<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0004</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0005.txt">Next (Page 5)</A><BR><P><P>"Damn!" Buff said. "Are you sure we're safe? Are you sure he can't follow us into the other world?"<P><P>"I believe we're safe," Chamomile responded. "Look."<P><P>O'Riley raised his other arm and made both hands into fists. Soon, a massive windstorm overtook the area, getting more and more powerful each second. Before they knew it, trees started to uproot and fly away, as the ferocity of the storm grew.<P><P>"It's totally quiet in here," Sulfur remarked.<P><P>"That would make sense," Chamomile responded. "Only visible light can pass back and forth between in here and out there. No sound."<P><P>Buff continued staring at O'Riley for a few moments, then suddenly tackled the other four, knocking them all to the ground.<P><P>"Close your eyes!" he yelled, still on top of them.<P><P>"What the fuck!" Canary yelped.<P><P>"Stay down and keep your eyes closed!" Buff yelled, his enormous voice echoing through the silence of Yellowhaus. "Visible light! Don't you get it? He could mind control or even kill us with his power. Pulses of hypnotic light! He could have shut our hearts down in a blink! He could have made us do anything!"<P><P>Suddenly, violent pulses of light began to flicker from outside, barely perceptible by the five, their eyes tightly shut. <P><P>"Damn that O'Riley!" Chamomile yelled. "Have to opaque the windows! Have to get to the control panel!"<P><P>"Keep down!" Sulfur yelled. "Shield your eyes! If you can see the light even a little, he could get through with his power!"<P><P>"Damn!" Chamomile yelled.<P><P>"I'm over here!" the five heard a weary voice say from within the room. "On the table! It's me, Colonia the Sword, from Libertine A-Wave. I have eye protection on. Tell me where to go and I can close the windows.<P><P>"Shit," Chamomile muttered. "Okay Colonia! You're right by it! Just get off the table away from the sound of my voice!"<P><P>"Got it!" Colonia yelled.<P><P>"Now--" Chamomile began.<P><P>"--what if he's under O'Riley's control? How can we trust him?" Buff yelled.<P><P>"We have no choice, Buff," Chamomile answered. "Now Colonia, walk forward and to the right. You should feel the counter there. Okay?"<P><P>"Okay."<P><P>"Now, move to the right along the counter and you'll feel a dome shape."<P><P>"Got it," Colonia answered after a few seconds.<P><P>"Okay, that's it," Chamomile said. "Feel for a ring. It's on the upper-left of the panel. Just pull on the ring. It's the only ring there."<P><P>The intensity of the pulsing light increased. A few tense moments passed.<P><P>"I can't find it!" Colonia yelled.<P><P>"Damn!" Chamomile exclaimed. "Okay, feel for a lever, then--"<P><P>"--I got it! The ring! Just pull?" Colonia said.<P><P>"Yes! Pull it! Just pull it!" Chamomile responded.<P><P>Suddenly it was dark.<P><P>"Whew!" Buff puffed.<P><P>"Get offa me you throw rug!" Canary yelled.<P><P>"Someone get the lights!" Sulfur yelled.<P><P>"You called?" Lemon asked, as the room was bathed in the hellish yellow glow of her pitchfork.<P><P>"Great. But can we get some real lights?" Sulfur said, getting up.<P><P>"I'll get 'em," Chamomile said, already on her feet.<P><P>"You're all very lucky," Colonia said, taking the opaque goggles off his eyes. "He was going for the kill, not mind control or hypnosis or anything like that. You were right when you thought he would shut your hearts off--that was his intention."<P><P>"So what now?" Buff asked.<P><P>"Well, he can still see Yellowhaus," Chamomile said, turning the lights on. "But other than that, he can't make any contact with it."<P><P>"So will he be able to follow us?" Buff asked.<P><P>"No," Colonia said. "He's locked into this world. There's no turning back for him now. He has to go through with it--destroying himself in the process. But we've defeated him in a little way--he'll face his doom knowing that he failed to destroy everything."<P><P>"That's a comforting thought," Sulfur commented.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0005.txt">Next (Page 5)</A>