At first, the darkness had felt so wrong. The thoughts it had sent spinning through her were WRONG. And the feelings of despair and hatred and greed- all WRONG. But somehow, an eternity later, Liz understood the darkness. It was gathered around the ambition of men, those who wished to overthrow the king and his lineage of weak-willed royalty. She could feel their hatred and distrust of Chatamalinkasohn, a royal full breed who had been left to fend for himself on another planet, growing soft and unused to Dagonian ways. How could this boy be entrusted to rule an entire planet when he chose an Earthling mate?

Liz was startled to realize that the mate they were discussing was she, but hastened to add that they were right. She had no claim on the throne at all, even less that Chatamalinkasohn...

******

The explosion of power from his right let Max know that Joey’s group had finally pulled it together. The push from them sent the dark blast careening back to Croazoh, stopping just short of smashing him to atoms.

Max gritted his teeth, trying to force their advantage, pushing harder against the shield protecting Croazoh.

Liz?

******

Chatamalinkasohn? How did he-

Wait- why was she calling Max that? Liz furrowed her brow. What had she been thinking? A tremor ran through her body. She was so cold. She felt frozen. Who had she been calling? Someone out there, who needed to be in here...

Max?

******

*Max?*

Max almost lost concentration completely as the little voice whispered in his head.

Liz? Fight them. We’re coming.

*No. You can’t fight them from out there- they’re too strong together.*

Max shook his head and focused his power again. When it was sufficiently strengthened, he answered Liz. I have to try. I can’t just give up.

*No- use our connection. Fight them from the inside.*

He huffed out a breath in frustration. The inside?

*Where I am. Here. Inside.*

A glimmer of understanding pushed him to agree. Anything to get her out of there. The orb was losing steam and they were running out of time. He would try anything.

He took a deep breath and reigned in his power. Immediately, Croazoh’s dark power thrust outwards, toward the other two squares. But they held firm, though Max could see the fear on their faces.

“Just hold on!” He turned to his group. “Cover me.”

******

Michael nodded. He knew this had something to do with Liz and he would walk over burning coals to help Max save her. Max knelt and closed his eyes as the others formed a tight circle around him. They were close, but not touching him, as Nasedo had directed them not too long ago.

Nasedo. Michael only had a moment to realize again that their guardian was dead.

*Dead?* The horror in Isabel’s eyes stopped him cold, but he just nodded.

Forget about it. Max needs our help.

She nodded hesitantly.

Michael’s eyes skittered over to Maria. She was concentrating hard on Croazoh‘s form, a wonderful “eat-sh*t-and-die” look on her face. He couldn’t help but smile.

What a woman.

******

Isabel and Alex stood shoulder-to-shoulder over Max. Alex could feel her warmth and smell the spicy perfume that she still clung to her. He slid his hand over to hers and squeezed it lightly. She gave him a fiercely frightened look.

About three different jokes came to mind, all related to gray lumps with delusions of grandeur and the many different uses for alien gray matter after implosion... but, for once, he kept quiet. It was an unnerving experience, but the grateful smile he got from Isabel warmed him from the inside out.

******

Liz felt a sudden warmth licking around the edges of the frigid air she was trapped in. She gasped at the small relief it brought in achingly delicious pieces. For a few moments, she just basked in the delicate touch of it. It felt like love, strong and... right.

It felt right in a way that the darkness just didn’t feel right.

Why was it so far away?

She needed it. Oh god, she needed the warmth, craved it so badly that she could taste it, inside herself. It was golden, like honey, and so sweet. But there was a hardness to it, a... soft hardness, like a plump, perfectly ripe peach. Her mouth grew wet with the thought of biting into that yellow... no- amber, flesh.

She gasped. Amber. Her mind reeled to clear itself from the cold. Amber.

Max.

She gave a little cry and tried to reach through the coldness. But he was so far away. They were keeping him so far away...

******

Max was so close; he could feel her reaching out, trying to pull him in through their connection, but their hold on her was too strong. Even with the orb’s power, he couldn’t do it. Dammit! He felt Michael’s hand on his shoulder. Hold on, he was telling him. Michael had a plan.

******

Michael moved away from his square and headed for Justin, shaking the still burning hand that had touched Max‘s shoulder. Croazoh seemed to take no notice of him, which was just what he wanted. The Head Darkie was too involved in trying to squash the other groups. But they were strong enough to take him on, even with his souped up power.

Michael nodded at Joey, who looked like she barely even registered his presence. Then he moved back to Justin and placed a hand on his shoulder. Michael needed him. Liz needed him.

******

Joey felt the foursquare breaking apart as Michael had directed with a mixture of relief and fear. She watched as she ran, making sure that everyone got to Max’s side safely. The other foursquare was still intact, holding off Croazoh’s attack. They didn’t even seem surprised to be the last ones fighting. Max, still glowing, was kneeling with Isabel and Alex standing over him. Joey grabbed Isabel’s hand and felt Nathan and Alex join as well. A new foursquare. It wouldn’t be as strong, but it would help Max. And Justin and Michael were going to be busy. The power began surging into her and Joey absorbed as much as she could. Then with a slight movement, she moved one leg forward until it made contact with Max’s back. The burning traveled up her body until she had to let the power go. It flooded down into him, fueling his connection with Liz.

They could all feel it.

******

The power surge was incredible. Max could feel the love and concern from Joey, Isabel, Alex and Nathan. He used the influx to reach out to Liz, up into the connection with her.

*Max, that’s good... oh, that’s so good...*

The intimate words barely registered with him, but he felt the others shifting away in embarrassment. Max grinned. It was working. They’d just have to get over it.

******

Liz was slowly thawing, prickles and warmth traveling the length of her body until she was fully herself again. The darkness hovered around her, but she couldn’t rouse her power to fight. It took everything she had been given just to push them outside of herself.

And she felt... so alive... so good... so full of Max...

******

From her position outside the foursquare protecting Max, Maria watched Michael with narrow eyes. What in the hell did he think he was doing?

******

Michael grasped Justin’s hand, feeling like he was six again, running through those woods with his older brother, challenging the fates- together. But the adventuring was darker this time. He felt Justin’s hatred and rage over Kate’s death and suddenly wondered if they would be able to fight Croazoh together. Justin’s power felt different... But there was no time left to wonder.

Christopher was nodding at them, meaning that it was now or never. Michael’s grip on Justin’s hand tightened and they sent a blast of power into Croazoh’s stream. Man, did that guy ever run out of energy?

Almost immediately, the other foursquare pulled out and ran. Good. They would help Max. Just as Michael registered this, the strain of power tripled... no quadrupled. He and Justin strained and pushed against the force, but it was moving toward them at an alarming rate.

Why was this happening? They should be able to take him on, right? At least to hold him at bay. Or had Michael overestimated their strength? Too late to back out now. Curses flooded the air as they strained on.

But after another minute, Michael knew it was no use. His gaze was drawn to where Maria was standing...

Wait, where is she?

Then a small, white figure slammed into him and grabbed his hand.

“SH*T! No Maria!”

But she was connected already. She joined her energy with theirs in what Michael now knew was a long, drawn-out suicide attempt.

******

Maria glared at Croazoh as his energy came slowly towards them. As she had suspected, it would take more power than the three of them had to stop him completely. But she could NOT stand by and watch Michael die. That was simply NOT an option.

Tears stung her eyes. Michael’s hand slipped out of hers and went around her waist. *You are incredible.*

Yeah, pile it on, Guerin. You’re dead meat for even trying this!

*Tell me something I don’t know.*

How about this? She looked into his mysteriously deep brown eyes. You are my life and I love you.

Michael nodded. She knew he wanted to say more, do more, but they had to keep-

**That’s it. I’m outta’ here.**

And with a sudden shove of energy, Maria found herself tumbling across the floor, Michael right beside her.

******

As the second foursquare’s energy flooded into Max, he found himself blissfully unable to even register the fact. Liz’s ecstasy was like an aphrodisiac and he could barely rouse himself to send the power her way.

*More, Max, more! I can do it! I can handle it... Please?*

Max took in a deep breath and slowly, gently, he fed the power through the connection.

******

Michael was covering Maria with his body, watching his brother with something really close to fear. Justin was striding toward Croazoh, pushing the dark energy back easily. It was unbelievable.

But Michael knew what made the difference. Before his eyes, he’d seen Justin’s energy implode and come out a ferocious dark, demonic stream of power. It was... dark.

And Justin was screaming, not at Croazoh, but at the people who had hurt Kate, cursing them, cursing life, pushing and pressing and shoving until he was only feet away from the dark, towering figure that was the target of all his pent-up rage. “You killed her! You raped her and beat her and cut her and I’m going to f*cking kill you bastards-”

“Oh my god...” Maria’s whisper echoed Michael’s own feelings as they watched Justin come completely undone. Michael felt wetness on his cheeks and he stood to his feet. Justin was going to get himself killed if they didn’t stop him.

******

Liz was going to burst if she didn’t let it out. But she didn’t want to. Because she was also full of Max. He was there, feeding her power, love, concern and... desire.

*I’ll still be here. Just take them out, sweetness. I’ll help you.*

She sighed deeply.

Okaaaay.

Then she opened her mind, and her body and-

******

Michael saw it before he felt it. There was a blinding white light that came out of the center of the dark circle and everything went deadly quiet. The light crawled throughout the room, filling every crack, lighting up the white tiles like some kind of nuclear disco ball. Just as it reached the last corners of the room, Michael felt the ground shift under his feet and an explosion that rocked his world.

******