iCarly: iMeet the Relatives, Chapter 30: Sacrifices

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I don't own iCarly

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Chapter 30: Sacrifices

Spencer's bedroom: Jillian lay, face down, on Spencer's bed while he massaged her back. Although her demon body didn't require the same maintenance of a human one, and was essentially invulnerable to anything remotely like any ordinary force, she nonetheless found his ability to knead out the kinks in her muscles nothing short of astonishing. "Mmm. You gotta tell me how you learned to do all this." The list of Spencer's talents was growing in her mind. She had thought him to be relatively inexperienced with the opposite sex, and in some ways he was, but in others he continued to astound her. "And don't say you've no idea." Several times he'd demonstrated what seemed to be very knowledgeable abilities regarding sex, that he claimed he had no knowledge of where or how he'd acquired them. And, being a demon, and thus sensitive to emotions, she could tell he wasn't lying.

"Truth? I read about it in books, for, uhm, just such moments as this. Books and DVDs. There's a lot of material available out there, and it's, er, a bit more acceptable for a guy living in an apartment with his, er, sister, if you get my meaning."

"You mean, it's better if she found that than porn. Yeah, I understand. Though I'll never understand humans' reactions to stuff like that. I mean—oooh, that's the spot…" He'd just found a large clump of knotted muscle.

"Hey, anything for Supergirl."

"I am so not Supergirl."

"You're the closest thing on this planet. And, to me, you are a super girl, demon or not."

"Flatterer."

"Hey, am I lying? You'd know."

She was silent for a minute. Then, "Spencer? Where do you think these, these openings are coming from?"

She could feel him shrug. "No idea there. Didn't you say you found one in your dimension? Or it found you, one or the other?"

"Yeah. And that's never happened before. I mean, Hell resides in a highly entropic spot in the multiverse—just the opposite of the Darkness. Getting there, unless you belong there, have some connection there, is supposed to be impossible."

"So what's happening, you think?"

She frowned in concentration, resting her chin on her folded arms, momentarily forgetting his ministrations. "Somehow, something is, is getting through. Probably aimed at here, this world, but since there's some demonic activity here, it's…somehow managed to, to hitch a ride, is the best I can put it. It's using the connections of the demons here."

"Wouldn't it be able to 'connect' to the Heaven universe the same way?"

"I doubt it, but not long ago, I'd have said that was impossible for my dimension, too. Heaven is also at a high end of multiversal power, if anything, surpassing Hell. Getting in should be like battering a hole in a glacier with your head. You'd have to have a pretty hard head.

"Or…." And here she tensed up, pushing herself up off the bed, out from under his still-kneading fingers. "Or…you'd have to have some way of siphoning off some of the power. I guess a good analogy would be heating your head up to about a thousand degrees and then hitting the glacier. I mean, you know, figuratively. Or something like that." She sat up, an expression of fright on her face. "Spencer, if that's what's happening…do you know what that means?"

"No." He sat back, on his knees there on the bed with her. "What does it mean? Educate me."

"It means…the Darkness has somehow managed to make a direct connection to Hell, at least…and it's drawing power from that! The same way it drains the power from living beings—or anything else—that falls into it! Spencer, if that keeps up…

"…the entire multiverse is in danger!"

….

"But I don't understand what you're saying, Freddie. This…what? Interruption in data flow? It's just happening? What could be causing it?"

"That's just it. I haven't a clue." The four of them, Freddie, Carly, Sam and Brittney, were gathered at the Columbia Building, in the rooms provided for them by Jemiah's organization. At present, they were staring at the graph Freddie had brought up, showing a disruption in the stream of normal data traffic on the internet. "I haven't a clue as to what could be causing it. I can't even think of a good model for it…it goes into completely unknown territory. I mean, yeah, an energy drain would be, like, something siphoning off electricity from a power line. I could imagine the hardware to do that…but that's not what's happening. What's happening is a data siphon, not a power siphon. And I can't figure out how anyone would really benefit from that. I mean, it's not like any certain, select bits of info are being targeted; it's everything."

"Brainstorm. All of you." Carly concentrated. "Who or what could possibly benefit from information being drawn off into…into… Say, Freddie. Any ideas where this data could be going?"

He shook his head. "None. It's like it just disappears. Just….dissipates."
"Wait," said Brittney. "Isn't that exactly what Devlin said the Darkness did? Drain off everything, power, life, even intelligence?"

Carly thought. "Well, yeah, but…I don't see how, how the Darkness could benefit from Earth data. What would be the point?"

Freddie's eyes widened, even as Sam's did. They'd both had the same thought. "That spacial warp! Jemiah said it was connected to all these, these portals…maybe the Darkness doesn't have any need for our info, but it does! Or rather, whoever or whatever's on the other side of it! It's connecting to us, telling the Darkness exactly where to go, where to open portals! It's gotta be!"

"We've got to tell Jemiah and the others! They'll-*" But she got no further. Without warning, a flare of light leapt out of the screen of the laptop in front of them, engulfing them. When it withdrew, they were nowhere to be seen.

Jemiah was upstairs, coordinating the angels' attacks with BenDarian's own troops, when he heard a small voice coming from a corner of the room. "Mr. Jemiah! Sir, there's something I need to tell you!" Startled, he looked around.

By an almost-unnoticeable crack in the door sat a small furry rat, sitting up on his hind legs, forepaws twisting over each other, in what looked to Jemiah like a worried gesture. "Mr. Jemiah! Something bad has happened!"

"Who…?"

"I'm Stuffins. I was down in that room where Miss Carly and her friends were doing something on that book-like thing you let them use, when there was a flare of light and they just disappeared! That's not supposed to happen, is it?"

"No, it's not. Stuffins, you said? Stuffins, come over here. I'll transmit what you saw to my nephew." Stuffins scurried over and leaped upon Jemiah's desk. "Now, just think about what happened…"

Grif and Devlin both were making their assigned rounds, searching for more extradimensional portals, when Stuffins' boosted communication burst into their minds. "Mr. Grif! Mr. Devlin! Something's happened!" And he proceeded to show them, by using his own memories, what he'd seen.

Without a word, they both turned and went straight for Seattle. Grif noticed that Devlin was especially concerned…

….and, for once, not about Sam.

Carly, Sam, Freddie, and Brittney found themselves in what looked like the Shay apartment. "Wha—how did we get here?" Brittney was looking around, clearly confused. "I mean, one minute, we were all just standing around at the—"

"I don't think we did get anywhere. Or, rather, I don't think we got to where it looks like we are."

"What do you mean, Carls?"

Carly went over and checked the window. What she saw chilled her to the bone.

It appeared to be night, but there were no stars, and no moon. The city was darker than Seattle was normally, for such a bustling center of commerce. There was no sign of the moving head- or taillights of any vehicles. Instead of the innumerable nighttime lights of the city's skyline, normally visible in the darkness, she could only see a mere handful. Even as she watched, two of these simply winked out. "Guys….we're right back in the Darkness. Only now, we've no angels to get us out."

….

Grif and Devlin burst into the small room where Carly and her group had previously been. "Okay, what's happened?"

Jemiah gestured to the still-paw-wringing Stuffins. "Your friend here, saw your mortal friends disappear into flare of light that seemed to emanate from the computer system we set up for them. I've checked; there's no sign of them anywhere to be found."

"Mr. Freddie said something about data drainage on this 'internet' thing. He was saying he felt it was related to the, the bad things that have been happening, lately."

Devlin and Grif both looked up. "That's…possible. Wait." Grif paced the floor. "If we assume this is another attack, and we've no reason to believe otherwise, then…the Darkness is involved. I'll bet that's where they got sent to."

"The Darkness?" Devlin's voice showed his incredulity. But it was the only thing that made sense.

"From what Stuffins was telling me, your friend's deduction was that some third party was using the spacial warp we discovered to drain off, not so much energy, but data, telling the Darkness where to strike next."

Grif and Devlin looked at each other. It sounded altogether too plausible. "There's no question. We have to go get them. Then…see what to do about that warp."

….

In the Darkness: Carly, Sam, Freddie, and Brittney had stepped outside, but cautiously. They all remembered the monster they'd encountered here. So far as they could see, however, there was not a creature moving. "C'mon," said Sam, heading towards a van parked by the side of the street. "Maybe I can get us a ride."

"Sam? What do you mean?"

But Sam had already opened the engine compartment. "I may be able to hotwire this thing. C'mon, we can cover more ground that way."

"I'm not sure this is a good idea, Sam," said a hesitant Carly. Freddie and Brittney hung behind her. "I mean, where are we gonna go?"

"That I haven't figured out yet. But remember, the last time, Maggie was able to send a, a tendril, whatever you wanna call it, down in that fake mall. Maybe that's the place to head for."

"But Sam! Last time, Maggie had Grif's lines of potential to connect to! We don't have that now!"

Sam looked up at her, an odd expression on her face. "Carly. Have you noticed that you're glowing?"

"Huh? Glowing?"

"Yeah. Look at yourself. Maybe you can't see it because it's you, but you've got a definite glow to you."

Now that Carly's attention was drawn to it, she could see her hands surrounded by a faint golden glow. Dumbstruck, she continued to turn her hands over and over.

Sam came over to her, the vehicle now purring. "It's like I said, Carls. You're becoming like him. So maybe they can fasten on to your whatever-it-is. Anyway, it's worth a shot."

The got in the minivan, and headed off down the deserted street. On the way, Carly couldn't help but take notice of the golden nimbus of light that seemed to surround her. She was becoming like Grif? But…what did that mean?

Maybe it meant something she wasn't prepared to accept.

Seattle: Grif and Devlin were preparing to re-enter the Darkness. Devlin was obviously nervous; he fidgeted. Grif noticed. "We'll get them, Devlin."

"Don't patronize me, angel. I don't need it."

"Not saying you did. Maybe I said that more for my own benefit."

Devlin was silent for a moment. Then, "Gryphon. Before we depart, there is something I'd like to say."

Grif raised an eyebrow, even while he materialized his golden armor about him. "Oh?"

"Yes." He seemed to be having some distinct internal struggle. Then, "Come what may, you've been a worthy ally." He wouldn't look at Grif while he spoke.

He doesn't think we're coming back. And we might not. "Thank you, Devlin. I have been proud to fight alongside you, as well." He lifted his sword, the Light from Home gleaming from the blade, and Devlin hefted his trident, charging it with Hellfire. "Now let's focus on getting our…loved ones back."

….

The Shay apartment: Spencer had pulled up the schematics of the destroyed area around Mt. Adam, with Jillian looking over his shoulder. He found it hard to concentrate with her hair dangling down the back of his neck. It was…distracting. But she didn't seem to notice. "This is the Google Earth search of the area. Now, from what I've gathered, the area is here…but it's so deep. Evidently, there's a series of caves deep underneath the mountain. Well, what's left of it, anyway. And that's where this warp thingy is. 'S'gotta be."

Jillian was thoughtful. "So…this thing has somehow latched onto the mortal universal membranes, especially this one. Yeah, I can see how it would work…this thing sends out mini-warps, what your people call wormholes, but tiny. They infiltrate your internet…Spencer! We've gotta stop that! If this thing keeps up, it'll drain, not just this world, not just this galaxy, but this whole universe!"

"How do we stop it?"

She thought and thought fast. "I've gotta 'cloak in the mountain, and, and, do something. Disrupt it, somehow. No, wait…remember what the others said." She held the sides of her head. "They couldn't move it. It seems to be, to be stuck, or, more likely, locked, there in one spot…"

"So maybe we can disrupt what it's doing, even if we can't disrupt it."

"What do you mean?" Her illusory eyes gazed into his. He found himself wondering what her real eyes looked like. He knew he could never see them and live, but…somehow he still wanted to.

He got up from the table and went over to the spot where Freddie had been working on the super-router Grif had gifted them with, what seemed like so long ago. Freddie had never, of course, truly come to understand it, but he could make it do certain things.

Spencer might not be the technological whiz that Freddie was, but he'd watched Carly's tech guy connect several components to the router box. He now grabbed two boxes from the table. Jillian recognized one as a power source, one designed for an emergency cell phone recharge. The other… "Spensie, what are you doing?"

He was lost in his work. "Putting this together. This, this crystal is angel tech; it ought to work. Now all I gotta do is connect this thing, this scrambler unit he told me about, and plug it in. And we should be ready to go."

"Wait, wait. 'We'? Who said anything about a 'we'?"

"We did. Me, myself and I. All I need you to do, is 'cloak me within a few meters of the warp, and I can plug this straight into it. It oughtta scramble any signals being sent either way."

"No way. You are so NOT going there! Spencer, my people gave up on the thing 'cause we couldn't move it. The angels gave up on it 'cause it apparently couldn't be fiddled with. And you're gonna just march right up to it and plug in? I don't think so."

He turned to her, his work on the device now complete. "Jillian, it's the only way. We have to disrupt that warp somehow. Doing nothing is what got us in our current predicament.

"And I need you to get me there, and then cover for me while I plug this in." He saw the refusal in her eyes, and took her hands. It was strange; he could feel their emotions exchanging, his, excitement and fear, hers, anxiety and worry. "That shouldn't be any problem for Earth's Guardian Demon, now should it?

"And if anyone's got a better idea, I'd love to hear it."

She stood, stock still for a moment, looking him right in the eyes. "You're serious, aren't you? You really expect me to teleport us into this cave, and, and run interference for you while you hotwire that contraption into it?"

"I can't think of anybody I'd rather have watching my back. And it shouldn't take but a couple of minutes. Three minutes, tops. Then we 'port out. Simple."

She dropped her gaze, and exhaled a completely unnecessary breath. "I can't believe I'm even considering this."

"C'mon, Jillian. Really. It won't take long. And then? The portal will be gone. End of problem. If that doesn't get you a promotion, nothing will."

"To home with any promotion! Spensie! You're asking me to put you in danger! I'm not gonna do it!"

"Jillian." He raised her hands, still in his, up to his lips and kissed them. I'm kissing a demon. And it feels great. "There's gonna be danger, anyway. No matter where you're talking about. It's increasing. These portals are popping up. This way, we take the fight to them, at least as much as we can.

"So come on. Don't worry! It'll all be okay."

"Famous last words," she grumbled.

…

Carly, Sam, Freddie and Brittney had just passed the Darkness equivalent of 41st street when they first saw any indication that they weren't alone down here.

Blocking the street was a huge…something. The quartet stared at it for the longest time, trying to wrap their minds around what it was or could be. Was it organic? Cybernetic? A combination of the two, or something completely different? Then it began to move.

It was a gigantic ovoid straddling the street on six articulated legs. The humans thought they saw some bristly hair or some such protruding from crevasses in the monster's skin, around the joints in its…armor? Carapace?

It moved, turning fully towards them, the forward end of the oval shape dipping down towards them. "Sam! Get us out of here!"

Sam was already wheeling the van around, heading back in the direction they'd come from. Nobody knew exactly why, but it seemed to be an unspoken assumption that the illusory Shay apartment afforded better protection from the forces so prevalent here than outside of it.

They could feel the ground beneath them tremble as the monstrous thing began to give a clumsy chase.

Mt. Adam: Jillian and Spencer had 'cloaked into the deep underground chamber where the demons had first located the spacial warp. Since there was really nothing they could do with the warp, there was no continuous guard placed upon it. Currently, they were alone.

"Hurry up, Spensie. I don't like it here." She was rubbing her upper arms as though cold. He noticed. "Say, you're not cold, are you?"

"Nah. But you gotta remember where I come from. To me, anything less than a trillion degrees is a cold draft. Now hurry up! I especially don't wanna be here should the guard show up. We're operatin' off the radar, you know. Acting without orders. I can tell you, from personal experience, my people don't like that at all."

She grimaced, even as she kept her guard up. Just because they'd never actually detected anything emanating from the warp, that didn't mean nothing could.

The cavern they were in was only a small "bulge" in a shaft that went much deeper, almost to the mantle of the Earth. Spencer didn't like to think about how close they were to the molten core of the planet. He could feel the sweltering heat; Jillian was keeping it off him as much as she could. "Well, I'm sorry about the cold. Let me get straightened out here, and I'll do my damndes—er, do my best to warm you up. Whaddaya say? Is it a date?"

"It's a date." Actually, getting away from there sounded especially good. And getting back to Spensie's nice, cozy bed….

He knelt on the floor, the Coleman lantern they'd brought providing him with enough light to see by. "Say. I kept hearing Devlin talk about you 'stealing' from his WorldCorp. How'd that happen?"

Again a grimace. "Well, it wasn't actually stealing, as such. I didn't actually take anything. Are you familiar with how big businesses are run?"

"Never have had the dubious pleasure of finding out."

"Well, a dip in projected profits counts as a loss, to put it simply. And, and what I was accused of—but was never convicted of! I was never convicted of it—was of costing WorldCorp because, and this is what they said, mind you—due to being 'too negative' towards the investment capital. Some people who originally wished to give their souls backed out after they'd talked to me." She shrugged. For some reason, she was tense, on edge, and kept looking around for danger.

He looked up momentarily. "So you told them the truth? About the soul thing, I mean? Jillian! How could they punish you for being honest?"

"Big business and Hell have one thing in common, Spensie. Neither one has much use for honesty."

He turned back to his work, tsking. He wasn't sure if the businesses got it from Hell, or if Hell copied the business model from mortals. "Well, anyway, here I g-*"

The earthquake hit suddenly, with no sign of any buildup. There was no warning whatsoever. One minute they were in a stable chamber, light strong and steady, and the next, the cavern walls were doing their best to crush them.

Instinctively, Jillian threw up a forcefield around them, then turned and looked for Spencer…

…who lay over on the far side of the tiny cave, with a large piece of stalactite piercing his abdomen.

Instantly, she was at his side. "Spencer! What…are you…" No, that was stupid; he clearly wasn't "alright." "Can…can you hear me?"

His reply was little more than a gasp. "Y-yeah. S-sorry. Couldn't move out of the way…quickly enough…" He face twisted into a grimace of pain. "S-so much for that idea…"

A deluge of emotions cascaded through her. She cradled his head against her chest. "Oh, grief. This…this is exactly wh-what I was afraid of." She moved to straighten him out. "I'm 'cloaking you back to Maggie. That crazy angel's got some kinda balm that'll-*"

His voice was very, very weak, but she could hear him quite well. "No…don't think I'll make it." He could feel his life slipping away even as he spoke.

"No, no! You hang on! I'll get you to—*"

Weakly, he grasped her hand. "J-Jillian. Just wanted to say… glad I lived long enough…to meet y-you.

"I…love you." Even with her hearing, she could barely hear these last remarks. And I always will.

Tears ran down her face, and she pressed his head up against her chest. She sniffled; odd how allergies could follow a person down this far into the Earth's crust. "Spencer…Spensie. Just…just hang on one more second."

Precisely six seconds after that last statement, Jillian Adara stood up. Her preternatural sight showed her the warp, the hole in space. She stood there, looking at it, literally shaking with rage. This thing had taken something from her, something precious. It was going to pay. Whatever was on the other side was going to pay. No matter what it cost her.

She brought her trident up, held it high up over her head, and charged it with as much Fire from Home as she could, the rising heat, a byproduct of the power being held in the black trident, reaching nearly a billion degrees in the space of mere seconds. The rock walls on either side of her didn't have the chance to glow orange; instead they flashed white as the tremendous heat sank into them. Then, with a fierce cry, she hurled the trident directly into the warp.

Dark Seattle:

Sam was twisting and weaving, trying to avoid the monstrosity chasing them. It apparently couldn't run, but it didn't have to: each step it took carried it several city blocks at a time. Furthermore, it seemed to have some sort of sense as to where they were going.

They began to hear a soft, susurrating voice in their minds: Why do you run…you only delay the inevitable. All things, even in Heaven or Hell, must eventually come to us. It is the Way.

Join us voluntarily. Bring your lovers with you. Make them see the Way. You would have an exalted position among us…princes of the Darkness, of what will consume All. Over and over again, the voice that was not a voice whispered into their minds. Carly could tell it was taking its toll on Sam by the way Sam set her face. Had she not been driving, she would have closed her eyes and stopped up her ears, even though she knew that would not work. But the gesture would have some meaning.

Carly Shay. Do you truly believe your angel lover will stay true? How old do you think he is? How many before you do you suppose there might have been? How many after you do you think there will be?

Samantha Puckett. You are of two minds. You pretend to hate your demon lover because that is easier than admitting he brought forth feelings in you that you consider "weak." In Us, you would need no such feelings. Join us, here in the Night that has No Ending.

Fredward Benson. You desire to uncover the secrets of the universe, its workings and operation. In Us, there is perfect Unity; all secrets are revealed.

Brittney Simmons. You hope against hope that your demon prince will come and save you. He will not. He cares nothing for you. Has he not said as much? You desire to return to your home dimension, to your family. All dimensions are connected to Us, and through Us, including yours. Join Us, and the way will be open to you, and to them. You will be reunited with them.

Do not oppose us; We only want what is best for all. For We are all.

"ShuddUP," murmured Sam, wrestling with the wheel. Carly and the others held on tight as Sam drove down one narrow corridor after another, alternatively dashing down one unlighted roadway, only to dart into a trash-strewn alleyway. They were lucky that so much of the place they were in was only a façade; had the buildings and said trash been real, they would probably have ended up in a horrendous crash. But most of it, at least most they contacted, was ephemeral, and so the van (and they all thanked God the van, at least, was real, or appeared to be more real than the rest) was able to smash its way through the detritus with minimal harm. Sure glad this is happening here, thought Sam. If this got on my record back home, I'd never be able to afford the increase in insurance premiums. She gave a hiccup of laughter at the thought that the others failed to catch. Just as well.

Brittney sat in the back, in a kind of funk. What the voice had said was true: Devlin had never actually come out and said he'd cared one whit for her. She knew he was crushing on Sam…Sam was a, was a nice person….maybe they'd be, y'know, happy together….

But if that were the case, she had no reason to want to go back to the world she'd just come from. There was nothing there for her; only strangeness in the proportion of everything's sheer familiarity. Carly and the others had been nice to her, yes. But her family….she could almost see her grandmother. How old was Grandma anyway? Pushing eighty, for sure. How much longer did she have left?

Brittney could remember running through the fields of tall grass, out by the country farm house where her grandmother lived, holding dandelions, watching them waft away in the breeze, laughing while her Grandma sat on the porch and laughed with her. She remembered sitting with her Grandma on that same porch in the evening, when the fireflies were first starting to come out, and how Grandma would tell her they were fairies from the deep wood. If you got too close, she said, they'd disguise themselves as bugs, so you'd leave them alone. But they were fairies, like Tinkerbell, doing their courtship dances. And eight-year-old Brittney had believed her. Why not? Of course, Grandma would know about these things. She remembered Thanksgivings, when Grandma would spend all day cooking in the kitchen, and some of the most mouth-watering scents imaginable would drift throughout the whole house. Would she ever see Grandma again?

And if she never saw Grandma again, what difference did any of it make?

Carly held on for dear life to her seat, but even as she did, she sensed something. Something that cut into her soul somehow, like fingernails screeching on a blackboard. This wasn't quite like that, but, in a way, it was.

Somebody was hurting. Somebody was hurting bad.

The Columbia Building: Jemiah and BenDarian watched the news feed: "A spokesperson for the military has declined to comment on what appeared to be another explosion in, or underneath, Mt. Adam. He did state that it was not of a nuclear nature, but declined to comment on anything except to say that there was no indication of increased background radiation levels or tectonic activity. We're told that there appear to be no aftershocks, though authorities in the area have cordoned off a large area around the mountain pending further notification. Our attaché has stated that the blast could not have been caused by any natural force that he was aware of. Now, we head for Tamara McKinney, in the field. Tamara? Have you anything to add to that?"

The attractive young woman put a hand to her ear. She was dressed for cold weather, with the fleece of her jacket showing around her neck. "Not at this time, Bill. The military has cordoned off the area, and all vehicles are being directed around it. I understand a 'no-fly' zone has also been established over the remains of the mountain…and remains are about all there is." She turned halfway, indicating the smoldering mass of rubble behind her. "Whatever it was, it had to be plenty powerful, but everybody's swearing it wasn't nuclear. I don't know what that leaves."

"We know what that leaves," muttered BenDarian.

"Indeed. Where is your wayward demoness, anyway?"

BenDarian shook his head, still watching the news feed, his own senses ranging much farther afield than any broadcast could ever hope to. "Unknown. But it is to be noted that all the portals into the Darkness seemed to have disappeared at precisely the time that all this transpired." He frowned. "I, too, wonder where our agent is. And what she could have done."

Dark Seattle: Sam had turned down the last alley, only to have a massive leg come down just in front of them. Doubt that one's ephemeral. The quartet braced themselves as she swerved, pulling to a halt. "Everybody out!"

They tumbled out into the dark alley. They could feel the vibration as the leg ground, the thing it belonged to turning towards them….

A blast of Hellfire lit up the darker-than-night sky. "Devlin!" Brittney shouted. He'd come, after all. But then her heart sank. Yeah, he'd come, alright. He'd come for Sam.

High above, they could see a winged figure swooping through the sky, glowing by its own light, its sword swinging at the monstrous being that seemed to embody the Darkness. The thing fell back before the combined assault, moving backward, stepping on several facades of buildings, crushing them to ash.

Grif swooped down. "Carly! Come on!" He grabbed her and Freddie, with Devlin right behind him, riding a levitated piece of rubble. Devlin grabbed Sam and Brittney, and the six of them rose up into the air, heading back towards the downtown area, where they could see a tendril, seemingly emerging from the infinite depths of the night sky, connecting sky and land. Just before they reached it, Carly happened to glance back.

Although there was no light to see by, she could somehow sense the massive monster they'd just left, sitting there, watching them go. Arrayed around it were humanoid figures from different time periods, soldiers, warriors, people wearing ordinary clothes, people wearing clothes of other time periods. All of them were gazing at the receding humans with what appeared to be rapt attention. With her new senses, she could see more than just the surface of them. She could tell they were all One. Go your way. You will see.

We speak the truth.

The Columbia Building: they emerged into the human reality gasping as the shock of interdimensional travel hitting each of them in different ways.

Jemiah and BenDarian were waiting for them. "Welcome back." Grif's Aunt Maggie, sitting in lotus position on Jemiah's desk, relaxed and ran over to them once she saw they were all safe. Once again, they'd used her connection to Grif to anchor the two in the Darkness and provide them with a way back.

"What…what happened?" Carly was out of breath, and Grif supported her as she regained her composure.

Brittney lay on the floor. "Hey, Britt. You alright?" Sam sounded concerned.

Devlin went to her. "Come on, Brittney. Are you injured?" He helped her stand to her feet.

"No. No, I'm…I'm fine." She wouldn't look at him. "Thank you for, for coming for m—I mean, for us."

"Well, uhm, you're welcome." He was a bit unsure of protocol here, and besides, something else seemed to be going on, something that was confusing his senses. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure you're alright? I…wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

She looked up. Her face seemed to brighten. "You…you really mean that?"

"Of course I mean that." He looked at her oddly. "I wouldn't have said it otherwise." And for reasons he'd never in a million years be able to explain, he put his arm around her. Just a brief hug. But the look on her face…

"Well, the gang's all here…wait. Where's Jillian?" Carly asked, looking at Grif. He looked at Jemiah, who shrugged ever so slightly….

"I'm here," said a strengthless voice from the doorway. They turned to see Jillian standing by the doorway, shadowcloak around her, eyes downcast.

Carly and Maggie both ran up to her, Maggie's face showing concern. Something was wrong.

"Well, Demon Adara? What have you to report?" BenDarian asked.

Jillian hesitated a moment. Then. "I, I charged my trident and threw it into the warp."

"Did you now. And on whose authority did you do this? Or was this more of the 'Earth's Guardian Demon' thing?" She didn't answer. He continued. "So…you were responsible for the explosion at Mt. Adam? Or rather, I should say, what used to be Mt. Adam?"

"Yes. I mean, yes, sir." She seemed awfully subdued, and Carly and Maggie exchanged worried glances. This wasn't like the fiery demon girl they knew.

"Well," rumbled Jemiah, "Something seems to've worked. The portals have disappeared, and there is no further indication of Darkness activity, at least, directly, here on this world."

Carly rubbed the demon girl's upper arm in a comforting gesture. Maggie's expression of concern continued to deepen. "Jillian? Does Spencer know you're back?"

"Yeah. Yeah, he knows." She stopped, momentarily, sniffling. Damn allergies. "He…" She stopped, thought about what she'd say, then continued. "He was with me."

"What!? What was Spencer doing with you, under Mt. Adam?"

"He…he had an idea. Something about using that angel tech on that router Grif gave you. Some way of disrupting the warp, he said. But…." Tears began to flow down her face, and the others looked on, worriedly. "Th-there was an earthquake be-before he could use it. He…he got crushed underneath some rock."

Carly almost fainted in shock. "Jillian? You're telling me…my brother's dead?"

Jillian just shook her head, still in the grip of her own powerful emotions. "N-no. Not, not dead." From within her shadowcloak, she produced what appeared to be a glass sphere, lit from within. "Here he is."

Carly stared. Spencer…? Then she heard a voice inside her head. Hey, Carly. Guess I kinda screwed up, huh?

"S-Spencer?"

Yeah, it's me. I had a piece of stalactite run me through. I was goin' fast. Jillian did the only thing she could do. And here I am.

Carly felt numb. Spencer? Dead? But not dead? In a force-globe?

Maggie stood next to the distraught demon. "Jillian? I know you're not alright, so that would be a stupid question, but will you let me help you?" After a brief hesitation, the demon girl nodded.

Devlin came up to them. "This is perhaps the worst time to mention this, but I have to…Jillian, you know the Black Throne won't let you keep him." And he nodded towards the force-globe that was now Spencer.

Again the demon girl nodded. She held up the sphere, and he took it from her grip. "Don't…don't let anyone be…mean to him, would you?"

Jillian!

….

Hell: Grif, Carly, Sam, Freddie, Brittney, Devlin, Maggie, and Jillian stood before the Black Throne. Again, Carly was struck by the resemblance, sort of, to the wizard's chamber in the old classic, The Wizard of Oz. Only with a lot more fire. Sam, Brittney, and Freddie were looking around, dumbstruck. So. This was Hell.

The Black Throne rumbled. Demon Adara. You have repeatedly defied orders, and acted outside your authority. That is inexcusable. That it ended as well as it did is sheer accident.

"I, I know." She still felt cold. Even the fires of Hell, normally soothing to her, couldn't reach her in her current state. The only one who could comfort her was lost to her forever.

Plus, she'd lost her trident. A demon without a trident wasn't much better than a devil, fit only for manual labor.

You have styled yourself Earth's Guardian Demon. Again, completely without authorization from Us.

"Yes, Masters. I did." She could feel herself starting to come back to life, as her temper started to rise. Was there a point to all this?

You are of the Obsidian Order. It is not fitting for one of such low rank to operate in the way that you have. The operatives We place in such positions of authority cannot be of such a lowly rank. It would be an insult to Us, to all We stand for, and even to those worlds upon which they are placed. So you have thrice given insult. What have you to say for yourself?

She thought. The others watched. This was her show. Go for broke, Jillian. "Masters…if I had it to do all over again…I'd do the same thing. Only, only twice as hard."

The Black Throne rumbled like a thunderstorm, the sound rolling from one side to the other. Then let it be so. Our decision is finalized. Your own words have sealed your fate.

She bowed her head, a gesture of acceptance. Here, the Black Throne's power was absolute; there was no questioning their decisions. G'bye, Spensie. We had some great times together. I only hope whoever gets you will…will be nice to you. There was something in the air in front of her. Oh, right. This would be the demon who'd take Spensie from her. After all, a lowly lava pit guard couldn't be allowed to collect souls; it would send all kinds of wrong messages.

She looked up. Hovering in the air in front of her was a trident, but one that shone a bright blue coloration. "Er…Masters?"

Take it, Demon Adara. It is yours.

"But…but…I'm only Obsidian rank! I'm not Sapphire rank!"

As of now, you are. As We said, it is not fitting for one of lowly rank to act for us in such a position of authority as Guardian Demon. Therefore, you are hereby promoted to the Sapphire Order. Now. Accept your trident. Bond with it.

It seemed as though time had come to a complete halt. As in a dream, she reached out and grasped the trident before her. She could feel it thrumming with power. "I…I'm Sapphire now?"

Indeed. But with provisions. You will report regularly to Us on events which transpire on the world you have elected to guard. This will be a probationary position for you. And… Jillian's ears perked up. There had been a subtle inflection on that last word, good or bad, she couldn't say.

And, the voice rumbled on, You will be allowed to collect souls. However, we are restricting you to one. You may only have one soul.

Jillian felt as though a huge weight was lifted off her. She felt rather dizzy, and staggered slightly. Devlin came up to her and steadied her. Then he held out the force-globe that contained the essence of Spencer. "I believe this is yours."

She took the sphere. Hey, Jill! I'm back! We're a team again!

And Jillian Adara, Sapphire Order of the third circle of Hell, Earth's Guardian Demon, did something she'd never done before: she cried openly, holding the indestructible globe to her breast. It's alright, Jill, he said from within the globe, it all worked out, see? She could feel his immaterial presence, his arm around her, comforting her. It's alright, Jill. Everything's alright now.

Devlin BenDarian. Step forward. Devlin stepped up to the indicated area. "Yes, my lords?"

We are assigning you to Earth as well. And, like Demon Adara, you will be limited to one soul…for now. Choose well, for, as in Demon Adara's case, that soul will be a helpmeet for you in the dark days which we foresee.

Make no mistake. The Darkness has not been destroyed. We know it to be an intelligent organism now; that only serves to make it all the more dangerous. And that intelligence now knows that the universe it recently attacked has powerful defenders. It will take that into consideration next time. For there will be a next time.

It will be your job, along with Demon Adara's, to defend that world from such encroachments. And, it should go without saying, to report back any findings to Us.

We still do not know where the spacial warp led, or what its purpose was. More study into that is called for.

So the two of you are to work together, alongside the angels, in an attempt to locate the source of the warp.

And ever be on guard for future encroachments by the Darkness. For they, too, will come.

Jillian had wandered back to where the rest of them were, out of the immediate presence of the Black Throne, still weeping. I didn't know demons could cry, thought Carly. Learn something new every day. "Jillian?"

"I…yeah, Carly?"

Carly put her arms around the demon girl. "Welcome to the family."

Devlin rejoined the rest of them, and they returned to the outer foyer, in preparation for returning to Earth. "But I don't understand," said Jillian. "The, the Black Throne promoted me? That's never happened before. Especially not with a, a screw-up like me!"

Devlin rolled his eyes. "Welllllllll, the way I hear it, there's a possibility that a couple of somebodies might've put in a good word or two for you." And he glanced over at his uncle. Jillian's jaw dropped.

And Jillian, came Spencer's voice from the globe, you're being too hard on yourself. Please don't call yourself a 'screw-up'; you're insulting someone I love.

She sniffled. Allergies in Hell. You wouldn't think… "Thanks, Spensie. Now…now we'll always be together."

I wouldn't have it any other way.

"So, nephew." BenDarian spoke to Devlin. "Limited to one soul, eh? Well, that can be enough…for a start." He paused a moment. "The Black Throne is correct in saying that you must choose wisely." His gaze took in Sam, who was looking off, arms crossed over her chest. None of this was of any interest to her whatsoever.

"Yes, Uncle Darian, I have." He went up to where Sam, Freddie, and Brittney were waiting.

Brittney hung back, eyes downcast. Now would be the time. Now he'd declare his love for Sam, and, in spite of her ongoing feud with him, express how he had time, all the time in the world. Maybe I should have stayed back in the Darkness. At least there….

"Brittney?" She turned towards him surprised. "Brittney…I'd like you to be with me, in the coming days ahead. The Black Throne's right: there will be more attacks. And I'd like you to be with me, to help me, if you would." His expression was one of utmost sincerity.

"Devlin? I…" She couldn't find the words. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?

Could demons love? But of course; she'd seen the way Jillian had cried over Spencer. Yes, demons could love.

"I'd like us to be together."

"The, the soul thing….?"

"Perhaps in time. There's no rush. But yes, if, at some point in the future, you would, I would like to have your soul for my one and only. And if you decide not to, that's alright, too. But, regardless, I'd still like to have you by my side, helping me. You don't have to be enclosed in a force-globe to be…to be mine, you know."

"I…I…" Again the words wouldn't come.

"And I remember what I said, about trying to find your world-line. No matter what you decide, I'll still try to do that. But understand I can't promise anything. I will try to get you home."

To Here with words. She threw her arms around him, pulling him close. "Whether or not you do," she whispered, "It doesn't matter. As long as I'm with you, I'm home."

"So," said Sam, looking at the two with an unreadable expression on her face. "You've given up on collecting my soul?"

He turned to her. "Yes, Sam, I have. I like to think I've matured some since then. And since you're so adamant that I won't get it, then I can't anyway, can I?

"Besides, your soul already belongs to someone else. You just haven't figured it out yet." And he led Brittney off towards the exit.

Freddie came up alongside Sam. "Your soul already belongs to someone? What do you suppose he meant by that?"

Sam shrugged. "You've got me."

The End.