The clock chimed thirteen o'clock. The battle began.

In Times Square, every screen held the face of the queen, pristine, eyes humorless and icy. "It is time to choose your allegiance. We have brought the enemy to our bosom, where we may fight them better with all our resources and strength. You are all my soldiers, now. Go to Central Park and let us end this once and for all. It is time for us to live our lives as we choose.

"And know... that those who would give their love to my foe will meet the consequences in due time."

##

Claw had gathered his most trusted commanders: elves, goblins, trolls, and other spangores who had allied with the queen early in the endeavor. Their only commonalities were that they each obeyed his command without question.

He gave the command, and it began.

First the infantry lining the park raged forth, spears, pikes, and bayonets at the ready. Some camps still slumbered, but most were somewhat prepared for the barrage. Word spread quickly as messengers rode on horseback from their posts to announce the arrival of the first wave.

Claw flew to observe the front lines as they crept inward into the park. He watched with little satisfaction as the soldiers began their killing spree with the less alert among the enemy. Blades found purchase in flesh, even amongst the most inept of his goblin warriors. He did not relish the dark results of this endeavor and only hoped that it would pass eventually as a bad dream.

The wrestling of power was always a messy, inconvenient thing.

##

"Here they come, lads!" Granen hung back on his horse, sending in the first of the footmen with the pointing of his wooden staff from their position at Summit Rock. "Let's show'em a thing'er two about good manners!"

Sage saddled up next to him with a grin, his silver chain mail glistening under the street lamps. "What is it about Irishmen and battle?"

Granen shook his head. "Oh-ho no, Sage, I would much rather be tendin' my garden now."

Jareth came around to his right, tall upon his own gray steed. "So we're going to show them where to put the salad fork, and how to hold a chalice, are we? Good etiquette, a very interesting way to wage a battle..."

The Irishman had not seen his friend since before the catastrophe that had brought about the splitting of the worlds. His face reddened with his joyful laugh. "Well, now, I suspect that showin'em proper table manners is about all you're gonna contribute to this effort, ya silly ponce. You know those horses are reserved for those who plan ta fight, dontcha?"

Granen never changed. Jareth led his horse close enough to shake the man's hand. "Thanks for looking after Sarah."

"Anytime, friend. It's good to see you ain't down for the count."

"I'll leave you to your rousing speeches. Sage and I have some business in the northwest quadrant."

As the two rode off into the chaos in the distance, Granen shouted after Jareth, "Be sure not ta sully yer fine shiny boots!"

##

Sarah stayed in the tower, where she had conjured a series of mirrors through which to view the battle below. She still had to protect herself from sight, but the tower at least gave her some ability to keep a real tab on the events outside, while using her own tools to get a glimpse of that outside her reach.

There wasn't much time or remaining focus to allow herself to think on those magical moments she had shared with Jareth in the bed only hours ago... She conjured his image, admiring his form atop the gray stallion.

He wore a sharp leather jacket with a wide zig-zagged lapel that nearly spanned the breadth of his shoulders, and close-fitting jockey pants with boots of the same brown leather as his coat.

She waved a hand and changed the image before he could detect her spying, and before she felt even more distracted, or worse, happy. She looked at the bed, then made it disappear as well, replacing it with a large table, covered entirely by a map of the battlefield, including the outskirts of the park and into the city. Every warrior was depicted, true to life, at a tiny scale. There was no sound emitted from the map, but she could otherwise, at a glance, see the full battle taking place on the bas relief map that spread before her.

No more images of Jareth, no more bed...maybe now she could ignore the blissful thoughts that crept in and focus on the battle at hand. There would be time later for daydreaming.

Toby opened the door to the room and stuck his head in gingerly. "Hi, Sarah... Can I come in?"

She motioned for him to join her at the table. He looked down upon her mystical map in awe. "You made this?"

She nodded to him. "A pretty sorry state of affairs. I hope it is over quickly."

Now that some time had passed since their first embrace, he had become shy again, uncertain about how to behave around her. "I thought the point of magic, well, was to have an adventure?"

"It is, in the story books, at least." She manifested a glass of apple juice from the air and proffered it to him. It had been his favorite drink as a child.

He shook his head. "I don't really like that anymore."

"What can I get you?"

He put his finger to his chin and thought about it. "Leah always makes me banana smoothies when she comes to visit. I like those."

She laughed, though the comment caused her some sadness. "A banana smoothie it is."

The liquid in the glass transformed into a yellow smoothie, straw and all.

He brightened. "Since it's magic... can you add some whipped cream, and a bunch of cherries?"

"I suppose a sugar rush in the middle of a full scale attack isn't such a bad thing. You might have to use all that energy to run away later."

He took the drink from her hands and hunkered down on one of the easy chairs to drink it. "I bet we don't. I know you'll win. You're nicer than her, and the good guy always wins."

Sarah turned to look at the maps and see if everything was in order on the battlefield... at least, in as much order as could be expected. Then she sat across from her brother. "Toby, what did she say to you?"

He finished taking a sip, then put his hand to his forehead as he made the "brain freeze" face. Finally he answered. "She said that, because of me, she... you... had to give up your dreams." He looked straight at her, his young face untroubled.

"Do you think that's true?"

"Well, I guess... I guess I always knew you felt that way, sorta. Sometimes. But you always could be a brat." He grinned, satisfied with his sarcasm.

She smiled at him for a moment, then turned her head toward the window solemnly. "Toby, there's something important I am going to tell you, and I hope you remember it someday, when you are grown up..." she smiled softly "... well, more grown up than you are now."

He slouched a bit in the chair and kept sipping on his smoothie as if to say, Great, another grown up speech.

"No one can take your dreams away from you, except yourself. I didn't believe that before, I thought someone was going to hand them to me... But I know now that you have to be patient when looking for your dreams. Dreams don't hurry. They take their time sometimes, but they are waiting to be found. And they aren't always what you thought they were when you started looking for them."

Toby had stopped sipping on his drink, to hear her out. "Is this world your dream, Sarah?"

Sarah took a deep breath and sighed. "Well, maybe I'm dreaming it... But, no, it's not my dream."

"Maybe, if you wake up from it, everything will be back the way it was. You'll be back at home, and it will all go back the way it was before you went Underground."

She looked somber. "Do you wish it was back the way it was before?"

"No way! Mom and Dad were trying to make me see a therapist. Anyways, you and Jareth couldn't be together... And I sorta like him."

Sarah laughed. "Is he the long-haired rock star super sorcerer uncle you never had?"

"Nah, he hates rock stars. But he does do lots of neat tricks! He taught me this one." He furrowed his brow a bit and made the empty smoothie glass turn into a little brown-gray mouse with a cherry nose. It sniffed and squeaked appreciatively.

"Look at that!" She reached out to hold the little rodent and stroked his back. Looking at the creature, she had an idea about how Toby could participate in the battle.

##

At Sheep Meadow, Marlena had more than her fair share of trouble trying to hold the guinea pigs back as had been initially planned. "Look guys, I know how badly you want to fight, but we need to hold back. The fieries have everything under control on the perimeter, for now."

"Those fandangled Aboveground machines they be usin' ain't good for scrap! Let me and me men show ya what a fine crotchet needle kin do!"

It took much convincing, but finally John stormed off in a huff and returned to his guard post with Will, anxiously tapping his foot while everyone else had all the fun.

He blew a tuft of hair from his wet nose, then turned to Will. "I wait all me life for some real action, and this is what I get! Knowin' our luck they'll finish the battle before anyone gets here."

Billy had been within hearing range, and shouted, "And it's all your fault! I don't blame them for not letting us fight, whose stupid idea was it to give us knitting needles for weapons? Might as well knit a quilt and curl up to sleep in it." He looked down at this shiny chain mail. "And to think I spent 5k on eBay for this."

John spun around and thrust his finger at him in excitement. "Ha! I got mine for 2k. Beat that, Billy McGee!"

"Really? Looks more like you spent ten bucks."

Will shook his head as they resumed their wrestling.

##

Several yards away, Eepwot craned his head back in a mad war cry. "Take this you no-good, non-detachable limbed freaks!"

On a crest of the hill sat a number of fiery officers in a neat row, each with a submachine gun sitting on a tripod before him. Ribbons of ammunition fed into the machines as they rained enchanted squibs upon the approaching goblin and troll troops. The first line had already turned to stone, creating a strange wall of misshapen bodies around and over which the second and third line had to crawl. Whenever one came over the top of the previous stone line, the fiery gunmen would aim and shoot, thus making the wall taller and broader by the second.

Eepwot's fellow gunman bounced his head excitedly upon his shoulders, and turned to his captain. "Hey, Man, it's art!"

##

Eberon sat at the helm of the miniature ship, looking none too pleased with the state of affairs. "Row faster, you buffoons, we're already behind schedule."

The felines and elves rowed just as before, only with even more embittered looks on their faces. The former elf king looked expectantly over the edge of the bow, then down at the map in his hands. After a few more minutes of paddling, he finally shouted for them to halt.

"Okay, get everything into position." A number of elves procured a fireworks rig from a chest and laid it in the center of the boat. Eberon produced a small mirror from his waistcoat, then called up Mandelbrot's image. "So, all I have to do is light this?" he said, pointing to the rig.

Mandelbrot was at the moment highly distracted with the effort of fighting his way through a crowd of goblins in what appeared to be the Conservatory Garden. Once he had found a brief haven behind a tall shrub, he looked more than a bit annoyed at the intrusion. "Look, Eberon, once again, this is a perfectly safe, easy spell that requires no other effort on your own part other than the lighting of fuses, of which you have already proven yourself capable," Eberon moved to interrupt him, "and, no, once again, it is in no way designed to end in your demise."

Eberon pouted inelegantly. "I suppose things will reveal themselves in time. Eberon out."

He dropped the mirror into his pocket and turned to the elves, who seemed to have been chuckling at his paranoia. He pointed an accusing finger at them. "I may no longer be your king, but I have my means of vengeance, so you had best get back to the task at hand and save your mockery for another time."

Just as Mandelbrot said, after they lit the device, fireworks shot into the air, where they exploded and resolved into a large, glowing orb that spread sunlight over the park and several blocks beyond.

##

Sarah walked with Toby down the spiral staircase to her quarters and out onto the roof below to get a better view of the battle. They both watched as the fireworks that brought the orbs of light exploded into the miniature sun that would give them more of an advantage in the fight.

"Cool!" Toby exclaimed, pushing himself up to better see over the battlements.

Sarah smiled down at him, then noticed the furry form of Ludo approaching from the direction of the throne room staircase. "Ludo!"

She walked over to greet him with a hug. She had sent someone after him an hour ago. Toby watched with wide eyes as the huge beast lumbered over to him, his form towering over.

"Ludo, this is Toby, my brother," Sarah introduced him.

Ludo bent his head low. "Toby... friend?""

"That's right, Ludo." Sarah smiled at Toby. "It's okay, Toby, he's very sweet and gentle."

Toby exploded into a huge grin. "Wow! You even have a monster for a friend! Can I pet him?"

Sarah laughed. "You can do better than that." She stood on her toes and whispered something into Ludo's floppy ear.

When she was done, Ludo bent down low and picked the boy up, lifting him high in the air with a low, happy growl. "Toby friend!"

Toby's giggle was infectious. Sarah soon followed suit.

To think she had kept this from her little brother for so long.

When Ludo finally put Toby down, Sarah motioned for the two of them to follow her to the battlement. "Ludo, we need your help with something."

Just to the side of Turtle Pond, a large group of goblins were doing battle against a group of felines. The goblins outnumbered the felines three to one—nothing the felines couldn't handle, but it wouldn't hurt to tip things in their favor.

"Ludo, can you call the rocks... just some small rocks... to come near to the battle over there?" She pointed to the bridge that spanned over the pond, where the majority of the fight was taking place.

Ludo nodded his shaggy head and craned his head back to make the call to his stone friends. The rocks were hard to discern as they approached, but their motion made them better visible at the distance.

Sarah bent down to Toby's height. "Toby, you can help us with the battle. You know your trick where you turned the glass into a mouse?"

"Um, yeah," Toby said nervously. He had an idea of where she was going with her inquiry, and being put on the spot made him uncomfortable.

"Do you think you can turn those rocks into mice? Goblins hate mice."

Toby leaned over and looked at the distance. "It's far away. I'm not sure."

"Well, why don't you give it a try?"

Toby nodded and watched the battle, looking through the commotion for the movement of the stones. He finally found one to focus on. He concentrated on the words Jareth had taught him to speak in his mind and made the hand gesture that went with it, a small, sweeping movement of the forefinger and pinky. He felt a little surge of energy and squinted his eyes. The rock had stopped moving.

Then, just as he thought it hadn't worked, it raced away in a very un-rocklike movement, scurrying into the throng.

"Great work, Toby!" Sarah shouted. "Now, let me teach you how to do more than one. You just have to add this little hand gesture to the mix."She showed him another gesture involving the thumb and pinky. "And you really don't need to be able to see the rocks, either, just focus your thoughts on them."

He did as she instructed, excited to learn something new. The surge of energy he felt was even greater than the last. He hopped up to look over the battlement again, but couldn't tell if anything had happened. "Can you see?" he asked.

Sarah squinted her eyes. But she didn't need to. Suddenly a mass of goblin squeals rippled through the crowd in the distance, causing a number of them to jump into the pond below, and others to run straight into the weapons of their attackers.

"Haha!" Toby jumped excitedly. "I did it!"

"Toby magic good!" Ludo exclaimed.

Sarah gave her little brother a hug. "Good work! We'll make you into a sorcerer, yet!"

Toby beamed with pride, the sound of splashing and frightened screams echoing in the distance.

##

Pook stepped through the portal and smoothed his gray suit as he stepped onto the one patch of solid ground on the world of Hendermoor. The fire marshes surrounded him on all sides, and it smelled like a cross between rotting eggs and rancid jogging shoes. There was otherwise a lot of nothing in all directions, as the fellwits that inhabited the planet generally steered clear of the marshes and lived in cities of giant trees and stone many miles away.

The trail of energy had led Pook here, though, and his nose for energy streams never failed him. Crouch was almost certainly somewhere nearby, and Pook needed to try and find him before the time ripples of the portal wore off and he was acting within the time constraints of this world.

Time ran hundreds of times faster on Hendermoor than on earth, and it could easily crimp any fae's plans if he were not careful.

He put out his feelers, scrunched up his nose in concentration, then let out an "Aha!" Primly he pulled back the sleeve of his suit and stuck a long, spindly arm into the marsh, pulling out a haggard demon from the swamp water with as little effort as plucking a bug from a branch.

"There you are, Crouch."

Crouch muttered something guttural and unintelligible in his own tongue, something that basically translated to, "I will eat you if you even if your kind does taste like rat feces. Go away."

Pook hated seeing Crouch like this, but then again, he hated seeing Crouch at all. They had an unpleasant history riddled with incidents involving the sneaking of a variety of potions into one another's drinks: contaminated love potions, a variety of poisons, radioactive soups, flatulence-causing tinctures and de-evolution tonics had all passed through their systems at one point or another over the course of their rivalry. Because they both had a mutual appreciation of chaos and a fondness for apocalyptic situations, they often ran into each another.

"It's good to see you are going back to your roots. But if you want out of here, you'll stop grunting and follow me away from this world, which you seem to have trapped yourself on a second time..." Pook looked over his shoulder and reopened the portal. "Sarah has some business for you, which conveniently involves doing away with Jareth, your brother."

Hundreds of years in isolation had done little for Crouch's manners or style. It didn't help that Hendermoor was undergoing global climate change thanks to the increased farming of yndathanine pigs that belched atmospheric-warming gases into the air, and that the rest of the planet was undergoing a sharp cooling that Crouch couldn't tolerate for the three centuries he had been forced to live there. The lonely fire marshes had become his permanent residence, and the more isolated he became, the more he lost track of the passage of time, as well as hygiene and speech.

Nonetheless, he understood Pook's words well enough to know that he would be gladly following him through that portal and would be ever so eager to bite off Jareth's head when he saw him, and maybe even the wench that had doomed him to his centuries of seclusion and misery.