and raised a hand. The power merge shuddered, steadied, then fell apart as each fairy felt that ego's intent. Raphael felt himself shrink and shrink, until he was a tiny single fairy again. But his ego was, for the moment at least, completely deflated. "What happened?" he asked. "I was so powerful for an instant. Why did you all leave?"

"Because of your giant ego! All you could think about was how great you were! That broke the link." She turned to Grizz, a tiny tear rolling down her face. "I don't think this is possible." she said. Grizz whispered to her, and a look of hopeful amazement lit her face. She turned and looked at Lillian, who saw the look, and paled, putting her hands behind her and backing away shyly. "Oh no. Not me! Oh, I don't think I can."

DS enters the shop after a long trek away from the shoppe. He siddles up to the counter and orders himself an expresso, gazes again warily at the farie, though not as surpised as before.
"Hey, its still the best place to get a cup of cofee."

Tianna approached Lillian and put her arm around her shoulders. "You can do this," she said encouragingly. "I know you can."

Lillian thought about it long and hard and with a resigned sigh, she squared her shoulders and said firmly, "Ok, Fairies...listen up!" The fairies were suddenly silent and Lillian looked at Tianna in surprise.

Meanwhile, DS continued to sip his coffee, thinking what a weird and wacky doughnut shop this was. "Why don't more people know about this place?" He said aloud.

"It's relatively new for one thing," commented HG. "People will find their way here eventually." She poured herself more coffee and then looked at TOOO with a question in her eyes. "More coffee?"

"Actually," TOOO said, "I was hoping for some hot cocoa, instead?"

The minute he said it, he knew it was a mistake. The fairy's hair was marshmallow white, his skin an Aztec bronze, which went along with his outfit. (Couldn't find a color pic.)

TOOO sighed. "Hello, Cocoa Fairy."

"I am Cacahuatl," the fairy told him. With a dramatic wave of his arm, a mug of steaming cocoa (yes, with marshmallows) appeared before TOOO.

"Thank you, Caca-- caca--- uh, yes, thank you." An Aztec fairy?

TOOO!

The fairies gathered close together while Lillian spoke. "We need to....geez..." She looked back at Jade and shrugged her shoulders, "Sorry, I'm going to use it, I can't help myself." She cleared her throat and said, "Fairies, it's Rally Time!!"

Somewhere over on the Uru Forums, Chuckles is yelling, "Usurper!!"

Somewhere else in the Uru forums, a blue stork is dancing around to the rally tune she suddenly hears on the Surface...

Tianna nodded her head, listening closely as Lillian spoke. All it would take is the fairies all cooperating together and they would be able to fight against Kallan. She worried her bottom lip a bit. If it appeared the fairies were uniting, why was she so worried. They needed a trump card...something Kallan wouldn't be expecting. She snapped her tiny fingers together and cried out, "I got it!!" The group turned as one to look at Tianna. Lillian came forward to ask, "What is it, Tianna? Do you have another idea?"

"Not another idea, just a surprise for Kallan when he shows up. IF she will agree to it. I'll be back in a bit." With that, Tianna rose in the air, spun and disappeared in a wink.

I discovered about 4 instances in the above post where I indicated Raphael was the "One Who Shall Not Be Named". The correct name should have been Kallan and I think I've changed them all now.

Jahura...I love what you're doing!! Thank you for your assistance!!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: JadesDream,

Seattle, Washington - April 29, 2074

"...to which the anomaly was first detected May 29 of '07 in a sudden fluctuation of the Ogata Matrix which lasted 12.485 seconds and reverted back to normal parameters with the takeover of Tyson-Mistumi by Rajook Kamalisuda and the RAWO corporation. This fluctuation indicated a McWhirter effect of note and for that twelve second window beef in China averaged 3 yuan per pound respectively and then rounded up again to 8 following the fluctuation. Tangentially speaking, Mongolian industry in turn experienced a surge in S&D ratio in the latent 20th in the Urals..."

Rain softly patters down outside the conference room as the droning voice addresses the committee. On the holo screen before him, charts and graphs float by to illustrate the statistical data and the heavily calculated predictions. He places his finger on one of the charts, and it stays put until he lifts his finger from the screen - to which it floats out of view and lines itself up in the ref list to the left of the screen.
He wasn't particularly interested in the price of beef in China. No one in the room was save the speaker. The point of the presentation is a PCE that was identified and submerged and traced back to a Mongolian cowherd in the Bronze Age. As soon as Talbot gets to it, which could take all day.
An small envelope icon with a P on it blinks in the right corner of the holo screen. He touches it and it opens a message that is encrypted for his retinal construct. The message is simple and direct.

The new kid needs help. Details later.
J

He closes out the message by lifting his finger and it floats to the left and out of sight of the display field. Out of the corner of his eye, about two seats down the long table, he notices Jeffers watching him. He grins ever so slightly and winks at Jeffers. The other man averts his stare and shifts uncomfortably in his seat.
He props an elbow on the arm of his chair and covers his mouth with a loose fist to hide his bemusement.
He turns his attention back to the presentation with labored interest.

He has all the time in the Omniverse.

Stay tuned to your regular channel for the regular program; but right now a brief pause to say....

The LED display on the door reassuringly reads LOCKED. He places his thumb on the pad and says to no one in particular, "Gillfits."
The LED goes dark for a moment, then reads ACCEPTED. A ka-chunk is heard and the door opens in front of him.
He hangs his raincoat and fedora on the hatstand next to the door. The motion sensor detects his proximity and closes the door once he moves to a safe distance. As with all humans regardless of type or age in his Age, he follows his instincts to the refrigerator to view the food situation.
There is an envelope addressed to him adhered to the front of the refrigerator with a magnet. He takes the envelope, opens it, and reads the letter contained inside.

He sighs and puts the letter in the sink. He runs water over it until it turns into pulp, and lets it ooze down the drain. He follows it with drain cleaner from under the sink in case it causes a clog in the pipes. The world is not ready for artifacts like this. Every time an Earthling gets a memo from Heaven wars break out.

He grabs a bagel from the bag on the kitchen counter, slices it lengthwise, and lays a piece of jack cheese on top. He puts it in the microwave and sets the timer.
As he waits for the cheese to melt he turns to the monitor on the wall.
"Computer on." he says to the monitor.
The Windows 73 logo appears.
"Search engine. Cottingley Beck."
The monitor shows a list of references, and hyperlinks to the hundreds of pages following.
The microwave dings, announcing his bagel is ready. He takes it out of the oven and into the living room area. Sitting down on the sofa with another monitor on the wall before him, he starts on his research into the matter.

Faries. He mutters to himself, shaking his head.

Tianna returned from Tecumseh, Michigan and waved to everyone excitedly. "Someone is coming to help us!"

"Wonderful."
"Great news!"
"How soon, were you told?"
"What shall we do in the meantime?"
"Really? Who exactly?" This last was said with deep sarcasm and disbelief. Raphael, his usual grumpy self, folded his arms across his chest and demanded, "Well?"

"I don't know exactly."

"What was that, fairy-girl? Speak up!"

"I don't know exactly."

"Can't hear a thing, Tianna. Come on, either you know or you don't...so who is it?"

"I said I don't know exactly!" She stamped her tiny foot in frustration. "I do know that my friend said someone is coming and I believe her. She is highly trustworthy." Tianna flew over to the bartender and asked for a sweet sassafras tea.

A man wearing a tan fedora, beige slacks, and a green Hawaiian shirt under a white linen sport jacket walks into the shop. He peruses the bagel section while Floyd approaches at the back of the counter. He looks up at the robot momentarily and points at the display.
"May I have one of those poppyseed jobbies with cream cheese on the side? And a large regular coffee." he says to the robot.
Floyd gets the items and Giladrian pays for them out of a beat-up brown leather wallet. He takes the bagel and coffee and sits over at an adjacent booth.
He removes his hat and lays it down on the bench next to him. He has shoulder-length flame-red hair and a thin mustache to match. He slices the bagel in half and spreads a dollop of cream cheese on one of the halves. He takes a healthy bite, and his eyebrows raise in approval.

Lillian flew to Grizz's shoulder, and they chatted quietly for a time. Then Lillian flitted to the center of the room and hovered right under the hanging light fixture. She clapped her tiny hands, and whistled a shrill whistle.

The other fairies stopped talking, and looked at her in surprise.

"Ok. We need to try that merge again. Male fairies, feed your power to Raphael. Raphael, you direct the combined power of the males to me. Female fairies, your focus is Tianna, who will feed the female power to me as well. When you have all joined, and I have the combined strengh of all of us, I'll try to levitate the whole donut shoppe." Lillian took a deep breath. "Ready? Begin!!"

The male fairies one by one fed their power to Raphael. He seemed to grow, but it was merely an illusion, though he did seem to glow, and that was not an illusion. In the same way, Tianna took on a glow with the combined power of the female fairies.

Then Raphael and Tianna fed the combined power to Lillian. Her face took on a look of amazed wonder and delight. Her entire figure seemed to corruscate like a star. Then her face showed intense concentration.

The Donut Shoppe began to vibrate and tremble. All the inhabitants grabbed for any support, but the fairies didn't break the chain, and the entire shoppe began to move and lift and spin slowly around.

As it turned, the strain began to show on Lillian's face, and when it came full circle, it shuddered once, dipped an inch or two, then settled slowly back to rest right where it had been.

Lillian dropped to a table in the middle of the room, her wings drooping. She panted and trembled for a bit. The other fairies found their own places to rest.

The stranger at the bar, who had been unobtrusively observing, nodded slowly, then turned back to his coffee.

Anything to oblige, Jade! My head is a rather tight community!

/ot
All is quiet again until a creeeeaak could be heard from the back corner of the Shoppe, followed by a loud groooaaann from all four sides.
"Lillian!" shouts Grizz, "Are you sure you put it back exactly as it was before?"
"I'm pretty sure!" Lillian gasps.
"Pretty sure?!" cries Grizz, "If the foundation is an inch off this whole place could collapse!"
"Don't say that!" shouts Toria.

Giladrian looks down at the uneaten half of his poppyseed bagel and concentrates. Using his plastic knife as a wand, he points at the bagel as it slowly lifts a centimeter or so off the table. The shoppe lifts once again into the air. He slowly turns the bagel, and the shoppe likewise turns in the same direction. He gently sets the bagel down, and the shoppe slowly descends onto the ground in its original position, foundation still intact.
Tianna flies over to the red-headed stranger.
"You're the one, aren't you?" she says.
He spreads another dollop of cream cheese on his bagel.
"I don't know." he replies, "I was told you needed help. Looks to me like you have things pretty much under control. If I were a warlock, I'd be running for my life from all of you when you join forces like that."
"Well, you are a wizard, aren't you?"
Giladrian raises his brows at the tiny fairy.
"Who told you that?" he asks.
"Jahura!" replies Tianna, "In...a........dream.."

Tianna looked around the room at the earnest faces of all the fairies. "Yes, it would seem we have everything under control, only..." She worried her bottom lip and looked down, poking her toe around at nothing.

"What is it then?" Giladrian asked. "What has you so worried?"

"The One Who's Name Should Not Be Mentioned has no intention of sending any of us to the bog." Tianna shook her head sadly and then shuddered.

"No? What does he plan?"

"He's going to eat us! Cook us in a pot!! Absorb our powers the only way he knows how!!!" Tianna's small voice rose in hysteria with each declaration. She patted the wizard's hand and being a very frightened fairy asked in a whisper, "You are going to help us, aren't you?"

"Tianna, you have friends in high places." Giladrian replies back in a whisper, "How can I refuse?"

Somewhere in England, Kallan is preparing himself for the coming confrontation.

The slim man closes the book in front of him, and stands from the desk. He walks to the window, his hands clasped behind his back, and gazes out across the sea. His psyche reaching much farther than his actual vision, he smiles a very evil smile. "Giladrian." Is all he says.

"Are you finished with your tea, sir?"
The voice startles him, but he does not jump.
"Yes." he replies gruffly. Without further words, the housekeeper takes the tray with the tea set off of the desk and out of the room.
In the kitchen, she sets down the tray and rinses out the pot. She picks up the porcelain teacup from the tray and looks within at the residue on the bottom.
Conflict. Light and darkness. Five as one. Two as one. One as many.
She runs the teacup under the pump and the portend rinses down the basin into the drain. Outside the window she spies two little girls run by in the direction of the creek. She knew them; they were the photographer's daughter and niece that lived up the lane. It was a beautiful day to be outside, but she worried that they might get dirty where they were going.
Still, that was none of her concern.
She dries off the tea set and places it back in the cabinet.