Grain... Cloister of Science...

The lines that etched themselves across the floor were swirling with energy and various forms of magics that were boundlessly whirling within the area. There was no two doubts about it, they were now using magic. Amaretto was not all that surprised that Alice and Johanna knew it, but to think that the strange woman who seemed to be all about science and its uses and how they seemed far more infinite in their understanding; she was chanting mystical words that were a mantra for a very powerful magic that was building up into a cacophony of pressure. Amaretto felt her head swim as thin veils appeared over both Johanna and Mother Chime.

Her sprinting towards the original stone that was there was not going as well as she hoped. An IronMan swung out at her, and all but barely missed severing her clean in two with a rip-bladed saw for a hand. Dense smoke roiled around the ground, clutching at everything like a greedy child given free reign in a candy shop. As Mother Chime continued to chant, the smoke began to take a more solid shape along the ground. Amaretto tried to dodge another IronMan, his arms outstretched as if to grab her and never let go, and she hear the familiar bang of Alice's gun as a blast of ray energies tore through him The IronMan actually looked surprised.

Amaretto dodged again and felt the smoke on the ground whirling in what appeared to be small hands grasping at the hemlines of her dress. She hated her aunt for making her wear it, but she could not have guessed that wearing jeans instead of a crinoline would have been such a great idea. She called out in her mind, "Tempus! I need you now!"

Almost as if exploding in her head, she heard an amount of static and then something that sounded like an old radio tuning in her head. Am... ret... re yo... okay?" Then it snapped into place and she could hear Tempus calling for her.

"Amaretto can you hear me?"

Amaretto rolled her eyes"I can hear you just fine then Tempus. It's almost like you are screaming in my ear... oh wait!"

Amaretto heard Tempus snort. "You don't have to be so rude about it..."

"Not to be rude now, but I need a little help here, I'm almost to the gem, but I can't get to it, Mother Chime is just a little too powerful!" Amaretto tried to hide the panic from her voice, but it might have been too late to do so. At that moment, she could have sworn that she heard Tempus smile.

"Are you within fifty feet at least?"

Amaretto did a quick look and then nodded her head. Then almost as if sensing her silliness she responded in the affirmative. She should have realized sooner that there was no way Tempus could see her

"I guess you could make it that way then. Prepare yourself..."

Amaretto ducked as another IronMan reached out to grasp at her from the middle of the smoke. "Tempus!" She shrieked as another IronMan threw himself at her. She put her hands up as if to shield herself. She closed her eyes and braced for impact and then heard a loud shrieking of metal and opened her eyes tentatively. Her aunt stood there with her parasol and had it pointed directly at the IronMan that was aiming itself at her. Her eyes were thin glittering slits.

"Hurry Amaretto! We don't have time!"

Amaretto scrambled to her feet and then leaped towards the fourposter bed. The Queen who was on the bed shrieked and grabbed her second body in panic. Amaretto heard something that sounded like Mother Chime was screaming at her. Tempus yelled at her in her head.

"Grab the Stone!"

Amaretto panicked when at first all she could see was the Queen and the multitude of tubes that were spread across the bed, connecting both of her bodies. The whole world was spinning so fast and she wasn't quite sure what it was that she was supposed to be doing. All around the room, the clash of Magic and Science clashed between the rest of the room. She allowed her eyes to stray for a moment and saw her aunt Katherine beating an IronMan with her parasol and then screeching in a strange language that sounded like it was European.

Alice was pointing her gun at various IronMen as well, shooting shots from the strange ray gun that she held. Her back was aglow with strange blue light and symbols of red runes were pouring off her back as Johanna, who was chanting and weaving her hands animatedly at Mother Chime, who was also chanting. Mother Chime's voice however, sounded like someone was fast-forwarding a video tape. Amaretto frowned and began searching the bed again and then found what she was looking for. She gripped the stone and screamed out at the top of her lungs what Tempus had wanted her to say:

"Thunderous Clouds of Times gone past,
Running veins of Theory's relative light,
Cursed Light; Point of Heart,
Access Granted, Cease Function!"

The first thing that Amaretto thought was that it didn't rhyme. The next thing that she thought was what was that loud chiming she was hearing. The next thing she knew, the whole world turned upside-down, inside out, and then completely black...