Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 14:05:28 -0600 (CST) From: Richard Hazlewood To: Creative Babylon5 Subject: STORY: The Only One 4/4 Hi All, Here is the final installment of my Highlander crossover. ==================================================================== DISCLAIMER: This story is copyrighted (1995) by Richard Hazlewood. All rights reserved. Electronic transfer and storage is permitted. Just don't make any money off of it (yeah right). NOTICE: This story takes place early in the THIRD season of Babylon 5. (I know, quite a risk with half of the second season still to be aired...) ============================================================== The Only One By Richard Hazlewood Introduction (Voice of Ambassador G'Kar) The Babylon project was a dream given form. 250,000 beings in a station five miles long located in Neutral Space. It was the Third Age of Mankind. The Great War was spreading across the galaxy. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. A shining beacon in space, all alone in the night. Conceived in peace, it had become our only refuge. It was our last, best hope of peace. It is the Earth year 2260. The name of the place is Babylon 5. ACT IV Sheridan sat in his office, reading the daily reports. His door suddenly opened, something it was not supposed to be able to do on it's own. Sheridan looked up, seeing who was standing in the doorway, he stood, "Ambassador Kosh! Can I help you?" Sheridan immediately put down his paperwork. Checking his PPG, he grabbed his uniform jacket and followed Kosh out the door. Several minutes later, Kosh stopped in front of an unused cargo bay in Orange 12. After Sheridan had waited several minutes without Kosh doing anything obvious, he asked, "Now what?" Typically, Kosh did not answer. Realizing that he was not going to get anything out of his mentor, Sheridan relaxed and tried to wait patiently. Inside the cargo bay, Sinclair, Delenn and McCloud waited for Morden's arrival. "I don't know if I can do this." Sinclair said, "Killing in battle is one thing. But to kill someone in cold blood..." "You must do what must be done." Delenn responded cold-bloodedly. "So you keep telling me." "Very touching." Morden said sarcastically as he emerged from the shadows, "I will remember that when I bury you. Delenn, always a pleasure. And McCloud!" He said with mock surprise. "I would have expected you to be dead by now." "Not quite Morden." "So this is to be two against one is it. Hardly seems fair. I should even the odds." With that, two figures materialized behind Morden. Their translucent, spidery shapes seemed to hover just above the bay floor. "Now things seem a little more even." Outside the bay, Kosh stirred and began moving toward the nearby door. Sheridan, surprised by the suddenness of the Vorlon's actions, was several steps behind. Kosh did not wait. As soon as he reached the cargo door, he opened it and entered the bay; Sheridan straggling a couple of steps behind. Morden gave the Vorlon a long look. "So. I thought you might show up. Ah, and Captain Sheridan. Your wife sends her regrets that she could not be here today. Matters of state you understand." With a growl, Sheridan started to lunge for Morden, but Kosh raised one arm and Sheridan stopped. "I see Kosh has trained you well." The smirk on Morden's face spoke volumes. Bowing his head, still smiling, Morden drew his sword and advanced to the middle of the cargo bay. McCloud also drew his dragon katana and advanced. Sinclair and Delenn remained to one side. "Watch your head Sinclair." McCloud said with a slight smile. Without prelude, Morden swung his sword at McCloud. McCloud blocked the swing easily and retaliated. The fight was on. During the battle, the two Shadows remained in place. Kosh moved over to stand between them and the humans. Sheridan, unsure what was going on, remained where he was near the main door. His eyes darting between the two men dueling with their archaic weapons, Sinclair, and Kosh. The battle continued for almost an hour. Several times, McCloud seemed about to loose the battle only to perform some incredible feat, bounce away from his opponent and return to the fray again. Morden was relentless. He acted like a man supremely confident that he would win. Morden knew that in order to have won the Prize once before, that McCloud must be a very skilled swordsman. But Morden also knew that McCloud did not really want to win this fight. That gave Morden an edge. One that he exploited mercilessly. Around the bay the battle moved. Sparks from the clanging swords lit up the darker corners, the sound of their fighting echoed through the large hollow bay. Even the sound of their heavy breathing seemed to echo from the walls. The fight, of course, could not last forever. Eventually one of them had to make a fatal mistake that would signal the end. McCloud stepped back from a particularly vicious series of attacks from Morden when his foot slipped on the sweat-covered floor. In that instant when McCloud lost his balance, Morden struck. Morden's next swing struck McCloud just below the wrist, severing his hand and sending it and his ancient sword flying across the room. With his return swing, Morden cleanly severed McCloud's head from his body. Whirling to face Sinclair, Morden screamed in triumph. Almost immediately, Morden was driven to his knees by the luminous Quickening rising out of McCloud's corpse and impaling the helpless human. "Now!" Delenn yelled over the shrieking, "You must kill him now!" Sinclair started towards the kneeling man, then hesitated. "I can't. Not in cold blood. I'm sorry." Kosh's headpiece swivelled to face Sheridan, Suddenly, Sheridan understood. Scampering forward, Sheridan grabbed McCloud's fallen katana and approached Morden. Sheridan had never used a sword before, but he was a trained fighter. Gripping the curved weapon in both hands, he swung. The force of the swing spun Sheridan completely around. Thus his back was to Morden when all hell broke loose. To Delenn, it seemed as if Morden's body exploded. Vague shapes flew out of Morden's body, mixed with the Quickening coming from McCloud and flew around the room. The force of that explosion threw Sheridan into one of the walls where he lay in a crumpled heap, stunned. The two Shadows faded out as soon as Morden died. Kosh did not seem affected by the forces swirling around the cargo bay. His optical pickup swiveled around and focussed on Sinclair. The filaments of the Prize began to congeal into almost humanoid shapes. Still whirling around the bay, they began to move faster and faster. One of the larger strands suddenly dove down and pierced Sinclair through the chest. With a cry, half of agony, half of ecstacy, Sinclair was lifted off of the floor and floated amongst the gossamer filaments. "I can SEE *EVERYTHING*! I can FEEL *EVERYTHING*! I AM *EVERYTHING*!!!" Sinclair's cries echoed through the cargo bay. All of the lights exploded in at once, their broken shards falling to the floor in a cascade of fire. Delenn's hair was whipped about her face by the impossible wind. Finally, after several minutes, or eternities, the last of the Prize had been absorbed by Sinclair's body. Almost anticlimactically, his body fell to the floor in a huddled mass. The silence in the bay was eerie. Delenn was the first to recover. Racing over, she cradled Sinclair's head in her lap and checked to see if he was still alive. Sheridan, still stunned from his encounter with the wall could only watch. Sinclair opened his eyes, seeing Delenn's face hovering over him he said, "I know what I have to do. I understand. The Shadows, the Vorlons, everything. I understand now." Kosh moved slowly over, when he came up beside Delenn and the One, he said, EPILOGUE In another part of Babylon 5 Anna Sheridan was sitting in a room. Two Shadows materialized before her and floated about two feet off of the floor. "Yes, I felt him loose." "No, I think that we can still win. We did not count on the Prize. It was only after contacting Morden that the Prize even entered into your plans. We are still on track. It is our destiny." "Yes, I agree. I will begin preparations immediately." With that the two Shadows faded out and Anna sat quietly for several minutes. Opening a small locket she wore around her neck, Anna stared at the picture inside. Inside the locket was a wedding picture. John Sheridan in his dress uniform and her. "Now, my dear Johnnie. It is time for us to be together again." End ====================================================================== I will not be logged on until Monday, so I apologize now for any responses that may be delayed. I was amazed at the amount of stuff that I was able to explain about B5 using the Highlander saga. I tried to use just the information from the first (and best imo) movie. I have only seen a few episodes of the series, but some of the information about dying and the Quickening was taken from there. Comments and suggestions are VERY welcome. Virtually Yours, Richard Hazlewood RHAZLWD@KUHUB.CC.UKANS.EDU Do not assume malice when stupidity will suffice. -Flame War Comment =========================================================================